HP: The Arcane Thief

Chapter 238: Baltte of Atlantis II: A Hero's Return

Currently, the might of the Kraken army was… overwhelming.

The sight of countless creatures ranging from humans to monsters, all with their blue markings glowing unprecedentedly high, was something to be scared of.

And each one of them were able to enhance their powers multiple folds at once.

Not only that, they were also fighting a new formation, which had been perfected for this exact situation, making it obvious that they had been preparing for this for a long time.

Overall, the Kraken army had reached an extreme level that the Kingdom's forces had quite a hard time matching.

But, Kingdom's forces weren't helpless either.

"For Atlantis!"

""""FOR ATLANTIS!!!!"""""

The General was fighting at the forefront, sending out sword beams towards every piece of the Kingdoms' artillery while also blocking any attack that came. No amount of forced relic wielders able to stop him. With every swing of his sword, a wave of energy would be released, empowering the Kingdom's forces and filling them with courage and discipline.

The warriors trained rigorously through the finest training facilities and resources weren't slouches. Each squad had an outstanding leader leading a team that had already faced situations like these in various simulation and also honed their skills in real battles.

Furthermore, each of their amour and equipment was highly superior, having protecting them from the enhanced army's viscous attacks while also boosting their own strength and damage.

Staying in formation, the ground soldiers methodically faced the monstrosities of the Kraken.

The super-charged biomatons would first face the ranged attacks that would slow them down, after which they would be faced with shields.

The large creatures were first bound and subdued through various means, and then damage dealers would aim for the weak spots.

The ranged units would fly over with the rider, attacking from above. Red lights would flash whereever help is needed and the commanders would mobilize the soldiers according to need.

"Stick together! Attack where the Lightning falls!" Ender was leading the Relic Wielder Division rightly. The forced relic wielders were set up to target each individuals of Kingodom's relic wielders, targetting their weaknesses. So the best counter would to stick together and protect each other while taking down the once that posed the most danger.

For Akiko, no living being were sent to confront her due to her Shinnigan. Instead, she was faced with biomatons resistant to darkness and lightning.

But, that didn't do much to stop her.

The spiral pattern in her eyes revolved and the dead bodies piled up on the battlefield rose up from the ground.

And whether the dead were from Kraken or the Kingdom's side, both attacked her enemies. Furthermore, as the number of deaths on the battlefield increased, the aura of death around her thickened, empowering her.

"What kind of abomination is that?" Asked Karlock, facing against Martina as his biomaton sent out acid jets at her. "Reminds me awful lot of that stupid Prince!"

The Guardian knight 'Axe' raised its hand and an energy shield appeared in front of it, blocking the acidic liquid.

"Don't you dare mention him with your filthy mouth!" Said Martina. It was true that the Guardian Knight looked like Axel. It had been made in his memory after all.

Two knives appeared in the hands of the Mecha as it took a stance eerily similar to Axel.

"Guardian Knight, Stealth Mode!"

The guardian knight turned invisible, appearing behind Aslot's Biomaton moments later. Programmed to fight like Axel, the Knives flashed, cutting straight through the Biomaton's arm and neck.

"You can't escape this time, Cravix." In her darkness domain, Kyrin smirked at Cravix, the space relic wielder.

Cravix sent out space blades at Kyrin, but Kyrin disappeared, reappearing behind him. Her darkness pierced through his space field, managing to injure him before he was able to evade.

It had been a few minutes since they had started fighting and Kyrin had now gained the upper hand, finally piercing through Cravix's defenses.

Knowing Kyrin's power, any Atlantian could easily tell. This fight was as good as over.

But, Cravix didn't seem to think so.

"You know what? If it was a decade ago, I'd have agreed with you. But… that is no longer the case anymore, is it?" Asked Cravix, looking confident despite his injuries.

The smile on Kyrin's face wavered imperceptibly. "Say that after you're dead!" She said, her darkness blade so black that it was sucking in the surrounding light.

Cravix laughed. "You know I'd already be dead if it were the old you, Kyrin."

"You're not as strong as before, are you?" He asked, the markings on his skin brightening with unprecedented brightness. "In fact, you don't have much time left, do you?"

"What nonsense… are you talking about?!" Exclaimed Kyrin, slashing at Cravix with her lightning blade. But, Cravix managed to avoid it this time, his space powers working despite being in Kyrin's domain.

Cravix smirked. "You know exactly what I'm talking about. That last fight, when you fought three of our overseers and won? That came at a price, didn't it? You're slowly dying," he concluded, now managing to avoid Kyrins attacks much more easily. "That's why you left the kingdom, living among the weaklings so that you don't have to use your powers. You even found a successor to pass on your Septis arts and the relic too, right?"

"Stop talking and fight me head on, you coward!" Kyrin Shouted, attacking Cravix again.

