World's Last Hope-Chapter 110: Vulnerable Souls

Saint Gabriel was busy reviewing some documents, but he was interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Enter," he spoke coldly.

A man wearing silver armor entered and bowed before speaking,

"We have received a report on the battle with the spiders, sir."

The Saint shifted his gaze to the man as he commanded him to speak.

"There were a few thousand weak spiders and seven colossal ones that were classified as Grade-5."

The Saint’s eyes widened for a moment.

"Seven? We need to send reinforcements," the old man spoke as he scratched his chin.

Currently, on the gates, there were only two Grandmasters, Aria and Olivia. They wouldn’t be able to deal with seven Grade-5 monsters alone, so they needed reinforcements. This was the conclusion the Saint came to.

"No, sir, actually it seems that under the command of Eric, the threat has been neutralized... at the cost of the lives of a few Masters," the soldier spoke.

Saint Gabriel needed a second or two to register what he had just been told. The threat had been neutralized? There were seven Grade-5 monsters and they were killed by two Grandmasters and a few Masters? No matter how strong Olivia and Aria had gotten, that shouldn’t have been possible unless...

"You said that Eric had been the one to command them?"

"Yes, first the spiders attacked the gates, and after stopping them, Eric had two assault teams attacking the spiders from two sides, destroying their cocoons in their path and scaring the ones that had managed to escape them far from the city."

It had been a risky plan, splitting the forces into two... no, considering they must have left someone to guard the gates, they must have been split into three groups, the Saint thought.

With a sigh, he spoke, "Good, then call Eric, Olivia, and Aria over. We must have a talk."

The soldier raised an eyebrow. "But sir, from my knowledge, you have already called over all of the Grandmasters. Is there a reason?" Then a second later, he added, "Of course, you may not answer the question, as it isn’t my place to know."

"It’s fine. The public will soon learn about it anyway, and you’ve been loyal up until now, so revealing the ongoing matter early will not cause a problem."

Gabriel’s eyes suddenly became darker as he uttered the next words.

"A Grade-6 monster is approaching... and this one is almost certainly ranked high."

The soldier froze for a second, then bowed and ran out without saying anything. If what the Saint was saying was right, then the apocalypse was coming.

*****

"This wasn’t an enjoyable talk," Eric muttered, massaging his forehead as he gazed at the sky.

He still found it weird that people had died under his command.

"Give yourself more credit. We just stopped an attack on the city with so few casualties," Aria spoke.

"Yeah, don’t you see how the soldiers are looking at us? We’ve basically become heroes in their eyes," Olivia joined in.

"Yes, you’re right. I guess I’ll have to get used to people dying from now on," Eric said. It felt weird saying that, but in this world, which was on the brink of annihilation due to corruption, it was to be expected that people would start dying left and right. Actually, it was a miracle that it had taken so long for Eric to see death.

The three were about to leave the gates, but before they did, Eric decided to pay Master Varek a visit.

Knocking on the door, he waited for an answer. A couple of seconds later, a voice called out from the other side. "Enter."

Entering the room, Eric’s attention was immediately drawn to the scent of coffee in the air. By the table, he noticed Varek sitting in his chair, gazing out the window.

"Hey, Varek, I just wanted to come and see you before I go."

The old man smiled, "Do not worry about me, boy. I am fine guarding the gates as I have done for a long time."

"It’s not worry, just wanted to see you out of respect, I guess? I want to thank you for having my back in that fight."

Varek stood up from his seat and placed his hand on Eric’s shoulder.

"No, I have to thank you, boy. It’s been a long time since I was able to fight without a care in the world."

It was the truth that when Varek fought beside Eric, he was able to forget about everything else as he focused on covering Eric’s back. That moment may have been brief, but it reminded the old man of the days when he was young.

They had a nice chat, and soon after, Eric left.

Joining back with Aria and Olivia, they were about to head home—until a soldier came to them.

"Master Eric, Grandmaster Aria, Grandmaster Olivia. The Saint requires your presence," he said, looking at the ground and not daring to meet their gazes.

Hearing his words, Eric put a hand over his face as he sighed. "This day just doesn’t end, does it?!"

*****

With a grunt, Kyle woke up. He gazed around the room he had been provided with.

Unlike the one he had back at his old home, this one was spacious. There was new furniture that wasn’t a few decades old, and the best part was that when he stood, his head didn’t touch the ceiling, which was at least three meters high.

He would have felt like he was in heaven if his body wasn’t so sore.

"Well, if it will make me stronger, then who am I to complain?" he muttered as he got dressed and went out.

It was early in the morning, yet the dozen Awakened that Master Talon was teaching were already out in the cold wind, lined up in a row, waiting for instructions.

The Master smiled as he saw them.

"Good, none of you are late," he spoke, pointing toward the few weapons on the shelves.

"Today, we will go into the Death Zone." Seeing the frightened gazes the Awakened gave him, the Master quickly added, "Of course, we will not go too deep just yet, and I will be with you, so there isn’t a need for you to worry."

Following the instructions, Kyle observed the weapons on display, then a second later, picked up a spear. He had tried various different weapons but found the spear to feel the most natural in his grip.

Not to mention, he liked the fact that it gave him a longer reach than a sword.

He originally would have wanted a ranged weapon like a bow, but after seeing that he didn’t have even a little talent when it came to archery, he decided to go with the spear.

After the Awakened geared up, Talon led them outside the gates.

The moment the Awakened stepped into the Death Zone, beyond the protective reach of the cathedrals and the gods, they shuddered, feeling more vulnerable—more exposed.

Talon scoffed after seeing their pitiful state.

"Don’t worry about it, you will soon get used to this feeling. Now, come, let’s go. We don’t have time to waste!"

Not left with a choice, the Awakened followed the Master.

Kyle couldn’t hold back his curiosity, so he asked,

"Um, Master Talon? What are we going to do now exactly?"

The man shifted his gaze to Kyle before answering,

"What do you think? You are here to get stronger, so you will get stronger. To do that, you need experience. So in short, you are going to kill your first monster today."

"Kill? So soon?"

"But we’re not ready!"

A few Awakened spoke in protest, but the Master didn’t seem to acknowledge them.

They were outside the city gates, so whether they liked it or not, they had to follow the Master if they didn’t want to get lost.

If somebody got lost in the Death Zone, they would be presumed dead, and no rescue team would be sent, as the city didn’t have enough manpower to spare on such things.

Kyle had to admit that it was a smart idea for Talon to wait until they were in the Death Zone to tell them what they were going to do today, as nobody would be able to leave now.

They didn’t walk long until they reached some kind of swamp.

’Is that the place?’ Kyle asked himself but didn’t utter a word, seeing that Master Talon was walking calmly. It probably meant that everything was going fine.

’I must say, for a place called the Death Zone, I have yet to see something dangerous,’ Kyle thought.

"Um, Master Talon? When are we going to reach these monsters?" one of the Awakened asked.

The Master stopped and pointed forward.

"We have arrived."

Kyle shifted his gaze to the place where the Master was pointing and a second later, his face lost color as he saw what was in front of them.