Rising god-Chapter 137: Body & brewing storms

He needed to build the Internet’s central control and craft components of the sky destroyer using Ashenfall’s resources. This land, the ancient heart of the Ashen family, already solved the three problems the sky destroyer had, and the land itself held everything: a unique metal, unnamed but ideal, scattered across the ruins that solved the suitable metal needed; compressed Ashenfall energy into orbs which already solved the problem for the core reactor; and Eye, which would ensure unmatched firepower.

Next, he had to forge his sixth star in Ashen-Origin Arts to unleash the ruins’ full potential. But with only a little over a month left, how was he going to pull it off? Delegation was key.

Without even entering to see the massive castle, or checking the changes of his ashenfall, he descended the mountain, with the statue trailing close, Baines felt the air shift, charged with violet mana. "Do you have a name?" he asked.

No

As they left the throne room, it went back to its way of speaking.

"Under the authority of I, Baines Baek, I name this place Ashenfall and its guardian, Ashul." The air trembled, a rumble echoing through the ruins as the land and statue vibrated, a sense of identity binding them.

[A/N: When last did we hear his full name?]

’He’s stronger now,’ Baines noted, sensing Ashul’s enhanced presence.

The ten dragons followed, keeping their distance after his earlier outburst. They had watched him attain the authority, and they couldn’t be more shocked at how easily he attained it. The pain was the first to discourage anyone, and then there was the will. Just like Baines had said earlier, Ashenfall tended towards destruction. Maybe he fit those categories without even trying.

Bang!

Baines landed in an open clearing, where fifty ruinborns, the humanoid figures born of the storm, their forms flickering with violet energy, scattered across the stone-strewn field.

He released his Ashenfall, letting it flow smoothly, like mist over a lake. The ruinborns froze, drawn to him, their eyes glowing with recognition, and they marched towards him.

"Eye, time to get you a body," Baines said, scanning the ruinborns, their forms perfect vessels for his next step.

He couldn’t do everything at once; that was the reason he valued an assistant like Wick; however, he needed more, and ever since that day he made a body for Eye, he had always wanted a full eye assistant, now it was about to take form.

Grasping an orb of concentrated Ashenfall, its violet energy pulsing like a heartbeat, Baines crushed it, releasing a shimmering mist. With a blade wreathed in Ashenfall, he carved intricate runes around a ruinborn’s body, centering them on its chest where a core would reside.

About an hour later,

[PERMISSION TO TRANSFER 50 NANO-CELLS]

"Yes."

[BACK-UP INFORMATION CREATED]

[AVAILABLE FUNCTIONS OF CONSTRUCT ARE AS FOLLOWS:]

The ruinborn’s eyes flared blue, a digital window flickering before it, displaying arcane readouts.

The dragons, watching from a distance, gaped as the window projected from Eye’s gaze.

’That reminds me, I gave that woman the former construct.’ Baines muttered as the ruinborn’s eyes glowed blue.

"Engrave text-to-speech formations," Baines commanded. The ruinborn’s hands moved with mechanical precision, etching runes that glowed faintly. Without pause, he continued, "Use this land and proceed with the building of the Sky Destroyer, but start with the central command for the internet. Gather all the materials you need, and use the ruinborns. Ashul will assist."

As he turned to leave, Vitka stepped forward, her scales glinting. "We’d like to help."

Baines studied her. ’Hmm, so she is the one who knows about my past.’

When his Ashenfall merged with the violent storm, Vitka alone inherited fragments of his story. And he also knew about them; their loyalty was undeniable, a rare asset.

So, he considered them.

"Alright," he said. "Group yourselves. Collect as many cores and weapons as you can see around. When you’re done, meet Eye here. If you can follow, good for you." To Eye, he added, "Tether the ruinborns. I want a mage unit, an alchemy unit, and transfer techniques to them."

Like his sword unit, Baines envisioned a mage unit for arcane warfare, and as for the alchemy unit, he was going to open a business. It was high time he let his merchant blood shine.

"Ashul and Vitka, you’re in charge." After dissipating orders, he sprinted toward the throne room, leaving the dragons stunned.

None of them recalled their roles.

