Under the solemn gaze of humanity's Legend-level figures, the calamity of the Myst around the ruins finally began to subside after a full day. At that moment, everyone cautiously approached the area. Upon reaching the formation, the Director could see Sigrún carrying an unconscious Erik in her arms. He had no external injuries apart from his missing right arm. Meanwhile, two gigantic wolves floated in the air not far away.
Although the young man seemed to simply be asleep, and the Director could sense his life was no longer in danger, there was no joy on the faces of Sigrún, Eleonora, or Seraphina. The trio of beautiful women wore cold expressions tinged with worry as they watched Sigrún's ship grow in size in the void.
[Is Erik alright?] The Director asked telepathically. The cold voice of Eleonora immediately echoed in his mind.
[His life is no longer in danger, but his mana system was shattered, and he fell into a coma.]
[We'll take Erik to university and we won't move until he wakes up, old man.] Sigrún soon added, her voice serious and resolute. The Director nodded gravely, replying with a discreet sigh of relief. As long as Erik lived, everything else could be solved.
[You can focus on his recovery without worry. Feel free to request anything needed from the treasury. I will also send doctors to examine him.]
[We thank you in advance, Director .] Eleonora replied formally, her tone serious, as the trio flew towards the ship. At that moment, a cold voice filled with infinite killing intent resonated in the Director head.
[We will be watching for the results of the investigation into who is responsible for this.]
Hearing the voice, the Director instinctively turned to look at Seraphina, whose gaze was fixed on the unconscious Erik. The Director nodded, a cold, murderous light shining in his eyes. He himself was impatient to discover who was responsible. Losing almost 50 of the Arcane Order's top 100 most talented youths was more than enough to start a large-scale war, and he personally intended to take the vanguard this time.
Meanwhile, Master-level individuals entered the formation to retrieve the youths from their respective factions with serious expressions, quickly beginning to heal them as colossal ships began arriving from different directions. Aboard the ships, doctors solemnly began examining the youths' conditions while the Master-level and Legend-level figures started investigating the ruins.
…
…
…
In a spacious white room filled with various medical artifacts and a wide, comfortable bed, Thalia gently stroked the face of Elara, who lay unconscious on the bed. Looking at her disciple's face, Thalia couldn't help but let out a heavy sigh filled with regret. She never wanted her disciple to enter those ruins, but not wanting to cut short her path or deprive her of opportunities, she remained silent and allowed it.
Now, although her disciple was simply unconscious from the impact of the Myst's calamity and had no major injuries, Thalia knew that what Elara must have experienced inside those ruins would follow her for life. Of the 400 youths who entered—leaving aside some in critical condition, victims of a curse of bodily imprisonment—only 181 were rescued alive—a mortality rate exceeding 50%. An unmitigated disaster.
For more than half of the young geniuses to die inside, the situation must have been incredibly complex and tragic. Or so she initially imagined, as there was something strange about the survivors. Of the rescued youths, apart from Erik, only about 10 suffered from severe malnutrition and injuries, practically on the brink of death.
The others—including her own disciple—were… fine. Without serious injuries, malnutrition, or anything of the sort. This fact inevitably intrigued everyone, who even considered forcibly awakening some youths to ask what had happened inside. That idea quickly died, however, because the loss was already devastating, and the healthy youths wouldn't take long to wake up naturally. The order was given not to interfere.
…
As Thalia reflected, Elara's face suddenly began to contort. With a soft smile, Thalia withdrew her hand and waited patiently. Elara's sleeping face soon cycled through a myriad of emotions, finally settling into an expression of panic. In that instant, the beautiful girl sat bolt upright, shouting urgently.
"Erik!!"
"Calm down, dear. You're safe now."
Though curious about Elara's cry, Thalia commented in a soft, soothing voice while reaching out to stroke her disciple's hair. Still panicked, Elara looked at Thalia and quickly asked with urgency.
"Master?! We're out?! No, more importantly, where is Erik?! Is he okay?!"
"Calm yourself. Sigrún and the others took him. We are now on a ship heading to the university." Thalia replied calmly, continuing to stroke Elara's hair. Elara let out a long, deep sigh and commented softly.
"It's good that he's okay… Thank God he's okay…"
Seeing her disciple's relief, Thalia couldn't help but smile and quickly wanted to ask questions. But before she could, Elara's eyes filled with tears, and she began to sob silently. Moved, Thalia embraced her disciple affectionately, speaking in a warm, comforting voice.
"Everything is fine now… You're safe… No one can hurt you anymore…"
"Master… I was so scared…" Elara said between sobs in her master's arms, who held her tighter and let her continue speaking.
"We were so close to succeeding… We had taken down a Virelian Illuminated, saved over a hundred people… We were armed and ready… Victory was before us… But… But… We underestimated the enemy… Erik almost died facing an Illuminated-Peak and suddenly a Sage-level appeared… They, that damned stellar empire and the He Clan, wanted to kill us all…"
As Elara poured out her heart between sobs, an expression full of anger formed on Thalia's face. She quickly located her grandfather on the ship and sent him a telepathic message laden with killing intent. A scene repeated in different medical rooms.
[The He Clan and the stellar empire allied with the Valierans to set this trap.]
…
…
…
Sitting in a quiet study, the Director was silent, eyes closed, gently tapping the desk with the fingers of his left hand in a rhythmic manner, lost in thought. After the Calamity of the Myst, everyone inspected the ruins again, which yielded no results and only deepened the mystery of that place.
After all, although the fortress built to protect the entrance managed to remain standing after the calamity, it was severely damaged. While that could be attributed to the fortress having received a severe impact from the explosion during the first attempt to force open the ruins, the entrance itself, which had endured the same, was intact.
