Chapter 320: Mass Panic

7:45 PM, walking through the corridor in the Head Office Building was Jyorta, barely containing the excitement in him. He tried to be as calm as possible but his heart didn't stop thumping in excitement while he wore a wide smile on his face without even realising.

His footsteps were a merry, his gait resounding confidence, the vibe similar to a farmer that was about to reap a bountiful harvest. 'I was told to come later since she was busy during the appointed time. Hope I could obtain it now.'

The Unranked Skill, Regen; just thinking about it made Jyorta giddy. He barely controlled himself from humming in joy, his gait picking up pace as he approached the principal's office. Standing at the door was the grumpy guard from before, his sole job to make people wait and relay their information to Madam Mary inside.

Jyorta introduced himself, stating the reason for his arrival. The guard listened, sending his psychic arm through a portion of the wall that solely allowed his psychic arm to pass through. A couple of seconds later, he turned around, "You can enter now."

"Thank you, sir." Jyorta made a light bow before he pushed the door open. Seated within was Madam Mary, busy with her work, going through a stack of papers. Just when he stepped foot inside, her figure disappeared.

'Is it another test?' Just when Jyorta wondered, he heard thumping sounds resound in the corridor. He turned around and noticed the guard missing from his post. A second later, the lights went off.

Only discrete flashes were emitted from the walls, from the battery-operated torches embedded inside. They barely lit up the corridor, enough for him to not stumble or bump into something.

He immediately unleashed his domain, keeping the range around 1 metre. Despite the situation, he had to keep up appearances. Besides, he didn't know if it was another of the military academy's tests.

'I have to return.' The thumping sounds all disappeared, replaced by silence. Soon, the sounds of students screaming reached his ears. Without a second's hesitation, Jyorta sprinted towards the stairs, his expression morphing, unleashing his full domain without restraint.

His blue soul was sending him warning signals, with a frequency surpassing when he saw Laila. Just that alone made him realise the severity of the situation. Soon, he exited the Head Office Building, noticing a stream of students run into the open.

Most of them were panic-stricken, fear and paranoia seeping into them as crowd mentality took effect. The students were all rushing towards the White Building, with each of them shouting everything they heard.

Rumours were built up, exaggerated to terrifying extents. Jyorta sprinted at full speed, soon noticing the cause of the panic. The screens on the White Building still displayed the scenes of battle. But, most of the Swarm near the city were exploding into blood and meat paste one after another, a sign of implosion under extreme aura levels.

In the screens, people crowded on the city walls in staggering numbers, overcrowding it. Some of the screens displayed people standing beside the walls or hovering in the air while unleashing their psychic arms. Not one used any mode of concealments, unleashing the brunt of their raw strength.

This allowed the students to witness everything, the emotion of fear etching in them as they noticed the lineup and the expressions on the faces of every soldier. Jyorta also noticed the figures of his grandfather and his sister in one of the screens. They were accompanied by all the Bone Family members he knew, their hands on the city walls as they seemed to be infusing their aura into it.

War! Threat! Solemnity!

His figure shuddered as he read the atmosphere, realising as to why the students were in such a state.

"Look at that!"

"Where…?"

"What in the…"

"No way…"

The students spoke in dejectedness, welling on despair as they noticed the storm approaching from the horizon and at two large patches, one white, one magenta that stood in its way.

"If the Ancestors are being like that…"

"It can only mean…"

"Oh god…!"

The mental states of the students collapsed, with many breaking down into tears. Most were unable to cope up with such a situation. Only the ones who hailed from Aristocratic Families or those that maintained good ranks fared better, privy of more details that bolstered their hope.

'Not good, they might end up committing radical actions under such pressure.' The blue soul used the face mask to forcefully stabilise his emotions for a couple of seconds before retracting it. Jyorta sprinted towards the front, turning back as he faced the crowd.

'I have to do something. There is a high chance that all the staff have headed to the walls.' His heart thumped as he heard a loud thud echo from the Red Building, his eyes widening in shock, 'The Labyrinth of Frenzy! No one is managing it for the time being. This is not good. If they come out, we won't be able to resist.'

