Chapter 370: _Perfect Timing, Sweet Buns

Elian’s POV

*****

“Gods fucking damn it.”

He grunted, eyes flickering between silver and violet light while his palms stayed etched to the Central Runic Core’s cold surface.

A few seconds ago he’d succeeded in something… barely.

With the system’s help, he managed to scan and identify the main components and three main purposes of the core.

One was powering the Obsidian Tower and all its runic formations, hex rooms, and any other major part of the structure meant to hold massive amounts of mana.

The second was a hidden ritual node—the specific spell instructions within it that were one of the many formations powering Amara’s continental ritual.

Finally, of course… it kept all the crystal buildings afloat, including the tower itself.

Elian had managed to discontinue the formations connected to the continental spell.

[Continental Synchronisation interrupted.]

[Current synchronisation dropped from 15.2% to 11.6%.]

The slight disturbance in the Core’s energy rocked the entire tower, setting off alarm runes and nearly making him fall to his knees.

“Phew.” He snapped his neck once decorum returned to the tower, a smug smirk touching his lips. “We’re actually doing this.”

[You know, now that I think about it… did you and the others consider the possibility that destroying or stealing the Central Runic Core would lead to the death of hundreds of thousands?]

‘Not now.’

[It’s a serious inquiry, fruitcake. Some of the smartest people in the continent, and you’d think some people considered it at least.]

Before the system could berate him further, Elian’s senses exploded.

Without looking back, he sensed four powerful presences suddenly appearing within the Core’s room. He knew they were powerful because he recognised those energy signatures.

[WARNING: The host is surrounded by four Celestial core mages.]

‘Thanks, Captain obvious.’

“Back away from the Core.” A female voice laced with power cracked through the air.

Shit.

He’d almost forgotten about these guys.

The Arcadian Council members.

Elian managed a single glance back.

Then he saw the four mages behind him, fingers crackling with spells that could’ve incinerated the old him before even touching him.

“Surrender.” A man among them warned. “The holy mages are already rounding up your Alpha King and his soldiers as we speak. And if the High Matron—”

Laughter.

Elian didn’t know when he burst out into a loud fit of laughter, his hands finally slipping off the Core.

[Uhm… sweetie? Is this a fight-or-flight response, or are you genuinely losing your marbles right now?]

The Omega pointed a finger at them, ignoring the way their hands tensed.

“Wait a damn minute.” He shook his head. “Don’t tell me you morons still see your High Matron as some sort of divine saviour.”

His violet orbs narrowed. “Also… wasn’t there supposed to be five of you? Where’s the harsh-looking lady?”

The shift on the faces of the councillors told him there was a story that’d answer that question. A story that he honestly couldn’t care less about.

“Well, I’ll tell you what’s going to happen.” He clapped once. “Either you be such darlings and help me conjure an appropriate replacement for your scrappy Core here. Or, better still, you can go back to where you crawled out from and give me space to figure this shit out myself.”

[You realise their combined might would be enough to put you in a corner, right?]

“Such insolence,” Wrinkles twitched across the forehead of one who seemed just about ready to blast him into the stratosphere. “You’d be lucky if we don’t strike you where you stand.”

“Do it then.” Elian spread out his arms, his smile widening into something that spread visible unease through all their faces. “Come on. You know you want to.”

The four Council members didn’t need a second invitation.

The instant the last word left Elian’s mouth, the room erupted with magic.

Four celestial core spells descended upon him from different directions, each carrying enough force to reduce an ordinary mythic core mage to ash.

Golden restraints burst from the floor while torrents of white flames crashed forward. Countless runic spears materialised overhead, and a wave of compressed force distorted the very air as it surged toward him.

Elian didn’t move.

He simply watched them coming.

Then a streak of silver tore through the chamber.

BOOOOOOM!

Alpha aura exploded between Elian and the incoming barrage, unfolding into an immense silver barrier that wrapped around him like the embrace of a living moon. Every spell slammed into it at once, making the entire chamber tremble as waves of mana rippled across its surface.

