Level Up: Voidwalker

'Oh wow, I've improved so much,' Atlas thought as excitement and worry rose inside him.

He looked at Nulia and spoke worriedly, ''The girls are in trouble; Monster Waves are attacking the fortress they're in.''

The Frostbear woman narrowed her eyes before excitedly saying, ''They stand no chance against us, Alt; we've been fighting monsters for years.''

Atlas nodded with a growing smile as he spoke, ''Do you want to wait in the Monster Realm or travel with me? I'll summon Raymond, as he can fly faster than Theo.''

Nulia beamed as she stepped closer and traced his jawline with a loving smile, ''Why would I let the man who will be my future husband fight alone?''

"One day, you'll be mine, Mama Bear," Atlas said with a sly grin.

She nodded, her warm brown skin glowing in the soft light of the setting sone. "I won't come between you two," she replied gently. "It's not right, and I wouldn't want that done to me."

"I get that, but we need to talk to her about us when we reunite," Atlas said. "If I'm being honest, I don't think she'll mind. Amethyst has a kind heart."

Following that, he opened a portal to the Otherworld and summoned Raymond the Stormeagle, who stepped out of the azure portal and let out a loud screech as he spoke, ''Master and Mistress. You need to speak to that criminal, Atek; he was trying to attack me while I washed my wings.''

Atlas started laughing, and Nulia followed suit, causing Raymond to be offended. He declared, ''You two shall not laugh at me! I am a Royal Stormeagle and protector of the Otherworld; I demand respect.''

''Oh shut up,'' Atlas waved the dramatic monster away. ''We need to find a fortress in the middle of the tundra; I believe they are in the North East.''

''Get on my back, master. We shall find this fortress you seek,'' Raymond said, lowering his giant body. ''Hold on tight because I will fly faster than anything you've ever seen.''

Atlas chuckled before grabbing Nulia's hand and using Void Step to get on the Monarch Monster's back. While getting comfortable, he felt the drain of summoning the mighty creature, causing him to down a few mana potions.

'Shit, these are the last ones,' he internally complained. 'I've got more than enough gold to buy even more, so it doesn't matter.'

Raymond spread his massive wings and soared into the sky, leaving Nulia glancing around nervously. She quickly spoke up, "We're in the far west. My mother always said this place is dangerous, full of Titans roaming around, hunting for food."

Atlas looked over the side as the Stormeagle confirmed Nulia's words, ''She's speaking the truth, master. I can sense many monsters at my rank or above, which is spooky.''

''Just don't land on the ground then; I don't want to punch another troll again,'' he replied to the Monarch Monster.

Nulia giggled, ''At least you stopped breaking your arm when you use Void Smash; that's one good thing.''

Atlas looked at the Frostbear woman with a deadpan expression as he retorted, ''But it fractures every bone instead, and that shit hurts for days.''

Raymond and Nulia started laughing, which caused Atlas to smile. He activated the Void Realm and grabbed the woman's arm. The two of them reappeared on the plateau, which made her yelp in surprise.

Her blue eyes turned to him while she warned, ''Next time, tell me when you're going to do that, idiot.''

Atlas chuckled and waved her off, channeling Void Infusion into his blades. Meanwhile, Nulia shifted into her Frostbear form, charging straight at the Commander Golems. As she rushed forward, he quickly glanced at the monster count.

[Void Golem – 000/1000000]

[Void Warrior Golem – 329/500000]

[Void Golem Commander – 62134/100000]

[Void Golem King – 1/1]

'Not long now,' Atlas thought, a broad smile spreading across his face. 'Especially with Nulia's help.'

He watched as she barreled into the group of Warrior Golems, her massive claws ripping through them. Without waiting, Atlas began firing Void Bullets at the Commander's legs, sending the towering creature crashing to the ground.

Without hesitation, he charged forward, his blades infused with Void energy, and began slicing through the stone monsters, cutting them down in a ruthless onslaught while dodging the many stone fists.

'Hopefully, there aren't any more ridiculous amounts of monsters,' Atlas mused with a grin. 'But I guess it makes sense—after all, it's a Golem army.'

