Chapter 957 |
Chapter 957
Even in a state of utter confusion, where he could not tell whether his eyes were open or closed, Yuder never ceased his efforts. Enveloped in fierce waves and battered by the onslaught of tentacles, he persisted until the currents he summoned wrapped everything and finally headed toward the surface.
Thus, when the currents, forged by the combined efforts of all, began to fade away towards the distant land, causing the seabed to quake so intensely it seemed as if the earth itself might turn over, and the remaining four tentacles also slowed their movements.
Yuder, his arm swollen from the attack, reached into his bosom and scattered small stone fragments below.
These were magic stones, brought back by his comrades who had gone ashore for a respite. The person who had sent them was none other than Kishiar La Orr, who had heard of Yuder's method of illuminating the seabed. The light-emitting bracelets were made with hastily transported materials, leaving no surplus. However, magic stones were relatively easy to acquire. Although inferior to night stones, they could emit light for a brief moment when struck, which was far better than nothing.
Knowing that recklessly illuminating could put them in danger, Yuder had kept these stones in his possession, waiting for the optimal moment. That moment would be when a significant change occurred among the strange cracks and monsters. He had thought that would be the best time to scatter the magic stones and illuminate the area.
And that moment was now, right here.
The magic stones released from Yuder's hand shattered under the force of the water and exploded. A multicolored light, reminiscent of a fire being lit in a magic stone stove, blinked brightly in the darkness.
It was a moment, far shorter than when he had broken the bracelet filled with night stones.
If his eyes were not mistaken, among the tentacles, faint cracks were visible, no longer six in number.
‘...Five!’
The moment Yuder confirmed that the outermost crack had disappeared, an indescribable thrill enveloped him.
The certainty that what he had done was not wrong.
The relief and exhilaration that a solution was finally beginning to emerge.
"..."
And the thing that came to his mind the most after that was the first day of the great southern earthquake that struck like a nightmare long ago.
"There's been an earthquake off the southern coast, a very big one. The waves have overflowed, submerging most of the coastal areas, and the extent of the damage is still incalculable!"
The earthquake and tsunami off the southern coast had submerged several areas at once, and in an instant, countless lives were lost.
The Southern branch of the Cavalry was too far from the site to respond immediately, and the Southern Army, lacking General Gino, acted chaotically without a system. Duke Herne, who had risen to the rank of Duke from a branch family, was preoccupied with evading responsibility, while the Emperor showed only a cold attitude towards the tragedy in the south, partly because Empress Myra was from there, fueling whispers that it was intentional neglect.
Despite continuous aftershocks and monster attacks, the nobles in the peaceful capital insisted that Yuder, the Commander of the Cavalry, must not be allowed to gain any more merit.
While everyone responded foolishly, precious comrades fell, and the South was utterly devastated, becoming irrecoverable like the West.
In the devastated and submerged southern lands, Yuder encountered countless people who blamed him.
"Why didn't you, proclaimed as the continent's greatest Awakener, controlling nature at your whim, appear when you were most needed?" lamented a person, weeping in despair.
"What use is the Cavalry, who only follow the Emperor's orders and fail to truly protect the empire?" others cursed, spewing venom as if coughing up blood.
"If you had been here that day, you could have stopped that dreadful wave! It's all your fault!"
Yuder remained silent in the face of their reproaches. Their words were not without truth.
Indeed, he was the strongest Awakener on the continent, but his duties had increasingly become about killing and fighting at the behest of Emperor Katchian. The Emperor proclaimed publicly that the Cavalry and Yudrain Aile were talents moving for the empire, but never actually sent them where they were truly needed.
Ever since the Emperor began to openly oppose his ancestral house, Diarca, Yuder had been too occupied protecting the Emperor and warding off intensified attacks from political adversaries to properly visit the Cavalry. Most operational tasks were delegated to Deputy Commanders and branch leaders, with Yuder only able to read final reports.
As a result, when disaster needing him struck, Yuder couldn't be there.
Until then, he had thought that focusing all his efforts on maintaining the Cavalry was the most important duty as its Commander. Yudrain Aile's failure was the Cavalry's failure, and their failure was akin to the failure of all Awakeners, darkening the future of all who might become Awakeners.
Therefore, Emperor Katchian's trust was essential. The Emperor needed the Cavalry to govern the country properly, and Yuder believed he just needed to loyally follow his commands - not a particularly difficult problem.
But it was not so simple.
