Chapter [304] Victory, But At A Cost.

Note: I apologize for not being able to upload yesterday. the weather here was pretty bad and I had caught the flu as well a fever. I apologize if there was any inconvenience.

Thank you for your time.

***********

"The Attack on Aror city has successfully been repelled by the Twilight guild successfully, It is suspected that the Beast guilds had a secret relations.h.i.+p with the Obelisk. They had Chimera as well as various demonic artifacts. The members of the beast guilds captured do not have any recollection of their memories and most are in a comatose state so it will be hard to extract further information."

The news anchor explained. He continued.

"The most shocking thing is that a group of teenagers, yes...You heard me correctly. Teenagers played the most vital role in repelling the invasion of the Marquis. First-year top 10 students played a vital role in stopping the invasion. These Students were Elaine Parker, From the t.i.tan guild, The daughter of the a.s.sociation head himself, Henry Fornum, the younger brother of Ezra Fornum, The heiress of the Wellington group, Lucas Hiddleston, Elijah Ardor, the second-ranked in s.h.i.+eld and Alan Peccator, The rank number 1."

"They, along with the other minor guilds and Twilight guild forces stationed in Aror were successful in preventing a tragedy...although it was not without loss. A total of fourteen thousand five hundred and eighty-three casualties...and about 30,000 thousand civilians severely injured by chaos energy and still under treatment. The infrastructure has also been destroyed and there are talks f rebuilding the city but...given its previous record as well there are doubts Aror will be repaired."

"May we talk more in detail about the invasion? About the brave heroes

The co-anchor asked.

"Yes, very much so. We have been informed that different teams had been formed to take care of the Chaos beacons collecting souls for the Marquis's descent. Twilight had done most of the work, taking three beacons, including the main one. Whilst the a.s.sociation had cleared the remaining two. Elijah Ardor had taken care of the Guildmasters of the BEast guilds enhanced with the power of Chaos and mysterious bloodlines singlehandedly...Which is a remarkable achievement. Considering their strength."

"How about Alan Peccator?"

The Co-Anchor asked the most important question. About Alan Peccator. The star of th world currently.

"...Yes. Alan Peccator's achievements are nothing short of Legendary. Not only did he singlehandedly take care of most of the Chimera, but each was also extremely strong to be a dungeon boss...He had also singlehandedly taken care of the Guildmaster of the white Tiger guild, Adam White, whose strength was greater than the other guildmaster's combined...But he also fought against a Marquis who was descending...and repelled him."

Those last words were uttered with a sense of disbelief. Even though he had heard of the news...he still refused to believe it. Even whilst relaying the news... he was shocked.

A 17-year-old boy had repelled something that was a continental threat.

A 17-year-old boy.

"But Hasn't Alan Peccator suffered serious injuries?"

The Co-Anchor asked. Indeed. This was the one thing that made the story somewhat believable.

The footage changed to the scene of a Panicking Richard and about a Dozen healers all huddled around one body.

Alan Peccator's body.

[Repel the Chaos energy in the surroundings first.]

[If we do that he's dead!]

[s.h.i.+t! Just do everything you can!]

"As you can see, the elite Healers of the Twilight guild are struggling to hear Alan Peccator. However...given his injuries...it is quite understandable...The Co-anchor will explain the extent of Alan Peccator's injuries..."

He pushed the task of explaining Alan's Injuries to his co-anchor. But it couldn't be helped...He had to do his all to stop the vomit coming up when he saw Alan.

"...Yes..."

The Co-host hesitated for a while before finally mustering up the courage to read the report in front of her.

"...He...All of his ribs had shattered, and the fragments pierced into his organs and caused internal bleeding. His legs were completely gone, and the hip bones were also cracked. The spine had also suffered severe damage, especially the lower and upper backs. Furthermore, His...His...heart was dangling outside of his body, barely beating. It is a.s.sumed that was an old injury and Alan Peccator...somehow fought like that. His lower jaw was gone, and there were severe burns on his face. His organs were also all failing. His lungs had been ripped apart by the bone fragments...his liver was pierced by a broken rib, the other organs near it had also been deformed...and his recovery is unknown. With the amount of chaos energy that was in the atmosphere as well as the chaos energy in his body...It's...

His life as an awakened is over...Many have said that."

Truly...One could a.s.sume Alan's life as an awakened is over...he would be lucky if he actually lived as a cripple after that.

"Yes..."

Alan was currently in Twilight's Headquarters back in Askolt City. Not only Twilight's but even s.h.i.+eld's top healers were there...al focused on him. Richard was doing everything he could.

But...

"What if the Sage comes?"

"Yes...If the Sage, Mister Oliver comes personally to heal him then it might be possible."

"But that is a big if..."

"Let's not forget that Alan is the Frost Queen, Elena's Student. Elena is a student of the Sage...so it is not farfetched to say that."

"Yes, We can hope then."

They changed the topic, From Alan to Kazikato.

"Regarding the rising trump of Twilight, Kazikato s.h.i.+mos.h.i.+no. He had a bloodline! a complete one as well just like the beast guildmasters. Most importantly it seems to be of a very strong beast. According to witness testimonies, a large eastern dragon made of bone was seen dominating the skies.

"Yes...It also seems that..." The News continued.

**********

[The Lost

A being hidden...no made of pure pitch black darkness opened its eyes...

Its menacing, purple eyes radiated so much power that even Planets would turn to dust in mere seconds.

The Abyss itself...had awoken from its slumber.

[hollow]

[hollow]

It uttered those words again and again...it could feel it.

The vessel was hollow...Ara.n.u.s's body was hollow. It didnt have the same... feel of being full as before.

[...what is happening? Is the Jade Snake taunting me?]

How funny, the very embodiment of Evil was scared. Of the b.a.s.t.a.r.d James, The Jade Snake.

However...he still checked it.

The Conscious used his immense power to open a portal only he could see to the body of Ara.n.u.s...His precious vessel.

And when he did...a hidden rage erupted around him.

[Who dared...to wreak such havoc on my vessel?]

[Jade snake...you have no eye for value.]

[To think you would let such a treasure like that vessel be so damaged...You disgust me.]

The Abyssal conscient cursed the Jade Snake once he saw the condition Alan was in. He still was unaware of Alan's existence...but maybe that would change soon.

[Ara.n.u.s is asleep...]

He was connected to Ara.n.u.s, Ara.n.u.s was his treasure...he could feel that Ara.n.u.s was in deep sleep.

[One obstacle gone.]

The obstacle known as Ara.n.u.s's soul and will was gone...although it could barely put up a fight...It still didn't like interruptions.

[It appears to be empty...and why is James taking a different appearance?]

It did not remember that look, that white hair, those tattoos... it was very different from the look of a mask and golden hair that James always wore...

Slowly...it approached it. The one beside Ara.n.u.s's body didnt notice him...Even if they did they would be able to do nothing.

*Sssss*

Then it came to a sudden halt.

it heard the sound a snake...The Jade snake.

[Is...he playing a trick on me?]

[A trap?]

He thought...but no one could Predict James...The sly b.a.s.t.a.r.d was a monster. No one could fathom what lengths he would go too. there was one time he even laid waste to a galaxy...

[...Time is on my side...you vile legless lizard.]

It retreated...Jame's was just too much of a variable.

He could hear the hissing of a snake the moment he got near Alan.

And because he knew James...he didnt take any risk.

The consciousness of the Abyss, the literal manifestation of evil retreated. and Alan was saved by James.

For now...