Chapter 943

Yuder looked into the eyes of the members, filled with tension, and thought,

‘...I’m pretty sure I told them that, in situations like this, their own safety should come first.’

Yet not a single one of them pointed out that Yuder had failed to detect the anomaly or monster before Steber did. No one urged him to retreat, either. They all simply wanted to help him, and none of them looked like they had any intention of fleeing.

What was this? It was truly strange.

He was certain he’d never taught them to act this way.

The light from the bracelets faded completely, and darkness returned. Yuder slowly closed and reopened his eyes, which shimmered with a depth darker than even the surrounding dark abyss. Then, gathering the floating bracelets into one hand, he summoned his power and hurled them downward.

Boom.

One bracelet exploded underwater, releasing a burst of light.

Yuder re-confirmed the rift he had seen earlier. There were six massive anomalies in total on the ocean floor.

Boom. Boom. Boom.

More bracelets exploded deeper below, radiating light.

The transparent tentacles crouched within the rift began to react. Unlike the smooth limbs of a mollusk, they looked like tangled ropes in utter disarray. Yuder strained his eyes to examine them more closely. His golden eyes began to glow with stronger light, rapidly expanding his field of vision. The sensation felt as though his eyes might burst, accompanied by a wave of dizziness—but he furrowed his brow slightly and endured it, triggering the detonation of another bracelet.

Boom.

Now he understood why the tentacles looked like rope.

Boom.

There were many things within them. Long hairs. Squishy mucus. Something that looked like protruding bone. Lumps that couldn’t be distinguished as scales or skin. Indescribable debris mashed together like clay into an incomprehensible form...

—Boom.

Though colorless, each part was alive, twitching independently. As if, once severed, they could still move on their own with a will of their own.

A shiver ran down his spine as the tentacles faded into perfect transparency and retreated back into the rift. At the same time, from another nearby rift, something similar in shape began to squirm upward. Though the form was alike, this one was far larger—and no matter how it writhed, its massive body couldn’t squeeze out of the crack.

Yuder grew certain that more such things must be lurking within the rifts. Perhaps the tentacles weren’t always meant to be tentacles—but had taken on that form by bunching together, twisted tightly from trying to escape. Like some chaotic dough kneaded from mismatched ingredients.

They writhed intensely, then pulled back, then writhed again, trying to emerge. Each time they pushed and thrashed their heads upward, the black rift trembled faintly as if torn. It felt like someone stuck behind a narrow door, pounding and forcing their way through. Each violent surge stirred waves that sent vibrations through the water, brushing along their skin before fading. It wasn’t as severe as the tremor that had nearly thrown them all earlier, but it still created a current strong enough to rattle the body.

‘......’

Boom...

At last, the final bracelet Yuder had released exploded.

Within its glow, the things lurking in the massive rift fell still for a moment.

Then—

—Rrrrrrrrrumble...! Rumble...!

A rumble began, slowly but incomparably greater than any before. What had initially shaken just a single fingertip now seemed to shake a person, then a house—and in an instant, it felt like an entire mountain range collapsing, screaming as it fell.

In that absurd burst of unnatural expansion, some of the members’ eyes rolled back in shock. The things trying to escape the rift began violently ramming against it, as if they no longer cared whether their bodies tore apart.

The entire ocean wailed in agony from the impact.

A voiceless scream.

There was no longer any need to confirm. This was the very place where the strange thunder-like sounds had been heard throughout the sea—and the origin point of the Southern Great Earthquake.

***

—Krrrrrrrrumble...!

“Ugh!”

“Everyone, brace yourselves!”

Another tremendous tremor began beyond the surface. It was distinctly different from the ominous, low rumbling that had been sounding before. A few lost their balance momentarily, while the rest gritted their teeth and used their powers to shield the area around them.

Kishiar stood unmoving in the midst of it all. His robes didn’t even flutter—his surroundings seemed so calm it was as though nothing had happened. Behind him, Nathan Zuckerman asked in a low voice,

“Duke. Are you all right?”

“As you can see, I’m perfectly fine. But I’m worried about those down below.”

Murmuring, the man turned his gaze toward the open sea.

‘So it’s begun.’

He thought of Yuder’s face—the man who had said the goal was to prevent the earthquake before it even started, if possible. Wherever he was now, he was surely exerting his strength at the closest possible point to that tremor.

Even now, with only the aftershocks causing people up here to stumble, he was on the front lines—far more dangerous than here.

‘Let’s hope he’s all right.’

But that wasn’t something they could confirm at this moment. The man knew better than anyone that rather than worrying, he needed to focus on what had to be done here.

He turned away from the sea and spoke.

“What about the seawalls? Are the buildings safe?”

“Yes! All intact!”

“We’ve received word that the evacuation zones are also safe!”

The Cavalry members had each used their abilities to station personnel at critical points throughout the city. They had trained to send signals the moment any issue arose. As a result, it took only minutes for the scattered members across Sharloin to confirm each other’s status.

After confirming that nothing had gone wrong, Kishiar lightly released a wave of power around him. Those who had been unable to stand properly from the tremor underfoot suddenly found themselves upright again, as if held in place by an invisible force.

“O-oh.”

Kishiar had never publicly disclosed the exact nature of his Awakener power. But those who recognized that the Commander had used his strength bowed their heads here and there, expressions lifted with relief.

“Be careful.”

“Thank you!”

Kishiar walked past them. His destination was a forest not far from the seawall.

Originally, that place hadn’t even been a proper forest. Due to the odd terrain—with the sea nearby but the desert also not far—there were rarely green plants in the South.

But a few days ago, trees had begun growing in astonishing numbers near the port of Sharloin. What had started as tiny saplings were now meters tall, forming what looked from afar like a massive wall of greenery.

The one responsible for that unbelievable sight was, of course, Marin, who had been given a special mission directly by Yuder.

“Marin. Have the trees fully matured?”

“Oh—you’ve come?”

Marin, who had been perched in one of the tall trees, jumped down in surprise. After a slightly awkward greeting, she began to report.

“As you can see... yes. They’ve grown well. Not fully matured, but I believe they’ll serve the purpose you intended at this size.”

“What about the trees in the other areas?”

“I finished checking those yesterday. We’ve grown far more there than here, so they should hold up for about a week.”

“That’s a relief. It’s good everything was ready in time. You’ve done well. Must have been difficult.”

“O-oh, not at all. Honestly, I’m still not sure if this will really be useful, but... the Southern people were so happy just to see trees again that... well, I’m glad I did it.”

Saying she wasn’t sure it would be useful was, perhaps, a little too honest—but Marin didn’t bother hiding her thoughts just because she was in front of Kishiar. The Cavalry Commander she had seen exchanged even more candid words with subordinates of commoner origin, and never acted offended when someone said something uncomfortable.

And just as she had judged, Kishiar wasn’t the least bit displeased. The man smiled gently, curving his lips upward, and spoke.

“My aide said that your ability is one that will be of great help to the world. This is just the beginning.”