[LSB] Chapter 154: And Then, It Appears

[Master Julian, entering through the final gate now.]

Julian felt the whirring vibration ripple around him as he sat calmly in the car while Femty guided him through. He had passed through several radiant gates already, yet he still hadn’t grown used to the sensation.

Each one felt different, and each time he expected something—perhaps a fragment of memory, maybe even something from the Shadow Blacksmith. It happened once before, after all. But there was nothing. Only the void.

[We have arrived at the Ferros gate. Ferronar System, Chalybos Cluster. 2.6 million light-years from Sol.]

He barely felt it at all. If Silvie were here, she would have described it for him, but instead—

[Please standby while your VISA and passgate are—]

The car’s AI suddenly cut off, replaced by a flicker of light as a holographic feed unfolded in front of him.

[Master Julian. An unauthorized signal has forced its way through our system.]

“Hmm. Thank you for letting me know, Femty,” Julian muttered.

A voice immediately burst through the feed, loud enough to make Julian tilt his head slightly away.

[It’s only you?! We requested the entire military!]

“I’m the only one who could get here fast enough.”

[Wh—]

“I’ll let my assistant talk to you. Femty.”

With that, Julian dismissed the feed. It folded away as he unzipped his jacket. “Take me to where the portal is.”

[Of course, Master Julian.]

The car descended toward Ferros, dipping into its atmosphere with a subtle pull. The discomfort tugging at him only earned a quiet hum as he neatly set his jacket aside. Lines across his exosuit flared with light, and an invisible bubble sealed around his head.

[Master Julian, I am detecting life signs near the portal. Would you like to investigate first?]

Julian didn’t answer right away. He brushed his fingers over his cane, tilting his head slightly before he hummed.

“Okay.”

The door slid open, and a blast of Ferros’ harsh winds tore into the cabin. Without the invisible helmet, his ears would have been ringing already.

He rested his cane at his side, stood, then leaned forward. With no hesitation, he dropped from the car before Femty could say a word.

The exosuit carried him, letting the violent song of the wind whip around him.

[ETA: Thirty-two seconds.]

Julian stayed silent, but the spirits inside him didn’t. Exhalia’s whisper curled through his mind.

[Highly curious,] she murmured. [The immortal Eldazen told us the daemons only attacked your home world because they sensed her presence. And now they are here?]

“Hm…”

[Is someone here from our world? Or… are the daemons growing more brazen?]

Her question lingered unanswered. Julian pushed it aside, narrowing his focus on the task at hand. Soon enough, he heard the life signs Femty had warned him of.

…And they were screaming.

“Armand! Just leave them, please!”

“No!”

And beneath the screams—the thunder of hundreds of footsteps, heavy enough to rattle the ground and reach his ears even in the air.

[Descending now, Master Julian!]

“Hm.”

He felt the vibrations growing stronger as he neared the ground. His body spun in the air before landing softly on Ferros’ surface. Kneeling, he pressed his palm against the earth, letting the planet’s vibrations flow through him.

He tilted his head, then launched himself toward the source of the strongest tremors. Wind tore past him, mingling with Ferros’ own pulses, until a skirt of air spiraled around him and the world blurred—though not for him.

He stretched a hand to the side as he swept past a grounded ship, brushing his arm across its hull. His fingers tapped against the metal, mapping what lay inside. Dozens of people. One of the screams he’d heard came from just outside the door.

The woman glanced at him as he passed, but he didn’t so much as turn his head. His focus was already on the other scream farther ahead.

“What the—?!” a man shouted as Julian blurred past him too.

But Julian only stopped once he reached the cluster of figures fleeing the oncoming horde of daemons.

There, amid the frantic humans, he felt something denser. Heavier. Different.

The Kregans.

A family of them, perhaps.

Julian finally turned, tilting his ear toward them as his helmet folded back into the lines of his exosuit.

“You don’t need to run,” he said, whether or not they understood him. His attention had already shifted to the horde thundering their way. He raised an arm, femto-particles sparking across it until the Flossblade shimmered into being in his grasp.

“I’ll get this over with quick.”

He surged forward, fingers brushing the ground as his senses pulsed outward into the horde.

Immediately, he felt the difference. These daemons weren’t nearly as strong as the ones on Earth. He could sense the way their muscle fibers strained as they ran, the way their exoskeletons flexed. Softer. Still hard, but softer.

When his blade met the first of them, his suspicion was confirmed. Cutting through one felt like slicing air. The daemon split cleanly in half with no resistance. Although, perhaps that was more a testament of how sharp the vibrating Flossblade was.

The faint resistance that did exist told him what he was fighting—creatures his own size, with thirty spindly legs and tentacles longer than usual dangling from their squid-like heads.

But however they looked didn’t matter. The Flossblade cut through them all the same. The only thing that mattered was how many.

He dropped to the ground, pressing his palm flat. The vibrations poured into him.

Eighty. Ninety. One hundred twenty-six.

“Hm…”

And then he went to work.

Armand, the human lingering near the Kregan family, and the Kregans themselves stood frozen in disbelief. Julian’s movements blurred with every strike, his blade flashing too fast to follow. To them, it looked less like fighting and more like watching reality stutter as he vanished and reappeared with each slash.

