Chapter 286: Doomsday Clock.
*Sector 124779: Khalla-Novan outpost 1789*
"Sir," A woman with blonde hair, with eyes of emerald walked into an office staring at the back of an individual who stood staring out the window as a blue sunset was cast over him. Discover exclusive content at мѵʟ
"I told you not to disturb me today, Zara." The man answered her abruptly, he too was blonde down to the roots of his hair but the azure light of the evening cast the same colour as his eyes.
"And where do you go about calling me sir while we are out in the open, has Cecelia's disappearance shot your common sense?" He asked, and the woman smiled and closed the door behind herself, pressing a button on the wall five times and watching as a small electric veil fell across the walls like water, blocking invoking and outgoing signals.
"That is just what I have come here for, sir," She stood at the opposite side of his desk and held a small device showing a videogame chat log, on this log the man saw a message.
[Mobilise; get everyone within the hour and congregate to a single isolated location, do not allow any outsiders inside of the gathering, I am coming for you; Sol Vestic.] The message read.
"Is this for real?" He asked, taking the device from her grasp and staring at the message again and then looking at the sender. "Red-eyed_Fairy," he mused; that was Cecelia's user, he even went through the trouble of checking the user profile and looking at her stats. "Ten minutes ago, why did it take so long to get to me?" He asked and the woman gestured out the window.
"I already started calling everyone, I made a few steps along the way as well-"
"Have you considered that Cecelia disappearing was a trap set by that bastard who's had her prisoner all this time?" He snapped at her.
"That would have been quite bothersome given where you lot are, but General Flint is still unaware of your identities as Vatui," Alpha appeared, sitting in his seat and slowly spinning.
"The message comes from Master Vestic who thought it necessary to..." Alpha paused when the man drew the gun that had been holstered on his hip and shot a hole through her stomach causing the chair to spin and hit the wall falling over.
"Where did she go?" He asked aiming his gun to the other side of the room after Alpha had disappeared.
"How rude. Is it the policy of everyone in the Emporium to shoot first and ask questions afterwards?" Alpha appeared on his desk with her feet swinging lazily.
"Do not fret, I-" she stopped talking again when another blast from the weapon flew through her and left a hole in the desk this time, this time though she did not vanish, she just sat there staring at him silently as he fired three more times before lowering his gun, confused.
"Sir," Zara called to him but blinded by fright the man drew a blade that was hidden on his person and struck at Alpha again, causing the system to sigh as his hand passed through her and then sighed again as she made her body tangible and his elbow became stuck in her torso.
"How have you managed to lead two thousand Vatui refugees for thousands of millennia with such a sloppy and easily shaken mentality? Alpha asked, staring at his shocked face as he tried to move but found that no matter the strength he utilized she wasn't even budging.
"I come bearing a message of confirmation From the Godslayer; Sol Vestic, if you continue to interrupt me with acts of violence I will retaliate and immobilize you, do you understand?" She asked, and he nodded after taking a calm breath and then stumbled backwards when her torso opened up and his hand was released.
"What are you?" He stared up at her, but she huffed and opened her palm, showing a projection of Celia sharing information with Sol around a table full of individuals and eating happily.
"I am Alpha; Master Vestic has ordered that all the Vatui refugees of Lady Cecelia's clan, her family included be ready within the hour in an isolated area, this is an outpost so be sure to know and note, that this is his next target and it will be thoroughly destroyed without a single survivor, anyone who fails to gather will be counted amongst the casualties without remorse from either My Master or Lady Cecelia, you failed to respond to your messages so we had to send it to another, you have 45 minutes left to prepare for their arrival, make haste."
After her warning Alpha disappeared with a huff; usually she was friendly, but not after had the man showed incompetence, he also showed impatience after his incompetence, it was her first time dealing with someone like that and it bothered her, even as a system, she had standards of intelligence which she preferred.
"Sir?" Zara stared at the man worried. "I will start mobilizing everyone from across the outpost, don't worry about it, I'll take care of gathering and return to you before the timer runs out with a plan of escape," She stated, and he lowered his gaze, staring at his destroyed office and at his hand, debating mentally whether he should give the order or not. "Sir?" She called at him again.
"Sir we barely have a window here we haven't even decided where we'll gather yet, word has only been spreading," Zara stared at him for an answer.
"Why now?" The man asked, staring out the window at the sunset again while Zara shook her head and left without another glance in his direction. "Why now, why so suddenly? We do not know if this is a trap or not yet, it could be some sinister plot devised after Lady Cecelia finally broke her vow of silence because some unforeseen event revealed us to that man..." He pondered.
"That man who assumes the role of leader, he is inadequate, for such a position how did he end up the leader of such an important secret after you left?" Alpha appeared next to Cecelia with her brows furrowed in frustration while the Vatui noblewoman stared at her having a bead of sweat roll down her cheek. "He is an idiot."
"Hudor... The only way to keep his mouth was to give him a role where others depended on him, the alternative was to abandon him and send them somewhere he did not know of, but that is the same as killing him, the others are well aware of who he is and why he's in the position he's in, which is why I appointed Zara, my younger sister as his shadow, she remains in constant contact with me-"
"Yes, you already explained all this, but the man is still an idiot." Alpha sighed and ruffled her hair. "He drew my temper where nobody else has ever managed to," She admitted with another sigh while Sol and Ikaris sat staring at their interaction.
"Over two thousand..." Ikaris turned her attention to Sol, "Where will we send them after taking them away from the emporium, and have we thought about the possibility of there being some who will mean us harm and others who would rather not be taken away from where they are?" She asked, and he hummed and raised a brow.
"That's a no-brainer," Sol answered closing his eyes and huffing as he raised her and himself into a stand and then looked at her with a smile.
"They'll disappear along with the outpost, I already sent alpha to take care of any slow reactions, she returned rather quickly and with a headache; in a situation like this one I can't afford leniency, they are a lot and their departure is bound to cause a ripple, the outpost has to be destroyed before they know what's happening, otherwise their whole exodus would be for nothing."
"Hmm" Ikaris smiled at Sol, and at Cecelia who stood opposite of them.
In that small triangle facing each other for the next thirty-plus minutes, the three went silent; Sol made no sound, Ikaris was the same, and Cecelia, thinking that was some sort of pre-battle ritual, respected their silence and remained quiet standing as she faced them as well.
"Have you already thought about what you'll say to them once you're safely reunited?" Sol looked at a clock on the wall and then at Cecelia who was becoming more nervous as the final minute counted down quickly.
"No, I am not good with greetings nor am I good at goodbyes, these things usually sort themselves out at the moment they were meant to," Cecelia answered seriously, and Ikaris nodded with a huff of approval as her sense of ease that had kept the tension light vanished while her mana began seeping out of her body in tiny waves.
"Alright, that's time." Sol clapped his hands and the three of them were enveloped in golden light as his Godslayer appearance manifested calmly.
"Let's go."
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