Atlas leaped over a Golem's massive arm, his movements swift and precise. Mid-air, he cast a Void Bomb, launching it directly at the Commander. The explosive impact slammed into the Commander's torso, sending it flying like a boulder.

After an explosion rang out, the massive creature crashed into the approaching Warrior Golems, mowing down dozens of them like bowling pins. Atlas went wild and started cutting down any monsters that got close while using his magic to defend himself.

'This is getting better with Nulia,' he mused while turning to the Frostbear woman barreling through a group of twenty Warriors.

The battle continued until only Golem Commanders continued to charge forward, which Nulia held at bay, but Atlas could see the blood splattering the ground every time one of the stone monsters landed a hit.

Without a second thought, Atlas sent Nulia back to the real world to recover and then focused on helping the girls. His pace quickened as he charged into the fray and unleashed a barrage of Void Bombs. Explore more at empire

Each blast tore through the horde of Golems, decimating them one after another as Atlas sprinted forward, relentless in his assault. Soon, however, his mana ran out due to all the fighting, and he returned to the real world.

Opening his eyes, Atlas was greeted by a starry sky. Two moons glowing brightly overhead cast a silvery light on the world below. When he looked over the side of Raymond, he noticed a Monster Wave stretching into the distance.

'Oh shit,' he thought in shock. 'So many monsters. Glad I got Raymond to fly us to the girls.'

Following that thought, Atlas sent Amethyst a message that they were on the way, which made the phoenix girl happy.

***

Amethyst read Atlas's message, making her smile as explosions rang out everywhere. The Golden Lion Legion barely held onto the fortress with the small army's mana cannons and mages.

'We won't last much longer, but at least he's back now.'

She was standing on a balcony watching a wave of monsters rushing toward the wall, only to be torn apart by the cannon fire. Amethyst was amazed at the sheer power the weapons of war rained down.

The older woman constantly fought on the frontlines while she bombarded the horde from above when there weren't any flying monsters to intercept her. Estelle told her that the legion had thousands of soldiers, and despite the cold weather, more ships arrived.

People wanted to fight for the Mahdi, 'Why do they always come up with different names for Azhar'Zul?' she giggled.

Following that, Amethyst summoned her wings before taking off and flying toward the walls, where Artemis and Grishna were flinging spells into the horde. When she hit the stone, the brunette turned to her and said, ''What are you doing here Little Bird? We've got this covered.''

The orc woman greeted her, ''Amethyst, Estelle was looking for you. Something about scouting the surrounding area when we push the monster wave back.''

''Okay,'' she replied with a cheerful smile before looking at Artemis with narrowed eyes. ''Shut up, fish; I will cook you if you continue.''

Grishna started laughing, causing the brunette to scoff, ''Well, I heard the cooks are specialists in cooking birds. Should I have a word with them?''

Amethyst giggled before taking off as she retorted with a grin, ''Catch me if you can bitch.''

Afterward, she flew toward the north gate while swooping down and dodging the fortress towers. Ten minutes later, she spotted the blonde knight directing soldiers on the wall while cannons fired into the monster horde.

Estelle turned around with a warm smile as she descended and landed quietly behind the party's defender, who greeted her. ''Hello, Amethyst! What are you up to tonight?''

The phoenix girl shrugged, glancing toward the horizon. ''Not sure. I was thinking about peppering the horde with my cosmic spells, but that would waste my mana.''

''I have a job for you,'' Estelle responded before screaming at a crew of soldiers working on the cannon. ''Clean that damn gun, or I'll make you run around the keep again.''

Amethyst watched the men speed up, causing her to giggle as she questioned, ''What is this job, blondie?''

Estelle giggled, playfully ruffling Amethyst's hair. The phoenix girl swatted her hand away, clearly annoyed. ''Stop that! I'm not a kid anymore. I'm seventeen nearly eighteen now, and Azhar'Zul and I can make things official in a few months.''

''No rushing into things, Little Bird,'' the blonde replied. ''Remember, when your kind has sex, it means you want the other person as a lifelong mate, and that choice is a very important one.''

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