Chapter 267 Final Prep

Stravos Vortaris

Those who were still of sound mind sat in a circle near one of the celestium cave entrances.

Most of the kids didn’t look like they had the makings of a real warrior. Most of them just looked like dead weight I had to carry across the finish line.

“Alright, now that we are all here- well, except for Nerena. It's time we come up with our plan to defeat the rift and escape this place.” Sora said bluntly.

She’s different.

“We need to continue with the same plan as before. Finding the core and destroying it. It's as simple as that.” Ida budded in, glancing at me.

“Yeah, it would be if there wasn’t one very large problem. Like it or not, we have to come up with a plan to deal with the guardian. Otherwise, it will never let us be alone with the core for long.” Sora snapped back at Ida.

Ida looked at me for reassurance.

“Ida, she’s right. Remember what we were taught in Karnagrad. When we’re up against an opponent with greater resources and power, we don’t confront everything at once. We take their advantages away piece by piece, then dismantle them systematically,” I said.

“But before that, we need to know its weaknesses if we are going to have anything to tip the scales towards us.”

“We know one for certain,” Sora said, turning her head toward Cyrus.

He wasn’t in the best of shape, and his eyes were hollow.

“Why is everyone looking at me?”

“Because the guardian’s armor falters under extreme pressure. Something you can create,” Sora said.

Cyrus just nodded, his eyes dropping to his hands, away from the rest of us. His demeanor was starting to annoy me.

“Is that something you can do, or has the academy’s second strongest lost all of his pride?” I asked, exerting some of my cosmic energy.

His head shot up quickly and met my gaze.

I saw a glimmer of that spark rekindle in his empty eyes.

“Is the sky orange?” he said back, clenching his fist.

Perfect. Another tool at my disposal, someone who's worth a damn. If he could weaken, or even just slow it down. I could have enough time to tear through the abomination of a behemoth.

Someone reproduced the author's NovelPhoenix chapter without approval, but the version they publish there helps sustain their writing.

My Strength alone will do it.

“Ok, but we are going to need much more than that, Truth Seeker, Vitalist. Do centipedes have any weaknesses we could take advantage of? Sora asked.

The remaining Truth Seekers, and that poor kid with a flute, spoke up. Sora seemed to trust him for some reason. Everyone in our house considered him a swindler, an opportunist, and little more than a jester.

“Well, first centipedes in this region need to stay in locations with large amounts of moisture. Because their bodies don’t have effective ways to maintain water retention.”

“What happens to them if they aren’t in those areas?” Jossie asked.

The truth seeker scrolled on her starchive.

“They dry out, and go through a rapid dehydration phase and could die within a couple of hours. But that's what happens to normal centipedes. Not a rift guardian. It will require much more, actually, to dry it out.”

“But they are also blind. They have an organ called a tomosvary that can detect mechanical vibrations in the environment. If we can interfere with it, we might be able to trick its senses into believing we’re in different locations,” the poor kid said.

“So we’ll use you as the bait then?” I said coldly. Remembering that he used my voice to scam others for profit.

“Oh, I don’t think I’d make much of a meal–I mean, bait. I’m all skin and bones,” he said, glancing nervously at Sora.

She didn’t say a word. No condescending remark, no dismissive retort. She simply carried on as though nothing had happened, nodding to the Truth Seeker who had spoken before him.

“So we have three weaknesses to work with?”

Is she possessed?

“Correct, but based on our drones, the rift guardian likes to travel underground in these weird cave systems; they are pitch black, full of moisture.”

“So we will have to lure it out then?” Jossie said.

“Alright, if we’re going to do this properly, I need to know everyone’s abilities. Some of you have been keeping them secret or holding back, and we can’t afford that now. So spill the beans, or pray my pantheon doesn’t strike you down,” Sora said, meeting everyone’s gaze.

The students began rattling off their constellations left and right, their answers sounding like a litany of uselessness to my ears.

At this moment, I really didn’t care what was happening; I just wanted another shot at the guardian since it broke my favorite blade.

After everyone explained their abilities, including Sigmond and Ida reluctantly, Sora began working things out on her tablet.

It didn’t take her long.

“Alright, listen up, because this will take everyone here, and we are going to defeat this rift in phases.”

Everyone turned to face her. Confidence shone in her eyes, unlike anything I’d seen from her at the academy. It was magnetic. I tried to look away, but a strange sensation seemed to fight against my will, keeping my gaze fixed on her.

“Heretic!”

Her gaze fell on me for a brief second, and a slight smirk formed. Then a rush of a single emotion flooded into my psyche.

An emotion I never would have felt towards someone like her.

Admiration.

She’s a monster, and she's more dangerous than I initially thought.

After she finished explaining the plan, everyone was dismissed to head into the mines to excavate celestium, and I had to rid myself of the feeling of being prey to a heretic's mind games.