Athena's General - Chapter 360

Sebastian Blake:

There was a military meeting going on inside the shelter... but me? I was out here, on the streets, doing my job.

“Arghhh!” One of the undead lunged at me. I raised a spike of earth, impaling it, and followed up with a slash of my sword. It dropped, twitching, finally dead. More of them surged in, and the soldiers and I kept cutting them down.

The other entrances—those closer to the city center—were already sealed. Anyone still over there? Yeah... they were dead by now. We were holding the line at the furthest gate, the last viable evacuation point. If these streets fell, the civilians had nowhere else to go.

Not that I was doing this out of duty or chivalry.

No.

I just needed an opening to escape.

“Reinforcements!” one of the soldiers beside me shouted as winged cavalry appeared in the distance.

Good. I just need one damn horse.

That’s when they came—bursting out from the rooftops.

Winged beasts with lion bodies and eagle heads—griffins.

“No—!” I cursed as they swarmed toward the Sky Knights.

I bolted through the streets, weaving between alleyways, climbing over broken carriages, leaping onto rooftops, getting as close as I could. In the air, knights were locked in brutal combat with the griffins. The monsters hunted in packs, slashing and diving while the knights fired desperate volleys of fireballs.

“Aaaaahhhh!” One knight screamed as a griffin struck him midair. He spiraled down with his mount—completely out of control. Another griffin swooped in, snatched the soldier mid-fall, and flew off with him, the man’s screams fading into the distance.

“Shit!” I cursed, desperately trying to fire off a spell, but they were too high. Out of reach.

A dead mount fell from the sky, crashing into the street with a wet, awful crunch. Another smashed through a wooden rooftop.

And I knew exactly why this was happening.

Never—never—in the entire history of the Sky Knights had anyone bothered preparing for an air-to-air battle. They were used to owning the skies. Their training was all about ground targets—hit from a distance, rain death from above. Not this. Not dogfighting midair.

They had no experience for this.

“Raaaargh!” I heard the undead start pouring toward the wreck. I ran, throwing up walls of stone, creating pillars as I vaulted between broken beams to reach the crash site.

The last floor was a disaster. Blood was everywhere.

One knight was pinned under the corpse of his mount—dead.

The other was still alive... barely.

“Help me!” he cried out.

I sprinted past him.

“Please! I’m here!” he begged.

I ignored him, running straight to the horse. One of its wings was broken—snapped clean.

“You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me,” I growled.

I glanced back at the knight, then stomped over, grabbed him by the arm, and dragged him up.

“Are there reinforcements coming?” I demanded.

“N-No... No one can get through the air...” he coughed.

“Yeah, no shit. I’m asking about the ground.”

“M-Most of the creatures... escaped the center... too many...” His voice faded.

Then he went limp.

Dead.

A monstrous roar echoed through the streets, followed by the thunder of something huge stomping toward us.

No time.

I turned and bolted toward the shelter.

I need to get Liana out of here.

Part of the soldiers were gathering wagons—scavenged from the streets—and getting them ready for a possible evacuation. But honestly? I doubted they’d be fast enough. Something big was coming... and the monsters knew there were people here.

As I reached the entrance, I saw soldiers dragging corpses aside, clearing the streets for the wagons. There were a lot of them now.

“Doesn’t look like air support’s coming anytime soon,” I muttered.

“We just have to hold this area a bit longer. Help’s on the way,” one of them answered.

I forced a smile, nodded, then slipped back into the shelter—into the staging area right before the tunnels.

I needed a plan.

Maybe... maybe if it’s just me and my mother, moving on foot, hiding in the ruins... maybe we could make it.

I couldn’t stand being trapped in this place a second longer.

Every second that passed made it worse.

Nathan Everhart:

“I’ll be blunt,” Queen Garnora began, her tone sharp, slicing through the room’s tension. “We have only a few hours to deal with the three Black Knights... and the portal. Or Apsalon falls.”

Silence.

All side conversations stopped. No one spoke. No one moved.

“That portal is far too big. It’s not a regular portal. The usual ‘throw something into it’ trick isn’t going to work,” Garnora said.

“How do you know?” asked one of the generals.

