Chapter 185: The Whispering Rift
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The marketplace lay in ruins, but the people had survived, thanks to Dabi, Loira, Zen, and Jeni.
The distant glow of fires illuminated the night sky, and the faint cries of injured civilians echoed through the city. Exhaustion weighed on the team, but none of them dared to rest.
"Dabi," Loira said, her voice steady despite the chaos surrounding them, "that harbinger wasn't just taunting us.
The central rift is calling them, and if we don't act now, the next wave will tear this city apart."
Dabi nodded grimly, wiping sweat from his brow. His glowing hands flickered weakly as his spatial magic waned. "I know. We can't let them regroup. Zen, Jeni can you manage?"
Zen stretched his shoulder, wincing. "Barely, but I'm not sitting this out."
Jeni twirled her staff, the faint glow of her spells still lingering in the air. "Let's end this before it gets worse."
Loira stepped forward, her gaze distant as she focused on the faint energy pulses only she could sense. "It's east of here. The rift is massive I can feel its pull even from here."
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"Then let's move," Dabi said, his voice resolute. He turned to Althea, who had just finished organizing the guards and tending to the injured. "Can you hold the city while we're gone?"
Althea's armor was scorched, and her spear dripped with blackened ichor, but her eyes burned with determination. "Go. We'll hold the line. Just make sure you come back in one piece."
Her care for Dabi makes Jeni a little worried and jealous. She asked Dabi who is she?
Dabi replied she is a friend. Althea is royal from the Illyrian family. She just joined our astral heaven academy.
For a moment everyone was silent. Jeni and Althea both forgot about the chaos. Their only target was to win Dabi's heart.
Then the team raced through the city streets, the tension thick in the air. Every shadow seemed alive, every sound a potential threat.
The once bustling city was eerily quiet, its inhabitants hiding behind locked doors and barricaded windows.
Loira led the way, her senses locked onto the pulsating energy that grew stronger with each step. "It's close," she said, her voice low. "Just beyond the eastern gates."
As they approached, the gates came into view. What they saw beyond them made them freeze.
The central rift loomed above the horizon, a towering vortex of swirling energy that crackled with otherworldly light.
Around it, dozens of smaller gates flickered in and out of existence, spewing forth creatures of varying shapes and sizes.
Abyssal beasts prowled the area, their glowing runes marking them as pawns of the harbinger.
"This is worse than I imagined," Zen muttered, gripping his blade tightly.
Jeni's knuckles whitened around her staff. "How do we even get close?"
"We don't stop moving," Dabi said firmly. "We push through, no matter what. Loira, you and I will focus on closing the smaller gates while Zen and Jeni cover us."
"And the central rift?" Zen asked.
Dabi's gaze hardened. "One step at a time."
The team charged into the chaos, their movements a coordinated dance of survival and strategy.
Loira's magic flared as she conjured spatial traps and barriers, ensnaring the smaller creatures that lunged at them.
With a flick of her wrist, she closed the first gate, its energy imploding in a burst of light.
"First one down!" she shouted.
Zen moved like a whirlwind, his blade a blur as he cut through the beasts with precision. Each swing of his sword left a trail of glowing runes in the air, his strikes disrupting the creatures' coordination.
Jeni stayed at the center of the group, her staff glowing as she unleashed a barrage of ice spells.
She froze one beast mid leap, then shattered it with a pulse of energy. "Keep going! I'll cover you!"
Dabi focused his remaining energy on creating pathways through the chaos.
With each step, he opened small portals that allowed his team to evade attacks and gain the upper hand.
The strain was immense, but he pushed through, his determination unwavering.
As they fought their way closer to the central rift, the air grew heavier. The ground beneath them cracked and shifted, warped by the rift's energy.
"Loira!" Dabi shouted. "How much farther?"
Loira's eyes glowed faintly as she honed in on the rift's energy. "We're almost there! Just a little—"
Her words were cut off as a massive beast emerged from one of the larger gates.
It was a hulking creature with four glowing eyes and runes etched across its muscular frame.
It let out a deafening roar, its claws digging into the ground as it charged toward them.
"Zen!" Dabi yell's. "You're up!"
