Civilization Chronicles: Rise of the Divine Creator

”I see,” Celestina nodded, a look that was a mix of surprise and exhaustion covering her face.

She had thought that the greatest battle tonight was fought in Herald City, and that the true threat to the region was the Beast Tide and the mastermind behind it; however, Marquess Balfour now understood just how limited her imagination really was.

Rifts in space that connected the Great Western Forest to other parts of the world, a Mid-Rank Seventh Order Beast, and...

Glancing down at the small white fox that was sleeping in her First Disciple’s arms, Celestina didn’t know whether she should feel extremely thankful, or extremely afraid.

Even the full-powered attack of a Mid-Rank Seventh Order Beast in Redwood Town would not have created a big enough disturbance for Celestina to have noticed all the way from Herald City, but she had no doubt that she had felt ’something’ roughly half an hour ago, prompting her to hop on Sir Green’s Golden Hawk and fly off into the night.

There was only one possible explanation; what she felt must have been the single attack from Yuki’s mother’s avatar.

The events even matched, with Lucas describing the five-tailed fox’s strike as carrying a potent Ice Attribute Spirit Qi, while what Celestina felt was like a sharp, cold gust of wind.

Even if the gap between the Elite and Master equivalent Realms was a kind of watershed where both humans and beasts saw a large jump in strength, Celestina was certain that in order for her to have noticed this strike from some 75 kilometres away, Yuki’s mother’s attack had to have at least been on par with the all-out strike of a Peak Eighth Order Beast.

What’s more, unlike Lucas, Celestina had heard of Soul Manifestations before and knew that they could at best display strength which was one Major Realm lower than the true body’s cultivation.

The child of a Peak Ninth, or possibly a legendary Tenth Order Spirit Beast, Celestina mused to herself as she stared at Yuki, the fox kit which she had sneakily fed, petted, and fawned over when nobody was looking.

Shaking her head, Celestina decided to set this matter aside for now. From what Lucas had told her, Yuki’s parents were half a world away and had no way to come here, so while it was important they cared for the young fox kit, they at least didn’t have to constantly look over their shoulders, fearing her mom or dad might suddenly show up.

”Master...” Lucas called out, grabbing Celestina’s wandering attention.

”Hm?” Turning her eyes back to her Disciple, the Marques tilted her head curiously, motioning for him to speak up.

Frowning slightly, Lucas hesitated for a moment before bringing up the topic he was most concerned with right now, ”Commander... Commander Levins asked me to tell you, it was the honour of his life to have served you...”

Upon hearing these words, all other distracting thoughts left Celestina as her expression turned somber.

Hubert Levins had been her subordinate for nearly 200 years, and a member of her Family Guard for almost as long. He was never the strongest, nor the smartest, but he had always been steadfast, kind, and caring, never hesitating to put the good of others before his own.

Pursing her lips, Celestina nodded in acknowledgement, ”Old Hubert was a man I could always rely on. His death tonight is a tragedy, but it is also the purest example of who he was. Your life, and the lives of everyone here, are a tribute to his courage and bravery, and as long as you live strongly, his sacrifice will never be forgotten.”

Choking back his own tears, Lucas nodded back.

Eris and Tina were also overcome with emotion, as were many others aboard the Sunchaser.

While it was ultimately Yuki’s mother who had saved them tonight, that didn’t mean Commander Levins’ actions were pointless, or that his death was a waste. As far as anyone could tell, the five-tailed fox’s Soul Manifestation had only triggered when Yuki herself was on the brink of death.

Without Commander Levins delaying the beast, the Sunchaser would have had no choice but to evacuate before the last group of survivors made it back to the camp, condemning several dozen of them to death.

If the Sunchaser had risked remaining, and the turtle had instead targeted them with a broad-ranging attack, there was no telling how many might have died tonight.

Hubert Levins confronting the Seventh Order Beast was what allowed so many of them to escape tonight; that much was certain.

After a minute of silence, Celestina let out a quiet sigh before declaring, ”I will ensure that Old Hubert is given the proper funeral rites he deserves, and that his family is taken care of. His name will also be engraved into the Heroes’ Monument in Misty City’s Hall of Warriors upon our return.”

Obviously, there was no body left to be buried, so this was the best Celestina could do to honour Hubert Levins’ many years of service.

This statement didn’t give much comfort to those who owed their lives to Commander Levins, but it was at least something.

