Right after Axel and Lucien’s bodies dropped to the ground unconscious, three mighty imperial warriors arrived, hovering on top of the island. Each wielding the power of an initial-5th phase Seeker. They looked at each other in nervous anxiousness.
The warden from the Suncrest family spoke, his tone grave, "John, Wellbrock? Tell , this is the so-called Death energy?"
John of Blackvale affird his words, "The sky is filled with it. Even the ground doesn’t seem any different."
Wellblock of Samartan added with a scowl, "Especially that enormous ship. It seems to be almost oozing with Death Energy."
John’s eyes finally noticed the area covered in blood as he dashed downward. Tidus and Wellbrock followed him, seeing where he was looking. And when they landed on the place where all the students had been slaughtered, akin to cattle.
"Don’t tell , every single one of them was slaughtered. Did Alric also fall?" Tidus spoke, his voice containing a tremor.
Their faces turned to horror as all three of the powerhouses expanded their senses to the extre. Afraid that the enemy was still lurking in the shadows. Or that harrowing Dark Ship likely contained even more danger, still oozing with Death Energy.
The three of them went closer to the Dark Ship and finally noticed the unconscious bodies lying in its shadows. Axel, Sophia, Heinz, Vyra, Lucien, Lumina, Jaden, Enrick, Thorian. Exactly nine students were alive. They were all heavily injured but alive and well.
This at least brought so semblance of hope to the three Seekers. Putting a powerful barrier-type artifact around the Nine alive. With their senses heightened to the extre, they flew up to the ship’s deck and saw hundreds more students.
Just as Wellbrock was about to let out a sigh of pleasant relief, Tidus spoke with a confused expression,
"They are all alive but.... strange, why don’t I recognize any of them?"
John mirrored his words, "That’s right. No one among them is from Blackvale."
Wellbrock’s expression also fell, "None from Samartan either."
All three of their eyebrows furrowed, John and Tidus spoke in unison, "The students of the minor kingdoms?"
But Wellbrock’s eyes landed on a particular dirty-looking figure, as he rushed to that unconscious figure,
"Alric? He’s alive?"
The two others also ca forward, trying to wake him. But that was to no avail. Tidus then used inspection magic and saw the man’s actual state. He was horrified beyond asure. Alric’s insides were a ss of unending proportions, even for a peak 5th-phase being. It was a miracle that the principal was still alive.
The three wardens, while keeping alert, brought all the unconscious students of the minor kingdoms and the principal down to the ground, still apprehensive of the Dark ship. What if so undead horror lay within, waiting for so unfortunate prey to walk into its trap?
Wellbrock spoke aloud, his face turning black from rage, "You guys can keep waiting out of the ship, if you are so afraid, but I will check inside of it. Even if I have to go alone."
But John also joined him, overcoming his hesitation, "I will also have to check."
Tidus had no choice but to agree to join the venture on the ship. But to their shock. There was nothing inside it. No, monstrous undead were waiting to kill them. Only a destroyed power source, which seed nearly dissolved, was emanating death energy.
Once the three of them had a rough idea of what had happened, they all used their special communication artifacts at once—summoning the holographic visages of their kings, projected over long distances by spatial magic.
Tidus, John, and Wellbrock kneeled and muttered in unison, "Greetings, Your Majesties."
Through this thod, not only could the wardens speak to their kings in real ti, but the kings themselves could converse directly with each other.
Fastening the decision-making process, the three kings also realized that the matter must be truly grave for their Wardens to use this ergency tool.
King Rugen Blackvale ordered, "Stand up and explain."
While the three artifacts were quite miraculous in their ability to enable live communication, they were not capable of allowing the kings’ visages to witness the surroundings.
King Uzbek Samartan added, a note of confusion escaped into his voice, "Is the matter truly that urgent? Though I doubt Alric would send such a distress signal by mistake."
King Leonidas Suncrest remained silent, already sure that sothing severe must have happened, for he felt the link between him and the valkyrie malfunction for a short period for so unknown reason, sothing which should have never happened.
