Chapter 6 - The Aftermath

The forces of Light and Nature finally broke through. Despite the valiant battle of the Fire Civilization, the greatest city in the Fire Realm was destroyed, reduced to rubble by the armies of Light, as they received their power from the unity of the forest, channeled to them through the World Trees. The forces of Fire retreated after this decisive blow, and the leaders of the armies of Darkness agreed to meet, to hold peace talks, in one of the great craters on the border of the Fire and Darkness realms. The forces of Light would be able to proceed deep into their territory, in major force. No ambush could occur. all seemed right.

The forces of Darkness were 'late' to this meeting. Their treachery was revealed when the crater began to fill with deadly, poisonous gas... for most of the Light, there was no escape. Only Chilias, the Oracle, and a few others, managed to get away from the Darkness' betrayal. Upon returning to the Sky Towers, Chilias immediately authorized the activation of their greatest technology. The most powerful shield generators fo the Light Civilization came to life, to give them time to regroup. Even the Sanctum Guardians, which had been spending their time amongst the newest Survivors, now returned from their mission, to aid in the defense of their homeland.

Fire's forces retreated into the volcanic mountains, where they also began to plot, and rebuild, searching for ways to harness the great powers that had been released during the Megapocalypse, into a more controllable weapon. One that could destroy even the most powerful shields of the Light. It was through the revelation of their leader, the great white steel dragon, that they finally began to make considerable progress in this regard...

Almost forgotten in the varied events of the world, the Cyber Lords of the Water Realm were able to focus their efforts on their research yet again, in an attempt to unlock the secrets of the long lost Akashic Civilization. Finally, after countless days of toil, they discovered the key. By applying the principle, and a vast amount of energy, to one of their existing teleporters, it was possible to send any amount of supplies or forces to their encampments, with no effort beyond that. A miniature version of this technology was installed in their newly developed Fort Megacluster, the next evolution in Cyber Cluster technology, allowing any Water soldier to instantly request reinforcements or supplies.

Such abilities were not developing only in the world of Water, though. The Guardians were also evolving under the guidance of the Oracles, and the Colony Beetles of the Nature Civilization moved to colonize the area cleared by the army, under the shelter of their Living Citadel. Fire and Darkness trained and created new warriors, to strike back at their enemies before the Light could find a way to end their campaign for good...

Their evolution in the face of new power from their adversaries was undeniable. The Fire Realm produced a new great champion, a Dragonoid of such great ferocity and commanding presence that he was dubbed the 'Lava Walker', as it seemed that not even molten rock itself could stop him from achieving his goal of victory and glory for the Fire Civilization. So Fire continued their training, increasing their readiness for the retaliatory strike that was sure to come once they were ready to finally lay waste to their enemies once again.

The Darkness forces could make no move forward, despite their treacherous slaughter of Light and Nature's forces. Instead, they again turned their attention to their experiments, and in so doing, discovered a new type of Chimera, one that incorportated spirit energy as well as the twisted misshapen form of all previous Chimera experiments. A great Phantasmal Horror, its power so insidious that its dark allies could easily harness it as well, allowing them to devour the spirits of traveling warriors en route to the battlefront.

The victory gained by Light and Nature's unity had indeed stopped the war, but it had by no means ended it. The forces now bided their time, settling for small raids on each others' supply lines, and scouting or subterfuge. At this point, espionage became key. The lull in battle meant that knowledge would be the greatest power.