Chapter 1142: Second Breath (2)
Not a single space in the whole entire world was spared from this event.
All landscapes and waterscapes were shaking as if the entire world was about to explode.
Mountains crumbled and rose anew, their peaks twisting like broken spires against the sky, a display of the heaven crumbling apart and falling down. Seas stirred and roared, their waters whipped into a frenzied phenomenon of chaos and upheaval.
It struck fear into the hearts of many.
Dargena City and all other cities around it were being overturned.
Buildings that could survive even the mightiest earthquake began to topple over, and houses that were meant to protect the people were crumbling down. Awakened—what's left of them at least, were sent to protect the people.
However, with the entirety of the city in chaos, casualties were bound to be high.
Only the core structures were saved by this.
Knowing that the Second Breath was coming—the higher-ups of Dargena City and also other cities already deployed safety measures so that their vital structures were not damaged. One such move is allocating more protections to them.
Damages would be done, but at the very least, the structures wouldn't crumble entirely.
As their situations are not great, this is a pivotal move for them.
Even then, the Great Barricade and all of its protections were not spared from the awakening of the Second Breath. Its sturdy walls—which protected Humanity from the claws of those— who wanted to bring them harm began to visibly crack.
Because of the suddenness of the dire situation, the people on the walls were in trouble.
A lot of them are simple military men, and they were trapped there.
Some of the Awakened who are below the fourth-rank realm were also trapped there.
Not having anything at their disposal to aid in descending from the towering construct of the Great Barricade, their only option was to grasp onto whatever they could and hope that they could somehow survive the ordeal.
But panic began to settle when sections of the Great Barricade began to crumble.
Crack!
"Help! Someone, I don't want to die!"
"Mother!!"
Despite their usual stoicism, in the face of nature's wrath, all of them crumbled to tears.
It felt like the ground wanted to swallow them whole.
Just the sight of the ground twisting and cracking, resembling the gaping maw of a monster that hungered for them—inflicted a deep sense of trauma. Even the battle-hardened people were not used to such a spectacle.
As the last of their stepping ground was crumbling, and their eyes closed in fear, hope came.
Bursting from the border were groups of Supernaturals.
Each group was at least one hundred strong, and they all sprinted to the Great Barricade.
Perched precariously on the edge of the walls—a lone military man paled as he watched his comrade plummeting to the twisting ground—screaming at the top of their lungs. His focus, was then abruptly pulled to the side, where he beheld groups of Dwarves and Elves dashing through the desolate border separating the Supernatural territory and the Great Barricade.
Despite the earthquakes, the groups don't seem to be disturbed by them.
Aided by the Dwarves' power, smoothened the group with a step, they were sprinting fast.
Upon reaching close—the Elves channeled their powers and summoned a cushion made of a portion of their energies to catch the falling, military personnel. Instead of being devoured by the ground, they were met with a soft sensation.
Like falling to a plump bed, it was very soft—they were saved from their demise.
"Go and spread out! Save as many people as you can!"
"Yes, ma'am!"
Swoosh!
Now that the Fifthborn is dead, Rex has to fulfill his part of the deal to help Humanity.
He was a man of his word, and he would do as he had promised.
Expecting that the Second Breath would come at any time—with the battle between him and the Fifthborn that riled the energy level, he already told the Elves and the Dwarves to station rescue forces near the Great Barricade.
Recognizing the shortage of manpower among Humanity, he understood the risks.
He knew that there wouldn't be enough Awakened around—to help the common folk against the Second Breath. A lot of people are going to die if that happens, and due to that, he lends a helping hand to mitigate that dire outcome.
It was his first move to help, naturally, it should make a huge impact.
Under the leadership of one, the groups of Supernaturals aided help to Humanity.
Fifteen years ago—if anyone was asked whether there would be a time when Sueprnaturals would come to Humanity's aid, the resounding answer, would've been no. But now, with Rex on the other side, that impossible scenario becomes a reality.
Not stopping at the Great Barricade, a couple of groups dived into human territory.
Despite being alerted by Intra, they ignored it and kept on going.
The Great Barricade wasn't the only target, but the smaller cities would definitely need help.
Similarly, the high-rank Supernaturals were also in the same predicament.
Under the merciless havoc, wrought by the Second Breath—their kingdoms bore the brunt of its fury. Demons suffered the greatest blow—their subterranean structures, made them quite vulnerable to tremors, so they got hit by the earthquakes the most.
But then again, the Demonic Eye was the only thing heavily protected.
Regardless of their losses, as long as the Demonic Eye survives, then they will be revived.
In another corner of the Supernatural Territory, the Vampires, previously evacuated to safety from the Fifthborn threat—found their haven—torn asunder by the relentless earthquakes. It was especially bad when their place was split in half.
A devastating occurrence that killed quite a number of their civilians.
It was unpredictable, so there was nothing the Vampire Elders could do about it.
The Werewolves found their territories transformed into chaotic mazes of spires—mountains and jagged rocks, while their forests expanded into vast—impenetrable jungles. The Undead saw their domain engulfed by dense foliage, suffocating their once formidable kingdom.
Worst of all, the Shapeshifters were submerged in water as a sudden flood swept over.