[Vitka, your orders]

Eye’s voice buzzed through its new speech runes.

"Do you remember what he said?" Vitka asked. freёweɓnovel_com

[Gather all the cores]

Eye replied, listing the various tasks.

Thus began their work, as Baines raced to forge his sixth star.

***

The Solaris Empire wasn’t in a good position at the moment.

It had already been a few months since the explanation from the Vodal kingdom was demanded, and the pressure kept mounting daily. While they were still looking for answers, a new pressure began from their ally, the Lunar dominion.

The borders and the heartflames had filed a report on a terrorist attack on their land, and they were asking for answers.

Reports from the northern front worsened the situation, the last front.

Even with the assistance of an imperial commander, more outlier’ tribes burst out. It was as if those other years had been a joke, as millions of outliers poured out in waves. Tribes they were familiar with and those they weren’t familiar with came out to attack. There was a particular new tribe that directly ate human skin. At this point, an aerial attack was needed, and a call was sent to Darkan. However, nothing was returned.

The Darkan head had to head back to check on his family’s situation; however, he never arrived.

Then, there were the storms that had already brought their full force into the empire and begun their skirmish attacks. It didn’t come to say that the empire’s official rebellion, the black sun, had become active again, further exploiting the chaos.

***cough* cough* cough***

From his office chambers, while reading the reports, the Emperor coughed violently, blood staining his golden robes and pooling on the rune-etched floor.

His exclusive doctor was brought in to ease the pain. In the end, the doctor advised that he should take a rest, and he was moved to his bed.

Moved to his canopied bed, winced, his face pale. "How long do I have?" he rasped.

The doctor lightly shook his head, not wanting to disclose it. He had learned from past experience that disclosing such wasn’t beneficial. But he knew it,

’His time has shortened.’

***

In Darkan, the underground was no longer hidden. Emerging as the first independent force in the empire, they crowned Maroon, now Marroon, the Underground King. With the recent success further solidifying the alliance, Marroon quickly formed a cabinet with his loyalists and top performers at its center.

When the Doombringers, the second rank underground organization, surrendered, other factions, likewise the Dawnless, and the Mistars, followed. After hearing an explanation and paying a large amount as tribute and apology to the alliance, they were pardoned and accepted.

Yet, tension brewed in Dawnless.

A meeting, larger than usual, filled their rune-lit hall, not with the typical trio of executives but ten, their faces taut.

The agenda wasn’t about the alliance or anything like that, but the next place to check for Ralph’s family. Since returning from Heartflame, Ralph barely slept, haunted by the likelihood that his brother was dead. He didn’t want to accept that fact. What would he tell Baines? The boy’s wrath could raze Dawnless.

The executives, now loyal, shared his insomnia, poring over a map of Heartflame. "We’ve searched here, here, and up to this point," Ralph said, pointing. "We need to—"

A light chuckle interrupted. "Is something funny?" Ralph’s gaze snapped to a man across the table.

"No, just... after our close call, we-"

You!" Donto roared, about to descend on him, but Ralph stopped him.

Receiving the attention, he continued, "Why are we going back to that place? didn’t most of us almost die? By the way. Why should we listen to you?" He seemed to say, Why should we listen to a 5th star when they were half-dragons, half-humans?

The room fell silent, the air thick with mana and defiance.

Ralph’s eyes narrowed, and he looked around. He didn’t know when, but Dawnless, especially post-Baines’ massacre, had grown cocky, their newfound power inflating their egos.

"Who are you?" he asked coldly.

"What?" the man faltered.

"I don’t remember inviting you, so who did?" Ralph pressed.

The man had no answer. Luckily for him, Wick was absent.

"Third Executive, how many members are in Dawnless now?" Ralph asked.

"Eight hundred and four," came the reply.

"That’s already enough. Stop recruiting for now." He pointed at the man. "I might be lenient and nice, but don’t push it."

Unfortunately, the man didn’t hear any of it; all he heard was, ’I spoke up and didn’t get punished.’ He smiled inside, thinking of how his plan was going to work.

Visit freewe𝑏nov(e)l.𝗰𝐨𝐦 for the 𝑏est n𝘰vel reading experience