Chapter 29: Ember City Massacre - Part 10
The battlefield was in ruins.
Explosions. Crumbling buildings. Fire and dust choking the air.
At the center of the devastation, two figures clashed—Simon, engulfed in brilliant white energy, and Quinn, his emotionless face untouched by the chaos, his black Matter orbs swirling menacingly around him.
BOOM!
A shockwave rippled through the streets as Simon's fist, coated in radiant white energy, collided with Quinn's black tendrils. Their raw power shattered the ground beneath them.
Quinn tilted his head slightly—his first sign of acknowledgment.
Without a word, he flicked his fingers.
Black spears materialized from thin air, launching at Simon from multiple directions.
Simon dodged left, right—then spun midair, his palm glowing.
"Overdrive Impact!"
A wave of pure force exploded from his hand, obliterating the incoming projectiles and sending Quinn sliding backward.
Quinn stopped himself effortlessly, his feet barely scraping the ground.
Then—he vanished.
Simon's eyes narrowed. A feint.
FWOOOSH!
Quinn reappeared above Simon, his palm glowing with concentrated black energy.
"Emitter Pulse."
A massive black wave surged downward—
Simon raised his arms, his white aura expanding.
"Matter Disperse!"
The black wave hit him like a truck, sending him crashing through a building.
As Simon pulled himself from the rubble, a group of resistance fighters—around ten of them—spotted him from a distance.
"Now's our chance! He's weak!" one of them yelled.
They charged.
Simon sighed. Wrong move.
He vanished.
In the blink of an eye—
CRACK!
The first fighter's neck snapped instantly from a single punch.
Simon twisted midair, driving his elbow into another's skull—shattering it like glass.
One swung a sword—Simon caught the blade barehanded and crushed it.
Then he punched through the man's chest.
Blood sprayed.
The remaining fighters hesitated.
Simon flicked his fingers. Energy spears materialized above him.
Before they could react—
The spears rained down.
The fighters were impaled instantly, their bodies reduced to lifeless husks.
Simon exhaled, looking toward Quinn. "Where were we?"
Quinn hadn't moved.
His dead, emotionless gaze simply watched the massacre.
Then, he raised his hand—and the fight resumed.
As the battle raged on, seventeen knights in silver armor charged in.
Neither Simon nor Quinn even glanced their way.
The knights rushed forward—
Simon and Quinn attacked at the same time.
Simon blitzed through them like a hurricane, shattering bones and decapitating heads in a blur of white energy.
Quinn moved like a specter, his black tendrils slashing through armor like butter—men fell without even realizing they had died.
In less than five seconds—
Seventeen knights lay dead.
Simon sighed, cracking his knuckles.
"They really thought they could interrupt us?"
Quinn simply blinked.
"Unfortunate."
Then—
Two massive missiles flew toward them.
BOOM!
The missiles hit them directly, engulfing the battlefield in fire and smoke.
From the ruins of a collapsed building, a figure emerged.
Bethalamoew.
Or at least, what remained of him.
His lower body was stripped to its metallic skeleton, his left arm completely missing, half of his face burned beyond recognition, revealing a cold, mechanical eye.
He should be dead.
But he still stood.
His one remaining eye stared blankly ahead, devoid of pain or emotion. His voice, when he spoke, was hollow, almost mechanical.
"I am… not finished."
Simon and Quinn glanced at each other.
Bethalamoew raised his remaining arm, his body crackling with unstable energy.
Simon blasted Quinn away with a white energy pulse—
And charged.
Quinn, unfazed, fired back, forcing Simon to dodge.
A three-way war had begun.
⸻
Above the battlefield—atop the highest tower in Ember City—
A lone figure stood, watching.
Their features obscured, their presence undetected.
Their gaze swept across the chaos below—at Simon, Quinn, and Bethalamoew locked in battle.
To be continued…