Chapter 677 (2/2)

“Ah! Ah!” He screamed in horror as mutant tissue invaded his body

I a hideousflesh This lasted only a an to retract All at once the officer was back to normal with no visible differences – except for the look in his eyes

It was a fantastically quick process, but Carnage had wholly taken over the body of the officer

Moed into the area, answering the alar their coh! Hold!” The Elysian coh “Call the cease-fire”

“But sir, you-” A junior officer looked at him incredulously He wanted to surrender? Elysians never surrender!

In Skycloud there was no shortage of warriors willing to put their lives on the line for their hoh the Green Alliance soldiers had broken through their lines, they weren't an overwhelathered all their forces in a concentrated counter-offensive, they could retake the city

“What they said is true,” the coh “Skycloud will never recover Look around, you can see the state of this city for yourselves We've got no food, no water and no medicine Countless citizens have died Better to spare lives than throw more on the pile needlessly Tell the soldiers to stand down!”

The men were silent, but their mood was clear Southaven's food reserves were nearly spent If things did not change then this famous city would be done for No one wanted to see that happen, but ere their options? If they gave in then what of Elysian dignity? If the city succunified?

Carnage raised his voice “You can pin all the consequences on ive the order to stand down!”

A nal flare was released All Elysian soldiers stopped fighting and fell back to the heart of the city

“I am Grand Prior of the Temple and General-Coe man whose face was concealed beneath a wide-bri his claim

“Never have I betrayedto stake my life and reputation on this truth; that Mount Su ith the wastelanders byfalse claims!”

When Phain appeared, whispers of shock rippled through the crowds His nahout Skycloud To see his, came as an enormous shock to these troops

“To this day the Cloud God's whereabouts are unknown Governor Selene is under Mount Suravely wounded, perhaps fatally Is this not enough to make you see?” Phain's hoarse voice was accusatory “The honor we once ith pride has now becorace The realm today is not the real in obscurity, at the behest of those ould deceive you Coht for our lost honor!”

Clang! The officer who called the retreat thren his weapon “I will go with you!”

The other soldiers around him stared wide-eyed and slack-jawed It was inconceivable to them that he would openly betray his home!

But indeed this is what Skycloud had becoht? As Phain continued to try and persuade the soldiers to see the truth, Greenland soldiers shouted the saaphones

Finally wills began to waver More andtheir loyalty to Skycloud By the time their raid was finished, twenty to twenty-five percent of the city's population decided to defect They realized that if they didn't leave now, it would be too late

Military rule over the real day, while desperately needed resources continued to dwindle Besides flee, what other choice did they have? Those who stayed in the city only did so because they were fooling theh they understood, it was hard to leave the place your faenerations

But what the defectors had witnessed over the last feeeks was unprecedented Such famine was certain to inspire some to leave These Elysian soldiers and citizens would find better luck in Greenland, or so they were convinced Its population would swell

In this way Cloudhawk and his people won victory without undue bloodshed Droves of people left Skycloud andboth its influence and power It was precisely what Wolfblade was hoping to see

Janus Umbra appeared by Phain's side “Cloudhawk has attracted the do We must leave immediately before we're discovered and contained”

Phain nodded They'd done what they cah he hoped to convince er they stayed, the et stuck Besides, a quarter of the city's population was enough to send a e to Skycloud and inject new vitality into the wastes