SSS Frost Sovereign: Rewinding The Apocalypse!-Chapter 54: Above the celestial keepers

By the next day, the chaos of the previous encounter had finally settled.

The raiders had returned safely, though many came back battered, shaken, and carrying news of the avarice that weighed on everyone.

Within the mayor’s settlement, life continued to move forward.

The place was still under expansion, scaffolding and half-finished structures lining the streets, yet it had grown far beyond its early, makeshift state.

Sturdy buildings now stood beside newer foundations, merchants had set up semi-permanent stalls, and patrols moved through the area with a more organized rhythm.

It was a settlement trying to look like a city, even while the scars of the apocalypse remained etched into every wall and road.

Meanwhile, inside the mayor’s office, his officials had been summoned for another meeting, this one convened in the aftermath of everything that had transpired the previous day.

Maxwell sat at the head of the room, with Franz, Ross, and Zack seated around the long table.

Behind Maxwell, Ixie perched atop a small raised platform, overlooking the space like a silent sentinel, her presence calm but watchful.

Albert and his team were absent. They were still recovering from the previous day, from both Wester and the entity known as Teleth.

Franz leaned back in his chair, his round beard resting against his chest as he slowly stroked it in thought. His posture was relaxed, but the tension in his eyes betrayed his mood.

"So it really was that bastard, huh," he said at last.

The rest of them remained quiet for a moment.

"So he was the one responsible for all that mess," Franz continued, his fingers tightening into a fist.

"And here I thought the spawns were responsible," Ross muttered.

"In total, over a hundred people have gone missing," Franz added grimly. "And almost all of them were unaffiliated with us. Drifters, freelancers, people wandering around this vicinity on their own."

Maxwell let out a tired sigh.

"They say his abilities revolve around manipulation, just as we feared," he said. "Extreme manipulation, control, compulsion. I cannot pin it down completely, but he managed to grow that power right under our noses."

Gremit had already told Maxwell everything he needed to know about the raid from the previous day. At the moment, he was with Albert while he recovered.

While Icard had faced Wester directly, Albert had been tied down fighting the spawn Wester had unleashed on them.

That creature had been almost as strong as Wester himself, sitting at the very highest end of D grade.

It was the strongest spawn Albert had ever faced up until now. Even with the combined efforts of Albert and Redd, they had barely managed to bring it down.

However, Wester, unlike the spawn, possessed the potential of a C grade. But then, his body could not properly contain that level of power, and so he struggled with it.

Somehow, he had been capable of forcing himself and others to reach such terrifying heights.

Just how dangerous was that ability? Not only did it control others, but it also compelled their very bodies to exceed their natural limits.

"Because of that power," Maxwell continued quietly, "we lost over sixty people outside our vicinity yesterday."

"You said he planted people in each group?" Ross asked.

"Yes. Most of them were likely manipulated as well," Maxwell replied.

"Damn it," Ross swore, clenching his fists. "And they did not notice? How do we know there are not still some of them among us?"

The room grew tense at that.

"Well, only Albert’s group and that lad Icard’s group were not brought down by him," Maxwell said. "They were the only targets he failed to eliminate. I also heard that one of the people in Icard’s group was an active follower, like Draik."

Maxwell paused, then added, "From the reports our men brought back from Icard’s group, they were led straight into high level spawns before being ambushed by Wester’s people. We nearly lost one of our own there."

The silence that followed was heavy, the weight of everything they had learned pressing down on the room.

They had cornered Wester’s men in the midst of the attacking spawns, who turned on them just as viciously.

When Lucas realized that neither the spawns nor Wester’s remaining followers would be enough to annihilate Icard’s raid group, he revealed himself and tried to slip in from the shadows.

An ambush aimed at Icard.

Redd reacted instantly. Together, the two of them brought Lucas down before he could even mount a proper attack.

"Icard... I have been hearing that name from you for some time now," Ross said.

Maxwell huffed lightly.

"He defeated Wester alongside Eric, another member of his group," Maxwell replied.

"The potential of those kids..." Zack muttered. "Just how strong are they going to become?"

"Hmph. It is not just their potential," Maxwell said. "They also have the snow cat as their guardian. I suppose we can only expect as much."

Then his expression hardened, the casual tone fading.

"As for Wester, thankfully, he was stopped. I can only imagine how easily he could have carried out everything he planned if he had been left unchecked."

Maxwell paused, and the atmosphere in the room grew heavy once more.

"But then, what happened next..."

Franz’s face tightened, the memory clearly still fresh in his mind.

"That presence... I truly thought we were all going to die."

Maxwell tapped his knuckles lightly against the desk.

"His name is Teleth," he said. "And he is Wester’s Keeper."

The room fell into dead silence. No one spoke. Even their breathing seemed to fade as the weight of those words settled over them.

Ixie lifted her wings slightly in a small shrug.

"Teleth is a well-known Keeper," she said. "And just as I feared, his ability is force, with a signature in manipulation and control. On a celestial’s level, those abilities are pushed to their absolute extreme."

"I never expected a Keeper to appear," Zack admitted. "I always thought they were truly all-powerful, beings that would never show themselves so easily."

"They are all-powerful," Ixie replied. "Even their forms are enough to warp the space around them. That is why they appear so dark. And their presence..."

She paused briefly. "As you have all experienced firsthand. Though, I fear what you felt may not even have been the full manifestation of his presence."

"Huh?" Franz muttered, glancing up.

Ixie straightened her posture.

"Not all Keepers are equal. Some exist on such a level that their mere presence can erase that of others. Only those with a special attribute can withstand such overwhelming pressure."

The room went silent again as they absorbed her words.

"I suspect Teleth is at or near that level," Ixie continued. "That is why I do not understand how he managed to channel his presence through a fragile vessel like Wester. It should not be possible."

She paused, then added quietly, "Unless his manipulation was able to reconfigure Wester’s body and entire integrity, just enough to channel a fragment of his presence. Even a fragment alone."

The implications of that hung heavily in the air.

"Then what about the Black Herald?" Maxwell asked, curiosity edging into his voice. "I had never even heard of such a thing until Gremit mentioned it."

Ixie’s gaze shifted slightly.

"The Black Herald..." she murmured. "While Heralds are messengers of the Keepers, the Black Herald is among the few who serve an outergod."

"Outergod?" Maxwell echoed.

"Yes," Ixie replied, her tone growing solemn. "They are like watchers, keeping even keeper’s in check since they serve those outergods, who are beings that stand even above the celestial Keepers."

The room remained silent as the weight of that revelation settled over everyone.