Chapter 1206: The Warning, The Moments Before the Beginning of the Next Catastrophe

Day 382 - 7:27 AM - Yeo-U Sa-Won, Inner Central Section, Yeongdo Walled City, Yeongdo District, Busan

After leaving the living quarters, the [Frostbearer], Lady Seolhee, and her maid, Nam Ah-Young, made their way to the main hall.

But before the two could even arrive, they could already hear the noise coming from the main hall across the corridor.

"It looks like only representatives are present..." Nam Ah-Young said with a frown. "If even just one of the family heads were here, it wouldn’t be this noisy."

Lady Seolhee did not say anything, but she agreed with Nam Ah-Young’s statement.

It was a common occurrence even before the apocalypse. While the leaders and heads of wealthy families were often level-headed, serious, and competent, the lower members tended to be haughty, arrogant, and incompetent.

As Lady Seolhee and Nam Ah-Young entered the hall, the noise died down. Fortunately, the representatives were aware not to offend Lady Seolhee since she was literally the lifeline of Yeongdo Walled City. If she decided to turn her back on them due to offending her, this place would not last long.

Lady Seolhee took her seat in the elevated central area of the hall overlooking everyone. She lightly panned her eyes across everyone in the hall, not forgetting to put some coldness and grace in her demeanor, which was easy to achieve due to her bloodline.

As expected, there were only the representatives present, who were not worth paying attention to. Instead, Lady Seolhee focused on the two people kneeling on one knee at the foot of the stairs.

"Park Sang-Hoon, Park Yeon-A, raise your heads and give your report."

Lady Seolhee ordered the two, prompting them to obey.

The two first reported the situation with the horde in the Northern areas. Of course, the report surprised everyone present. After all, it was a sudden gathering of a large number of [Infected] due to an unexplained reason.

However, the two also reported some of the findings of the scouts that were not in the initial report. For example, the signs of fighting in the eastern area where the horde had gathered led to the belief that the people who initially reported the incident were closely related to the reason the [Infected] gathered.

Of course, this report caused the representatives to clamor, saying that they should interrogate the people in the Northwest Section.

Lady Seolhee frowned as she watched the idiots. As usual, they were being noisy without actually helping.

"Silence."

Lady Seolhee spoke in a soft voice, carrying her freezing energy, prompting the representatives to follow. She then turned back to the father and daughter.

"Continue."

Unfortunately, there was nothing much to add to the report about the horde aside from the composition of the horde, which was estimated to be a horde of more than two thousand individuals, containing 75 percent mutated ones. So far, the horde showed no signs of moving towards the city and provoking them would likely result in the unwanted scenario.

With the horde remaining idle, the only option was to observe while quietly preparing for the worst-case scenario. Depending on the horde’s movement in the next few hours, further actions might need to be devised.

Ending the report about the horde, Park Sang-Hoon moved to the next agenda.

Park Sang-Hoon and Park Yeon-A began reporting about their encounter with the so-called guests.

Word for word, the two relayed the entire encounter and their conversation with the guest.

Of course, the haughty representatives were frowning. They found the guest arrogant and disrespectful.

Lady Seolhee could not help but notice the ironic scene before her. The arrogant bunch were uneasy about the arrogance of others. However, unlike these representatives who were only arrogant due to the powers behind them, the guest, who wields the actual power, had more reason to be arrogant.

That said, Lady Seolhee did not find it as arrogant as the representatives found it to be. It felt more prideful than arrogant.

"Good work," Lady Seolhee praised the two before the idiots started another commotion. "If the [Chaosbringer] said he would help, due to your behaviour, then you two deserve to be rewarded."

Those words sure surprised everyone. It was already rare for Lady Seolhee to praise someone, but it was the first time she promised a reward to anyone.

This caused the representatives to react rather negatively, except for one, which was the family Park Sang-Hoon and Park Yeon-A were working for, the Shin Family.

"The reward will be handed in later." Lady Seolhee said. "For now let’s discuss the prepa-"

Lady Seolhee did not manage to finish her words. A divine pressure fell into the hall, causing everyone to lose strength in their bodies. While no one fell unconscious, everyone was practically frozen in place.

Everyone, except Lady Seolhee and her maid, Nam Ah-Young, who stood close to her.

