Chapter 70: Sudden Promotion.
Andrea quietly sat inside the command tent, flipping through several documents spread neatly across the wooden table before her. Most of them were reports from the scouting teams, casualty records and rough estimates of the Eidolon army’s movements. Every now and then, she’d pause to make a small correction before moving on to the next page. The camp had been unusually peaceful these past few hours, but Andrea knew better than to mistake silence for safety.
Then her body suddenly stiffened.
Her dormant ability fatal inkling was screaming. Every instinct in her body pulsed at once.
Andrea shot to her feet so abruptly that the chair behind her toppled onto the floor. She didn’t waste even a second trying to understand what had triggered her ability. Fatal Inkling had saved her life too many times for her to ever question it.
She rushed out of the tent.
The next moment, a blinding pillar of pale light tore across the sky above the camp.
It flew overhead with a deafening roar before disappearing into the distant ice caves.
Boom!
The explosion shook the entire frozen landscape.
The ground beneath the camp trembled violently as an enormous shockwave rolled across the snowfield, knocking tents sideways and throwing loose supplies into the air. Countless survivors stumbled onto the ground while frightened screams erupted from every direction.
"What was that?!"
"The Eidolons are attacking!"
"Run!"
Panic spread almost instantly.
People ran in every direction without knowing where they were supposed to go. Some desperately searched for friends while others simply fled in random directions, convinced the next attack would land directly on the camp.
Andrea’s cold hazel eyes remained fixed on the distant ice caves.
Just then, someone brushed past her shoulder.
The glorified guard dog assigned to protect the command tent had already abandoned his post and was making a very determined effort to disappear into the crowd.
Andrea’s hand shot out and grabbed the back of his jacket.
He nearly yelped.
"Where exactly do you think you’re going? Rex."
Rex awkwardly looked over his shoulder, his carefully styled hair somehow remaining immaculate despite the chaos unfolding around him.
"I... was just making sure the non-combatants remain safe and let’s not forget the defenseless women and children."
Andrea stared at him incredulously.
"Go find Old Man Bo," Andrea ordered, her voice leaving no room for argument. "Tell him to begin distributing every stored weapon we have. Every able-bodied fighter is to be armed immediately."
"Yes, ma’am."
Without another word, Rex broke into a sprint through the panicking camp.
Andrea didn’t slow down.
The camp was descending further into disorder with every passing second. Survivors rushed between collapsing tents, shouting over one another while others stared blankly toward the distant ice caves, still trying to understand what had just happened.
Her eyes swept across the crowd until they settled on a familiar figure.
Ethan.
Claire’s younger brother remained tied to a wooden post near the edge of the camp, a black leash wrapped tightly around his neck. The chain shimmered faintly with runic markings, and for the first time, Andrea noticed something she hadn’t expected.
"An enchanted dog leash."
A faint crease appeared on her brow.
Enchanted artifacts were far too valuable to waste on something like this. Claire had actually gone out of her way to obtain one just to keep Ethan restrained.
Without another word, Andrea drew her sword.
The runes flickered violently before shattering into countless motes of light as the leash snapped apart.
Ethan instinctively rubbed his neck, staring blankly at the broken restraint lying on the snow.
Andrea didn’t give him time to process it.
"Go find every member of the Round Table. Tell them to assemble in the middle of camp immediately."
Ethan nodded almost instinctively before breaking into a run. Andrea had already turned away before he disappeared into the crowd.
Her gaze swept across the fleeing survivors again until it landed on another familiar face.
"Seris."
The young healer immediately stopped running.
"Andrea?"
"Find Yuri. Tell her I need her with me."
Seris didn’t ask why. She simply nodded before sprinting deeper into the camp.
...
Andrea continued towards the middle of the camp, her pace never slowing. Along the way, she stopped only long enough to pull a fallen support beam off a trapped survivor before sending two nearby Awakened to escort the injured back to the medical tents.
A frightened child bumped into her moments later, crying uncontrollably. Andrea rested a hand on the child’s shoulder, pointed him towards a group of survivors already gathering together, then continued walking without another word.
Every second mattered.
By the time she reached the open space, the chaos behind her had only grown louder.
Someone was already waiting, it was a man with raven balck hair, Ryan of the round table.
Andrea’s eyes swept across the clearing once, then her brows slowly drew together.
"Only you? Where are the others?".
"I left Damien and Vincent pretty close to the ice caves, we should send a unit to go check on them".
Andrea shook her head, sending anyone after those two was the last thing she would do, whatever man power they had here couldn’t help Damien and Vincent if they were truly in trouble.
"No, they are both high level awakend, we should focus on restoring order to the camp, we should also send a scouting party to track the Eidolon army".
Ryan agreed with Andrea, but he saw no reason why they needed to waste manpower on the Eidolon forces, the last scouting reported that they still had no idea where the camp actually was, and were just firing blindly.
Andrea could tell what he was thinking.
"That last shot was too precise, either they suddenly sped up their match, or they know exactly where we are. Where’s Naomi? I need that scouting party".
Ethan zoomed in as space stretched from the location he was a moment ago.
"Andrea, Naomi is missing and Vincent too".
Andrea’s eyes went cold.
"Ethan, congratulations. You’re getting a promotion".