Chapter 792: Savior in the Shadows, His Strange Vision That Did Not Explained Anything (1/2)

Day 197 - 4:02 PM - Southern Outskirts, New Infanta Settlement, Infanta, Province of Quezon

The sudden bloom of light enveloped everything. And as instant, it happened, the explosion of light vanished. Still, even though blinding surroundings only existed for a few seconds, it felt longer for everyone that witnessed it.

It felt even longer for Major Bautista.

Karlene was inside the radius of the explosion of light. As a father, Major Bautista was worried to death about the safety of the only family he had left.

Major Bautista frantically made his way down the ladder of the watchtower. His eyes could not see yet because of the light, and he was literally a blind person feeling his way down the structure. The major managed to get down the watchtower but ended up tripping down.

Fortunately, Jones did not seem to be as blinded by the light as the other people and chased after the worried major. He caught the major mid-fall.

”Major! Calm down! Your daughter is safe!”

Jones said to the panicked major, looking in front.

The light had already vanished a few seconds ago. Everything inside the ten-meter radius that the light engulfed was burned to a crisp. Even the soil was charred, and the rocks were melted, looking like droplets of magma.

As for the [Mechids], none of them remained to be a threat any longer. The sturdy robotic menace that even explosions could barely harm were turned into melted pieces of debris, nowhere resembling their appearance just a few seconds ago. It was even impossible to tell that they were dangerous robots before.

Even with just a few seconds that the bloom of light existed, its destructiveness was apparent.

The only different place within the scorched area was where Alana and Karlene lay down on the ground.

Alana immediately noticed something was wrong when she saw the jellyfish-like [Mechid] glow after Karlene cut it in half. As an Otaku herself, Alana knew the possible event that could happen if something absorbed or charged high amounts of energy and was unable to discharge it properly.

Yes, the result of that was an explosion as the energy stored was released into the environment.

At that, though, Alana used all her abilities and rushed towards Karlene. Alana grabbed her best friend and dragged her away. They needed to get away from the explosion as fast as possible.

But when the light exploded, it was too fast. Alana knew that they would not be able to get away unharmed. In the worst case, this would be their end.

Alana did not give up. At the last moment, she threw herself and Karlene down to the ground. It was the last measure that Alana could think of.

Looking at the area swallowed by that explosion, however, Alana and Karlene did not manage to leave the area of effect entirely. Both their legs were within the radius of the explosion, looking at the difference of the scorched soil.

Alana and Karlene opened their eyes. Since they were facing away from the light, they were not severely blinded by it. What the two saw first was the contrast between the soil they lie on and the soil affected by the explosion. The grass under them might have wilted because of the heat, but it was not burnt at all.

The two best friends sat up, and what they immediately saw was the silver-haired woman standing in front of them with her back, facing them. That silver hair, Karlene would be able to forget it easily.

”Artenaris...”

Karlene voiced out in her daze.

The silver-haired woman looked back with a smile.

”I... I came to... help?”

The beautiful half-Diwata-half-Demon said in an awkward voice. It had almost been a month after her tribe decided to cooperate with the military under Mark's suggestion. Since then, she slowly learned the human language and could now communicate despite her awkward grammar and pronunciation.

”You saved us?”

Karlene asked and realized that they were safe and sound. Her skin felt a bit sunburned, but that was it.

Karla came running towards the two, worried. She was further away from the two and managed to retreat quickly. Her eyes seemed to be hurt, but she was also fine. The little girl deactivated her mutation, turning back to her child body, and quickly embraced Karla.

”We're fine, we're fine.” Karlene tried to pacify the worried child. ”Why did you immediately turn back. You're naked again.”

It was one of the drawbacks of Karla's transformation. Since her usual appearance was of a child, her transformation tears all her clothes to pieces. They brought extra clothes for her, but all of their things were inside the settlement.

Leaving the sisters aside, Alana slowly stood up and faced Artenaris.

”Thank you for saving us.”

It was heartfelt gratitude from Alana. They were careless and almost died. Even though they managed to slightly get out of the race of the explosion, both Alana and Karlene might have lost their legs. And it could be the lightest consequence of their carelessness.

But to Alana's gratitude, Artenaris shook her head.

”Barely did anything...”

Artenaris said as she glanced in front of her. On the ground, traces of black mist had yet to dissipate, although it would be hard to see because most of the people here were blinded by the explosion of light just now.

The half-Diwata then glanced at the forest not too far away. There, a silhouette stood behind the trees. If Artenaris was not a powerful entity herself, she would not be able to see the shadow at all with his eyes glowing purple.

After he was seen, the silhouette stared at Artenaris before moving out of sight. The meaning of that stare was clear. It was for her to not say anything.

”Now I'm regretting it.” Artenaris murmured in Spirit Language. ”If I knew that he was this protective of his people, I might have accepted his offer back then.”

But there was no use crying over spilled milk. That was what Artenaris thought. It was her fault for not being perceptive enough.

Alana was confused at the reply of the silver-haired woman that saved them. And even more when she saw their savior gaze at the forest when there was nothing there at all.

”Karlene! Are you okay!”