The funeral would also give them the opportunity to pay their final respects to the old man and to thank his family, so basically everyone aboard the Sunchaser began making plans to attend, regardless how difficult that would be for some of them.

Considering the matter settled for the moment, Celestina signaled for Lucas to follow her as she made her way to the bridge, where Captain Gage was still struggling to keep the Sunchaser afloat.

”What’s the situation, Lana?” Celestina asked bluntly.

Still fiddling with the controls, Captain Gage replied with a grim look on her face, ”She’ll make it to Herald City, General, no question about it, but I suggest we land in the river instead of on solid ground.”

Examining the control panel before her and sweeping the ship with her own Soul Sense, Celestina concurred with her subordinate’s assessment, ”You’re right. The risk of us not being able to get the ship airborne again after it sets down is too high. Better to have her set down in the Belton.”

”Are you planning to sail the Sunchaser like a regular boat back to Misty City, Master?” Lucas inquired from the side.

”That’s right,” Celestina nodded, then shook her head, ”There’s no way for us to perform the kind of repairs necessary to get the Sunchaser operational again in Herald City. We might be able to get her floating again in the capital, but I’d prefer to avoid that option unless absolutely necessary.”

Picturing the map of the Rockwell Kingdom in his head, Lucas was about to agree when he suddenly thought of something, ”Wouldn’t it be faster to sail the Sunchaser down the Belton and out to sea before following the coast until we reach the Lorren?”

The trip from Herald City to Misty City along the rivers and canals of the Rockwell Kingdom was an over 4,000 kilometres journey which would take around half-a-month under ideal conditions. The ocean route, on the other hand, was about half that length, so Lucas couldn’t help wondering why they were trying to take the long way around.

Lucas thought his suggestion was perfectly logical, so he was quite surprised when both his Master and Captain Gage directed wry looks at him, seemingly silently calling him a naïve child.

Had he been an ordinary 10-year-old, Lucas might have been offended by this, but instead, he just stared back at them curiously.

Seeing this, Lana took the initiative to explain, ”The ocean around here, even close to the kingdom’s southern shores, is much rougher compared to the internal rivers.”

”On top of that, there are many more Wild Beasts in the ocean waters with significantly higher average strengths, making it far riskier to try to sail out to sea,” Celestina added, satisfying her Disciple’s insatiable curiosity.

”Of course, both of those limitations can be overcome, but the real problem is with provisions,” Lana Gage continued, ”When one travels along the internal river routes, there are major ports and cities every day or two, allowing for easy resupply even of large convoys.”

”The ocean route, however, has no ports at all as our kingdom doesn’t have any large coastal settlements, meaning all the food and fresh water required for the journey needs to be loaded onto the ships right from the start.”

Hearing this, Lucas wasn’t completely surprised as he had expected such issues to be present, but he was still disappointed. This wasn’t because he was eager to get the Sunchaser back to Misty City, but because it didn’t bode well for his future rescue plans.

Noticing the frown on her Disciple’s face, Celestina just smiled and ruffled his hair, ”Are you going to let that stop you from seeing your parents again?”

Looking up at the grin on his Master’s face, Lucas narrowed his eyes slightly as he firmly stated, ”No. I don’t care how long it takes, I will see them again.”

”Good boy,” Celestina’s smile widened, ”Your Master will do whatever she can to help you, even if that means setting out and sailing across the world one day.”

Lucas was, of course, grateful for his Master’s support, but he also noticed a kind of subtle glint in Celestina’s eyes when she mentioned sailing across the ocean, one that made him unconsciously ask, ”Do you like adventuring, Master?”

Celestina stiffened slightly when this question was asked, while Captain Gage very obviously averted her eyes, seemingly focusing back on the Sunchaser’s control panel while ’coughing’ lightly.

Recovering quickly, Celestina began ruffling Lucas’ head harder, shaking the boy slightly as she warned him, ”I keep telling you to watch what you say, my good Disciple. Your mouth is going to get you into serious trouble one day.”

Feeling like he was on rough seas, Lucas tried to nod, but found his head was gripped too firmly to do so, so he could only stutter aloud, ”Y-Y-Yes, Master. I’ll remember.”

Rolling her eyes, Celestina decided to let both Lucas, and Lana off for now, waving her hand as she said lightly, ”I’ll escort you back to Herald City to ensure nothing else goes wrong.”

Cracking his sore neck, Lucas grumbled lowly, ”After everything that’s happened tonight, what else could possibly go wrong?”

2 hours later, Lucas would come to deeply regret asking that question.