Chapter 1203 Climb (1/2)

The organisation of the Shelter during this state of emergency and the gathering of the twelve who had been honoured with receiving the blood weapons had taken some time, but at most it was an hour or so. At the same time, the pods had stopped dropping from the large mothership and the group had yet to experience any such attack, which was why the sudden message as he was about to leave was so troubling to Quinn.

'What could have happened for one of the planets to have already been taken over so fast? Did they send out an advance party before we found out about the Dalki? Even so, it should be impossible for nobody to report anything about it!' Quinn thought.

On top of that, he was sure the system would have informed him with a quest like it did so before if it was the case. Quinn was with the twelve others ready to leave at any moment and was at the north gate.

”Helen, has any of the planets reported anything about being on the brink of being overrun?” Quinn asked, speaking through a receiver in the mask he was wearing. Helen was currently inside the base trying to formulate plans. Despite the calls and information that was coming in, she answered immediately when it was him.

”I'm not sure, but we are unable to contact any of the members or faction leaders stationed on Demakera. According to some outside ships observing the situation, the Shelter looks to have been destroyed.” Helen reported.

Hearing this, Quinn thought back to the information that he had seen about the planets the Cursed faction owned. Demakera had a B ranked Shelter. It shouldn't have fallen this quickly, unless a strong number of Dalki were there or perhaps a strong spiked Dalki was present.

”Sam suggested that we concentrate our forces on a few of the more important planets. Otherwise it looks like the Dalki will be able to slowly lower our numbers.” Helen reported.

It was a good plan, but there was a major issue with it.

'If they do that, what about my Quest? If the Cursed faction retreats to the other planets then it will make it easier for them to take over. I'll fail the Quest once we lose possession of ten planets! No, I can't tell Helen not to go through with the order. I can't risk peoples' lives just because I could receive a penalty from this damned system!'

It was another race against time for Quinn. The evacuation of those in the Shelter would take a while anyway, but there was one thing the Cursed faction leader could do to complete the task. Destroy ten motherships before they were able to take over the planets.

”Quinn, I'm afraid I have some more bad information for you. I have sent over a video that you need to look over. Whatever you decide to do I'll understand.” Helen said.

Knowing that it would be important if she wanted him to watch it, he immediately started. It was a recording of livestream but not just any livestream, one that Void and Bonny had taken about how the Cursed faction's ship was under attack.

'Human's…. Not Dalki and they don't look like V either.'

After listening to the video for a little while, he understood just who exactly had attacked the Cursed faction ship and it was none other than the Blade family.

'Hilston!' Quinn stepped on the ground so hard, that his foot sank several inches into it.

'Quinn, your people need you here right now.' Vincent acted as his voice of reason. 'One planet has already been taken over. There is a good chance that more will follow. Who knows how dire the consequences will be for failing the Quest, in any case it will leave you weaker!'

”I would hate to be in your shoes right now, but know this, during the time I have been with you, you weren't the only one who has grown stronger. Trust in your friends, who treasure the Cursed faction ship as much as you do. You can always use your ability to arrive there as support, but once you leave here is nobody you could use to quickly get back.'

Vincent was right, if those that had a close bond with Quinn were in serious trouble and close to death, he would be able to feel it, and although he could tell members of his family were fighting hard, it didn't seem like any of them had been injured to such a degree.

On top of that, with each planet the Dalki took over, it spelt death to the ones living on them.

———

On Planet Demakera, smoke was rising from the destroyed Shelter. The walls had fallen to pieces and blood was everywhere. There didn't seem to be a single human survivor, and even the secret underground Shelter had been torn and taken apart.

Standing, in the middle of what was now a large pile of rubble was an odd looking Dalki wearing a nice buttoned up shirt.

'The others are more war hungry than I thought.' Graham looked to his left, and could see a human had been lifted up by a Dalki, soon squeezing its head, finishing it off on the spot. 'It seems a lot of my brethren are just following their natural instincts, urging them to kill whatever they see. I wonder why some seem to be less affected than others. Well, I hope to find the answer soon. I hate to rely on others but this time I will have to.'

'This Shelter was easier than I expected. I guess that means I have run into the weaker of the three groups.' Graham thought.