Chapter 408 Back Home, Claymore’s Shares Plumet To The Ground!

-----

Elisa had curled against his side during the night, one arm resting over his waist. He had eased out from under it when he sat up, and she was still breathing evenly.

She shifted a little, and he stopped moving until she settled again. He didn’t want to be the reason she woke up. Whatever the news had to say, it could wait long enough for him to let her sleep.

He lowered the glass and looked away from the screen.

For a few seconds, he simply watched her.

It was good to see her here. He didn’t need her to say anything or explain how he had ended up in bed. There would be time for that when she woke.

For now, he was home, she was beside him, and neither of them had to go anywhere.

He wished he could leave the news alone for a little longer.

Then the television caught his attention again, and he frowned.

The screen glowed in the corner of the room. Every major network had abandoned its regular programming. It was shocking, something Riven had never seen before. Not even the worst calamities, when an S-Rank Dungeon or something above it appeared in a populated area and killed hundreds, had received this much coverage.

He changed the channel, then tried another. Different anchors, different studios, but the same story. Nobody seemed interested in talking about anything else.

Riven stared at the remote for a moment. So they could keep everyone’s attention on a disaster when they wanted to. They could clear the schedule and make sure nobody missed a thing.

Apparently, it just took the right people losing money.

It was clear as day. To Claymore and all the big families out there, money mattered more than the lives lost. That was why they were in such a panic. As far as they were concerned, this was worse than any disaster that had killed civilians.

He thought about the people who had died when Dungeons appeared where they lived. They hadn’t chosen to be there. Some hadn’t even had a chance to run.

Where had all this concern been for them?

He wasn’t saying those disasters had gone unreported. But this was different. He could barely change the channel without seeing another warning about the losses, another reminder of how serious things had become for the families involved.

For them. That was the part that kept bothering him.

Riven watched as breaking-news banners scrolled endlessly across the bottom of the TV: CLAYMORE ENTERPRISES STOCKS PLUMMET 47% IN 18 HOURS. FROSTBANE HOLDINGS DECLARE EMERGENCY SHAREHOLDER MEETING. THREE C-RANK GATES VANISH WITHOUT TRACE. TERRORIST CELL SUSPECTED.

He read the last headline again. Suspected. They didn’t have an answer, but they already had a label ready.

Riven frowned. He wanted to hear what they actually knew, not just what they were willing to put across the screen.

Riven lowered the volume so Elisa wouldn’t wake, then leaned forward with his elbows on his knees.

He glanced at Elisa to make sure she was still asleep. There was no reason to wake her just so she could watch the same reports with him.

He turned back to the TV. He had wanted to check the news, not spend the morning getting pissed off at it. But now that he was watching, he found it hard to look away.

A stern-faced anchor sat behind a polished desk as split-screen images flashed beside her.

Riven listened, waiting for the report to move past the headlines. The anchor kept speaking, and he watched the pictures change beside her, trying to separate what they showed from what people were saying about them.

At least the pictures gave him something to look at besides another stock-market warning.

The images showed the smoking ruins of reactor facilities.

He studied the damaged buildings while the footage was still on-screen. Then the image changed before he could get a better look.

Another location. Another shot meant to show just how much had been lost and empty stretches of ground where Dungeon portals had once stood.

Riven stayed where he was, the remote resting in his hand. He wanted to see what they would show next.

The TV showed frantic crowds outside Claymore’s headquarters in the capital, shouting complaints and demanding answers.

People pressed toward the entrance, trying to make themselves heard over everyone else. Whenever one person started shouting, another joined in. Riven watched a man point at the building while the people beside him nodded and called out their own complaints.

Nobody looked satisfied with the answers they were getting. If they were getting any at all.

"...authorities confirm that the coordinated attacks on multiple Gate sites occurred within a six-hour window. Preliminary estimates place the total economic damage in the tens of billions. Claymore Enterprises, the largest private holder of Gate concessions, has already seen its market value plummet to unprecedented lows. Frostbane Holdings and several affiliated guilds and companies report similar losses. The public is demanding answers. Who are these terrorists? What is their goal? And how did they bypass every security measure put in place by the Association and private security forces?"

The camera cut to shaky civilian footage: a massive emerald-winged silhouette tearing through a reactor complex before the feed cut to static.

The recording lasted only a few seconds. Whoever had filmed it couldn’t keep the camera steady, but the wings were visible enough.

Riven leaned closer. He knew what he was looking at, of course. The question was how much someone else could make out from the same footage.

Then the image disappeared, leaving him staring at the static.

"Someone managed to get out with a video of Quetzalcoatl?" Riven’s eyes narrowed. "Thank God we decided to hide our identities. Looks like survivors can still get out with their cameras..."

He hadn’t expected to see that on television. The camera had survived, the person holding it had escaped, and now everyone watching the news could see what had happened.

So much for assuming the confusion would keep everything from getting out.

He waited for the next clip, wondering what else someone had recorded.

Then, what came next surprised him.

-----