Advent of the Three Calamities

Chapter 682: It’s been a while [2]

A few moments prior.

Rumble! Rumble—

The rumbling coming from the distance still managed to reach the Remnant South, causing large waves to form around the port as the ships were capsized over, and large waves shot towards the city.

"Stay back!"

"Stay under the protection of the great barrier!"

Despite the situation looking grim, and aside from the initial issues, the situation was rather tame within Virellith.

A massive dome, raised by the emissaries of the Church of the Goddess of Light, enclosed the entire city, shielding it from the towering waves crashing down and the distant, suffocating pressure pressing in.

This lasted quite a while before eventually stopping.

And just as everyone thought that the situation was over, the rumbling resumed. This time, more frantic and powerful than before.

RUMBLE! RUMBLE!

The pressure coming out this time was enough to give chills to everyone present.

"Careful!"

"Keep the dome steady!"

Even the massive dome that covered the entire city started to falter.

"...What the hell is happening over there?"

"Do you think the Chancellor is going to be okay?"

Having been brought to the Remnant South, the cadets were naturally all exposed to the current situation. And yet... the only thing they could do was stand behind the dome while hoping that nothing bad happened.

Generally, however, everyone was quite calm.

Having experienced far worse in the past, they were able to handle themselves in such a situation.

However, not everyone was calm.

"...It’s there. I’m sure it’s there."

A pair of gray eyes remained fixed over the distance, where the pressure was coming from, as his fists clenched tightly.

Every part of his body screamed that whatever he was looking for was right there.

His instincts were telling him that.

However, he wasn’t sure of what he was looking for. He had asked the Chancellor to bring him with her, but in the end, she still ended up rejecting his offer.

...And Leon couldn’t blame her for that.

Just a wisp of the pressure from the distance was enough to make it extremely hard for him to breathe. He couldn’t imagine how bad the situation would be if he were closer.

But still...

A large part of Leon really wanted to be there.

He—

"Look!"

All of a sudden, Aoife pointed towards the distance. Right where an enormous black pillar pierced the sky directly.

"What the hell is that?"

"....I don’t have a good feeling about the situation."

She wasn’t the only one to have noticed the pillar.

It wasn’t long before everyone within the city noticed the pillar as the rumbling grew even more pronounced, shaking the entire city to the core.

RUMBLE!

Screams pierced through the surroundings as a lot of people lost their footing.

Thankfully, Leon and the others had been ready from the start, all of them standing steady as they stared towards the distance with a grim expression. Just when they thought that the situation was about to turn for the worse, something unexpected happened.

Silence.

The world fell into absolute silence, and everything came to a halt, as if everything had frozen in time.

It almost felt like the situation had never started in the first place. If not for the destruction that took place, nobody would’ve noticed.

And then—

Swoosh!

A figure suddenly appeared before the cadets, surprising them on the spot, as some even yelped in surprise.

Thankfully, they appeared to be the only ones to notice her presence as she looked at the cadets to make sure that they were all present.

Then, as a silence started to settle around them, Aoife spoke, turning towards the Chancellor.

"Did you..."

"Yes."

Delilah didn’t even try to deny it, staring at her hand, which was trembling slightly.

"I got rid of the beast."

Everything was still a blur to her.

She couldn’t quite recall what had happened. The only thing she knew was that the moment she came into contact with the monster’s body, she lost control over her body as it suddenly turned weak.

She was then swallowed by the monster, bringing her to this dark place that appeared to suck the very energy out of her.

The situation was rather grim, but even in such a situation, Delilah didn’t panic.

She sat in the dark space, waiting.

Waiting for the right opportunity to strike as she gathered all of her energy.

And then...

The opportunity presented itself rather quickly to her. She noticed a slight opening. A faint weakness in the monster’s body, and she directly exploited it, killing it in one go with her most powerful attack.

It was all over now.

...She was tired.

Extremely tired. To the point where she felt like she’d faint at any second. However, she remained standing.

The last thing she could do was show weakness in front of the cadets.

In their eyes, she was an invincible figure.

She couldn’t afford to break that image to them.

But more than anything, her mind was foggy. A strange and foreign power was roaming within her body, slowly seeping into every part of it as she felt the power slowly starting to assimilate with her. Delilah understood that she was starting to undergo a change.