She didn't know how this bastard found out, but... what he was saying... it was actually true.

In the fight for revenge a decade ago, she was alone and already exhausted and the other side had three overseers, about to desecrate her subordinates' bodies just to provoke her.

Well, they failed at doing anything to the bodies, but definitely succeeded at getting a rise out of her. In blind rage, Kyrin had invoked the forbidden darkness magic, taking down all three of them and spitting on their bodies before taking back Akiko's parents for funeral. But, as Cravix had said, it had come at a price. Her body could use a limited amount of darkness after which, she'll completely lose her ability.

So she left the kingdom, deciding to live the remaining days in peace. But of course, she had to come when the Kingdom was in danger and needed her help.

At this moment, a voice echoed in the domain. "Enough playing around. Cravix, start the second phase."

"Yes, sir!" Said Cravix, huge amount of space power beginning to fill up the area.

"Scitius, you coward! Is that you?!" Kyrin gritted her teeth, using even more power out of caution. Black viens appeared on her skin, showing she had reached her limit.

But, the space opened up and a tree appeared, filled with powerful Light attribute. Kyrin suddenly recoiled, her darkness weakening considerably.

"Holy shit, third. You were right!" said Cravix as he laughed in disbelief. "You've even transferred your bloodline to her, haven't you?" He asked the now successfully bound Kyrin with glee. Those with real Tenebrous bloodline have a certain immunity towards light, which Kyrin no longer has. "I mean, that makes sense. How else would an outsider have such a powerful darkness affinity when its not even in her parents."

The space around her constricted to the extreme this time, temporarily making Kyrin immobile, and the branches of tree quickly wrapped themselves around her.

"It worked!" Clenching his fists in victory.

"My calculations were right," came the Third overseer's voice. "You've already spent the remain darkness in the past months, haven't you? Trying to make up for your blunder, no doubt. After all, at your peak, you could have easily saved your Crown Prince from the space whales. It's definitely your fault he died."

"You—!" Kyrin struggled with all her might, Scitius's words hitting her sore points.

It was true. Kyrin's capacity had decreased dramatically after the overuse in the past few months, since she had almost spent the remaining darkness energy she could use before her body's complete breakdown.

And it was because she, no doubt, blamed herself for what happened with Axel. Through and through. Forget recklessly getting them into the Trench for training. Even if she had just gone all out the moment Axel was picked up, she could have saved him.

But, she hesitated. And that brief moment of hesitation led to him being transported right into the Whale's mouth, forcing him to use his teleportation to escape.

She knows that no one really speaks about it, but deep in their hearts, everyone else blames her too. Including Aki. Though that girl blames herself more, and that only makes it much worse.

"How the mighty have fallen," said Cravix, looking at Kyrin all bound up in light attribute tree branches.

"Never thought I'd see the day, let alone be the one to actually contribute the most," he bragged. But looking at the situation, he didn't actually do much. The whole observation, preparation, and planning were third's idea, and the tree was the contribution of Second Overseer, having her fill it with a huge amount of light attribute magic and making it programmed to trap anyone with Darkness affinity.

"So what if I lose?" said Kyrin, knowing the third could hear her. "I was already pretty much useless. Even if you do manage to win against me, it achieves nothing. We are still much stronger than you. There's no way you'd win."

"First of all, you're useless? I'd have to disagree on that," said Scitius. The darkness was cleared away, revealing Kyrin who had been completely subdued.

Those who saw the scene were shocked, including Estris and Willis, who were fighting as buff caster and ranged spell caster. But of course, the most shocked was Akiko.

"Cravix, proceed with the plan."

"Yes, boss!" Cravix was gleeful he worship the Third right now, let alone follow his order.

Grabbing Kyrin, he put a space-blade over her throat.

Figuring out their intentions, Kyrin's eyes widened. "Aki! Watch out!"

Kyrin tried to warn Akiko, but with the ongoing war, her voice couldn't reach Akiko at all. And the moment Akiko got distracted, Kraken soldiers attacking her simply exploded, tree branches filled with light magic sprouting out of them.

The Tree branches covered her from head to toe, putting special emphasis on the eye area. And then, they released sharp thorns that were laced with venom that would prevent her from concentrating on her eyes.

Akiko tried to resist with her darkness aura, making the tree cells dies quickly, but more replaced them untill the venom kicked in, making her immobile.

At the same time, Cravix bound the space around Akiko and teleported her to his domain right alongside Kyrin, for safe measure, thus completing the entrapment.

"See?" Said Scitius. "Capturing you wasn't useless at all. Thanks to you, we've got the Legendary [Eyes of Death] in perfect state. You have no idea how much trouble they'd have given had she been given the chance to mature. These are going to be extremely helpful in our expeditions to other worlds," he said, a distinct excitement in his voice.

