"I just wanted to eat a meal. Seriously, is that too much to ask?"
Duke's mouth twitched. What kind of cursed luck was this? Why did chaos always break out every time he tried to sit down for food?
Last time, during dinner, a berserk Darkin nearly tore Kennesser apart, leaving hundreds dead.
Now here in Vekora, he just wanted to enjoy a peaceful meal — and somehow ended up facing the Ancient Magus, Xerath himself.
What next? Would Renekton burst through the wall the next time he went out for lunch?!
Rolling his eyes, Duke let out an exasperated groan. The irritation bubbling in his chest was ready to spill over.
Can't even eat in peace — was this what people meant when they said Shurima was simple and pure?
Damn it all.
Whoosh!
From between Xerath's outstretched arms, a blazing comet of blue-white flame shot forth, tracing a vast arc across the sky like a giant boulder hurled from a celestial catapult.
The air shrieked with its passage — a sharp, piercing whistle that sliced through the heavens.
And when the sound finally died, the first arcane comet slammed into Vekora's market square.
A blinding explosion erupted, the blue-white flames surging outward like liquid fire, devouring everything they touched.
Countless lives were instantly consumed, reduced to cinders before they could even scream.
Burning corpses were hurled high into the air — and before they even fell, a second comet crashed down.
This time, it struck the residential quarter.
Rows of houses collapsed in sequence, like a row of toppling dominoes.
Within moments, hundreds were buried alive, and hundreds more burned to ash.
The blue-white blaze left a shimmering scar across the void, and through it came the cruel laughter of the ancient magus, carried on the hot desert wind.
One comet shattered the city wall, opening a breach for Xerath's army. His soldiers surged through like a flood, cutting down every living thing in their path.
Screams, cries, and the wails of the dying echoed endlessly through Vekora's streets.
Duke and Taliyah had just stepped out of the restaurant when they saw terrified civilians being driven toward the eastern ruins at swordpoint.
Taliyah's eyes widened, grief clouding her face.
"Why… why is this happening?"
The ground beneath her feet trembled in response to her emotions, sharp stone spikes jutting upward like spears.
Without a word, Duke crushed the ones that came too close to him.
This little sparrow's heart still needs a lot more tempering.
Whoosh!
A spear whistled past Duke's cheek and struck the wall behind him, vibrating violently from the thrower's strength.
Duke said nothing. Calmly, he drew a strange weapon — a handle about a foot long, crystal-like and translucent, its surface lined with intricate control grooves.
As his hand gripped it, a stream of black light surged forth, extending into a dark blade edged with twin white beams of focused energy.
Vmm… vmm… vmm…
The moment the blade came to life, Duke vanished.
When he reappeared, he stood amid the ranks of the soldiers hunting civilians.
Dozens of hostile eyes snapped toward him.
"Who threw that spear just now?"
He scanned the group, stopping when he saw a man with a scorpion tattoo across his face — the man grinned, cruel and mocking.
"So it was you."
Duke's gaze hardened.
Several swords swung toward him from all directions.
Vmm… vmm… vmm…
The air quaked as arcs of black light flashed through the void — blades shattered, and so did their wielders.
In a single stroke, seven bodies fell apart like paper cutouts.
The survivors barely had time to breathe before Duke raised his hand and clenched it.
Invisible force gripped them and pulled them helplessly toward him.
The sword flashed again. The air trembled — and the ground was littered with mangled corpses.
"Little sparrow," Duke said, flicking the blood from his blade, "standing there sulking won't help anyone. Do something useful."
His words snapped Taliyah out of her daze. She dropped to her knees, pressing her palms to the ground.
In her mind's eye, she pictured the earth rising — stone spines bursting from the soil.
A deep rumble echoed beneath the city, and a massive wall of rock rose from the ground, cutting off the soldiers' pursuit.
When it was done, Taliyah collapsed to her knees, gasping for breath. Sweat drenched her forehead.
Raising a single wall wasn't hard — but forming dozens across the city at once? That demanded everything she had.
"Well done."
Duke gave her a thumbs-up.
But before Taliyah could respond, the air around them shimmered.
Unstable arcane energy rippled through the void, forming a glowing circle that trapped them within its boundary.
Both of them felt the sharp sting of magic piercing their skin.
Duke's expression darkened. The swirling energy gathering above them could only mean one thing — Xerath had noticed them.
And he was casting — from afar.
With a swift motion, Duke pulled Taliyah close and raised a Force Shield.
In the next instant, all that arcane energy converged at once, spinning into a deadly vortex.