The Council members smiled… but their smiles vanished just as quickly.

The barrier wasn’t breaking.

It was absorbing.

Lucian stepped out from the storm of silver energy, one hand held forward as the Alpha aura condensed around his arm. His silver eyes swept across the four elders before a grin tugged at the corner of his lips.

“My turn.”

He clenched his fist.

Every spell they’d cast exploded back toward them with twice the violence.

The Council scattered.

One barely managed to erect a shield before his own flames crashed into it; another was hurled across the chamber by the reflected force wave, while the remaining two hastily countered the rain of runic spears now descending upon them.

Lucian didn’t waste the opening.

He was already moving.

Silver blurred through the room as his blade collided with a conjured staff, the impact alone fracturing the marble beneath both of them.

“I’ll keep them busy,” he called without looking back. “Do what you came here to do.”

Elian’s grin returned.

“Gladly.”

[You sneaky bastard. What if he hadn’t come in on time?]

‘But he did, didn’t he?’

He turned away from the battle completely.

“Okay. Let’s see if centuries of Arcadian engineering can beat one very sleep-deprived omega.”

The Central Runic Core hummed beneath his palm once more while the clash behind him became little more than background noise.

[Resuming structural analysis.]

[Runic architecture fully mapped.]

[Searching for viable replacement…]

Thousands of calculations streamed through his vision faster than any ordinary mind could ever comprehend.

The System highlighted every mana pathway.

Every stabilising rune. Every levitation formation. Every redundant component.

Finally—

[Solution found.]

[Constructing simplified auxiliary core.]

Violet mana poured from Elian’s body like liquid starlight.

Instead of becoming another spell, it compressed into itself, turning smaller, rounder and then denser.

Runes carved themselves across its surface one after another until a glowing violet sphere, barely the size of a grown man’s head, floated above his outstretched palm.

It pulsed softly, almost alive.

[Auxiliary Core complete.]

[Operational capacity: 20.8%.]

[Primary function retained: Levitation support.]

[Estimated operational lifespan: 72 hours.]

“That’ll have to do.”

With another wave of his hand, the massive conduits attached to the original Core shuddered violently.

One after another, they disconnected from the obsidian sphere before slowly embedding themselves into the newly created Violet Core instead.

The transfer completed in seconds.

The original Central Runic Core immediately began cracking.

Hairline fractures spread across its polished surface before widening into glowing fissures, molten mana leaking through every opening.

Throughout the Obsidian Tower, ancient defensive formations failed one after another.

Barrier arrays disappeared.

Teleportation seals collapsed.

Anti-flight formations dissolved into harmless motes of light.

The entire structure lurched violently as though some invisible pillar supporting it had suddenly been ripped away.

CRAAAAACK!

The obsidian Core collapsed into chunks of black stone, every remaining trace of the ritual node disappearing alongside it.

Elian let out a long breath before turning around. “I’ve finished.”

Lucian had just sent another Council member crashing through a pillar with a punch wrapped in silver Alpha aura.

At Elian’s voice, he smiled.

“Perfect timing, sweet buns.”

Now two monsters were standing in the room.

And four very frightened Council members.

One of them recovered first, slamming the butt of his staff against the fractured floor. Hundreds of runes spiralled outward in overlapping circles before countless chains forged from condensed mana burst upward, twisting through the air like living serpents.

“Bind them!”

The restraints shot toward both Elian and Lucian simultaneously.

Lucian didn’t even glance at them. Silver Alpha aura erupted from his body in a violent pulse, shattering every chain the instant they entered his domain. Before the fragments had even reached the ground, Elian was already moving.

A violet flash crossed the chamber.

One councillor gasped as Elian appeared directly before him, palm resting lightly against the old man’s chest.

“You really should stop relying on spells.”

The blast that followed wasn’t explosive but frighteningly precise, collapsing the old man’s protective barriers layer after layer before hurling him across the chamber. He rolled to a stop beside the broken remains of a marble pillar.

