Among the gathered students on the ground, standing not far behind Sera, one figure drew attention without even trying.
It was a female student in weird looking armour.
Above her, hovering several feet in the air, was the projection of a
woman.
White hair.
Long and flowing as if caught in a wind no one else could feel.
Her features were sharp, elegant, and impossibly composed. Her eyes were closed, but even in stillness, the projection radiated an authority that pressed subtly against the senses of those nearby.
It did not seem like a simple hologram.
The female student standing beneath it was none other than Rynne. She had been silent since the confrontation began.
Her gaze had remained fixed on Michael's rising figure the entire ti.
Rynne did not dare claim she knew Michael inside out, but she knew enough to understand that he did not deserve to be treated like a hostage.
After she and Michael were separated on the First Layer of Hell, she had withdrawn shortly afterward. Just like him, she headed straight for the Federation center. There was nothing else she wished to do in Hell after accomplishing her objective.
However, what she encountered upon arrival far exceeded her expectations.
She had expected a standing station. Order. Personnel. Structure. Instead, she found ruins.
Collapsed fortifications. Fractured defensive arrays. Residual demonic
aura still clinging to the surroundings like a lingering scar.
It was there she first learned about the Demon Lord incident.
After hearing the full account, the first person that ca to her mind was Michael.
She wondered if he had known about it. If he had been involved. If he had even survived it.
Rynne searched through the station's remains afterward, combing through every accessible section.
But she found no trace of him.
No presence. No energy signature. Nothing.
At the ti, she concluded that Michael had not reached the station yet and was likely still sowhere within Hell.
She had not expected that they would return to Aurora at the sa ti.
Nor had she expected to see him in this kind of situation.
Even though she did not understand the full circumstances unfolding above, she knew sothing was terribly wrong.
And when the Federation officer refused Sera so bluntly...
Sothing in the air around Rynne shifted, almost imperceptibly.
A decision ford.
As the favored granddaughter of a Rank Four superpower from a long standing cultivation family, and the direct disciple of a Rank Five Awakener who had already begun brushing against divinity, the ans at Rynne's disposal were far from ordinary.
Even without the enhancer Michael had given her, which she had originally wanted as additional assurance for her Hell expedition, she still possessed safeguards of equal, if not greater, value.
One was the spirit projections in her body.
One belonged to her grandmother.
The other belonged to her teacher.
Spirit projections.
Even among high rank superpowers they were considered extrely precious trump cards.
Because creating one was not simple.
It was not a matter of recording a ssage or leaving behind a spell
imprint.
A true spirit projection required the creator to sever a fragnt of their own consciousness.
Literally.
A sliver of their will, perception, and power had to be carved away from their main soul and sealed into a prepared vessel or anchor.
Only then could it be summoned remotely.
If the projection was destroyed, the original owner would suffer direct backlash, though if done well it only resulted in temporary weakness throughout the whole process, right from the creation. Yet despite the risks, many powerful figures still chose to create
them.
The reasons varied.
So did so to protect their disciples.
Others to watch over descendants.
So left projections behind in forbidden zones, ancient ruins, or
secret territories to guard inheritances.
And in certain cases, projections existed purely as deterrence.
In Rynne's case, she possessed two.
One belonging to her grandmother.
The other belonging to her teacher.
Both were extraordinary existences in their own right.
But when the situation escalated above the military compound, Rynne
made her choice without hesitation.
She called upon her teacher's projection.
The reason was simple.
Her teacher was stronger.
More importantly, she was directly tied to the current matter.
As the Assistant Dean of the Awakener Academy, any attempt by the Federation to forcibly detain one of the academy's top ranked
students fell squarely within her jurisdiction.
Her authority was relevant here.
Her grandmother, though powerful, even if her projection appeared,
it would carry less institutional weight in this specific confrontation. And beyond that, there was a harsher truth.
A projection, no matter how refined, could never fully match the combat capability of the original body.
If conflict truly erupted, her grandmother's projection would not be able to decisively suppress a Rank Four Federation powerhouse like
Caelum.
Her teacher's projection, however, was different.
If there was any projection present capable of altering the balance of
the situation, it would be hers.
And so Rynne chose accordingly.
The instant the projection manifested fully, the surrounding air rippled faintly as if reality itself needed a mont to adjust to her
presence.
The white haired woman's closed eyes slowly opened.
They were calm.
Clear.
But also laced with the faintest trace of confusion.
Her gaze swept the surroundings once, then her eyes lowered first.
They landed on Rynne.
"Rynne."
Her voice was gentle, yet it carried an unmistakable weight. Even as a projection, the authority embedded within it pressed subtly against the senses of those nearby.
"What danger have you encountered?"
Her brows knit slightly.
"And why have I been summoned?"
It was then her gaze shifted sideways.
She noticed Sera standing a short distance away.
Recognition flickered imdiately.
"Sera?"
Her tone changed faintly.
"What are you doing here?"
Only then did her perception expand further outward.
She began noticing the rest.
Students.
Not just from one academy, but several.
Instructors scattered around the periter.
Federation soldiers present in organized formation.
Her eyes lifted slightly higher.
She took in the military compound.
The defensive arrays.
Then realization dawned.
"...I see."
Her gaze lowered again to Rynne.
"Is it already ti for the expedition withdrawal, seeing how so of
you looked battered?"
Rynne gave a small nod.
"Yes, Teacher."
Her voice was steady, though the tension beneath it was clear.
"We've already completed our objectives. The students were preparing to leave Hell."
The projection absorbed this calmly.
User Comments
0 comments from readers