808 The Unexpected Catalyst

'E-eh…?'

Rey had already sensed something was off right as he and his group were about to arrive at their destination, but nothing could have prepared him from what he ended up witnessing.

The moment everyone arrived at the camp, they were greeted with the most unexpected situation of all.

—Chaos!

Sheer, unbridled chaos swept the attention of students and staff alike once they came to their senses.

Noises of explosions.

Cries of battle.

Echoes of death… of destruction.

Everything flooded the minds of the Dragons at once, overriding the senses of everyone who was expecting a warm welcome to the reportedly safe and stable camp.

'This Camp… has collapsed, hasn't it?' Rey thought to himself as he took one look around him.

The guard posts that should have been stationed at strategic locations had crumbled, and he could see debris and several broken—torn-down—structures littering the area. The tents were either torn to pieces or riddled with holes, and the ground constantly hummed and trembled—almost as if the horde of enemies were advancing.

… And at a terribly fast rate!

"A-ARE YOU FROM THE ACADEMY?!" A few voices suddenly echoed in the air, and they were followed by the swift descent of three Dragons—one General and two Commanders.

Not only the students, but also the staff, were relieved at the appearance of the Dragons—especially the General.

He looked injured, though, and the other two also shared similar fates. They appeared extremely exhausted, with parts of their uniformed armor damaged, and slowly healing bruises on their faces.

These war-hardened Dragons seemed even worse-off than the trembling students and shocked staff.

"W-what the hell is happening here, General? What's going on?!" The lead Supervisor yelled, moving forward to represent the entire Group while the rest of the supervisors trailed behind him.

Instructor Isra'il did the same, but he stuck close to his students while giving them a reassuring nod. Rey watched all of this—and more—in silence.

"You need to evacuate! Now! There's no time to explain everything, but you need to go now!"

The General quickly turned to one of the Commanders, a woman whose pretty face had been badly damaged, but was thankfully healing.

"Take them to the Emergency Shelter." He then returned his gaze to the Supervisors. "Some of our people are there already, so they should get you settled in to the best of their abilities."

It was clear that the General was trying his best to reassure everyone under the sound of his voice, but his efforts weren't really paying off.

Everyone could hear the distant rumblings and echoes of war that seemed to be closing in on them, and they were understandably unnerved.

The students in particular were frightened. None of them had ever experienced anything remotely close to this, so it was horrific.

No… downright traumatic.

"Go now!"

The Supervisors nodded at the General's words, and as soon as they did so, the latter and the other Commander with him flew high into the sky and left the woman with them.

There was no pause, or moment to take all of the information in.

"Follow me!" The Commander simply said, charging away from her position in order to get as far away from the eruptions of chaos that only seemed to grow louder and louder.

~WHOOOSH!~

Everyone instantly trailed behind her.

The Supervisors tried their best to make the students follow protocol as they followed the Commander, but soon gave up on it and let everyone engage in their desperate scramble for self-preservation.

Once they got a sufficient distance away from the chaos—though they could still hear the sounds and feel the tremors—the Head Supervisor could not hide his curiosity and concern any longer.

He had to address the pressing issue.

"What the hell happened? We got word that everything was stable, and that the students could come over. You could have sent word at any time if the battle escalated, yet we were suddenly thrust into this?"

The female Commander sighed, almost as if she understood where the Supervisor was coming from, but was also too tired to fully explain what happened.

"When the General comes, perhaps he will explain what happe—"

"The hell he will! I'm asking you to tell me right now! And I speak with the authority bestowed upon me by the Academy Head who left these young ones in my care!"

As soon as she heard these words, the Commander became a little less defiant. Her expression softened a little, and she looked at the frightened students who were trying their best to catch up with her as they raced to the Shelter.

"The thing is… all of this started just yesterday… right after we sent word to the Academy regarding our status." She mumbled. "Back then, everything seemed perfectly fine. We could never have expected things to escalate to this level…"

The 'word' that was sent to the Academy was to confirm the availability of the facilities that the students would be using once they arrived at the camp. Everything was already prepared—from their meals, to their shelter, and also the list of activities they would be participating in.

It was all set!

"But… suddenly, the war escalated to an absurd degree. It surprised all of us, and we couldn't handle the shocking assaults they made on us."

There was tense silence as everyone took in the bitter facts.

"We failed to contain their surprise attacks, and they managed to advance to our Base. They've conquered the Main Base, and they are soon going to conquer the rear—the area where you all appeared in."

"You could have tried to contact us! Told us to abort the—"

"Communication has been jammed. Same with Spatial Magic. We hoped you all wouldn't show due to the Spatial Interference."

"A-ah… damnit! But you had everything under control, didn't you?" The Head Supervisor grumbled. "How could you let it spiral out of control like this?"

The Commander bit her lip as she hid her glare from the man.

It was understandable why he was acting this way, considering how many lives he was responsible for. However, his words to the Commander was too insensitive.

She had lost hundreds of her subordinates and friends in just a few hours, and she was bound to lose even more. As soon as she was done taking the group to the shelter, she would have to return to the battlefield.

There was a good chance she wouldn't return alive.

As such, hearing such ignorant words from a man who was the same rank as her made her blood boil to a severe degree.

Still, she controlled her emotions.

"We could never have expected the main catalyst behind the sudden shift in the war." She said, gritting her teeth as she clenched her fists.

"The Dwarves and Giants created an alliance… and we were no match."

As soon as she said this, everyone's eyes widened.

Even the Head Supervisor could understand how absurd that was. No one could have expected such a thing to ever happen—well, no one except a certain boy who listened to all of this with wide open eyes as well.

However, he was surprised for a completely different reason.

'Ater… what in the world did you do?!'

*

*