The horde of daemons that had been charging toward the refugees now focused entirely on him. But they had no chance of surrounding him. Some were crushed outright as Julian stomped down on their skulls while launching skyward, only to dive again in a spiraling arc, slicing three apart with a single swing.

Emilia, the woman who had begged Armand to abandon the Kregans, subconsciously stepped off the ship. From where she stood, Julian looked almost like a mosquito—gone if she blinked, traceable only by the trail of corpses left in his wake.

And it wasn’t just her. One by one, the humans and Kregans who had already boarded stepped back outside, unable to stop themselves from watching.

The daemons fell in waves. The dust cloud from their march hadn’t even settled, and yet their numbers were already collapsing into nothing.

“Who’s… that, ma’am?” one of the men asked, approaching Emilia with wide eyes.

“The… reinforcement, I guess?” Her voice betrayed her uncertainty. “They must’ve sent us a high-ranking Exterminator.”

“Do we still leave?”

Emilia glanced at him, then at the people already gathered outside. She shook her head.

“I don’t think there’s a need to now. But keep the engine running.”

“Th—”

She didn’t wait for him to finish. Her steps quickened into a sprint as she ran to Armand.

“Armand!”

“Emi, over here!” Armand called back, crouched beside the Kregan family. He waved her closer. “This little one is injured!”

Emilia tapped her wrist, summoning a drone that shot from the ship and reached the family even before she did. A medic drone. Armand wasted no time, tearing into its supplies as he began treating the young Kregan.

Even as he worked, his eyes strayed toward the battlefield. Or rather, what remained of it.

Because it was already over.

In scarcely more than a minute, Julian had slaughtered all 126 daemons. Now he simply stood at the center of the carnage, calm and unmoving.

“Who…” Armand whispered as Emilia reached him. His voice cracked. “Who even is that?”

“It doesn’t matter right now,” Emilia snapped, though her own gaze lingered on Julian. She shook her head and turned back to the family. “What were you thinking, Armand? You were ready to risk your life, everyone’s lives, for this?”

“Well, everything turned out fine, right?” Armand chuckled without looking up, still tending to the young Kregan while speaking in their own tongue.

Emilia had plenty to say, but she only shook her head, exhaling hard before shifting her gaze back to the one who had saved them.

“We’re not finished talking,” she warned, jabbing a finger at Armand to stay put. She walked toward Julian—only for him to suddenly lift off and vanish into the sky.

“What the—? Where’s he going?!” She squinted, then froze. “Wait… that’s the direction of the wormhole. Don’t tell me he’s going there alone?!”

He was. That was why he had come in the first place.

[Shadow Blacksmith,] Exhalia whispered within his mind. [It’s highly unlikely this portal will lead to Silvie. These dark, corrupted creatures are emerging from it, after all. But… I suppose you’re not listening. Would you at least like to hear your updated Status after leveling from the fight?]

“…Okay.”

[Very well. You are now at level fifty, and I believe due to you linking to me, you have also received certain… upgrades in your status. Your Strength is now at 132, Agility at 73, Vitality at 60, Mana at 40, and your Perception—I must say, precedes anything I have ever seen at 245. You also have several Free Points to distribute. Where would you like to put them?]

“…Vitality. All of it.”

[Done. Also, there has been a change in your quests. The Guidance of Artemia has marked The Bridge quest as complete. However, Flames of Juliet remains active.]

“Hm.”

[That means they are still alive, Shadow Blacksmith. Wherever they are, they endure.]

“Thank you,” Julian murmured—just as Femty’s voice chimed in his ear.

[You’re speaking to yourself again, Master Julian. Is everything alright?]

“Yes.”

[…Very well. Then you should know that we are sixty seconds from the portal. Also, Lady Ellie has sent you a message. Shall I play it?]

“Later. I want to finish thi—”

[Master Julian!] Femty’s voice cut sharp through his head, shrill with urgency. He didn’t need her to explain; he felt it too.

[Master!] [Shadow Blacksmith.]

The spirits inside him stirred too, their voices overlapping in warning.

[I am detecting a dangerous surge of energy from the portal! Positioning the car above for a clear view!]

Julian halted in the air, landing hard as his palm pressed to the earth again. He reached out with his senses, but the portal was still too far for him to sense anything.

[I see it now, Master Julian!] Femty’s voice rose. [The source of the energy—!]

Julian’s ear twitched. “What is it?”

[It’s a daemon!] Femty screamed.
[A humanoid daemon!]

***

[LAST CHAPTER] <-----> [NEXT CHAPTER]

So, I truly apologize for the sudden hiatus. It turned out I was sicker than I thought. I spent a few days in the hospital like right after I uploaded the last chapter, and they thought it was pneumonia. So, I decided to just rest for a while and take it easy. It was TB. lol.

I'll be fine, I think. I'm just gonna focus on writing for now to get my mind away from it since it's starting to mess with me. And thank you for those who are still here despite my being inactive, I'll try to make it up to all of you. I think we lost about more than a dozen members, and it will probably be more T_T

Thank you!