Chapter 122 The Null Vanguard

Chapter 122 The Null Vanguard
The Feast of Wolves

The beach area which lay beyond the sea-wall began to transform into a slaughterhouse.

I saw Thorne's Syndicate Null-Wolves who were the strongest magic-resistant soldiers in the world battle his forces until they became extinct. The alien vanguard showed its terrifying battle capabilities through their synchronized movement across the battlefield. They maintained complete silence as they fought without issuing any vocal commands. They battled with complete suffocating silence.

The warrior began to snap his enormous jaws towards the dark-matter helmet of another warrior.

The wolf jumped through the air yet the alien being managed to capture him by his throat with his gauntleted hand. The alien's armor emitted a sickly grey light which flared at full intensity. The werewolf transformed back into his human form yet his body shriveled into a smaller size. His skin became ashen while his eyes rolled backward because the biological magic which upheld his Lycanthropy was extracted from his body.

The warrior discarded the magic-drained body of the soldier onto the sand before advancing forward.

Alpha Thorne yelled "Fall back!" with a voice which cracked under his intense state of panic. He shot his sidearm directly at the chest of the approaching warrior however all bullets became flattened against the dark-matter body armor. "The Citadel gates need to be our retreat point because they are consuming our essence."

The alien vanguard leader who wore a helmet with shining grey spikes raised his halberd before Thorne could make his turn. He swung the blunt end of the weapon in a devastating arc which struck Thorne's chest.

A massive shockwave of pure white-gold light struck the beach with devastating force.

The impact created a tidal wave which threw wet sand and ash into the air before it sent the alien leader flying backward.

Kade landed precisely in the middle of the newly created crater he had made while he positioned his Star-Metal-plated back between Thorne and the vanguard. The liquid silver veins which ran up his neck were pulsating so strongly that they created a blinding effect.

"Thorne needs to bring his soldiers behind the walls." Kade growled while he fixed his ocean-blue gaze on the alien invaders. "They want to acquire magic? Let's observe how they deal with the gravitational force of a god."

The Architect's Wall

Kade did not hold back his full power. He raised his hands while his Star-Metal gauntlet emitted the boundless energy which came from the World Engine.

He aimed his attack at fifty alien warriors who occupied the entire vanguard.

"Kneel" Kade commanded with his voice which echoed through the room like the terrifying synthetic sound of the Architect.

He created a gravity well whose power became so strong that it converted all sand which lay below the aliens into solid glass. The atmospheric pressure became extremely high. The kinetic energy became strong enough to crush Syndicate tanks into small cubes.

The aliens remained in their standing position without bending their knees.

The vanguard leader slowly rolled his shoulders. The dark-matter armor plating which had covered his entire body started to shake while it produced high-frequency sounds which resembled a tuning fork.

The surrounding sickly grey light became more powerful until it completely covered the vanguard group.

I stayed at the sea-wall while my breath stopped because Kade's absolute gravity well struck the grey light and slid off it.

Kade attempted to grab water with his hand but failed. The alien armor system worked by bending physical laws which existed in their immediate area instead of absorbing kinetic energy. The team created a small area which completely blocked the World Engine's planetary operations.

Kade spoke "Your planetary mechanical system functions on a basic level" to the host who stood on the beach.

The vanguard leader accessed telepathy to project his voice because he spoke through air with an imperial tone which made the Void King sound like a rabid dog.

"The Aethelgard exist as our people." The leader raised his halberd toward Kade. "We do not obey the gravity of dirt. We conquer it. You possess the Source. Surrender the Engine, and we will make your extinction quick."

The leader advanced toward his target while moving at extraordinary speed. The glowing grey blade of his halberd struck directly at the Star-Metal plate which protected Kade's heart.

The Silver Flash

Kade failed to stop the force because his physics systems became ineffective.

I ignited without thinking about anything.

The liquid silver starlight became my blood which transformed my biological mass into pure light energy.

CRACKLE.

