Chapter 53: Sound Of Bells
For several seconds, the holographic meeting remained completely silent. The other five members of the Radiant Stars blankly stared at Christine through the faintly flickering projections, their previous expressions of amusement having completely disappeared.
The atmosphere, previously filled with hidden jabs and subtle sneers toward the presumably dead Jake Mercer, had suddenly become far tenser.
"Wait..." One of the members finally broke the eerie silence, his voice carrying an obvious trace of disbelief.
"Did you just say that the association is sending an envoy?" Christine didn’t immediately answer.
Her beautiful face remained pale as her fingers tightened around the edge of the table.
Another radiant star leaned forward, his voice sharper than the previous one. "An envoy?"
"Are you certain?"
"What else could the message possibly mean?" Christine finally replied, her expression becoming increasingly ugly.
"But why would they send one?" another person asked, his brows furrowing deeply. "We’ve handled every threat assigned to us for years."
"Not every threat." She said, her voice becoming colder.
Hearing her words, the others immediately went silent. Then, the man who had spoken first clenched his teeth before shaking his head.
"No... This doesn’t make sense."
"It does." Christine’s voice followed almost instantly as her fingers slowly relaxed.
"The report specifically stated that the association believes the threat in Valeria City has reached a level beyond what our team can handle."
Her words caused the others’ expressions to change once again. For the first time, the proud and arrogant Radiant Stars were beginning to realize the seriousness of the situation.
"Beyond our level?"
"How is that possible?"
"We’ve been stationed here for ten years!"
The questions came one after another, their voices gradually becoming louder and sharper. Even the people who had been secretly celebrating Jake’s presumed death moments ago had completely forgotten about him.
An envoy—That single word was enough to make their confidence crumble.
Christine remained silent as she couldn’t answer their questions. Why? Because deep inside, she bore the same questions.
The Association’s envoys were not ordinary awakeners. They weren’t individuals who had simply joined the Association after awakening, nor were they talented people who had entered its ranks for resources, status, or protection.
No, they were something entirely different...
From a young age, these people were raised for a single purpose, and that was to serve the Association.
Their education, training, and even their understanding of the world revolved around the missions entrusted to them.
They weren’t motivated by either wealth or fame. They certainly weren’t even motivated by the personal greed that drove most awakeners.
Their lives belonged to the Association, which was also why their numbers were extremely small.
There was no reason to waste such individuals on ordinary missions. As a result, an envoy was rarely dispatched unless a situation had already surpassed the capabilities of the teams stationed in that region.
But whenever one appeared, it meant that the association had determined that the current team had failed.
In many cases, it also meant the removal of that specific team from all duties.
The thought caused Christine’s expression to become even more solemn.
The Association had originally been created to monitor awakeners, as that was its sole purpose in the beginning.
But as human civilization developed, the organization gradually became a necessity. Almost every awakener depended on the association in some way.
Resources, information, equipment, missions, monster territories, training facilities, medical treatment, transportation, and countless other services were controlled or influenced by it.
Even powerful awakeners often relied upon the organization. Without the association, an individual needed enough strength and connections to survive independently.
For ordinary awakeners, that was practically impossible.
The ’Seven Radiant Stars’ were naturally not an exception. They might have been the strongest awakeners in the southeastern region and possessed authority over Valeria City, but their actual potential wasn’t extraordinary.
Their classes, strength, and achievements were commendable. Yet when compared to the true monsters nurtured by the Association, they looked mediocre.
The difference was simply that the southeastern region had not produced anyone better. That realization was something none of them wanted to acknowledge.
"Perhaps the report is simply mistaken."
One of the Radiant Stars finally spoke, attempting to regain his composure.
"The Association headquarters receives thousands of reports every day. It’s not impossible for them to misunderstand the situation."
Christine looked at him without saying anything.
He immediately understood what that silence meant: "You’re saying they aren’t mistaken?"
"I don’t know." She lowered her gaze toward the holographic report.
"But I know one thing... they wouldn’t send an envoy without a reason."
The meeting once again fell silent, and this time, nobody made another joke. Nobody mentioned Jake or celebrated his disappearance.
