The thrum of the automated turrets finally died down, leaving a ringing silence in the air.
Smoke rose from the barrels of the mana-cannons, mixing with the acrid stench of burnt ozone and roasted insect meat. The field outside Oakhaven was no longer green; it was a black, churning sea of thousands of dead Void Crawlers.
"Cease fire," I ordered, my voice amplified by the tactical comms. "Phase One complete. Save the ammo."
The mercenaries on the wall cheered, raising their weapons. They thought it was over. They thought they had just earned the easiest paycheck of their lives.
"Easy money!" one shouted. "The Vayne heir knows how to throw a party!"
I didn't smile. I was watching the Rift.
The purple tear in the sky didn't close. Instead, it began to pulse. A low, sickening vibration rattled the teeth of everyone in the village.
CRACK.
A psychic scream erupted from the portal. It was so high-pitched that the glass lenses of the nearest sentry turrets shattered instantly. The mercenaries fell to their knees, clutching their bleeding ears.
"What... what is that?" Seraphina gasped, her mana shield flickering as she tried to block the sonic assault.
Something massive dragged itself out of the Rift.
It was a nightmare of chitin and starlight. The Void Queen.
She stood thirty feet tall, a grotesque hybrid of a humanoid woman and a praying mantis. Her lower body was a bloated, armored abdomen, while her upper torso was a pale, elegant female form with four scythe-like arms. A translucent, purple barrier hummed around her, radiating enough mana to warp the air.
[Boss Enemy: Void Queen] [Level: 35] [Status: Enraged] [Abilities: Psionic Scream, Void Barrier, Hive Mind]
"Target acquired!" the Mercenary Captain yelled, panic edging into his voice. "All units, fire at will!"
Rat-tat-tat-tat!
The remaining turrets and crossbowmen unleashed a hail of explosive bolts and thermal beams.
They hit the Queen's barrier and dissolved harmlessly. She didn't even flinch. She simply floated forward, her hollow white eyes locking onto the village.
She raised one of her scythe-arms and slashed the air.
Whoosh.
A wave of purple energy scythed through the air, slicing a stone Golem Sentry cleanly in half.
"It's a Raid Boss!" a mercenary screamed, dropping his weapon. "Physical immunity! Magic resistance! We aren't paid enough for this! Retreat!"
The formation on the wall broke. These were men who fought for money, not glory. Faced with a Level 35 monster that ignored their attacks, their morale shattered instantly.
"Pathetic," I muttered.
I set my glass of iced tea down on the table.
"Lucas!" Seraphina grabbed my arm as I moved toward the edge of the roof. "What are you doing? We need to evacuate! That thing is immune to bombardment! You're a mage, not a tank!"
I looked at her hand on my arm, then into her terrified eyes.
"I'm not a mage, Seraphina," I said, pulling away. "And I don't need a tank."
I jumped.
I fell three stories, landing in the muddy, corpse-filled field with a heavy thud. My tactical boots sank into the black ichor of a dead Void Crawler.
The Void Queen stopped. She sensed me. The only thing on the battlefield with a mana signature dense enough to rival hers.
She screeched, a sound like grinding metal, and waved her hands. From the Rift behind her, fresh minions began to pour out—elite Royal Guards, larger and faster than the previous drones.
"You brought backup?" I asked, adjusting my gloves as I walked toward her. "Good. So did I."
The Queen tilted her head, confused. She saw one human. One tiny, insignificant human walking alone against an army.
I stopped in the center of the carnage. I looked at the thousands of dead Void Crawlers littering the field—the corpses my turrets had created.
To anyone else, they were just garbage. To me, they were resources.
I spread my hands, my red eyes flaring with a violent, violet light. The mana in the air plummeted, turning freezing cold.
"Arise."
The battlefield boiled.
The shadows stretching beneath the thousands of dead monsters didn't just darken; they became liquid. Claws made of black smoke punched through the chitinous shells of the corpses.
Scritch. Scratch.
One by one, they pulled themselves out of their own dead bodies.
Shadow Crawlers.
They were identical to the monsters they had been in life, but now they were composed of inky darkness and blue flames. They didn't chitter. They didn't scream. They stood in perfect, silent rows, their glowing blue eyes fixed on me.
One hundred. Five hundred. Two thousand.
An army of the dead, raised in a single breath.
On the wall, Seraphina covered her mouth, her legs giving out. "He... he isn't just a summoner. He's..."
The Void Queen shrieked—not in anger, but in fear. She recognized the energy. It was the energy of a predator that ate gods.
I pointed a finger at the Queen.
"Devour her."
The Shadow Army moved as one.
It was a tidal wave of darkness. Two thousand Shadow Crawlers surged forward, ignoring the Royal Guards, climbing over each other to reach the Queen.
She lashed out, her scythes destroying dozens of shadows, but they just reformed and kept coming. They crawled up her massive abdomen, tearing at her barrier with mana-infused claws.
CRACK.
The purple barrier shattered under the weight of thousands of attacks.
The Queen screamed as her own children—twisted into my soldiers—began to tear her apart.
"Finish it," I whispered.
The shadow behind me exploded.
Nero, the Shadow Knight, launched himself into the air like a missile. He vaulted off the back of a Shadow Crawler, soaring high above the thrashing Queen.
His greatsword, now wreathed in the same violet flame as my aura, elongated into a twenty-foot blade of execution.
The Queen looked up. She saw death plummeting toward her.
SHING.
Nero landed. His blade drove seamlessly through the Queen's skull, splitting her carapace down to the neck.
She stiffened, let out one final, gurgling rattle, and then dissolved into a massive cloud of purple dust.
[ System Notification: Boss Slain! ]
[ Enemy: Void Queen (Level 35) ]
[ Contribution: 100% (Solo Clear) ]
The Rift above us shuddered and slammed shut, the connection to the Void severed by the death of the anchor.
Silence returned to the field.
I stood amidst the swirling dust, my Shadow Army freezing in place, waiting for the next command.
I waved my hand. "Rest."
The thousands of shadows melted back into the ground, vanishing as if they had never been there. The battlefield was empty again, save for the real corpses and the lone figure of the Victor.
I walked over to where the Queen had fallen. Resting in the crater was a pulsating, purple gem.
[Item Found: Void Heart (Legendary Material)]
I picked it up, pocketing it casually.
I turned back to the village. The mercenaries were peeking over the ramparts, their faces pale. Seraphina was standing at the gate, staring at me as if I were a stranger she had never met.
I walked up the hill, my boots clean of blood thanks to the repelling charms.
"Job done," I said as I reached Seraphina.
She looked at the empty field, then back at me. Her voice was trembling, barely a whisper.
"What... what are you?"
I smiled, the afterglow of the Shadow Sovereign skill fading from my eyes.
"I'm just a businessman, Seraphina," I said, walking past her toward the airship. "And business is booming."
A final chime echoed in my mind, the sweetest sound of all.
[ Achievement: First Calamity Cleared (Solo). ]
[ Reward: +2,500 Destiny Points. ]
[ Current DP: 10,100 ]
The First Calamity was over. And the world had just learned that the Vayne name was more dangerous than the apocalypse.