Chapter 17

The gang led by Tom moved out of their cell and headed to the armory.

They entered the armory; it was a huge hall, made to house tools that can sustain the kingdom for centuries to come. The armory smelled of metal and magic, the space clearly divided into weapons, armour, and magic artifacts.

The majority of the racks were empty—maybe the result of Gord's greed—but the remaining artifacts were enough to arm us to the teeth.

Tom led them to the artifact section first. Tom's eyes scanned the place.

"Here it is," Tom hurried to one corner. His hands reached out and grabbed an old-looking bag, "I got it, guys." It was his bag.

He hurried and took out the magic crystal balls, each easily fit into one hand.

"Leo, Ryan, Reed, take one each. I will hold on to one."

Each received one as they gave a nod.

"Don't worry, even if this is just scrap, this scrap is better than nothing. Arm yourself," said Tom.

Each one went their way and grabbed what they were comfortable with.

Leo, going around the weapons section, saw what seemed like a handle with an empty socket at the end. Curiously, he went near it. His hands reached it and grabbed it. Tom, who was nearby, saw it.

"How... how are you unaffected by this, Leo?" asked in surprise.

"What do you mean, Tom?" asked Leo.

"This is a mana blade. This was designed to be used by inserting a mana stone, but it turned out to be defective. It also absorbed the user's mana, making it impossible to use in real battle," said Tom.

"Hahahaha, defective... just like me." As he said this, he took out a mana stone from his storage bag and placed it in its hilt. That moment, a bright light flashed, a flame was born out of the rusted hilt—a fire long dead reignited.

"This is a perfect match," said Leo. Then he said, "Only if it were a bit longer, it would be perfect."

Then the flame grew longer.

Out of nowhere,

"This... never in my 50 years of life did I think I would find one." His voice trembling, hands shaking, he moved to Leo, held his shoulders.

"Leo, you are blessed by mana. The child of mana."

Hearing this, dejected with a disappointed look in his eyes, Leo said,

"Tom, I was born without mana—a manaless being, unable to gather mana. So stop saying that nonsense."

Tom, hearing this,

"Heaven is merciless indeed... to give perfect mana sensitivity to a person with no mana." His voice clearly lost its previous joyful tone.

Hearing this happening,

"What do you mean by calling Leo 'child of mana', Tom?" asked Stark.

"Stark, every demon who uses mana receives a resistance from it, as we are using it to go against what is nature. But now... did you see how mana responded to Leo's words? How it bent to his will? This happens when a person has perfect mana conductivity—a child blessed by mana. Mana is circulated by others, but in him, mana flows like a river. But it's a pity he couldn't use mana."

Stark understood and felt bad for Leo. Seeing this,

"As long I breathe and walk, I will achieve my goal. So what if I don't have mana? It's but a small obstacle on my long journey," said Leo.

They felt the weight of his conviction behind the words and started respecting this kid more than ever.

Then they smiled at Leo, and they continued their preparation.

After a short while, the preparations were completed.

"My friends, do not have fear in your hearts. Death is but the inevitable end. If today is our day, then remember—today we save not the demons of the kingdom, but the very future of this demon realm. Our sacrifice today will make our children live for a hundred more years. Remember, we do not go down alone. We are taking all the nightmare down with us. So warriors, let’s go. Let’s fight and let’s LIVE!" said Leo.

Roars erupted around the room. The warriors were ready to do their duty. In their souls ignited a fire that long lay dormant. They were ready—even if it meant the worst.

Before leaving,

"Reed, give this to your princess," hands Reed a letter and continues,

"Say an old friend of hers gave it and say I am glad to see her alive."

Reed, though confused, decided to acknowledge his request.

"I will do it, Leo."

Then they headed out.

Leo with 80 guards and Stark headed to the wall's top and got in their position.

Tom and 10 guards headed to the core in the leylines and reached the core room.

Reed and his 24 knights headed to the knight array, Reed personally carrying the princess.

Ryan and other 10 guards headed to the slums. Ryan gathered his friends. About 200 ragged demons appeared—from children to teenagers, they varied in age and size.

"A grave threat surrounds our life today. The shield is weakened. Our lord, the coward, fled. But we will not die—we will survive this, my fellow slum rats.

We have been neglected, beaten up, criticized all our lives by the other demons. Now it’s our turn to prove them wrong—to make our stand in this realm.

Today, we save them all. Listen well—we have exactly an hour before the culling starts. Assemble yourself into small teams and start from the periphery of the kingdom near the grand wall. Evacuate the citizens there—bring them to the leylines, to the core room.

Tonight is our greatest test in our lives, my dear rats. Let’s survive this."

Ryan ended his speech. A brief pause, then thundering arose from his rats,

"Let’s go!"

"Let’s show them who is better!"

"Let’s do it, boss!"

The rats started their work.

Time passed.

Stark, Leo, and the gang ready in their position.

The knights filled the array.

The group under Ryan’s command evacuated almost 60% of the people. The periphery was completely emptied.

Leo fired up the mana crystal in his hand with Stark by his side.

Ryan appeared in it and said,

"It’s clear from our side. About 6,000 demons all entered the leyline. The rest are being assembled as we speak. In 30 more minutes, we will complete."

Now Leo connected all four balls,

"Guys, the plan is a go. Now do it, Tom," said Leo.

Tom:

"Boys, fire up the core."

The guards, all under Tom’s instructions, made moves in the crystal array in the room.

The giant, magnificent core held there for centuries returned to its original place—the place where it shines the brightest.

Tom inserted a mana stone into the centre of the crystal array in the core room. The ceiling opened up. The giant caves moved, rocks clashing against each other, dust filling the air. Crystals moved. A path opened. The crystal started moving through it.

At the same time, the walls near Leo opened up.

The giant core appeared in its fated position. As have our demons, the twin suns started to show themselves—slowly showing their heads, hiding behind the clouds, slowly making their appearance.

In the distance, Leo and the guards could hear roars of beasts—both on land and in the skies—filling the skies with dread. The rising sun was consumed by the swarm of beasts. At least a hundred thousand beasts should be there.

The guards, though war-hardened veterans, could still not help but feel dread of death. But their eyes held the will to fight. The fire in their souls did not dim—it only grew larger and brighter.

Leo started speaking,

"Everyone get ready ,

The culling has begun. "

---

What will happen now? Will Leo and others survive this? Will all be saved? Will the plan go as planned? Stay tuned to find out.

💬 Enjoyed the chapter? Leave a comment or review!

👍 Like, share, and follow for more!

🎁 Support the story on Patreon: patreon.com/Lore_weaver