"Sixteenth... Do you always have to come in like this?"

Lady Seolhee asked the visitor, now sitting on the armrest of her chair.

A little girl in priestess clothing, but her face contained several pairs of differently sized eyes.

"Because none of the people present can be considered truly under you and your protection aside from this girl."

Sixteenth replied as her multiple eyes fell on Nam Ah-Young, who could not help but shiver in fear.

"You don’t have to be scared," Sixteenth said, smiling playfully. "As someone loyal to Seolhee, there’s no way I will hurt you."

Of course, none of her words made the young maid feel safe.

"I guess I shouldn’t bother," Sixteenth shrugged as she saw Nam Ah-Young’s reaction and turned back to Lady Seolhee. "I have an important announcement. In about two hours, what we decided to call [Spatial Restoration] will commence. With the repair, the [Spatial Rifts] separating the borders around the world will disappear at once. You should start preparing for the aftermath."

The message made Lady Seolhee nod in all seriousness. They had been preparing for this for a while already. There was no need or time to be surprised.

On the other hand, the representatives of the four families, although struggling, still heard the announcement, causing everyone to feel panicked.

"Okay then, that’s all," Sixteenth jumped off the armrest and panned her eyes on the other people in the room. "I can’t stay for too long. I have to go to the other [Saviors]. And having disloyal dregs around is annoying."

With those words, Sixteenth vanished along with the divine pressure she emitted.

Lady Seolhee then faced the hall.

"Everyone heard the announcement, so we will end this here. Go and report to the family heads and start the citywide announcements."

Although still feeling weak, everyone immediately left the hall. Time was of the essence.

The next catastrophe, now called [Spatial Restoration], was coming.

***

Day 382 - 7:27 AM - Park Area, Northwest Section, Yeongdo Walled City, Yeongdo District, Busan

At the same time the meeting in Yeo-U Sa-Won was starting, there was an entirely different scene happening at the Northwest Section.

"What is going on here?"

That was the first thing Emika asked after waking up and seeing the bench outside the shack.

There, Mark sat on the bench just like when he was on the lookout for the entire night. But this time, instead of Azra or Miracle sitting with him, there was Mei, who sat on his lap while tightly hugging him and laying her head on his shoulder.

Of course, the first thing everyone would feel seeing them would be confusion.

"Two things..." Mark did not hesitate to answer while patting Mei’s head. "First, she’s recharging. She usually does this when we sleep, but I’m outside the entire night. Second, she’s asserting dominance."

"Dominance?..."

Emika spoke in askance, but her voice trailed off as she saw where Mei’s eyes were focused and followed them. There, a frowning Amaya Ran was hiding behind the corner of the shack on the other side of the street.

"Of course that’s the reason..."

Emika sighed in understanding.

"Aren’t you two feeling awkward at all?" Annica chimed in. "Everyone’s looking. And Big Sis Mei isn’t wearing her mask at all."

That was right. Mark and Mei snuggling outside was already getting attention, but Mei’s appearance was getting the most of it. Not to mention, the contrast in Mark and Mei’s appearances was sure to start some unpleasant thoughts.

"Can’t do anything," Mark shrugged. "Mei’er stopped caring. A threatened cat tends to frequently mark its territory, after all."

The words from Mark made the girls look at Mei. She did look like a cat whose territory was being invaded by an intruder.

"Does it feel good to be popular?"

Emika suddenly asked.

"Not really," Mark shrugged. "I’ve never been popular, so rather than feeling good, I don’t feel anything at all."

"Isn’t that just the usual?"

Spera also joined in.

"Yep."

And Mark agreed without hesitation.

"Ah!"

Then, everyone turned to the shack on the other side of the street.

There, they saw Kim Yong-Hwa dragging Amaya Ran away, pulling the latter’s ear.

But before Kim Yong-Hwa could drag Amaya Ran away, the former froze in place as a heavy pressure bore down on her body.

It was not just Kim Yong-Hwa, but everyone else around, except for Mark and his group.

It was when the familiar girl with thirteen eyes appeared before them.

Without a doubt, it was Thirteenth.

Seeing Thirteenth, Mark immediately understood.

"Is it time?"

Mark asked.

