Free Web NovelChapter 216: Two Options
In the next instant, an incredibly powerful Soul Sense swept over Commander Levins, one that despite coming from very far away, still had an intensity so great it sent shivers up his spine.
A Mid-Rank Seventh Order Beast!
Without any hesitation, old man Hubert fired the recall flare again while channeling Soul Qi into his voice, "All non-essential personnel, get your asses onto the Sunchaser, now! Defence teams! Stand by to withdraw on my orders! Move! Move move move!"
He also hastily withdrew his Soul Sense, lest he be remotely attacked by this ominous newcomer.
Contrary to popular belief, after opening one’s Soul Sea and gaining the ability to manipulate and cultivate one’s Soul, it became as tough and durable as any other part of a person’s body. However, no matter how strong the metal a sword was forged from, if that same metal was melted down and spread out into a thin film, it could still be torn apart by a light impact.
This was also the case with Soul Sense, which was why most Cultivators only used it to scan their immediate surroundings, or to probe specific distant places.
Spreading Soul Sense like a blanket to cover a vast area was both taxing and potentially very dangerous as it left one’s Soul in a particularly vulnerable state.
Suffering a wound to one’s Soul was also excruciatingly painful as it was linked directly to one’s mind and senses while healing an injured Soul generally took more time and effort than healing one’s physical body.
Up until now, Commander Levins had been widely dispersing his Soul Sense to try to monitor the situation in Redwood Town and search for survivors, but with an enemy some 20 to 30 times stronger than him suddenly appearing, he could no longer take that kind of risk.
Even if the beast was still many kilometres away, and couldn’t kill him directly, using its significantly more powerful Soul to smash his thinly spread Soul Sense apart was entirely possible.
Once he suffered a serious wound to his Soul, Commander Levins knew his ability to think clearly and his overall combat capabilities would plummet, and he could not afford that happening right now.
As for the search teams he had sent out, and the remaining survivors still inside the town, all Hubert could do now was pray they somehow made it back to the camp before he had to give the order to evacuate.
The moment the others in the camp heard that roar coming from the west, they all knew that something bad was approaching, but once the normally mild-mannered and friendly Commander Levin’s started shouting at them to move their butts, they realized things were much worse than they thought.
Immediately, the activity at the military camp became even more frantic, with Hubert Levins personally helping to carry crates out of the Sunchaser’s hold. The old man didn’t know exactly how far away this threat had appeared, but he could tell it was getting closer.
It was a race now, one that if the humans lost, they would all perish.
.....
Approaching the camp, the first thing that was noticeable was that unlike the rest of Redwood Town, this place wasn’t just intact, it was also filled with people. In fact, there was a flurry of activity going on, with several dozen soldiers and militia hurriedly running about.
Some were still in defensive positions, their bows and spears shaking in their grips as they stood behind a barrier of boxes and crates.
In front of this hastily made barricade were the fresh corpses of a few First and Second Order Beasts; however, most people were hurriedly working on the Sunchaser, seemingly offloading everything they possibly could while also preparing it to take-off.
Driving the carriage straight into the camp, Captain Gage didn’t even slow down as she led her small group over to the base of the Sunchaser where she sensed the strongest aura coming from.
At the base of the ramp leading up to the Sunchaser was an old man in silver armour shouting directions to a crowd of frantic workers while carrying several large sacks of grain over his shoulders away from the ship.
"Commander Levins!" Captain Gage called out, jumping off the carriage and saluting her superior as soon as it came to a halt.
Whipping around, Hubert Levins was stunned to see that one of his search parties had actually made it back, and they had even found some survivors.
Ever since the Seventh Order Beast had suddenly appeared, Commander Levins had been forced to withdraw his Soul Sense, lest he be struck by the enemy’s Soul Qi.
As a side effect of this, however, he completely lost the ability to track any survivors or his search teams still inside Redwood Town. Hubert had been planning to wait as long as possible for the rescue parties to return, but if they failed to arrive in time, he would have to leave them behind.
