Chapter 572-They Woke Up Now.
Clementine:
Now this was something to worry about.
A Monster in the mainland where everything is falling apart? Oh No!
After the north had been shut down, I began to wonder if he had delayed too much while burying the stones and leaving.
Did some monster snuck out?
"What do you mean? How can monsters come here? North has already disappeared so there’s no reason for monsters to appear," I continued in one breath.
I could tell Fauna was terrified.
After everything that had happened, especially the attacks on us and all that darkness in the North, I knew no one was ready to face another monster.
"What kind of monster?" I asked.
"I’m not sure, but it was something very large near the clouds. You all need to move quickly. People are already saying that if the monster reaches the crowd, no one will survive. It will be impossible to escape," Fauna explained hurriedly.
At that moment, we had only one option left.
We had to run toward the meeting, see what was happening there, and warn everyone about the monster.
Then we all began to run toward the place where the meeting was being held.
As soon as I reached the main road, I heard screams.
Many pack members had gathered there, probably for a meeting.
From the crowd and the location near the academy, I could tell it must have been called by the council leaders.
People from different regions had come. The large grounds and roads were filled.
Sadly, this was the exact moment the monster chose to appear.
"Did you see what that was?" a woman shouted at her husband, fear written all over her face.
"Yes. It was something dangerous," her husband replied, his voice trembling.
"I think we should leave. The kids are at the hotel," he added, gripping her arm.
Both of them had tears in their eyes. They were still talking when they suddenly turned and looked at us.
The moment they saw me, their eyes narrowed. Then they began whispering urgently to each other.
"It’s her, isn’t it?" one of them asked.
"Yes. It’s her." someone replied.
They went quiet for a second. Then the woman screamed.
"She’s the monster. That means all the monsters are out now."
Panic spread through the crowd. People began running in every direction.
Ian grabbed my hand and squeezed my elbow gently.
"They don’t know," he said quietly. "They’re only repeating what they were taught."
Before I could respond, more screams erupted.
"What is that?"
"It’s huge."
"It’s stomping on everyone."
An old man shouted the last line as he stumbled backward.
I lifted my head and saw it in the distance.
Above the crowd and beneath the clouds, I could see Hollow Man’s head rising.
This place was a hunting ground for him. Victims were everywhere.
Because of the large gathering, a stampede broke out.
"Calm down!" I shouted as I pushed through the crowd, trying to reach higher ground so they could hear me.
But chaos had already taken over. No one was listening.
That was when I noticed the council leaders.
"How the heck did a monster appear? Is the protective layer broken?" Lady Sylvia started to scream, her arms wrapped around her brother’s arm, shaking him.
He looked petrified too.
I mean, of course, till now they had never faced a monster themselves.
They had just shoved others in front of the monsters.
The brother and sister stood on a raised stage, surrounded by warriors.
"Do not let them come up here," Lady Sylvia ordered sharply when she saw people rushing toward the stage, hoping the warriors would protect them.
"Everyone stop!" Lady Sylvia shouted again.
This time, the crowd went silent. It was as if they wanted to rely on her because they had no one else left.
I was squared up, watching Lady Sylvia’s face.
I mean, the way she had screamed and asked everyone not to panic, I hoped she had a plan.
And I was ready to see what she had to say.
She had been a nuisance through and through, so I wanted to know if she was really able to save the people she claimed she loved so much.
Now, all the eyes were on her.
She turned quickly to look at her brother before she started to step forward.
She knew that it was time she said at least something because her people were panicking.
"Lady Sylvia, help us," a woman cried. "We came because you called us. You said you wanted to restart the academy."
Her husband immediately hugged her as Lady Sylvia requested.
I noticed Lady Sylvia clench her fists and jaw.
It was the kind of irritation she showed, probably because she was annoyed that they were asking so much from her and also kind of blaming her for being here where the monster was.
"We came to support you. Now what are we supposed to do? That thing is roaming free. It has crushed so many people."
Another woman called out, but before Lady Sylvia could even respond, Lady Sylvia used her hands to gesture at them, like asking if they would keep talking, how would she speak up.
There was so much arrogance on her face, and I had the feeling that if they continued the academy, she would ruin everything.
She would not fucking care.
She had no idea how to run it.
The headmaster was still able to save so many people.
I mean, not really, but at least he was not crazy enough to just send people, leave them behind, and then bring another batch.
He had spent some good years dragging on one batch, giving them vacations in the middle and everything, but Lady Sylvia, she would not do that.
"Our children are missing in this crowd. Some of them are at the hotel."
The woman poured out her distress in one breath.
I saw a bitter look cross Lady Sylvia’s face. She had not noticed us in the crowd.
"You speak as if this is my fault," Lady Sylvia snapped, her tone silencing everyone.
"This is exactly why I never wanted the academy closed. You see what happens? Monsters come out."
She used the moment to shift the blame back onto them.
"Wait a second," an older man shouted. "Are you saying our innocent children are fighting these things in the North?"
Lady Sylvia’s face hardened with anger.
"If you still fail to see why this disaster has fallen upon us, then perhaps you deserve it," she declared coldly.
"Fine. Let’s say the academy should not have been closed," a man shouted. "You sent crusaders there, the ones you called monsters. What do you think they’re doing right now? Aren’t they fighting these creatures?"
Lady Sylvia straightened her spine.
We stood quietly in the crowd, blending in. We wanted to hear her answer, and we wanted others to hear it too.
"This is not our fault," Lady Sylvia began. "As long as things were running properly under academy rules, we did not want those crusaders given too much freedom." she hissed.
"Sometimes warriors are necessary," she continued. "They were selfish. They only thought about their freedom."
Her brother nodded beside her.
I looked around at the people. I wanted to see if they were still blind enough to think only of themselves.
"So let’s talk about the younger teams," another man shouted. "The ones you sent to the North without weapons, without food, without proper training. They fought monsters. Who is going to fight here on the mainland now? You?"
A woman holding a small child stepped forward.
"You care so much about this land, don’t you? That’s why you didn’t want to close the academy."
For the first time, the questions we were always silenced for were being spoken openly.
"She’s right," someone called out. "Why didn’t you give them weapons?"
"It looked like you wanted to watch them survive for entertainment," another voice added. "That boy Ian was right. This was just spectacle for you."
"Instead of crusaders, you could have prepared an army," a different woman argued. "You could have sent trained soldiers into the North and cleared it slowly."
I turned my head toward Ian. We both understood what this meant.
People were waking up. Now fighting for them felt worth it.
I reached for Ian’s hand. Leysa clasped my other hand, and one by one, our friends linked together.
"So what are you saying?" Lady Sylvia shouted, her jaw tightening. "That the crusaders were right?"
"What was wrong with what they said?" the woman with the child demanded. She turned to face the crowd. "You take young people, throw them into the North without training, without weapons, without food, and you expect them to stay silent?"
Everyone nodded.
"If someone snatched my child tomorrow and threw him there, wouldn’t I be furious? Why isn’t your blood boiling yet?"
Lady Sylvia’s gaze darted across the crowd. She looked anxious, as if she realized the woman was shifting their minds.