Chapter 73: Life Force
Lucas inhaled shakily, his chest rising and falling as though every breath carried the weight of the battle. His limbs still trembled, the toll of what he had unleashed bearing down on him like a mountain. Yet, even in his fragile state, he managed a faint nod of gratitude toward Nyx, his voice barely more than a whisper.
"Thank you," he muttered, his tone carrying both exhaustion and sincerity. "You saved me."
Nyx didn’t answer right away. Her eyes were still scanning him, unsure whether to berate him for the reckless power he had just released or express awe at the impossible feat he had performed. But when Lucas raised a shaky hand, silently asking her to help him stand, she responded without hesitation. She looped an arm around his back and pulled him upright. He groaned softly as his feet found the ground again, his knees wobbling beneath him like twigs in a storm.
He braced himself beside her and turned his gaze once more over the edge of the wall. The sight that greeted him was one he expected, but it didn’t lessen the awe. Smoke still curled up in distant, and the air shimmered faintly where his energy had scorched the earth. The landscape below was marked by deep burns, shattered remains, and broken stone. For a heartbeat, satisfaction welled within him. He had done it...he had made a difference. He had halted what seemed unstoppable.
But the moment of relief didn’t last.
His eyes narrowed as he looked beyond the destruction, squinting against the rising haze of dust. Movement...far more than there should have been. Beasts....hundreds more where he had just torn through their numbers, more had come to take their place. They emerged from the distant edge of the forest, stampeding with the same unnatural rage, the same suicidal determination.
Lucas’s blood turned cold.
"They’re increasing again..." he whispered, more to himself than anyone else, but Nyx heard it. She followed his gaze and her face hardened.
Then something clicked in his mind. A memory stirred....one from the life he once lived, in the future, in an era far more advanced than this.