The singularity formed — and then exploded outward with volcanic fury.
Blinding light consumed everything.
For a heartbeat, all of Vekora vanished beneath a sea of blue-white annihilation.
Xerath's spell: Eye of Destruction.
High above, the Magus of the Ages lowered his arms. To him, those who lurked in the shadows were less than dust. The fact that they'd even drawn his attention once was more than enough honor.
No one could survive the blast of his arcane might.
But when the smoke cleared, Taliyah opened her eyes — unharmed.
Duke still stood over her, his Force Shield shimmering faintly before dissipating.
A master of the Force, his barrier could withstand even a turbolaser barrage. Xerath's magic was powerful, yes — but not that powerful.
And Duke's mastery of the Force had advanced at an astonishing pace. In just two months, his command of it had reached depths few could imagine.
"Are you alright?" he asked, glancing down at her.
"I'm fine… thank you, Mr. Duke."
"Don't mention it."
Straightening up, Duke looked toward the sky — at the blazing mass of energy floating there.
"I wasn't planning to get involved," he said quietly, his eyes narrowing. "But it looks like I'll have to clean up this old coffin after all."
"Mr. Duke… you're going to challenge him?" Taliyah asked, wide-eyed, following his gaze toward the figure high above.
"Challenge?" Duke chuckled, raising his hand. "No."
He smirked.
"This will be a crushing."
At his call, Rage emerged — the massive three-headed hound.
"Rage, Original Sin Release — fifty percent. Bring that bastard down."
"ROAR!!"
The ground split under the beast's feet. Each of its three heads blazed with violent crimson light.
Taliyah felt her heart seize. The air itself trembled.
The creature beside her — the same one that once pulled Duke's carriage — now radiated a terrifying aura that shattered every notion she had of its limits.
Obsidian light rippled across its expanding frame, its muscles bulging until it loomed as tall as a three-story building. Cracks of molten red light glowed across its body.
"ROOOOOAR!!"
The thunderous roar echoed through all of Vekora.
Three jaws opened wide — and deep within each throat, light began to gather.
A heartbeat later—
Particle Beam. Electromagnetic Beam. Nuclear Beam.
The three merged as one, twisting into a spiraling pillar of annihilation that tore through the sky, leaving a burning vortex in its wake.
The wave of energy struck Xerath before he could even raise his defenses.
Below, Nasus looked up from the battlefield, his eyes widening.
"What… is that?"
Xerath screamed, his voice piercing the heavens.
"What—what is that?!"
Though he was a being of pure energy, the combined blast forced him backward, his form flickering violently.
Duke's left eye narrowed.
Perfect. If I can kill him here, it'll save a lot of trouble later.
Even if he couldn't destroy Xerath completely, a heavy injury would suffice.
The Magus strained, summoning every ounce of arcane power to form a massive shield before him — but Rage's energy core was boundless, devouring the resistance like sand in a storm.
"A… a being of Ascension?" Xerath muttered, his tone uncertain — and, for the first time, afraid.
Sensing power that nearly rivaled his own, the Magus hesitated. The chains binding his form cracked, lightning crackled wildly around him, and his mind raced through countless spells in desperation.
Then, he saw them — Duke and Taliyah — standing beneath the beast that attacked him.
So. They were the ones controlling it.
Fine. He knew exactly what to do.
While maintaining his barrier with one hand, Xerath began chanting an ancient incantation.
The air grew heavy with the hum of forgotten words.
Nasus's eyes widened in alarm.
Teleportation magic!
He hurled his massive axe skyward like a spear, but it was too late.
Light blossomed across the city — dozens of sigils flaring to life at once.
"A large-scale teleportation array?!" Nasus exclaimed.
As the Great Library's high scholar, he knew exactly what it was — a spell that required dozens of mages to perform together, used only for sending celestial warriors to distant frontiers.
But Xerath… was casting it alone.
"What—what is this?"
Duke looked down. Circles of light had formed beneath his feet, radiating outward in glowing waves.
The same light surrounded Taliyah.
"This looks… suspiciously like a recall animation," Duke muttered.
Before the thought could finish, the world around him spun violently, tossing him through the void like a rag doll in a washing machine.
Then
Beams of light shot up from Vekora's ruins, one after another, and vanished into the empty sky.
When the last one faded, the city fell silent.
Nasus stared upward. The dark mass that had been Xerath was gone.
"Damn you, Xerath," he growled, voice low and thunderous. "Treacherous as ever."
The divine bloodline he had sensed — was gone.
End of chapter....
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