Those eyes give Akiko scary reflexes. Had she not relieved her trauma at seeing Kyrin about to be taken the same way as Axel, she would have definitely cut down the roots before they could reach her.

"Mff—! MFFFFMFMF!" Kyrin increased her struggles, but to no avail. She had gotten too weak. And Akiko was in her late teens with no relic. The most powerful thing she had were her eyes, but they had been made useless now.

Scitius let out a wheezy laugh. "Oh, as for your delusion that your side is actually stronger, well, I have to disagree with that too."

As if to match his time, the ground began to shake, causing instability to both sides. And then, the giant statue of Atlan, the first king of Atlantis moved, turning its head.

"What... what is that?" The fight slowed down as both sides witnessed the movement of the biggest structure in Atlantis.

The statue raised its foot, and then, it put it down in the direction of the war, crushing any building in its way and causing a huge earthquake.

It was so large, that with 2 step, it managed to arrive over the scene of war. The next time the foot rose, it descended over the Kingdom's ranged forces.

"Oh no..."

"RUN!!"

"What kind of madness...."

The panicked ranged spell casters had no idea how to stop that foot. Some started to flee, some casted spells in vain, while some just stood there in a daze, too stunned to move.

At this moment, the general was the first one to head for the Giant, but, at this moment, water appeared in his way, blocking his path.

??

"You've gotten slow, Torr."

The General's head instinctively lowered upon hearing that voice, only to raise it back up with conflicted eyes.

Water started to come down from the sky, gathering around in large quantities.

Sure enough, there in front of him, wielding a Trident and radiating power was the King Atasis himself. And when he saw the blue markings on the King's skin, pain flashed in his eyes.

'My friend, how could you?'

That's what he wanted to ask. But with the Giant foot descending, he didn't have the time.

"I need to pass," he said, raising his sword. He flew forward at an astonishing speed.

The King raised the Trident, which was also a relic, just not the Royal Relic. He disappeared from his place.

CLANG

Weapons clashed as the King appeared in the General's path.

The foot had already decided at this point and the army being densely packed, many hadn't yet managed to escape out of the range at this point.

Other Relic Wielders tried to stop it but realized they were too late or were otherwise engaged by the Kraken warriors.

Estris's gray magic surrounded the foot and descent slowed down a little, but being that big, it wasn't powerful enough to slow it down by much.

A huge magic shield appeared below the foot, cast by Willis who was also among the Ranged Spellcasters and shooters. But still, it wasn't enough.

At this moment, a huge body flew over, coming beneath the foot in time.

It was Martina's mecha, which had arrived after decimating Karlock's Giant Biomaton. But, even though it was absolutely massive, its size only amounted to the equivalent to the size of the statue's foot.

The magic batteries that Martina had designed went into overload as the Giant tried its best to rise.

"GO!!!"

In the past four months, Martina's class [TechnoMage] and Teachers at Atlantis had given her a lot of knowledge, increasing both her engineering and magical skills dramatically. That's why, when the foot had almost reached the ground, a miracle happened.

A huge magical wave was released from thrusting the Guardian Knight upward while pushing all the remaining ground units.

The foot's descent slowed further, just long enough that the tens of thousands of ranged units managed to escape from beneath.

The Guardian Angel was completely crushed, but thousands of lives were saved, thus also preventing another massive increase in the Kraken's strength.

But in the aircraft, overlooking the battlefield, Scitius just smirked at the desperate attempts by the Kingdom.

"Congratulations. You've stopped one foot," he said, his deadpanned voice echoed throughout the battlefield.

"Here, take another."

???!!!

The Giant began raising another foot into the air. And this time, it descended with an even larger momentum.

"What…?"

"A-Again?"

"How… are we supposed to fight that?"

"By the sea god...."

At this point, the Kingdom's soldiers were filled with despair, looking up at the Giant foot heading down.

The King manage to trap the General with Water who had been distracted with Statue. "It's finally, the beginning of the end." He said, also looking up at the sky.

Sitting on the ground, Antilla looked up at sky and realized that the Kingdom was about to be destroyed, by her own father, no less.

"No…"

And thus, broken as she was, she stood up and raised her staff, pointing it at the sky. She knew she wasn't strong enough to stop it.

And so did the rest of the Atlantians who could manage to spare a few moments from the fight.

Everyone had lost hope at this point, but still, they tried. Because that's all they could do.

But.

At this moment, the completely unexpected happened.

The descent of the giant foot stopped. Along with most of the Kraken's army.

??

Moments later, high in the air, space fluctuations occurred as a silhouette emerged.

With one red and one blue eye, and a silver trident and wand in its hands.

….

A.N.:. Sorry for the delay, I was planning the next volume