Chapter 234: Keep Me Company

"....?!"

?Havock stared down at the light and water element shields that had just neutralized its barrage. The disbelief lasted only a heartbeat before a sharp, mocking bark ripped from its throat:

?"Hahahahaha!!!!"

?"....?!"

?Down on the fractured earth, the defenders froze, exchanging bewildered glances as the laughter echoed across the ruined northern gate.

?"Hahahahaha!!!! Hahahahaha!!!!"

?".....?!"

?The confusion curdled into cold dread among the human ranks. This wasn’t the roar of a wounded beast; it was the sheer amusement of an apex predator toying with insects.

?"Hahahahaha!!!! Humans are so interesting!!! From the start, I have only been using SSS-Rank abilities, and you’re already going all out!! Hahahahaha!!!"

?Havock spread both arms wide, its scaled claws elongating with an audible shink of shifting bone and muscle:

?"Hahahahaha!!! Alright, humans!!! I am switching to Ex-Rank skills now!!! Make sure you survive this next trick!!!"

?BOOOOM!!!!

?"...?!"

?Every combatant within a mile instinctively recoiled, boots sliding backward through the dust. The space directly behind Havock didn’t just crack—it violently shredded open like wet parchment, revealing a suffocating void. From that abyssal tear, a colossal, blood-red eye peered out, its gaze wide enough to swallow the horizon.

?"Hahahahaha!! Humans, this is one of my absolute weakest Ex-Rank abilities!!! Pray you have enough lives to waste on it!!" It roared, the sound pressure waves shattering the remaining window glass miles inside the city.

___

Within the sanctuary of the tower, Asher paused halfway through adjusting his cuffs, his gaze fixed on the display. A single dark brow ticked upward.

?’Even watching through a drone, and feeling the spirit energy outside, I can tell that’s a Supreme-Tier skill.’ He thought, his jaw tightening slightly:

’And this lizard just called it its weakest? What kind of joke is that?’

?"I don’t think anyone down there has the defensive capability to block an attack like that." Juliana murmured, resting her chin heavily in her palm, her fingers tapping a nervous, erratic rhythm against her cheek.

?Kelly finished wiping her lips with a linen napkin, tossing it aside as she leaned closer to the screen, her eyes narrowing as she registered the sheer scale of the red eye.

?"True... That attack is leagues beyond what a standard Awakened can absorb." She added, her posture stiffening.

?Sara slowly lifted her dark eyes from the pages of her book, glancing once at the glowing laptop before letting out a quiet, unimpressed breath.

?’At my peak, I could have cleaved that technique in two with a flick of my wrist.’ She thought flatly, before deliberately dragging her focus back to the page before her.

?"Alright then." Asher said, his voice dropping into a steady, decisive register as he turned his attention toward Sara.

?"We’ll be right back."

?Sara didn’t offer any reply. She simply closed her book, pulled their shared conversation notebook and pen toward her, and hastily scribbled two words before sliding the parchment across the polished wood.

?Asher, Kelly, and Juliana stared down at the brief message, a shared, knowing smirk touching their lips.

?"We will."

?They chorused in unison. With a casual snap of Asher’s fingers, the space around them folded inward, erasing their presence from the space.

’I still find myself wondering just how many absurd abilities this husband of mine actually holds.’ Sara thought, staring at the empty space as the heavy, absolute silence of the tower settled back over her shoulders.

It was simply to quiet.

’I should relish this solitude; it is a companion I have known for years. So why does the quiet feel so hollow now?’

Without even knowing it, she has begun changing, finally getting more comfortable with her new family. Sara has spent three years in absolute silence, so she was confused why it felt different.

?With a soft sigh, she turned her palm upward, forcing a microscopic fraction of her suppressed energy to coalesce. A tiny, crystalline phoenix formed in her grip, its diamond-dust wings fluttering in hesitant circles around her wrist.

?"Huh? Master? Why have you awakened me? What about the trauma to your core?" The phoenix chirped in a burst of disbelief, looping anxiously through the air.

’I simply didn’t wish to be alone.’ Sara transmitted back, her thumb reaching out to swivel the laptop screen so the unfolding battlefield faced her directly.

?"But your current state is dangerously unstable! Channeling me will only leach away your remaining spirit energy, and if the backlash hits your core—"

?’Quiet down.’ Sara interjected softly, though the telepathic nudge carried no real heat:

’I already checked. Besides, the lethal poison within my veins has been neutralized... Tell me, have you ever sensed a healing skill with that kind of purity? Even your sacred fire couldn’t eradicate it; we could only force it into stasis.’

?The phoenix quieted, its tiny head tilting.

’My husband cured it.’

The thought lingered in Sara’s mind like a warm ember.

’Oh, And don’t fret over a few minutes of manifestation. My current energy might not even equal one percent of my former sea of spirit energy, but it is more than enough to sustain your current form.’

?She reached out, gently tapping the tip of the phoenix’s luminous beak.

?’Besides, you’ve compressed yourself into such a small shell; I know you grow restless tucked away in my spiritual core. Consider this a brief reprieve. Keep me company.’

?"Understood, Master."

?The tiny spirit bird fluttered down, perching securely on the edge of the table, content to share the quiet company.

?"Master... is that an entity of the Ex-Rank on the screen?"

?Sara gave a slow, affirmative nod.

?"If we were standing in our prime, the two of us could have carved through its defenses without blinking. It would have demanded every ounce of our stamina, but our trump cards would have secured the field." The phoenix mused, its feathers flaring with a faint, nostalgic heat.

?’Enough. Do not dwell on things that cannot be reclaimed.’

?"Understood, Master."

?Sara stared blankly at the miniature flames dancing off the phoenix’s wings, exhaling a slow, heavy breath before refocusing on the display.

?Those days belonged to a ledger written in blood and betrayal—a history where she had bled for a country that ultimately discarded her the moment she fell.

?’Perhaps I was a fool to believe in their cause, but I harbor no regret for the millions who survived because I stood on the Frontline... Now, it’s your turn to claim a different path, sisters.’ She thought, her fingers tightening around her red book.

__

?[The Battlefield.]

?"What in the actual hell is that thing staring at us?!" Eren screamed, his voice cracking as the cold sweat froze on the back of his neck.

?"It’s larger than the entire moon!!" Marianne yelled, her eyes bloodshot as she struggled against the crushing gravitational force radiating from the void.

?"Everyone, brace yourselves and hold your ground!!" Margaret shouted, hauling her body back up onto trembling legs.

?’My duration for the Celestial Warrior form has less than thirty minutes before it completely collapse... I have to shatter this deadlock right now.’ She thought, her teeth grinding together so hard a line of red smeared across her lip. Her gaze flicked backward for a fraction of a second, finding Elizabeth standing near the shattered rampart.

?’After all... my daughter is standing right in the path of this storm.’

?"Humans scum! Perish beneath the gaze of the Eye of Destruction... Descend!!!" Havock shrieked, its face twisted into an ecstatic, cruel grin as the colossal red pupil began to contract, preparing to unleash hell.