Chapter 597: Chapter 597 - Taming the Swarm - 12

"Can we pursue it?" Liora asked, already preparing to jump and for subterranean combat, spiritual flames dancing around her fingers.

Larissa shook her head grimly. "It would be a huge disadvantage for you two to fight down there. But the wall’s underground defenses extend for kilometers. It should be very difficult for it to enter the city advancing underground, especially when our best earth tamers have been containing creatures in that direction for days."

The underground defensive network was strong, an already established system, a maze of reinforced tunnels and earth-based high rank tamers. If the artifact tried to tunnel toward the city center, it should trigger dozens of warning systems and give lots of time for a counterattack.

Or it should... all in all it was better than the wall impromptu ice defense, so they should keep defending this weaker point to ensure Luna’s rewards.

"Then we should send some earth soldiers to track it," Luna decided, her voice carrying the authority she’d fought so hard to establish. "At least to make sure it doesn’t try to jump the wall at a different point."

It was a logical but limited decision. They could follow the artifact, but they didn’t have the necessary specialty to stop it underground. Their only hope was that the wall’s subterranean defenses would be sufficient to keep it away from the city.

Their job was to secure the defense here for Luna’s political standing.

♢♢♢♢

Moments later, everything had stabilized...

The smoke from the last black fire attacks slowly dissipated over the battlefield, carrying with it the acrid smell of corrupted flesh. Larissa observed from atop the wall how soldiers reorganized their formations, how all the chaos of the last few minutes gradually transformed into the disciplined order of a continuous and successful defense.

Luna had ’defused’, her breathing still accelerated but stable. Her fusion had lasted barely less than five minutes of the fifteen she could maintain. The intensity of combat had been sufficient to exhaust her considerably, but she remained conscious and alert, her eyes constantly scanning the horizon for new threats.

Liora was in slightly better condition. Also defused, she flexed her fingers to relieve the residual tension from channeling so much spiritual fire. Her fusion had also been brief but effective, and though fatigue was noticeable in her movements, she remained completely functional.

"We did it," Luna murmured, a small but genuine smile appearing on her face. "We really did it."

"Of course we did it," Liora responded with confidence that couldn’t completely disguise her own amazement. "Though I admit I didn’t expect it to be so... intense."

Larissa watched them exchange these words of mutual satisfaction, feeling complex emotions that surprised her with their intensity. There was pride, certainly. She had participated in this, had contributed significantly to the success.

But there was also something deeper. Something that had been growing in her chest during the last few minutes while watching her friends work together with a mutual confidence she had lost.

For the first time in years, she had been outside the castle facing a real situation. It hadn’t been a theoretical exercise or a simulation. It had been a genuine crisis where decisions had life-or-death consequences, where failure meant the death of innocent civilians.

And it had worked.

Her hands had been steady while directing the winds. Her mind had been clear while calculating trajectories and coordinating attacks. For a few precious minutes, she had been the person she used to be before everything fell apart.

’What am I doing?’ she asked herself, feeling tears beginning to accumulate in the corners of her eyes. ’ If I can do this, if I can be here and be useful for my city, why do I keep hiding?’

The answer came immediately, as it always did: because she was afraid. Afraid of facing what she had lost, afraid of discovering that the damage was irreparable.

But she had to realize someday, regardless of the outcome... She wasn’t just a girl, she was the principal princess of Yano, an important figure who could do transcendental things. If she didn’t take advantage of the inspiration from a victory like this now, when would she?

The tears threatened to overflow when the memories came like an avalanche. Ren crying while she begged him not to take away the fragment. Ren with that expression of absolute resolve that had been more painful than any deliberate cruelty. The understanding that he had chosen to save everyone above her tears and pain.

She forced herself to dry her eyes with the back of her hand. It was now or never.

"Matilda," she approached timidly to where the ’most discreet’ maid was standing. "How... how is Ren? Do you know anything about him?"

