After talking with Aunt Mia for a while, Michael realized she had sent him a message earlier.
Unfortunately, it was around the time he had been busy in the Land of Origin, so there was no way he could have seen it.
He hadn’t even bothered to check for any missed calls or messages after returning to the real world, heading straight to the Association to sell the corpses he had collected.
When Michael finally looked at the message, he saw it was about the money he had sent her.
As expected, Aunt Mia had overreacted—or rather, reacted appropriately—to him suddenly transferring such a large amount at once.
Checking his call log, Michael saw he also had a couple of missed calls from her before she had decided to send the message instead.
Michael felt a twinge of guilt, but there was nothing he could do about the past.
It wasn’t that he had intentionally ignored her—he had simply been too occupied at the time.
The content of the message was exactly what one would expect from a worried guardian
How did you get the money?
Are you safe?
Are you in trouble?
Call me when you see this.
Why did you send so much money?
She had essentially rephrased the same concerns several times.
However, unlike what Michael expected—that Aunt Mia would calm down after seeing him and start asking various questions—she didn’t.
Instead, her first question was about what was going on.
In her mind, she didn’t expect much of an answer from Michael.
After all, he had only been an Awakener for barely five days.
That was hardly enough time to make significant connections or understand the intricacies of supernatural events, let alone something as monumental as this.
This was her thought process which wasn’t illogical.
Even someone as ordinary as Aunt Mia could tell that the situation with the sky wasn’t normal and had to be significant.
But despite recognizing this, she wasn’t particularly worried.
In her mind, she believed the Federation would handle everything.
Like most people, she thought the same way.
If the sky falls, there’s always someone taller to hold it up.
And she wasn’t entirely wrong.
The Federation was strong, more than capable of handling a myriad of crises.
However, even a strong man could be caught off guard by a sudden blow.
The Federation oversaw the entire Aurora Realm. There was bound to be loopholes in their concentration.
Michael didn’t think the current issue would be too much for the Association to handle. But from Brian’s words, he knew everything had escalated far too quickly.
Still, he held onto the hope that the Federation would be able to resolve the impending doom.
It shouldn’t take someone strong long to reach here… but the demonic cultivators must know that too,
There was no way they would orchestrate something like this and allow the Federation to resolve it so easily.
For a group that had managed to fight a behemoth like the Federation for over two centuries, they had to have their own means.
Even someone as strong as Teacher Brian had spoken with such grave seriousness about the current situation—his words implying that the Federation might not intervene in time—Michael knew he had to prepare himself to face the crisis.
If someone as powerful as Brian had little room for relaxation, there was no reason for someone as weak as Michael to feel at ease. Your next read is at empire
But that was his burden to bear.
His family didn’t need to worry about such things. His duty was to protect them in any way he could.
“I don’t know what’s going on, Aunt Mia, but don’t move too far from me. The Federation should be able to handle this.”
Aunt Mia nodded. Michael’s response was exactly what she had expected.
As for the part about staying close to him, she saw no issue with it—it had been her plan all along. Michael simply reiterating it only reinforced her resolve.
Though she doubted Michael had become extraordinarily strong in such a short time, he was still a supernatural, and it made sense to stay by his side.
With that, the family gathered in the sitting room.
Aunt Mia turned on the television, switching channels to find any news covering the current situation, while Michael stood by the window, observing the sky.
The chaotic mixture of energies above hadn’t changed much.
Michael could now distinguish energy levels comparable to the level 1 crack he had been to—the goblin world—and others like the level 2 crack he had ventured into—the ape region.
However, these were smaller and closer to the ground compared to the massive cracks in the sky.
Judging by the frequency of their chaotic energy, Michael could sense they’d be the first to break, releasing monsters.
And it wouldn’t take long.
Can’t I just run away with Aunt Mia and Lily? Michael thought. With my undead, it shouldn’t be too hard to escape before the cracks fully break.
The thought left a slight bitter taste in his mouth. It felt a little cruel to him to discard everyone else even as he had the power to help a little.
Yet, he couldn’t deny he wasn’t entirely against the idea.
Michael only felt a twinge of guilt, not true remorse for leaving others behind.
Another thing the pre-awakening him would feel different about.
However, Brian’s parting words still lingered in his mind.
If he fled, he would be branded a fugitive alongside his family.
As much as he wanted to be selfish, his actions would have consequences for his loved ones, and that alone kept him from acting on the thought.
That, and the possibility his family wouldn’t even agree to leave.
Though he’d only recently begun learning the truth about the world, Michael didn’t need much time to understand the situation of the humans living in Aurora.
Even now, with cracks forming in the sky, people were still out on the streets, laughing, taking photos, and treating the disaster like a spectacle.
Michael could already predict the outcome.
