[Salvos] 647. Fallen City of the Stars (Patreon)

647. Fallen City of the Stars

***

Daniel Song moved.

The [Hero] from Earth saw the side of the mountain cascading down to him from above, and he watched the three Elven hunters rapidly approach from behind. And he could not even stop to think. He had to act.

So he activated [A Hero’s Rage], and his body was engulfed with a white light. Glowing motes and ribbons wisped together, forming an aura of armor that covered him from head to toe. He lifted the Sword of Alexander as its blade was wreathed by the [Hero] Skill.

But when the white aura touched the Mythic Grade Weapon, it began to ripple. Its color shifted into an iridescent glow. Instead of just forming an external blade over the Sword of Alexander, Daniel’s [A Hero’s Rage] melded together with the weapon. And he took a heavy step forward as he turned to the two women who were with him.

Ivonne Vigil and Kacey. The latter had seen this Skill from him before, while the former looked at him curiously.

“Interesting. A Skill that substitutes as a magical armor and offers an enchantment on your weapon. Quite powerful for an ordinary Skill, but incomparable to a Grand Skill. And this is… a [Hero] Skill?”

Daniel nodded and proffered a hand forward.

“That is right— now come on. Let’s get going.”

He swept Kacey off her feet first as she squeaked, and Ivonne just raised a brow at him.

“I would have thought that [Hero Skills] were stronger than this.”

The [Trader] spoke nonchalantly, even as the mountain violently trembled all around them. The [Hero] rolled his eyes and picked her up as well. He glanced back once to see the Elves getting closer and closer to the base of the mountain. They were far more dangerous than any landslide could be.

So Daniel looked back up and raised the Sword of Alexander.

“We go— to the Fallen City of Stars!”

He shouted as he swung up. There was a flash. And with a single swing of his blade, he cleared a path through the landslide. He leapt through the falling boulders and the cascading mud. The Sword of Alexander was immensely powerful. It could bring down a city’s walls with ease, and it cleaved through the dirt like it was nothing.

Unfortunately, it didn’t leave nothing behind in its wake. The landslide opened up for a moment, before closing in on itself once more. The walls of dirt and rock threatened to crush Daniel, Ivonne, and Kacey.

But the [Hero] didn’t relent. He slashed out with the Sword of Alexander once more, opening the path again as he landed on the ground with a flash of light. He leapt forward as the falling rubble cleared, however that moment of reprieve only lasted a few seconds. So Daniel swung up again. And again. And again. And he continued as he quickly made his way up the tallest mountain in Secely.

Until, eventually—

Now entering [Dungeon: The Fallen City of the Stars]

***

However, as Daniel Song made his way up the landslide, his efforts to save his friends were noticed by the Elves. Kali’natha saw the flashes of light. She watched as a hole was dug through the landslide by sheer force. Not magic or anything else. Just pure power.

The Principality of the Farl-Zun Forest clung onto Vla’di’s back as he rapidly made his way over the landscape, reaching the base of the mountain. Crim’zu’son’ra stood beside her with a grin on his face.

“I see them.”

He whispered, eyeing the bright light that indicated where their targets were located. Kali’natha snorted when she heard that.

“Of course you do. That was part of the plan.”

She shook her head as Vla’di growled and threw himself up the mountain. He cleared hundreds of feet in a single jump, then continued bounding upwards. In his current form, he was a [Prima Adonis]. And he was far stronger than Vla’di, and far faster than even Kali’natha.

The only downside was that he could no longer cast his magic, which was what he specialized in as an [Archmagus Druid]. He did have a few physical attack Skills he could use which was greatly enhanced by this transformation. However, he didn’t gain any temporary Skills or the like.

Kali’natha shook her head as her gaze remained fixed on the distant flashes of light making its way up towards the clouds.

“Our hunt ends soon. That [Hero]’s head will be mine…”

She whispered as Vla’di leapt up again, carrying the Elves quickly up the mountain.

***

Daniel grunted as he landed atop a plateau at the edge of a steep cliff. He was immediately assailed by a powerful gale, but he steadied himself easily enough. Ivonne hopped off his back as he set Kacey down to the cracked ground.

He narrowed his eyes, but the gray rocky surface seemed stable enough. He would have continued walking onwards if he didn’t spot ethereal embers of ash wisping off the cracks, before dissipating in the wind.

Daniel glanced back and looked down the mountainside. Directly beneath him, he saw a fog of clouds, covering the mountainous landscape below so he couldn’t see how far the Elves were from them. A glint came from above, drawing his gaze.

He looked up and saw the scintillating stars hovering high in the night sky. They were bright— brighter than any star he had ever seen back on Earth. And it was like they were drifting across the dark canvas above.

