Chapter 304: Day 676 (4) – Clarissa’s Escape

Chapter 304: Day 676 (4) – Clarissa’s Escape

Clarissa

“Alert from the East gate, several soldiers turned to dust,” a runner rushed into my room and quickly reported.

Another runner quickly came in. “A woman in black and white was just seen approaching the plaza from the East.”

A third runner game in. “Critical death, Naran has perished.” I quickly stood.

“Omega protocol,” I immediately said, not hesitating for even a second. My personal guards rushed off and I immediately touched the bowl of water on my desk. The fire-type crafting crystal turned to flame, evaporating the water in a burst of steam and lighting my desk on fire.

I quickly raced out the room. Why was she coming from the East?! My guards quickly fell in line with me as all the contingency measures went into effect. Everyone knew what messages they had to deliver and where to escape to.

I raced outside and quickly got into a cart. Doctor Katz was thrown in as well. The head maid Gretchen was already inside along with my best assistant. A guard with over 1,000 in their Body stat took off with the cart for the East gate as soon as I got in. Another cart was pulled behind us and several guards were running. One was carrying a summoner next to me to keep me informed if the situation deteriorated.

Right now, a piece of paper was being delivered to the RMPF and the General explaining the threat. Also, how the city was now lost unless they managed to kill the Divine Empress.

I was not holding my breath. After all the information Michael had given me, it was a near hopeless fight to take her on directly. I did not envy him. It was a shame about Naran. The wind pushed the tear away. He had been a good friend. It was unfortunate my messenger did not make it to him in time.

“I saw her,” Doctor Katz muttered and my head snapped towards him.

“What exactly happened?” I asked as we continued to race for the East gate inside the cart. Doctor Katz explained what she looked like and their interaction. I paled at the end when he said he pointed her towards Michael. The fact that the Astrologer’s thing had disappeared was even more concerning.

There was the sound of massive destruction behind us in the distance. My chief summoner being carefully carried by one of my guards spoke up. “Alpha strike complete failure. Fourteen Radiant Beams countered. Champion Michael pinned to ground.”

Attack after attack failed, my heart plummeted after each one. We reached the city gate in good time. “Champion Michael left knee was shattered.” I closed my eyes as we continued to race away from Purgatory. He was dead. Thank you for buying me some time. I knew he would have saved himself if he could, but as events unfolded in the plaza, it was clear he had lost any chance of escape.

Michael’s eye was plucked from his head. Then he was struck and sent flying. “The Astrologer intervened. Champion Michael disappeared. The Astrologer is confronting the Divine Empress, ack!” My summoner let out a choked cry. “I lost all my connections, the distance, and something disturbed them,” the man said.

“It is fine. Hopefully he managed to save Champion Michael.” The ground suddenly shook. The cart puller almost lost his footing, but he managed to recover and keep running. A beam of white light shot through the sky.

If they wished to mobilize, then that would take place in Purgatory in four days. I would send people there to take control of the city if it reappeared, but I would not be going back.

I had no idea if Michael was alive or the Divine Empress. Both were incredibly important questions to answer. The real question was who had done that? Who was still alive? And most importantly of all, who had died?

If the Divine Empress was dead, we had won. All that planning and build up and we had won. A literal nuke to the face had killed her off. She was a body fighter and there was only one sus person that would use a sacrifice play. A person that wasn’t a person. The Astrologer’s proxy that had been running around.

He had recovered and confronted the Divine Empress. But how had he done, whatever that was? The scale of the attack and the power, was beyond imagining. Everything down to the bedrock of the Systemic Lands had been vaporized. If he caused it, then the Divine Empress clearly was the target.

That made sense, since she would have no need for something like this. Was she dead? Was she alive? I paced back and forth slightly, since any long term plans depended on the answer. If she was dead, then it didn’t matter. But if she was alive and I acted like she was dead, that was the path of loss. I needed to limit my losses after today.

I would act with the belief she was still alive until confirmed otherwise. I had already instructed the runners to pass the word, but that could always be changed back. But getting into our hiding posture was something that was not going to be easily switched back and forth once we came out of hiding.

The real question was Michael? He clearly had suffered a lot at the hands of the Divine Empress, but was he still alive and if so, where was he? I shook my head. I would give him ten days to show up at one of the cells I had set up in a city. If he hadn’t by that point, then I would assume he was dead until proven otherwise.

The pressure to manage everything was now entirely on my shoulders. I hadn’t imagined that Purgatory would just be vaporized. How does one even plan for vaporization? At least nothing left behind would fall into enemy hands. That was small comfort for all the lives that had just been lost. All the effort and organization I had done.

Doctor Katz came up to me as I looked at the large pit. “That was something,” he said.

“Something indeed,” I replied. “Any idea?” I asked.

“That wasn’t a crystal. From what you have shared with me, only two things have engaged in large scale effects,” the Doctor replied. The System and those shards of physical energy. The only two things to act beyond sight. “Also, I estimate it started at the center of the city.”

“The store pillars? Really?” I asked.

“I didn’t say that, but you also came to that conclusion. What else could trigger something like this?” What the good doctor didn’t know were meta-points. Could it have been the secret skill of the Astrologer. A final suicide attack? It would make sense since he had created a proxy to act in his place.

Just use the skill on hard to kill targets and bam! They would be vaporized and everything near them. I shuddered at the thought of an attack that powerful. I could understand super humans, but walking nukes? Well time to put on the suit and earn my salary. I could only chuckle to myself about my salary, not like there was a stable stream of crystals flowing in anymore.

Without the threat of Michael, the surviving Union teams would fracture and wander off into the wilderness. They would become warlords. A future threat I would have to deal with, but I was not too concerned. I had an army of minions. Hopefully they didn’t revolt. Time to go manage some people and our situation.