Free Web NovelChapter 292: Great One
"Huh? A Great One?" Celestina was utterly confused, "What’s a ’Great One’?"
"Great Ones are Great Ones!" Frey cheered excitedly, "They are both ancestors and overlords to all Beasts, true unchallenged rulers of our world! To think, in our time of need, we would run into one here!"
"Is it true?" Bron leapt up, his eyes flashing with excitement, "Does this human really carry the scent of a Great One?!"
Still seeing the puzzled and somewhat uncomfortable look on Celestina’s face as Bron leaned in and sniffed at her, Frey thought hard about how to explain herself, which wasn’t easy as joy was currently surging through her heart.
If there really was a Great One here, then not all hope was lost
Although she had never met a Great One before, Frey had heard stories of their legendary strength and abilities her entire life.
To a Great One, crossing the vast ocean could not possibly be that difficult!
As long as they could seek the Great One’s assistance, there might still be a chance for them to return to their homeland!
It took a while, but Frey eventually managed to think up an explanation that might make sense to Celestina and blurted out, "In human terms, Great Ones are the founders of whole species of Spirit Beasts. They carry extremely powerful bloodlines that hail from ancient times and can transcended the limits of this world, rising above the Ninth Order!"
Hearing this, Celestina froze up in shock, her brain literally overloading as she thought to herself, Huh? A Spirit Beast that has exceeded the Ninth Order? How is that possible? And since when did I meet such a Beast!? freewebnøvel.com
Needless to say, Celestina was even more confused now.
First of all, she was well aware that the Ninth Order, the equivalent to the human Grandmaster Realm, was not the true peak of the cultivation world. There were Realms above that, but what they were called, and how many there were, Celestina didn’t know as, at least publicly, there were no such entities on the Blue Sky Continent.
Setting that aside for the moment, throughout her life, Celestina had visited 3 of the 5 Large-Sized Kingdoms on the Blue Sky Continent as well as the Rising Sun Empire. During her travels, she had come face to face with more than a handful of Spirit Masters, but never had she met a Spirit Grandmaster or Ninth Order Beast, much less a being that exceeded that Realm.
Wondering if Frey and Bron were mistaken somehow, Celestina tried explaining this reality to the two excited Spirit Beasts before her, but Frey just shook her head vigorously and declared, "No! The scent of the Great One on you is unmistakable! If it were from a different clan, I might not be so certain, but I would never fail to recognize a Great One from our very own Fox Clan!"
"Wait, what? You’re foxes?" Celestina gawked, "I thought you were wolves..."
""What!?"" Both Bron and Frey bristled at this comment, the latter snarling menacingly, "How dare you compare us noble Snow Spirit Foxes to those mangy mutts!"
Raising her hands in surrender, Celestina quickly apologized, taking several minutes to calm the two foxes down before finally saying, "If it’s about a powerful fox... I haven’t met one personally, but I have an idea about who you might be referring to."
"You do?!" Frey yipped excitedly, her previous anger being swept away by the possibility of meeting a Great One from their Fox Clan.
"En, but..." Celestina scratched her head awkwardly, "Well, if you agree to approach the city and wait at the gates, I can let you meet with... the representative of your Great One, but I don’t know how much help that’ll be to..."
"We accept!" Frey proclaimed without hesitation.
Was it risky for her and Bron to approach any closer to the human city? freёweɓnovel.com
Of course it was.
However, having understood the conundrum they found themselves in, both Frey and Bron realized that their only hope of ever going home lay in meeting with the Great One and seeking their help.
If they had to put their lives at risk to do so, then that was what they would do.
Besides, this human named Celestina seemed honest and friendly enough, so they figured they could trust her.
Such trust might seem naïve from a human perspective, but Frey and Bron were Spirit Beasts who had faith in their instincts, so they didn’t have any reservations here.
On top of that, both of them had great confidence in their strength and figured that if this was a trap, they could still escape with their lives before returning to seek revenge.
As for the Great One’s representative not being willing to help them, they would just have to convince him or her otherwise. Surely, if they showed enough sincerity, the Great One would not ignore their plight.
.....
It had been an anxious quarter-hour or so atop the western gates of Iron Rock after General Balfour went to confront the dangerous pack of beasts.
Reinforcements had arrived from all over the city during this time, with the number of soldiers doubling to nearly 2,000, led by 15 Spirit Initiates at the High or Peak-Rank, with another 40 in the Mid and Low-Rank waiting nearby.
4 kilometres was well outside the detailed observable range even for a Peak Soul Initiates’ Soul Sense, so no one could tell exactly what was going on between Celestina and the 2 Sixth Order Beasts which had come out from the pack, but everyone remained on high-alert, their guards raised to the limit.
This state of wariness only increased further when the lookouts spotted Celestina rushing back towards the wall, the two beasts ’chasing’ after her.
"Archers! To your marks!"
"Ready the ballistae!"
"Commanders, prepare to charge!"
"Steady! Steady now! No one fires until I give the order!"
Tensions rose as the beasts drew closer and nerves began to fray; however, with so many Spirit Initiates standing together with them, the soldiers somehow managed to maintain discipline.
A deadly battle seemed all but inevitable, until Celestina’s voice drift over from afar, "Stand down! Lady Frey and Lord Bron of the Ice Fang Tribe are here as my guests! No one is to disrespect them!"
This announcement naturally set off a buzz amongst the soldiers, with many wondering what was going on.
Allina, however quickly regained her compose and took command, "Silence! You heard the General! Lower your weapons and prepare to receive our honoured guests!"
None of the men and women on the wall tonight were militia, guards, or even city garrison members, they were all professional soldiers from the 3 different Armies who had sent troops to Iron Rock, so they too recovered quickly and obeyed the orders they were given.
Archers slowly released the tension from their bows, and the siege operators locked their weapons into place before removing the heavy bolts from their firing positions.
The double-layered heavy gates were then opened.
Now, the humans didn’t completely drop their guard of course. All the Spirit Initiate Commanders gathered around the western gate, their hands resting on their weapons just in case something went wrong.
Spirit Beasts were generally a bit simple-minded and unambiguous with their intent, but that didn’t mean there weren’t crafty individuals among them who could use deception and lies as well as any human politician.
Fortunately, that didn’t seem to be the case this time, with Celestina, Frey, and Bron stepping into Iron Rock calmly and casually.
As for the rest of the Snow Spirit Foxes, they approached to within 2 km of the city walls and halted there.
Frey and Bron might not be as suspicious or cautious as humans, but that didn’t mean they were fools. Before agreeing to enter the city, they had requested that the rest of their pack be allowed to follow them at least part of the way, a condition Celestina agreed to.
For swift, powerful beasts like these foxes, the difference in time it would take to cross a 5 km gap, compared to a 2 km gap, was probably less than a minute, so in Celestina’s mind it really made no difference where they waited.
Facing 2 Mid-Rank Sixth Order Beasts up close, even the battle-tested Spirit Initiates of the Raging River, Golden Wings, and Steel Shield Legions felt immense pressure. In fact, if it weren’t for Celestina’s presence, many weren’t even certain they could survive if these foxes suddenly turned hostile.
Still, they maintained their formation and remained on alert, ready to deal with any situation that came up.
Celestina, on the other hand, calmly walked over to Vanessa and quietly instructed her, "Go get Lucas... and tell him to bring Yuki with him."
