Chapter 73: Final Threshold

"Run," the deacon said softly, his creepy, ever present smile not even wavering behind the shadow of his golden hood.

"I will deal with this beast."

Instructor Sterling turned to the cloaked figure, his precise voice laced with a genuine, deep respect. "We possibly can’t leave you lone divine servant."

The golden hood tilted towards the instructor, sending shivers down the instructor’s back.

"What he meant was can you truly defeat this ancient mana beast, divine servant?" instructor cross added.

The deacon let out a soft, hollow chuckle that sent a sharp chill straight down the spines of the freshmen. "No. But I can calm its anger. You don’t need to worry about me, the light is with me. Now go forth children, return to the campsite."

Without waiting to be told twice, Thomas, Ryan, and Julian were already running full speed through the wet, dark muck of the known marshland foliage. They didn’t waste a single frame of motion posturing or questioning the decree. The moment the deacon said the word run, their boots were already pounding against the damp earth. The other two instructors didn’t delay either, instantly taking off right behind the freshmen. Only Instructor Cross and Instructor Sterling lingered for a brief second; they bowed deeply and respectfully toward the golden hood before spinning on their heels to join the dead sprint back toward the campsite.

The standard way back to the primary campsite grounds was normally a long, grueling three hour walk through the choking terrain. But since they were pushing their bodied to their absolute peak velocity, running at full, unyielding speed, they could realistically make the distance in an hour and a half.

Thomas kept his cool as he sprinted through the dense trees, keeping Mina’s weight balanced tightly against his chest while Julian moved right alongside his flank with Lina. He stayed entirely silent, his dark eyes wide open as he focused entirely on the path ahead.

BOOM!

Right as they were running through the thick of the forfest, the ground beneath their feet violently buckled. They felt slight, terrifying tremors pulsing through the wet earth, accompanied immediately by a massive, colossal surge of raw spiritual mana exploding from the boundary lines behind them. The sheer pressure was so absolute that it caused the nearby puddles to ripple violently, signaling the direct clash between Subject 4314’s bleeding roots and the mysterious deacon of the church.

Thomas looked back over his shoulder for a split second, wondering if the deacon was actually planning to pull something malicious under the cover of the wild. But after a few intense minutes of sprinting, the heavy tremors completely died out, and the massive energy signature faded back into the dark horizon.

Within a full hour of non stop running, the familiar, suffocating weight of being watched suddenly descended right back onto Thomas’s shoulders. His neck hairs stood completely on end, and he didn’t need the system to tell him what had just occurred.

It appeared the deacon had already returned from the boundary, his insane speed allowing him to effortlessly catch up with their group in no time. Instructor Sterling briefly looked back over his shoulder, his face twisting into a look of pure, unadulterated surprise as his eyes locked onto the golden cloak. Unlike the freshmen and the instructors, whose gear, clothes and limbs were completely covered in thick mud, the deacon was absolutely spotless. Not a single speck of swamp grime or grey dust had managed to touch his golden garments.

No one in the group said a single thing. A heavy, tense silence locked down the entire line as they quietly crossed the final threshold, stepping back beneath the massive crystalline protection of the campsite mana dome to end their deadly scouting mission.

The moment their boots crossed the threshold of the shimmering mana dome, the heavy atmospheric pressure evaporated instantly. The sulfurous odor of the outer wetlands was replaced by the clean, filtered air of the campsite safe zone. Thomas kept his face perfectly smooth as glass as he carefully laid the unconscious form of Mina down onto the dry earth near their assigned tents. Right beside him, Julian moved with a silent, rigid efficiency, lowering Lina onto the grass with a quiet grunt as his cracked silver armour clanked against the dirt. Both girls were entirely pale, their breathing shallow but stable as their exhausted cores rested, slowly recovering from the long, agonizing siphoning ordeal.

Ryan collapsed heavily onto a nearby log, his hands trembling violently as he stared blankly at his muddy boots. He was completely spent, his breath coming in ragged gasps from the hour and a half dead sprint. Thomas remained standing, his dark eyes wide open as he quietly surveyed the surrounding grounds, completely keeping his composure despite the lingering aches inside his chest.

A short distance away, near the entrance of the primary building, a sharp commotion caught his attention. Instructor Sterling and Instructor Cross had gathered alongside the rest of the other instructors, their postures completely rigid and their faces twisted into expressions of absolute, unyielding frustration.

The instructors were actively locked in a heated, serious argument about whether or not they should completely cancel the remainder of the freshman excursion. The fact that Thomas’s group had managed to thoroughly anger an exceptionally strong, vocal mana beast right on the edge of the known borders had put the entire hunting operation in immediate jeopardy. The senior instructors argued that the risk to the rest of the classes was far too immense if the mana beast decided to lash out past the boundary again.

Thomas watched them, his sharp intellect processing the tactical variables of their panic.

Meanwhile, Julian stood a few paces away by his tent, his bare ebony eyes narrowed as he watched the spotless golden hood of the deacon fade into the main administrative building without delivering a single line of explanation to the instructors.

"Lesser, come with me." Julian called out to Thomas. "Its about time we have that talk."

Thomas nodded, and quietly followed Julian inside his tent.