I used a beam of sunlight to teleport directly from the sea-wall to the beach which lay one hundred yards away.

I appeared in front of Kade as the Aethelgard leader appeared.

I let the massive halberd swing toward me while I rode my forward motion. The alien's helmeted chin became my target as I used all my astral lightning power to generate a powerful uppercut strike.

The impact created a sound which resembled a thunderclap.

The Aethelgard leader was thrown backward while his heavy boots moved across the glassed sand.

The alien vanguard remained in their position until they completely stopped moving.

I stood in front of Kade with my feral gold eyes ablaze while my hands released crackling liquid silver light.

The vanguard leader began to rise from his seated position while he turned his head. The dark-matter armor which surrounded his neck area had been burned away while the smooth metal surface had become distorted by extreme heat from the stars.

The leader spoke "Anomaly detected" while his telepathic voice expressed actual surprise. "Your frequency. It is not native to the planetary core. It cannot be consumed."

The silver lightning danced wildly across my forearms as I smirked.

"I don't use Earth magic" I roared. "I am the cosmos. And you're trespassing."

The Astral Duel

"Elara, their weapons eat essence! Kade warned behind me, his voice tight with fear.

"They can't eat what they can't catch" I replied.

I dissolved into light.

I dodged the leader's halberd sweeping strike by teleporting three feet to my left. I materialized for the brief moment needed to execute a silver-charged kick which targeted his knee joint.

CRACKLE.

He attempted to crush me with a downward swing but I had already vanished from his sight. I reappeared behind him to send a starlight beam that hit him squarely in the back. The silver magic behaved like a cosmic laser which burned through the dark-matter slipspace field while it destroyed the underlying armor.

The Aethelgard leader emitted a terrifying metallic roar which he used to turn around while his halberd created a gray energy trail that consumed magical powers.

I chose to remain still in my current position. I moved through space with my running method.

I created an area of violent energy which functioned as a strobe light. I teleported into the air above him, dropping a heel strike onto his helmet. Flash. I appeared beside him to stab his armpit weak point with my Star-Metal knife which had astral lightning covering its blade. Flash. I appeared ten feet away, hurling a blinding net of silver energy that entangled his massive weapon.

The alien warriors advanced to assist their leader but Kade succeeded in creating a new strategy. He couldn't use gravity to crush his enemies but he had options to change the environment. Kade used his hands to hit the sand which caused him to summon a fifty-foot-thick wall of Star-Metal from the beach's bedrock. The wall created a violent divide between the leader and his vanguard.

The Aethelgard commander stood alone facing me.

The leader studied me as he spoke, "You are fast, anomaly." He dropped his entangled halberd to the ground while he took out a short serrated dark matter blade. "But you cannot burn forever."

"Watch me," I growled.

I became a complete burning entity which transformed my entire body into a blazing silver starlight spear. I surged toward him while moving at light speed to directly hit his chest.

He didn't attempt to stop my movement. He extended his arms while his dark-matter armor spread outwards to form a physical net which captured my light form inside a slipspace vacuum.

I aborted the strike mid-teleport, violently forcing my body to reform inches from his blade, the sudden deceleration tearing at my muscles. I took hold of his wrist with both of my hands to transfer all of my silver magic power directly into his armor's power core.

His suit experienced a starlight overload which caused a violent malfunction.

The dark-matter armor produced a loud popping noise when it broke into pieces.

The Aethelgard leader dropped to the ground while his helmet broke apart to show a pale face with no features who possessed a jagged mouth which gaped open. He struggled to breathe as the silver burns on his skin emitted smoke which carried away in the ocean breeze.

I stood over him while my chest breathed heavily and silver lightning bolts shot out from my fingertips.

I had defeated the vanguard leader. I experienced the victory which turned to ash in my mouth after I raised my eyes to the sky.

The colossal dreadnought hovering in the fractured sky hadn't moved. And from its massive underbelly, a thousand more drop pods began to rain down upon the earth.