Chapter 306: The Storm Gathers
J.C. feels like he is in a dream.
One second, he is running as fast as he can toward the gate, carrying an unconscious man. The next, he is floating.
Then, a second later, he is thrown out of the dungeon, rolling across the ground before ending up flat on his back.
Did that really take only three seconds?
From running to lying out here?
J.C. does not even need to look around to know where he is.
He is outside.
How does he know?
The ground feels different.
Hard.
Solid.
Concrete and rubble beneath his back.
The air is different too.
Fresh.
Wind moving across his face.
No longer stale.
No longer thick with the scent of blood.
Then there are the sounds.
Inside the dungeon, there was only screaming.
Panic.
Terror.
But out here, the noise is different.
Sirens in the distance.
Heavy machinery working.
Engines.
Voices.
People talking.
Not screaming.
J.C. exhales slowly.
He is no longer in the dungeon.
He is certain of it.
But how he went from inside to outside in less than five seconds...
He has no idea.
He lies there without moving, blinking, disoriented, breathing slowly, almost enjoying it.
"J.C.!" someone shouts his name.
He hears it, but doesn’t respond.
"J.C.!" The voice grows more panicked, and J.C. notices it.
He probably thinks I’m dead or severely injured.
J.C. sighs and tries to move his limbs, any limb, just to show that he’s not dead.
But nothing.
"J.C.!" The voice is closer now. J.C. also hears other people calling for someone they call "TC Oscar."
A face finally appears in front of him.
Ah, I know him. That’s Carter. A fellow Hunter.
J.C. smiles, greeting him.
"J.C." Carter grabs him, shaking him lightly. "Don’t scare me. Blink, smile, move, damn it. Anything to show that you hear me."
Carter sounds desperate.
Aren’t I smiling right now?
"J.C., come on. I’ll take you to the medical tent. You’ll be okay. The doctors are great. You’ll be alright. Come on," Carter coaxes.
J.C. feels his body being lifted, and he can hear that others are doing the same, carrying everyone who was thrown out of the dungeon.
He blinks again, noticing how hard it is to move his limbs.
Is this... whiplash?
He can see clearly, but his brain is slower to process everything.
"J.C.!" A different voice calls as he is carried into the tent.
Ah, it’s Ethan. He looks rested, but panicked. Why is he panicking? Is Hawk not okay?
J.C. can only ask it in his mind, not out loud.
He is placed on a bed, and now he can see the tent’s ceiling.
So white. Why white? What if it gets splattered with blood?
Why am I thinking about the medical tent’s color?
J.C. feels his eyes are heavy, he can’t fight it.
The world starts getting darker and darker.
The last thing he hears before losing consciousness is Carter’s panic voice, shouting for him.
"J.C!"
------------------------------
Julian is blasted away, sent tumbling several meters from the gate. As he scrambles to get back on his feet, his eyes land on the device he has been using to bypass the gate.
It is destroyed.
The arch stops pulsing.
And just like that, the gate closes.
Julian’s heart sinks.
"No!" He rushes back to the gate, dropping to his knees as he grabs the broken device.
Maeve comes running. "What happened?"
She slows when she sees people scattered on the ground, disoriented, some barely moving.
Julian turns to her and lifts the device slightly, showing her the damage.
"What is it?" Maeve asks, her voice tight with concern.
"It’s the device that keeps the gate open," Julian whispers, barely audible.
Maeve’s breath catches.
"You... you can’t fix it?" she asks, just as quietly.
Julian shakes his head slowly.
"It’s destroyed beyond repair. I can’t fix it. And I don’t have a spare. I’d need time to build another," he says, his voice weak, on the verge of breaking.
Maeve says nothing.
She places a hand on his shoulder and squeezes.
They exchange a look.
Then both of them turn toward the stone arch.
The gate stands silent.
Closed.
"They’re on their own."
------------------------------
"Wake up!"
Theo’s voice cuts through Arthur’s death-laced thoughts.
Arthur blinks rapidly, trying to focus.
"Kill those small haelions! Quick!" Theo barks again, his voice strained as he holds the shield against the King’s roar.
Arthur snaps out of it and immediately focuses on the task at hand.
"Liam! Alicia!" he shouts.
"Gather here!"
The two Sentinels respond instantly.
They move with sharp, practiced reflexes and regroup around him.
"We need to kill the small haelions," Arthur relays Theo’s order.
"Alright!" Liam says, almost excited. He can finally use magic freely.
Alicia’s expression lifts as well. She finally gets to fight alongside Rhaenas.
But the moment passes.
