Civilization Chronicles: Rise of the Divine Creator

Inside Charles’ office, which had become the default commander centre for Redwood Town, Celestina, Vanessa, and Lucas had gathered together to discuss some future plans for when they arrived in Herald City tomorrow when, all of a sudden, the General stopped mid-sentence and turned her head towards the east.

Vanessa also furrowed her brow and looked east a moment later.

Lucas was initially confused, wondering if something had gone wrong, but just as he was about to ask, a pair of powerful Life Auras entered his own detection range, causing him to mutter, ”A Tartan? But why only one...”

Before he could finish processing this unexpected arrival, Lucas was startled to hear a loud clatter coming from outside as the rapidly approaching Tartan slammed hard into the Manor’s yard.

A pulse of Soul Qi washed over the Manor in the next instant, and the Aerial Knight who was riding this Tartan leapt off its back before it even came to a complete halt.

”Something must have gone wrong,” Lucas muttered, putting voice to what everyone in the room was thinking. As to what exactly had gone wrong, and how bad the situation was, they would soon find out as the Aerial Knight was now racing through the Manor’s corridors, obviously heading towards them.

Within seconds of touching solid ground, one of Vanessa’s subordinates burst into Charles’ office.

This man was the rider of one of the Tartans which had been towing the Sunchaser all day, so it was understandable that he looked exhausted, but as an elite soldier from the Golden Wings Legion’s First Regiment, he should still have been able to maintain his calm and discipline under normal circumstances.

Right now, however, this man had a flustered look on his face and was breathing hard as he called out hurriedly, ”General! Commander! We have an emergency!”

”Speak,” Celestina immediately commanded.

In-between heaving breaths, the soldier reported, ”A massive horde of beasts is moving towards Herald City.”

”What did you say?” Charles, who had also come running after hearing the commotion, uttered in shock as he entered the room.

Lifting her hand to signal the local Lord to remain calm, Vanessa quickly demanded, ”Captain Ryan, catch your breath, then give us all the specifics.”

Steadying himself, the Fifth Step Sea Establishment Realm soldier, whose only name was Ryan, began recounting the details of the situation, and the more he spoke, the direr the looks on everyone’s face became.

Shortly after the Sunchaser departed from Herald City, heading back to Redwood Town on its final return-trip of the day, several crewmembers spotted what looked like a fog bank to the northwest.

At first, no one paid much attention to this, thinking it was just the evening weather rolling in; however, when the Tartans pulling the Skyship began cawing and acting fidgety, the soldiers realized something was amiss.

After a quick discussion, Captain Gage, the one in command of the group, ordered one of the Aerial Cavalry to be cut loose and sent to investigate.

That soldier just happened to be Ryan.

”What we thought was a fog bank turned out to be an enormous dust cloud kicked up by a stampede of several thousand beasts,” Ryan detailed, accepting a glass of water from Anna, who had just now arrived as well.

After wetting his throat, Captain Ryan continued, ”Most of the beasts were First or Second Order, but even from afar I sensed hundreds of Third and Fourth Order beasts among them.”

Pausing here, a deeply concerned expression appeared on Ryan’s face as he reported in a solemn tone, ”On top of that, my mount acted more and more anxious the closer we got to the horde, so I suspect even stronger beasts were hidden nearby, possibly even directing the stampede.”

Silence fell over the room as everyone absorbed this information, but it didn’t last long before Vanessa asked, ”Were species that normally avoid one another, like predators and prey, mixed together?”

”Yes.”

”What about the cohesion of the horde? Were they traveling as one pack or were they scattering as they moved?”

”That’s what was even odder,” Captain Ryna frowned, ”The entire horde was moving directly towards Herald City as a single mass. It was unlike anything I have ever seen before; it was more like an army rather than a pack of rampaging beasts.”

Frowning deeply, Vanessa turned to her former mentor, seeking her opinion.

”There’s a good chance it’s what you think,” Celestina confirmed, a deep frown appearing on her face.

”You suspect some powerful beast or beasts are controlling this Beast Tide in order to attack Herald City, Master?” Lucas asked, his words enlightening the others in the room to what Vanessa and Celestina were trying to discern.

”Could it be the missing Saberclaw Raptors?” Christina, who had arrived a short time ago, suggested.

