I Reincarnated to Another World as a Woman-Chapter 299: Breaking Silence
"You’re insane, Victor!" Edmund snaps.
The Neutrals and Vitari are currently in a hologram conference. Victor is calling from the Library’s office in Solarys.
He had planned to meet Maeve to keep her updated. Something is urging him to reveal everything to Arthur. Only then, he believes, can the Custodians’ legacy be preserved as intended.
He cannot explain that feeling to the others. He cannot even explain it to himself.
So how could he explain it to them?
He looks at the other Custodians, many of whom he considers friends.
"The rest of you think I’m insane too?" Victor asks, genuinely.
"We made an oath, Victor," Catherine says quietly.
"We did not swear secrecy for the sake of secrecy. We swore to protect magical knowledge and our society as a whole. We must not forget why this organization exists. We are the keepers of magic knowledge."
"And when the time comes to use that knowledge for the good of the people of Altheon, we must reveal it. Not hoard it."
"Have you all forgotten that?"
Silence falls.
"I agree with Victor."
Thomas speaks.
He is usually the quietest among them. Gentle, soft-spoken. Their unofficial secretary and treasurer, known for his precision and discipline.
"As you all know, about ten days ago, a purple dungeon appeared in St. Lucas. A muted green phenomenon surrounded it and spread across Solarys," he begins.
"And you all know who cleared that dungeon. After it was cleared, the green faded."
He pauses.
"We must admit that we cannot clear dungeons ourselves. And so far, only Rhaenas has been able to clear purple dungeons, even mutated ones. What does that mean?"
He looks at them.
"To me, it means Rhaenas is stronger than the Hunters."
"If we look at the numbers. Twenty people against five. And the five are clearly stronger. It would be foolish to say they are not using magic."
He leans forward, placing both hands on the table as he scans the holograms.
"From my perspective, this proves that magic can be used to save lives. That it should be used. And that somehow, Rhaenas wields stronger magic than we do."
He pauses again.
"Are we so arrogant that we refuse to acknowledge that?"
"They might be stronger than us because of their age are younger, true. It can be one factor. We don’t know that for sure. As keepers for knowledge, isn’t it within our duties to find out why they’re stronger than us?"
He lans back to his chair. "Furthermore, I’ve seen it myself. The Hunters are practicing fire magic. It was Isabelle who taught them. I saw her."
He stops. Taking a few deep breaths.
Silence falls.
"What’s your plan, Victor?" Margaret breaks the silence.
"I’ve told Maeve to arrange a meeting with Arthur. I want to explain to him everything. I trust him."
"You want to pull him into Custodians?" Eleanor asks.
Victor shakes his head. "No. My main reason is to show him the big picture. What’s at stakes here. What’s really going on. And if after hearing everything he decides to join us, that’s on him. I’m not recruiting."
"And like Thomas said, I want to know how is it that Rhaenas’ magic is stronger than us. They must’ve something that we don’t."
"And warn them about the Hunters." Victor says.
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Alicia looks at the woman.
They are both waiting for the brief pause between roars to turn off the shield, pull Hawk in, and bring the shield back up.
They have less than a minute.
The rest of the survivors huddle around the Pod.
Alicia and the woman have figured out that to strengthen the shield, they have to reduce its coverage area.
Two survivors are ready to help Alicia drag Hawk to safety.
He lies unconscious, blood seeping from his ears.
It took several cycles of roars to organize everything, and by the time they are ready, Hawk has already lost consciousness.
The roar stops.
The woman shuts off the shield.
Alicia and the two men rush forward, grabbing Hawk and dragging him as close to the Pod as possible.
The woman hovers her fingers over the control panel, ready to reactivate the shield.
The only unknown is how small the new coverage area will be.
Alicia refuses to take chances. She drags him as close to the Pod as possible.
A swish cuts through the air behind her.
Screams erupt from the survivors.
Alicia and the two men strain, muscles burning as they drag a 196-centimeter, 120-kilogram body.
Then they stop.
They pull again.
Nothing.
Alicia turns her head and swallows.
The swish—
A tongue from one of the black haelions has wrapped around both of Hawk’s ankles.