It was a ruthless choice, but someone had to make it, and unfortunately, that duty fell to the old Spirit Initiate tonight.
That was why, when Lana Gage showed up together with some very unexpected guests, Commander Levins was completely stunned.
He had only just sent out the search parties a few minutes ago and he knew that Captain Gage had headed towards the south-east. freewebnσvel.cѳm
The Town Lord’s Manor, on the other hand, was in the north-west part of town.
How Lucas, Eris, and Princess Christina ended up on the opposite side of town from where they should have been was a complete mystery to the old man, but one he didn’t have the luxury to investigate right now.
There wasn’t even time for the veteran Commander to worry about the terrible injuries two of these children had suffered. All he could do was nod to Lana and order, "Get them aboard the Sunchaser and prepare the ship to take-off."
"Yes, Sir!" Captain Gage acknowledged before motioning to her team to help the civilians among them up the Skyship’s ramp.
Just as old man Hubert was about to get back to work, however, a young voice suddenly called out to him, "Please wait, Commander Levins!"
Frowning, the veteran Commander turned around and asked, "What is it, Lucas?"
Leaning on his big sister Eris for support, Lucas spoke with great difficulty, "I have critical information you need to hear."
After everything he had witnessed Lucas accomplish over the past 8 days, Commander Levins knew better than to just ignore the young Disciple of his commanding officer, so he nodded and motioned for Captain Gage to take over for him.
Moving slightly away from the busy ramp, Commander Levins listened to Lucas’ recounting of what had happened to him and his group since he, Tina, and Eris had woken up in the backroom of the Manor.
Of course, the story Lucas told the old man was a very condensed version, lacking a lot of details and explanations, but it was enough to get the main points across. Eris also nodded along, swearing everything Lucas said was true in her attempt to assure the veteran Spirit Initiate her little brother wasn’t just delusional after getting his head wounded.
It was a shocking tale, to say the least, and it answered a great many of the old man’s questions, such as what exactly was going on in Redwood Town, where everyone who had disappeared had gone, and where the monstrous Seventh Order Beast had come from.
Hearing that his subordinates were likely alive, but somewhere half-way around the world, Hubert Levins wasn’t sure whether to feel relieved or even more worried. Still, he agreed with Lucas that there wasn’t anything they could do for them at this moment.
The critical piece of information Lucas had to share, however, was that the Seventh Order Beast was a giant turtle, adapted to living in the ocean but not on land, and that the Spatial Storm had truly ended now, meaning that the skies over Redwood Town were clear. freeweɓnovel.cøm
Commander Levins didn’t doubt Lucas’ information for a second, and knowing exactly what his enemy was, he began coming up with a new plan.
Pulling the signaling Spirit Tool from his Space Bag again, Commander Levins fired a series of 3 green flares up into the air.
A couple seconds later, 2 green and 1 yellow flares shot up from somewhere to the west of the camp.
Quickly estimating the position the response flares had originated from, a deep frown appeared on the old man’s face, The last search party is still on this side, and they met up with the group of survivors, but they’ve been delayed somehow and will take at least 5 minutes to make it back...
5 minutes didn’t sound like a long time, but from the pressure old man Hubert was feeling in the air, he estimated that the Seventh Order turtle would be close enough by then to start attacking them, even if it was just with its Soul Sense and aura pressure.
In fact, it might even be that the pressure the beast was already exerting was enough to cause the weaker survivors his search party had found to lose strength, slowing the entire group down.
Commander Levins wasn’t worried about his own safety in this scenario. Even if he waited 5 minutes, he was confident he could ward off the aura pressure from the beast and escape relatively unscathed; however, no one else present in the military camp could say the same.
Perhaps the strongest Sea Establishment Captains would be alright, but everyone else would likely be crushed under the weight of the Seventh Order Beasts’ aura.
In other words, if Commander Levins wanted to wait for the last search party to return, he would be putting everyone’s lives at risk.
He now had two options, either he ordered everyone already in the camp to board the Sunchaser and took-off immediately, abandoning the last group of survivors to certain death, or...
