Chapter 20: The Late Arrival of the Guard Team! A Great Principal?

Chapter 20: Chapter 20: The Late Arrival of the Guard Team! A Great Principal?

With the three leaders of the Lion Syndicate dead, the Dark Night Canopy finally lost its energy source.

The pitch-black barrier that had shrouded the gymnasium, plunging everyone into despair, began to flicker.

Bzzzz...

Cracks of light spread across its surface. Then, like snow melting beneath the warmth of spring, the enormous barrier rapidly dissolved into countless fragments of darkness.

A ray of golden sunlight pierced through the fading canopy and fell across the ruined gymnasium.

Light had returned.

For a moment, the students simply stared upward, unable to believe what they were seeing.

Then someone shouted.

"We have a signal!"

"My phone is working again!"

"Calls are going through!"

Excited cries erupted throughout the crowd.

With the disappearance of the Dark Night Canopy, the communication blockade was lifted. Phones reconnected to the network, emergency signals began transmitting, and the outside world could finally learn what had happened inside Westmere No. 1 Academy.

The nightmare was over.

But the consequences of the attack had only just begun.

...

Meanwhile, at the Westmere City Guard Command Center.

The control room was busy but orderly. Operators monitored the city’s energy fluctuations, security cameras, and emergency response systems while officers reviewed reports from across the region.

Everything appeared normal.

Until suddenly...

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

A shrill alarm shattered the silence.

Red warning lights flashed across the control room as a massive exclamation mark appeared on the central surveillance screen. A stream of emergency data flooded the display.

"Emergency report!"

An operator shot to his feet, his voice trembling with panic.

"An extreme energy reaction has been detected!"

He rapidly checked the coordinates.

"Location confirmed... Westmere No. 1 Academy!"

The entire control room seemed to freeze.

"Westmere No. 1 Academy?"

The Guard Team captain, Adrian Cross, had been reviewing documents when he heard the location. He abruptly raised his head, staring at the red marker on the screen.

His pupils contracted.

Westmere No. 1 Academy.

Today was the academy’s awakening ceremony.

And if his memory was correct, the children of two influential families, Nathaniel Beaumont and Caleb Rowan, were attending the ceremony.

"What exactly happened there?"

Adrian rose from his chair.

"Analyze the energy readings immediately!"

"Yes, Captain!"

The operator’s fingers flew across the keyboard. Several seconds later, his expression turned deathly pale.

He slowly turned toward Adrian.

"Captain... according to the residual energy readings, at least three individuals with energy signatures above Level 100 were present at the academy."

Adrian’s face changed.

"Three?"

"Yes, Captain. We’re also detecting traces of an energy-sealing barrier. It appears the entire area was isolated from external communications."

BOOM!

Adrian felt as though a thunderbolt had struck his brain.

Three Level 100-plus powerhouses.

A sealing barrier.

An attack on an academy filled with newly awakened students.

There was only one reasonable explanation.

A planned massacre.

What kind of defensive strength did Westmere No. 1 Academy possess?

Most of its teachers were only several dozen levels strong. The principal and vice principal were the only defenders known to have surpassed Level 100.

Even if those two fought with everything they had, how long could they possibly withstand three powerful invaders who had deliberately isolated the school?

And the students...

They had only awakened that day.

Most hadn’t even learned how to use their abilities properly.

Against three Level 100-plus enemies, their chances of survival were almost nonexistent.

Adrian felt a chill spread through his body.

Then he remembered the two families involved.

Nathaniel Beaumont.

Caleb Rowan.

If something happened to either of them, the consequences would be unimaginable.

And if the Three Pillars returned from the Abyss Rift to discover that their families’ children had been killed while the city authorities failed to intervene...

Adrian didn’t even want to imagine the outcome.

Westmere could be turned upside down.

"It’s over..."

The words escaped his mouth before he could stop them.

For a moment, he felt utterly powerless.

But he quickly clenched his teeth and forced himself to move.

Whether the students were alive or dead, he had to reach the academy immediately.

Even if all he could do was recover the bodies, he couldn’t remain here.

"Everyone, assemble!"

Adrian snatched the communicator from his desk and roared into it.

"First and Second Combat Squads, move out with me immediately! Destination: Westmere No. 1 Academy!"

He slammed the communicator down.

"Medical teams and search-and-rescue personnel, prepare for a mass-casualty emergency!"

Then he turned toward the assembled officers.

"Move! Move now!"

The entire command center erupted into action.

Within moments, the city’s emergency response teams were racing toward the academy.

...

Several minutes later, the sky above Westmere No. 1 Academy was torn apart by the roar of engines.

WHOOSH!

Several silver-white streaks cut across the horizon, followed by deafening sonic booms.