It came without warning and drowned their labyrinth kingdom.
Even though they were able to adapt, the situation was definitely bad for them.
Having the entirety of their place wiped like that was unforgiving and absolutely unfair.
But nature didn't pick sides, it happened at random.
One thing all of them had in common, however, was the fact that they were suffering.
Meanwhile, back to Dargena City.
Capitalizing on the phenomenon, Gelmar, Dindora, and Linthia alongside the trusted guards were on the backside of the castle—meditating inside their own respective formations, that Flunra built especially for today.
Briefed by Gelmar, all of them knew what to do and instantly went to meditate.
Each second, they could feel their energy was climbing to new heights.
All of them could tell that this opportunity was massive.
Similarly, the city guards were also gathered to do the same thing.
But as they were eager by the prospect of getting stronger, allowing them to contribute more to the empire, a loud crashing sound disturbed them from their meditation. Not all had a high mastery over meditation, so disturbances are extremely distracting.
A crowd was enough to force them out of their meditation, much less a loud, sudden noise.
One that was so loud that their eardrums were ringing.
Glancing over their shoulders, the guards saw the northwest walls cracked and exploded.
Despite the city's robust layers of protection and its sturdy construction materials—it proved unable to sustain the relentless force of nature, leading to a catastrophic explosion that sent chunks of debris spiraling in all directions.
It left the city walls open to the outside, and the cracks were only spreading.
Prioritizing the safety of the populace over personal gains, certain guards swiftly intervened, intercepting the falling debris. Utilizing their abilities, they flew and struck the debris directly or fired their own spells at the falling debris, shattering them into tiny flakes before reaching the residential areas and endangering the inhabitants.
Sure, the houses have barriers protecting them.
But those barriers are not as strong as the ones covering the entire city itself.
It might not be able to protect a huge debris falling from sky-high.
Not even Dargena City was safe, the scale of the Second Breath was extremely dangerous.
On the other hand, inside the castle.
Rex, deeply engrossed in meditation—was abruptly shaken, from his trance by a thunderous crash, echoing from outside. His accumulation of colorful energies stopped—and he opened his eyes, seeing that his own castle was tilted a little.
<Notice: the city wall has been breached!>
<City's condition has dropped to 85%, but all features are still online>
Upon reading the notifications, Rex frowned as he was not expecting this at all.
He firmly believed that the castle's defensive mechanisms would shield the city from harm as it did with other threats, but he was severely mistaken. Rex had underestimated the power of the Second Breath.
Just then, a panel was opened, displaying the damage to the city.
It was on the northwest wall.
Naturally, he was teetering on breaking out of his meditation and looking outside.
As an Emperor, he was bound to put the lives of his people above his power advancements.
But using solely his senses, he found that the city guards were handling the situation well, on their own which brought a smile to Rex's face. He wanted to help, yet it seemed there was no need for him to do that.
I have to start being more confident in my people.
Deciding that his presence was not necessary, he went back into meditation.
Soon, after about thirty minutes, the destructive phenomenon receded.
Rex was the first one to open his eyes again, absorbing the amassed energy into his body.
Looking down at his stretch hand, he began assessing his gains.
With a silent command, slithers of crackling black lightning danced along his arm, illuminating the air with their electric brilliance. Next, a soft azure glow enveloped his hand, weaving their enchanting embrace before a sphere of water materialized, swirling with fluid grace.
All three of his main elements were activated, and they were all brimming with power.
Just his lightning elements alone have reached a new height.
Compared to before, the power it emanated was increased by 50% at minimum.
On the other hand, his lunar and water elements experienced a substantial increase in power—especially his water element that was now comparable to a seventh-rank realm despite not being integrated with a water spirit yet.
For his lunar elements, he was right on the door of the ninth-rank realm, a tiny bit away.
Not stopping at that, Rex continued to channel his elemental mastery.
Fire, earth, dark, and light energies surged forth, merging seamlessly with his main elements.
It was a dazzling display of power, most managed to reach the sixth-rank realm equivalent.
Naturally, the power of these elements could only reach a pseudo-sixth-rank realm.
However, by merging with spirit of each element later down the line, he could effortlessly go to the sixth-rank realm in all of these elements. Only the Dark and Light elements were stuck at the mid-sixth rank realm as they were scarcer than the rest.
Even then, with this path, Rex was opened to a wide range of newfound power.
"Now I can really capitalize on being a Hexa Awakened..." He uttered whisperingly.
Upon feeling her power, Adhara stood up excitedly.
Capitalizing on this phenomenon, she was able to reach the mid-ninth rank realm on her fire elements which was an extreme progress for half an hour for such a high realm, "With this, I think we could firm our position further," She said excitedly.
But as she said this, she saw that Rex's expression was saying otherwise.
He was not on the same page.
Rex looked at Flunra, giving him a cue to explain to Adhara the situation.
"The formations I built, were a series of ancient runes—it was not that complicated. Now that the First Breath is over, all Elders that survived the genocide dating back to my own era were now awakened too," He said with a light sigh.
Adhara raised an eyebrow, "And that means...?"
"I'm not that special anymore, all of them could make the same formations as I did..."
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