[Salvos] 680. Unprecedented (Patreon)

680. Unprecedented

***

“I’ve never seen anything like this before…”

Faith whispered as she stared at the scene far below. Edithe glanced over at the Fallen Queen of Elutra, before looking back down at the mass of red crawling over the landscape below.

From where they were, it looked like the ground was stained with a sea of blood— like the earth itself was scarred and bleeding.

But what they saw wasn’t blood. The mass was something else. It was moving and writhing around, like it was a living organism. And perhaps it could be seen as such.

However, to be more precise, it was not just a single living creature.

It was a million of them.

Centinels. All kinds of them. Whether they were [Younger Centinels] or [Evolved Centinels]. They bathed the region with their seemingly endless numbers.

As an adventurer, Edithe had seen an infestation of Centinels before. She had even cleared out a few nests. But this? 

Such a sight was unprecedented. Perhaps it was only ever seen before when the Bloodied Gulf was first claimed by these creatures from beyond the sea.

“This is horrible. Just what could’ve led to this?”

Edithe asked as she swept her gaze over the mass of crimson. The Centinels were here for one reason and one reason only.

Mavos Academy.

Why? Edithe didn’t know. Nobody knew better. But the moment she heard the news, she rushed over as quickly as she could.

Which meant asking the Salvos clone to teleport them to Mavos Academy.

Unfortunately, the school’s barrier had already been erected at this point. So the Salvos clone hadn’t been able to bring them into the campus. The best she could do was teleport them high up into the sky, overlooking the landscape below.

There were no clouds today. If there were, Edithe would not have been able to get a good view of anything down below. That was how high up they were. However, even though they were far from the swarms of Centinels, Edithe still didn’t feel safe, just seeing their squirming figures.

“How do we get in through the barrier?”

Edithe asked as she looked towards the magical dome encapsulating Mavos Academy. Faith shook her head, raising a glowing parchment,

“I sent a [Message] to them— requesting permission to teleport into the school grounds. I’m sure they’ll let us in shortly.”

Faith spoke as she eyed the parchment expectantly. Edithe nodded, and the Salvos clone just looked quizzically towards the ground.

“Good. Even from all the way up here, I feel uneasy seeing those…”

Edithe started. Then she paused as she saw a figure moving amidst the sea of red. But it wasn’t just circling around the barrier. Instead, it looked like it was getting closer.

The redhead’s eyes narrowed as she leaned forward. That was impossible. They were so high up in the air, and Centinels couldn’t fly. So that moving object couldn’t be getting closer. Unless it was…

And Edithe’s eyes grew wide as she realized what was going on.

“Shit—”

[Ancient Centinel - Lvl. 165]

A terrible shriek echoed out as a massive undulating creature shot up towards the three of them. Faith looked back in a panic as the [Ancient Centinel] drew closer.

“What do we do?”

Edithe raised her staff as she opened her mouth.

“I—”

But the Salvos clone brought a fiery hand up, and dozens of flaming weapons were conjured up around her. They were unleashed like a salvo down to the [Ancient Centinel], slowing its ascent. It reeled from the attack. However, that was enough to stop it.

And the Salvos clone realized this too. Edithe glanced back, seeing the way the Salvos clone pointed. There was a flicker of magic— the strands of mana in the air rippled like a powerful spell was being fired off.

Then looking towards the [Ancient Centinel], Edithe watched as it was lit ablaze by a black and golden flame. The monster screeched and recoiled. But the flames didn’t dissipate. Instead, it continued to eat away at the [Ancient Centinel], forcing it to tumble out of the air.

Edithe watched as the [Ancient Centinel] collapsed back to the ground, the fire rapidly spreading across its body. But before she could sigh in relief, the ground burst open, and more [Ancient Centinels] appeared.

Cursing, Edithe faced Faith.

“How much longer?”

“I just got a response— we can teleport through the barrier now!”

Faith exclaimed, raising the parchment as letters shone on the paper. The Salvos clone nodded as the [Ancient Centinels] shot up into the air. And the air around them shimmered. Before the the surroundings around the three of them changed.

Edithe blinked as she found herself suddenly in the middle of a ornate hallway, surrounded by confused [Mages].

And she placed a hand on her chest, looking up at the Salvos clone gratefully.

“Thank you.”

***

Rachel, Oriur, Novis, Bellum, Kron, and Willy waited atop Clayton Skyshredder’s office after the barrier of Mavos Academy was fully formed. They had watched as the greatest calamity to befall the Human Lands in over a thousand years appeared out of thin air. There was almost no warning. Nobody could have seen this coming.

Except… maybe Rachel could have foreseen it.

Oriur definitely had his worries about such a thing happening too. Novis and Bellum weren’t ever really concerned about much, but they had been aware of the Centinel threat. Willy might not have voiced much concern about it either. However, he was the most keen and astute of them all. So he might have predicted such an outcome.

Of course, perhaps none of them anticipated anything as extreme as the Matriarch Centinel of the Bloodied Gulf showing up at Mavos Academy. Maybe Centina foresaw it. But she wasn’t here right now.

Rachel had a myriad of questions to ask the [Evolved Centinel]. Mainly— what happened now? There was a swarm of over a million Centinels just outside of Mavos Academy. And their numbers were increasing by the minute. 

The barrier protecting the campus city would not last forever. In fact, Rachel knew for certain it wasn’t even going to last a year. So what happened now?

Did they all just wait here to be slaughtered? There had to be a way to escape? But no— as long as Centina was here, the Matriarch Centinel of the Bloodied Gulf was not going away.

So what was the solution?

Rachel thought long and hard in silence as the group did not speak. The only one of the group who made a sound was Kron. She was standing as far away from the window, hugging herself and trembling in fear. She was utterly terrified of the Centinels. Which made sense, because she had been forced to survive the Bloodied Gulf Before. Now, she was experiencing it all again.

Perhaps Rachel should have tried to cheer up Kron. But Rachel hardly knew the [Korkodis]. The two had only become acquainted with each other relatively recently. So Rachel wasn’t even sure what to do other than worry just like everyone else.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the elevator opened up, and a pair of figures returned. It was Headmaster Clayton Skyshredder and—

“Centina!”

Oriur, Novis, and Bellum all perked up. They ran forward, surrounding the [Evolved Centinel] immediately. Of course, Centina looked like an ordinary Human thanks to the illusion spell she wore. But they were all accustomed to seeing her this way at this point.

Headmaster Clayton Skyshredder strode up to Willy as he massaged his temples.

“We sent a request for aid across the United Coalition of the Human Lands.”

“And?”

Willy asked, flitting up to the Headmaster of Mavos Academy. Clayton sighed.

“The Council of Cremont refused to answer our call. Only a handful of lone [Mages] teleported to offer us their aid.”

Hearing that, Willy snorted.

“Typical.” 

“So what happens now?”

Rachel asked, approaching the two of them. Clayton just wore a grim look on his face. Willy was silent. And it was Centina who spoke up.

She looked up from the three baby Wyverns, shaking her head.

“There is only one thing we can do.”

“And what is it?”

Oriur asked, tilting his head. With a sigh, Centina lowered her head.

“We have to reveal the truth about me.”

She said as she placed a hand on her chest. Rachel’s eyes grew wide upon hearing that. But Centina just finished.

“And I’ll hand myself over to the Matriarch”

Author's Notes:

So I was supposed to post an Amelia chapter. But... the file got corrupted for some reason and I lost most of the chapter I wrote. I got mad, and wrote this Salvos chapter instead.

I'll try to write an Amelia chapter by tomorrow. Sorry.

Read next chapter here