B3 - Chapter 69: Golden Eyes

Seth tore his gaze away from the clash between the NEVAK officers and the men who had hired Kalen to survey the surrounding battlefield.

The viewing grounds had descended into complete chaos. The armies of both Kastal and the Empire had dissolved into disorder, their formations shattered when countless soldiers had fled toward the distant tree line in search of safety. Far across the plain, the Bridan Empress remained motionless. Encircled by a ring of guards, she watched the cataclysm unfold from a safe distance.

Panic reigned among the Kastal aristocracy. Some members of the Great Houses ran away, while others stood frozen, weapons drawn, torn between charging at Orwen who had just beheaded their king and preserving their own lives by not getting any closer.

A single formation held its composure. Marshal Vancaws stood at its center, rallying more than a hundred soldiers beneath his command. Around him, dozens of Guardians projected overlapping barriers against the relentless waves of ambient aether. Clustered within the protected area stood people from House Vancaws, House Ryehill, House Chester, and House Surani.

Seth quickly spotted Elena.

She stood alongside her father, mother, and brother, with Devus, Selena, and Jenna gathered close by. Every one of them had their weapons also drawn, their anxious eyes darting from the battle in the middle of the plain and to the other Great Houses in the distance. Behind them, Seth saw Henry with Floria by his side.

Then it hit Seth. Where is he?

His gaze swept the immediate area only to lock a moment later onto a lone figure in the trampled grass about a dozen yards from the Champions of Chaos' barrier.

Kaelen.

The assassin was sprawled face-down, completely motionless. The dark leather of his gear hissed and smoked as the violent currents of aether from the clash in the center of the plain steadily ate through the material.

Seth narrowed his eyes. Through the drifting haze, he caught the faint rise and fall of Kaelen's chest.

Shit, Seth thought. He's still alive.

A raw, agonizing scream cut through the surrounding noise.

The female officer of the NEVAK staggered backward in the middle of the neutral zone, the white-haired spearman's weapon buried deep in her upper chest. Before she could counter, the man twisted the shaft and drove his boot into her ribs. The blow tore the spear free and hurled her across the battlefield.

She rolled through the grass, hands reaching for the gaping wound as blood poured out from between her fingers.

The remaining animated suit of armor and the phoenix rushed to protect her. Yet it was all in vain.

The four-armed yeti slammed the living construct and reduced it to a pile of twisted and broken metal. At the same time, the sabertooth burst through the opening to force the phoenix back beneath a relentless barrage of pounces and lighting strikes.

"Use the token!" the wounded woman screamed before coughing up a mouthful of blood.

Her partner reacted instantly. The man reached into his robes, produced a dull iron coin, and flicked it high into the air.

The token spun once before dropping onto the scorched ground. A surge of aether erupted from the small piece of metal.

The white-haired spearman standing in front of them stepped forward. Another invisible pulse rolled from his body to unravel the aether of the artifact—but for the first time, the ability failed.

The coin continued to glow.

Yet... nothing else happened to Seth's surprise. The thing simply lay there, humming with aether.

The NEVAK officer wrapped himself in a shimmering mantle and sprinted to his companion's side.

The armored drake and the battered phoenix also rushed over and repositioned in front of the duo, forming a shield against the advancing beasts. The two sides collided once again.

The impact unleashed another flurry of violent aether shockwaves that tore across the neutral zone. One of the waves struck Kaelen. The Dark Assassin let out a raw scream as the ripple of energy seared deeper into his scorched flesh.

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'We have to protect him!' Colossus exclaimed through Link. 'He saved a member of our family!'

'It's too risky,' Nightmare retorted.

Seth stared at the prone assassin.

He knew Nightmare was right. Charging out there now would draw every eye in the neutral zone, and the aether raging across the battlefield would probably burn him to a crisp before he made it halfway. But Kaelen had saved Elena. And without him, Kastal's king could still be alive.

Screw it.

Seth broke from the protection of the Champions of Chaos' barrier and sprinted straight toward the fallen man.

"Seth, no!" Celine shouted from behind him.

Seth ignored her.

He drove his boots into the churned mud and pushed his legs to their absolute limit. Wild currents of aether slammed into him from the left, scorching his exposed skin and threatening to flay the flesh from his bones.

Inside his chest, both his core and Will of the Defiers erupted to life.

They pulsed in perfect synchrony, each thunderous beat pushing back against the heat smothering his body.

