Chapter 223 Whispers Of Madness. Part 01.



Due to the incident with the children, the trip to the airport was delayed a few hours. The schedule became much tighter and Sam had to find ways to save time, especially after he enjoyed cuddling with Zero Three a little too much.

The second wave of monsters attacked right before they departed. This time, the Valkyries were able to deal with the swarm on their own. Following his example, they learned the Runes the Soldier Ants used to break barriers. With their weapons coated in the white glow, they managed to dispose of the queens much faster than before.

Though he was a bit disappointed that he didn't get to do anything this time, the time they saved was more than welcome.

The repairs team that was sent ahead was attacked as well, but Five and the others were able to handle the situation on their own.

By the time the convoy departed, only two days were left until the deadline Ramla had given them, not enough to make the trip on the ground. Because of that, some rather drastic measures had to be taken.

Sam wished he had learned the Runes Shizuru had used to open portals in the obsidian palace, back when she brought the container housing the original Alice from the forty sixth base all the way to North America. That would've made things a lot easier.

The only way to make the trip as short as possible was to travel the entire distance in a single, straight line. Normally something like that would've been impossible, however thanks to the Valkyries they were able to do it somehow.

With her control over the Nameless Element being the best, B3 would've been able to create something that could carry the survivors all the way without an issue. Sadly with her being out of it they had to come up with an alternative, and that's where Sitta comes in.

With her mastery over barriers she was able to create a tunnel over the forests and mountains, allowing the convoy to travel the entire distance as planned. The only problem was that she had to create multiple barriers in quick succession to achieve this effect, since barriers couldn't be moved from the spot they first appear in.n0Velusb.c0m

The orange haired Valkyrie complained several times, but in the end she still managed to do it and the convoy arrived at the destination in just four hours.

The airport Sam found seemed to have been abandoned long before the Nephilim went berserk. That's probably why it was still relatively intact, unlike the nearby city which was flattened to the ground.

About ten commercial airplanes were stored in the hangers, eight of which were in perfect condition. Sadly that much alone wouldn't be able to carry the two hundred thousand survivors so a lot of modifications had to be done. All seats were removed in order to fit more people in, and the cargo hold was also put to use. The survivors where instructed to only bring things that they can carry by hand to minimize the extra weight.

Sam was already expecting it, but as the time approached he began to feel more and more stressed about leaving so many people squeezed in a small space. If a Fallen —what he chose to call the people who lost control in Ramla's visions— were to appear during the flight, the entire plane and its passengers would be in grave danger.

An announcement was made and the survivors were asked to take caution of a few things. First, everyone was instructed to report if any of them heard strange voices or had strange, incomprehensible thoughts. Secondly, and this should go without saying, if they notice anyone bleeding from their nose, ears or eyes, they must inform the ones in charge and isolate them immediately.

Each of the planes would have a Valkyrie on board. Their job would be to enhance them using their Force Fields, which was going to be a difficult task since they had no experience covering something so large. The other reason was so they could handle any Fallen if they were to appear. Sam instructed them to isolate the individuals behind a barrier until they have the time to figure out if it was possible to help them. Alternatively, if it looked like they were going to be a danger to the plane and the other survivors, the Valkyries were instructed to dispose of them immediately.

~[]~

The next twenty hours were going to be the most stressful in their life, and that's only the time it would take to reach their destination on the other side of the world.

Back in the Sanctuary, Sam had asked Ramla to talk to her people and explain to them the situation. They were heading to what could be considered a warzone so they needed to steel their resolve and prepare themselves for the worst.

Sam had to make his preparations as well. Just like back when he went to face Hela, the Nephilim queen, he would be putting his life on the line. His personal Valkyries were there to protect him, but knowing how chaotic things could get, he needed to ensure he wouldn't be a burden.

"Whoa..."

With his concentration breaking, Sam opened his eyes to see David looking at him with an astonished expression.

"Doctor, was I seeing things or were you glowing just now?" The dark skinned soldier said.

"Did you need something, Sergeant David?" Sam asked, getting down from the box he was sitting on.

"Ah, well, not really. I was just thinking we could chat before the takeoff."

Though he wanted to use the time to practice a little more, Sam decided to take the soldier on his offer and walked out of the warehouse.

"How's everyone?" Sam asked. "Anything out of the ordinary?"

"Well, except for this whole situation," David walked beside Sam as he answered. "Nothing strange happened so far. The tension is a bit high, but I guess that's to be expected."

The soldier went on to say that none of the adults had reported any signs of the strange wave affecting them. Of course, there was no way to tell if they were all speaking the truth or not, but the time constraints made it so that they couldn't confirm things.

"Say, Doctor. Is there really no other way to go about this?"

The question came up many times before, but the answer was always the same. Sam couldn't just leave the survivors while he and his Valkyries fought the Olympians, unless he wants the monsters to get them, not to mention the prophecized madness. He couldn't spare any of the Valkyries so the only way to protect everyone is to keep them within reach, even if that doesn't seem to decrease the danger they were in.

"I'm afraid our enemies this time are planning something far more sinister than I had expected." Sam said. "If I had known we would be facing such a decisive battle right from the start, I would've made sure to bring more support."

It's hard to believe that only a little over three days have passed since they arrived in the Nephilim world. A lot of things happened back to back and sometimes Sam finds himself forgetting the main objective behind the trip.

One thing for sure, twelve Valkyries weren't nearly enough to handle everything they were going through. Losing B3 had dealt a huge blow to their forces, and the same went for JX9. Though he trusted the abilities of the others, Sam was afraid that they won't be able to handle the upcoming battle, and that made him miss his other personal Valkyries all the more.

'Nine would've been a great help right now...' he thought. 'Maybe I went too far with their punishment. Miku wasn't really in the wrong as well...'