Another elder attempted to chant.

Lucian never gave her the chance.

His silver blade met the incoming staff with enough force to split it cleanly in two before his shoulder slammed into the old mage’s chest, launching her through another pillar.

The remaining two attacked together.

One flooded the chamber with blinding holy light while the other unleashed a storm of razor-sharp mana discs that carved through the air from every direction.

“Left,” Elian called.

Lucian trusted him without hesitation.

He pivoted exactly as instructed, Alpha aura exploding from beneath his feet. The wave dispersed the holy light just long enough for Elian to weave between the incoming attacks, his violet mana intercepting each spinning disc before redirecting them toward their original caster.

The woman barely erected a shield in time.

It shattered anyway.

Lucian appeared through the spray of broken mana an instant later.

His fist stopped barely an inch from her face.

The compressed Alpha aura detonated.

She flew backwards, skidding helplessly across the polished floor before crashing into the base of the Auxiliary Core’s platform.

Silence slowly reclaimed the chamber.

Arcadia’s four councillors… defeated.

None of them possessed the strength to stand again.

Lucian raised his blade.

Silver light gathered along its edge as he walked toward the nearest elder, every instinct telling him to finish what they’d started.

“Lucian.”

The Alpha King paused.

He looked over his shoulder.

Elian slowly shook his head. “Leave them.”

Confusion flickered across Lucian’s face.

“They’ve served Amara for centuries,” he said quietly. “Why?”

“Because killing them changes nothing.” Elian walked past him, stopping before the battered councillors.

They looked nothing like the untouchable leaders Arcadia revered. Their robes were torn, blood stained the marble beneath them, and fear had finally replaced the arrogance they’d worn only minutes ago.

[Please don’t tell me you’re about to pull a generic stunt where you spare the actual bad guys after slaughtering their minions.]

‘They aren’t the actual bad guys though,’ Elian noted mentally. ‘Trust me. This isn’t just mercy. If this eventually all ends this Kingdom would need rebuilding. And Lunaria would need allies.’

“You still don’t understand, do you?” He finally asked.

No one answered.

“You’ve spent centuries believing Amara was chosen by the gods.” His voice remained calm, almost pitying. “Following every order she gave without ever questioning why.”

His violet eyes swept across each of them.

“The funny thing is… I almost feel sorry for you.”

One of the councillors coughed up blood before glaring at him.

“You… heretic…”

Elian smiled. “No.” He turned away. “The real heretic is the woman you’ve mistaken for a saviour all this time.”

His hand rested briefly against the newly created Auxiliary Core.

“It won’t be much longer now. Whatever she’s placed over your minds these past centuries… it’ll break soon enough.”

Lucian frowned.

He didn’t understand what Elian meant.

Neither, judging by their expressions, did the councillors.

The Omega finally looked toward his mate.

“Kyren contacted me while you were outside.”

Lucian’s expression sharpened immediately. “What happened?”

“Amara was never planning to stay in Arcadia.” Elian’s smile disappeared. “Her consciousness somehow entered the Divine Crystal. The continental formation is feeding mana directly into it.”

Realisation settled over Lucian’s face.

“So… this was never the true battlefield.”

“No.” Elian glanced toward the ruined remains of the Central Runic Core. “This was only the lock. The real target has always been the Dark Lands.”

Lucian nodded once. “Then let’s end this.”

Before activating the teleportation spell, Elian cast one final amused glance toward the injured councillors.

“Oh, and one last thing.” He pointed toward the softly glowing violet sphere now humming where the original Core once stood. “Don’t touch it.”

The councillors stared at him.

“It’ll keep your floating districts and the Obsidian Tower stable for roughly seventy-two hours.”

A grin slowly spread across his face.

“I’d appreciate it if you didn’t break my work before we have enough time to take out the trash.”

Space folded around him and Lucian in a bloom of violet and silver light.

A heartbeat later… They were gone.