Valeria, who was rushing up the ramp with her shield raised, skidded to a halt. "What do we do? He’s looking right at me!"
"Distract him," Alvian ordered. "Make him look at you. I need one second."
Valeria nodded. She slammed her sword against her shield.
"HEY! TIN MAN!" Valeria roared, activating her [Titan’s Roar]. A golden shockwave rippled out. "OVER HERE!"
The Doom Knight’s helmet turned slowly. Its red eye-slits focused on the shining knight.
"Target... Acquired..." the construct grated.
It raised its free hand, summoning a blade of dark energy.
It was the opening Alvian needed.
He was fifty meters away. Too far to run. But not too far to cut.
He equipped [Voidpiercer].
The dagger seemed to drink the frantic energy of the falling island.
"System. Calculate spatial coordinates."
[Target: Detonator Linkage.]
[Distance: 52 meters.]
[Wind Shear: High.]
Alvian didn’t throw the dagger. He slashed the air in front of him.
"[Voidpiercer]: Spatial Sever."
He cut a hole in space. The slash traveled instantaneously, ignoring the distance, ignoring the wind.
A thin, black line appeared on the Doom Knight’s wrist.
"SNICK."
The hand holding the detonator fell off. It tumbled to the deck, the detonator clattering uselessly.
The Doom Knight stared at its stump. "Error..."
"Now!" Alvian shouted.
He activated [Shadow Step]. He appeared on the deck, grabbed the detonator, and kicked it off the edge of the island.
The Doom Knight swung its dark blade at him.
"TOO... LATE..."
Alvian ducked under the swing.
"You’re just scrap metal."
He drove [Voidpiercer] into the gap in the Knight’s armor, right where the mana core should be.
"Power off."
The dagger severed the mana flow. The red eyes of the Knight flickered and died. The armor collapsed into a heap of empty metal.
[Threat Neutralized.]
"Launch the ship!" Alvian commanded the terrified pilot.
The skiff’s engines roared. It detached from the crumbling dock, engaging its levitation thrusters. It hovered, fighting the downdraft of the falling island.
"Go! Go!" Alvian waved them off.
One ship safe. Ten more to go.
But the sky wasn’t empty.
From the clouds below, shapes emerged. Wyverns. Wild, feral beasts drawn by the massive magical signature of the falling island. And riding them were Syndicate remnants—scavengers hoping to pick the carcass of the Academy.
"Incoming!" Seraphina shouted from the second skiff. "Bandits at six o’clock!"
A flight of twenty Wyvern Riders swooped down, firing crossbow bolts tipped with explosive mana crystals.
"BOOM! BOOM!"
Explosions rocked the second skiff. Its sails caught fire.
"They’re trying to crash the transports!" Seraphina yelled, firing her crossbow back.
Alvian looked at the swarm.
"Annoying," Alvian growled.
He looked at Valeria.
"Can you hold the docks?"
"I can hold the ground," Valeria said, bashing a scavenger who tried to land. "But I can’t fly!"
"I can," Alvian said.
He jumped off the edge of the island.
He fell into the open sky.
"System. Activate [Frost Heart]: Avatar State."
Blue wings of starlight exploded from his back. He arrested his fall, hovering in the slipstream of the island.
He was a speck of blue light against the massive, dark bulk of the falling rock.
The Wyvern Riders saw him.
"It’s the Godslayer! Focus fire!"
Twenty crossbows aimed at him.
Alvian smiled. It was a cold, sharp expression.
"Target practice."
He raised his hand.
"[Runic Aegis +2]: Orbiting Satellite Mode."
Fourteen runes deployed, but they didn’t stay close. They flew out, orbiting him at a distance of fifty meters.
The crossbow bolts hit the runes.
"Reflect."
The kinetic force was multiplied. The runes fired beams of pure force back at the riders.
"CRACK! SMASH!"
Five Wyverns were blasted out of the sky, their wings shattered.
Alvian drew the [Lance of the Void Winter].
"Let’s dance."
He dove into the swarm.
He moved like a lightning bolt. He didn’t just stab; he flew through them.
He intercepted a Wyvern aiming for a skiff. He rammed his lance through the rider’s chest and into the beast’s spine.
[-15,000!]
He kicked off the dying beast, launching himself at the next one.
"[Frost Descent +2]: Flash Freeze."
He released a pulse of cold. Three Wyverns froze mid-flap. They turned into ice sculptures and plummeted like stones.
[Experience Gained: 120,000.]
The remaining riders broke formation. They were terrified. This wasn’t a student. This was an aerial superiority fighter in human form.
"Retreat! He’s a monster!"
"No one retreats," Alvian whispered.
He held out his hand.
"[Gravity Well]."
He cast the S-Rank skill he had looted from Voice One.
A singularity formed in the center of the Wyvern flock.
"SCREEEE!"
The beasts shrieked as they were sucked in. They collided, a ball of scales and screaming men.
Alvian flew above them.
"Goodbye."
He threw his lance.
"[Glacial Void Pierce]: Bunker Buster."
The lance hit the center of the gravity well.
"KABOOM!"
A sphere of violet energy expanded, vaporizing the flock.
Alvian recalled his lance. He hovered, panting slightly.
The sky was clear. The skiffs were launching.
But as he turned back to the island, his heart sank.
The ground was getting very, very close.
And the island wasn’t slowing down.
"George!" Alvian shouted into the comms. "Why aren’t we slowing down? I thought the core was supposed to dampen the fall!"
"It’s not working!" George’s voice was hysterical. "The Core... it’s gone critical! The damage from the Dragon... it’s overheating! If I try to activate the retro-thrusters, it will detonate like a nuke!"
Alvian looked at the massive blue crystal jutting from the bottom of the island. It was pulsing a violent, angry red.
"If it explodes, the blast will catch the skiffs," Alvian realized. "Everyone dies."
He looked at the fleeing ships. He looked at the approaching ground.
"System. Calculate impact."
[Time to Impact: 2 Minutes.]
[Survival Probability: 0%.]
Alvian clenched his fist.
"Zero percent?" Alvian laughed. "I hate those odds."
He flew toward the bottom of the island. Toward the burning Core.
"Valeria. Seraphina. Get everyone clear. I’m going to fix the engine."
"Alvian, no!" Valeria screamed. "It’s suicide! The radiation alone will melt you!"
"I have fire resistance," Alvian lied.
He dove.
He flew straight into the red glow of the dying heart of the Academy.