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Turning Chapter 969
🕑 Added 2024-03-07 05:34:39 +0000 UTCChapter 969
Like a giant beast rising from its crouch, an enormous wave suddenly loomed above their heads, gaping open like a monstrous maw.
The waves that had surged until now were never small. However, the one rising at this moment seemed less like a wave and more like a living, gargantuan monster or an insurmountable wall.
What of the dark shadows writhing within the deep blue wall, swimming as if alive?
Before this spectacle, where the sky and sea appeared to have flipped sideways, humans seemed no more significant than mere specks of dust. What use was their effort against this overwhelming presence? Thoughts of being buried alive filled their minds, triggering instinctual alarms. A mix of intense fear and the desire to live made the members shudder uncontrollably.
They knew they had to do something, yet felt powerless.
Breathing became difficult. What could they possibly do in this situation?
In this terror, where the slightest movement seemed to risk everything collapsing...
What roused them was a cold, stern reprimand.
"Snap out of it! What are you doing?"
Even Steiber, who had been joking just moments ago, was spellbound. Only Yuder Aile confronted the situation head-on, displaying his strength. Water surged beneath him, and his body moved as if on its own, even as he stood still.
He didn't retreat from the wave but charged towards the wall.
"Yuder!"
As he approached the wall of water, Yuder, who looked like he was skiing or sledding on water, bent his knees at the last moment and exerted more force.
Whoosh-----
The members, witnessing Yuder smoothly ascend the watery wall, had an epiphany.
It wasn't about using tremendous force. It was merely about utilizing the same force of water that firmly supported their feet below, a technique to ride the waves.
During their training in the sea, the members had often seen the residents of Charloin skillfully riding the waves with boards they had carved themselves. The waves they needed to climb now were excessively large and massive, but the act of riding waves itself was something even non-Awakeners could manage with just a board to step on.
'That's right. If we climb over that wall, we won't be buried by the wave...!'
They could have easily performed such movements with their own power, but the overwhelming sight had stunned them, making them act like non-Awakeners. The members capable of using the power of water started to exert their power, realizing their lack of experience. Those who could use the power of wind also began to gather strength under their feet and started to ascend, stepping into the air. Although they couldn't fly as long as the winged Elpkins, anyone who knew how to use the wind and had seen and learned from Yuder knew how to step on the wind.
The thought of charging towards the massive wall was still terrifying, almost insane, but they clenched their fists and persevered.
"Damn it! This is it, the real deal!"
"What's the difference between dying once or twice? Let's go!"
"Cavalry! Charge!"
Their shouts restored courage to the members. Following Yuder, they charged towards the wave. Soon, a remarkable scene unfolded with over a dozen people ascending the giant wall of water.
In the final, immense current that was visible even from the shore, the battle with the fourteenth current, later known as the 'Blue Wall of Despair in the Charlama Sea', began.
β
On a hill a little away from the Charloin coastline, there was a medical tent.
It was a war zone in its own right, where only two medics of the Cavalry were stationed. There were those injured in battles with monsters, those who had collapsed from exhaustion, and even the priest who had fallen due to the depletion of his divine power.
Had it not been for Enon, who seemed all too familiar with such crises and maintained his composure, chaos would have broken out long ago.
"Sir Enon... Are you alright? I can get up and help now..."
Lusan, lying down due to the depletion of his divine power, murmured with a sheepish expression, to which Enon clicked his tongue and pushed him back down.
"Be quiet. When the time comes, I'll make you work even if you don't want to. Stay put as I told you."
"But I really feel better now... There are still so many who need treatment..."
No matter how desperately Lusan pleaded, Enon remained unmoved. Eventually, Lusan gave up trying to get up and lay back down. He was still dizzy and nauseous from experiencing divine power depletion for the first time.
However, looking around, there were many who were in more critical condition than just these symptoms. Those injured fighting monsters were relatively better off. The most serious were those who had collapsed from overexertion after pushing their Awakener abilities to the limit.