The change brought a certain pain to her mind.

But in spite of the pain, she started to remember something.

A certain someone.

A certain name...

And her expression finally changed.

’He’s the reason why I’m here.’

***

Splash—

Water splashed against the bow of the ship as it cut through the water and navigated through the calm waters of the Crimson Sea.

I stood in silence, taking in the view and quietly admiring the scene before me.

This was the first time in a very long time that I felt somewhat at peace.

My eye was still hurting from the relic, but it was at a manageable level. It wasn’t strong enough that I couldn’t ignore it. I’d be worried if that were the case.

’The thing I’m more spooked about is how Lazarus simply gauged the eye out like that. Without even an ounce of hesitation.’

Granted, the situation warranted such action, but thinking back to when Lazarus plunged his hand into the eye socket and tore the eye out still sent shivers down my spine.

’...While it isn’t impossible for someone to have a new eye with the magic in this world, I still feel the action is a bit extreme.’

Thankfully, it all worked out in the end, and I managed to collect the relic and get rid of the Primordial’s influence at the same time. If there was one thing that bothered me, however, it was Sylas.

Because I had been so preoccupied with what was happening with the primordial one and Delilah, I wasn’t able to pay attention to him at all, and as a result, he managed to escape before I could get to him.

I wanted to give chase.

Get rid of a possible threat, but in the end, I gave up.

I was exhausted, and Sylas wasn’t by any means weak. Even Anne had trouble handling him. While I didn’t think for one second the two of us wouldn’t be able to defeat him, it would still require energy.

Energy that I simply didn’t have.

’In the end, this is the best decision that we can make. And I really am too tired at the moment.’

It was taking about almost everything I had to keep myself from passing out on the spot. The only reason why I still held on for now was that we were still not out of danger just yet.

The Crimson Sea was anything but friendly, and with the possibility of Sylas appearing at any second, I had no choice but to remain vigilant.

And so I did.

Despite my drooping eyes and faltering mind, I remained awake, waiting for the ship as it slowly made its way back into the Remnant South.

The entire time, the ship was quiet, without anyone making any sound.

The only sound was the steady splash of water as the ship cut through the sea. Everyone remained silent, eyes scanning the surroundings with vigilance. Maybe it was the weight of the lives lost, or maybe it was caution, but even as we finally reached the Remnant South, not a single word was spoken.

It was only when we reached the outskirts of Virellith that Anne finally approached me, her eyes squinting as she looked towards the distant city.

"We’re here."

"...Yes, we are."

The city didn’t look nearly as bad as I originally expected it to be. While the port was indeed broken and shattered in several areas, the general the city looked fine.

Granted, the entire sequence of events occurred not very close to here, but the shocks and pressure alone from the monster were quite formidable.

I wouldn’t have been surprised if it had reached the city and even caused some serious damage to it, but looking at the massive dome that surrounded the entire city, it looked like I had severely underestimated the defensive capabilities of the city.

’In the end, the Goddess also resides within the city. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that the city is still standing.’

I was sure that she wouldn’t allow the city the crumble with her present.

Perhaps, if not for her injuries, she would’ve probably been able to take care of the monster herself.

"We’ve docked."

As Anne’s words reached my ears again, I looked down to see the ship docked at the port, and without hesitation, I jumped down onto the ground.

’Finally.... some ground.’

It almost felt like forever.

In fact, after this, I really didn’t want to go back to the sea for a very long time.

"What next?"

As An’as came next to me, staring towards the dome that stood not far from us, I pondered for a moment before touching my eye.

"...We should get into the city and get some rest. We can figure everything else later. I’m sure this is what most of the people here want to do."

Looking back and seeing how tired everyone looked, I figured that this was the best decision.

Anne also appeared to be of the same opinion, and just like that, we entered the Remnant South and found an inn to stay.

Clank!

The moment I entered my room, the first thing I did was slump onto the bed before closing my eyes.

Slowly clenching my fist, I thought about everything that had happened and pressed my lips together.

Lazarus...

He was nothing but another character that I had played.

An act of some sort.

And yet...

He turned out to be the most significant character I played.

And my last and final act.

From this moment forward, it was going to be just me, and me only.

No more acting.

There was no longer a need for me to do so.