My Villainess Ex Won't Leave Me Alone

Chapter 217 217: 6.26 - The Invaders

"Lies! All of it! LIES!" Goblin yelled, his body growing in size until he towered over Lucian and Jax, "Tricked! They tricked us! All of us!"

"Who?" Lucian asked.

"They are not Gods!" Goblin's face twisted in rage, his body expanding further, "They are invaders! They came from beyond the sky and forced us to bow! They took over our world!"

The two hundred or so ferals cowered behind Lucian, shaking like leaves before a fire, causing Jax to be the only one standing next to Lucian.

Dark clouds began to form above them. The face tattoo on Goblin's chest began to shrink as he grew bigger. The air looked like it was stuttering, unable to take his transformation.

Lucian was speechless at his army's cowardice. He was the one who should be shaking, "Who are you?"

Goblin stopped shouting and looked down at Lucian, "Boss...I remember now. I remember...I was there...I was there when they first came. The invaders... they want to reshape our world into their liking. We fought them... we fought them so hard─"

CRACK! A blinding pillar of white slammed directly into Goblin's towering form.

"NO!" Lucian ran towards him.

"Aargh!" Goblin screamed, his body shrinking back to his original size, smoke rising from his skin.

Lucian jumped over, grabbed the rain coat Goblin removed and wrapped them in it. The rubbery fabric was supposed to protect the wearer from lightning, but only if they wore it.

"Do you remember anything else?" Lucian asked. Did Goblin's memories come from before the Spiritual Rot Age? Where diamond knights were a common occurrence?

"Boss." Goblin wailed, tears rolling down his cheeks as if he could die any moment, "We were free once, but...they took it from us...they made us their puppets...with their shackles...they said they will grant our wishes...I wanted to be big like other giants...it was my wish."

He trembled, his teeth clattering from the pain but still forced himself to reveal as much as he could, "We all had our own wish. The invaders gave us power...but made us slaves to their will...we were the only ones who fought back...but we lost...they killed us...my kind is gone...but some of us got reborn...in new bodies...our souls...still carry the memory...of our defeat."

Lucian retold the story of the giant he met, and how the giant crushed his own mother.

"The awakened shackleds turned everyone against the giants, it was us against the world," Goblin spoke about the first invasion of shackleds, his eyes were a bit hazy from the pain, "But I trust Boss...Boss is good...Boss wouldn't hurt us...would you, Boss?"

His eyes were pleading with Lucian, looking for reassurance.

"I won't," Lucian said, holding his hand in assurance, "Could you grow bigger again? Just a little bit. I want to test something out."

Goblin tried to get up, "I'm...I'm...I am...a─"

Everyone thought he was going to be interrupted by another lightning strike when it was Lucian, who took a hit on his back, leaving the safety of the rubber coat.

"Master!" The ferals all screamed, covering their ears.

The rubber did its job and prevented Goblin from being electrocuted through Lucian's body.

Goblin whimpered in fear for Lucian's safety, refusing to grow and immediately shrunk back to his original size.

Lucian gritted his teeth. He wasn't going to let the sky execute his Vice. No, he was going to use it to advance his emerald stage.

'Trouble is just an opportunity in disguise,' he chanted to himself.

His mind worked harder than ever, trying to utilize his surroundings.

'Come on, lightning, show me your power. Let me borrow it!' Lucian looked up at the sky, inviting another strike. 'The power of the sky, the power of the heavens, give it to me!'

A blinding bolt struck down on Lucian's shoulder, trying to hit Goblin, but Lucian wouldn't let it.

His shackles manifested, catching the lightning in their chains and restraining it, pulling it to his head, where it exploded into a bright flash.

His body trembled under the impact, his muscles convulsed. The electricity coursed through his brain, leaving him in a state of white noise. His eyes rolled back, his back arched, and his body stiffened as the lightning tried to fry his insides.

"Master is trying to advance his emerald stage…" one of the ferals mumbled, "He wants us to help him!"

"The copper!" another feral shouted, "Get the copper rods from the bags!"

The ferals scrambled to retrieve the copper rods they had brought with them. They planted the rods in the ground around Lucian and Goblin, creating a circle. Then they shot the rods with their arrows, trying to attract more lightning strikes.

"Come on, sky!" the ferals roared, their voices echoing in the hills, "Give us more!"

The fear from earlier was gone, replaced by an animalistic bloodlust. They wanted to fight the sky, not afraid of the lightning. Their earlier retreat was just a show of respect toward the ancient being before them (Goblin).

The clouds rumbled, and more bolts shot down from the sky, hitting the copper rods, and transferring the electricity to Lucian's body.

Lucian's senses were overwhelmed by the sheer amount of energy flowing through him. It lasted for several minutes, leaving his body smoking and his hair standing on end.

When the lightning finally stopped, he collapsed next to Goblin.

"Jax, you take over," Lucian closed his eyes, the fatigue hitting him hard. He wanted to sleep the exhaustion away, "I will take… a short nap."

"...Y-Yes, Boss," Jax nodded, still shaken by the event.

Lucian was convinced now more than ever that the "Spiritual Rot Age" wasn't humans becoming corrupt; it was the moment the "invaders" started to force a new destiny onto the world, clearing the board to set the stage for their "Chosen One", their heroine.

A chosen one, who wasn't meant to save the world, but to entertain the audience.

Mathieu Duremont was part of the audience, maybe from "Beyond The Sky", and his arrival was no accident.

'Does Celine have a hand in his appearance?' Lucian couldn't tell yet, but all the "Mathieus" had one thing in common.

They favored the villainess, were going against the prophecy, and were trying to save her from her fate.

The invaders must have been Voice's superiors, beings who created the shackles and bestowed the people with the false hope of fulfilling their wishes.

Giants seem to be the only ones immune against the shackled curse, and were thus wiped out.

Lucian doubted that the invaders were omnipotent Gods, or any of that nature. They would have already captured him after his numerous rebellions.

It was an automated process, like the law of nature, with nobody at the wheel to drive it, but rather predetermined rules that were set in motion.

‎ ‎