City Library
Central District
Zlego Magic City
April 16th
Year 9025
Morning light filtered through the glass windows of Zlego's central library, casting its golden hues across the floors.
The scent of parchment and ink filled the air as the librarians moved through the halls, setting up for the day. Some arranged books on towering shelves, while others took their seats at their desks, ready to assist the scholars and mages who frequented the library.
A soft hum of conversation carried through the ground floor as the doors swung open, and an Archmage entered. His presence commanded immediate attention, and the librarians immediately paused their tasks to greet him, with some stepping forward to assist.
And just then, their world exploded.
A deafening explosion tore through the library, a surge of magic-infused fire and force erupting from below. Screams barely had time to form before they were drowned out, swallowed whole by the sheer magnitude of the blast.
Bookshelves were obliterated in an instant, reduced to splinters and ash. The shockwave surged outward, an unstoppable force that flattened all buildings within a ten-block radius, besides the Mage Tower in the city 'centre'.
More than half the city's inhabitants in the area were dead before they even realized what was happening.
Weaker soldiers and mages—those below level 100—were instantly vaporized by the power of the explosion. Stronger ones survived the blast, though they were injured and/or thrown back by the shockwaves.
The Archmage, however, was unscathed.
His robes barely fluttered as the smoke and dust swirled around him, his durability rendering the blast ineffective against his Level 300 Grandmaster Realm existence.
And yet, he was not unharmed. The damage he suffered was not physical—it was mental.
Because he understood what this explosion entailed.
In that final fraction of a second before the explosion, he had felt a surge of magic power from beneath the building—precisely where the city's barrier core was housed.
He didn't want to accept it, but standing in the centre of a crater over 500 meters wide, denial was not an option.
Zlego's barrier—the great shield that had kept the city safe from the demons—had been bombed.
Above the Archmage, the shimmering dome of magic that had protected Zlego was fracturing. Cracks spread like veins of lightning across its surface. And then, with a deafening roar that echoed through the city, the barrier shattered. Shards of magic glass rained from the sky, flickering before dissolving into nothing.
The Archmage's body tensed, instinct screaming at him to act, but before he could sound the alarm—before he could even turn toward the mage tower—
The sky lit up.
Hundreds of spells came hurtling down like meteors, painting the skies in streaks of fire and demonic energy.
The demons were already here.
◇ ◇ ◇
Far from the chaos in Zlego, Xaren and Ilya suddenly stiffened.
A surge of energy rushed through them, their bones and muscles tightening as their bodies changed.
They knew exactly what was happening. They were levelling up, and fast.
They'd been the ones to plant the bomb that just exploded in Zlego, so the lives lost were counted in their favour. The System acknowledged their contribution, rewarding them with a flood of EXP.
By the time the rush of levels settled, Xaren and Ilya had risen from Levels 104 and 105 to 117 and 116. It was a significant leap, and they took a moment to adapt to the sudden increase in strength.
But they couldn't stay too long. The real attack was just beginning.
Winged demons took to the air, their figures silhouetted against the morning light as they rained spells down upon the city.
On the ground, more demons charged towards the ravine.
The natural divide was quite the obstacle with its width of over a kilometre and 500+ metre depth. Only one of the three bridges going across remained intact, with the other two having been raised.
A good number of the demons simply flew across, while those capable of earth magic raised new bridges in seconds, crafting paths from the walls of the ravine.
The foot soldiers wasted no time in charging forward, weapons drawn and battle cries piercing the air as they rushed towards the city gates blown open from the inside by the demons who flew across the ravine.
Xaren and Ilya flew across the ravine and onto the city walls, beheading the Zlego soldiers who attacked them as they landed.
Dropping the heavy bags they carried, they opened them to reveal a collection of javelins, each tipped with transparent tails filled with a dark, viscous liquid.
"Alright, I'm going up now."
With that, Xaren spread his wings and shot into the sky, gripping one of the javelins in his hand. As he ascended to a suitable height, he surveyed the city-turned-battlefield and infused his gravity and fire magic into the weapon.
He drew his arm back, then hurled the javelin forward, propelling it with a burst of gravity magic. The force behind it, enhanced by his 'Repulsion' technique, sent it slicing through the air with terrifying speed.
Two human mages who took to the skies in a desperate attempt to mount a defence were skewered mid-flight. Their eyes widened in shock before life drained from them, their bodies falling limp.
The javelin continued its trajectory, striking the ground with devastating force.
Xaren's fire-attributed magic power within it ignited the black magic tar in its tail, triggering a massive explosion. The detonation sent another wave of destruction rippling through Zlego.
Flames and shrapnel engulfed the area, more screams echoed, more bodies fell, and more blood soaked the streets of Zlego.
The demons had no concern for Infrastructural destruction, after all, this was not a conquest, but an annihilation.
Zlego was in the way of the demons' incursion into the southern Ohlion continent, so they were going to get rid of it.
