Chapter 114: Civil War...?
Chapter 114: Chapter 114: Civil War...?
Chapter 114: Civil War...?
HISS!
Thousands of neural dive capsules opened simultaneously inside the massive Vanguard Examination Hall. Coolant vapor spilled over the silver edges, blanketing the floor in a thick white mist.
Draven Mordis sat up slowly. He peeled the sensory gel from his temples and wiped his forehead.
For three agonizing seconds, the massive dome was completely silent. Every first-year student from Bastion Seven remained frozen in their pods, staring wide-eyed at the gargantuan holographic leaderboard projected onto the ceiling.
Then, the hall completely erupted.
ROAR!
It was a deafening, earth-shaking shockwave of pure euphoria. The normal students scrambled out of their pods. They pointed at the top ten names shining in brilliant gold text, their voices cracking with raw disbelief.
"They did it! They swept the entire board!" a student screamed, tears of joy streaming down his face.
"Did you see Reina’s ice? Or Lucien’s sword strikes? What about Bram’s defense and Estella’s cosmic magic?" another yelled, jumping over a row of pods.
"Nyx moved like a literal ghost, and Natalie did not miss a single shot! Even the engineers, Cole and Lyra, beat the Capital’s best! They are actual monsters!"
The Special Class had not just won. They had completely rewritten the hierarchy of the world.
But as the cheering continued, every eye eventually turned toward the far corner of the room. The crowd of students parted like a severed sea. They stared at Draven Mordis.
The dark horse. The quiet, unremarkable extra who had just shattered the limits of reality with a forty-one-second clear time. They looked at him as if a living god had just descended into the room.
Aegon Logcheville climbed out of the pod next to Draven. The Red Lion ran a hand through his sweaty crimson hair and let out a loud, booming laugh.
"Forty-one seconds, Captain?" Aegon joked, shaking his head in sheer disbelief.
"I practically burned my own lungs to ash in there, and I am still almost five minutes behind you. I clearly need to train harder if I want to catch up to a monster like you."
Aegon extended his hand. Draven looked at it, smiled faintly, and clasped his teammate’s forearm firmly.
"You did well, Aegon," Draven said quietly.
"All of you did."
The Academy instructors suddenly rushed into the hall. They were openly weeping. A senior combat teacher fell to his knees, gripping his Vanguard tablet tightly against his chest.
"The highest rank guarantees the maximum global funding!" the instructor cried out to the cheering crowd.
"We can finally enhance the outer walls! We can replace the weapons we lost in the Beast Wave! You saved Bastion Seven today, all of you!"
The squad smiled at each other. The entire room celebrated their salvation, deeply believing that their struggles were finally over.
---
But high in the central spire of Bastion Seven, the reality of their victory was already turning into poison.
Lord Commander Helion Goldmane stood behind his massive oak desk in his private chambers. The room was dark, illuminated only by the glowing blue holograms of the Vanguard High Council.
Three Capital Elders glared down at him through the projection. Their faces were twisted with venomous humiliation.
"This was a coordinated attack, Goldmane," the scarred Elder spat, his voice trembling with barely contained rage.
"You deliberately hid the power levels of your Special Class to make a mockery of Bastion One on a global stage."
Helion Goldmane did not flinch. His golden eyes were cold, sharp, and piercing.
"I sent my students to take a standardized test," Helion replied evenly. His voice carried the heavy, unyielding weight of a veteran warlord.
"They simply proved that steel forged in actual blood is stronger than gold polished in a safe room. If your prodigies failed, blame your own instructors."
The jewel-draped noblewoman sneered in disgust.
"Watch your tone, Commander. You are speaking to your superiors."
"I am speaking to cowards," Helion corrected smoothly.
"Now, release the Global Travel Pass to Strike Team Zero, and authorize the global funding my Bastion has rightfully earned."
The scarred Elder let out a dark, bitter laugh.
"The automated system has already authorized the Travel Pass," the Elder admitted through gritted teeth.
"Your students will get their train tickets. But Bastion Seven will not receive a single credit of the global funding."
Helion narrowed his eyes dangerously.
"The funding is guaranteed to the top-ranking Academy by Vanguard law."
"The High Council has invoked emergency veto powers," the noblewoman smiled wickedly, enjoying her petty revenge.
"We are officially investigating your Academy for simulation tampering. Until our investigation concludes, your funds are frozen indefinitely. Let us see how long your ruined walls last without our money."
The Elders expected Helion to yell. They expected him to beg for the survival of his citizens.
Instead, Helion Goldmane leaned forward, resting his heavy, scarred hands on the desk.
"You think this is a punishment," Helion stated, his voice dropping to a terrifying, deadly whisper.
"You are deliberately crippling humanity’s primary shield because your fragile pride is bleeding. You are starving the very soldiers who hold the monsters back from your pristine Capital."
The Elders shifted uncomfortably under his piercing gaze.
"Keep your coins," Helion commanded with chilling authority.
"Freeze the accounts. Hide behind your vetoes. But remember this exact moment clearly. When the true war reaches your doorstep, do not expect my monsters to bleed for you."
CLICK.
Helion severed the connection. The holograms vanished, plunging the office into silence.
The line had been crossed.
---
Down in the Academy courtyards, Draven walked away from the cheering crowds.
He stepped into the quiet shadows of the armory, leaning against the cold stone wall. He opened his System interface, absentmindedly swiping away the completion notifications.
He rubbed his temples. Something felt entirely wrong. The very air in the Bastion felt heavy and volatile.
’The Capital Elders will not accept this loss,’ Draven analyzed in his mind.
’Their pride is their entire identity. They will retaliate against Lord Commander Goldmane. They will cut our resources to starve us out. Well, they were going to do that anyways at some point. Most of them were involved in the Beast Wave as well. Cult has rotted the capital. The rot has spread even further than it was in the Bastion 7.’
Draven closed his pitch-black eyes. A chilling realization slowly crept into his chest.
In the original web novel, the human Bastions remained united until the very end. They only fell apart when the #*&%*# descended from the sky to destroy the world.
But Draven had changed too much. He had saved Estella. He had slaughtered the Cult. He had turned a group of background characters into the most powerful squad on the planet.
By completely humiliating the Vanguard High Council, he had just accelerated a conflict that was never supposed to happen.
He had just sparked a Human Civil War.
’These are the uncharted waters,’ Draven thought, his heartbeat steadying into a cold, rhythmic pulse.
’I am sailing completely blind now. In the original timeline, the Civil War makes the Humanity falls faster, and it was the time when Humanity even lost Bastion 7 as their stronghold as well. We need to remove the rot faster this time so that we can be ready for the Apocalypse.’