One haelion is now locked in a tug-of-war with three humans.
Hawk is the rope.
And Alicia’s side is losing.
The woman glances at the Pod’s timer.
Nearly sixty seconds have passed.
The next roar will come in seconds.
If the shield is not up by then—
They’re all dead.
Two more survivors rush forward to help pull Hawk.
"Chief!" the woman shouts.
Alicia looks up just as something is tossed toward her.
Reflexively, she catches it.
A heartstone gun.
The woman must have taken it from the Pod.
Alicia switches it on and fires at the tongue repeatedly.
The black haelion leader stomps its foot.
Another roar is coming.
One second.
Alicia keeps firing.
The roar hits just as the shield comes back up.
They made it.
They all collapse to the ground, panting, relief flooding in.
Alicia pushes herself back to her feet and checks the Pod’s control panel.
The display shows the shield at 150% strength.
Warnings still flash as the shield continues to take damage.
But for now—
They can breathe.
Only then Alicia allows herself to breathe.
She slumps to the ground, while checking on Hawk.
The man is still alive, his pulse is steady and strong. He’s unconscious due the soundwave attack. He should be fine.
Thea, you better clear this dungeon quickly. I hope she doesn’t meet other humans.
------------------------------
Theo has been moving through the dungeon, slaughtering haelions while searching for the King.
Whenever he spots a human, he hides himself and saves them. Most are unconscious, either from fear or from lack of oxygen after being pulled.
He also finds traces of people torn apart.
He has killed many of the tortoise haelions, but so far, no King.
As he finishes off another group, a deafening roar echoes from the direction of the camp.
Fear grips his heart.
He ends the fight instantly and rushes back toward the camp.
------------------------------
"Got it!" Julian exclaims.
The stone gate is pulsing and humming.
"Arthur! I did it! The gate is open! Come—"
He can’t finish his sentence.
The next second, a roar spills out of the dungeon and spreads to the surroundings, destroying everything.
No one expects a roar this loud.
It shatters windows, doors, everything made of glass.
It’s deafening.
Sudden.
Like an explosion.
The entire site is thrown into chaos. Officers near the gate are blasted away. The roar reaches the civilians crowding the police line.
Arthur, Liam, and Maeve crawl out from under a collapsed tent.
"What’s going on?!" Liam says, scanning the chaos around him.
"Julian!" Arthur shouts, searching for his brother.
The roar stops.
People scramble to their feet, still confused about what just happened.
Exactly one minute later—
Another roar erupts.
The site plunges into chaos again.
There are more civilians than Sentinels, and they suffer the most. They have no defense, no reflexes to react in time.
"We need to do something about this!" Liam yells, covering his ears.
Maeve, hands pressed over her ears, can only nod. She isn’t a trained Sentinel. She doesn’t know what to do.
She’ll follow her leader.
The roar stops.
Arthur scans the civilians. Some are unconscious, lying on the asphalt, blood seeping from their ears.
He knows he needs to do something.
He gets up and looks at his watch, timing the break. He has a feeling the roar and the pause follow a pattern.
And he’s right.
At the one-minute mark—
Another roar erupts.
But this time, the sound is muffled. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦
Dampened.
Still loud.
But not as devastating.
For the civilians, it is still too much.
Julian leans against the gate, slowly pushing himself up. He’s pale, breathing hard.
Arthur spots him. "Julian!" He rushes over.
"Hiya," Julian says weakly.
His bracelet interface glows.
Arthur glances at it. "You put Aegis over it?"
Julian nods. "I had to do something." He leans in slightly, lowering his voice. "And I can’t exactly put up a shield like Thea, can I?"
He straightens. "Aegis is the only shield I have."
He looks back at the gate.
"But I need to adjust its frequency so it blocks the roar completely. If I do that, it won’t block anything else. Just the roar."
He looks at Arthur.
"So... you need to pick."
Seeing that Julian is okay, Arthur exhales in relief.
"Block the sound. Otherwise, the civilians will suffer."
He shifts his attention to them. "They’re already suffering."
He pats Julian’s shoulder. "Do your magic, bro. I need to take care of other things."
Julian nods. "Go. I’ve got this."
