High-Archon Vommik threw up another barrier, the strongest he could make mid-battle. He then pulled out a powerful mana core, glowing bright even behind his Sun Barrier. He formed a magic circle around it out of his own mana, not needing a carved ritual formation to pull it off. The mana core melted into the formation. Mana, both from the core and the surroundings, began to swirl and condense around the formation. Small bolts of lightning began to arc from it, the sand below began to levitate into the air, sparks of light flashed all around. The High-Archon now flew at the center of an artificial mana-storm.

The ritual to create a dungeon on demand had begun.

But High-Archon Vommik was no mere criminal contact with more ambition than sense, playing with forces beyond their comprehension. No, he was one of the oldest and most experienced mages who still drew breath, a member of the Council of Archons and one of the rulers of the Empire of the Sun, and a guardian of ancient knowledge passed down from a time when the Aesdes still walked the surface of Aelea. His power, his knowledge, and his resources could not be compared to the other minor cultists. The others deferred to the Herald of the New Dawn as a master, or a teacher. Vommik spoke to him as an equal.

His mana invaded the whirling storm and took hold of it, even as he felt the boundary of the Material Plane begin to shift. A massive and head-splittingly complex magic circle formed, one designed to draw power from the Realms of Mana. Vommik thus redirected the direction of the storm and the resulting break in the boundary of the Material Plane, focusing on a Realm of his choosing.

And when the dungeon core appeared, it was already bound to him, appearing grafted into his chest. Vommik ripped open the boundary of the Material Plane even as the dungeon formed, causing it to appear fully corrupted, yet completely under his command. And since it had been filled to the brim with his mana, its own integrated with him. Rather than summoning monsters or traps, the High-Archon would utilize the dungeon’s mana stream directly.

And as for the attribute?

The Sun Elves of the Empire of the Sun relied on their own power. They bowed to no other, and let none stand in the way of their ambitions. They rejected the counsel of the Aesdes and the authority of the Celestial throne both, instead carving out their own domain where they could rule.

So why, then, did the Sun Elves not fall into corruption? Why didn’t they draw power from the Realms of Mana more directly?

The answer was found in their name. The Sun Elves had developed their innate attributes to form the Sun attribute school of mana. A mighty weapon powered by the sun itself, ubiquitous as the day, inevitable as the dawn. A complex attribute comprised of many others.

And yet…no Realm of Sun existed, that any of them could find. It could not, for its various aspects were claimed by others. Its heat was felt in the Realm of Fire and its light in the Realm of Light. Not even the Sun Elves understood what made the sun distinct from Fire, Light, and Lightning, and so could not find a Realm that reflected its nature.

And that was a problem. The Realms of Mana were pure, and focused. They could display any power related to their attribute…but could not manifest anything beyond that attribute. The mana from a given Realm could only ever be one attribute. For people and dungeons who remained at a safe distance, this was not a problem, for they could swap between the attributes or even mix them together. But those who wanted to draw greater power from the Realms, those blessed by the Domides like the Heralds, were forced to commit. Their ability to utilize the other attributes fell in accordance with the amount of power they gained, eventually to the point where the Realm’s mana would begin eating away at their physical nature as well.

The Sun Elves scoffed at such things. The power they could gain from a Realm would cut them off from the multi-attributed Sun Magic. And to be put on a timer, to have a Realm of Mana slowly eating away at their attributes and bodies was unacceptable to the long-lived elves. The Sun Elves were ruled by no one, Domides or Aesdes included, and ultimately there was no Realm that suited them.Royal Road's content has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Until now.

High-Archon Vommik held out his palm. A miniature sun appeared in his hand, far brighter than the pure mana-representations he had created earlier. Sickly green light colored his mana as it flowed around his body. He could feel Fire, Light, and Lightning as before. He could feel small amounts of Gravity pulling at him. He could feel other forces, small bits of power bombarding him all over.

Before his invasion began, the Herald of the New Dawn had shared new and secret knowledge with Vommik, gleaned from his divinations of the Queen of the Dobhar. The true nature of the sun itself, what made it different from a mere campfire. And the terrible and mighty weapons that could be built with such a power, ones that could destroy an entire world if unleashed. And in learning this more comprehensive picture, Vommik had found a Realm that represented destruction by the sun. A corrupting Realm that was fully compatible with the Sun Elf magic.

And so, Vommik bound his dungeon to the nascent Realm of Atomic Destruction.

He scowled as he felt the Realm’s mana flood into his body. Even with a suitable Realm, it was humiliating for the High-Archon to rely on anyone or anything else. But the power he received did not disappoint, and victory could wipe away dishonor. He comforted himself with the irony of the situation. The Queen of the Dobhar would now be defeated by powers her existence had apparently made possible.

So Vommik gathered the mana from his new core, and unleashed a Beam spell. Previously a Sun Beam…but now far greater, and far more destructive…

Seero’s robotic eye flickered as she watched the new spell from High-Archon Vommik approach.

“Warning: Nuclear radiation detected. All units engage hazardous environment protocols. Engaging Atomic Cult termination protocols.”

Well, as it turned out, Seero had encountered foes commanding nuclear powers before. The cybernetic components of all the CELIU units on the field fully enclosed their organic parts, shielding them from harm. 01R, having defeated his opponent, traded places with Lilussees, who began putting up barriers to protect the non-CELIU allies on the field. Seero herself formed a large Prismatic Dome spell and condensed it into a small area just in front of her, using Metal Magic and her Item Foundry to build a wall of lead for good measure.

It turned out magic barriers could guard against radiation…or at least magically generated radiation, as well as anything else, so long as they had enough mana and density to handle the energy colliding into them.

Which Seero did, the High-Archon’s sudden power-up notwithstanding. Plus, she utilized Gravity Barriers and Spatial Angling to redirect some of the stream of energy, so she didn’t need to resist the entire attack outright in any case.

Seero noted her own boost in capabilities. This situation demonstrated that she could now terminate the entire Atomic Cult on her own, were she to somehow encounter them. That scenario was extremely unlikely, however, so she archived that particular simulation.

She instead calculated how to address the situation. Atomic Cult termination protocols mostly just recommended preemptive strike by beyond-visual-range weapons. Even the Equalizer had not been recommended as certain Atomic Cult members could surpass the Equalizer’s output. But since she was already engaged with the High-Archon and had friendlies in the area, she could not rely on those recommendations.

She also detected a corrupted dungeon within the High-Archon. She considered using corrupted dungeon termination protocols…but in this case predicted them as too risky. She would have to leave the battlefield for an indeterminate amount of time, during which the High-Archon would be free to assault her friendlies. Likewise, if she predicted the Realm of Mana in question based on the High-Archon’s observed attributes compared to previously encountered Realms…she might end up in the middle of a nuclear reactor when attempting to terminate the High-Archon’s connection. Her own mana reserves, Spatial and Gravity defenses, and the effect of the Equalizer-Holy mana combo on a Realm of Mana meant that said scenario was surprisingly not predicted as instant-termination, but there was a chance she could be overwhelmed by the sheer amount of energy involved so the risk was still higher than normal.

On the flip side, High-Archon Vommik had just created this dungeon, and still seemed to be learning his new capabilities. He was merely throwing around beams of radiation, nuclear-variations of his previous spells. He had not yet explored the full destructive potential of nuclear reactions.

Seero calculated that at present, the most efficient course of action would be to terminate him directly.

And so her robotic eye flickered as she began to adjust the Atomic Cult termination protocols in light of her own capabilities…