Jyorta closed his eyes, taking in a deep breath as his body slightly thinned in response. He opened his eyes, exerting all his presence.

Aura Personification—Hallucination!

It was daytime; gentle winds blew, ruffling the grass. There was a mild drizzle, carrying with it a mild chill while the air was pleasantly warm. It wasn't bright, but gentle like the morning rays of the sun.

Gentle music began to play in the background. It was the simple sound of a waterfall, the sound of water as it moved in the stream, and the sound of a brook as its flowing water moved over smooth pebbles. The sounds were of nature, the ones closest to affecting an individual's mind.

A girl's eyes were vacant, lifeless, drowning in despair. She had just completed her Induction Ceremony a couple of months ago and was still adjusting to her life after being exposed to many frightening things.

But, even she knew the being that terrorised the world for centuries, a pinnacle being that could only be resisted against by the joint effort of all Ancestors. The appearance of such an individual meant disastrous consequences. Even natural disasters paled in comparison.

Just when she was on the verge of losing consciousness, her surroundings changed, the weather healing her mind, the sounds of nature soothing her heart. She began to calm down, feeling a sense of optimism bud in her while her attention was fully focused on the sounds of nature.

"Our Ancestors will definitely brave through and protect us," She pumped her fists, noticing her friend do the same beside her. The two gazed at the faces of one another, wiping their tears as they helped each other up, dusting their clothes before they started to help the others.

Aura Personification—Calm!

Aura Personification—Optimism!

Aura Personification—Mental Recovery!

Aura Personification…!

Jyorta looked at his left, noticing a figure help him. He nodded at her, "Thank you, Laila."

Others followed suit, quickly using aura personifications to overlap Jyorta's. Most of them were from the August Batch, comprising around 30 individuals, all at Tier 2. They were followed by 15 from the September Batch and 8 from October Batch, including Jyorta.

Jyorta looked at his friends who had come to support, nodding to each other as they maintained their aura personifications. "There is none to man the Labyrinth of Frenzy. We must vacate them all to the White Building. It has enough space to accommodate everyone while there only exist four entrances to guard."

Everyone hurriedly nodded, expressing their approval while transmitting the contents to those stationed far away. Jyorta immediately manipulated the hallucination, making some changes.

"Weren't we on our academy ground just a couple of minutes ago? How come we ended up in this place?" After helping a couple more students, the girl from before expressed her doubts.

"What do you mean? We are still in the same place." Her friend replied, pointing her finger to show most of the buildings veiled by thin mist, obscuring them. The mist was condensing as it swirled about, like a cloud.

"Look at that." Another student exclaimed, pointing at the White Building that wasn't obscured by the fog. A sentence was written in large fonts on it, shining with lustre akin to sunlight that reeled in their focus.

"Head into the White Building immediately." A voice resounded, repeating the contents written on the wall. It was Madam Mary's voice. The students felt confused but didn't linger around as they hurried into the White Building. It was Jyorta making them hallucinate everything.

Some students ran out from the fog, accompanying them. They were the students who were still within the other buildings. Once affected by the aura personification, they exited the buildings and followed the rest.

Those that were at Tier 2 immediately understood the context of the situation. Those that reached Tier 2 while within the military academy weren't pushovers, and possessed a great resistance to the sheep mentality. Even though they were afraid, enough to almost render them helpless after seeing the scenes on the screens, but seeing their fellow peers struggle to maintain the situation, they quickly joined, giving a helping hand.

"They are coming out!" Dalna Doppler bellowed, watching the Frenzy Beasts exit the Red Building in the Rhachis Block first. She immediately rushed to the scene, raining down attacks on the exiting Frenzy Beasts, "Help me stall for time until everyone finished evacuating."

Hearing her shout, many Amplifiers retracted their aura personifications and ran towards her support. As the number of students entering the White Building increased, the area their aura personification had to cover decreased. So, there was no problem when they retracted their aura.

An Amplifier from the August Batch gazed at his back, trailing on the figures of Jyorta Bone and Laila, "Those two are exerting tremendous auras. Just the two of them alone should be enough to lead the rest into the White Building. As expected of record holders, they are amazing."