Chapter 38: The waiting Horde

The sky cracked.

The gigantic raptor folded around General Ashford’s white-lit fist before hurtling downward like a falling meteor.

BOOOOOOM!!

It smashed into a ruined plaza hundreds of meters below, leveling two abandoned buildings as clouds of pulverized concrete and stone dust surged into the street.

For a single breath, the airspace went dead quiet. Every soldier in the lead transport stared at the rising crater, their knuckles white on their rifle grips.

The pilot swallowed hard, his eyes wide. "...One punch..."

High above the wreckage, General Ashford remained suspended in the air, a shroud of dense white Qi swirling around his body like a miniature storm. His sharp gaze swept across the remaining raptors.

"Continue toward the academy," his voice rang out over the comms, carrying absolute authority. "We are bringing those students home today."

Behind him, hovering on an invisible platform of golden energy, Asher allowed a thin, cold smile to touch his lips. "So... the Iron General truly lives up to his reputation."

Before he could say another word, a second massive raptor dived from the clouds, its talons gleaming with condensed elemental Qi.

Asher’s smile vanished. His fingers tightened around his narrow black sword.

Shhk!

His body shot forward, stepping off the air. The black blade cleared its sheath in a flash of gold, colliding with the descending claws in an explosion of sparks across the blood-red sky.

In the distance, the thrumming engines of more military transports echoed through the storm as the two remaining colossal raptors shrieked furiously, joining the airborne clash.

——————————

Meanwhile, inside the perimeter of Crowns Academy...

The broad boulevard leading toward the main gates had become unnaturally still.

Broken vehicles littered the road, and shattered concrete buildings leaned precariously over the cracked asphalt. Dark blood stained the ground in long, dried streaks, yet not a single stray zombie or mutated dog wandered into view.

That silence only made the survivors more nervous. Nobody lowered their guard.

Lothe walked at the front of the column, the Inferno Dragon Spear resting casually across his shoulder. His eyes scanned every broken window, while his [Spatial Perception] remained active at its maximum radius, mapping every micro-vibration in the air.

Too much use of his awakened superpower really drains Qi from his Core, Lothe noted mentally.

His active spear forms consumed Qi in sudden, sharp bursts during strikes, but keeping [Spatial Perception] expanded continuously acted like a steady leak in his Qi pool. Yet he couldn’t afford to turn it off—not when they were this close to the perimeter.

Beside him, Seana walked in silence. The physical strain of unleashing her evolved technique, Crimson Call, still lingered in her muscles. The silver orb Lothe had given her had restored some of her Qi, but the fatigue remained.

Right now, she could still feel they fatigue coming from her Core, it remained visible in her pale face.

Behind them, Melody, Ruth, and the remaining girls walked in a tight defensive circle.

The loss of their friends in the upper archive still weighed heavily on their minds, but their grips on their new weapons were firm. They couldn’t let those deaths be in vain.

Further back, Nyren’s group maintained a cautious distance. Professor Sy led the faculty survivors, while Lucan walked beside him, his circular steel blade spinning slowly around his fingers as he practiced guiding his internal Qi.

Oren’s gaze drifted toward Seana once again.

She didn’t turn around. Every few paces, she would quietly check with Lothe on their heading, and Lothe would offer a short nod before returning his focus to the road ahead.

That natural, quiet trust irritated Oren far more than he cared to admit.

"...You’re staring again," Nyren’s cold voice sounded beside him.

Oren immediately looked away, clearing his throat. "I wasn’t."

Nyren didn’t even turn her head. "If you have time to stare at someone who isn’t looking back, use it to keep your eyes open. Stay alive."

Oren rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "...Right."

Suddenly, Lothe stopped in his tracks.

The entire column froze behind him.

"What is it?" Adrian asked, his hand dropping to his broadsword hilt.

Lothe didn’t answer immediately. His dark eyes narrowed, his spatial grid detected a sudden, massive displacement beneath the road.

Not ahead. Not behind.

Below.

"...Get off the road," Lothe said, his voice flat, devoid of argument.

"Everyone! Onto the sidewalk! Now!" Professor Sy shouted without hesitation.

The survivors scrambled toward the elevated concrete walkways on either side of the boulevard. Even Daniel, who had questioned Lothe in the past, moved without asking a single question.

A split second later—

BOOOOOOM!!

The asphalt in the middle of the street exploded. Massive chunks of concrete and dirt shot twenty feet into the air as an enormous creature burst out from beneath the roadbed.

It landed heavily in the center of the street, the impact sending spiderweb fractures radiating thirty meters through the pavement.

As the dust settled, the survivors gasped in horror.