"Yes," Thirteenth nodded. "The commencement of what we now call [Spatial Restoration] will begin in about two hours. Preparation is a must. Not like I have to tell you about it, right?"

"Yup, no worries," Mark said with a smile. "What about Luna’s group?"

"I announced it to them first," Thirteenth replied. "Unlike you, they needed more time to get ready."

"Yeah, true." Mark did not have any problem with it. "Just in case, I’ll have Spera open a portal there so we can help if something goes wrong."

"That will be greatly appreciated," Thirteenth unexpectedly beamed a smile. "By the way, after the [Spatial Restoration], we will be out of touch for a bit. I shouldn’t be doing this, but please check on Luna from time to time for me."

"You really baby Luna too much, huh?"

Mark could not help but ask.

"Can’t help it," Thirteenth smiled bitterly. "As the fragment of a Goddess born of this world, her presence is truly close to us [Eyes]."

"It’s fine then," Mark nodded. "Just make sure to rest. You [Eyes] will probably use up a lot of energy repairing this world, even though there’s barely any source now."

"Well then, see you later."

With those words, Thirteenth vanished.

After Thirteenth left, the people caught up by her presence were finally freed. Of course, they were still confused.

However, the entire exchange between the strange girl and Mark was witnessed by everyone.

"W-what happened? Who’s that little girl?"

Someone rushed to ask questions. It was no one else but Amaya Ran, who was unexpectedly unaffected by Thirteenth’s presence.

Unfortunately, Amaya Ran was asking questions frantically, and she did not realize her face was already too close.

"Too close!"

Of course, Mei acted immediately, pushing Amaya Ran’s face away while speaking in awkward Japanese.

And realizing her blunder, Amaya Ran, now red as a tomato, immediately backed off, nearly tripping backwards.

Ignoring Amaya Ran’s antics, Mark spoke.

"Amaya-san," Mark called out. "This is urgent, but can you call Kang Ye-Jun? As soon as possible, alright?"

"Ye-yesh! Immediately!"

Amaya Ran bolted away, following Mark’s request while hiding her embarrassment, even leaving the still weakened Kim Yong-Hwa behind.

Seeing Amaya Ran running away while ignoring the stares in the surroundings, Mark then turned to his group members.

"You girls heard it. The next event is coming in about two hours. Spera, open and maintain portals to the Mountain Base, Bali, General Nakar, Corregidor, Catanduanes, and Tokyo."

Mark then gave orders, intending to send the girls to specific locations.

Melfiss was to go to Bali and help Luna. Amisha should be safe beside Mark.

Emika was to go to Tokyo. She did not need to do much since the Priestess was there. Instead, she was to report if anything went wrong.

Annica would head to the former Infanta settlement, which had now moved to the mountains in General Nakar. Alana, Karlene, and Karla were also there at the moment.

Amihan was to head to Corregidor. The island would be very vulnerable to the incoming catastrophe. As such, Amihan was the only one who would be able to help in this situation. She did not have to make contact. She only needed to stop the direct impact of the tidal waves.

Mark’s family in Catanduanes should also be fine, but he planned to send Azra and Crimson to observe there just in case.

Lastly, Hannah was to head back to the Mountain Base and get Jaeya to connect everyone he sent away to her telepathic network. Although her ability had a limit in distance, keeping the portals open was a possible workaround as long as everyone did not veer too far from the portals.

But just as Mark finished giving instructions.

WEEEEEEEOOOOOOOO!!!

Loud alarms blared from the Central Section of the Yeongdo Walled City.

"Well... There’s an idiot, isn’t there?"

Mark said with a frown.

Sure, due to the emergency, an alarm was a reasonable way to inform everyone. However, there was an extremely large horde north of the city at the moment. Blaring alarms like this were just asking for more trouble.

And just as expected, it was an idiotic error because the alarm sounds were suddenly cut off midway.

However...

Everyone noticed Snow suddenly standing up and staring northward.

It was already late. The horde had been alerted.

"How troublesome."

Mark murmured.

In the distance, Mark saw Kang Ye-Jun and his entourage coming.

"Well then, everyone. Get moving. Time is short."

Everyone agreed with Mark, and after Spera opened several portals in front of the shacks, the girls who were given tasks immediately departed.