NOVEL WEB Chapter 467: A Traitor
Holding the elongated blade across his chest, its tip gleaming with a blue edge, Caelum shouted, "Blue Crimson Slash!"
The blade sliced through the air, creating a dozen deep slash marks in the wall. The creature attempted to fade away, but the attack completely obliterated the wall, revealing pipes and a jagged interior behind.
The creature lay in pieces, its shadowy form slowly stitching itself back together.
"I don't think so," Caelum said, his gaze fixed on the creature's exposed core. "What creature even has a core like this?" The question raced through his mind as he searched for an answer but found none in the fleeting moment. With a determined effort, he thrust his blade toward the core.
The blade pierced the core, slicing it in two. Caelum winced in pain as another tendril slammed into his side, forcing him to jump back.
"Minimal Ultimos!" he declared, as energy swirled around his blade. A powerful gust of energy shot out, slamming into the creature. Its cries pierced the air, and Caelum felt blood trickling from his ears. Its screams broke my eardrums, he thought sharply, as the moment faded.
The energy dissipated, leaving a massive hole that led into the void of space in the creature's wake.
Caelum collapsed to the ground, breathing heavily as a group of men and women rushed in, forming a circle around him. One of them knelt beside him, concern etched on their face.
"Vice Captain, are you okay? I mean, clearly not—you're missing an arm, but you're not going to die on us, right?"
Caelum, gasping for breath, looked up and replied, "Kaiden, no. Just get me to the medical ward and have the medical team prepare my arm for reattachment. I'm not sure what that creature did, but it poisoned me somehow."
He gripped his lower stomach where the pain was searing. "It got me here too, so make sure it's studied. Pass this along to Captain Ishiro." Pushing himself up, he added, "As of now, nothing that happened here leaves this room until Captain Ishiro says otherwise."
"Now, help me to the infirmary."
Two of the men began assisting Caelum towards the exit door. Captain Ishiro appeared down the hall. After a brief discussion with Caelum, where he explained the situation, Ishiro nodded and said, "I will send for additional support to back up Kieran on Earth and schedule an appointment with the king. I hope you recover fully, Caelum."
Caelum smiled and said, "Whatever this is, it's not enough to keep me down. I will say that creature fought in an odd way—almost devoid of logic or reason—but at the same time, it was able to fight. It's something you see from low-level monster creatures; it could be from any world or place. It's not something unique."
Captain Ishiro nodded. "I will keep you updated."
Caelum nodded as he was helped out. The Captain then spoke up, saying, "Everyone else, head to the training hall and begin pairs of two training. Afterward, take the day off and stand by in your rooms. Expect an unusual schedule for service this upcoming service cycle. Lastly, schedule a cleanup crew to collect these bodies and have them dropped in the fountain for rebirth if possible."
As he finished, everyone snapped to attention and began filing out.
As the room emptied, he walked around, inspecting all the dead bodies, when Janice spoke up.
She clutched her shoulder and her neck and stated, "It all happened so fast, he just flew from the wall and asked who, but before anyone could ask anything, he just started killing everyone."
Captain Ishiro nodded and stated, "How did the door get locked?"
She shook her head for a moment. "It all happened so fast, but two of the men, Marco and Jaco, tried to leave, bolted for the door as everyone else was cut down, and the door just refused to open, giving them the 'no access' icon.
"I realized I had an authorization remote tucked away in the back corner wall over there," she stated, pointing toward the wall with an opened box emptied of items as the rest laid on the floor.
"When I grabbed it, he then focused on me, threw me against the wall, and well, then the rest unfolded after I managed to open it."
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"I see, to confirm, Kieran reached out the command deck, someone in here picked up that contact call, then my Vice Captain was reached out to and following him, the creature appeared and began trying to kill everyone. Is that correct?"
Janice nodded as she sat down in a chair, that sounds about right. Shoot, I was hoping to keep you and the other weak ones from being involved in any of this while we figure things out, but I guess erasing your memory right now would put you in more harms way.
"You were going to wipe my memory?! I would say that's a bit harsh given the fact I was assigned here by the King's Advisor, not to mention I have likely been here much longer than most of the souls."
"I'm aware, but you're still really weak and unable to fight. You've been around so long due to your intelligence and ability to create technology. I hoped that if I wiped your memory, you wouldn't pry and get yourself in further danger.
But like I said, we're a bit late for that. If some creature like Caelum mentioned is able to get through all the security measures we have for unangelic creatures, then we have a lot of issues going on."
Putting a hand over his face, he stated, "Well, you come with me. I need to make some calls and see who we can get sent down to back up Kieran and get her back here. I believe she is under Captain Aurelius."
"That should be correct. I imagine he is in the training grounds or hopefully back from a completed mission."
"Right, though as a captain he should be sending others out to get stronger. Having dominion as the strongest race gives us a pass to train in any realm, so it would be wrong for him to take all of that himself."