Safamu roared. His Tribulation was reaching its climax. As proof, the northern lights were beginning to disperse, and the last of the wisps were falling like cursed snowflakes. Unfortunately, most of them were touching the ground, reinforcing the final rune of the Tribulation.
The Earl felt both enraged and hopeful. Three different human armies surrounded him. One of them, the last to arrive, had been largely massacred by the animals. Knocked unconscious and transported under wisp fire, thousands of stupid humans had greatly helped the lion. Thanks to their unwitting sacrifice, the buried rune of St.Helens was far from having reached its full potential. A colossal amount of energy was building up in the ground, but Safamu was optimistic about his chances of survival.
However, not all humans had the IQ of a mosquito.
A strategist clearly commanded the second army. Positioned in the shelter of a small pine wood, the human troops attacked and defended intelligently. Their commander exploited the animals' weaknesses. Mainly, Safamu's subjects didn't work together. Worse, they regularly split up and found themselves isolated.
In addition, their physical advantages often made them careless. Many were lured into rudintary traps - camouflaged holes lined with stakes, snares placed on the ground, or thin ropes stretched between two trees. Their mobility was reduced, and their attacks blocked. Most humans were individually weak, but a thousand wounds would eventually overco the animals.
Nevertheless, so of the animals were thinking things through and managed to make the army bleed in return. The survivors would also be wary of traps in the future, which was positive from the Earl's point of view.
Unfortunately, there was a third army - the source of the lion's rage. Made up of around a hundred n and won, this group really wreaked havoc. The red-and-gold-clad warriors moved in small groups and effectively eliminated his troops. Each human was individually strong, and so were of Baron rank. Faced with their teamwork, the animals didn't stand a chance.
Safamu turned to his last Viscount. The latter was wreaking havoc in the ranks of the first army. Whispering to the wind, the lion ordered his subordinate to change targets. He would have cared for it himself, but the n were far from his Tribulation.
Suddenly, the ground shook. The last wisp had disappeared. The Tribulation was coming to an end.
The lion stood up proudly and roared.
Priam and Anatole were seated about a kiloter away from the lion. The two n watched in fascination as the final bouquet was prepared. The underground rune was accumulating energy and seed to follow so blueprint. The more energy it absorbed, the more complete and deadly it beca. Sphinx slept peacefully in Priam's mass of hair. Her heritage, combined with her age, ant she had to sleep a lot.
Priam coughed and thanked Anatole when he handed him a handkerchief to wipe up his blood. Usually, coughing up blood wasn't good news, but Priam wasn't worried. He had created the situation himself by asking Sphinx to attack him physically. Not being a masochist, there was a reason behind this request. Priam intended to kill Safamu in one shot. If one of his Tribulations caused him to lose consciousness or made him vulnerable in any way, the lion had to die before.
So Priam had overloaded [Kinetic Control] again until one of his ridians had failed. Fortunately, his Vitality and a few drops borrowed from Spring were healing him.
"I feel like I've overeaten," he said.
Anatole shrugged. "I've calculated that you've racked up about a billion Joules. That's about one fifty-thousandth of Little Boy, the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. Concentrated in a single piercing attack, I wouldn't put much stock in the lion's skin."
"That's two hundred and forty thousand calories. The equivalent of one hundred and eighty-four kilograms of cooked white rice. You bet I feel full!" said Priam.
"I don't know what amazes more. That it's true, or that you thought to do the math..."
Priam smiled but didn't comnt further. [Kinetic Control] wasn't exactly a secret, but he wasn't foolish enough to confirm Anatole's assumptions by answering his roundabout questions.
Priam had read enough books to know that bragging, even to a soon-to-be-dead man, could be dangerous.
"It's about to start.
"You're right. I could hardly dream of a more beautiful sight before I die."
Priam frowned for a few seconds before asking a question that was burning his tongue.
"You're a genius, Anatole. You could have helped humanity, especially in these difficult tis. Instead, you decided to destroy it to save your family. Was it worth it?"
Anatole materialized an aether Rubik's Cube before answering.
"My daughter loved this kind of ga. She was very clever. She was our pride and joy with Nora - my wife."
He turned to Priam. "You must have dread of your soul mate, right? Soone who understands you in an absolute way. Who supports you, motivates you, and pushes you to excel. Soone you'd love without limits and for whom you'd be ready to give everything, without it even being an effort for you..." Anatole's eyes gazed into the past. The lancholic smile on his face was for people who were already dead.
"I didn't believe in all-consuming love. I was resolutely rational. I thought that unconditional love could only be one-way. That love without limits was dangerous. Yet Nora was my soul mate."
Anatole looked at Priam with an intensity that shocked the young man. "For them, I'm capable of anything."
Priam swallowed. Dialoguing with a fanatic was impossible. He knew he'd kill him soon - and Anatoe knew it too - but he wanted to understand.
"Honestly, I hope to et soone like that soday. But deep down... I also know this soulmate would hate it if I sacrificed billions of lives to save her."
Anatole remained silent for a few monts before turning to the oncoming Tribulation. Priam thought he wouldn't answer, but a soft voice surprised him.
"You're right. That's why I'm glad to die. I don't want my daughter to know what I did to buy her resurrection."
The sky turned red, and the earth began to tremble. Nature's wrath was gathering montum before exploding. Priam asked one last question.
"Do you regret your actions?"
"Hahaha." Priam turned to Anatole, who was laughing. His heartfelt laugh almost made Priam forget the cris he'd committed.
"Not in the least, Priam," he finally smiled. There wasn't a trace of cruelty in Anatole's eyes. Before his family, the rest of humanity was just worthless. "I wanted to resurrect my daughter, and I succeeded. Without my actions, without my cris, the System wouldn't have asked you to kill . By killing myself, I resurrect my daughter. The Concepts have kept their word."
Priam's eyes widened. "What?!"
The world exploded.
Protheus's hand trembled as he watched the volcano. Or rather, the volcanic explosion. He'd never seen an atomic blast, but it had to look like this.
Debris, magma and ash were projected on a vertical axis only. A column two hundred ters in diater was the stage for absolute destruction. A pillar of black clouds soared skyward. Galloping faster than sound, the ash billows were occasionally overtaken by red, orange and white blazes. At the center of this spectacle, a blood moon seed to have risen, mixing magma, explosion and rage. St. Helens glared down at her prisoner.
The bloody Moon and her pyroclastic blast remained confined, imprisoned. Without the System, few spectators would have survived. The line between life and St. Helens' wrath was clear.
Beyond this boundary, calm returned instantly. Apparently, the Tribulation was personal, and the System had no desire to destroy the Moon it had just created.
In short, anyone stupid enough to get within two hundred ters of the Earl would have been vaporized. But at two hundred and five ters, the person would have suffered only from the sound wave - which would have been enough to kill any pre-System human.
"Fascinating," he breathed. Only Guandi's grunt answered him. Now a Viscount, the general grumbled at the loss of his left arm.
Ignoring his subordinate, the King focused on the pillar of cinders and magma. One day, his Tribulations would look like this. The System would make him a god. And I'll make humanity a divine civilization.
The curtain of ash parted. A black, smoking mass advanced toward the woods. Protheus smiled. It was ti to beco an Earl.
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