Chapter 68: The Ashes of Hollow Basin

The Hollow Basin was no longer the secluded clearing in the middle of the limestone mountains of Sector 3 that it once was. Everything seemed to stretch around the young man, clawing and reaching, like the sight of the aftermath of an apocalyptic nuke detonating at ground zero.

The ancient iron-pines that used to grow in the basin were long gone, turned to ash-grey smoke that curled out towards the sky in lazy plumes. Splintered and broken remains of the trees littered the ground in neat little piles of charred wood and leaves.

The ground itself was cracked and broken in jagged, spiderweb shapes, running out from the central point. From where the Blood-Shackle Array had been located, if one could call it that, from where the pillars of obsidian black stone that Lucian had seen in his vision had stood before being turned to dust by the power of his blood,

The air smelled strongly of ozone and burnt earth, with a hint of dried blood in it. The very silence that hung over the clearing was oppressive in itself.

The five elite assassins of the Pig-Mask Cult were gone, reduced to ash and bloody dust by the sheer power of the shadow execution.

About half a dozen yards away from Lucian, on the frozen mud of the clearing, lay a familiar-looking young man. His head was covered in blood, and his body was limp. He wore an expensive looking crimson tactical suit, but it was all dirty and torn, streaked with blood and mud on one side where he had fallen during the commotion.

At the center of the clearing, standing as if she had not seen the destruction and carnage that was happening right around her, was Evelyn.

Her right hand was bandaged, with the dark red blood seeping through the white gauze. Every time she exhaled, a tiny wisp of white vapor curled out of her lips in the cold mountain air.

Her ice-blue eyes surveyed the damage done, the remains of the fighting zone, the complete lack of hostile cultist bodies, and Lucian himself with the peculiar tranquility of a woman who had seen far too much death and destruction to be surprised by it.

She was silent for several long seconds, surveying the young man before her with an unreadable expression.

Then Evelyn took a step towards Lucian, her knee-deep boots making a distinctive sound on the grey ash-covered ground with every step. She did not walk fast, but she did not hesitate, either.

Instead, when she reached Lucian, she stopped right in front of him. Her eyes moved over his shoulders, taking in the thin layer of grey ash that had settled on his dark tactical cloak before gently brushing it away with the pads of her fingers, her uninjured left hand.

When she looked up at his face, the sheer terror that had gripped Lucian’s heart a few minutes ago was gone.

Gone was the feeling of utter hopelessness and despair, of wanting nothing more than to hide somewhere and wait for an early grave. Gone was the fear and the panic and the crushing sense of impotence.

What she saw in his silver-tinged eyes was something close to the opposite of these emotions.

A genuine smile curved her lips. "You really impressed me, my D-rank newbie," Evelyn said, her voice almost merry in the tense atmosphere of the ruins. "I think I’m going to have to give you a proper field promotion."

Not that Lucian could hear her, of course.

The truth was, there was nothing left for him to understand. Nothing to be explained or rationalized. There was only trust, and certainty, and the growing feeling of friendship that she was experiencing in this strange, unique moment.

Evelyn felt as if, in the brief, tense confrontation against the Cultists, she had seen the real Lucian, the one behind the carefully constructed mask of a clumsy undergraduate.

She knew the kind of person he was, deep down. The kind of power he had. The kind of path he would have to choose to follow, and the price he would have to pay for his decisions.

Everything was clear to her, because Lucian demonstrated that power to her. The power, the strength, the skill, the determination, the willpower... Everything was there. But not the strength of a peer, not the power of an equal. No, the power of far greater than her, and she would never, ever hold him responsible for it.

No expectations, no demands, no questions. Just trust and respect, and a silent promise to protect what was hers and only hers to protect.

It was all in the smile she sent him, warm and forgiving and a little bit reproachful.

"ROAR-!", the sound of high altitude thrusters cut through the tense silence of the ruined clearing. A large military transport skiff pierced through the low-hanging grey clouds, and several powerful white spotlights rotated, scanning the area.

On the ridges beyond the basin, golden ethereal shockwaves rippled outwards as Principal Warren and a platoon of Vanguard officers pushed through the remains of the corrupted spatial isolation array. It shattered with a loud CRACK-THUOM, scattering pieces of golden energy throughout the air.

The older man’s boots met the muddy ground of the basin with a dull thud, and the long, dark coat he wore flared out behind him. His face, weathered and full of pain, went pale as he took in the view of the battle field and the destruction it had seen. The sight of charred earth, of the broken remains of the ancient trees, and most importantly, the sight of absolutely no enemies left in the sector.

"General Thorne reported the spatial barrier was down!", Principal Warren announced, holding up his right hand as the transport ship hovered above the ruins. Golden energy surrounded his body, spreading out to cover every object and every square inch of the ruined basin.

"Evelyn! Are you..", the older man’s words caught in his throat as he suddenly took notice of the young woman. His eyes moved from the destruction around him, to Evelyn and the boy she stood protectively in front of, and then to the unconscious and bloodied form of the man lying on the ground several yards away.

"Principal," Evelyn said, stepping back to give him an appropriate amount of respect. "The sector was ambushed. It was a corrupted array trap... We were targeted."

The moment she finished speaking, more troops poured out of the transport skiff. Medics came rushing towards the young woman, white hover-stretcher pods whirring around her head.

A group of officers immediately rushed towards Eric’s motionless body, raising him onto a medical board and then carrying him with them as they joined the stretcher-bearers.

"Secure the perimeter!", a military officer yelled as soon as the entire patient had been loaded into the transport. "Check for arrays! Get the student medics to triage!"

The chaotic activity around the edges of the basin soon attracted the attention of more officers, until the group in the center found themselves at the focus of a large-scale military operation.

Lucian, however, took the time to perform a seamless transformation.