She smiled. Just a little. “Because I tried. I threw someone into it. Full force. Straight through the portal. Nothing happened.”

“Wait... who did you throw?” Leonhard asked, brows raised.

“A human knight,” she replied.

“What?!” Queen Agnes shot up from her seat, furious. “You what?! That’s practically an act of war!”

“Oh, I think he declared war first,” Garnora snapped back. “I caught him stabbing our soldiers in the back—fighting alongside the enemy. So I figured... may as well test if throwing someone through the portal would shut it down. It didn’t.”

Her gaze swept across the room. “Which means there’s only one way. We kill the ‘Boss.’ Whoever’s anchoring the portal to this side... is one of those three Black Knights. Take them down, and the portal collapses.”

“Are you certain?” another officer asked.

“Absolutely,” she said without hesitation.

“But there’s a problem...” Director Victoria added, stepping forward. “They’re inside the anti-magic field.”

Anti-magic field?

Those of us who had arrived more recently glanced around, confused. But judging from the reactions of a few others... they already knew.

“There’s a barrier surrounding the portal,” Professor Adrihna explained. “The moment you cross into that zone, your mana gem stops circulating mana. Completely. You lose the ability to cast spells. Instantly. Every mage becomes... useless.”

My brain froze.

An anti-magic field around the portal. This... this changed everything.

“Everyone who isn’t high-ranking military or superior nobility—leave the room. Now.” Queen Agnes’s voice was sharp. No room for argument.

People exchanged nervous glances... but obeyed. One by one, they filed out. The doors sealed shut behind them, and a wind barrier shimmered into place.

“Explain it fully, Queen Agnes,” Garnora commanded.

All eyes turned to Agnes.

“This anti-mana barrier... it’s a military device,” Queen Agnes said—and the revelation hit like a hammer.

Our eyes widened as the royals began explaining.

It was a joint project—one developed by the three kingdoms nearly a century ago. A classified weapon. Something not even most nobles knew existed.

“At this point... by the time passed, that device should’ve shut down long ago,” King Haiten added, his tone grim. “We don’t understand how the enemy has managed to keep it active for this long. The energy requirements are... extreme.”

Director Victoria stepped forward, hands pressed on the table. “Either way, it doesn’t matter. We don’t know how much longer the barrier will stay active. Our mages can’t even reach the portal without magic. The city center is flooded with monsters. We either shut down the device... or we lose.”

“I’ll go with Victoria to search for it,” Queen Garnora declared.

“I’m going too,” Princess Elara declared, stepping forward.

Queen Garnora crossed her arms. “Girl, the reason it’s just me and Victoria going... is because we’re the strongest demi-humans alive. Even without magic, our bodies are naturally superior to humans and elves. If any of those Black Knights show up, we can handle them. And if things go sideways... we’re fast enough to retreat.”

“But I can help,” Elara insisted. “I know how to operate the device. It’s similar to some of the special barrier systems we use. I’m willing to bet neither of you has the slightest idea how to shut it down.”

Garnora paused... then nodded. “Fair point.”

“I could probably figure it out,” Victoria admitted. “But... yeah. Bringing someone who actually knows how to do it makes a lot more sense.”

“I’ll prepare a squad to escort Elara,” Queen Agnes added. “And... now that you’ve all heard this classified information... I’m bringing the rest of the council back in. This stays a secret between the three kingdoms.”

The doors opened, and the others were called back into the room.

“We were just... having an internal discussion,” one of the commanders casually told the group as they re-entered.

Inquisitor Leonhard cleared his throat, approaching the strategy table.

“The skies are... a complete mess,” he started. “Our sky knights can’t get close. The flying monsters are locking down the airspace around the portal. They haven’t left that region once.”

He exhaled sharply.

“I’m confident this is intentional. They’re deliberately targeting our aerial units to keep us from flying over the portal. If we could, we might’ve been able to figure out what’s holding it open.”

In other words... we were trapped.

Without the sky knights, there was no way to evacuate anyone by air. And by land... the city was already overrun. The monsters from the portal were everywhere — both the ones that had already spread and the endless wave still pouring out of it.

Queen Garnora’s deduction was flawless.

We were boxed in. Completely.

And if nothing changed within a few hours...

Apsalon would fall.

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