Chapter 188: The Last Day (3)

Blackstone Academy...

The students who had been enthusiastically harvesting monster cores only moments earlier had completely stopped.

Darius, who had already been eliminated and was being transported toward the extraction zone, stared through the monitoring screen inside the emergency evacuation vehicle.

"What is that?"

The staff member beside him couldn’t answer. The screen flickered. For a moment, the image from one of the drones showed the Observatory.

Then the feed distorted. It became static, black, and finally went off.

Darius slowly stood.

"Get me another feed."

"We’re trying."

"Then try harder!"

The staff member swallowed.

"We’ve lost six."

Darius’s expression changed.

"Six?"

"Seven."

Another monitor went dark.

"Eight."

Darius stared at the screens.

One by one, the cameras around Blackridge were failing, not because they had been destroyed, but because something was interfering with them. Something that didn’t want to be watched.

***

Aethercrest...

Seraphina felt it before the others. Her ancient artifact suddenly began vibrating violently, causing her to nearly drop it.

"What..."

The symbols carved into its surface began glowing. Her eyes widened.

"This isn’t possible."

One of her teammates looked at her.

"What is it?"

Seraphina slowly raised her head. Her face had lost its usual composure.

"The structure."

"What about it?"

"It’s not an ancient ruin."

She looked toward the distant Observatory.

"It’s a seal."

Silence.

"A seal for what?"

Seraphina didn’t answer, because she already knew, and the answer terrified her.

***

New Liberty Vanguard...

The convoy had stopped. Every vehicle, every student, and every driver. Nobody moved. The monsters surrounding them had also stopped attacking. That was what frightened them the most.

A moment earlier, the creatures had been attacking the convoy. Now? They were fleeing. Monsters were abandoning the battlefield.

Some disappeared into the forest, while others dug into the earth. Some curled into balls and trembled. One of the Vanguard students slowly lowered his weapon.

"The monsters..."

His teammate stared.

"They’re running."

"Why?"

Nobody answered. Then the student looked toward the Observatory.

"They’re scared."

Argent Heights...

Leonard’s sword was still raised, but his arm had stopped moving. His entire body was trembling. Around him, several Argent Heights students had collapsed. One guy was even crying.

Another had begun vomiting.

Leonard clenched his teeth. "Stand..."

His voice shook.

"Stand up."

Nobody responded. He tried again.

"Stand up!"

This time, his voice broke. He looked toward the Observatory. A strange sensation crawled across his skin. His instincts were screaming one word.

RUN.

Leonard had fought monsters. He had fought awakened humans. He had stood against A-Ranks. But this?

This wasn’t a battle. This was something else. This was something that shouldn’t have been here. He slowly lowered his sword.

"We need to leave."

Valecrest...

Chloe stood beside Silas. Unlike everyone else, she wasn’t trembling. Her expression was cold.

Her blue eyes remained fixed on the Observatory, while frost slowly gathered around her body. Silas glanced at her.

"Don’t."

"I know."

"You don’t."

Chloe tightened her grip around her spear. "I know what you’re going to say."

Silas frowned. "Then listen."

"I am."

"Good."

She stared at him. "But I’m not leaving you."

Silas sighed.

"Of course."

Behind them, the Crimson Reaper, Goblin King, and Solar Tyrant Gallus continued moving the others farther away. Alpha kept looking backward. His face was pale.

"Silas..."

"Keep moving," Alicia said in a commanding tone.

"That’s not what I-"

"Keep moving."

Alpha swallowed. "Fine."

The echoes carried the remaining members of Valecrest deeper into the forest. Only Silas and Chloe remained.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

Another wave of pressure exploded from the Observatory. Silas’s Orc King avatar immediately tightened its grip around him.

The ground cracked. Chloe’s hair whipped violently in the pressure. Silas stared ahead, and finally, they saw her.

A gigantic silhouette slowly emerged from the Observatory. First came the tail; a massive serpentine body pushed through the enormous entrance, crushing ancient stone beneath its weight.

Then came the upper body. A woman’s torso. It was beautiful, terrifying, and ancient. Her long dark hair flowed behind her like a living shadow. Her lower body was an enormous serpent covered in dark scales.

Golden eyes opened, and they weren’t the eyes of an animal. They were the eyes of something that had existed for ages. Something that had watched civilizations rise and disappear.

Echidna, the Mother of Monsters. Her gaze swept across the battlefield. For a moment, it seemed as though she was searching for something.

Then her eyes landed on Silas, and a faint smile appeared on her face.

"So..." Her voice was quiet this time. "You are the one who disturbed my slumber."

Silas’s fingers tightened around his daggers, while a pink circle slowly materialized behind him.

"Apparently."

Echidna’s smile widened.

"Interesting."

Then, every communication device in Blackridge suddenly activated. The tournament organizers had finally regained control of the emergency system. A panicked voice echoed across every speaker.

[EMERGENCY ANNOUNCEMENT!]

[ALL PARTICIPANTS ARE ORDERED TO ABORT THE TOURNAMENT IMMEDIATELY!]

[THIS IS NOT A DRILL!]

[ALL PARTICIPANTS MUST EVACUATE BLACKRIDGE EXPANSE!]

[REPEAT!]

[ABORT THE TOURNAMENT!]

[EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY!]

The message continued repeating across every communication device. For the first time since the tournament began, the organizers weren’t pretending everything was under control.

They were terrified. The students heard it, the teachers heard it, the military heard it, and the entire country heard it.

For several seconds, nothing happened. Then Echidna tilted her head.

"Abort?"

Her smile disappeared. She slowly looked toward the sky. She roared. It was not loud or violent. But this one was different. It was deeper, older, and far more powerful.

ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO...

The sound crossed Blackridge. It crossed the mountains. It shook the cities surrounding the Expanse.

Windows shattered, birds fell from the sky, monsters collapsed, vehicles stopped, people across New Liberty froze where they stood, and even awakened individuals hundreds of kilometers away suddenly felt their hearts seize.

The emergency broadcasts went silent, causing every participant to freeze, and every monster to freeze. Silas’s eyes widened, while Chloe’s pupils contracted.

For the first time since her awakening, even Chloe felt something. This was not fear. It was something deeper; a primal recognition, as though her very blood had recognized the existence before them.

The forest became completely silent. Somewhere within the Observatory, Echidna slowly opened her eyes wider. The last sound to echo across Blackridge was a whisper.

Then everything went silent.