Dark-gray Guard Team fighter jets descended toward the ruined gymnasium at terrifying speed. They barely slowed before hovering above the damaged grounds, their powerful engines stirring up clouds of dust and scattered debris.

The scene below was enough to make anyone’s heart sink.

The gymnasium’s protective structures were damaged. Deep craters scarred the ground, and sections of the building had partially collapsed.

Adrian couldn’t wait for the landing procedure to finish.

The moment the cabin door opened, he leaped from more than ten meters above the ground.

BOOM!

He landed heavily, immediately sprinting toward the gymnasium.

This usually composed and capable captain looked completely different now.

His hair was disheveled, cold sweat covered his forehead, and his face was pale with anxiety.

"Medical team! Search-and-rescue team! Get inside immediately!"

He ran forward while shouting orders.

During the journey, he had already prepared himself for the worst.

Three Level 100-plus powerhouses attacking a school was like releasing a pack of predators into a pen full of defenseless animals.

He had imagined finding the gymnasium filled with bodies, the survivors scattered among the ruins, and the academy’s leaders dead after a desperate final stand.

He had even rehearsed the apology he might have to deliver to the families of the victims.

But when Adrian finally rushed into the gymnasium and saw the scene before him, he stopped dead.

He was stunned.

The slaughterhouse he had imagined didn’t exist.

There were deep pits in the floor. The podium had been partially destroyed. Broken desks, shattered stone, and debris littered the surroundings.

And there were indeed corpses.

Black-clad members of the Lion Syndicate lay scattered across the gymnasium, their bodies bearing the marks of a devastating battle.

But the students...

The students were alive!

More than a thousand young men and women in academy uniforms were still standing or helping one another through the wreckage.

Many were covered in dust. Some were crying, while others looked as though they hadn’t yet recovered from the terror they had experienced.

A few were being treated for injuries.

But they were alive.

They were all alive.

Adrian stood frozen, staring at the scene.

"This... what..."

His gaze swept frantically through the crowd.

Then he spotted two familiar figures.

Nathaniel Beaumont.

Caleb Rowan.

Both looked disheveled, their clothes covered with dust, but they were standing on their own feet without any obvious life-threatening injuries.

"Hoo..."

Adrian released a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding.

It felt as though his heart had been hanging over a bottomless cliff before suddenly being pulled back to safety.

His legs weakened.

For a moment, he nearly dropped to his knees.

"Alive..."

He wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, his lips trembling.

"They’re all alive..."

His voice grew quieter.

"Thank goodness. My career is still salvageable."

He had narrowly escaped a disaster that could have destroyed his future.

But his relief didn’t last long before his attention shifted to two elderly men receiving treatment from the academy’s medical staff.

The principal and vice principal.

Both were covered in blood, their faces pale, and their auras severely weakened. The principal’s shoulder was particularly badly injured, with blood still seeping through the bandages being applied by the school doctor.

Adrian’s expression changed.

Then, in the blink of an eye, his imagination supplied an explanation.

He pictured the principal and vice principal facing three terrifying enemies.

He imagined them refusing to retreat even when their opponents overwhelmed them.

He imagined them burning their life essence, sacrificing their strength, and risking everything to protect the students entrusted to their care.

And in the end, against all odds, they had defeated the invaders.

They had protected more than a thousand students.

They had saved Nathaniel Beaumont and Caleb Rowan.

And they had prevented a catastrophe that might otherwise have shaken the entire city.

Adrian’s eyes turned red.

"Heroes..."

He whispered the word.

Then he strode toward the two injured men, moving so quickly that the officers behind him struggled to keep up.

"Principal Zhang! Vice Principal Li!"

He reached them and grabbed the principal’s uninjured hand with both of his.

His voice trembled with excitement.

"You two are incredible!"

"Absolutely incredible!"

He shook the principal’s hand with such enthusiasm that the exhausted man nearly lost his balance.

"Three Level 100-plus powerhouses! Three of them!"

"And you actually managed to hold them back and defeat them!"

Adrian’s eyes shone with admiration.

"You didn’t just save more than a thousand students..."

He took a deep breath, his voice growing emotional.

"You saved my life too, Adrian Cross!"

The principal stared at him.

The vice principal stared at him.

Even the nearby teachers looked at one another in confusion.

For several seconds, nobody said anything.

Then the principal slowly turned his head toward Nathaniel Beaumont, who was standing a short distance away.

Adrian followed his gaze.

His eyes landed on Nathaniel.

The young man stood calmly among the exhausted teachers and students, his expression as composed as ever.

Adrian blinked.

Then he looked back at the principal.

Then at Nathaniel again.

A faint sense of unease crept into his mind.

Something about the situation didn’t quite add up.

But before he could ask anything, the principal let out a long, exhausted sigh.

"Captain Cross..."

His voice was hoarse.

"You may want to hear the full story before deciding who deserves all that praise."