Tales of the Endless Empire

Chapter 423: The Fall of the First Island

It wasn’t looking good for Thalion’s group members, with four soldiers going after each of them. The soldiers were solidly E-grade, and Emma and Andrew lacked the overwhelming power needed to kill them instantly the way Thalion could. Thankfully, Thalion was already moving in for the rescue.None of the soldiers had noticed that their comrades had already kicked the bucket. Normally, taking down eight E-grades wasn’t easy—but when none of them were paying attention, the task became far more manageable.

Thalion dove in behind them using Telekinetic Dash and began tearing their bodies apart. The shriek of metal ripping open alerted the others after he killed the first three in rapid succession. This time, he avoided using the effect that sent arcs outward with every claw strike, just to make sure no random bystander was hit by his curse. If Thalion was unlucky, curses might be forbidden in this kingdom—and that could lead to all kinds of trouble, possibly even execution.

Now the fight was five against three, which made things significantly easier. More accurately, Andrew and Thalion were facing one soldier, while Emma was still struggling against four who had decided to finish her off before helping their comrade. Emma hurled lightning in all directions, desperately trying to create distance, panic gleaming in her eyes.

Luckily for her, it only took seconds for Thalion to finish the last guard. He and Andrew immediately moved in to help.

From there, the fight devolved into a brutal brawl—one in which Thalion excelled, finishing his opponents in mere seconds. Combat became far easier when the enemy lacked charms that blocked mental attacks. It was baffling how often eyes met in battle, because for Thalion, a single Crimson Gaze was enough to end the fight.

He had definitely stolen the right set of eyes back in the tutorial.

With his high vitality, the minor backlash from using the skill at full power didn’t matter and healed within seconds. Normally, pouring power into the skill wasn’t a problem, but with his new bloodline, things had changed. So far, Thalion had to admit that every use against an unprotected enemy was an instant kill.

If only he had already evolved to E-grade—things would have been so much easier.

It didn’t even take a full minute before all their opponents were dead, and they could look for new targets.

Below them, Ryan and his group were storming through enemy resistance with brute force. No one could even slow the Chosen down. His teammates weren’t doing nearly as well, and Sophie was already working nonstop, patching up the wounded.

The injuries were far more brutal than anything Thalion remembered from Earth. Most of Sophie’s patients looked horrible—bodies twisted, bones jutting out at unnatural angles like a porcupine’s spines. That someone like that could be fully healed was already a miracle. That healers could fix them within minutes was downright insane.

It was normal by system standards, but still hard to get used to.

The way war was waged now was something Thalion had only ever imagined after watching Lord of the Rings or Avatar. They were pushing toward a massive floating rock, jumping from skyship to skyship, with nothing but open air beneath them. A fall would kill anyone if there was even ground somewhere under the white clouds.

Thalion and the others regrouped with Ryan’s force. There was no longer any advantage in staying split while they had to punch through multiple factions. Even so, Thalion deliberately stayed slightly back to maintain an overview of the battlefield.

With their arrival, the situation escalated rapidly. So far, they had only captured three skyships, and Ryan continued pushing forward without hesitation. While he could easily do so, Thalion didn’t think it was the best course of action.

“Those ships have weapons. Arm them and steer them in that direction,” Thalion commanded, pulling six of Ryan’s fighters—who were lagging behind—out of the main group.

The weapons weren’t impressive, but each ship carried one ballista and two magic circles that continuously replenished mana and stamina. Perfect for mages and archers. One of the skyships had lost its main mast and was useless, but the other two were quickly commandeered. With hissing sails, they followed Ryan’s advance.

It helped that the fighters immediately followed Thalion’s orders, making everything much smoother. Some weren’t mages and couldn’t properly use the magic circles, which made them less effective—but Thalion only realized that after locking both helms to follow Ryan in a straight line.

Stopping them quickly probably wasn’t even possible—and unnecessary, given the pace Ryan was advancing at.

“Everyone without ranged abilities, get off the ships! Mages and archers—get up here!” Thalion shouted.

Andrew and another fighter were busy loading and firing the ballistas, which was fine—but everyone else really needed to get off the ships. Thalion was the only one who stayed behind, both to adjust the course if necessary and to maintain a clear overview of the battlefield. That was especially important now, as they were approaching the floating island fully occupied by the warriors in silver armor.

The enemy hadn’t built a castle or a towering fortress. Instead, the island was covered in tents surrounded by a wooden fence. Even so, hundreds of fighters were charging toward them, a massive threat—even for someone like Ryan.

Pure heat radiated from Ryan’s body. Arrows melted away before they could reach him. When it came to weapons, Ryan didn’t seem to need any at all. He fought with his abilities and bare fists, sometimes killing armored enemies just by getting close. If that wasn’t enough, he unleashed torrents of flame or intensified his domain even further. At this point, fire was licking across everything near him.

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Besides the ground forces, the silver-armored faction had eight additional skyships, three of which were turning toward them. Using more would be risky, as the other islands were already watching the battlefield with obvious greed.

Ryan, in his arrogance, didn’t slow down for even a second. Instead he bellowed “CHARGE!” and surged forward, firing a massive torrent of flames into the enemy’s front line.

The silver-armored soldiers had arranged themselves almost like Roman legionaries. The front line carried tall shields, while archers and mages stood behind them. Those shields proved extremely effective against elemental attacks. Ryan froze for a moment in disbelief as his flames were absorbed without killing anyone.

Good thing Thalion had already taken control of the skyships—against the massive spears fired by the ballistas, the shields did nothing. The mages and archers standing in the magic circles poured destruction onto the tightly packed soldiers below. Explosions tore through the formation, finally opening a path forward.

