anovelconsole Chapter 549: Six Months Later
Chapter 549: Six Months Later
(Six months later)
Ironclad City, a mining hub of the Magi Empire, nestled atop barren ground, devoid of any greenery.
The city lay at the foothills of a vast mountain chain, its landscape marked by rugged terrain and dusty plains, and unlike the grand metropolises of the Empire, Ironclad City was a rugged, functional place.
Its buildings were stout and utilitarian, constructed to withstand the constant wear of mining operations rather than to impress with architectural beauty.
Despite its industrial appearance, the city was well-developed, with a network of rail tracks, massive ore processing facilities, and simple buildings to acuminate its inhabitants.
However, at the moment, the Ironclad City was no longer brimming with the life of civilians and miners, but rather, it teemed with thousands upon thousands of soldiers, armed to the teeth and supported by battle automatons and Arcantrons.
The once bustling mining city had transformed into a fortress, prepared for the war looming on its doorstep.
'Any time now,' Alex thought, his eyes seeing through the ground.
As if in response to his thoughts, the ground began to tremble as a deep rumble echoed through the air, and the earth split open, releasing an unending tide of ratlings.
The Skaven poured forth, their miasmic green eyes glowing eerily through the rising cloud of dust that soon enveloped the tens of kilometers of surroundings.
In mere moments, even the sky darkened as the dust mingled with the thick, toxic haze brought by the Skaven horde.
From the dust-choked air, massive Skaven behemoths emerged, mutated rodent beasts with grotesque, bulging muscles and armored hides, followed by both ground and sky soldiers.
At the forefront of this terrifying assault rode the Skaven commander, a towering figure mounted on a massive, horned beast. The commander's staff crackled with virulent blue lightning, illuminating his fearsome visage.
He chanted in a guttural language that could heard loud and clear even through the growing chaos, and in response to his call, the sky roared as dark clouds began to gather.
Ratanak would keep growing with his people around, and with nearly all of the Skaven cities abandoned and relocated, now hidden from the world's eyes, it was getting harder and harder to find him or lure him out.
Ratanak was causing great chaos for the Magi Empire, but he was not the only threat that had unsettled the peace of the Ancestral Realm, as both the Cultivator Domain and the Empire of Iron faced emerging threats of their own.
In the Cultivator Domain, mutated beasts and humans alike were growing in numbers at an insane rate, and while not a threat at the moment, if not controlled in time, they would become a headache for the entire domain.
Those mutated and enhanced humans and beasts were the results of something similar, if not directly, the Clone infusion and Mass Assimilation Techniques, but Alex expected to never see them, at least not so soon on such a scale.
Alex knew for certain that Vasticus killed the apothecary and gave a warning to the Immortal Phoenix Sect, but it seemed like he did not stop the sect from going on with their nefarious plan, and now that some time had passed, they were back at it.
However, this theory also posed another problem since five months ago, the Immortal Phoenix Sect was disbanded, and weeks after that, the abnormals began growing at an extreme pace.
While it could be that it was all a plan of the sect master to be aggressive, and when their strength reached the point they needed to overthrow one of the seven peaks, they would create their sect once more, that was yet to be proved since the sect master and all high elders were missing.
In the Empire of Iron, an unknown plague was eroding any metal from the inside out and spreading. While there was a cure for this plague of rust, it was only temporary and not permanent, as within hours of being cured, the plague resumed with more ferocity than the last time.
At the moment, just like enhanced humans, the plague was a nuisance but manageable, as no one really strong had fallen to it.
However, with time, it would surely change, and it would not be long before the two empires had apocalyptic-level threats that they needed to deal with, just like the Magi Empire, who had a much more serious threat on their hands which was growing worse by the day.
All three threats emerging nearly simultaneously was too much of a coincidence, and seeing that not even the powers that ruled the realm could deal with them made many question whether this was a natural thing or something planned by someone from the shadows.
Whether it was the doing of some power or a natural disaster in the making, tough times were ahead in the ancestral realm.
The past six months had been productive for Alex, as he not only collected ten of the eleven pieces of the entry token but also got promoted by two ranks in the army.
Alex was now a company captain, with six platoon leaders like Kiera working under him, and with his current position, it was only a matter of time before he decided to collect the last shard and ask for the help of Grand Arcanum Elara.