Chapter 86: Total Chaos
[SYSTEM GHOST EQUIPPED]
Carter found a secret corner to transform back to System Ghost and put on the appearance of Carter Hayes again. He went up the front gate.
His mansion had a gate now. It hadn’t last time.
Carter pressed the doorbell.
"No refugee!" A voice spoke out from the intercom.
"I am the owner of this place. You better open or I bust this gate down." Carter said.
"Owner? You mean..."
"This is Carter Caine."
"Please wait! I’ll call Kaito!"
Carter stood there for a few minutes. Then the door flung open.
"Master Caine?" Kaito was behind the gate. He wore a full body armor with helmet and a rifle in his hands.
"What happened to you?" Carter said.
"Is it really you? Or are you just a Skinwalker?"
"What is even a Skinwalker?"
"Never mind. Master Caine didn’t know about that when he left. Please enter. The seal should repulse you if you aren’t him." Kaito said.
Carter shrugged and walked inside. A certain wave of energy washed over him. The opposed of Negative Energy, Positive Energy.
Carter looked around in confusion. "When did we have that?"
Kaito sighed in relief, "You really are Master Caine. Welcome back, sir."
"Let’s talk more inside."
Kaito looked around the street then shut the gate tight.
Carter noticed a golden seal in the middle of his courtyard. It was a symbol with a ring and four strips at the bottom.
"What is that?"
"The Holy Seal of Manaca. The Priest provided us that when the Skinwalker started to appear."
"What is a Skinwalker? And since when does the Priests are so fond of us?"
Kaito led him inside the house. It had a thick steel door now instead of the previous wooden door.
"They had no choice. The Skinwalkers are too powerful. Most of them are Elites."
"Elites? As in Elite Awakens? When I was still around, I didn’t even see an Elite."
"The East Continent is lost, sir. The Holy City Manaca is invaded. They took the power of the Priests and evolved themselves."
"’They’ in your sentences are..."
"Terrors, Master Caine. They became smarter."
There were many people inside Caine’s Mansion. Most were the people that Kaito hired to look after the place. The rest were security guards and warriors.
Kaito led Carter back to his office and opened up a few files on the computer.
"The Gold Stream is found. The Priests found it. As you may already know, the Priests worship it so they..." Kaito said.
A picture of a river of gold appeared on the screen.
"Don’t tell me. They released it somehow."
Kaito sighed deeply, "They did. But as Zeneros warned us, it was nothing holy. It carries a certain type of energy that allows the Terror to gain intelligence and become even stronger.
And without Zeneros to completely cleanse them. There was no way to kill Terrors entirely. They just kept returning to the Gold Stream and be resurrected. Many Invokers died. Even more ordinary humans died. The estimated deaths is around... 4 millions."
Carter breathed in deeply. He closed his eyes.
’I’ve never thought the Priests could do something so stupid.’
"Are Neros and Piper alive?" Carter said.
"They are." Kaito nodded. "Nina and Quill are also alive."
"Where are they now?"
"Neros and Piper are probably out there somewhere. As for Nina and Quill, they are in the Metabolic Institute."
"It is open? I don’t think they’re qualified to be instructors yet."
Kaito sighed, "You’re probably right. But in times like these, when Invokers died like flies, it was out only hope. Miss Nina and Mister Quill did their best but we haven’t got even a single one Superhuman yet."
"Not even Nina and Quill?"
"They are very close, Master Caine. Especially Nina. But there is still someone that blocks them from overcoming that line and become the Awakens I heard so much about."
"Hmm..." Carter rubbed his chins.
’Becoming an Awaken in Human Form is very difficult. Cyber Runner has to use body modifications. I achieved it via Skin Fusion. To actually get it naturally would require a lot of work and luck. But maybe... I have a solution to ease things out.’
The Shadow Apothecary. That skin was perfect to understand more on the conditions of Superhumans. With that skin, Carter was confidence he could help Nina and Quill reached Awaken rank.
Once that was completed, the following cases would be easy.
"I need some rest now. Send a message to all four of them to come meet me tomorrow." Carter said.
"That will be arranged, Master Caine." Kaito nodded.
Carter stood up and patted Kaito. "You did a good job. I will have a reward for you."
"What do you mean, Master Caine? You already paid me a lot."
"Money is only money, my friend. And power is power. I will give you power like Nina and Quill. You deserve it."
Kaito was more than loyal. Carter thought he would have disappeared by now with all his money. Not that he couldn’t find Kaito and got it all back.
But that was commendable and deserved a reward.
Carter got back to his old bed and drifted to sleep.
At the same time, there were riots in many places in the East Continent. The situation over there was much worse than the West Continent, where Barena resided.
Because of how many people were dying, they didn’t care to hide in the night anymore.
"Where is that Eldritch Knight?! Where is he!"
"He showed up and declared he would save the world and now he disappeared!"
"Coward! Coward!"
The myth of the Eldritch Knight had completely solidified in this world. But that came with a cost.
The people were mad because Carter wasn’t there to save them. He had no obligations to in the first place. But they had to find something to resent.
In an airship thousands of kilometers above the ground, General Samuel Dragovic was having a drink with the leader of the East Continent.
"Where is he now? That white knight?" Atsuo said. "Didn’t Carter Caine say they would return in two months? It’s already six!"
Atsuo Nakamura, the current President of the East Continent.
Samuel shook his head, "Don’t know. Maybe they’re trapped somewhere. Maybe they died. The last thing he said that he and Zeneros Blackburn were going to investigate the Gold Stream."
"Those two are lying pieces of filth!"