Chapter 372 - 328: I Have a Bold Idea (Part 2)

Chapter 372: Chapter 328: I Have a Bold Idea (Part 2)

The dean spoke, a helpless, bitter smile in his voice:

"We humans are so insignificant. We seem exceptionally fragile and powerless in the face of such events. Yet, no matter how insignificant we may be, we should not be so debased as to abandon hope!"

And so, with the dean’s decision, Professor Lawrence’s insane plan was set in motion. The entirety of Mizkatoke was instantly thrown into a state of utter pandemonium.

All the students were sprinting for their lives, grabbing whatever valuables they could and fleeing to Knowledge Square.

Fortunately, it was still the holiday break; the new academic year hadn’t started yet. There weren’t too many faculty and students lingering at the academy—only a few thousand—so the spacious Knowledge Square was large enough to hold them all.

But chaos and despair inevitably spread through the crowd, growing ever more intense. The normally quiet Knowledge Square was now filled with the sounds of crying, wailing, cursing, and people speaking their last words.

"I just found a girlfriend! We haven’t even held hands!"

"I have a wife and kids at home, and my elderly mother... What am I supposed to do?"

"I’m only a first-year! I haven’t learned a thing yet, and I’m going to die?"

"Hey, let’s do something we’ve always been too scared to do! That way, we won’t die with any regrets."

"Haha, whatever! Let it all be destroyed! At least I won’t have to pay my mortgage anymore, hahaha."

"That’s true. No more stressing about tuition and grades. I can finally get some rest."

Lloyd’s kitten and its new friend, the Little Fragrant Pig, were hiding in a corner, watching in confusion as the humans showcased their biological diversity. The kitten, for its part, didn’t seem very frightened.

The Little Fragrant Pig, on the other hand, was trembling uncontrollably and whimpering nonstop, as if to ask, ’Why aren’t you scared?’

"MEOW... MEOW..."

The kitten replied with a couple of meows, as if to say, ’My master will come back for me.’

"SQUEAL~ SQUEAL~"

The Little Fragrant Pig asked again, ’Where is your master?’

"MEOW! MEOW! MEOW!"

The kitten raised a tiny paw toward the sky above the academy, then tilted its round head back and stared up with longing.

It believed its master would be back very soon.

And in all of Mizkatoke, it was probably the only one who still believed...

......

"What? Lloyd, two lecturers, and a Teaching Assistant are unaccounted for?"

Professor Lawrence had been working intensely at the controls of the academy’s Spatial Anchor. The news startled him, making his hands slip and nearly causing a catastrophe.

But he regained his composure in an instant, quickly corrected his mistake, and continued his work while listening to the researcher, Dandy, report:

"Yes. Everyone else is alive, but Lloyd and the other three didn’t make it back... According to the lecturer from the Mage System, he insisted on saving everyone. He didn’t evacuate with them and went back for the others by himself..."

"That damn fool, always trying to be a hero! Just as I thought, he’s not human. He doesn’t even have the basic instinct for self-preservation!"

Professor Lawrence huffed out a curse.

As regretful and heartbroken as he was, he didn’t let the news of Lloyd’s death cause him to falter in his work for even a second. He just gave another order:

"All right. Relay the news to the dean’s office, then get back to your post."

With that said, he couldn’t help but sigh internally.

’Maybe that kid just took the first few steps ahead of us...’

Then, he turned to look at the glowing screen beside him.

The Spatial Storm was accelerating. It would arrive in about ten minutes.

But only three campus districts had been unlinked from their Spatial Anchors and were ready to be jettisoned for impact...

He had to unlink more districts from their Spatial Anchors as quickly as possible and send them out one after another. There could be no more delays.

Those two or three seconds spent grieving for Lloyd were the greatest indulgence Professor Lawrence could afford himself...

Soon, in his empty office, Dean Hazled also received the news of Lloyd’s death.

His formless body remained silent for a full two or three minutes before he let out a helpless sigh.

"Hildina, perhaps this path we’ve clung to was wrong all along... Astra’s prophecy is still coming true, piece by piece..."

"I remember one line—’Humanity will lose its wisdom in the storm.’ I suppose that refers to today, doesn’t it?"

"To fight the Destiny foretold in the prophecy, we risked excavating a past Miracle. The old campus district, having lost that Miracle, has now unleashed this destructive storm..."

"Perhaps this is the price for meddling with a Miracle. Or perhaps it is a debt left unpaid by the former dean..."

"But if Lawrence’s plan succeeds, can it be said that we have broken our predetermined Destiny?"

"No... Or perhaps the part of the prophecy that line refers to simply isn’t about today..."

"Perhaps we will be saved today, only to be lost forever in an Alternate Space, waiting for the moment the prophecy is fulfilled..."

After this long monologue, the dean picked up a piece of ancient, yellowed parchment from his desk.

The page looked utterly unremarkable. It was completely blank.

Yet, the moment one’s gaze fell upon its edges, a wave of Spiritual Contamination would wash over them.

The powerful yet bizarre Spiritual Energy emanating from within it made the very air in the office grow thick and viscous—a sign that the concentration of Spiritual Contamination was rising rapidly, beginning to condense into a tangible substance.