Zen nodded, a fierce grin spreading across his face. "I've been waiting for this."
He met the beast head on, his blade clashing against its claws in a shower of sparks. The ground trembled beneath their battle, each strike sending shockwaves through the air.
Jeni supported him from a distance, her spells targeting the beast's runes to weaken it. "Zen, aim for the runes on its chest! That's its weak spot!"
They learn about the runes beast from Astral Haven academy. Although they knew how to defeat a rune beast. It's first they encounter one of them.
Zen ducked under a swipe of the beast's claws, then lunged forward, his blade piercing the glowing runes. The creature let out a pained roar, its movements faltering.
"Finish it!" Dabi shouted.
With a final, powerful swing, Zen cleaved the beast in two. It dissolved into mist, leaving behind a faint shimmer of energy.
But before it disappears, it makes one last effort. Striking Jeni will all his might. Jeni got injured by the attack flown to a tree.
Dabi quickly run to Jeni, gives her a full healing potion. Tell her to immediately drink it. She follows through Dabi's word.
Jeni regains some of her strength and mana. She stood up from the ground.
Meanwhile "Nice work," Loira said, a rare smile gracing her lips to Zen.
Zen smirked, wiping sweat from his brow. "All in a day's work." then asked Jeni is she alright? She just nods. 'Hmmm.'
Finally, the team reached the central rift. Up close, it was even more massive and foreboding, its energy warping the very air around it.
The smaller gates had stopped appearing, but the central rift pulsed ominously, as if anticipating their arrival.
"This is it," Dabi said, his voice steady. "Loira, can you close it?"
Loira hesitated, her gaze locked on the rift. "It's not just a rift. There's something...alive inside it. Something protecting it."
I can't close the gate it until the controller is defeated. We need to enter the gate or they needs to come out.
As if in response to her words, the rift began to shift. A massive figure emerged, its form obscured by shadows.
It was the low level harbinger, but this time, they were not alone. Two other figures flanked them, their forms just as imposing and otherworldly.
"Welcome," the harbinger said, their voice dripping with malice. "I see you've come to die."
The three figures raised their hands, summoning a storm of energy that crackled with destructive force.
"Loira," Dabi said, his voice calm despite the growing danger, "close the rift. We'll handle them."
Loira's eyes widened. "But—"
"Trust us," Zen said, stepping forward with his blade at the ready. "We've got this."
Jeni nodded, her staff glowing as she prepared for the battle ahead. "Do what you have to. We'll hold them off."
Loira hesitated for only a moment before nodding. She turned her focus to the rift, her magic flaring as she began weaving the complex spell needed to seal it.
Dabi, Zen, and Jeni faced the harbinger and their allies, determination burning in their eyes.
The battle for the city and perhaps the world was far from over.
The wind whipped around the battlefield, charged with raw, otherworldly energy.
Each of these entities exuded an aura of immense power, their glowing runes thrumming with energy that seemed to bend reality itself.
"Mortals," the harbinger said, their voice echoing unnaturally. "You have impressed us with your defiance. But this is the end of your struggle."
Dabi raised his sword, the last vestiges of his spatial energy flickering around him. "You talk too much."
The harbinger smirked, raising their staff. "Then let us end this."
With a wave of their hand, the three figures unleashed a torrent of energy, black and violet lightning surging toward the team.
Dabi reacted instantly, creating a spatial barrier to absorb the attack. The impact sent shockwaves through the ground, cracks radiating outward from the force.
"Hold the line!" Dabi shouted, sweat dripping down his face as he strained to maintain the barrier.
Zen dashed forward, his blade gleaming as he targeted the harbinger's left flank. "I'll keep them busy Jeni, cover me!"
Jeni raised her staff, her voice ringing out as she chanted a spell. A burst of icy light erupted from her staff, encasing one of the harbinger's allies in frost.
The frozen figure struggled against the ice, buying Zen the opening he needed.
He lunged at the harbinger, his blade aimed for their chest. The harbinger deflected the strike with their staff, the clash of metal and energy ringing through the battlefield.
"You're persistent," the harbinger said, their glowing eyes narrowing. "But persistence alone won't save you."
Zen smirked. "It's gotten me this far."
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