Chapter 486

Chapter 486

The dead of night hits and we check on the Isolation pods while Luna stares out into the desert.

My teammates' pods say less than 4 hours remain, while my own pod is at just under 16.

The tension from the uneventful day is eating away at the back of everyone's minds. However, once we make our way back up to the surface during one of Luna's periodic scans of the open desert, she blurts out a startled remark to make all of our wildest suspicions come true.

"They're here...they're really here."

Her enormous eye blinks shut and disappears in the night sky and her face is visibly distraught.

I fly over to her with Ember and Maria nearby.Thi/s chapter is updated by nov(e)(l)biin.co/m

"What did you see? Describe it as best you can. Everything."

She stares up at the sky again with shock on her face.

"Hundreds of them... Maybe thousands... Or-"

The massive white eye in the sky with a full moon for its pupil manifests again, and she begins to describe what she can see.

"At least a thousand, yes, maybe more. They're all disgusting creatures—I've never seen anything like this. They look like white-skinned zombies... and floating skeletons with black robes... and... three more of those dark suits of armor..."

She gulps and looks at all of us while the eye in the sky disappears again.

"The Dark One's Army, It's Finally Here."

Her descriptions sound just like Ghouls, Wraiths, and the 3 Dark Guards that remain. The range at which her perception skills can see during the night is just about 600km, so I pose the next question.

"How fast are they moving? How much time do we have before they're here?"

Luna looks at the ground to concentrate and the bright white eye in the sky pulses.

"They're moving fast. Maybe 50 or 60 km per hour. They'll definitely be here before you make it out of your pod."

I nod and think to myself while Maria speaks up next.

"Well, why don't I go out there with Ember and take care of things. I'm sure the army of Ghouls and Wraiths won't be an issue for us. Even your body doubles without Qi may be able to fend them off fine. The only real opponents for us would be the three remaining Dark Guards."

I reply.

"You're right, thats a good option. It's what we'll have to do eventually. Confronting them before my 16-hour timer hits zero is inevitable, but waiting 4 more hours for the others to awaken is a more reasonable thing to do."

Ember nods.

"From what you told me about the 2nd ranked Dark Guard, and my past knowledge, the 1st-ranked Dark Guard will be well over level 2000. Not to mention the potential that the Lich King Itself is most likely observing its army in the shadows."

He turns to Maria.

"We may be able to fend it off the main forces right now, but we have no pure data to back things up yet. We need to stall them and send out a scout in the meantime."

I interject.

"On it. I might as well go and check things out under a stealth veil to get some info. I have 3 tries if they somehow manage to catch me anyway."

By this, I mean I have two other doubles left behind in this town, it would make the most sense for me to try and get valuable info on the approaching army while everyone stays safe here and the others wait to get out of their pods.

He looks taller, more handsome, and has smoother skin as well. Luna is the first to approach and speak to him.

"Arie... Your Qi barrier... It's intertwined with Mana and something else. It's like they're mixing together, what is this?"

He smiles and replies.

"It's the beginning of another breakthrough."

Ember adds to it.

"Indeed. It seems there's going to be more energy than just Qi and Mana intertwined in your breakthrough once it happens. What a peculiar reading."

He turns to all of us.

"Whatever it may be, I'm no longer the fighter I was when I entered that pod. That was a major power up."

He turns to Monk, then back to us.

"If you think my power ups are unique, look at Monks. That shielding is made of pure Qi, not a hint of mana is intertwined and its not by accident. It's like you ignored working on your mana control this whole time and only absorbed Qi."

He nods while staring forward with a very serious expression.

"That's right. I have perfected the first form of my old master's teachings. I am ready for battle."

Arie raises an eyebrow, but Ember's next words make everything a little more clear.

"It seems he's done exactly as you said. A unique kind of Qi awakening... One that ignores the help of Mana Control, and builds upon itself."

Embers eyes squint, then he shrugs.

"An odd method, but I've read text of the Originators doing such a thing. I've never seen anyone actually try to achieve its final form."

He nods.

"You're on your way. Impressive start."

Monk breaks his serious expression and smiles while giving Ember a slight bow.

Then, Fisher and Lydia step forward next with confident expressions, admiring their physical changes and testing their Qi barriers against each other in the back of the training room.

From what I can tell, they haven't begun awakening their Soul Energy at all yet. However, their Qi barriers have reached the point where they have far surpassed their former states and can suppress their Mana to outsiders like my body double without a Qi sense.

I allow everyone to settle in for a few minutes, then speak up myself.

"I'm glad you all had a productive gathering process, but the Dark One's army is here."

My gaze turns to the pod with my main body in it, showing just under 12 hours remaining.

"It should arrive in town in less than 8 hours, so if we want to stop them before they get here you'll need to fight the forces that are arriving now on your own. What do you say we meet this army in the middle and test out all of your new abilities?"

I open the hatch to go up into the outside world after I get a unanimous round of nods.

"Great. Let me explain exactly what we're dealing with here."

As the sun fully rises, and the people of the town wake up for another beautiful bright and sunny day, I recount the exact events of my scouting mission to all of my teammates. The approaching forces loom far beyond the horizon as we all come together to formulate a plan.