Chapter 317: Smart woman
"My Lord."
The burning pit of death was decorated with thirteen corpses that day, while the dark-haired man stood above them, grinning down at the carnage. Yet the amusement in his eyes had nothing to do with the battle that had just taken place.
"Tell me, is it already done?" he asked his messenger.
The small man bowed his head.
"Indeed, my Lord. All the pieces have been gathered and are nearly ready to be set into motion."
The God of Destruction, the destroyer of realms, the Monarch of Chaos, and one of the Seven, threw his head back and laughed. His hand came to rest against his forehead as though he could barely contain his delight.
"This is wonderful."
His laughter echoed through the burning realm.
"I can already sense them groveling their way toward the Hall, each one preparing to present their precious arguments."
The messenger merely lowered his head, offering no further words.
He knew better than to interrupt his lord’s amusement.
The realm itself trembled beneath the laughter of the man who had orchestrated events far beyond the comprehension of those caught within them.
And now...
All that remained was chaos.
....
"This is going to be problematic," Veronica muttered as she stood beside her car, tapping her foot impatiently against the pavement.
A massive traffic jam had brought everything to a standstill, and she was nowhere near her destination.
She had left Kyle on short notice, and she still felt guilty about it.
He had finally remembered everything about her...
About them.
She had wanted to dedicate this day, at least this one day, to him.
Yet here she was, all the way back in Montclair.
Still, she couldn’t bring herself to regret coming.
They had just lost warriors.
Clara.
Veronica hadn’t known her particularly well beyond her considerable combat abilities, but there was no denying that Clara had contributed greatly to their cause. She had survived countless battles and possessed the skill and experience to stand her ground when everything went wrong.
And yet, she had fallen.
Not only Clara, but numerous soldiers from the Centre had been killed as well.
What disturbed Veronica most was where it had happened.
So close to their base.
It was shocking news. The kind that could change several things in the days to come.
Perhaps even Timothy’s position.
Despite her sympathy for the man, Veronica understood what might have happened. Still, she suspected he would eventually be blamed for failing to inform the central authority when the situation had become so dire.
But it’s strange for him to panic badly enough to forget procedure.
She frowned.
’I suppose I’ll hear...huh?!’
Her thoughts abruptly broke apart.
Her eyes widened. Her heart trembled.
Something...
Something had changed.
Veronica slowly looked around.
The honking cars. The chatter of pedestrians. The distant hum of the city.
Everything had vanished from her ears.
Silence.
Dead silence engulfed her.
Her instincts screamed.
She moved without thinking.
THUNK!
A massive block of concrete crashed down onto her car, smashing into the exact spot where she had been standing a moment earlier.
Veronica’s breath caught.
She immediately spun around.
"Who is there?!"
An unsettling chill crawled down her spine.
Something was wrong.
Terribly wrong.
She couldn’t use Genesis. But how could this be possible?
Her expression hardened.
She scanned her surroundings.
There were no rifts or monsters in the sighting.
Nothing that could explain what had just happened.
And even if something had appeared, how could it have done so here?
There were too many people, the PSC should have responded by now.
What is happening?
"You dodged that? Hmm. You sure are tough, Commander."
Veronica turned instantly.
The sight before her was more horrifying than anything she had ever seen.
She had witnessed her fair share of monsters throughout her life. She had fought creatures that could barely be called living things, things that existed only to kill.
But this was different.
This monster wore a familiar face.
"Ethan?"
Her eyes widened, though her stance remained tense.
"What... happened to you?"
Though she asked that and called out that name she knew better.
This was no Ethan she knew of.
More than a dozen tentacles protruded grotesquely from his back, twisting and writhing like living serpents. Black blood seeped from his eyes, staining his face, while the last trace of color had drained from his skin.
And the smell...
Veronica’s nose wrinkled.
It reeked of something foul.
And finally, Absence. The Energy once that repeller him was now coiling sound him like a shell.
"You..." Her gaze hardened. "You’ve turned into a ghoul."
She lowered her stance, ready to remove the abomination from the world.
Only now did everything fall into place.
She had been lured here.
And if her instincts and experience were correct, Timothy might already be dead.
"You are a smart woman, so why don’t we talk before we-"
Ethan abruptly stopped.
SHNK!
One of the tentacles reaching toward Veronica was severed cleanly, black blood spraying across the pavement.
Ethan’s expression darkened.
"You shouldn’t be able to use Genesis."
Veronica snickered.
"You think I made it this far relying on magic alone?"
Ethan narrowed his eyes.
The situation had just become considerably more troublesome.
This was going to take some time
....
"What intruder? Near the east gate? Yeah, I’m on my way."
Jimmy exhaled a sigh as he stepped into the elevator after receiving the distress call.
Something serious must have happened for them to summon him personally. Still, only a complete idiot would attempt to invade this place after everything he had witnessed during his time here.
Ding.
The elevator doors parted.
Jimmy stepped out, only to find an unexpected figure waiting for him.
"Cadet Kyle..." He raised a brow. "So eager to meet everyone? It’s only six."
Kyle offered him a faint smile.
"I wanted to tell you that I won’t be attending dinner."
Jimmy hummed in surprise.
"Going somewhere?"
Kyle nodded.
"Something urgent came up."
"And how exactly do you plan on getting there? With Serena’s help?"
Kyle shook his head.
"She refused. So now I’m going to find my own way out somehow."
Jimmy chuckled.
"There are enough security cameras covering this entire island to make sneaking out nearly impossible."
He paused, then grinned.
"But I can make it a little easier for you."
Kyle’s brows rose.
"You would?"
He answered with a shrug, "Since it would piss Arthur off?" His grin widened. "Absolutely."
He turned and gestured for Kyle to follow.
"Come on. Let’s get you out of here."
°°°°°°
A/N:- Hold the hate, it would be worth it.