he map of the Second Sanctuary was vast, divided into layers that defied the laws of physics. The Sea Temple sat in the watery abyss of the lower layer, while the domain of the Sky-Wing Clan—the Heavenly Spire—floated in the Stratosphere Layer, a realm of thin air, violent winds, and floating islands.
Vikram stood on the balcony of the Sea Temple, looking up. The three moons of this world hung heavy in the sky, casting a pale, sickly light over the ocean.
"Three days," Vikram muttered, crushing the stone railing in his grip. "They want to execute her in three days."
"We cannot reach them in time, Boss," Captain Great Tooth said, waddling up behind him. The shark-man looked uncomfortable on dry land. "My ships are the fastest in the water, but they are heavy. Even if we use maximum magic power, we can't breach the Cloud Barrier. The atmospheric pressure up there would crush my hulls like eggshells."
Elara, who was sharpening her bone arrows nearby, looked up. "The Sky-Wing Clan controls the air currents. If we try to fly up on beasts, their archers will pick us off before we even see the Spire."
Vikram turned, his eyes glowing faintly with the power of the Eye of the Demon God he had looted. "I don't care about currents or pressure. I need a way up. Now."
The Old Sword Saint, who had been meditating in the corner, finally spoke. His voice was raspy, like dry leaves scraping over stone.
"There is a way," the old man said, opening one eye. "But it is a suicide mission."
Vikram smirked. "Old man, haven't you learned? 'Suicide mission' is just another Tuesday for me."
The Sword Saint pointed a bony finger toward the east, where a perpetual electrical storm raged on the horizon. "The Graveyard of Dragoon-Ships. Centuries ago, an ancient race tried to conquer the sky. They built massive flying fortresses powered by Storm Hearts. They failed. The Sky-Wing Clan shot them down. Now, their wreckage lies in the Eye of the Storm."
"If we can salvage the Levitation Cores from those wrecks," the Sword Saint continued, "we can retrofit the pirate ships. We can turn your sea fleet into a sky fleet."
"But," Captain Great Tooth interjected, his fins trembling, "That place is guarded! The Bone Storm Dragon lives there! It eats lightning and shits thunder! It's a mutant catastrophe!"
Vikram's grin widened. "Perfect. I was looking for a new battery."
The Eye of the Storm
Two hours later, Vikram, Elara, and a squad of elite pirates were speeding across the waves on a small interceptor boat, heading straight into the storm.
The weather was apocalyptic. Waves the size of mountains crashed around them. Lightning struck the water every few seconds, boiling it instantly.
"Hold on!" Vikram shouted over the roar of the wind.
He stood at the bow, the Ocean God Trident in his hand. Every time a massive wave threatened to capsize them, he would swing the trident, splitting the water and creating a safe path.
[Passive Skill: Ocean Lord active. Water resistance +200%.]
They breached the storm wall and entered the Graveyard.
It was a haunting sight. Massive, rusted hulks of ancient metal ships jutted out of the water like the skeletons of dead gods. Some were half-submerged; others were impaled on jagged rocks. The air crackled with blue static electricity.
"There," Vikram pointed to a massive wreck in the center. It was a battleship, easily ten times the size of the Black Shark flagship. "That one still has power."
As they approached, the Dongxuan Sutra in Vikram's mind screamed a warning.
SCREEEEEE!
A screech that sounded like metal grinding on metal echoed through the storm.
From the dark clouds above, a monstrosity descended. It was a dragon, but it had no flesh. It was constructed entirely of bleached white bones and scrap metal, held together by arcs of blue lightning. In its chest, a massive, spinning core of purple energy pulsed like a heart.
[Monster Detected: Bone Storm Dragon (Undead/Mech Hybrid)]
[Level: Diamond (Mutant)]
[Ability: EMP Roar, Lightning Breath.]
"Intruders..." The dragon didn't speak, but its intent was broadcast via a radio frequency that buzzed in everyone's teeth. "Scrap... needed... for repairs..."
It opened its maw and fired a beam of concentrated lightning.
"Jump!" Vikram commanded.
He grabbed Elara and leaped into the air. The interceptor boat exploded beneath them, vaporized instantly.
Vikram activated Phantom Steps, kicking off the air itself to land on the deck of a rusted ship. The pirates scattered, hiding behind debris.
The Dragon circled around for another pass.
"Elara, distract it!" Vikram ordered. "Aim for the joints!"
"Yes, Master!" Elara drew her bow. She didn't use normal arrows. She pulled out an arrow made from the Kraken's tooth.
"Nature Art: Root Bind!"
She fired. The arrow struck the dragon's wing joint. Instead of vines, thick kelp and coral burst from the arrow, jamming the mechanical gears of the dragon's wing.
The Dragon lurched, losing altitude. SCREEE!
"Now!"
Vikram didn't summon his Trident. Instead, he pulled out the Asura Bone he had looted from the Demon God. It was a black, jagged femur that radiated pure death energy.
"Let's see if this works," Vikram muttered.
He charged his Void Gene into the bone. The bone turned into a long, black blade of pure energy.
[Weapon Crafting (Improvised): Void-Asura Blade.]
Vikram jumped. He didn't jump at the dragon. He jumped above it, using the Sky Gene to manipulate the air currents and launch himself higher than the beast.
He was now directly above the Bone Storm Dragon, falling toward its back.
The Dragon sensed him. It twisted its neck 180 degrees, its mechanical eyes locking onto him. The purple core in its chest began to glow, charging an EMP blast that would fry Vikram's brain.
Vikram activated the Eye of the Demon God (the purple eye artifact).
[Artifact Active: True Sight.]