”Possibly,” Celestina nodded, before shaking her head, ”But I don’t think it’s likely. I’ve only read a bit about Saberclaw Raptors, but from that little information and the brief contact we had a few days ago, they seem more like a solitary species than one that manipulates other beasts into doing their bidding.”

”Whatever the case, we can’t just stand by and do nothing,” Anna declared, but soon frowned, realizing that in the face of such a disaster, she couldn’t make much of a contribution.

Patting Anna’s shoulder, Charles stepped forward and said, ”General Balfour, Commander Clark, you’ve done more than enough for our little town. There’s nothing more to prepare for the evacuation here, and if all the beasts in the area really are heading for Herald City, there also shouldn’t be any danger. We’ll be fine for a little while without you, so please don’t hesitate.”

Meeting eyes with the local Baron, Celestina stared into his calm gaze for a moment before grinning, ”In situations like this, you’re supposed to concern yourself with your own interests and people first; you know that, right?”

”I can’t help it, this is just how I am,” scratching his head awkwardly, Charles flashed a wry smile as he continued, ”Besides, most of my people are already over on that side. Helping Herald City is the same as helping my people.”

”Heh, it seems my granddaughter has good taste,” Celestina chuckled back, ”You may not be a qualified noble or Lord, but at least you’re not a failure as a man.”

Having said as much, Celestina straightened up and began issuing orders, ”Activate all the militia left in town. Have them arm themselves and prepare for combat. Get everyone into the central safe-zones and tighten the perimeter as much as possible.”

””Yes ma’am,”” Charles and Anna saluted and ran off.

”Hubert, I’m leaving you in command of our forces here,” Celestina next addressed the old Commander, ”assist the locals in securing the perimeter and keep them safe until they can be evacuated tomorrow.”

”Leave it to this old man, General,” Commander Levins saluted confidently before walking off to carry out his orders.

”Lawrence, I’m borrowing your Golden Hawk,” Celestina turned to the silent warrior everyone else only knew as ’Sir Green’ and declared.

There was a slight twitch on Sir Green’s face when his former caretaker and instructor casually exposed his true name, but he quickly schooled his expression and nodded, knowing now was not the time to quibble over such minor problems.

”If I remember correctly, one of our Tartans injured itself pulling the Sunchaser earlier today, so that leaves us with 4 which are flight ready,” Celestina muttered aloud, seemingly thinking to herself.

”Vanessa,” Celestina turned to the other Peak Spirit Initiate in the room and ordered, ”You and 4 other Commanders are to follow after me as soon as you’re able to. Speed is critical here, so only one person per mount.”

”Yes, General!” Vanessa nodded before turning to her fellow Spirit Initiates and beginning a quick selection process.

There were currently 8 Spirit Initiates left in Redwood Town.

Excluding Sir Green, Hubert Levins, and Vanessa herself, that left 5 to choose from, so it didn’t take long to decide who would go and who would stay.

Turning to Christina, Celestina then said, ”Tina, you remain here. I’m trusting you with the town’s safety.”

”I understand, General Balfour,” Christina chose and emphasized her words carefully as she nodded, indicating that she recognized her aunt wasn’t really leaving her in charge of Redwood Town’s defence, but was subtly telling her Peak Spirit Initiate Royal Guardian to assume that role.

Although technically Sir Green was here exclusively as the princess’ bodyguard, Christina had some limited ability to command him. More importantly, whenever she went, he would go to, so if Christina commanded Sir Green to defend Redwood Town where she was staying, the silent guardian would fulfil that order as best he could as long as it didn’t compromise the princess’ safety.

Finally, Celestina looked at her First Disciple and said firmly, ”Lucas, you’re in charge of managing the overall situation here. Keep everyone calm until we return.”

Pausing for a moment, Celestina mulled over her thoughts a bit before adding, ”If you don’t hear from me by morning, I’ll leave it up to your judgement whether to resume the evacuation or not.”

”Yes, Master,” Lucas acknowledged the order without any hesitation, while no one in the room raised any objections either. All of them were confident in the strange young boy’s judgement and ability.

As if trying to live up to that trust and confidence, just as Celestina was about to rush out the door, Lucas called out solemnly and asked the uncomfortable question that everyone had thus far avoided, ”Master, if an emergency occurs here as well...”

Halting in her tracks, Celestina momentarily frowned at the idea, but unable to dismiss this very real possibility, she ultimately just said, ”The Sunchaser should return soon, and will remain here while I’m gone. Use it however you deem appropriate.”