“What is this…?”

The [Hero] from Earth blinked a few times. He had never seen such a sight before. The stars were large and round. Each one seemed to be roughly spherical in shape, about the size of his head from this distance, and their light pulsed, glowing and dimming like they were breathing.

And they didn’t descend down into the horizon like stars normally did. Instead, they just passed over the land, before flitting on into the distance.

“This, Daniel Song, is the Fallen City of the Stars.”

Ivonne Vigil spoke from up ahead. She had come to a halt before an ancient castle. It stood right before the peak of Astros Mountain. Daniel saw the rocky mountain cap tower behind the decrepit structure.

The [Trader] had her body craned back, waiting expectantly as she spoke in a soft voice.

“It is the only point in all of Secely that can touch the stars— outside of a mana storm, of course.”

“Touch the stars?”

Daniel frowned, repeating after her. But she ignored him and walked forward. He wanted to call out to her in confusion. However, he was cut off when Kacey squeaked.

“W-w-what is this?!”

The [Hero] glanced to the side and watched Kacey stumbled forward, fleeing from a glowing white ball. He blinked a few times as it just continued to drift ahead. Kacey tripped and dropped to the ground as the sphere reached her.

She winced and braced herself. But it simply dispersed around her, continuing onwards as it reformed, like it was a cloud of gas.

The [Crusader] looked up when she realized she wasn’t dead. And Daniel walked past her with a frown on his face. He stared at the white sphere as it floated onward. It shone with a very dim light, but it was glowing. And it was traveling in the same direction as the specks in the sky.

“This is… a star?”

Daniel whispered to himself as he reached out to touch the white sphere. But he couldn’t lay a hand on it. He sensed power emanating from it. A hint of magic, but also another aura.

A Divine Aura.

The [Hero] narrowed his eyes and used [Identification] on the star. And his eyes went wide when he was told what it was.

[A Trace Of Kalis-tah The Sun God]

“The… Sun God?”

His mind reeled, and the star just drifted away. Daniel stood where he was as his head spun. Behind him, Kacey recovered and got to her feet. She looked just as confused as the [Hero] was.

“I’ve never heard of a Kalis-tah before… just what was that?”

She whispered next to him. Daniel had no answer for her. And the two of them would have stood there, stuck in their stupor, if Ivonne Vigil hadn’t called out from up ahead.

“It is best we make haste. Lest the Elves will reach us.”

The [Trader]’s words immediately made the two of them straighten and hurry forward. But Daniel paused for a moment to glance back towards the distance. When he looked ahead, far from Astros Mountain, he saw no horizon.

The mountains in the distance didn’t sink into the ground, disappearing like they were cut in half. No— their forms stood as they should, although they appeared smaller because of how far away they were. And that was when Daniel finally realized—

“The Nexeus really is flat, huh?”

He muttered under his breath, before turning around and following after Ivonne and Kacey. He caught the tail-end of their conversation as he walked through the ancient gates of the castle.

“—this the place? Are we safe now?”

“We are not out of danger just yet.”

Ivonne replied as she walked through an empty courtyard. The entire castle was made from some sort of black and purple stone. It was completely barren. But while it was clearly old, it was not growing with moss or vegetation.

It didn’t even look like it was going to collapse anytime soon, despite being incessantly assaulted by the strong winds. It remained standing, and it looked like it would continue to remain standing for eons.

Ivonne Vigil came to a halt before the end of the courtyard. There stood an ornate doorway that was glowing with a magic circle. She looked it up and down as Daniel and Kacey exchanged a glance.

“Behind these double doors lies our salvation.”

The [Trader] spoke simply. But instead of reaching to push it open, she instead pulled something out of her pocket.

“However, it would take time to decrypt the magical lock that has been placed. That is why—”

She spun around and placed an object in both Daniel and Kacey’s hands. The two of them blinked and looked down as Ivonne spoke simply with a small smile on her face.

“You two of you shall hold the Elves off while I unlock this door.”

Daniel blinked a few times, before looking down at the object in his hand. And his jaw dropped when he processed what the [Trader] said and he realized what he had been given.

“...what?”

[Fruit of Y’gdrazil - Upon complete consumption, a +30% boost is given to all Stats for the duration of a day. Cannot be stacked with other magical buffs.]

Author's Notes:

Fun fact, the Ancient Greeks, particularly Aristotle, actually deduced that the Earth was a sphere because of how he noticed ships disappeared hull-first into the horizon. In this chapter, Daniel realized the Nexeus is flat because the mountains in the distance didn't sink into the horizon due to his vantage point.

What thonk?

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