They spent less than a minute in the Void above the capital territory of the Kingdom of Faris. Ryun extended just a tiny piece of himself out of the Void, then used his perception to scan the territory. Finding their target was easy enough, the giant ziggurat floating above factories and warehouses. A constant stream of traffic filled the air and the ground, vehicles bringing cargo in and carrying it out as if they were an assembly line. Two Void Ships were posted above the ziggurat in a flanking position, the ground and the mountain nearby were covered with anti-air defenses. The capital city of the kingdom was nearby, but the presence of the cthul was actually a lot less than Ryun had expected. There was another area of interest some distance away. Thousands of troops were milling around a walled off area which Ryun assumed was filled by barracks. It seemed like a layover or something like that for cthul troops. Their plan was to hit the ziggurat and the factories beneath it first, then eliminate whichever was the largest threat between the military complex and the city. Erdania didn’t answer immediately, instead she kept gathering her Qi in her body. With their ascension came a far greater control over their Essences, over their Aspects. They’ve already been able to shape techniques through their will, to use any that the other two of their bonded knew. Now, their authority allowed them to impose their will on the world and more directly over Essences related to their domains. Erdania increased her mass, reinforced her body, infused it with the authority of her Reliability. Ryun could feel the change, could feel the sturdiness of her skin, the weight of her being. It was even starting to strain him just to hold her inside his sphere. “Ready,” she said after a few seconds more. Ryun dropped her from his sphere and out of the Void. He moved his being through the boundary and into the Real Realm. A moment later he pushed his being out, expanding until he engulfed the entire territory. Erdania unleashed her technique, and the ziggurat folded in on itself, imploded and crumbled until the only thing remaining in its place was Erdania herself, holding a metal orb not larger than her head with the mass of the entire giant structure. She raised her hand and the orb started orbiting her, faster and faster as the enemy started firing on her. The two massive Void Ships swiveled, their weapons firing on her. The orb intercepted most of it, and what little made it through scattered itself across her skin unable to pierce through. She turned her attention toward one of the ships and tilted her head. The Void Ship mirrored her gesture, tilting in the air, then groaned and plummeted to the ground as gravity pulled it down, crashing against the warehouses below. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it. Ryun pushed his Authority through the other Void Ship at the same time. He found an empty space within, and pulled on his Qi. A {Final End} erupted from within it, erasing the ship from within. In a span of a blink, it was as if it was never even there. With a flick of her wrist, Erdania sent the orb down. It crashed into a factory and cratered it in an explosion of metal and dirt. The ground shook, cracks opening up and expanding the destruction. Ryun gathered his Qi, then from a hundred points of his being he manifested his technique. Lances of End Qi hit every nearby turret, carving holes straight through them. More ships were rising from the ground, more fire was coming at them, chaos filled the territory so much that even Ryun struggled to keep track of everything. The rightful source is NoveIꜰire.net He released the hold he kept on his will and reached for the Essences in the world. A thousand techniques blossomed in existence, his, Erdania’s, Selia’s, even those from the people close to him, whose Paths he understood. They ruptured through the ships, they decimated the troops on the ground, they unleashed hell. Erdania’s body grew, taking on her titan form. She stomped on the ground and demolished the buildings around. She reached for a mountain and pulled it down on a factory. It was barely a minute of fighting, and already they had destroyed one of their targets. This was right, he felt it. He was finally striking back against his enemy. Against those that had struck against him and what was his. That had tried to kill him, to kill Erdania, to kill Selia. Their children. This was his, theirs, vengeance. The people here were all guilty, those who gave the orders, those who served the Exalted Empire, that supported them with their deeds. Today they would all die. Ryun turned his attention to the other two targets, the camp and the city. The military on the other side of the territory was preparing to attack, and as the greater threat he— Ryun stopped. His perception saw what was happening in the city. Anger rose within him. “Ryun what’s happening?” Ryun gathered his being and compressed, manifesting a vessel in front of the city gates. A group was there, on their knees, their heads bowed. He glared at them, his perception washing over the city, finding what he suspected. “What are you doing?” He asked, his voice shaking the air as he manifested it from his being all around them. The people on the ground winced, shook, some pressed their heads against the ground so hard that it had to hurt them. One of them weathered it better, and Ryun focused on him. The man looked up at him. “Surrendering. We’ve removed the empire’s people in the city, they—” “—You think that matters?” Ryun demanded. The man didn’t answer. “Stand,” Ryun said, barely containing his anger. “Die on your feet.” Ryun pulled on his Qi, this was a city that served his enemy, that had part in what they did. That—Erdania dropped next to him, she looked at the people on the ground, then back to Ryun. “Hey,” she said, softly. “No, Erdania. They want to take it from me.” She put her hand on his shoulder, and he took a deep breath. The action itself did nothing to him. He wasn’t really in the vessel, he was everywhere. But the act centered him mentally. He looked at them, his will surging around them. His skill |I Know Your Meaning| gave him insight, it confirmed for him what he already knew. “Who?” He asked anyway. The man on the ground answered. “The Warden visited me—” Ryun dissolved his vessel, he pulled his being away from the city. Erdania called after him through their bond, but he ignored her. Of course Zach did this. He knew him well enough. He had said that he would do it too. Ryun engulfed the military camp of the Exalted Empire with his being. His anger pulsed inside him, and he focused it all into a single thought. He unleashed his authority on everything within his being. The camp, the equipment, the barracks, their defenses, and all the people within vanished into nothing along with a quarter of the territory. Leaving only an empty hole devoid of Essence.