Cosmic Ruler - Chapter 377

Chapter 377: Back II

With a subtle hand signal, Aiden initiated the attack.

The first wave of strikes was swift and lethal. Shadows enveloped the operatives as they moved, Myne’s shadowmancy concealing their presence until it was too late. Blades found their marks, and the cloaked guards fell silently, their distorted forms dissipating into dark mist.

The chanting faltered for a moment, but the silver-eyed leader raised a hand, his voice booming over the din. “Hold the line! They dare to interfere with the will of the Abyss?”

The remaining cloaked figures surged forward, their forms shifting into grotesque abominations as they charged. Aiden’s operatives met them head-on, their enchanted weapons tearing through the corrupted flesh. Despite their discipline, the sheer ferocity of the enemy’s counterattack pushed them to their limits.

Aiden moved like a force of nature, his blade flashing as he cut through one abomination after another. The energy in the air seemed to ripple around him, his Spirit Sense guiding his strikes with unerring precision. But his focus remained on the silver-eyed man, who watched the battle unfold with an unsettling calm.

Finally, the silver-eyed figure stepped forward, his cloak billowing as dark energy coalesced around him. His voice was laced with contempt as he addressed Aiden. “So, you’re the one who’s been meddling in my affairs. I must admit, your persistence is… irritating.”

Aiden stepped forward, his blade pointed at the man. “You’re breaking the seals. Do you even understand what you’re unleashing?”

The man laughed, a cold, hollow sound. “Of course I understand. The Abyssal Maw is the key to reshaping this broken world. Those who oppose it are simply too blind to see the truth.”

“I’ve heard enough,” Aiden said, his voice cold. He launched himself at the man, his blade cutting through the air with deadly intent.

The silver-eyed figure met Aiden’s strike with a blade of his own, forged from pure dark energy. The clash sent shockwaves rippling through the battlefield, forcing both combatants to take a step back. The man’s smile widened. “Impressive. You’re stronger than I expected.”

Aiden didn’t reply. He pressed the attack, his movements a blur as he unleashed a flurry of strikes. The silver-eyed man parried each one with precision, his counterattacks forcing Aiden to stay on the defensive. The power radiating from the man was immense, his connection to the Abyssal energy giving him a near-unbreakable shield.

But Aiden wasn’t fighting alone. His team, though pressed, had managed to break through the enemy lines and disrupt the ritual. Explosions erupted around the seals as charges detonated, sending shockwaves that destabilized the dark energy. The chanting ceased, and the abominations began to falter, their forms crumbling as the energy sustaining them dissipated.

The silver-eyed man’s expression darkened. “You’re meddling in forces you can’t begin to comprehend,” he growled, his attacks growing more ferocious. Aiden gritted his teeth, his Spirit Sense straining to keep up with the barrage.

But then, Aiden saw an opening. The man’s strikes, though powerful, left a slight gap in his defense—a momentary lapse that Aiden exploited without hesitation. Channeling his energy into a single, decisive blow, Aiden struck at the man’s core.

The silver-eyed figure staggered, dark energy spilling from the wound. He looked at Aiden, his expression a mix of rage and disbelief. “This… isn’t over,” he spat, his form beginning to dissolve. “The Abyssal Maw will awaken, and when it does, you’ll wish you had joined me.”

With a final, hateful glare, the man’s form disintegrated, leaving only a lingering shadow in his wake.

The battlefield grew silent as the last of the abominations fell. Aiden’s team regrouped, their injuries evident but their spirits unbroken. Myne’s voice crackled over the comm link. “Status?”

“The ritual’s stopped, and their leader is down,” Aiden replied, his voice steady despite the exhaustion creeping in. “But this isn’t over. We need to fortify these seals and figure out who else is involved.”

Aiden paced along the edge of the desecrated clearing, his sharp mind already working through the next steps. The air around the shattered seals still hummed with residual Abyssal energy, a foreboding reminder of what had nearly been unleashed. He turned to Myne, who was overseeing the operatives securing the perimeter.

“How long until we can stabilize the seals?” Aiden asked, his tone brisk.