[Weakness Detected: The central stabilizer ring behind the neck.]
"Found you," Vikram whispered.
He fell. The dragon fired the blast.
"Nine Steps of the Void: Step 3 - Phase Shift!"
Vikram's body turned intangible for a split second. The lightning blast passed right through him.
He solidified the moment his feet touched the Dragon's metallic spine.
He raised the Asura Blade.
"Void Cut!"
He plunged the black blade deep into the dragon's neck vertebrae, right into the stabilizer ring.
CRUNCH!
The Asura energy—the energy of a Demon God—was poison to the dragon's electrical system. The black corruption spread instantly, turning the blue lightning purple.
The dragon went rigid. Its engines seized.
It crashed onto the deck of the giant battleship, sliding for a hundred meters before coming to a halt at Vikram's feet. Its eyes flickered and died.
[System Alert: Bone Storm Dragon defeated.]
[Loot: Storm Heart (Class S Engine Core).]
Vikram didn't celebrate. He walked up to the dragon's chest and ripped out the pulsing core with his bare hands. Electricity danced over his skin, but his Titanium Skin (which had regenerated) absorbed it.
"One core isn't enough," Vikram looked around at the hundreds of other wrecks. "Boys! Strip this place clean! I want every engine, every screw, and every battery! We are building an air force!"
The Forge of the Void
Back at the Sea Temple, the atmosphere was frantic. Under the Sword Saint's direction, the pirates were welding the salvaged Levitation Cores onto the bottoms of their ships.
Vikram was in the temple's forge. It was a hot, enclosed room filled with the smell of molten metal.
He stood before a massive anvil. On it lay his armor, the Asura Bone, the Storm Heart fragments, and the Demon God's Eye.
"You are trying to fuse conflicting energies," the Sword Saint warned from the doorway. "Void, Lightning, and Asura Death energy. If you fail, the explosion will wipe this island off the map."
Vikram picked up a hammer. His upper body was bare, sweat glistening on his scars.
"Then I better not fail."
He activated his Soul Gene.
"Forge!"
He began to hammer. With every strike, he injected his own genetic energy into the materials. He wasn't just crafting; he was rewriting the molecular structure of the items.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
He shattered the Asura Bone into dust and mixed it with the molten Titanium. He embedded the Storm Heart shards into the backplate of the armor. Finally, he placed the Demon God's Eye in the center of the chest piece.
[System Alert: Crafting Critical Success!]
[New Item Created: Wings of the Asura Monarch.]
[Grade: God-Slayer.]
A burst of black and purple light filled the room.
When the light faded, a set of armor floated in the air. It was sleek, pitch-black with purple runic veins. But the most striking feature was on the back.
Two mechanical wings, made of black bone and energy blades, extended from the armor. They didn't look angelic. They looked like the wings of a fallen god.
Vikram touched the armor. It liquefied and flowed over his skin, fusing with him.
The wings snapped open.
WHOOSH!
Vikram hovered feet off the ground without any effort. He felt lighter, faster, stronger. The Eye on his chest allowed him to see 360 degrees.
"Beautiful," Vikram whispered. He looked at the Sword Saint. "Are the ships ready?"
"They are ugly," the Sword Saint grunted. "But they will fly."
The Heavenly Spire - The Dungeon of Light
Far above the clouds, in a cage made of solid light beams, Seraphina hung suspended by her wrists.
Her beautiful white wings were pinned against the wall by energy spikes. Every few minutes, a pulse of electricity would run through the spikes, extracting a golden liquid from her wings—Holy Essence.
She was pale, her lips cracked. She hadn't eaten or slept in days.
The door to her cell opened. A tall, slender man walked in. He had four pristine white wings and wore golden armor. This was Highlord Aeros, leader of the Sky-Wing Clan.
"Still alive?" Aeros sneered, swirling a glass of wine mixed with her extracted essence. "Your vitality is impressive, little angel. It's a shame your 'Prince' abandoned you."
Seraphina slowly lifted her head. Her golden eyes were dim, but defiant.
"He... hasn't abandoned me," she rasped.
Aeros laughed. "Oh? It has been days. He is probably rotting in the Abyss Prison. Or maybe he died fighting the Demon God. You are alone, Seraphina. Tomorrow, at the execution, I will rip your Sky Heart out and consume it. Then, I will be the only True Sky God."
"He is coming," Seraphina whispered, a small smile appearing on her face. "I can feel him. The wind... it's changing."
Aeros frowned. "Delusional."
He turned to leave.
RUMBLE...
The floating island shook. The wine in Aeros's glass rippled.
"What was that?" Aeros snapped. "An earthquake? In the sky?"
A guard rushed in, looking terrified. "Highlord! You need to come to the balcony! Quickly!"
Aeros marched out to the grand balcony of the Heavenly Spire. He looked down through the clouds.
His eyes widened.
The clouds below were turning black. Not from rain, but from ships.
Breaking through the cloud layer, fifty massive pirate ships ascended. But they weren't sailing on water. They were flying on blue jets of storm energy.
And leading them was not a ship.
It was a man.
A man wearing black armor with terrifying mechanical bone-wings, holding a blue trident that crackled with lightning. He was flying ahead of the fleet like a spear tip.
Vikram stopped in mid-air, hovering level with the balcony where Aeros stood. The distance was great, but their eyes met.
Vikram raised his trident and pointed it straight at Aeros's face.
His voice, amplified by the ships' speakers, boomed across the entire sky, shaking the floating islands.
"KNOCK KNOCK."
Vikram's grin was the stuff of nightmares.
"The Pest Control has arrived. And I heard you have a bird problem."