Skyfire Avenue

The East had arranged for direct communication between Lan Jue and his brother.

“Alright!” Lan Qing’s answer was short and to the point.

Zeus-1’s warship entourage began to pull back. They continued to give Lan Jue cover fire but no longer pressed into the planet’s atmosphere. That blast of white light continued its headlong charge.

The light was, of course, the Pharmacist. She was dressed in white, in the style of ancient china. Her long hair was done up braids that made her seem all the more pixiesque. However, her tender beauty was paired with eyes that burned with murderous intent. Not wild bloodlust, but righteous determination to eradicate evil. She tore through the air on her seven-star sword, Occisus clutched in hand. She looked for all the world like the immortal faeries of old.

Streaks of violet-purple light shot at her, but never came close. She juked and dodged, and before long she was approaching the planet’s surface

As she swept her eyes to the horizon she was met with an unending sea of creatures. All kinds of monstrous faces sneered and howled at her. Some were as large as mountains. They focused attacks in her direction.

The situation was worse than they’d anticipated. The aliens had guessed recapturing the planets would be a main objective and had set a trap. But what did this mean to the Harbinger Fairy?

There was a flash of purple, and a shuttle-shaped alien launched itself toward the Pharmacist. She regarded it with as much concern as she would an insect.

A streak of white, the shuttle alien raced passed her and away. It erupted in a fountain of purple blood and savaged flesh as though it had suffered a thousand cuts. Chunks of it tumbled to the ground below.

A shimmering purple crystal was captured in the Pharmacist’s light. Their first vital crystal!

The shuttle alien’s demise brought more attention on the Pharmacist. She stopped in midair and glared down at them. Her eyes were cast far toward the horizon, then back to the milling beasts below her feet. Her pretty lips moved, though her words were lost to the host of angry growls.

Aaaaoouuu–! One of the beast, standing three hundred meters tall, threw its head back and roared. Dozens more aliens threw themselves at the Pharmacist.

She faced them calmly, the hard light of murder glinting in her eyes. She lifted Occisus high, and pointed toward her enemies with her other hand. Her legendary sword reacted by dissolving into a column of white light that shot into the sky. All of a sudden, whether Zeus-1 overhead or the aliens below, everything was lost in a blinding white light.

It was like the whole universe was lost in Occisus’ glow.

Even the keen and powerful Paragons shuddered as the power washed over them. They could feel the lethal energy it contained. Even Luo Xianni stared with wide eyes. “This girl’s aura… packs quite the punch!” She muttered.

“Blaaadestooorm!” The clear and emotionless call rang from the Pharmacist.

The first blast of light emerged. It shot forth, obliterating anything in its path. It struck the closest alien and tore right through it, heading for the beast coming up from behind.

A second blast followed. Then a third, a fourth, a fifth…

The sword-shaped white lights were mirror images of Occisus, as though the sword had fractured into countless copies of itself and tumbled from heaven. They descended wildly to the unfortunate creatures below, brutally ending their lives. Even shelled beasts couldn’t protect themselves from the Pharmacist’s fury.

As far as the eye could see Occisus’ power descended in a deadly rain of white. Those aliens that weren’t immediately killed clambered over one another to try and flee.

Bladestorm was a technique of ages past, imparted to her through Occisus. Upon breaking through to Paragon the Pharmacist was infused with this secret knowledge. The murderous intent she bore galvanized her weapon’s power, and the result was widespread death.

Purple bodies continued to fall beneath flashes of white. The air was thick with screams of rage and pain, but they did nothing to curb the slaughter. The Bladestorm of the Harbinger Fairy was sure to be spoken of in the annals of humanity for all time.

This patch of Monteux was painted dark purple, but now it was from the blood of their fallen enemies.

No less than five hundred aliens had fallen to the Pharmacist’s attack, including the massive one that had challenged her. Parts of it were strewn across a large swath of ground. Scores more approached from the distance but didn’t dare get too close. They, too, feared death. They may just have been cells shed from their home worlds, but they had intelligence and knew the pain this lone human promised.

Zeus-1 also kept its distance behind her. They didn’t want to be caught in the hail of death!

The Pharmacist vanished, appearing a moment later standing atop the sapphire ship. The manifestation of Occisus power shifted and raced for the distant alien observers. They fled for their lives as Zeus-1 searched for a clear patch to land on.

The Wine Master reminded everyone of the plan. “Everyone pick a direction. First order of business is securing the landing zone.”

Several figured separated from the ship as it continued its descent.

The smell of rot and decay filled the air, belched from the poisoned purple ground. If one looked closely they could spy what looked like veins snaking across the surface. The corpses of the monsters were quickly being eaten away and absorbed by the earth. Even vital crystal were being sucked up to feed whatever those veins were connected to.

Lan Jue knew that so long as the aliens could retain those crystals, they weren’t really losing anything. The Wine Master knew this as well, thus his first action was to brandish his scepter. The scores of mangled bodies beneath him shook and flashed silver. In the next moment their vital crystals were floating beside the Wine Master. Then they vanished into a vortex of glimmering light.

Every crystal they pilfered from the enemy made them weaker. Gathering them was a priority. Each alliance had agreed to allow all crystals to remain with the ones who’d taken them. The North had two planets to farm for crystals, while the East and West had one each. Of course, Monteux was the largest, and part of the East’s promise to help with other operations was the potential to acquire more vital crystals.

The Paragons raced off, each in separate directions.

The Pharmacist remained kneeling atop Zeus-1. Her face was sallow and her appearance frail. Being only a part of the Realm of Protogenia, she had only just managed to summon Bladestorm. Occisus’ demands were high. She needed time to recover.

Lan Jue did not follow the Paragons but remained behind to survey the area. Jue Di and Luo Xianni were with him. Because they were susceptible to the ire of protogenic energy, they did not hurry to use their powers.

The Wine Master, Driver, Gourmet, Keeper, Bookworm, Pauper, Clockmaker, and Bize spread out in eight different directions.

The Wine Master arrived at his prescribed location in the blink of an eye. He held his astrum aloft, and the area before him shuddered in protest. As aliens flew toward him and encountered the flux they were instantly ripped apart. Only a few particularly strong beasts survived passage.

A dragon-like colossus slithered through the air surrounded by a violet aura. It opened it’s maw, and spat from it a dazzling orb of purple toward the Wine Master. The fractured reality around it seemed unable to stop its advance. Clearly, this was one of the beasts that could survive in space.

The Wine Master grunted and waved his scepter. A piercing beam of silver issues forth, splitting reality in its passage and leaving a black void in its wake. First it consumed the orb of energy the beast had belched. Then, having not slowed at all, it crashed into the monster itself. The screech it released was loud enough to deafen, but lasted only a moment. The Wine Master callously looked on as the dragon separated into two equal halves. Its large vital crystal vanished in a flash of silver.

Like the Wine Master, the Driver rose sharply into the air when he reached his target area. Overhead a dark cloud of purple had gathered of similar hue to the planet’s plagued surface. But the bolts of purple lightning that issued from it were not of alien making. Where they landed, nothing survived. Without exception, any alien caught in the scope of the lightning storm was incinerated.