Free Web NovelChapter 269: _Gathering Storm
"So I’m not imagining things, right? About the weather?" Ambrose asked Devon and Gabriel just when they were about to head back inside.
The space god shook his head, eyes refusing to leave the darkening clouds miles away. "Nope."
[ALERT: Incoming signature detected. Target is flying in fast.]
Ambrose’s eyes widened at the system notification.
Flying?!
"Hey," Devon placed a hand over his eyes. "Is that a bird?"
Gabriel and Ambrose followed his gaze.
Descending from the sky was a ’creature’ with massive wings so wide they blotted out the sunlight with their descent. Ambrose squinted as the figure dropped several feet ahead of them, close to the compound’s gate.
His shoulders relaxed a bit.
Wait a minute.
That was no bird or creature.
It was—
"Ambrose," Loki’s wings folded into their back like they never existed. Relief flashed in their eyes, further confusing Ambrose. "Thank goodness you’re safe."
Gabriel stood in front of Ambrose. "Why won’t he be safe? Is something happening?"
Loki paused, wondering how much they should reveal. Their eyes flitted to Valentine and Viktor stepping out of the house behind Ambrose.
Great.
More ears.
"It’s the Void Entity." They decided to go straight to the point. "It’s in Aurelia. Or... at least it was. It managed to escape while the other members of the Pantheon tried destroying it."
Ambrose blinked.
Valentine and Viktor exchanged a look while Devon frowned.
"I’m sorry... escaped? Wait, so if it’s gone do you guys know where it’s off to?"
Loki shook their head. "Kali must be up to finding that out now. In the meantime, I came to check on Ambrose." Their gaze locked on the Guide again. "Just in case."
Ambrose swallowed hard at that.
Especially when Aura chimed. [You know, this is the perfect chance for you to create that permanent link with them. Just saying though.]
’There’s no end to your fuckery, huh?’
[Just a reminder, sweetheart. Also, you remember that the mission to create the link with them is still available and uncompleted, right?]
The system showed him how many hours were left for the mission.
Almost fifty-nine hours.
God, that was almost two days. He doubted he could get a chance to be so close to Loki again. Not to mention he was still uncertain whether creating the link with an SSS-Rank would have consequences.
"You came here just in case," Valentine repeated Loki’s words, stepping down from the steps leading into the house. "That sounds to me like there’s something else you aren’t telling us."
Everyone else turned to Loki.
From the look in their eyes—Valentine was right.
Fortunately, the chaos god opened up. "Before the Void entity escaped," a pause, "it behaved in a way we’ve never seen before. Called us predictable. Flew away from us even when it had lots of chances to attack too."
Ambrose’s eyes narrowed. "Like it was trying to distract you?"
"Exactly. It wasn’t really looking for a fight. And it knew the second it appeared over Aurelia the Pantheon would be alerted." Loki’s gaze showed a rare sign of softening. "Naturally I assumed it was after you. Maybe it sent a possessed person after you or something."
That made Ambrose’s forehead crease.
No.
Coming for him while the Pantheon were distracted was too clean a plan even for the Void Entity. Too predictable—like it said.
So whatever it came here to do... wait.
Right when a thought crossed his head, Devon’s phone rang. He arched a brow, pulling it out of his pocket. After staring at the screen for a couple of seconds he picked.
"Hello?" The frown on his face twisted into something else slowly. Something grim. "W–What?"
Ambrose wasn’t able to hear anything because it wasn’t on speaker. But he did pick out a few words:
"Mr Ferguson, I’m sorry. It happened so fast."
It was a woman’s voice.
Not just any woman too.
The principal of Blue Diamond Academy.
"Devon?" He grabbed Devon’s shoulder. "Devon, what’s wrong? Was that from Orion’s school?"
The hand Devon used to hold his phone to his ear slowly fell. Ambrose could hear how the Esper’s heartbeat stalled, and that only helped make his paranoia spiral.
"Devon, speak," Gabriel shoved the man gently on his elbow. "We don’t need this kind of suspense—"
"They took Orion." Devon let the dreaded words slip out. "I–I wasn’t able to hear the rest of what she said." His voice broke. "But t–they took my baby... erased innocents as well."
Ambrose’s heart dropped to his stomach.
Viktor placed a hand on his head while Valentine’s expression fell.
Even Gabriel and Loki brought their eyes to Ambrose, instantly noticing the shift in his mood.
No.
No, no, no!
With little thinking, Ambrose seized Gabriel’s wrist, eyes wild with desperation. "Portal." He blurted. "Open a portal to Blue Diamond Academy. Hurry!"
Gabriel didn’t waste another second.
The portal tore through space with a deafening rip, bright white light swallowing the backyard whole. Ambrose was already moving before it fully stabilised, Devon right behind him while Viktor, Valentine, Gabriel and Loki followed closely after.
★★★★★
The smoke hit them first.
Then came the screams.
Blue Diamond Academy no longer looked like a school.
It looked like the aftermath of a disaster.
Entire sections of the building had simply... ceased to exist.
Erased.
The front wing was gone, leaving behind an impossibly clean edge where classrooms should’ve been. Rubble littered the roads while teachers hurried terrified children toward waiting ambulances, many of them crying so hard they couldn’t even speak.
Parents shoved past emergency responders, desperately calling out names.
Ambrose’s breathing grew shallow.
"No..." he whispered.
Loki’s phone buzzed just then.
They barely spared it a glance before answering. "There’s been a situation."
Nothing else was said before they hung up immediately.
Several Hunters rushed into the damaged building as firefighters searched through whatever remained of the first floor.
Then the academy’s principal stumbled out through the entrance. Her clothes were covered in dust. Blood trickled down one side of her forehead.
Ambrose saw nothing else. He sprinted.
His hand caught her shoulders before anyone could stop him.
"Where is my son?!" He roared, silver eyes blazing with a terrifying blue light that had absolutely no business belonging to any Guide.
