Revenge: A Path of Destruction
Chapter 84: Alex vs The Earth Patriarch (5)

Chapter 84: Alex vs The Earth Patriarch (5)

Alex stood tall on Nyxara’s back, his golden hair swaying gently in the lingering currents of unstable mana. The estate below remained drenched in chaos—shouts, groans, the movement of soldiers and bots trying to stabilize the wounded. And yet, none of it touched him as he waited for one of the few people who caused him everything.

Then he arrived.

He stood like a manifestation of the earth, a formidable presence imbued with a raw, untamed strength that seemed to simmer beneath the surface, yearning for the moment it could be set free. His solid frame exuded a weighty power, as if he carried the very essence of the ground beneath him, embodying a force that was both protective and awe-inspiring, ready to awaken at any instant.

Khepri, the Sovereign of Earth, had arrived.

The moment their eyes met, one would have expected Alex’s face to twist with rage, to ignite with hatred—some flicker of vengeance.

But instead...

There was nothing.

His face was as still as stone. Cold. Detached.

The boy whose clan had been slaughtered. The boy whose family died in agony. The boy who once cried in blood.

Now, that boy was gone.

He stared at Khepri not as a man stares at one of the people who destroyed his family and clan, but as if he were observing a stranger on the street.

Indifference.

Nyxara shifted beneath him, her fur prickling with tension as her golden eyes cut toward the Earth Patrician. But what disturbed her more wasn’t Khepri.

It was Alex.

Bonded to him, she could feel what others could not—the echo of his emotions. Or more accurately...

The absence of them.

No hatred, no sorrow, and not even rage. Just the hollow emptiness of a blade honed too long, sharpened until it had forgotten what it was meant to protect.

It broke her heart.

But she didn’t say a word.

There was still work to be done.

Then Alex’s voice rang clearly in his mind, calm and composed as if he were giving orders at a briefing:

"Nova, shut down all communication. I want a full blackout. As for the artifact, deploy the mana disruptor since your main body is hovering in the Earth Domain. Block all mana transactions from both sides."

Nova’s voice responded instantly, a whisper of static and precision in his mind.

"Understood. Signal lockdown initiating. Mana disruptor deploying. ETA: thirty seconds."

----

While Nova could easily sever digital and satellite-based communication networks—used by modern civilization for day-to-day operations—some artifacts still used pure mana to transmit messages, bypassing all technological interference.

These mana-based communicators were relics and treasures created by artificers, often employed only in times of high crisis, when standard systems failed.

And Alex knew this.

Which is why he called for the mana disruptor.

A specialized device integrated into Nova’s true body—hovering high above the Earth Domain like a satellite of doom—released a pulse that interfered with all large-scale mana flow across the continent.

But its real, devastating utility was this:

Teleportation lockdown.

Portals, spatial artifacts, instant transference spells—all gone.

Not a single person on the continent could teleport in...

Or out.

No reinforcements.

No retreats.

No warnings sent to neighboring territories.

The Earth Clan was now trapped in their domain, cut off from the rest of the world. And they didn’t even know it yet.

Alex remained still, his eyes not leaving Khepri.

The cage had been sealed.

The hunter was ready.

----

The moment Nova executed Alex’s command, a wave of silence rolled across the Earth Domain.

It started small—lights flickering in command towers, screens freezing, interfaces blinking red.

Then—blackout.

Every telecom satellite, with its metallic sheen reflecting the sun, every long-range technology pulsating with energy, and every signal tower designed to amplify the transmission of thoughts or facilitate direct messaging—all came to a standstill.

From the expansive tech hubs bustling with innovation in the north to the towering, fortified cities safely tucked beneath the imposing shadows of the southern mountains, a profound silence enveloped the Earth Domain.

No messages streamed in, no responses flickered out; a heavy stillness settled over the land, leaving its inhabitants in a state of uncertainty.

In the Geb Fortress, where most of the Earth Clan’s strongest were stationed, people barely had time to react before they felt it:

A sudden, invisible pressure—not heavy like the mana Nyxara had released—but sharp. Clean. As if they’d just passed through a pulse of cold light that scanned every inch of their soul and surroundings.

People staggered in the streets, blinking and murmuring to one another, wondering what had just happened.

And no one had answers.

People looked to the skies and found no signs—just an uneasy stillness... and the absence of command.

In control towers, the few who realized something deeper was happening began to panic.

A dome-shaped structure sat underground, glowing dimly on the eastern side of the Earth Estate. Inside, technicians and engineers were arranged in orderly rows before countless holographic panels, each linked to the teleportation portal.

Normally, these portals shimmered in their frames—constant, stable. Every major city, continent, and world relied on them, and only the Higher Clans had the power to regulate them.

Not even the Global Government dared override their control.

But now...?

"Sir, we’ve lost connection to the Niamey Portal Hub."

"No response from Cairo or Kinshasa either!"

"They’re all going dark—one after another!"

"Even the international teleportation portals are going dark, sir."

Within seconds, red warnings flooded every panel.

The room exploded in motion—shouts, frantic fingers dancing across controls, mana runes flashing violently.

An older technician slammed a crystal interface, eyes wide in disbelief.

"It’s not just our sector. It’s global. Every portal controlled by the Earth Clan is offline!"

Gasps rippled through the room like thunder.

"That’s not possible. Even if someone sabotaged the teleportation stones—there’s no intrusion record!"

"Then what the hell did this?!"

There was no answer to their question.

All they knew was that something—something had just silenced a transportation network forged by the best engineers.

A network that hadn’t gone down even during the Great Beast war.

And above it all, none of them had the slightest clue what was truly happening in the capital—Geb Fortress—where a white tigress stood like a god atop the broken Earth Estate, and where her rider had just sealed the fate of an entire continent.