The southern earthquake became a turning point for Yuder, prompting him to revisit matters he had overlooked. Although the Emperor urged him to return quickly, Yuder delayed, making various excuses. Instead, he gathered information from before and after the earthquake, devoting all his efforts to recovery.
They said that natural disasters were beyond human control, but was that truly so? Was this terrible calamity indeed beyond anyone's response or prediction?
It was then that he began to seek out witnesses who had seen the strange cracks, feeling the need to track and clearly recognize their existence for the first time.
People scorned him, calling him a Commander chasing useless rumors instead of doing his duty, a madman who couldn't accept his failure.
The southern earthquake was, arguably, the first step towards Yudrain Aile's march towards death.
Those memories, unknown to anyone else, now blurred through Yuder's eyelids. He calmed his heart, pounding as if it would burst, and communicated to his comrades using short vibrational waves and hand signals through the power of water.
"Strange cracks, one confirmed extinguished."
In his previous life, he made numerous mistakes. Among all the errors and failures, the southern earthquake was a burden that weighed heavily on his heart.
But now, Yuder knew the cause of the earthquake and the means to resolve it. From this moment on, he was determined to do everything possible to accomplish what he couldn't do back then.
—
Unsettling earthquakes continued to rumble until, at last, the sea began to churn. The frothing and undulating surface signaled the arrival of a current bearing monsters, just as it had eight times before.
However, unlike the previous currents, this one was unnaturally large and immense.
"Whoooooosh!"
"What... what is that?"
Before the astonished eyes of the team members emerged not the usual small, fragmented monsters, but a creature of incomparable size, a tentacled behemoth. The sight of its enormity, arriving amidst the smaller monsters, shocked the members, but they soon began to engage as instructed.
But facing a creature of such immense size was overwhelming. How many more of these could possibly be lurking in the depths?
Overwhelmed by the mere thought, they exhaled wearily. Struggling against the rough gravel and sinking sand, they chastised and encouraged one another, but the battle continuing in the darkness of the night was anything but easy.
"Argh!"
One of the exhausted, Emon from the Southern Army's Special Forces, clenched his teeth and wiped his sweat. His ankle, injured in a previous stumble, was not in good shape. Just as he thought it was getting better and his mind briefly hazed, a monster's attack loomed right before his nose. Startled, he swung his hand to produce flames, but his fire veered off, absurdly missing its target.
‘Damn it. Looks like I'm going to take a hit!’
Had Sunz, the one with the power of vision, been there, such an attack would have been avoidable, but he was in another region. As Emon, gripping the dagger's handle, widened his eyes in a desperate attempt, a sudden black shadow sprang from somewhere, snatching the monster and hurling it away.
"Are you okay?"
The one who precisely caught and supported Emon, who nearly fell, inquired with a clear voice. Emon recognized who it was.
"Uh... Deputy Commander of the Cavalry, Jung Division?"
"Yes. You're in bad shape. Stop being stubborn and move back."
"What?"
"Why didn't you say anything about your ankle? Cavalry are Cavalry, and the Imperial Army is the Imperial Army. Enduring pain doesn't breed pride, so why endure?"
"..."
Kanna knew that Emon had been stubbornly enduring, ashamed to appear weaker than the Cavalry, who still had much strength left.
'How, how did she know?'
While Emon blinked in astonishment, not yet fully understanding Kanna's abilities, she pushed him toward the back.
"Gakane! Please take over."
"Sure. I'll take him to the tent where the priests are, right?"
"Just a moment! I can still hold on......!"
"Ha ha. Don't tell me that, go and talk over there!"
Before Emon could finish his words, the sprouting shadow wrapped around him, forcibly moving him to the tent where the priests were. His struggles were futile.
'What the heck is going on?'
Upon arrival, Emon realized he was not the only one who had been forcibly brought there.
Everyone, without exception, sat dazedly with tired eyes, looking as incredulous as if they were seeing their own reflections in a mirror.
"You... You were also sent here by the Jung Division Deputy Commander and that shadow user?"
"You too?"
"Ah... I was also brought here by Kanna and Gakane..."
It was absurd, but sitting among the priests and observing the situation, a realization dawned on him. With those whose spirits had faded and who had been stubbornly resisting despite the risk of severe injury now isolated, the atmosphere at the site of the battle seemed to have transformed, becoming more efficient and orderly.
As their numbers dwindled, they appeared to be retreating under pressure from the enemy. Yet, this retreat, seemingly preordained, was executed so smoothly and methodically that it almost seemed planned.