Beyond the Apocalypse-Chapter 1002: Killing Voroe Lords

Astarion’s eyes widened as he felt the blade tear through his chest. The sword’s energy surged through his body like a tidal wave, rupturing organs and destroying tissue with merciless precision. His lungs collapsed, his blood boiled, and the searing power made its way straight toward his heart. For the first time in centuries, the Voroe Lord felt the touch of true death.

Terror, unlike anything he had ever known, consumed him. The primordial instinct to survive ignited within his core, and his power exploded outward in a blinding storm of energy.

The blast unleashed an overwhelming shockwave that threw both Vlad and Akai backward, hurling them through the air before they crashed violently into the ground, carving craters upon impact.

Astarion did not linger. He spun around and fled, his body blurring into streaks of dark light as he forced every ounce of power into escape. Never in his long existence had he been brought so close to the brink.

The memory of pain burned in his mind like a curse, and for the first time, the mighty Voroe Lord felt genuine fear. His only thought was to reach the teleportation rune in the distance, the one that would take him away from this cursed world, back to his home, where he could recover and plot revenge.

Akai rose from the ground with a grunt, his halberd trembling in his grasp. Blood trickled from his lips as he stared at the retreating figure of the Voroe Lord, fury flashing in his eyes. They had been so close to ending this monster. His body was too battered to pursue, but the anger in his gaze burned hotter than fire.

Then, in the next heartbeat, Akai’s eyes narrowed as he felt an immense surge of energy behind him. He turned and saw Vlad, still kneeling in the crater where he had fallen, his body trembling yet unwavering.

The True Depravita of Wrath did not rise. Instead, his eyes blazed with a furious light as raw power poured out of his soul, consuming both his life and essence.

Vlad raised his sword and drove it into the ground, not into stone, but into the very fabric of space, making the world tremble.

Far ahead, just as Astarion reached the boundary where his escape rune shimmered, his body suddenly froze mid-flight. His eyes widened in disbelief as an invisible force gripped him. A strange pressure bloomed above his head, then pain, sharp and sudden.

For a moment, he couldn’t comprehend what had happened. His head remained still, but his body dangled beneath it, trembling uncontrollably. Slowly, almost in disbelief, Astarion raised a hand to his forehead. His fingers touched cold metal.

A sword was buried halfway into his skull, having pierced through space itself.

"How..."

That was the last word the Voroe Lord ever spoke. The light in his eyes flickered, then faded completely. His body went limp. A moment later, the sword withdrew, vanishing as silently as it had appeared, and Astarion’s corpse plummeted to the ground.

Akai stood motionless, awe and admiration filling his gaze. Vlad’s mastery over space was beyond anything he had ever witnessed, able to send a blade countless kilometers away, through layers of reality itself, and strike with pinpoint precision.

Vlad offered only a faint, weary smile. He had gone far beyond his limits; the attack had drained every drop of his energy and burned away a portion of his life force. Even for a True Depravita, such a feat carried a heavy cost. Thankfully, his Depravita Aura would restore what had been lost in time.

Akai moved quickly. He lifted the Voroe Lord’s corpse, retrieving the crystalline space treasure embedded in its wrist. He handed the remains to Vlad, a gesture of respect. The killing blow had been Vlad’s, so he got the best part of the spoils, which against Voroes, was always their corpses.

Vlad accepted it with a nod, his expression calm but his eyes fierce. He was pleased not only by victory but by Akai’s discipline in the presence of wealth, proof that the Faelara Prince understood what truly mattered in war.

It took nearly fifteen minutes before Vlad’s strength returned enough for him to stand and fly without difficulty. When he did, both warriors exchanged a silent nod before soaring toward the heart of the Faerathia Empire in the Doomsday World.

There, at the empire’s central stronghold, vast legions awaited them. The combined forces of the Xoas Kingdom and the Faerathian Empire were gathered in perfect formation. The battle with the Voroe Lord had been but an interlude; now came the true purpose of their campaign.

Arcane runes and radiant matrices stretched from the fortress across the land, lines of power expanding to connect with other citadels scattered across the dying world. The patterns converged into a colossal formation that drained energy directly from the planet’s core.

The goal was simple yet monumental, to harness the Doomsday World’s remaining life force and channel it into a spell capable of teleporting their entire military force into the Chaovoratities Plane, the heart of the Vorometallic dominion.

The process was perilous, delicate, and immensely draining. If even one of the formation’s strongholds were destroyed mid-transfer, the entire network would collapse, forcing them to start anew. That was why this moment could only come once the entire Doomsday World was secure.

Vlad wasted no time. He established communication with Overlord, requesting updates from the other fronts. Coordination was paramount. They would have only one chance to strike, and if they failed, their armies would share the same fate as the Devil Legion led by Nebolex, which had tried to invade Terra and was annihilated before even reaching its surface.

---

Meanwhile, in the Land of Ice and Fire, Prince Horin and Jormungandr stood atop the fortress walls. Their bodies bore deep wounds, their faces were pale with exhaustion, but their eyes still gleamed with unshaken resolve. The sky shimmered with residual lightning and fire, the aftermath of their titanic battle.

They had not managed to kill their Voroe opponent, Mazigner, but they had wounded him deeply and forced his retreat. For warriors like them, that was victory enough.

Far below, the earth trembled as the world-spanning formation expanded, its runes glowing with divine brilliance.

The small yellow cat glanced up at Prince Horin, and both of them nodded. His eyes shimmered as the True Depravita of Gluttony activated the interplanar communication gem.

A soft, distorted voice echoed through the wind as he sent a message back to Terra.

"We are in position."

---

Far across another Doomsday World—a realm of magma and volcanic stone, two dragons stood side by side upon a ridge that glowed red with heat.

One was made of fire and molten rock, his scales flickering like living lava. The other shone like polished obsidian, black as the void and harder than any metal. Together, they stared at the expanding network of runes that stretched across the burning wasteland, pulsing with otherworldly power.

Lancel, the Lord of the Obsidian Dragon World, could not help but stare at Fafnir with eyes full of awe and respect. Despite the True Depravita of Envy being a Superior Legend, he was still able to play a pivotal role in the fight against the Voroe Lord.

They had fought and nearly crippled Drixal, forcing the Voroe Lord to burn his life force and soul in order to escape the battlefield, making it unlikely they would have to face him in the invasion, and if they did, they were confident of being able to give the killing blow.

Of course, such a brutal battle had left its mark: Fafnir’s body was still covered in half-healed burns, his aura flickering weakly around his wounded frame. Yet the fire in his eyes was undimmed, sharper, fiercer than ever, showing that he would be ready for the next fight.

He raised his head toward the sky and spoke through the gem that linked him to the Overlord’s network.

"Envy, ready."

---

In the Emerald Abyss, where emerald mist and endless jungles stretched beyond sight, Freya and Oniri rested atop what appeared to be a vast mountain. The two women were exhausted, their energy drained, and wounds all over their figures, a testament to the intensity of their fight.

Yet, that did nothing to diminish the smile on their faces or the pride in their faces, due to the feeling of success that flowed in their hearts.

The True Depravita of Lust glanced at her communicator, a small smirk curving her lips as she pressed the crystal’s surface.

"Lust, ready."

She exhaled softly and reclined backward, closing her eyes for a moment.

Upon closer inspection, the "mountain" beneath her was no mountain at all—it was the colossal, lifeless corpse of Ox, the Voroe Lord whom the duo had faced. His obsidian armor was shattered, his blue-lit core extinguished.

The two women manage to mirror Vlad and Akai’s success, taking the life of the Voroe Lord while conquering the Doomsday World. An immense achievement that would make things much easier in the next step.