Several hours have passed and it was almost time. Sweat dripped from Kayn's strained face as he continued putting practically everything he had into this one attack. He considered adding the void element to it to create Extinction Flames, but he didn't want to risk alerting the Celestials to his presence. As long as they didn't catch a whiff of the void element or the aura of an Obsidian Void Dragon, he should be safe.
For the last few hours, Kayn had compressed so much fire elemental mana into this single arrow that the Blazing Wing itself was starting to show signs of breaking. Rather than an arrow, it looked like a miniature sun and the heat it gave off was just as intense. Fortunately for Kayn, it was his own mana and he wasn't bothered by the ever-increasing temperature.
He was simply sweating from the stress and strain of keeping the bow pulled taut for so long, the amount of mana he was pouring out, and the multiple spells he was keeping active at once.
Kayn kept his Mana Sense pinpointed on the large dome barrier below him, waiting for the moment that it dropped. As soon as he confirmed that everyone inside was no longer present, the arrow would be released. Between the arrow, the bow's empowerment, and the thousands of explosive traps he set up, Kayn was almost worried he might be overdoing it.
It was too late to back out now though, all he could do was move forward and deal with any consequences after.
…
"Keep attacking! The barrier is almost done for! This war is finally going to be over! Once we capture or kill that Mancean rat, we can all go home!" Shouted a man holding a small tablet in his hands which only displayed numbers. The numbers shown were 0.01%.
The fervor of the troops attacks increased hearing this as this war had gone on for far too long. Many of them disapproved of fighting alongside undead and couldn't wait to get away from them. Some were just excited to get back home to their families. Others were more excited to claim the spoils of war they were promised, namely slaves and stolen wealth.
The few liches within the attacking group were just happy to be able to get back to their research. Though, the Lich King might make them move south and finish the war with the tribes down there first. The lack of fresh corpses where they were stationed was also depressing, so they too couldn't wait to be done with Mancea.
As the attacks continued, the bright golden barrier suddenly came down. Starting from the peak of the dome, the solid dome that had stood for many years without breaking was falling apart piece by piece, vanishing as each little bit fell off.
Battle cries were heard all around as the dome finally broke. The 6th stage powerhouses present were the first to act, launching themselves inside the palace, sweeping the place with any detection spells they had. However, they found no one inside.
There was nothing but empty halls and rooms. The powerhouses were all confused and were about to spread out and search the area, but as if on cue, all of them widened their eyes and started looking up.
It was too late, there was nothing they could do. A split second later, fire engulfed their world.
…
Yelena was returning to the hideout from another supply run. She was excited because she noticed a few of the regions previously under the rule of enemy 6th stagers were practically empty over the last year of her explorations. She found a group of survivors at the city formerly run by a 6th stage Carnet mage, but in the regions owned by the liches, she found nothing but burnt ruins and bones.
Knowing that somehow that kid actually succeeded where she failed, even when she didn't expect him to, caused her to become excited. She was elated as she even found a few storage bags placed at the front of the camps with supplies and weapons stashed inside of them, most likely left behind by Kayn.
It happened just as she was about to enter the secret and bustling city that she established underground. As her foot was just about to cross the illusion she set up, she lost her balance, the world was shaking beneath her.
Unusual as it was for a 6th stage expert like her to lose her balance, the shaking of the ground was truly violent. She worried for the people within the underground city and prayed that the structural supports she had earth mages erect would hold out.
She was about to look around for what caused such a quake or if it was natural, but the light shining just beyond the ridge indicated something else had happened. Soon, a massive plume of fire and dust rose high into the world's atmosphere, falling over itself at it got too high. It resembled a massive black mushroom if Yelena was honest.
Her eyes widened as she saw a gust of wind sweeping through the forest below before it quickly swept by her. It wasn't violent enough to break trees or anything at this point so far away, but if this blast of air was caused by whatever caused the massive mushroom in the distance, it must have been something catastrophic.
Best estimations placed that cloud of smoke several thousand kilometers away. If the effects of whatever happened there could reach her that far away, she couldn't begin to fathom what the area struck by the cause looked like now. The more she thought about it, a sudden realization came to her. That was the direction of the capital city of Mancea, Palatine.
…
"Your Majesty, we've received word from some of our commanders stationed in various points around Mancea." A messenger addressed the Carnet Emperor sitting on a throne before him
The Carnet capital and Palatine were some 30,000 or so kilometers from each other, so the explosion was neither felt nor seen from this distance, but the sudden lack of communication with their forces stationed in Palatine was an indication that something had happened. It was only a few minutes after communications were halted that they began receiving numerous reports of the calamity that befell their forces from those outside the city.
"Did that assassin come back or something?" The emperor spoke calmly, but the messenger could only swallow his saliva and pray to the gods he worshiped. It had been known for some time now how this emperor dealt with those who brought bad news.
"Um, to be completely honest Your Majesty, we don't know why it happened or who caused it. It is doubtful that it was the assassin who was active a year ago though as that person isn't powerful enough to cause this incident."
"Well, out with it then, what happened?" The emperor started getting annoyed because this messenger seemed to be dragging their feet and stalling out giving him the report.
"It's gone, Your Highness." The messenger said nervously.
"What's gone? Tell me in fucking detail already!" Shouted the Emperor.
"Palatine! The whole city! It's just gone! Even the surrounding areas were completely wiped out! Nothing is left but a massive crater and fire. There are also no signs of any of our 6th stage experts having escaped the city before it was wiped out.
"The statements of those who witnessed it firsthand describe it as if a miniature sun appeared and engulfed the city in a fiery inferno. A few of our 5th and 6th stage forces stationed in cities close enough to the explosion reported a heat wave that blasted through the area and killed most if not all of their subordinates.
"A single 6th stage, Lorae, deployed from a couple thousand kilometers away after the fire died down in an attempt to investigate the explosion and its aftermath. Due to the heat still radiating in the area, he wasn't able to get very close unfortunately. He is the one that reported that there was nothing left but a crater where the city of Palatine once stood."
The messenger paused as he could feel his death was imminent, but he finished his report despite knowing what was coming.
"It is estimated that we have lost a total of 93 million soldiers in and around the city due to the explosion and the heat wave that came in the aftermath. Most of those were non-mages or below the 3rd stage. Our estimates for 4th stage losses is around a hundred thousand, and twenty-three thousand for 5th stages. As for 6th stage experts, there were a total of 17 present within the city at the time.
"This leaves us with a total of less than twenty thousand 4th stages, three thousand 5th stages, and six 6th stages still alive in total for our Carnet Empire, not including yourself, Your Majesty.
"We still have man-power if we need it though. The latest census declared a total of three billion citizens throughout the Empire's lands and we have around one billion slaves currently. There are mages among the slaves as well so we can force them to fight if need be. Unfortunately, the rest of the Mancean population is either dead, in hiding, or turned into undead for the lich armies."
The emperor was silent for a moment, but rather than killing the man outright, he asked a question, "What about the liches? Did they say anything after they resurrected?"
The messenger gulped even harder than before, this was the news he was dreading sharing.