Chapter 34: Excellent performance
It was high noon and the sun stood high in the air, shining its warm rays over the entire forest. The ALCRAN forest, close to one of the craters, was no longer peaceful and subtle.
Instead, there were people all over the place, large flying platforms hauling equipment from one position to another in a hurry.
These people were the Knight-class humans, the second line of defence after the sent awakened. Leading them was Lord Harvix, a large, middle-aged man who wore armor from neck to toe and carried a massive mace on his back.
Harvix, with his usual stern, disciplined look, ran the entire operation as tightly and quickly as he could. After all, he knew what was at stake.
Humanity and all of ALCRAN were in danger, so it was his decisive leadership they needed at a time like this.
Although, from the start of this mission up to this moment, he hadn’t been able to get his mind fully together.
He kept recalling the military call—the panic in his superiors’ voices telling him to prepare his team for an extraction and, likely, a suicide hunt.
He had also heard rumors of an entire Knight cohort being wiped out in the crater within minutes.
And this brought him to the question that was on his mind and the minds of his men.
’If the crater was able to wipe out an entire cohort of Knights, then what can a Knight and a group of awakened do to last in there?’
His question did not stand long before an answer arrived.
A loud commotion arose from afar, catching Lord Harvix’s attention. It didn’t take long before one of his men hurried to him and yelled loudly.
"There are men coming out of the crater."
Harvix’s eyes first grew wide in utter bewilderment, as though questioning whether he had heard right. A group made it out? A group of mere awakened and not Knights.
How was that even possible?
Soon enough Harvix snapped out of his daze. "Help them quickly and bring them to me," he ordered, and his men immediately went to do his bidding.
While he waited, Harvix couldn’t help but repeatedly replay the words he had heard, finding it hard to believe such a feat could be achieved by mere awakened, most of whom had only recently gained their talents.
It was a mystery he could not wait to unravel, and soon one of his men brought someone forward.
Harvix stared the man from head to toe, the gore of the sight both enthralling and disturbing. The man before him resembled a beast—drenched in his own blood and the blue blood of the monsters he had fought—but his expression remained blank and grieving.
After a long inspection, Harvix finally spoke.
Before he could open his mouth, the man began.
"I am Knight Kresha, leader of this cohort..." He stuttered a little, then took a moment to gather himself before continuing, "or I was the leader of the cohort."
Harvix had no time for delays. With a frown he muttered, "Tell me what happened. What did you encounter in the crater?"
Kresha stared at the Lord for a while, then chuckled uncontrollably.
The sight made the people around him uneasy; his animal-like appearance did little to earn him leeway to being considered sane.
"The crater is hell itself," Kresha said. "For as far as one could see, there were endless numbers—like counting sand in the desert—monsters that killed my people as though they were flies, dismembering them mercilessly in the most horrid ways you could imagine." He paused, then grabbed his face as though trying to tear it off, and spoke again. "Even with how well I led my team, we stood no chance. In the end I had to destroy the crater to block the monsters from coming to the surface. It was for our—"
"You bastard!" Cutting abruptly into Kresha’s speech was Tessa, the valiant warrior, lunging forward with hatred and desperation.
She reached Kresha far faster than he could react and thrust her fist into his face.
The hit connected and sent Kresha to the ground, his broken nose oozing blood as he clutched it.
"You bitch—" he retaliated.
Tessa was not done. She threw both hands up to catch Kresha by the throat, but two Knight-class men restrained her before she could get an inch closer.
"Let go of me, you bastards! This man deserves to die! How dare he claim to be the hero! What a load of bullshit!" Tears formed in her eyes, yet her rage dominated her demeanor. "If not for Unknown, we would have all died in that crater... And if you had listened to him... Maybe... just maybe we would have all lived!" Despite her exhaustion from overusing her ability, she pushed forward to attack Kresha, though her strength was not what it had been.
Lord Harvix knew better than to speak hastily; he had not been with them when it happened—yet this was no time for indecision.
"I don’t know what happened within the crater, and it’s better for you to spill it all than to let those feelings fester and turn you into something else," he began. "Trust me when I say I know what rage does to humans when it’s bottled. But he is the leader of the operation and a part of the military; to this I cannot let you lay a finger on him."
Hearing this, Tessa snarled like a beast and lunged forward with such force that the Knights restraining her began to feel pulled by her.
Luna stood further away, silent, staring at Kresha with an empty expression. Deep within, however, she was conflicted and did her best not to act rashly—that was the reason for her silence.
The other rescued awakened were the same: silent, trembling, unable to erase what their eyes had seen in the crater.
Luna shook her head and frowned at Kresha, clearly seeing through his act. ’Your act is priceless. I can see the smile through all the feigns, and one thing is sure here—’
Keeping her eyes on Kresha, she slowly tightened her fists until her nails dug into her palms.
"This will be the last time you see the sun. I’ll make sure of it, Kresha. In the name of my master, I will kill you."
She spoke loud enough for everyone to hear. The crowd fell silent in awe; it did not bother her.
Instead Luna turned and began to walk away without further comment.
One thing was sure: the Blade Family did not make idle threats with death concerned.
AUTHOR’S NOTE
Thanks for the support.
1 Castle 6 Chapters mass release.
Any gifts apart from that and 2-5 mass release
Golden ticket 200— mass release 6
Powerstone 500— mass release 5.