The name that had previously been the center of their hidden ridicule had suddenly become insignificant compared to the threat approaching Valeria City.
༺━━━━━━༺༻━━━━━━༻
Hours passed like sand slipping through one’s fingers.
The crimson sky gradually became brighter as the darkness of the previous night disappeared from the horizon.
A new moon—several times smaller than the moon of night—remained overlapping the sun, regardless of the time of day.
Its faint presence gave the sky an unnatural appearance, making the entire world seem as though it existed beneath a permanent crimson veil.
Valeria City occupied an enormous area of land, large enough to accommodate nearly ten thousand residents while still leaving considerable space for its various districts and defensive structures.
Tall buildings covered much of the city, their surfaces reinforced with materials obtained from monsters. Some buildings served as residences, while others belonged to the Association.
There were training facilities, markets, hospitals, schools, weapon stores, and countless other structures that had gradually transformed Valeria City into one of the more developed settlements within the southeastern region.
Yet despite its development, the city remained surrounded by danger, as a massive defensive wall had been constructed around its perimeter.
Reinforced wires stretched across its outer boundary, with thousands of volts of electricity constantly running through them. A continuous static buzzing could be heard around the wall.
Naturally, it was made to prevent the monsters from entering the city. However, the boundary alone may prove ineffective against intelligent monsters.
Thus, awakeners patrolled the perimeter at all times. Some had been assigned directly by the Association, while others served as subordinates of the Seven Radiant Stars.
They moved along the defensive line with weapons in their hands, constantly observing the surrounding wilderness.
Several guards stood near the western borders, their gazes sweeping across the forest beyond the electric barriers.
Everything seemed normal until one of them suddenly noticed something.
"Hey..." The man raised his hand, grabbing the attention of his comrades.
"What’s that?" he asked.
His companions immediately turned toward the direction he was pointing. At first, they saw nothing unusual. But after staring for several seconds, a figure gradually appeared in the distance.
It was a man, a human, or at least someone who seemed like one.
He was walking toward the city from outside the defensive perimeter. His appearance was difficult to determine from such a distance.
Only his general silhouette could be seen as he slowly approached.
"Someone’s coming." One of the guards immediately grabbed his weapon.
"From outside?" Another guard looked toward the surrounding forest.
"Where did he come from?"
"I don’t know."
The first guard’s expression became cautious as he muttered, "Keep watching him."
The mysterious man continued stepping forward; his movements weren’t particularly hurried.
He simply walked toward the city as though the enormous defensive wall and the hundreds of awakened guards stationed around it were nothing worth mentioning.
The guards grew increasingly tense. "Should we alert the others?"
"Wait." The leading guard raised his hand.
"Let’s see who he is first."
The man’s silhouette gradually became clearer; however, just as the guards prepared to question him, he disappeared.
Every single guard froze as a single word escaped their lungs in unison. "What?"
The man had vanished from plain sight. There had been no flash, no explosion, and no visible movement.
At one moment, he was there. At another? Nothing.
"Where did he go?" The guards immediately looked around, their eyes darting across the forest.
Left, right, behind them—the man was nowhere to be seen.
But in that instant—
Whoosh!
A powerful gust of wind suddenly swept across their bodies. Their clothes fluttered violently as their hair was blown backward. The guards instinctively raised their arms to shield their faces.
"What was that?!" Before anyone could answer...
Jingle...
A strange sound entered their ears. It was faint, almost like the ringing of several small bells.
Jingle... Jingle...
The sound echoed through the air for only a brief moment before disappearing, while the guards stared at one another in disbelief.
"What..." Nobody understood what had just happened. Instinctively, their grips had tightened on their weapons.
They were awakened humans who had survived countless encounters with monsters.
But for some reason, a strange coldness had begun spreading through their hearts. It wasn’t an ordinary emotion, but fear.
The leading guard swallowed heavily as sweat slowly formed across his forehead. Strangely, he didn’t know what happened and just... Why?
But in that moment, he gradually let out a long sigh, almost as if he had just avoided death—his face gradually losing its color.
The other guards weren’t any better.
They remained frozen in place as their eyes scanned the surroundings.
Only the faint buzzing of electricity continued along the defensive wall.