Re: Tales of the Rune-Tech Sage Chapter 570: In Fear and Companionship

CH570 In Fear and Companionship

***

To Alex, the act of relinquishing the secrets of Energy Alchemy weighed far heavier than he let on to anyone else.

Even though he had justified it by noting his shortage of the six Legendary-ranked Alchemy Grandmasters needed to bring the technology to life, the choice had remained incredibly tough.

He hadn't permitted himself more than a fleeting glance at the precious SunHeart Blossom Seed before passing it to Eleanore and rushing straight into the Anima Trial.

In reality, one could fairly claim that he was fleeing from the true gravity of that choice.

Nevertheless, he held no real remorse for his actions.

From a strictly practical viewpoint, Alex was convinced his decision stood correct.

Unlike insights he couldn't apply anytime in the near future, securing the seed for Eleanore boosted the party's main healer's capabilities right away.

Given their entrapment in this perilous and antagonistic realm, bolstering the one who could offer the team another shot at survival proved an undeniably smart move.

'Knowledge serves no purpose to the deceased. It benefits only the survivors,' Alex reminded himself.

With that in mind, his awareness slipped into the stele's trial realm.

Right before entering the trial setting completely, Alex sensed a light touch against his essence.

A searching feeling.

To be exact, it scanned not just him, but the entities tied to him.

The force inspected the array of ties around him—spiritual pacts, soul links, and similar bonds.

Finally, the scan focused on his connections to his animal allies.

-

Beyond the Heaven-Earth Concordance array...

Little time had elapsed since Alex, his spouses, and his attendants stepped into the Grand Formation and vanished.

Their abrupt vanishing stirred a short wave of anxiety among the remnants, yet Alex and Sugud had forewarned them of this possibility.

Thanks to that forethought, the team soon steadied themselves.

With Alex absent, Dread soon lost interest.

The Nightmare steed located a cozy area under the mountain's shadow and lay down to nap.

Fen, however, acted with greater initiative—as always.

Chef Fen had wrapped up cooking a feast for everyone and prepared to dish out his portion.

High in the heavens, Senu soared vigilantly above her group.

Her sharp vision guaranteed no threat—be it frenzied humans or otherwise—could sneak up on the campsite undetected.

All of a sudden, each of the three experienced a throb in their thoughts.

It stemmed from their link to Alex.

They couldn't quite process the event before they suddenly disappeared.

-

'What the—?'

Alex blinked his eyes open to discover himself in a crumbling realm.

The terrain encircling him looked shattered and precarious, like existence was splintering.

Beneath his feet, an endless swarm of monsters and twisted people advanced gradually.

But that wasn't the real shocker.

What genuinely shocked Alex was realizing he possessed none of his mana or cultivation anymore.

He couldn't even direct OmniRune to unleash a spell.

Yet—

By his side stood his beast allies.

Dread. Fen. And Queen Senu.

'How did you guys get here?' he questioned on impulse.

The trio exchanged glances, mirroring the bewilderment in their expressions.

Alex had intentionally kept them outside to aid the rest of the party beyond the formation.

He figured they'd serve better safeguarding the Fortuna Party in the wider world than joining him in the probably restricted space of the Grand Formation's labyrinth.

He never anticipated meeting them inside the stele challenges this way.

Dread, Fen, and Senu shared their own bafflement about their arrival promptly.

After Alex verified these were genuinely his linked companions—and no illusions with wicked aims—he swiftly recounted the events within the Grand Formation.

The three creatures didn't catch every nuance he shared.

Still, they seized the key idea.

They were probably summoned to aid him in finishing a challenge.

And that sufficed for them.

'What must we accomplish?' they inquired via their link.

'I'm not entirely sure,' Alex confessed. 'Normally, a voice details the—'

Rumble—

Alex's words cut off as thunder cracked overhead.

A fierce strike hit a point behind the creeping mass of beasts and warped humans below.

The sudden glare revealed their features.

And from the crimson gazes brimming with hostility gazing up...

These beings were clearly hostile.

'The Heavens and the Earth do not exist in isolation.

'Heaven exists because it is supported by the Earth.

'The Earth exists because it is guided by the wisdom of Heaven.

'To become the Legatee of the Heaven and the Earth is to understand that the existence and survival of one being between Heaven and Earth depends upon the existence and survival of another.

'To become the Legatee of the Heaven and the Earth is to recognise the weakness of one’s solitary power and the strength born from cooperation among the beings who live between the Heaven and Earth.

'To become the Legatee of the Heaven and the Earth is to understand not only your own strengths and weaknesses, but also those of all beings beneath Heaven and upon Earth.

