Chapter 139: Chapter 139: The Zenith Panic

Chapter 139: The Zenith Panic

The Grand Hall of the Zenith Academy was freezing.

It was the exact same chamber where my brother, Valerius Thorne, had been humiliated. Now, I sat alone on the elevated obsidian throne.

I, Seraphina Thorne, was the last surviving heir of our bloodline.

The massive chamber was not empty. The true elites of the Monster Continent stood in the shadows, waiting for the scout’s report. They were arrogant, terrifying, and impatient.

A sudden tear in the spatial magic above the hall tore open.

FWOOSH.

A massive Shadow Fiend fell out of the portal. It crashed violently onto the polished marble floor.

THUD.

The spy did not immediately stand up. It curled into a tight ball, wrapping its leathery wings around its head. It was violently shaking.

I leaned forward on the throne. My aristocratic patience was entirely gone.

"Report," I commanded. "Did you breach the Ashfall Marches? Did you see the Goblin’s army?"

The Shadow Fiend slowly lowered its wings. Its four yellow eyes were wide with absolute, paralyzing terror. A faint, sickening magenta mist seemed to leak from its pupils.

"He... he knew I was there," the spy stammered. Its voice cracked like a frightened child. "He caught me instantly."

"And you fled without fighting?" a deep, rumbling voice echoed from the right side of the hall.

Commander Kaelen stepped out of the shadows.

He was the leader of the Zenith Academy’s Vanguard. He was not a fragile human. He was a colossal, A-Grade High-Orc Juggernaut. He was encased in towering plate armor that bled a sickening, dark light.

The Academy proudly called his unit the ’Holy Vanguard.’ It was an arrogant mockery. They were Corrupted Paladins. They were high-tier monsters who had hunted and devoured angelic cores, twisting the holy light into a weapon of pure destruction.

"I could not fight!" the Shadow Fiend sobbed.

Tears literally streamed down the monster’s jagged face. It pressed its forehead against the cold marble, weeping uncontrollably.

"He grabbed my throat," the spy cried, completely broken by the lingering effects of Grik’s Domination Aura. "His presence... it crushes the mind. He is not a beast anymore. He is a King. He is absolute terror!"

"Pathetic," Commander Kaelen stated coldly.

Kaelen did not yell. He did not scream like a fanatic. His massive High-Orc face remained perfectly calculating and devoid of all emotion. He viewed the crying spy as nothing more than a broken tool.

"Did the Goblin give you a message?" I demanded, gripping the armrests of my throne.

"He said to bring the Wyverns," the spy wept, shivering violently on the floor. "He said to bring the Corrupted Paladins. He said he is waiting for you."

The Grand Hall fell completely silent.

The Goblin was not hiding. He was actively challenging the absolute apex of the continent.

"He dares to invite his own slaughter," a dry, raspy voice hissed from the left side of the room.

The air grew instantly colder. The smell of rotting flesh and ancient dust filled the room.

Vexis floated forward. He was a high-tier Lich, a direct apprentice of the legendary Archlich Malacor. He wore tattered gray robes over his floating, skeletal frame. Green soul-fire burned brightly in his empty eye sockets.

"The Goblin’s arrogance is highly beneficial," Vexis hissed, clicking his skeletal jaw. "Archlich Malacor requires fresh materials. The Sovereign’s corpse must be delivered to our crypts intact. We wish to dissect his mechanical suit and reanimate his brass bones."

"The Goblin dies by my blade," Kaelen corrected smoothly. He rested his massive hand on the hilt of his corrupted broadsword. "His head belongs to the Vanguard."

"You brutes lack vision," Vexis mocked, his green eyes turning toward me on the throne.

The skeletal apprentice floated slightly closer to the obsidian steps.

"Speaking of prime materials," Vexis continued casually. "Lord Valerius was a magnificent specimen. It is a tragedy his head was utterly crushed in the arena. His corpse was useless to us."

I glared at the undead mage. "Watch your tongue, rot-worm."

"I am merely planning for the future, Lady Seraphina," Vexis replied, his raspy voice dripping with dark amusement. "Flesh is so fragile. When this war is over, or perhaps sooner if you meet an unfortunate accident, the Crypts demand your body. Your Incubus bloodline would make a fascinating necromantic experiment. You could serve the Academy forever."

My blood boiled. The sheer disrespect was infuriating.

"If you ever speak of desecrating my body again," I threatened, my voice shaking with raw magical pressure. "I will shatter your soul-fire myself."

"Enough politics," Commander Kaelen interrupted coldly.

The colossal High-Orc stepped forward. He completely ignored the bickering. His mind was already calculating the logistics of the war.

"The Goblin’s provocation is a trap," Kaelen stated. "He wants us to march blindly into his territory. He has likely heavily fortified the Ashfall Marches."

"Are you afraid of a Goblin’s trap, Commander?" I mocked bitterly.

"I do not feel fear, Lady Thorne," Kaelen replied, his voice a flat, dead rumble. "I calculate variables. If he has fortified his borders, we do not send infantry to die on his walls. We simply shatter the walls from the sky."

Kaelen turned his massive, armored back to the throne.

"Vexis," the High-Orc commanded. "Awaken the Abyssal Wyverns. Load them with your explosive undead thralls. We will carpet-bomb his mechanical city until the iron melts."

"Gladly," Vexis hissed, bowing his skeletal head.

"I will mobilize the Corrupted Paladins," Kaelen continued. "We will march behind the aerial bombardment. We will not offer terms of surrender. We will not take prisoners."

Kaelen drew his massive broadsword.

SHNK.

With a casual, terrifyingly swift motion, he swung the blade downward.

SQUELCH.

He severed the crying Shadow Fiend’s head in a single strike. Dark blood sprayed across the pristine marble floor.

"Cowardice is a sickness," Kaelen stated, wiping the dark blood from his blade. "And the Zenith Academy is the cure."

I watched the headless body of the spy collapse.

My brother was dead. My family’s proxy was completely destroyed. The Goblin had taken everything from me. But as I watched the Corrupted Vanguard mobilize, a dark, vengeful smile crept onto my face.

Grik thought his metal walls could protect him. He was wrong.

The true monsters of the continent were finally going to war.