It was an enormous, mutated centipede. Its segmented body stretched nearly fifteen meters long, protected by overlapping plates of pitch-black armor that gleamed with a cold, metallic sheen. Dozens of glowing crimson eyes opened along its head, and its thick, curved mandibles clicked together with sickening force.

Clack... Clack... Clack...

The metallic sound sent a cold chill through every student’s chest.

Professor Sy’s face turned dead serious. "...Another high-level mutation."

The centipede raised the front half of its armored body, towering eight meters above the ground. Its crimson eyes swept over the group, locking directly onto Lothe—instinctively recognizing who held the highest threat density on the street.

Lothe lowered the tip of his black spear, purple Qi beginning to hum along the metal. Without turning his head, he spoke one quiet sentence to Seana.

"...Stay close to me."

Seana tightened her grip around her Blood Moon Sword, stepping up to his flank. The air turned heavy, suffocating under the creature’s pressure.

Then—

The armored centipede suddenly froze.

Its dozens of crimson eyes twitched, snapping away from Lothe to look toward the massive iron gates of Crowns Academy in the distance.

It began to tremble. Not from Lothe’s presence, but from a deep, biological instinct.

A low, clicking whimper escaped its mandibles before it violently turned around and slammed its armored head back into the shattered pavement, burrowing straight back down into the earth.

BOOM!

The street collapsed into the crater behind it. Within seconds, the creature was gone.

Silence returned to the street. Nobody moved.

"...It ran?" Daniel stared blankly at the collapsing hole.

Professor Sy slowly lowered his guard, his brow furrowing as he looked toward the distant main gates. "No... it wasn’t running from us. It was avoiding something else."

Everyone instinctively followed his gaze.

Nothing seemed unusual at first—just the massive black iron gates standing quietly against the red horizon.

Lothe frowned, expanding his [Spatial Perception] to its maximum range.

The moment his spatial grid crossed the threshold of the main gates, his eyes widened.

Dozens... Hundreds... Thousands.

An endless, dense ocean of life signatures was crammed together outside the academy perimeter. They weren’t roaring. They weren’t fighting among themselves. They were standing in absolute, eerie order.

Waiting.

Lothe’s expression turned colder than it had ever been. "...Don’t move."

The cold edge in his voice froze everyone in their tracks.

"What is it, Lothe?" Adrian whispered, his knuckles white on his hilt.

Lothe didn’t answer because he wasn’t looking at the gates anymore. He was looking up at the blood-red clouds beyond the campus walls.

Far in the distance, small black dots began emerging through the haze. At first, they were no larger than specks of dust, but soon, the low, rhythmic thrum of heavy engines reached their ears.

Thump-thump-thump-thump...

Melody looked up, her eyes widening. "...What is that?"

The specks grew rapidly into distinct silhouettes.

Helicopters.

One... Three... Five... Eight—dark military transport helicopters slicing through the red sky.

"Helicopters!" a student screamed in pure ecstasy. "It’s the military! They’re here!"

"We’re saved! We’re actually saved!"

Cries of unbridled joy erupted from the crowd. Several students collapsed to their knees, sobbing uncontrollably, while others hugged each other in disbelief. Even Professor Sy let out a long, heavy breath, his shoulders sagging.

"They finally made it," the professor muttered.

Only Lothe remained completely motionless. His dark eyes stayed fixed on the main gates.

Something was deeply wrong.

The transport helicopters were making a direct approach... yet the thousands of mutated life signatures jammed outside the gates hadn’t shifted their positions. They hadn’t panicked.

It was as if... they had been expecting them.

BOOOOOOM!!

A violent shockwave rattled the main iron gates from the outside.

The heavy iron bars groaned under the force.

BOOOOM!!

Concrete walls cracked, sending dust showering down onto the road.

The students’ cheering died instantly. A suffocating silence fell over the street as everyone stared at the trembling gates in horror.

Then, a low, collective growl echoed from beyond the perimeter walls. Not from one beast, nor ten, but from thousands of throats vibrating in unison. The sound rolled across the ground like thunder, shaking the asphalt beneath their boots.

Lothe tightened his grip on the Inferno Dragon Spear, his spatial perception mapping the exact geometry of the trap.

Beside him, Seana had reached the same conclusion. Her fingers tightened around her dark steel hilt, her voice dropping into a quiet register.

"We’ve come this far," Seana whispered. "...There’s no turning back now."

Lothe stared at the massive iron doors as another heavy blow rattled the frame.

"...They aren’t trying to break in," Lothe said softly.

He paused, looking at the horrified faces of the survivors.

"...They’re waiting for us to come out."