Chapter 256: Interplanetary Wars

Chapter 256: Chapter 256: Interplanetary Wars

It came at dusk, without warning, from a place no one expected.

The Tower had been quiet for days. Its blue light had faded to a steady, low glow, and the crowds that had gathered at its foot after the night of the surge had thinned to a handful of guild camps. Climbers came and went. Merchants sold hot food from carts. Life, in its stubborn way, had begun to resume.

Then, at six minutes past six in the evening, every one of its hundred floors went dark.

For three seconds, there was nothing. No glow, no hum, no light in the sky. A hush fell over the plain. A sentry at the base looked up from his watch, frowning, and opened his mouth to call out.

Then the Tower spoke.

It was not a voice. It was a presence, a vast, cold, formal weight that settled over the whole world at once, rolling out from the black spire and across every mountain, ocean, and city. In the streets of Sol Aethel, in the markets of the capital, in the frozen camps of Vostrava and the harbor towns of the south, every device lit up in the same instant, and every person who held one felt a faint, bone-deep chill pass through their chest.

On every screen, in every language, the same words appeared.

[ GLOBAL ANNOUNCEMENT ]

[ To all inhabitants of Earth 1078, ]

[ the Millennial Planetary Wars is about to begin. ]

A silence followed, as long as a held breath.

Then more text unrolled below it, line by line, in clean white letters.

[ MILLENNIAL PLANETARY WARS: PARTICIPANT REGISTRY ]

[ Cycle 1078 / Sector: The Milky Way Galaxy ]

[ The following worlds have been confirmed as combatants. ]

1. EARTH 1078(Orion Spur, Sol System, Third Planet)

Planetary Level: 2

A young world. Newly awakened. Notable for the second mana flood in recorded history, and for the rapid emergence of high-tier individuals within its Tower.

2. KEPLER-442B: "THE VERDANT CROWN"

Planetary Level: 5

A temperate super-Earth of endless forest and shifting rivers. Home to the Sylvan Concord, a civilization of beast-tamers and root-weavers who have spent a thousand years perfecting the art of living warfare.

3. 55 CANCRI E: "THE FORGE-WORLD"

Planetary Level: 6

A scorched, molten planet, perpetually in daylight. Its inhabitants, the Pyrrhan Ascendancy, are smiths of unparalleled skill, and wield weapons of living flame and star-metal.

4. HD 189733 B: "THE SHATTERED SKY"

Planetary Level: 7

A storm-wracked gas giant on which rain falls as glass at a thousand miles an hour. Its people live in vast, floating citadels and fight with lightning, wind, and weather.

5. KEPLER-16B: "THE TWIN-SUN HOLD"

Planetary Level: 4

A cold giant orbiting twin stars. Its peoples are nomadic, fiercely loyal, and masters of gravity and light.

6. TRAPPIST-1E: "THE TIDELOCKED SEA"

Planetary Level: 5

An ocean world, half in eternal day and half in eternal night. Its inhabitants, the Deepwatch, are rumored to command the tides and the creatures beneath them.

7. GLIESE 667 CC: "THE CRYSTAL COURT"

Planetary Level: 6

A mineral world of towering crystalline spires, ruled by a council of nine undying monarchs. Its warriors are said to be unbreakable.

8. PROXIMA CENTAURI B: "THE LAST HOMESTEAD"

Planetary Level: 3

A small, tidally locked world on the edge of habitability. Hardy, secretive, and underestimated.

9. HD 40307 G: "THE OLD THRONE"

Planetary Level: 9

An ancient super-Earth whose civilization has survived four planetary wars. Its champions are the undisputed favorites.

[ A further forty-one worlds have been registered. Their records are sealed until the First Round. ]

The text paused again. In the capital, in the palace, in the marketplace and the farmhouse, a hundred million people read the list in a silence so complete that, in a few places, it was broken by the sound of someone dropping a cup.

Then the final section appeared.

[ GRAND PRIZE ]

[ The victor of the Millennial Planetary Wars shall be awarded: ]

[ ? PLANETARY ASCENSION: +1 LEVEL ]

[ The winning world’s Planetary Level will be raised by one. ]

[ Its mana density will be permanently increased. ]

[ Its inhabitants’ level caps will be extended. ]

[ Its Tower will gain additional floors, and new rewards. ]

[ Its name will be recorded in the Registry for a thousand years. ]

[ All other worlds shall remain unchanged. ]

[ The Wars will commence in 30 days. ]

[ Preparation is advised. ]

The Tower’s light flickered once, and returned.

Then the screens went dark.

In the Sunny Vale farmhouse, Rowan read the announcement standing in the kitchen with a half-eaten peach in one hand.

He read it all the way through. Then he read it again, from the beginning, slowly, line by line. Sophia stood beside him, her notebook clutched against her chest and her face gone pale. At the table, Arthur had lowered his coffee. In the corner, Martha had drawn Lily close, and the baby gave a small, sleepy, uncomprehending sigh.

"Earth 1078," said Rowan, softly.

"That’s us," said Sophia. "Isn’t it?"

"That’s us." He set down the peach. "Level two."

"Is that bad?"

"The next lowest is three. And that’s a planet on the edge of habitability." He laid a finger on the screen, tracing the list. "Level seven. Level nine. These worlds have been fighting wars like this for thousands of years. We’ve been fighting each other over a throne."

Arthur’s jaw tightened. Martha said nothing. Lily, in her arms, reached out one small hand, and a single green sprout curled up from the floorboards and swayed gently in the air.

"Thirty days," Rowan said.

"We can’t possibly be ready," said Sophia.

"No." He straightened. His eyes had gone to the window, to the dark line of the horizon, where the Tower stood against the evening sky. His voice was calm, but there was something under it, quiet and hard, like the ground beneath snow. "But we’re not going to be the only ones who aren’t."

His device buzzed in his pocket.

He took it out. The screen showed a group channel, with a dozen messages already waiting. Barney’s was at the top, in capital letters. BOSS DID YOU SEE THAT. Below it, Seraphina’s, crisp and precise. We must meet. Tonight. Below that, Mirei’s. i’m scared and excited and i want to hit something. And at the bottom, a single line from Caelen.

The Emperor has called a council. Come.

Rowan looked at it for a long moment.

Then he put the device in his pocket, reached for his hat, and took the hoe from its place beside the door.

"Mother, Father," he said. "I have to go."

"Be careful," said Martha, quietly.

"I will."

"And Rowan." She met his eyes. "Whatever this is, you don’t have to carry it alone."

He smiled, small and warm. "I know."

He stepped out into the dusk. Behind him, the farmhouse windows glowed gold. Ahead of him, the long road to the capital wound off into the dark, with the black spire of the Tower rising at its end like a drawn line.

Thirty days.

He began to walk.