Re: Tales of the Rune-Tech Sage

Chapter 809: Heavenly Tribulation And the Nest Queen

CH809 Heavenly Tribulation And the Nest Queen

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‘Hunger?’

For a brief moment, Alex was caught off guard by the overwhelming sensation flooding his mind.

Were it not for the strength of his Spiritual Force, the sudden influx would have overwhelmed him completely.

Enduring the torrent of impulses, he immediately searched his body for their source, yet found nothing.

Then he slapped a hand against his forehead as realisation dawned on him.

The sensation wasn’t coming from his body at all.

It was travelling through one of his mental links, which meant it originated from an external entity.

It wasn’t coming from any of his beast companions.

This few possibilities—and they just so happened to be in the same location.

“I need to check something. I’ll be right back,” Alex said to Sergeant Lopota.

Sensing the urgency in his liege’s voice, the sergeant simply nodded without asking any questions.

Even if he had asked, he wouldn’t have received an answer.

Alex had already waved his hand through the air.

It looked as though he had torn open space itself.

A shimmering portal appeared before him, leading directly into his pocket dimension, Sanctuary.

Pressed for time, Alex had opened the portal in full view of the defending troops.

Unknowingly, he had given them the impression that he could tear space apart with nothing more than a casual wave of his hand, further deepening the mysterious image of him as an unfathomably powerful sorcerer.

‘It really is you.’

Alex let out a quiet sigh as he located the source of the hunger within the Sanctuary.

The Nest Queen.

The golden cocoon of the serendipitously born creature had undergone a remarkable transformation since he had last seen it.

The once soft, jelly-like cocoon had hardened into a translucent golden egg.

Now, multiple cracks spread across its shell.

Several of those cracks had merged to create a small opening, through which a single compound eye peered out.

As Alex stepped closer, a powerful torrent of impulses suddenly burst through the opening, crashing into both his body and his mind.

Physically, the force pushed him back a step.

Mentally, the familiar hunger flooded his consciousness once again, far more intensely than before.

Worse still, the more the Nest Queen struggled to break free from her shell, the stronger the oppressive aura of the impending Heavenly Tribulation became.

More disturbingly, this Heavenly Tribulation radiated far more than simple judgement.

It carried the unmistakable intent of punishment.

It felt less as though the Heavenly Tribulation was attempting to judge whether the emerging creature was worthy of existing, and more as though it was determined to erase its existence outright.

The Heavenly Tribulation’s intent was so overwhelming that it had even begun infringing upon the Sanctuary pocket dimension.

‘Wait… no. Sanctuary is a separate, independent space. Verdantis’ Heavenly Tribulation shouldn’t be capable of reaching this place,’ Alex mused.

‘The Universe…?’

Realisation suddenly struck him.

It was quickly followed by a trace of horror.

Just what kind of existence had he inadvertently created for the Universe itself to become so determined to wipe it out?

For a fleeting moment, he wondered whether he should simply let it happen.

Thwack!

Something suddenly smacked him across the back of the head.

“Hey! What was that for?” Alex groaned, rubbing the sore spot.

The culprit was none other than Lord Bonsai’s vine-like branch.

The branch waved threateningly in front of Alex’s face, causing the young Count to instinctively lean backwards.

“It was only a passing thought. I wasn’t actually going to do it,” he said hurriedly.

The branch promptly shoved him aside as though scolding a mischievous child before extending towards the Nest Queen’s egg.

It gently wrapped itself around the golden shell, completely covering the opening.

Through his Spirit Sight, Alex noticed Lord Bonsai channelling a strange form of energy into the egg.

The mysterious energy temporarily satisfied the creature’s ravenous hunger, while the branch itself prevented the Nest Queen from breaking free.

However, Alex could tell this was only a temporary measure.

It would merely delay the hatching for a short while.

As expected, the gathering Heavenly Tribulation clouds gradually dispersed.

Before Alex could sigh in relief, however, one of Lord Bonsai’s roots suddenly burst from the ground.

It tapped the space before him.

To Alex’s astonishment, the tree directly manipulated the surrounding spatial energy, opening a portal back into the real world.

Before he could even process what had happened, the root wrapped around his waist and unceremoniously hurled him through the portal.

Although they couldn’t communicate through words, Alex had developed an uncanny ability to understand the intentions of the metaphysical Heartwood Tree.

Lord Bonsai was telling him that it would delay the Nest Queen’s birth for as long as it could.

In the meantime, Alex needed to find a solution to both the Nest Queen’s overwhelming hunger and the impending Heavenly Tribulation.

Just before he was thrown out of the Sanctuary pocket dimension, Alex caught sight of the Fortune-Suppressing Dragon resting upon Lord Bonsai’s crown.

The tiny dragon had curled itself into a ball, its body flickering in and out of existence.

Landing back in the real world behind the defensive wall, Alex’s expression grew exceedingly solemn as he looked up at the dark clouds gathering ominously overhead.

Although the Heavenly Tribulation had calmed slightly, its oppressive lock upon him had not weakened in the slightest.

It was merely biding its time before striking.