Lusan had often seen members of the Cavalry being transported for similar reasons during training. However, it was his first time seeing so many and such varied cases.
The side effects of pushing Awakener's abilities to their limits varied from person to person. Some, like Kanna Wand lying over there, started bleeding from all facial orifices, starting with nosebleeds. Others suddenly lost their sight or the use of their limbs, and there were even those who had convulsions and indiscriminately unleashed their powers in fits and starts. That personβs ability involved physical transformation, so temporary barriers had to be erected to prevent harm to those around them.
There were also many with bizarre symptoms that made no sense in this context. Symptoms similar to exhaustion of non-Awakeners were considered a blessing.
To non-Awakeners who might see them, they looked like monsters to be feared. But Lusan did not fear or pity them, knowing they were this way because they were defending the South. He would grit his teeth in anger and even chase out the regular priests who came to help the Cavalry if they showed disrespect or fear.
Having endured years of unfair treatment in the Grand Temple without ever raising his voice, Lusan found that he could easily express anger for the Cavalry. He realized anew how much he had come to love the Cavalry.
His desire to continue helping was probably because of this, even though he had collapsed from the depletion of his divine power.
"Pharmacist, may I go now? I've been here too long."
Kanna, who had been lying not far away, got up and asked Enon. It was phrased as a request, but it was essentially an announcement.
While struggling to contain a nosebleed that could erupt at any moment, Kanna's face, half-hidden by a handkerchief, was so covered in dried, crimson bloodstains that her natural skin tone was nearly indiscernible. Despite not having time to properly clean and wash her face, Kanna stood resolutely, leaning on her staff and looking down from the hill.
Below the hill, Gakane was seen faintly, directing the members and maintaining continuous communication with those scattered around the area. Under normal circumstances, it would have been difficult for Kanna to read information from such a distance, but currently, her abilities were out of control, almost having gone on a rampage.
Information that she had blocked through grueling practice was now randomly flooding in and out of her mind regardless of distance. The process repeated itself arbitrarily, causing her intense headaches, yet it also allowed Kanna to understand Gakane's situation, which she found somewhat comforting.
Gakane, taking Kishiars' place on the shore and her own due to her collapse, was straining himself to the utmost to hold his position. He too was exhausted from overusing his abilities but was making every effort to give his friend a little more rest. This scene made it impossible for Kanna to remain lying down.
"If you go now, you'll collapse again."
"But I must go. I'll try to use my abilities as little as possible. I'm just going to help Gakane."
Kanna spoke calmly. Enon looked down at her, then let out a sound that was either a sigh or a curse, and handed her a pill.
"As if you're not his friend... If you're going, take this first."
"Yes."
Kanna accepted the pill from the pharmacist without hesitation or inquiry and swallowed it. She had been slightly worried that she might inadvertently read random information from Enon upon contact, but fortunately, nothing of the sort occurred from him.
'...Now that I think about it, has it always been like this around Enon?'
When she was near individuals with stronger powers than herself, like Kishiar, Yuder, or Nathan Zuckerman, direct information about them seldom came through. The day she unexpectedly read personal information from Yuder's glove was an anomaly. Even that special case had been so unbearable that it drove her to train frantically to control her abilities.
But it seemed that the same was true with the pharmacist in front of her. Did this mean that Enon also possessed some kind of power? Kanna pondered this briefly, but her train of thought was quickly interrupted by the influx of information flooding her mind, causing her to stagger and gasp for breath.
Fortunately, thanks to Enon's medicine, her head wasn't as painfully throbbing as before. The pain relief was surprisingly quick.
"Thank you. I'll be going now."
With that, Kanna turned and left the medical tent. As soon as she did, her thoughts about Enon naturally faded and vanished from her mind.
Comments
Drac111
Kanna is about to get more unwelcome information isn't she...
Sarah Hertens
As soon as the tsunami was mentioned, earlier in the story, I couldn't fight the random images of Yuder simply surfing it and looking like he does this kinda thing on a daily basis. I'm so awkwardly pleased tot see this unfold π .
