Chapter 76: Xara
~WHOOSH!~
The wind howled as Jax stepped forward, boots scraping against the fractured stone of the floating cliff. The sky above him was wrong, as space itself felt folded over, bent and pressed together like pages of an unread book.
Mana flowed thick here, heavy enough to taste. It brushed against his senses like silk soaked in lightning. Most beings would’ve been forcefully stopped by the distortions in the area, but Jax wasn’t most beings.
Jax merely rolled his shoulders and exhaled slowly, "So this is how you hide," he murmured. "Impressive."
The distortion pulsed again, faint and evasive. The floating city’s outline blurred, its massive wing-like superstructures phasing in and out of existence, caught halfway between realms. Obsidian spires and luminous crystal veins flashed for a heartbeat before vanishing again.
Jax lifted his hand and extended his senses outward, let his presence stretch, brushing against the folded space gently, like fingers testing a lock rather than breaking it.
The city responded by resisting his touch, a subtle pressure conflicting with his awareness.
"Tsk," was all he muttered before shifting tactics. He didn’t want to force his way inside, not knowing how that would effect the City
Mana surged around him and the air recalibrated as it understood who he was, and just as he did that, the sky parted, and a vast gateway appeared in mid air, a precise hole cut into reality where Jax could see the Fallen Angel City beyond it.
Jax stepped into that spacial tear, and the world inverted for a split second, twisting him sideways and upside down in a flash of silver and black runes, before he finally emerged.
His boots touched down on polished obsidian marble, warm beneath his feet. Gravity settled naturally, as though he had always belonged here.
The Fallen Angel City stretched out before him.
It was immense.
Floating platforms layered atop one another in elegant tiers, connected by arcing bridges of crystallized mana and dark steel. Towers rose like cathedral spires, their surfaces etched with ancient runes that glowed faintly, pulsing in slow, tired rhythms.
Massive wing-shaped structures extended from the city’s core, each feather-like segment embedded with conduits of light. Once, they must have blazed brilliantly.
Now, they flickered.
The air hummed with a sense of strain and Jax’s gaze sharpened as he caught onto that, "...You’re bleeding power."
"Good eye as always mr Demon King," The voice came from behind him, smooth and amused.
Jax turned.
Xara stood a few steps away, leaning casually against nothing at all—one heel resting on air as though gravity were a polite suggestion.
Her obsidian-black wings were folded neatly behind her, feathers edged with faint silver highlights. Her alabaster skin glowed softly beneath the city’s filtered light, and her golden eyes gleamed with sharp intelligence.
She was dressed immaculately, as always, tailored black and silver garments that walked the line between military precision and seductive elegance. A thin smile curved her lips.
"It’s good to meet you again, last time we only had that short discussion and everyone went their separate ways," The Fallen Angel spoke.
"Well I’m sure you’ve heard what I’ve been up to, now it’s time to introduce myself to your people Officially," Jax said.
Then Xara gestured broadly, "Welcome to Aurelion’s Fall," she said. "Our current sanctuary. And, unfortunately..."
Her smile thinned as she continued, "...our most expensive problem."
Jax walked forward slowly, boots echoing softly against the marble as he took in the city more carefully. He could sense mana conduits running beneath the streets, all of them drawing power and running dry.
"This city wasn’t meant to last forever," Xara said, "But it wasn’t meant to fail yet either."
She straightened and snapped her fingers. The air before them rippled, forming a massive three-dimensional projection of the city’s internal structure. Power lines glowed in varying intensities, some strong, others dangerously dim.
"This city predates even my leadership," Xara said, "It was built by the first Leader of the Fallen Angel Clan, Lucifer, when our people still believed we might one day reclaim the skies of the Divine Realms,"
Her tone was clinical, but there was something bitter beneath it, "The power core was designed to siphon ambient divine residue, leftover energy from the wars, the broken heavens, the scars in reality itself."
Jax frowned slightly, "Residual divinity isn’t infinite."
"No," Xara agreed, "And it’s finally running out."
She highlighted the city’s core, a massive, spherical construct suspended at the city’s heart, wrapped in rotating rings of ancient script.
"The core is destabilizing. Output has dropped to thirty-seven percent. Structural integrity of the spatial folds will fall below safety thresholds within six months."
She looked at him directly.
"We came dangerously close to decommissioning the city."
Jax raised a brow. "Dangerously close?"
Xara smiled thinly. "As in, evacuation protocols were drafted. Population redistribution plans finalized. And then..."
Her gaze sharpened, gleaming, "Thankfully for us, the Demon Goddesses blessed us with you, and with your new City plan, we seemed to of struck gold,"
Jax let out a soft huff of amusement, folding his arms as he regarded the projection of the dying core.
"Well then," he said lightly, golden eyes flicking back to Xara, "it sounds like your people should be thanking me already. Showing up at the exact moment your city decides to start falling out of the sky? That’s practically divine timing."
"Careful," she replied dryly. "If you start accepting gratitude before negotiations, I’ll have to assume you’re new to leadership."
She waved her hand, dismissing the projection. The glowing schematic dissolved into motes of fading light, leaving only the vast, strained skyline behind them.
"We’ll thank you eventually. However, if you really want to gain all of our good will, then we’ll need you to do us a favor," Xara said.
Jax tilted his head slightly. "A favor already?"
"Yes." Her golden eyes locked onto his. "I want you to take someone under your wing."
That earned a faint smile from him, "You’re offering me a Fallen Angel?"
"I’m entrusting you with one," Xara corrected, "In fact, it’s better if I show you them so you understand what I mean, it’s very complicated,"
"Well then lead the way," Jax said, and followed Xara throughout the City.