Chapter 554: The Situation
Inside the General’s office, the atmosphere was far calmer than the chaos outside.
Thoren sat quietly across from the General, his expression calm as he listened to the man’s narration.
The General had changed his armor and cleaned the blood from his body, but the exhaustion remained clearly visible on his fac.
He leaned back against his chair and released a deep breath.
"Things started becoming strange a couple of days ago."
Thoren’s eyes narrowed slightly.
"Strange?"
The General nodded.
"A group came out of the Abyss."
Thoren remained silent, allowing him to continue.
"At first, we didn’t think much about it. People enter and leave the Abyss, so another group returning from the Abyss wasn’t something that would normally attract unwanted attention."
His expression gradually became solemn.
"But this group was different."
"How?"
"They refused to answer our questions."
The General paused for a moment before continuing.
"Our men approached them according to the standard procedure, but instead of cooperating, they killed the soldiers that tried to question them."
Thoren’s expression became cold.
"How many?"
"A couple."
The General’s fingers tightened slightly around the armrest.
"They killed them effortlessly."
Instantly, the office became quiet and Thoren leaned slightly forward.
"And you allowed them to leave?"
"I didn’t." The General shook his head.
"According to martial law, anyone who kills soldiers without justification after emerging from the Abyss can be detained and questioned, especially when they refuse to identify themselves. So, I immediately ordered my men to locate them."
He sighed. "But I didn’t get the chance."
Thoren’s eyes flickered. "The beast tide."
"Exactly." The General nodded.
"The following day, thousands of beasts suddenly erupted from the Abyss."
His expression became grim as the memories resurfaced.
"It happened too quickly."
He stared at the table for a moment as if he could still see the battlefield.
"We had no warning."
The army base had been built around the Abyss Gateway for precisely this reason, allowing the military to monitor everything emerging from the Abyss and prevent them from reaching the City.
With all their preparations, nobody had expected the number of beasts that would suddenly emerge.
"When the alarm sounded, every available soldier was immediately deployed."
"We didn’t have time to investigate that strange group anymore."
Thoren nodded slowly as that part made sense.
Even if the General had suspected the group was dangerous, an incoming beast tide would naturally take priority.
"The beasts just kept coming," the General continued, his voice becoming heavier. "We killed thousands, but they continued to emerge from the abyss, and before we could understand what was happening, they had already overwhelmed several sections of the defensive line."
"Many beasts bypassed the army and some entered the city."
The General’s expression darkened. "People were caught completely off guard."
The first wave of beasts had entered through several broken sections of the outer defense, and once inside the city, the creatures no longer had to face organized military formations.
They moved through the streets and destroyed buildings while attacking civilians.
The General continued.
"We spent most of the first day trying to push the beasts back toward the abyss, while another group of soldiers was sent into the city to deal with the creatures that had slipped through our defense."
"By the end of the day, we managed to regain control of most of the affected areas."
Thoren asked. "Then you discovered something else."
The General’s face changed. His previous exhaustion was replaced by something far more serious.
"Yes."
Thoren stared at him.
"What?"
"The disappearances."
A faint chill passed through the room.
"After the beast tide was brought under control, reports began coming from different parts of the city."
"People were missing."
"At first, everyone assumed they had simply fled during the chaos."
The General shook his head.
"But then the numbers kept increasing."
"They disappeared without leaving behind any trace."
Thoren’s fingers slowly tightened. "How many?"
"We still don’t have an exact number." The General rubbed his forehead.
"Several hundred confirmed cases, but the actual number could be much higher."
"Some people disappeared from their homes. Some disappeared while traveling through the city."
Thoren’s expression remained calm, but his eyes had become cold.
"Did anyone see the kidnappers?"
"That’s the problem."
The General shook his head.
"No one did."
"Not even the surveillance system?"
"We have records of several areas, but most of the disappearances happened in places where the system was either damaged during the beast attack or where there was simply no useful footage."
Thoren remained silent.
The General continued.
"At first, I thought the disappearances were unrelated to the beast tide, but then another report came in."
"What report?"
"Some survivors claimed they saw strange people moving through the city during the chaos."
Thoren’s eyes sharpened.
"The same group?"
"We don’t know."
The General shook his head.
"They wore strange clothing, and their faces were covered, so nobody could identify them."
"But..."
He paused.
"There was one thing several witnesses mentioned."
Thoren waited.
"They said those people seemed completely unaffected by the beasts."
Thoren’s expression became colder.
"Unaffected?" he asked.
"They moved through areas where beasts were attacking everyone, yet the beasts didn’t seem interested in them." The General replied.
Thoren slowly raised his head.
"So you’re saying both inside and outside the city are dangerous now."
The General’s expression became grave.
"Yes."
He nodded.
"That’s exactly what I’m saying."
He looked toward the window, where the distant sounds of rebuilding and injured soldiers could still be heard.
"Outside the city, we have the beasts."
"Inside the city..." He paused. "We don’t know what we’re dealing with."
Thoren’s eyes narrowed.
For the first time since returning to the surface, the familiar anticipation of seeing his family was completely buried beneath a growing sense of uneasiness.
Something was happening.
Something far larger than a simple beast tide.
And deep inside his heart, Thoren had a terrible feeling that the ritual he had witnessed in the Bleeding Desert was somehow connected to everything happening on the surface.