Chapter 1714 Calamity [3]

Chapter 1714 Calamity [3]

A day passed without much change in matters. Faldren and Valerie occupied the western half of the battlefield, Raphael kept his ground in the central border city, and everyone else waited where they were assigned for their leaders to make the next move.

If there was one thing to note, it was that Estavian had gathered the roughly two hundred soldiers who managed to escape from the city's destruction and formed a line to confront Raphael.

Well, that was what Raphael believed their purpose to be, but he was severely overestimating his importance in this war.

Because he'd been allowed to gather most of their army and make them loyal to only him, because he was able to get whatever he wanted from August through trades that he believed only benefited him, he believed that he was the pivotal point of everything.

And in a sense, he was.

Just not in the way that he expected.

One had to wonder how Gianna's death came to light.

Well, it wasn't anything special.

Eris had been trying to contact her since the day before.

Every time a new event happened while she remained unaware, she screamed into the communication device for Gianna to respond.

They weren't the best of friends. Eris was clearly aware of Gianna's jealousy towards her, and she understood that the other woman would be willing to take on radio silence if it meant that she could monopolize rewards.

But, that wasn't enough to explain this level of silence. Certainly not when August and his people were moving so much.

Gianna was only hurting herself by withholding information from her team. At a certain point, even pride and jealousy would have to quiet down as they faced the wall of rational thought.

If Gianna was someone worthy of this competition as their clan believed, then she would feel that eventually and concede.

But she didn't.

No matter what happened, Gianna didn't report back.

That was when Eris was forced to accept the truth.

"She's dead. That idiot managed to get herself killed before anyone else."

It was a humiliating truth, but one that had to be acknowledged.

"This is what overconfidence gets you, isn't it? Or, are you lot from the Noct Clan just incredibly prone to throwing tantrums?"

Wilhelm chimed in as if someone wanted to hear his opinion, but obviously not a single person did.

"Take this seriously, bastard. We've lost one of our only usable forces, and they still have their information agent feeding them."

***

It was an eruption that nobody expected. Even August and Cera, who'd predicted that there was something hidden there, didn't think it would be this insane.

That button was pressed and all hell broke loose.

BOOOOOOOOOOM!

An entire strip of land containing all three border cities on Eris' side was separated from the rest of their territory by a massive barrier.

It started with just a few cracks, but they soon expanded into massive chasms reaching far into the depths of the world.

The earth crumbled, and immediately, those three cities were destroyed.

"Stay calm! Use mana to hover!"

In the middle of it all, Raphael tried to command his troops to deal with it.

They were surrounded by the screams of common people as hundreds of thousands of citizens were swallowed into the earth. Magma soon rose from those cracks, melting those who couldn't run in time and making them experience pure agony.

BOOOOOOM! BOOOOOOM! BOOOOOM!

Huge explosions were happening everywhere, claiming more and more lives.

Amidst all of the screams and cries, amidst the undeniable aura of death that spread through the border cities, Raphael was forced to defend himself over anyone else he saw.

He was going to die here.

That thought flitted through his mind and unsettled him to his core.

"DAMMIT!"

He roared as he maintained the mana barrier around him that diverted any force that headed his way.

That force went on to strike and kill many civilians around him, dying the ground with blood, but even that proof of his sin was swallowed by and submerged into magma, never to be seen again.

Everyone was already dying. The barrier that erected itself around the area made it impossible to escape.

As if this level of chaos wasn't enough, there was something rising from beneath the surface.

A huge maw, the mouth of something that should have never existed in this war, burst through the magma...

...and swallowed everything whole.