Her focus sharpens.
Kill the small haelions.
The King’s roar follows a pattern similar to the black tortoises, but its roars are longer, the breaks much shorter.
Theo’s eyes narrow as he maintains the shield, scanning the field at the same time.
When Arthur thought Theo appeared out of nowhere, he actually teleported, using space magic, a higher-level magic that he rarely uses.
Theo studies the battlefield.
The smaller tortoises roar in sync with the King.
Acting as extensions.
Amplifiers.
Making the King’s roar even more powerful.
If Theo’s shield were not there, one roar would be more than enough to obliterate everyone.
Those small haelions need to go.
Now.
Theo holds the shield with one hand, and with the other, he blasts one haelion after another.
Arthur uses his Fire to create flaming swords and launches them toward the smaller haelions. He cannot move in for close combat like he prefers. He has to stay behind the shield, so all his attacks are forced to be ranged.
Liam uses his Water to form bubbles, wrapping them around the haelions’ heads, suffocating them.
Beside him, Alicia uses her Wind to send out endless blades.
Then he hears her.
"Wind Slash!"
Liam turns to look at her like she has lost her mind.
"What are you doing?" he asks, his tone the same one he uses with Claudia, half amused, half exasperated.
Alicia pauses, looks at him, and grins. "Wind Slash-ing."
"Is that the incantation?" Liam asks, already suspecting the answer.
Alicia shakes her head, still grinning.
"It’s the name of the skill. Yes, I gave it a name," she says, before Liam can ask.
"And I do it for fun too. Don’t believe me? Try it."
Liam shakes his head. "Ridiculous," he mutters.
But inwardly, he thinks it is very cool.
He wants to try it.
Then he catches Theo’s look and rolls his eyes.
If Thea doesn’t think it’s cool, I won’t do it.
But the childish part of him refuses to let it go.
The thought lingers.
Itches.
Until he finally gives in.
"Water Bubble!"
He pauses.
He likes how it sounds.
And more than that, it sharpens his focus, giving clearer form to his Water.
He nods to himself.
Yes.
If it works, he will keep doing it.
From that moment on, both Liam and Alicia begin calling out the names of their skills, using it as a way to anchor and focus their magic.
------------------------------
Theo knows he needs to stop the King from roaring.
The smaller haelions are being taken down by the trio behind him, while he holds the shield and casts lightning, aiming directly at the King’s mouth.
But the King’s roar collides with the thunder, weakening it. The lightning strikes lose their force, no longer as powerful as intended.
Theo tries again.
And again.
The result is the same.
The thunder and the roar weaken each other. The lightning loses its edge.
And the King remains unharmed.
Theo narrows his eyes.
I’m tired of this... this soundwave nonsense. You really think you can stop me? Watch me.
Theo closes his eyes and concentrates, drawing in more of the dungeon’s mana.
The air shifts.
Subtle at first.
Then the wind begins to move.
Behind him, the trio pauses and looks toward Theo.
They can see it.
The wind is converging on him.
"What is she doing?" Alicia asks.
"She’s preparing something big," Arthur answers.
Liam exhales slowly. "She really is Teacher Theo’s student. Even the way they gather mana is exactly the same."
Arthur stiffens.
He’s right.
It is exactly the same.
Arthur’s heart starts pounding.
Does that make sense?
Exactly the same...
The thought cuts off as the scene in front of him escalates.
The wind, once slow, now grows stronger.
Faster.
Heavier.
The air itself begins to stir violently.
They can hear thunder rolling, not sharp, but deep, like waves crashing over each other.
Flashes of lightning streak across the dungeon sky.
A storm is forming.
A massive storm.
------------------------------
Maeve tries to comfort Julian, who is still staring at the gate with an empty look.
"Hey, it’s going to be okay. Your sister is very powerful. They are all going to be okay. Don’t be like this. Let’s wait for their triumphant return."
She gently tries to pull his attention away from the gate.
"Come on. Let’s go back to the medical tent. See if we can help."
Maeve suggests it softly, hoping to distract him by keeping him busy.
They walk slowly toward the tent, but every few steps, Julian glances back at the gate.
Then Maeve feels it.
A shift in the air.
The wind begins to pick up.
She stops.
Julian stops as well and looks at her. "Maeve?"
She does not answer.
She stands still, as if listening.
The wind grows stronger.
And stronger.
The dark sky rumbles, followed by a few flashes of lightning.
Maeve and Julian both look up.
Then they both swallow.
They exchange a glance.
Slowly, their eyes return to the gate.
Maeve whispers,
"Thea."