Chapter 679: The Spire

Moon’s plan to make the two commanders slaughter each other had failed. The lie was unraveling in real time, the two elves talking instead of dying.

He improvised on the spot, his mind already moving to the next objective rather than dwelling upon the failure.

"Our plan failed. The commanders are working it out. So we have two options, either we stay here and watch everything fall apart like spectators, or we do something about it while they’re distracted."

His team read the change in his tone. Moon had already found his next move, and from the way he was speaking, it was going to be dangerous.

"What do you have in mind?" Vela asked, her eyes narrowing.

Moon smiled.

"Destroy their home."

Theo’s eyes widened. "You mean the spire?"

Moon nodded. "The southern commander marched its entire army north. Its spire is sitting undefended right now, and it will stay undefended for as long as these two are busy with each other."

He reached into his storage ring and pulled out a handful of explosive runes, holding them up for the others to see. "The white spire is wide open. With enough of these, we can do serious damage to it. Maybe cripple it, collapse it outright or deal some damage to them once they return. And with both hordes locked in this fight, nobody’s watching the south."

Vela’s expression sharpened with understanding. "That’s a good idea, when do we move?"

"Not everyone moves." Moon shook his head. "We won’t have much time. The second these two come to terms, the white commander is going to realize it left its home wide open, and it’ll rush back to defend it. We have to hit the spire and be gone before that happens. That means we need to be fast. If you can’t keep up with my pace, I can’t take you. And the more people we bring, the harder it is to stay hidden. A large group can’t move quiet enough for this."

Vela considered it. "You’re right. But take Theo, he can help you in case things went wrong. He’s got strong concealment ability. He can keep up, and he can stay in the dark to inform you of their arrival."

Moon thought about it for a moment, then nodded.

He turned to Theo "Okay. You’re with me, let’s go."

Theo nodded, checking his gear.

Before they left, Moon looked back at the rest of the team, his voice firm.

"Don’t take any risks. At all. If this goes wrong, if the fight breaks up early, you stay hidden and you do not engage. Wait for us at the den."

Vela nodded. "We’ll await your return."

Moon activated Camouflage, Theo faded into his own concealment beside him, and the two of them slipped away from the igloo, moving south, fast, toward the undefended white spire.

Meanwhile, the two lesser elves were locked in a conversation, the archer still trying to persuade the blade master.

Moon and Theo tore across the frozen wasteland, Moon leading the charge, the snow spraying behind their boots as they ran south toward the undefended spire.

They moved fast, both of them wrapped in their own concealment spells, two ghosts cutting across the white expanse.

Ten minutes into the journey, Moon glanced back over his shoulder.

"I’m speeding up, try to keep up."

And then he accelerated.

His speed increased once more, as he began to walk on air slabs.

One moment he was pacing beside Theo, and the next he was pulling ahead, the gap between them widening with every step, his feet barely seeming to touch the ground before pushing off again.

Theo pushed himself harder to keep up.

Even for assassins, he wasn’t slow. His class also prioritised speed for slipping in and out of engagements, for closing distances before enemies knew he was there.

He poured everything he had into his legs, driving his stride, straining to match the pace Moon had set.

He fell behind anyway.

The distance between them kept growing no matter how hard Theo pushed.

What is he?

Theo stared at the blur ahead of him in pure awe.

Just how many points did he pour into agility? That’s not a mage’s speed. I’ve never seen anyone move like that before, not without burning out. But he seems to have infinite energy.

The thoughts came in ragged bursts between breaths.

He’d watched Moon do impossible things all day. Theo had told himself, each time, that there had to be a limit somewhere, a place where the man was ordinary like everyone else.

Watching Moon leave him in the snow like he was standing still, Theo finally understood there might not be one.

He’s a monster. An actual monster wearing a person’s face.

Moon slowed just enough to let Theo close some of the gap, glancing back with a faint smile.

"Come on, we still have some time before we arrive."

Theo gritted his teeth and pushed on, chasing the impossible figure ahead, and quietly revising every assumption he’d ever made about what a single fighter could be.

A few beasts crossed their path on the run south, stragglers that didn’t belong to any of either horde and each one got the same treatment.

A bolt of purple lightning cracked out from Moon’s hand without him breaking stride, striking true, and the beasts were staggered and stunned.

By the time the paralysis lifted, Moon and Theo were already a blur in the distance, too far and too fast to be worth chasing with the new afflicted injuries.

Twenty minutes later, they arrived at the towering ice white spire.

"Not bad," Moon muttered, his breath a little labored, though nothing close to the state Theo was in. "Took us about thirty-five minutes total."

Theo bent over, hands on his knees, sucking in air in ragged pulls.

"Yeah. But at... what cost." He straightened slowly, wiping sweat from his brow despite the cold weather. "That’s not sustainable. Not for me, anyway. I don’t know how you’re barely winded."

Moon just smiled in response.

He swept his gaze around the base of the spire.

The entire horde had been called north by its commander to launch the attack. The white spire stood completely undefended, exactly as Moon had predicted, its guardians away.

Moon’s eyes settled on the gate at its base sealed shut, the whole thing standing silent and open for the taking.

"Let’s go in."