Chapter 189: Holy Son?

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"How is he?"

Chrissy inquired after entering the room. Erica was there, sitting on a chair next to a bed where Cedric was resting.

They were back at the safety of the walls. The horde has been dealt with and peace was starting to return. Some bigger things happened in between but that's none of their concern.

"He's fine," Erica replied, sighing in relief for the nth time. "Just severely exhausted, though he's recovering pretty quick so he should wake up in a few hours."

Chrissy sighed and said: "Poor, guy. How they be so unlucky? As if this mission hadn't already been troublesome, they just had to experience that. You think this is gonna scar him?"

"Hell no." Erica laughed while shaking his head. "The others might, but not this one. He's too good for that."

Chrissy and Erica still remembered when they used to be in his position. Well, they weren't as unlucky as Cedric - facing a Demon Horde of all things during their mission, but the experience was still eye-opening.

As much as they disliked the rude awakening, they can't deny that it has its merits. After all, they wouldn't be part of the Outer World Expedition Team if they never experienced it.

Additionally, this mission serves as a filter for the freshmen. This is where the true geniuses amongst them are defined.

It wouldn't be surprising if some students choose to turn their backs against this and drop out. Especially considering what happened to this batch.

Some students dropping out of the academy can be expected. And while that would cause some eyebrows to rise, no one would stop or chastise them for doing so, not even the Headmaster of the Academy herself.

The trauma of a near-death experience was no joke. It will leave a scar that will last until the day they die.

They are no longer innocent people. They have seen the true horrors of the world, they've seen sights that would give criminals nightmares for days. Nobody could truly blame them for walking away from all of this because it is simply too much.

While that might be true for other people, Cedric was just different. Erica didn't believe for a second that these events would stop him. If anything, he would bounce back stronger from this.

"Still...that...what he did back there, it was something else, huh?" Chrissy chuckled as she struggled to describe what she felt. "If I wasn't there to see it with my own eyes, I probably wouldn't believe it either."

"Oh, it's ridiculous, alright." Erica smiled wryly as she glanced at the unconscious Cedric. "After all, who would've expected that he could mimic a freaking sun with his abilities?"

"That thing rose higher than the Great Wall. Pretty much everybody in the army saw it. I could recall their dumbfounded faces when they saw the darkness ebbed and was replaced by a resplendent light. It's hard to believe a Tier 4 like him could do something that like that, but he did and we all saw it."

"No, not a traitor," Elric replied as he sat down. "He discovered the clues which led to the discovery of that plot. He's the one who saw the Nightmare Worm during the patrol and what it is doing to the Leylines so in a sense, he's part of this already."

Francis sighed and said: "What a troublesome kid."

"That still doesn't explain why they need him urgently," Chrissy stated with a frown. "Even if he was the one who allowed the Lord Commander to discover the plot, that's as far it goes. Cedric's ultimately too weak to be relevant to the whole scheme."

"Instead of urgently needing him to wake up, they should be allowing him to rest and reward him for his service. After all, if it weren't for him, this entire camp would've been doomed by whatever plot that Demon King has. So, I really don't see the point."

"Well...I believe only the 101st Battalion could give you an explanation. If you could make them, of course." Elric rolled his eyes at them. "I was just telling you what we knew, no need to be angry at me on behalf of your boyfriend."

"He's not our boyfriend." Erica glared and pouted at him.

"...yet," Chrissy added. "Nothing official just yet. We're too busy and have a lot of responsibilities. He didn't want to pressure us so he never asked."

"So y'all did the nasty without a label? Ooh, how kinky—ow!" Francis winced as Erica threw a whole watermelon at him.

"If that's all you have to say, get out. You're disturbing him. If his rest was interrupted I swear I will feed you your balls!"

The men collectively shivered upon hearing her threat. Elric could only smile wryly at her overprotectiveness but he didn't say anything. She knew Erica's temper the best so he just dragged Francis out of there to leave them alone. He already said what he wanted those two to know anyway.

Erica huffed in annoyance after chasing the boys out. Chrissy just shook her head, she's used to Erica's temper as well.

Silence returned within the infirmary, but it was cut short when all of a sudden, a pulse of energy erupted from Cedric's body.

Erica and Chrissy were alarmed, the former used her diagnostic spells but the readings weren't making sense.

Next, they see Cedric sitting up from the bed, it seems like his upper body was pulled by an invisible force when it happened. His eyelid opened and what the girls saw caused their breaths to hitch.

A brilliant rainbow radiance swarmed their vision for a bit, coming from Cedric's eyes. Despite releasing a strong fluctuation of power, Cedric's gaze was blank.

Just as they were starting to feel worried, the rainbow radiance dimmed down, and clarity returned to Cedric's eyes.

He blinked, winced, and shook his head before opening his eyes once more. He glanced at the room and finally saw them. A trace of recognition appeared on his face before it was replaced with fondness and warmth.

Cedric smiled and greeted: "Hey, girls. What did I miss?"