Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

Chapter 1369. Bodeka!

“Bodeka! You were alive!” Luf exclaimed, happily surprised. Although she was glad their comrades were okay, she was happy for a different reason. If the other faer survived the earlier attack, it meant Rayki also had to be around here!

“Bodeka! You were alive!” Luf exclaimed, happily surprised. Although she was glad their comrades were okay, she was happy for a different reason. If the other faer survived the earlier attack, it meant Rayki also had to be around here!

“All of them smell of death!” “Yet, none are affected by the holy magic!” There was a commotion among the lizards, suddenly faced with the paradox of the faer. Somehow, they were able to recognize their special trait, but thought they were undead?

“We will not accept this perversion of life,” the leader gave his verdict, ignoring the attacks from Bodeka and her men. Instead, the staffs of the elves around him started shining even more intensely, and the book of gold in his hand began exuding a bright radiance.

A bright disc began forming below the feet of the casters. Luf quivered when she recognized the light. It was the same attack that had torn a hole through the base. At this distance, would it be enough to truly disintegrate them?

As Lufʼs mind was starting to fill with panic, watching the disc of searing light grow, the disc suddenly started wavering, as the soothing sound of a lute started playing at the bottom of their hole.

“Hello darkness, my old friend~” a voice sang softly, causing all the light in the shaft to dim, oh so slightly. Tear started shooting up, burning in her eyes, as she recognized the voice. Happiness and relief quickly clouded her mind as a figure playing his lute had appeared not far away.

“ I came to talk with you again, because a vision softly creeping... left its seeds while I was sleeping. The vision that was planted in my brain still remains within the sound of silence...” and suddenly all sound in the shaft fell silent. All casting fell silent, and the magic that was in the middle of shaping fell apart.

“In restless dreams I was alone, felt like all my happiness was gone. ʼNeath the halo of an oil lamp

I turned my gaze to a room, cold and damp. When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a zealotʼs light, that split the night and disturbed my sound of silence.”

Their eyes met, and in Raykiʼs eyes, she could see that he had shared her worries and sorrow, thinking he may have lost her again. After sharing a short but meaningful glance, he turned back to the creatures in the sky. The threatening magic had vanished, but the music only bought time...

“Beyond the dogmatic light I saw, ten thousand beings, maybe more. Beings talking without speaking. Beings hearing without listening. Beings citing hymns that voices never share. Caught in their own sound of silence.”

Luf was racking her brain about what she could do, when a crescent of light shot from the book bearer and struck down Rayki. The bardʼs lute was split in two, while blood sprayed from a deep cut across his chest, from the shoulder down to the hip.

“Fool! Do you not know that evil grows like a cancer? Hear my words that I might teach you. Use your ears, so they-!” His words fell on deaf ears. Seeing Rayki fall in a cloud of his own blood broke the death brideʼs dams, and all the emotion she had tried to hold back to stay rational flooded her mind.

Spears of darkness drummed against the golden shield, like heavy rain. The weakened shield quickly showed signs of breaking, as Lufʼs conviction shot rose to the stars. She used to avoid reckless actions, but the Lunacy Armor encouraged them.

She went all out in her rage, yet- The book bearer swung his staff, and the barrier was instantly repaired, regaining its pristine state. The being beyond the shield suddenly bowed and prayed. Just who was the god they obeyed?

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The other faer had already stopped their attacks in shock, seeing their efforts voided with such ease. Luft only halted when the disc of light reappeared, rapidly growing with increased intensity. Her knees grew weak, and she could no longer deny reality.

They were done for. She saw no way they could survive this attack, even if they were faer, if there was nothing left of them, they would die... when the dastardly chants of their torturers fell silent one again.

No, not silent. They were overshadowed by a noise that shook the world itself. No voice nor natural sound could defeat this vibration of destruction. It was so violent, Luf had a hard time breathing. Suddenly, a voice spoke, not loud, but easily cutting through the sound and heard by everyone.

Hundreds of eyes turned to the sky. There was the silhouette of a black dragon, cast against the full moon. On its back stood a man in heavy armor, cranking an otherworldly machine, producing a sound that drowned creation.

He spoke a language she didnʼt know, but when his sentence ended, the gold light that suppressed her, the golden barrier, the threatening disc, even the magical glow of equipment, went dark, only leaving the moon to illuminate the scene.

The music grew more violent as the Tower Masterʼs hands started dancing on the keys of his wheel fiddle, and he started singing. Again, she didnʼt understand what he was saying, but a picture formed in her mind...

An entity as old as the universe, that shone in darkness, before the first suns were born to create shadows. A concept she couldnʼt grasp, but undoubtedly real. A faceless, terrifying entity hiding in the cracks of space for eternity.

A black sun. So real and yet not, that she imagined seeing it. A ball of flaming fire, darker than the night sky, swallowing the moon and growing. It spoke to her. She could feel it in her mind. Offering salvation of another kind, Seductive, transformative, cold, and yet... Its dark light was still able to spread warmth like the sun.

Before she knew it, everything fell into darkness. They were no longer at the bottom of a hole, but on a vast, dark plane made of black, molten metal. It was surreal, like a dream. They were in total darkness, yet she could see her surroundings as clearly as ever.

She saw the elves and the lizards; there were even more than just those that came to attack them. She saw the small group of faer, herself and Rayki, the Tower master, Tatzel, and a group of golems he brought with him. Towering behind them were the silhouettes of Hellion and Heads, too.

In the sky shone the black sun, despite the fact that he could have sworn she stood ON the black sun, although she didnʼt know how she came here. Like it could be everywhere and at every time. Although there was no light, there was the music playing like a raging storm, and suddenly, she knew what she had to do.

She fell to her knees, as did everyone else, but the guys floating in the sky. And they all started reciting words they didnʼt know, yet came to their mind from the void. She didnʼt know the words, but she got their meaning.

They were the epitaphs of the Black Sun: Bloodraider, Land of Terror, Iron Body, Tremor Hell, Invincible Fear, Nemesis of Fire, Dark Angel. As if they were calling upon a god, they chanted its names like evangelists.

While their enemies resisted, the choir of Minas Mar prayed to the omnipotent darkness, faster than any light, as if they would be nothing without it. To their black sun. They prayed for their salvation, to burn the sinner for eternity and turn their hearts to stone, for they would be without a future, without its help.

And ultimately, the predator of hell moved. With burning hunger, it craved the flesh of man and consumed those who did not worship its presence. Luf watched the tendrils of fire, emerging from the sun in the sky, the plane they stood on, and the very space itself, grasp the lizards and elves, who desperately called upon their deity for support.

At some point, the music faded, and the vision of the black sun finally faded, although Luf had no idea whether it actually was “just” a vision. Now, only the book bearer and his closest group of priests were left.

His ostentatious robes were only rags, and he was covered in burns, but they had survived. It was not just his robes that were gone, but his facade had long since crumbled.

“You dirty, filthy, heathen! Demons and demon worshipers! Even if I have to lay down my life and summon god himself, I will smite-!?”

Interrupting his tirade and rudely asking for his attention, was a long silver sword, cheekily emerging from his chest. With an extremely tired look, the Tower Master had appeared behind the elf and finally ended his life. The surrounding priests turned to him in rage, but were swallowed by a nova of pale blue flames.

“To survive even after I performed such a difficult piece... now, thatʼs just rude...”