Chapter 1347 (2/2)

At least it was an honest display of his current strength. But to have it happen so far away with such wide-reaching reverberations… there will be consequences for this. People will learn to fear. Mrs. Hamilton sighed inwardly. Is this the Path you wanted, Randidly? Or did you feel like there was no other choice…? You were a legend for so long, and now I don’t doubt that people like Theodora and Phirun will start painting you as a monster...

Even she, powerful as she was, felt small as that image had rippled overhead. The far-reaching pressure it had released made it difficult to even move, although Mrs. Hamilton could tell it was only due to her own extreme sensitivity to images that the effect was so egregious. It was different than standing in front of Randidly when he had manifested his three images. It was even different from feeling the power that the Overseer of their Cohort had unleashed. That had been a polished weapon that Octavius had simply lifted to demonstrate Earth’s inferiority.

This felt more akin to a natural force that had the capacity to destroy the world. It was an angel of death being born. It was…

Doom. It felt like an impending doom. Mrs. Hamilton’s hand tightened on a book with which she had been toying.

While the soldiers continued to drill outside, seven people stood around inside the central building. Mrs. Hamilton stood by the far wall of the tent between the window and a bookshelf, drawing her fingers across the spines of books in an absentminded manner while her gaze focused at the training forces. Across the interior of the building, Warlord and his two aides, Melanie and Kirk, were engaged in a heated discussion that they were only making cursory efforts to keep quiet.

From her tone and expression, Melanie was deeply aggravated by something.

Meanwhile, Kirk adjusted his glasses and kept shooting nervous glances over toward the space where Donny and the Cortez siblings were leaning over a map of the Danger Zone they were about to enter, the Broken Caverns. When their leader replied in a curt tone, Melanie threw her fiery red hair over her shoulder and began to argue quietly back with Warlord. For a few more lines they struggled back and forth before Melanie huffed in irritation and lowered her shoulders.

Mrs. Hamilton was happy to see that everyone from Donnyton pretended not to notice the discussion, tacitly agreeing to let the matter go. It was good to see that both of the Cortez siblings were developing the maturity to be a more public face of Donnyton.

Not that Mrs. Hamilton even needed to listen in to their conversation in order to know what the argument was about; Melanie had some concerns about the disposition of the troops. After some discussion, control of the expedition was placed completely within Donny’s hands. Which meant that the Zone 11 forces were underneath the authority of a single Village and were largely expected to join into the existing framework of a Squad and cooperate fully.

Obviously Melanie had suppressed Zone 11’s troops when they tried to posture, but that didn’t mean she wanted their people to be so oppressed.

Melanie was likely pointed out that putting everyone into squads effectively limited the strength of the Zone 11 individuals and she was right. They were used to fighting independently and the more team-focused method of Donnyton hampered them. And in the grand scheme of things, Mrs. Hamilton privately believed that the young woman had a good point. But what they needed was power now. And the squad format would hopefully provide that.

Mrs. Hamilton was much more interested in how completely Warlord’s rebuke seemed to shut Melanie down, but she let her mind wander away from the disagreement; it wasn’t polite to look too closely at your coworkers, after all.

Clearing his throat, Warlord walked back over toward the table with a wry smile. “Apologies for the delay… Well anyway, if that’s all settled, I believe it’s time we start the discussions about going into the Broken Caverns. Have we heard back from our scouts?”

Isabella Cortez nodded. “It’s like we expected. Most of the enemies toward the front are a variation on metal golems, but the Corrupted Invaders have a camp deeper within. The scouts didn’t push the issue because they have a perimeter set up pretty deep in the Caverns. The invaders appear to rely mainly on mobility and ranged weaponry. It’s definitely within our capabilities to take the Caverns-”

“You want me to soak up all that ranged damage, don’t you,” Donny sighed.

The corner of Isabella’s mouth quirked upward, but she didn’t fully smile. “Based on the abilities of everyone available, that would be the most efficient path. If you can protect the group long enough for us to close the distance, we can let what our people do what they do best.”

Warlord looked at Donny with interest. “A defensive focused Class? Quite useful.”

From the gleam in Warlord’s eyes, he had it in mind to try and recruit Donny to come work for him. It made Mrs. Hamilton want to roll her eyes.