Chapter 184: Fate and Irony

"Sir Timothy!"

A few kilometers away from the Dome, inside some sort of building entirely made of white marble, a man wearing a white robe was kneeling on the ground, his shoulders moving as he tried to catch his breath. In front of him was an old man sporting a long white beard.

"Hm?" The old man called Timothy only hummed, not even bothering to glance at the kneeling man as he flicked his fingers in the empty air.

"There's a problem in the Pit!" The kneeling man said, "The emergency signal fire was lit! We need to send someone there immediately!"

"Slow down…" Timothy let out a sigh as he finally looked at the kneeling man, "What kind of emergency?"

"The Prisoners have escaped!"

"Can't the City Guards handle that? What are we even paying them for?"

"It… it's a red fire! The Prisoners have already managed to breach the Dome!"

"Oh…" Timothy stroked his magnificent long beard, "That's interesting…

...Shall we send our new toys, then?"

***

"What's going on!?"

Inside a dimly lit and vast cavern, Andrea, who was previously practicing with her rifle, could not help but panic as the ground started to shake. The clouds of dust on the cavern's ceiling rained down the entire encampment of the Resistance group.

"Sarah, what's going on!?" She shouted as soon as she saw Sarah running towards her.

"We're leaving!"

"What? F… finally!" She hollered, "Where!?"

Andrea had been stuck inside this huge cavern for months. Even though practicing the rifle had helped in taking her mind off of things, she still worried about Van every day.

"All of us are leaving!"

"...What?"

"Van's moth-- They said Miss Evangeline is starting to move us!"

"...Move us?" Andrea could not help but be confused,

"...What do you mean?"

As soon as Andrea said that, a thin ray of light suddenly beamed down on her face. Feeling the warmth that she hasn't felt for a long time, Andrea could not help but quickly look up, only to see the cavern of the ceiling slowly opening.

Andrea quickly covered her eyes as the sun bombarded them with its greeting. But soon, she slowly removed her hands, fully exposing her face from the sun that she sorely missed. She took in a deep breath as fresh air finally entered her nose.

It wasn't just her, Sarah, and almost all of the people basked in this shower of light. The rays of the sound and the clouds hitting her face truly made Andrea relax.

"..."

Wait… clouds?

Andrea opened her eyes wide as she looked at the horizon, only to see nothing but the blue skies.

"!!!"

"We… we are flying?" Andrea could not help but stutter as she slowly looked at Sarah. But alas, Sarah was too busy being in shock herself. When her grandfather sealed her movements and locked her up, she felt herself quickly losing consciousness. And when she woke up, she was already here.

She always thought that they were underground… but to think this is what Angelo Elton meant by moving… This was the last thing she expected.

Sarah then woke up from her stupor as she felt Andrea grabbing her wrist, dragging her all the way towards the edge of their… ship.

And they truly were flying. She could clearly see the craters and the wrecked ruins of the old world down below.

"This… this is amazing," Andrea tightened her grip on Sarah's wrist as she was slightly taken aback as she saw how far up they were.

"L… look!"

"Is that her!?"

Sarah and Andrea then could not help but look around as the people near them started kneeling where they stood as they all looked in the same direction, towards the center of their ship, their heads turned upwards.

Both Sarah and Andrea looked in the direction both at the same time, only to see a silver-haired woman floating in the air.

"That's… Chlo-- Evangeline," Andrea could not help but furrow her eyebrows as she saw Van's supposed mother in the air, her arms stretched wide as a slight golden glow slowly started protruding from her back.

"...Are those wings?" Sarah could not help but comment. She easily recognized the shape the light was making as her [Blood Armor] also had wings at the back. But after a few seconds, her breath stopped as she realized what was happening.

"Is she…" Sarah gulped, "...is she moving this whole thing?"

Sarah looked around her. This floating ship was at least a thousand square meters… and Evangeline seems to be moving it with ease.

"You mean she's that strong… and she didn't even bother helping Evans?" Was Andrea's only response to Sarah's awe. When she approached her here a few months ago and confronted her about how she just watched as Van suffered all those years, Evangeline only asked who she was.

At first, Andrea thought that Evangeline was just feigning ignorance, pretending to not know her even though she greeted her almost every day in the market as Chloe. But after a while, Andrea realized that there was something wrong with her.

It was as if she was talking to… a child. After that, before Andrea could even ask more questions, Evangeline was taken away by a group of people all wearing some kind of golden robe.

She hasn't met her again since.

Was she… truly Van's mother? Can that bald old man with the weird mustache's words be trusted?

'I assure you, my words are true, young lady.'

"!!!"

Andrea could not help but slightly back up towards Sarah as it felt like someone suddenly whispered in her ear. She quickly looked around her, only to find that there was no one there.

"I take it you have more questions?" And then, out of nowhere, Headmaster Hans appeared in front of them, his head fully reflecting the bright rays of the sun.

"..."

"I think we all know what the answer to that is," Sarah stepped forward as she looked Hans straight in the eyes, "Just who is Evangeline?"

"I already told you, she is Van's mother… and the leader of our group."

"You say this group, but up until now I still have no idea what this group's purpose is beyond being an enemy of the Circle," Sarah furrowed her eyebrows. "You people must have an end game."

"Your grandfather truly did not tell you anything," Headmaster Hans could only shake his head as he released a sigh of disappointment,

"Your grandfather started this little… group."

"...What?"

"He was the first one to resist the authority of the Circle," Hans pinched his mustache, "But alas… Fate seems to have a fondness for irony. The rebel became the devout, the greatest weapon of the Circle…

...and the holy became the insurgent."

"My grandfather… was the leader of the Rebels?" Sarah could not help but let out a short breath as her eyes wandered everywhere, "...What?"

"Emphasis on was," Headmaster Hans nodded his head, "I am afraid your grandfather is now fully a part of the Circle."

"Wait… what do you mean by the holy became the insurgent?"

As soon as Sarah asked that, Hans pointed towards Evangeline.

"Her? She was part of the Circle?"

"No," Hans quickly shook his head, "She…

...is the Circle."