ShadowBound: The Need For Power-Chapter 368: The Green Calamity (3)

Back in Tynoon—Zone 8—the city burned beneath the midday sun.

Mystica stood at the center of it all, her midnight cloak whipping in the wind, a glow of mystic light pulsing at her palms. She was in command here, just as Magnus was in Icua, Zone 10. And just like him, she now found herself at the heart of sudden chaos.

Just moments ago, the evacuation had been proceeding smoothly. The streets were lined with families shuffling toward the glowing portals in orderly lines. Knights held the roads clear, and mages supported the effort with detection spells and healing enchantments.

Then the world cracked open.

The air had shifted—twisted. A silence had crept in, too unnatural for a bustling city. And then the roar came. The first building exploded in a hail of debris and roots. From its shattered remains burst a hulking Gaia demon, covered in moss and thorns, its eyes burning with primal hatred. Behind it, hybrids surged into the streets—mockeries of men twisted by Sylvathar’s corruption, their green auras leaking like venom into the sky.

Now the city was a warzone.

Civilians scattered in panic, their screams drowned out by the howls of beasts and the collapsing of buildings. Fire and smoke painted the skyline, rising high and fast as chaos overtook the zone.

"Form perimeter lines! Triage behind the shield walls!" Mystica shouted, her voice amplified by a sound-enhancing spell. Her eyes glowed a fierce violet as she turned toward a charging hybrid.

She flicked her hand. A needle-thin spear of light shot forward, punching through the hybrid’s skull and anchoring it to the wall behind it.

"Protect the civilians at all costs!" she barked again, raising her other hand and conjuring a dome of water to smother the flames licking at a nearby home. "No retreat!"

Dozens of knights rushed forward under her command, shields raised and blades flashing. Mages cast barrier wards over fleeing families, while wind and flame lashed through the advancing enemy ranks.

A young knight stumbled in front of her, bleeding from a torn leg. Mystica didn’t hesitate—her fingers snapped, and healing light cascaded over his wound, mending it in seconds. "Get up. You’re not dying here."

"Y-Yes, ma’am!" he said, leaping back into the fray.

Suddenly, a massive tremor shook the ground. One of the evacuation portals flickered—then shattered completely, the magic destabilized.

Mystica’s head snapped toward it. "No... damn it!"

She stretched forth her hand to reopen a new portal but just as she did a massive, armored hybrid rose from the crater where the portal had been, dragging a chained flail of living roots behind it. Its face was half-human, half-demonic, twisted into a permanent snarl. With a roar, it whipped its flail forward, destroying another building in one devastating arc.

"Shield line, fall back to formation Beta!" Mystica shouted, launching herself into the air using a burst of wind magic. From her elevated position, she spread both hands wide. The sky darkened for a moment—and then rained spears of ice down upon the largest demons.

Cries of pain erupted from the hybrids as several were pierced, while others leapt to safety with feral speed.

One Gaia demon lunged for a husband and his wife.

Before its claws could connect, a ripple of frost slammed into its body—freezing it mid-pounce. It hit the ground in shattered chunks of ice and rotting wood.

Mystica landed beside the couple, eyes flashing.

"Move. Now."

As the civilians ran, another quake shook the area. From the other side of the city, she heard more roars—more demons. A second wave.

Mystica’s jaw clenched tight as her boots lifted from the crumbling roof beneath her. She soared back into the sky in a gust of wind, eyes sharp and burning with resolve.

"An extra hand right about now wouldn’t be useless," she muttered, voice low beneath the shriek of chaos.

Her mind immediately flicked to Galen and Magnus—both stationed in Icua, Zone 10. Two cataclysm-class knights holding the same battlefield? Overkill. A waste of firepower.

She reached for her communication crystal, fingers glowing faintly as she activated its arcane circuit to contact Galen. But just as she raised it to speak—

BOOM!

Lightning tore through the sky like a vengeful god’s whip, crackling toward her in jagged streaks. At the same time, a massive, barbed root shot up from the ground below—snapping like a giant’s spear aiming to skewer her midair.

They came from two directions. Both lethal. Both perfectly timed.

But Mystica was faster.

In an instant, her form blurred. The space around her shimmered, and she warped out of existence—reappearing atop a distant rooftop in a pulse of white light and wind. Her cloak whipped around her, and her body dropped into a low crouch, scanning the aftermath.

’That wasn’t normal,’ she thought, narrowing her glowing eyes.

Gaia demons relied on earth and nature magic, nothing more. And all the hybrids she’d faced so far? They’d stuck strictly to the same affinities. No lightning. And certainly not with that much precision.

Whoever that was—it wasn’t just another beast.

"There’s a general around," she whispered under her breath, rising slowly.

And just as she did, a sharp shift in air pressure warned her—

A force came barreling toward her, so fast it blurred the space around it. Mystica snapped her hand forward and cast an air barrier, laced with defensive myst.

The attack collided with her shield in a resounding crash.

Mystica caught a glimpse of the weapon—it was an axe, large and jagged, trailing sparks of lightning. The wielder? A figure cloaked in motion, fast as a missile. freēnovelkiss.com

The shield held—but barely. The force of the strike sent the attacker skidding sideways, crashing through a building across the street. Stone and wood exploded into debris.

Mystica stayed perfectly still, her fingers twitching with ready spells. Her eyes scanned the rubble. She knew—knew for sure—that impact wasn’t enough to kill whoever that was.

And right on cue—

A large section of the fallen building was pushed upward. It teetered, then was hurled aside.

A guttural growl rumbled out from beneath.

From the ruin, a fierce woman emerged—her presence like a weight in the air. Her white hair was short and wild, tousled by wind and dust. Her body was lean and chiseled, wrapped in a fur-lined cloak over tight, black leather. Scars laced her arms like inked ribbons, and vivid green rune-tattoos pulsed along her collarbone and abs with raw mystic energy.

She looked like a walking battlefield.

Her massive axe rested over her shoulder, its edge crackling with residual lightning. Her scarred face twisted into a grin, teeth bared like a predator sizing up prey.

"Damn," she said, voice husky with amusement. "Who knew I’d be sent flying by a fragile little thing like you?"

Mystica narrowed her eyes, saying nothing.

The woman chuckled. "I mean it. I really didn’t expect it. Guess being a Primordial makes up for the lack of physical prowess, huh?"

Mystica tilted her head slightly. "You’re a general, aren’t you?"

The woman gave a dismissive scoff. "I don’t care for titles, but yes." She spread her arms theatrically. "Barbara. Barbara the Barbarian."

Mystica’s lips twitched upward faintly. "Barbarian?"

"Yeah, fragile girl. That’s what they call me." Barbara twirled her axe like it weighed nothing. "And apparently, I’ve been assigned to keep you busy today. Though honestly, I think I’ll be the one entertained."

Mystica’s expression hardened. "Call me fragile one more time," she said in a low, burning voice. "And I promise you’ll regret it."

Barbara gave a mocking laugh. "Oh? Sensitive, are we? Adorable."

She adjusted her stance, crouching low, axe humming with mystic electricity. Her tattoos flared brighter, pulsing with power.

"Too bad cuteness won’t help you, sweetheart," she snarled. "Because your final moments are crawling right toward you."

Mystica’s cloak lifted as she readied herself, the wind tightening around her like a coiled serpent. She wasn’t smiling anymore.

"Then come and take them," she whispered.

And in the next heartbeat—

They clashed.

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