'To become the Legatee of the Heaven and the Earth is to possess the wisdom and prestige required to guide and unite the beings who dwell between Heaven and Earth.

'O seeker of the Legacy of the Heaven and the Earth...

'The burden of Heaven and Earth is not meant for a single shoulder to bear.

'It is a burden shared by all shoulders.

'Thus...

'Present your conviction!'

ROAR!!!

From the depths of the creeping throng below, a deep, booming bellow exploded skyward.

The noise ripped through the atmosphere like a blast wave.

It was an overwhelming cry that could make even the toughest fighters' resolve waver.

The monsters and twisted humans halted for an instant.

Then their scarlet eyes fixed ahead—on the origin of the bellow's aim.

Alex and his beast allies.

Devoid of his mana... Devoid of his cultivation... Devoid of his bloodline abilities and all that typically formed his power... For a fleeting instant—

Alex faltered.

For the first time in ages, genuine dread flooded him.

Unknowingly, he retreated a few paces.

Then he halted sharply.

'What did I just do...?'

His mind stalled.

'Is this... all I am...?'

He ground his teeth and attempted to advance.

But his limbs wouldn't comply.

The horror embedded in that bellow infiltrated his psyche, gradually expanding like insidious shadow.

It endangered engulfing him entirely.

'Neigh!'

'Bark!'

'Skree!'

Right as the shadow neared to drown him—

Fresh calls rang in Alex's head. Known tones that pierced the dread.

Noticing that far-off glow amid the shadow, Alex bared his teeth.

Then he compelled himself to dash toward it.

Upon passing through that glow—

His awareness jolted back to his form.

Not distant from him, his beast allies regarded him with supportive stares.

In that instant, comprehension struck him.

'To recognise the weakness of my lone power, huh...' Alex whispered.

He grasped now that the intense fright was an element of the challenge.

It was probably a dread he'd never completely dispel.

Alex raised his eyes to the skyline, to the beast that had loosed that horrifying bellow.

'Yes... I am afraid of you,' Alex murmured softly. 'However, that fear won’t stop me from doing what I must!'

At that juncture, a phrase from his former existence reemerged in his thoughts.

It was a line he had even uttered to another in this realm.

The phrase resounded in his head, urging him onward.

'Courage isn’t the absence of fear. It is acting despite it.'

'Forcing me to feel this fear... You are testing my courage, aren’t you?'

'Then go ahead and test it all you want!'

Drawing on his final inner reserves, Alex compelled himself to move ahead.

Toward the advancing swarm...

Toward the entity of that species which evoked terror in every realm it haunted.

His limbs still shook.

But via pure resolve and unyielding grit, Alex propelled himself until he positioned beside his beast allies again.

Then he climbed onto Dread's back.

Nearly at once, a feeling of comfort enveloped him.

The oppressive dread in his core diminished markedly.

Alex gave a small nod.

Then he faced his allies.

'I’m useless right now, guys,' he confessed. 'Looks like I’ll have to rely on the three of you.'

'Neigh.'

'Woof.'

'Skree!'

His allies replied with supportive sounds.

Senu and Fen's forms grew, shifting to their complete combat forms.

Alex offered a slight smile.

Glancing back at the skyline, he observed the fiendish throng rushing forth, readying to clash.

His sight shifted to the remote blaze flickering at the battlefield's distant end.

Those fires lit the dim, disintegrating world.

Beyond them awaited an uncertain tomorrow.

Yet somehow, those fires sparked optimism.

'I suppose that must be our destination.'

The instant that idea passed through his mind—as if to taunt him, or highlight the futility of such hope—the origin of that dreadful bellow emerged.

The bringer of horror positioned itself squarely between Alex and the far-off fires.

Alex fixed his stare on the beast.

'Elder Dragon...' he breathed quietly.

Indeed, the fiend before them was nothing less than an Elder Dragon.

Alex clenched his jaw.

His quivering hand balled into a fist before he struck his own thigh—the very one that had locked in terror atop Dread's back.

'Come on! What are you afraid of?'

'Haven’t we eaten the heart and bathed in the blood of one of these before?'

'Right now, all we have to do is merely get past it. Compared to consuming its kin, this is easy-peasy.'

After steeling his nerve through force, Alex turned to his beast allies.

'Alright, lady and gentlemen,' he declared steadily. 'We have a flame to reach.'

'Any creature that dares stand in our way...'

'Kill it!' His gaze sparked with killing intent.

'Neigh!'

'Bark!'

'Skree!'

Unknowing of the lingering dread in Alex’s core and detecting only the assurance in his tone, the spirits of his beast allies soared to their height.

And then—

Without delay—

They surged valiantly toward the approaching throng.

***