Myne glanced up from her work, shadows coiling around her like sentient threads. “With the energy this unstable? Hours, if not more. We’ll need to reinforce them with stronger runes and a stable energy source, or they’ll collapse the moment we leave.”

Aiden clenched his fists, his thoughts racing. The seals were critical, but so was uncovering who else was behind this. The silver-eyed figure was just one piece of a much larger puzzle. If the Abyssal Maw was indeed their ultimate goal, then this wasn’t just an isolated threat—it was the prelude to a catastrophic war.

“Do it,” he said finally. “Use whatever resources you need. We can’t risk this place becoming active again.”

“Already on it, boss,” Myne replied, her voice calm but determined.

Aiden turned to the rest of his team. “What’s the status on the enemy remains? I want every scrap of information we can gather—runes, artifacts, anything that might give us a lead.”

One of his operatives, a wiry man named Kael, stepped forward, holding a fragment of a broken talisman. “We found this near one of the seals. It’s inscribed with Abyssal runes, but… there’s something off about it. It’s not purely Abyssal—it’s mixed with something else.”

Aiden took the fragment, his Spirit Sense immediately flaring as he examined it. He frowned. Kael was right; the energy signature wasn’t purely Abyssal. It was laced with traces of another power—something ancient and far more structured.

“Myne, take a look at this,” he said, handing her the fragment. “Do you recognize the secondary energy?”

Myne took the fragment, her shadows curling around it as she studied it intently. After a moment, her expression darkened. “This… isn’t Abyssal at all. It’s celestial. Whoever created this was combining the two forces—Abyssal chaos and celestial order. That’s… not something just anyone can do.”

Aiden’s eyes narrowed. “Celestial energy? That would mean whoever is behind this has access to incredibly rare and dangerous resources—and the knowledge to use them. This wasn’t just a rogue cult. This was coordinated.”

“Coordinated by someone with deep pockets and even deeper connections,” Myne added, her voice grim.

Kael shifted uneasily. “What’s the play here, Aiden? If they’re mixing Abyssal and celestial energy, they’re working toward something big. Do we stay and fortify, or do we hunt down whoever’s pulling the strings?”

Aiden’s gaze swept over the battlefield, his mind calculating. The seals were critical, but if they didn’t strike at the heart of the operation soon, the enemy would regroup and try again. The silver-eyed figure might have been a key player, but he wasn’t the mastermind.

“We do both,” Aiden said decisively. “Myne, you stay here with a team and stabilize the seals. Use every resource at your disposal. Kael, you’re with me. We’re going to trace this fragment back to its source and find out who’s funding this operation. We need answers, and we need them fast.”

His team nodded, their resolve matching his. They knew the stakes; failure wasn’t an option.

As the operatives dispersed to their tasks, Myne stepped closer to Aiden, her voice low. “You’re taking a big risk splitting the team like this. If they hit us while we’re divided—”

“I know,” Aiden interrupted, his voice quiet but firm. “But we don’t have a choice. If we wait too long, they’ll be ahead of us, and we’ll lose the trail. This is a calculated risk, and I need you to hold the line here. Can you do that?”

Myne smirked, her confidence unshaken despite the weight of the mission. “You’re asking the wrong question, boss. The real question is: can they handle me?”

Aiden allowed himself a small smile. “Fair point. Just… be careful. If things go south, signal immediately.”

“You’ve got it,” Myne replied, already turning back to her work.

Aiden watched her for a moment before motioning to Kael and the others. “Let’s move. We’ve got a lead to follow.”

The group slipped into the shadows of the forest, the fragment clutched tightly in Aiden’s hand. The trail was faint but distinct, leading them deeper into uncharted territory. Whatever lay at the end of it, Aiden knew one thing for certain: the game had just begun, and the enemy was playing for keeps.

The forest deepened around Aiden and his strike team as they moved further from the desecrated clearing. The light grew dimmer, the canopy overhead thick and oppressive. Kael, ever the vigilant scout, kept his eyes on the trail while the rest of the operatives spread out in a loose formation, silent and deadly.

Aiden clenched the fragment in his hand, his Spirit Sense expanding outward like a radar. He could feel faint traces of the celestial energy within the fragment, a trail left by whoever—or whatever—had been carrying it.