Letting out a sigh, the Director shifted his train of thought and began to meditate on the least troublesome way to secure the ruins. The ruins had proven to be very strange, and considering Brigid's words, it was imperative to take them. After all, the benefit a Primordial Relic could bring was unreachable.
Beyond what previous civilizations might have left inside, the truly valuable aspect of a Primordial Relic was that, for some reason, they could greatly weaken the power of Myst Calamities. This alone was a colossal benefit, as the highest barrier to reaching the Arcane level and beyond was overcoming a Myst Calamity—a sort of evolutionary "bottleneck."
After all, at the Sage-Peak level, the amount of mana a living being possessed was so colossal it could be compared to a small, fully inhabited planet. Such a concentration of mana in a single being inevitably affected the surrounding Myst, like mass affecting the fabric of space, attracting a Myst Calamity.
This somehow functioned as a trial imposed by the Myst upon a mana user. For although the calamity to be overcome was different for each level, they all ultimately tested whether the mana user could exist without destabilizing reality.
Therefore, a Primordial Relic, being capable of weakening these trials, was basically a strategic resource capable of producing high-level users almost en masse. To the point that, without exception, all so-called "superior races" possessed a few. Having a Primordial Relic was what differentiated "superior races" from the rest.
So, if humanity could obtain one and manage it properly, they would no longer have to resign themselves to the remote stellar region they inhabited. They could even stand firm against those capricious and arrogant 'Ancestors'—though only a little, as they possessed more than one Primordial Relic and had beings of unimaginable power.
But putting all that aside, there was one reason that, in the Director's heart, took precedence above all else for obtaining a Primordial Relic. His wife, Brigid, was precisely undergoing a calamity of the Myst so complicated that it forced her to constantly isolate herself and prevented her from using her full strength. Therefore, a Primordial Relic would be of great help to her.
…
While deeply meditating on the infinite possibilities, the Director received several telepathic messages informing him of the culprits behind the trap. Hearing even his own granddaughter report it, an incredibly cold and lethal expression formed on the Director's face, who quickly murmured, laden with anger.
[Aelric, Xiuwen, I need a very good explanation. I hope I don't have to come personally to get it.]
[We will conduct an investigation. You can send your people to "assist."] After a while, the Director heard the cold voice of Xiuwen Xiao, the regent of the Jade Lotus Union, which contained evident traces of contained fury. Shortly after, the voice of Aelric resonated, equally indignant.
[I will hold House Solaris responsible. I will send people to surround them.]
[Lysander, I will join you. We need to ensure we exterminate all the rats in our nest.] Not long after, the serious voice of Yrsa resonated, which soon added with a hint of curiosity.
[By the way, I would like to meet your Erik Verne. It seems he helped my youths a great deal.]
Hearing Yrsa, the Director couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. At that moment, he turned to look at the door and announced calmly.
"Come in."
With the order, the door opened. A man about two meters tall, wearing the standard armor of the Order's army, opened the door and saluted respectfully. Then, the man placed a crystal card on the desk before bidding farewell with a military salute and leaving the study.
Curious, the Director examined the card, which contained the recorded testimonies of the first youths to awaken. In them, they not only explained how they discovered the He Clan and the stellar empire were behind everything, but they especially praised Erik.
In the recordings, many commented on how they had been on the brink of death before being found by golems controlled by Erik and the direct disciples he led. Then, how they were healed, fed, and received equipment that allowed them to survive.
Seeing that all the testimonies were consistent and that everyone referred to Erik "Verne" as a great leader and a brave warrior capable of leaping forward to face an Illuminated-Peak to defend everyone, the Director couldn't help but smile. Although Erik's talents were monstrous and unprecedented, the Director was far more pleased with this.
An intelligent, brave, and honorable man was almost as valuable as a great talent. After all, a talented but cowardly and despicable man was nothing more than a cancer. So, the fact that the most terrifying talent he had ever seen in his life—even superior to those terrifying "superior races"—had such character was the best news he could hear.
"So you really were affected by them mocking you for not having a surname and chose one… It sounds quite good. You have great taste." the Director murmured to himself with a small, almost paternal smile on his face. But soon, his entire demeanor became as sharp as a sword, and he whispered, laden with killing intent.
"Time to clean house."
…
…
…
In the middle of the medical bay of her ship, Seraphina, dressed in her maid outfit, served tea to Eleonora, who sat silently in a chair with an ancient gas lamp in her lap. But although she seemed to be examining the strange artifact, it was evident she wasn't focused; her gaze constantly wandered to a medical capsule in front of her.
Standing silently before the capsule was Sigrún, her forehead pressed against the glass densely engraved with runes, staring in complete silence at the interior. Inside the capsule floated a naked young man with dark hair that had tiny sparkles shimmering like stars. The naked youth inside was missing an arm, which seemed to be slowly regrowing.
After handing the tea to Eleonora, Seraphina walked in complete silence to a chair to the left of the medical capsule, where she sat elegantly and then closed her eyes in a sepulchral silence. Although none of the three women in the medical bay uttered a word, an oppressive tension so thick it could almost be cut with a knife took hold of the place.
All three had regrets, desires for vengeance, and much to say, but they kept it all firmly contained within their hearts. After all, nothing was more important now than the recovery of the youth in the capsule. Once he woke up and had a cookie, it wouldn't be too late to let everything out.
…
After a while, Sigrún felt something calling from her storage ring, which she ignored, unwilling to take her eyes off her beloved. But the other party seemed incredibly insistent, leading her to let out an exasperated sigh, take a rune-covered mirror from her storage ring, and comment with contained anger.
"What the hell do you want, Thalia?"
The beautiful redhead reflected on the other side of the mirror, stared intently at her good friend's distorted expression, and, after a small sigh, commented seriously.
"We already know who the culprit is."
***
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