The question had been murmured in a low voice, but her tone had been higher-pitched than expected. In the relative silence that had followed the end of the main combat, it was perfectly audible to all the nearby girls.

Mayo turned so quickly she almost hit them. Her gasp was so loud and surprised it sounded like she had seen a ghost.

"What?" Liora and Luna looked up from the battlefield immediately, directing all their attention toward where Mayo was staring at Larissa with enormous eyes.

Mayo quickly approached Liora and whispered something in her ear. Larissa couldn’t hear the specific words, but she saw how Liora’s expression changed from confusion to understanding, and then to something that seemed like genuine delight.

"Larissa," Liora said softly, with a smile that was completely different from her usual mischievous expression. This one was warm, hopeful. "I’m so glad to see you capable of asking that question."

Larissa immediately brought her hands to her head, covering her face with her palms while deeply regretting having opened her mouth.

"I shouldn’t have... forget I said anything... I..."

"Where is he?" María asked directly, cutting through Larissa’s discomfort and pushing her to listen to the answer, perhaps hopeful and ready to leave the castle and return to school with everyone too. "Ren, I mean. Is he at the academy?"

The girls exchanged uncertain glances. It was a valid question, and none had a definitive answer.

"Probably yes," Matilda replied after a moment. "Students should be in normal classes. The crisis doesn’t directly affect the academy, so..."

"Although," Liora added with a smile that suggested she knew the subject of their conversation all too well, "knowing Ren, he’s probably mixed up in all this somehow too."

Everyone laughed, a light laughter that relieved some of the tension. But Larissa noticed that Kira’s laughter was different, more nervous, more forced than the others.

Something was wrong.

"Kira?" Liora asked, her instinct for detecting social anomalies activating immediately. "Everything alright?"

"Of course," Kira responded quickly, pointing toward the lines of mutants still advancing in the distance, though in much smaller numbers after the successful attacks. "I’m just worried about the mutants that keep coming. We should stop the gossip and keep our guard up."

Liora didn’t look away from Kira. Instead, she casually extended a hand toward the battlefield. She fused for an instant and without even looking where she was aiming, materialized a ball of spiritual black fire and launched it with precision toward the frontmost group of approaching mutants.

The explosion eliminated the complete front section of creatures at once, and the fire expanded like a hungry living thing.

"That’s going to help the soldiers’ siege, and fed by common fire it’s going to last a while," Liora said without taking her eyes off Kira. "So... Talk."

The silence that followed was uncomfortable. Kira looked in every direction except toward Liora, clearly searching for an escape that didn’t exist. Her hands fidgeted with the fabric of her uniform, and sweat beaded on her forehead despite the cool air.

"I don’t know what you’re talking about..."

"Kira, mana doesn’t lie," Luna’s voice now carried the tone of authority she had developed during her confrontation with the nobles. "As your lady, I order you to answer. What do you know about Ren?"

Kira collapsed slightly, defeated by the combination of direct authority and the group’s social pressure. Her shoulders sagged as if a weight she’d been carrying had finally become too heavy to bear.

"Mako and Shizu," she finally murmured, her voice barely audible above the distant sounds of continuing battle. "Yesterday they told me they wouldn’t be near the group for a while. They said they had a special mission."

The words hung in the air like a physical presence. Larissa felt her heart begin to race, a mixture of hope and terror flooding through her system.

"What kind of mission?" Liora pressed, her voice sharp with growing concern.

Kira’s face crumpled as if she were about to cry. The words came out in a rush, as if she couldn’t bear to hold them any longer.

"To stop Ren," she admitted with a small voice. "Apparently he had escaped from the academy."

Silence... Not even the distant sounds of battle could penetrate the bubble of shock that surrounded the group.

Larissa felt the world tilt beneath her feet. Ren had escaped? From the academy? That meant...

That meant he was out here. Somewhere in this chaos, in this war zone filled with corrupted creatures and deadly artifacts.