It was as simple as that.
Of course, strategy was still necessary.
Although the invasion looked like a mess, it was anything but. Groups of demons could be seen here and there, chaotically executing orders of their Company Captains and Platoon leaders.
While Xaren continued hurling javelins with explosive tails through the air, Ilya directed her squad forward, leading them to overwhelm the humans before they could properly organize their defences.
Though caught off guard by the library's explosion and the collapse of the city barrier, Zlego's soldiers and mages responded swiftly.
Soon, lines of human soldiers were clashing with the waves of demon foot soldiers, steel meeting flesh in a violent collision.
Blades flashed, blood spilt, and the roars of battle mixed with the screams of the dying.
A young soldier raised his shield just in time to block a clawed strike, but the force sent him skidding backwards, boots carving into the dirt. Another demon rushed him before he could recover, slicing through his armour like paper, sending him tumbling to the ground with his throat gushing red.
Above, aerial combat broke out.
Zlego's airborne mages took to the skies, meeting the winged demons in battle. Spells lit up the air—bolts of lightning, scorching fireballs, razor-sharp winds—but the demons weaved between them with terrifying speed. Some countered with their own magic, others simply tore into the mages mid-flight, their claws and blades rending flesh from bone.
Behind all this, the Archmages of Zlego were in turmoil.
Some were shocked at the sight of the ruined library, their minds racing to comprehend how such a thing had happened so suddenly.
Others had no time for questions and quickly moved to rally the scattered mages.
Defensive spells appeared in the air, barriers formed over key structures, and counterattacks were launched at the advancing demons.
One Archmage focused on the civilians.
"All non-combatants, move toward the evacuation routes! The teleportation circles—now!"
Mages scrambled to escort panicked citizens, forming defensive lines along the streets, holding off the demons long enough to let the vulnerable escape.
But the demons weren't interested in waiting.
They pressed the attack relentlessly.
A group of demons crashed through a line of human soldiers, breaking their formation, and sending bodies flying.
One demon, twice the size of a man, tore through a squad with a swing of his axe, splitting them apart in a single motion. Another hurled a fireball at a retreating crowd, incinerating half of them before they could reach safety.
Ilya led her squad straight into the fray, her movements a blur as she cut down a cluster of human soldiers before the mages they were protecting even had time to react.
By the time one of the mages preparing Great Magic noticed her, it was too late. He tried to unleash his spell against Ilya, but a javelin descending from above struck him in the chest, detonating on impact and blowing him and the other mages to bits.
Having just used up his last javelin, Xaren shifted his gaze and spotted Ilya dashing into a small Zlego army office. Blood suddenly smeared the clear windows, and he shook his head in pity for the unfortunate soldiers inside before turning his attention to a cluster of troops rushing to reinforce their overwhelmed comrades.
He flapped his wings and descended, amplifying his weight fourfold as he crashed into the ground with a thunderous impact, reducing the unfortunate soldier beneath his feet to a pulp.
The shockwave of his descent rippled outward, sending the other soldiers tumbling like scattered debris.
Before they could recover, Xaren reached into the magic pouch at his waist, his fingers closing around the hilt of his elven Runeblade.
He drew it in a flash, and the first soldier to stagger back to their feet barely had time to register what was happening before Xaren's blade, now weighted four times heavier, arced through the air.
A head flew.
Xaren pivoted, maintaining the momentum, and a second head tumbled free from its shoulders. The third soldier, reacting with more awareness, attempted to block the incoming strike, raising their sword in desperation.
But Xaren's Runeblade cleaved through the steel, severing their arm clean before continuing its path into their torso.
The soldier collapsed in a pool of blood, and a fourth soldier saw an opening and lunged from behind, spear aimed straight at Xaren's exposed back.
A clean kill—if it had been the Xaren of two weeks ago.
Xaren instantly lightened his body, shifting his weight and sidestepping the attack. He immediately reversed the effect, intensifying the gravity acting on his would-be attacker.
The sudden weight threw the soldier off balance, and they tripped, crashing towards the dirt.
Xaren released his sword, clenched his fist, and drove it downward. The force of his weighted punch slammed into the soldier's skull, cracking it against the stone ground.
Their limbs twitched, but Xaren wasn't finished. He raised his right leg and brought it down with devastating force, blasting the soldier's head to pieces under his foot.
Flicking off the blood, Xaren retrieved his blade and turned to see his squad round up their opponents.
Ilya stepped out of the army building, wiping her blade with a cloth that was likely someone's shirt. The blood and organ fragments smeared away as she cleaned the steel, and then she tossed the cloth aside without a second thought.
"You're done with the spears?"
"Yeah. Got extra levels."
Nodding silently, she pointed her sword towards a street over a junction at the end of the one they were in.
"Let's go in that direction.
There's a crowd gathered there. Looks like they're helping with evacuations. We can strike them from behind."