Gritting his teeth, Seth forced his way through the raging storm of aether and reached Kaelen. He clamped his hands onto the assassin's smoking leather armor, planted his feet, and let out a roar as he hurled the man's body through the air.

Kaelen cleared the aetheric gales and crashed behind the safety of the Champions of Chaos' glowing barrier.

Not missing a beat, Seth spun around to run back—though it was just in time to see the NEVAK's party crumble.

The four-armed yeti drove its massive fists into the giant drake, sending the scaled behemoth stumbling backward across the mud. Simultaneously, a blinding surge of blue-white lightning erupted from the sabertooth's pelt and struck the crimson phoenix squarely in the chest. The flying beast let out a piercing cry before crashing into the earth in a shower of embers.

A few paces away, the white-haired spearman lowered his weapon, and the gauntlet-wielding fighter shifted his stance beside him.

The flames of the wounded phoenix illuminated both of their faces. And for the first time, Seth caught a clear, undeniable sight of their eyes.

Golden eyes.

The white-haired combatant's gaze landed on Seth. The man stopped dead on his track.

Beside him, the broad-shouldered fighter lowered his combat gauntlets and shot his partner an impatient glare.

"Zakar, what the hell are you doing?" he barked. "We need to finish them before their reinforcements—"

His words died in his throat. Following Zakar's gaze, he had spotted Seth as well.

An eerie silence settled over the plain.

Even the Stormfang Sabertooth and the towering Ancient Frost Yeti abruptly halted behind their masters. As if sensing their bewilderment, the two apex predators turned their heads toward Seth.

No one moved. No one spoke.

Zakar. The name echoed through Seth's mind.

The male officer of the NEVAK seized the opportunity.

He rushed to his wounded partner and hauled her upright before crushing a healing scroll. Brilliant restorative light flooded her wound, knitting flesh together in seconds.

Yet neither of the golden-eyed Wielders made the slightest attempt to stop it.

They simply stared at Seth.

"On Kreytorus' head," the gauntlet-wielding man muttered.

Blue-white lightning crackled to life along Zakar's spear. The white-haired man took a deliberate step forward, and a suffocating pressure crashed onto Seth. The ambient air became impossibly heavy as every part of him screamed the same primal warning.

Run.

Yet he knew it was useless. This was where he died.

Not Orwen. Not Drack. Not even all of the Champions of Chaos together could stop that man. They were all insects under his boots.

Zakar had just taken another step when the plain suddenly darkened. A colossal silhouette swept across the sky, blotting out the sun and casting a giant shadow over the neutral zone.

Then came a roar that shook the entire place.

The sound surged through the plain with such force that Seth felt it in his bones before his ears could even perceive it. The air itself seemed to split as the ground beneath them trembled. Stones rose from the ground as a wall of pressure crashed across the battlefield, carrying a might that could crush mountains into dust.

Seth knew that roar—he had felt suffocating bloodlust filling it more than once. Something colossal plunged from the sky like a meteor and slammed into the plain, causing the ground to cave.

Shattered rock and shrapnel ripped through the air, and dust swallowed everything.

For a moment, Seth could see nothing. Then, the cloud of rubble slowly fell and dissipated through the breeze, revealing a giant slate-gray wyvern.

The creature embodied pure destruction. Scarred scales armored its massive frame, and two obsidian horns protruded from its crocodilian skull. Thick, leathery wings—each one wide enough to shade an entire platoon—folded against its flanks as it dug its talons deep into the ground. Frost spread across the ground beneath its feet. Each breath that left its nostrils bled the warmth of the air and turned into plumes of icy mist.

The beast slowly lowered its head, and a lone figure dropped from its back.

Marcus.

The Alchemist landed on the churned dirt and placed himself between Seth and Zakar.

The heavy travel cloak that usually shrouded the man's head had been lowered for once. His weathered face was as wrinkled as ever, but the expression he wore was entirely different. It was terrifying, promising not only death but years of suffering. His eyes burned with the savage resolve of someone striding willingly into the heart of a bloodbath.

The wyvern threw back its massive head and unleashed another roar.

This one seemed to hold the wrath of a god. The sound seized the entire neutral zone with a bloodlust far greater than before.

The Ancient Frost Yeti, the Stormfang Sabertooth, and the broad-shouldered fighter all stiffened and took an involuntary step backward. Even the NEVAK representatives and the flickering Spirit in the distance recoiled.

Only one person remained exactly where they had been standing.

Zakar.