Chapter 966 Why?
Seeing the towering dark construct – their transport – eventually breaking apart under the relentless assault of the Abyss creatures with his own eyes, Emery couldn’t help but to feel despair.
All the cruel battles that had taken place, as well as the countless lives lost within, had all happened for the sake of seeing their transport – their way out of this dying planet – destroyed in the end.
No matter how strong of willpower one had, they would definitely be affected by this kind of situation.
Confused as to what he should do now that the construct was basically gone, Emery once again asked the spirit being that was nestled in the wooden armor on his arm.
He wanted to know the reason.
“Why? Why did you destroy it?”.
The answer that Emery received, however, was something he wasnt expecting.
[We agree, your safety, that we did]
The message from the spirit was still made up of messy words, but was enough to understand what it was trying to convey.
Seemingly understanding of something, Emery quickly looked at the horde of Abyss creatures again. Much to his surprise, he saw that the Royal Centipede was staring at the hill he was currently on, but didn’t do anything. A few moments later, it turned its body and headed west.
From the looks of it, the spirit being, as the offspring of the Primordial Wisp, seemed able to persuade the Abyss creature not to hunt them down. With it gone, they were safe from harm for now.
Even though Emery was certainly grateful for what the spirit being had done, and he knew he had no means to stop the Royal Centipede if it decided to head to the Platoon 3 base, Emery still felt loss at the destruction of the transport.
His train of thought, however, was quickly interrupted by the conversation of the two next to him.
“That terrifying centipede is leaving?” said Sigurd in confusion as he watched the Royal Centipede walk away without paying them any heed. “Does this mean that destroying the transport is more important than killing us? If that’s the case, then what is the exact reason?”
Standing next to him, Gerri casually answered, “Maybe it wants to save us for dessert?”
Upon hearing this, suspicion suddenly rose in Emery’s mind.
He quickly told Gerri, Sigurd, and Orion to return to the base first and help the people there. After all, although the boss creature was leaving, the horde of Abyss creatures were still advancing towards the base.
Emery told them that he would return somewhat later as he had something that he needed to check.
After the three of them left for the base, Emery calmed his still somewhat chaotic spirit core. The task took a while to be done, whereupon he swiftly used [Dark Void] to cover himself as his figure dashed towards the ruins of the destroyed construct to check his suspicion.
As soon as he arrived at the construction, Emery immediately looked around the place carefully. He suddenly stopped in his tracks a moment later, then communicated with the spirit once more.
“This is the reason the centipede is so hell-bent on destroying the construct, isn’t it?”
Thanks to [One Mind], the spirit being could easily understand his thought and the response came almost immediately.
[Yes, I believe it is]
What appeared in front of Emery right now were several broken rods that were located on the bottom of the construct.
Emery was obviously not an expert, but figuring how deep the rods had penetrated the ground through the remains, he quickly realized the reason the centipede aimed to destroy the construct.
It appears that the constructs had been draining the energy of the planet through those rods.
Realization dawned upon Emery, the reason the Magus Alliance sent people here was certainly to siphon the energy of the planet.
At the same time, Emery heaved a sigh. He finally got a clearer picture of what was going on, as if the mist blocking his view had been torn apart.
It was no wonder that there was a certain restriction that must be met in order for the construct to operate. It must have been tasked to continue to drain the planet’s energy until it reached a certain number.
The countdown of the mission.
[9 hours, 48 minutes]
After confirming his suspicions, Emery quickly returned to the base via the Spatial Gate. As soon as he arrived, he immediately assessed the current situation of the base. Hence he discovered that although the base was still under siege by the Abyss creatures, the numbers of creatures that attacked was not as much as an hour ago.
It was as if the main horde had left, and what they were facing right now were those who were left behind.
[Seeds Bomb] [ғʀᴡʙᴏᴠʟ.]
Boomm!! Kaboom!! Boom!!
Emery entered the ongoing battle with the most eye-catching spell. Explosions occurred successively throughout the battlefield, killing hundreds of them in an instant.
After he vented the anger that had accumulated within him on the Abyss creatures, he turned around and asked all the captains to gather at the tower, leaving only the two siblings Wage and Ryan Gasa to defend the walls as they were still under Arcana’s spell.
Klea was the first one who met Emery. She immediately hugged him, and although still a bit emotional, she was really glad that the latter was alright.
Soon enough, all of the Platoon 3 captains gathered at the appointed place.
The one who spoke out first was the kid-looking Arcana, and the words he spoke almost made Emery want to throw him at the hordes of Abyss creatures outside.
“How could you all allow the construct to be destroyed? how are we supposed to get back now?!”
“First, you need to stay calm, Arcana.” Roran quickly interjected. “I’m sure that Magus Alliance will send another transport to this planet soon enough. Not sure how it will affect our final points, but at least we will all be saved.”
Anas of the Kaleo, who was still shaken by the terrible encounter with the Royal Centipede, didn’t seem to want to wait any longer as he frantically said, “W-we… still have 9 hours. That’s enough time to make our way to the other platoon’s construct. Yea, that’s what we should do now!”
Emery didn’t agree with his idea at all.
Not only was what the young noble Kaleos suggested was dangerous and risky, it also meant that they would have to abandon all the survivors they had gathered at the base. Without their protection, those survivors wouldn’t even be able to defend against the horde of Abyss creatures for an hour.
However, Anas’ idea was received by some of the captains. It seemed that they would rather go, than continue to stay at this place. Then at this moment, Anas added another point that made everyone who were present silent.
“Haven’t we done enough? Haven’t we already spilled enough lives?” He paused for a moment before continuing, “Either way… with the transport destroyed, I believe that we won’t be receiving points from those people anymore. Am I right?”
Even though he understood what Anas felt, the lives of the survivors remain the top priority in Emery’s mind, especially after learning about the many involvements of the Magus Alliance regarding the Calamity. He couldn’t just leave them to fend for themselves.
Emery was ready to give an order when all of a sudden, a notification came from the mid-test device. From the looks of it, it was sent to everyone. It was such a shocking message.
[Magus Academy’s Mid Test has reached an unprecedented situation]
[You are now allowed to end your mission prematurely]
[New function unlock]
[Activate combat suite teleportation to end mission]
[Proceed?]
The shocking message could not be considered good news in any way for Emery