The atmosphere around Alex became so heavy that even the newly recruited Combat Warriors—many of whom had barely met their liege—could sense the gravity of the situation simply from the way he stood.

Judging from everything that had happened, particularly the reactions of the Fortune-Suppressing Dragon and Lord Bonsai, the Heavenly Tribulation was determined to erase the Nest Queen…

…and anyone caught in its path—including him.

However, offering up the Nest Queen was no longer an option.

She was now tied to his providence.

The problem was how he was supposed to survive the impending tribulation.

The pressure radiating from the dark clouds far surpassed anything he had experienced during the Elemental Stele trial.

That was hardly surprising.

Although both were Heavenly Tribulations born from the laws of the plane, the entity that initiated and governed them was entirely different.

The Elemental Stele trial had been a Heavenly Tribulation invoked by Verdantis’ Heavenly Will.

This looming catastrophe, however, originated from a Will that stood above even the Heavenly Will itself.

Needless to say, resisting such a force would be extraordinarily difficult—especially without the aid of the Pyramid of Elements.

“Alex, what did you do?”

Zora’s voice suddenly sounded through the communication artefact in his ear, pulling him from his solemn thoughts.

“What do you mean?” Alex asked.

“Those are Heavenly Tribulation clouds!” Zora exclaimed.

“I can see that. But why do you automatically assume I’m the one responsible for them?” Alex replied wryly.

‘It really wasn’t me this time, okay? It’s the Nest Queen.’

He added the last part inwardly.

“Because you’re the only person here I know who’s crazy enough to do something worthy of drawing the judgement of a Planar Will. Even if you didn’t do it directly, it must have been something you set in motion,” Zora shot back.

Alex found himself at a loss for words.

He let out a dry chuckle but offered no denial.

He couldn’t.

‘I really do get myself into an awful lot of insane situations, don’t I?’ he thought with self-deprecating amusement.

Then, all of a sudden, an idea struck him.

“I haven’t done anything crazy… yet,” Alex replied.

“Yet?” Zora immediately caught the dangerous implication.

“Mmm…” Alex nodded.

“I’m just about to.”

“Alex Fury…!”

Zora’s furious shout echoed through the communication artefact.

Without hesitation, Alex pressed the device hidden within his ear canal, switching it off before his increasingly exasperated wife could continue.

[Abyssal Conqueror’s Step: Third Step—Wraith’s Crossing]!

Alex’s figure blurred into a bolt of lightning as he sprinted straight up the defensive wall, arriving atop the battlements in only a few breaths.

He gazed into the darkness beyond.

The distant grunts, roars, and thunderous footsteps of the migrating beasts still echoed across the night.

Another horde had already begun gathering not far from the walls.

Whether they intended to attack under the cover of darkness or grant the defenders a brief respite until dawn remained unclear.

Alex clenched his left fist.

With a metallic click, the wrist blade concealed within his Beta Bracer extended.

He studied the blade for a brief moment before it snapped back into the bracer.

Then he drew the Skywalker Sword into his right hand and the Draconic Baton into his left.

His posture made his intentions unmistakably clear.

He was preparing to move out.

Two men hurried to his side.

They were the commanders of the nearest defensive units.

“What are your orders, Sir Count?” they asked, bowing respectfully.

Alex turned towards Sergeant Lopota and Captain Dyrk—a former BattleBane captain.

“Hold the line,” Alex ordered.

Then, after a brief pause, he added gravely,

“No matter what.”

“What are you planning to do, my Lord?” Sergeant Lopota asked earnestly. “We are your guards. Let us accompany you.”

“Your duty is to carry out my will,” Alex replied calmly. “And my will is for you to hold this wall, no matter the cost.”

“As you command.”

Sergeant Lopota immediately bowed, accepting his liege’s orders.

Even so, the reluctance in his expression was impossible to miss.

Alex gently patted the knight’s shoulder with the hand still holding the shrunken Draconic Baton.

“Don’t look so glum, Sergeant. It’s not that I don’t want to take you with me. This is simply a battle that I must fight alone.”

He slowly raised his eyes towards the dark clouds gathering overhead.

“The Heavens seek to impose their will upon me.”

His grip on the Skywalker Sword tightened.

“Then I shall defy the Heavens.”

He looked back at the two officers.

“Until I return… keep my domain intact for me.”

“Your will shall be done,” Sergeant Lopota and Captain Dyrk answered in unison.

Alex gave a slight nod before turning once more towards the distant gathering horde.

He quietly muttered to himself, as his pupils turned crimson.

“Well then… let’s go do something crazy.”

Calm Madness!

Without another word, he leapt from the battlements, dropping from the wall that stood dozens of metres high.

[Featherfall].

[Featherflight].

[Body Strengthening Magic].

One enhancement spell after another enveloped his body.

Boom!

[Dragon Kumite: Burst]!

[Abyssal Conqueror’s Step: Third Step—Wraith’s Crossing]!

The instant his feet touched the ground, Alex exploded forward like a bolt of lightning, streaking directly towards the approaching horde of Berserk Beasts.

***