Chapter 602 Preparations!

Chapter 597

Whoooosh! WAM!

"Ugh..."

Shuffle—!

"Fuck!"

"Argh...."

The sounds of people groaning filled the air as they burst out of a bright beam.

Soon, they staggered forward before coming to a halt and looking around.

"Huh?"

They all blinked as they realised where they were.

They were back in Wall Rose, specifically inside Ray’s newly rebuilt childhood home, which now had cracks from the earlier impact.

"Argh!"

All of them suddenly cried out, clutching their chests so tightly that it looked as though they wanted to rip them open.

"Ba...thump!"

Their hearts skipped a beat, then another.

And then, they began beating furiously, as though awakening after being dormant for so long.

Trisha’s eyes flashed a cold, pale blue.

Van’s eyes shone blue.

Caster felt his hands and legs vibrating almost immediately.

Chloe lightly twirled her finger, and a pebble in the distance responded.

Raze calmly twisted his leg against the ground, and the earth trembled beneath him, responding to his movements almost immediately.

"Ou-Our abilities are back!" Chloe cheered excitedly.

She had been worried that the ability she had spent so many years working on would be lost.

But luckily, it wasn’t gone, and she could use it again.

However, their excitement soon died down as they noticed the gloomy expressions on the others’ faces.

Van collapsed to his knees, his teeth clenched tightly.

Caster, who was closest to a wall, turned towards it and slammed his knuckles against it in anger.

Only Trisha and Raze remained standing, their expressions blank but their glares nonetheless furious.

"How many times do I have to tell that idiot that he doesn’t have the right to choose for us?! He has no right to make decisions on our behalf, for goodness’ sake!" Caster bellowed furiously.

Tak. Tak. Tak.

The sound of hurried footsteps approaching the house reached their ears, causing Raze to turn towards the door.

He could see a few men donning military attire entering the house, their bodies tense and ready for an attack if necessary.

But the moment they spotted the Spine Reaper, they relaxed.

Then, they saluted.

"Captain! We thought there was an attack."

Raze stared at them for several seconds.

"How long has it been?"

"...."

The men cast nervous glances at each other, wondering what their Captain was talking about.

One of them gingerly replied.

"I-I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re referring to, Captain."

Raze thought for a few seconds before shaking his head and turning away.

"Although, an hour ago, some workers reported seeing a bright beam coming from this location. We dismissed it as nothing at first.

"But when another report came in just now, we had to come and check. Is everything okay, Captain?"

’An hour ago? A bright beam?’

It took a second before the information finally clicked in his mind.

’Oh. So only an hour has passed since the Messenger took us? But he said a day had passed over there, though. Hm.’

Seeing that the men were still waiting for a reply, the Captain shook his head and waved them off.

"It’s nothing. The beam was what brought me here, too, and so far, I don’t see anything wrong. You can get back to work."

The men hesitated for a few moments before reluctantly saluting the man and leaving the house.

Captain Raze simply folded his arms across his chest while exhaling in pure frustration.

"Your friend is really a fool."

The others remained silent for a few seconds as the silence consumed the entire room.

"We need to get him back. Now," Trisha uttered coldly.

Her eyes shone with determination, and her hands were clenched so tightly that veins began to appear along her arms.

Her heart pounded with an emotion she was yet to understand.

Frost crept between her fingers as her mind flashed back to the tears welling in Ray’s eyes just before they vanished.

"Now."

"I understand what you want to do, but have you considered the possibility that we have no way of getting to the Celestial Realm?" Chloe questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"So are we just going to leave Ray alone in that place? Forget Ray for a moment. We haven’t even talked about Felix and Kai. One by one, we’re getting separated. This little squad is breaking apart, and we don’t even realise it yet. Are we just going to stay here?!" Trisha bellowed, her voice rising beyond limits for the first time since they had known her.

She was usually a woman of few words, and had never raised her voice the way she was doing now.

"...."

"Tris—" Chloe began, but paused, unable to even finish saying her name.

That was because a tear was rolling down the Ice Queen’s face.

Noticing the liquid, Trisha blinked once, then twice, only for more tears to roll down her ivory cheeks.

"Huh?"

She reached out and touched her face before bringing her hand back to stare at her fingers.

"What is this?"

"Yo-You’re crying?" Chloe couldn’t help but ask.

"I-I am?" Trisha wondered aloud, touching her face a second time to make sure.

’But why? I-I have never... The last time was-was when-when my family were killed by the Aberrants years ago. So-So why?’

"Argh!" Trisha groaned as she clutched her chest and slid down onto her knees.

Her heart was racing faster than she could have anticipated, causing her chest to ache.

It felt as though her heart and throat were tightening into a knot as she stared at the earth beneath her feet.

’Wh-what’s going on with me? Did-Did the Celestials do something to me? But what?’

"We need to rescue Ray," Van whispered, his jaws clenched.

"Just as, uh... Chloe? Yeah, just as she pointed out, we have no way of getting to the Realm. And even if we did, how are we supposed to fight without our abilities?" Raze asked as he walked forward and collapsed onto an earth sofa.

".... We can’t rush in blindly. We need a plan. We need to find a way. So, for the meantime, no matter how much it hurts, we need to work together and devise a plan to bring everybody back.

"Every single person, be it Kai, Felix, or Ray. We need to come up with a way."

He paused for a moment before leaning forward, his eyes gliding over his squad.

"And we all need to get stronger so that no Celestial, not even the First Ones, can suppress our abilities! Van, I’m counting on you to work on something that could make that possible."

Squeezing one hand in the air, he growled.

"When luck meets preparation, one becomes successful, no matter what. We need to prepare while biding our time until the opportunity reveals itself. Who’s with me?!"

"...."

Caster tightened his fist, a glint of determination appearing in his eyes.

"Aye, Captain."

Sniffling and wiping the tears from his eyes, Van pushed himself to his feet.

"I will get to work now. But most of my equipment is back at the base."

"I will get you back," Raze nodded, a soft, subtle smile appearing on his face.

’And I promise, I will get my squad back, no matter what.’