Genesis Code: The Genetic Awakening-Chapter 89: Arrival (2)

"Huh?" Celistra opened her eyes, only to see herself floating above the Royal Castle.

Everything appeared small to her eyes, making her understand just how high they were. Falling from such height would be disastrous.

"Why aren’t we on the ground?" She turned to look at Caleb’s grinning expression. "You want to give me a heart attack or something?"

"Something like that..." Caleb replied smugly. "But won’t we be shot out of the sky if I attempt to land in the courtyard?"

"And whose fault is that?" The priestess raised her brows in outrage. "Hah... Just descend slowly. I’ll take care of the rest."

"Yes, ma’am."

Caleb, however, didn’t immediately begin his descent as his attention was drawn to something else. His gaze wandered all the way past the Royal Palace, into the distant woods. He could sense multiple fluctuations of mana, evident of a struggle occurring.

’The commanders must be duking it out with the demon already.’ He extended his domain sense in that direction and finally had a full view of what was happening. ’Fuck... They’re losing!’

"Eh, Celistra?" Caleb called out softly. "I’ll have to drop you off here for now. Something has caught my attention." He quickly descended towards the ground.

And as he expected, the palace knights immediately spotted them and reacted.

"Who dares...!" A captain yelled as he called over his men. "Flying over the Royal Palace is an offence punishable by death!"

In a flash, multiple knights arrived on the scene, surrounding Caleb and the priestess in his arms. They pointed their weapons at the intruders with extreme prejudice, their mana raring to be unleashed.

They were already in hot waters for the disaster that befell the palace. They had to fight and kill their own comrades and couldn’t afford the luxury of being nice to strangers.

"Stand down." Celistra said the moment her feet touched the ground. "I’m the priestess and I have the authority to be here."

"P-Priestess?"

As soon as the knights recognized her, they quickly stood upright and saluted. But that didn’t get far as a sudden gust of wind rippled across the courtyard, forcing the knights and the priestess to shield their faces.

"Ah!" The knights were left speechless when Caleb suddenly took to the skies again, his figure disappearing just as fast.

"Who the fuck was that?"

Celistra remained silent, her gaze lingering in the direction Caleb disappeared to. She knew the probable cause of his actions and hoped things weren’t that bad. She closed her eyes for a moment and released a soft sigh.

"Take me to the king." Celistra turned to the captain and ordered.

"Yes."

.......

Commander Eric, Commander Oliver and Commander Fred were at their wits’ end. They had thrown everything they had at the demon general but could not do any substantial damage.

Any damage they dealt, the demon would swiftly render it null. The commanders were tired, injured and running low on mana. Any moment now and they would collapse.

Kolga knew this too. The demon general was still toying with the commanders. He could have ended the lives of the commanders whenever he so desired. But it seemed fun was all he wanted.

BOOM...!!!

A massive clash that sent all three commanders hurtling backwards brought them to their knees. They were finally exhausted and out of mana, unable to do anything.

’Fuck...’ Eric cursed with a bloody face. ’I can’t believe this is how we die, and in our own lands nonetheless.’ He struggled to get to his feet but it was a mammoth task.

"So you’re finally at your limits..." Kolga grinned as he slowly approached the kneeling knights, his axe being dragged behind him. "I must say... After you lost that friend of yours, you three put in a lot more effort. You made this fight extremely invigorating for me.

"For that, I thank you." The demon arrived a few meters away from the commanders. "Who wants to go first?" He spun his axe around with a savage grin, his eyes roaming the commanders.

"Ah, who am I kidding? Any one of you will do just fine!"

In a flash, he appeared before Fred who was in the centre, his axe poised to deliver a devastating strike that would leave the commander in pieces.

’In the end, we couldn’t do a damn thing.’ Fred thought in his final moments. ’After throwing everything we had at this demon, we still fell short. This kingdom might be doomed for good.

’And I failed the duchess as well.’ He had promised to return. ’Hah... If only I was stronger...’

In what felt like a second stretched infinitely, Fred turned to look at his companions who were trying to get back on their feet to intervene. They roared, screamed and cursed but to no avail. They were utterly exhausted and would never make it in time.

Commander Fred then shifted his gaze to the descending axe, his expression calm and collected. The demon’s aura pressed heavily on his shoulders, leaving him no room to dodge, but there was no need to. He could only accept his fate.

’I wonder how Caleb would have handled this situation.’ The thought immediately made him regret letting Caleb leave on his own. ’I should have convinced him to come with us. Maybe...’ He closed his eyes, releasing a soft sigh.

"Fred!"

BOOM...!!!

The commander remained with his eyes closed. However, the impending pain that should have assaulted him never came. Instead, he was knocked back by a powerful gust of wind pressure.

’Huh?’

Fred abruptly opened his eyes, finding himself on his side. His surroundings were covered in dust and falling debris, and his eyes widened in realization.

’Someone came!’

He waved his hand to dispel the dust around him. Squinting his eyes, the commander tried to see who it was but could barely make out the silhouette of the person standing before him.

"Are you alright?"

Commander Fred’s heart skipped a beat; this quickly transformed into a rapid thumping of his heart. A rare sense of hope took root in his heart, a feeling he’d never experienced before. He recognized that voice!

"Ca-Caleb...?"

He called with a soft gulp, watching as the silhouette grew clearer until the man in all black stood before him, tall and imposing. Caleb extended a hand towards him, his expression calm and assuring.

"My arrival was just in time, wasn’t it?" Caleb grinned excitedly. "That’s what we call a dramatic entrance."