Ryan immediately took advantage of the opening. He dove straight into the enemy ranks, hurling fire in every direction while punching soldiers to death with brutal efficiency.

Thalion had already judged the ground fight as essentially decided—simply because Ryan existed. But a new problem was approaching: the skyships above, their ballistas already trained on the Chosen. If Ryan was injured, it could spell disaster.

Thalion couldn’t use the two captured skyships to intercept them. Doing so would expose the ground forces and potentially turn the tide of battle. No—the solution was obvious.

He had to deal with the skyships alone.

After making sure the course of the two captured ships was locked, Thalion slipped below deck to stay out of sight. He activated Crimson Eidolon and shot straight toward the nearest enemy ship.

The skyships had no mana shields.

The moment he came within range, Thalion unleashed Manawave with enough force to tear the side of the vessel apart. There were three ships, and he needed to move fast—which meant risking exposure of his curse by using such abilities.

There were over ten soldiers on the ship, not counting those manning the weapons and magic circles. The Manawave alone removed at least six from the fight—either dead or rolling across the deck, screaming as flames licked their armor and the curse devoured them.

Thalion didn’t stop.

The Crimson Eidolon surged forward, Claws of the Blooded Templar already active. He absorbed the blood of the fallen—and of those still fighting the curse—killing them while empowering himself even further.

Ten devastating crimson arcs ripped through ship and crew alike when he used the activ claw ability. The main mast shattered, wooden planks exploded outward, and seconds later, every soldier on board was dead. Thalion absorbed the remaining blood, ensuring there were no survivors and pushing his power even higher.

Behind him, cracking wood thundered through the air as the crippled skyship plunged downward, too damaged to remain aloft.

The soldiers on the next ship were ready. Ballistas were already aimed at him.

From the corner of his eye, Thalion caught sight of Ryan battling a silver-armored warrior nearly twice the size of the others, wielding a massive sword. A silver halo of condensed mana hovered above the warrior’s head, radiating intense power.

Thalion couldn’t afford to watch.

The first ballista bolt arrived, forcing him to dive beneath it. He slipped under the ship in a smooth arc, reappearing on the far side with the Claws of the Blooded Templar fully charged.

Four soldiers died instantly as crimson arcs tore through flesh and wood alike.

This time, however, several enemies managed to dodge—or even more impressively, block the attack with their shields.

Now multiple soldiers surged toward him, weapons raised, movement abilities flaring as they closed in from all sides.

Thalion managed to hit three of them with Crimson Gaze, one of them being the soldier about to fire the ballista—which was crucial. Next, he did something none of the soldiers expected.

He dove straight into the hull of the ship and unleashed another wave of deadly crimson arcs upward through the wooden planks.

The soldiers had no idea what hit them. The deck practically exploded, and even those carrying shields had no chance of surviving. Thalion used the active effect of the Claws of the Blooded Templar several more times, tearing the ship apart and killing the last remaining fighters before turning his attention to the final skyship.

That last skyship hadn’t paid any attention to what had happened to the other two. It was fully focused on trying to kill Ryan, who was still locked in combat with the silver knight. The knight was strong—strong enough to withstand Ryan’s overwhelming aura without taking damage. It was also the first time Thalion had seen Ryan forced to dodge repeatedly to avoid the massive sword.

The rest of the fighters were still battling the remaining silver guards, but that no longer mattered. The outcome of the entire engagement depended on which of those two monsters would win.

Since the final skyship was distracted, Thalion poured all the blood he had gathered—and a substantial amount of mana—into Phalanx of the Blooded Templar.

An enormous portal, over eight meters wide, tore open above the skyship. A moment later, the entire vessel was ripped apart as multiple lances descended from above. Neither wood nor flesh could stop them.

One second, a powerful skyship was pressuring the Chosen.

The next, it was nothing but splintered wreckage plummeting toward the ground.

Thalion dove after it to ensure that any surviving silver soldiers would die quickly—but they were so stunned by the sudden attack that finishing them off was effortless.

Behind him, the two captured skyships drifted forward, laying waste to the enemy forces below. With their support, Ryan finally overpowered the silver knight and won the battle.

They had effectively conquered the first island—the one farthest from the Golden Lotus.

After consuming a significant amount of blood, Thalion ended the Crimson Eidolon and returned his awareness to his main body, which was surrounded by several protective vines. It seemed Sanguis Impera simply wanted to make sure nothing could go wrong.

With the battle over, the sails were pulled in. Even though they had won, it hadn’t come without a cost. Two fighters had died, and more than half of the group was breathing heavily, mana and stamina nearly depleted.

They needed a break before attacking the next island.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t up to them.

The other faction leaders had already decided they were next and launched an offensive of their own.

Three islands surrounded them now—one directly ahead in the direction of the Golden Lotus, and one on each side.

They were about to be swarmed from every direction.

From the right came a group of fire-devils—humanoids with dark red skin and four horns protruding from their heads. Spears were their primary weapons.

From the left emerged ghost-like entities. Their bodies were translucent, headless, more like floating blobs with serpentine tails and six arms growing from their midsections. Where their heads should have been was instead a massive mouth filled with hundreds of teeth.

All of them were solidly E-grade—but they weren’t the real threat.

From the island ahead, a group of mages approached. They resembled elves, but with four eyes and lightning crackling across their bodies.

The last silver skyships were already destroyed by them. These factions didn’t rely on skyships or external buffs. Not that they needed them.

From each island, at least thirty well-rested combatants advanced.

They all shared the same wide predatory grin.

They knew Thalion’s group had overextended itself by defeating the silver knights. To them, this looked like easy loot.

The real problem was that each group had at least one individual whose aura rivaled that of the massive silver knight from before—making this fight exponentially more dangerous.

To be completely honest, Thalion had no idea what to do next.