The three wardens stood up, swallowing their saliva in dread of the news they were about to deliver. Tidus was the one who ca forward and revealed the truth: "My lords, we have confird that a heavy attack has been orchestrated on the academy, and the casualties are disheartening."
Leonidas’ expression finally changed, as his suspicions were affird, he spoke in urgency, "Speak. Tell us everything."
Tidus shivered under the scrutinizing gaze of the kings. Although no pressure affected him, he felt a chill down his spine because the very existence of those 6th-phase beings far outclassed the confines of their physical vessels.
He babbled, "Out of the 1200 students that should have been on this island, only 110 remain, and among them 101 are from the minor kingdoms. Only nine students of the three great kingdoms are alive on this island. All the other students are dead, killed brutally."
"The whole island is on the edge of devastation. Death energy has eroded everything within the island. From the remains, we are 90% sure that a High-Lich with his complete forces had attacked. The principal is still alive, but barely."
"It is also highly likely that the minor kingdoms had joined hands with the High-Lich in attacking the academy. As for whether it was a rogue High-lich or a coordinated attack from the ghost race. Only the principal or the surviving students might be able to speak of it."
And then a deafening silence took over the entire island; even the cool breeze of the sea stopped. The three holographic figures of kings seed to flicker with dangerous intensity, as if the communications tools could not bear the weight of their rising anger.
John and Wellbrock also shuddered at the sight alone; they could understand why. If the minor kingdoms truly had a big hand in this atrocious act. One of the kings alone might go and flatten those six regions, slaughtering nearly a billion people.
They had the power to do so, after all.
Within a short few seconds, their holographic figures seem to stabilize. Then another question followed from King Leonidas, "Speak the nas of the nine that are alive."
Tidus revealed their nas in a heartbeat, but King Rugen and Uzbek’s anger flared even more. The sky itself above the islands seed to darken just from the tumultuous emotions of the kings.
Because out of those nine survivors, five of them were from Suncrest, two from Blackvale, and only one person from Samartan had made it out alive.
Leonidas spoke in a sound frequency only the other two kings could understand, his voice calm, "Quell your anger, Uzbek. If the Ghost Island is indeed involved with this officially. We cannot take any drastic actions."
Uzbek roared in rage, "Don’t you dare lecture , Leonidas. How do you expect to even explain this situation to the various factions within my kingdom? It could even lead to a coup."
Rugen sneered at Leonidas, seething with a similar rage, "Easy for you to be calm. Because you don’t care about anyone else but the Valkyrie?"
Leonidas replied with a dark scowl, "I have also lost three of my children. Among them was my crown prince. Do not think I am any less enraged than any of you."
"Instead of wasting ti like this. Let’s talk about what we should do now," added Leonidas this ti in a much more controlled manner.
After so discussion, the three kings eventually decided that all the survivors, including the Dark Ship, would be brought into Suncrest Kingdom for further introspection.
The other two kings agreed to this only for two reasons: one, because the teleportation gate of the island seed to have been damaged sowhat. It was safe to get everything to Suncrest, as it was the closest to the island.
The second reason was that, only in the presence of the two wardens from Blackvale and Samartan, would all interrogation and introspection be done. Nothing would be hidden from King Rugen and Uzbek.
The two kings decided to give so leeway for the sake of the situation. But their collective suspicion of each other remained. The three kings were more wary of each other first before anything else.
Soon, the island’s teleportation chanism was activated. The dark voyage, filled with death energy, and the surviving 110 students, the principal, and three wardens, all flashed through the gate and were received at a hidden lake of the royal family within the capital. All the students were quarantined and placed in special facilities to check whether they were carrying any infectious diseases or curses.
Their treatnt also began after so ti, but the principal was imdiately registered for life-saving abilities due to his grave state. King Leonidas himself had personally ordered it when he had examined Alric’s critical state. Leonidas also put a powerful barrier around the Dark Ship so that its death energy would not leak into the capital.
He also ensured that the High-Lich’s voyage carried no hidden weapons, dangerous functionalities, or surveillance chanisms. Thereafter, the various mages employed by the royal family imdiately began uncovering the structure’s secrets in hopes of learning more about the harrowing incident that had struck humanity without the slightest warning...whatsoever.
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