World's Last Hope-Chapter 96: Web of Destiny

A few hours passed in the room when a soldier entered, carrying a stack of documents.

This was the information about the awakenings that had been discovered in the few hours, their families, and where they had been working before awakening.

Saint Gabriel took the documents and scanned them quickly.

After a few minutes of silence, he spoke.

"There are about 3,000 awakenings."

The Grandmasters around him gasped in shock. In the history of the whole city, there had never been an awakening of such a grand scale.

"About 60% of them had been working in the food districts up until now, after them are the mining districts, with about 20%, and the rest are split among the other districts," the Saint spoke.

"So we can expect a decrease in food production?" Grandmaster Aldemar asked.

"Not necessarily. Thanks to Aria, we have obtained one more cathedral of Life. The production of food will become easier, as such, there shouldn’t be a massive decrease in food production, if at all," Grandmaster Gryndor spoke.

"Sir!" The soldier who had given the Saint the documents was still in the room as he bowed to the Saint.

"What is it?" the Saint asked.

"We have recently received news that massive spiders have begun to approach the general location of the city!"

The Saint scratched his chin as he muttered, "So we will soon be under attack as well? If you have nothing else to report, you can leave."

The soldier bowed again and left the room.

A heavy silence befell the room.

After a moment, a woman wearing a red robe spoke, "Didn’t that trio have experience in fighting these spiders? I suggest it will be a good idea to send them to the frontlines. They have the most experience, and as such, it shall prove beneficial, as they can teach our army the most effective way to fight them."

The Saint shifted his gaze to Gryndor and Aldemar, "How is the training of the girls going so far?"

Both of them simply nodded, implying that it was going smoothly.

"... Then I think it will be a good idea if we send them to the frontlines, as Grandmaster Clara suggested."

The Saint sighed, "And about the awakened, I suggest that we split them into groups of around 10 and assign them a Master as a teacher. They can begin their training around the borders of the city, making it safer and strengthening our units as a result."

Aldemar raised an eyebrow, "This is all good, but isn’t this too aggressive of a push? Shouldn’t we be careful not to overload the troops?"

The Saint shifted his gaze to the ceiling, "No... we don’t have the time for that anymore..."

Suddenly, the air in the room got heavier as everybody understood what the Saint was implying.

"Do you mean... that we are going to be attacked?"

The Saint nodded, "Yes, I am detecting massive monsters slowly approaching our general location."

Gryndor took a deep breath as he asked, "And their Grade?"

Gabriel scoffed, "Grade-6, at least."

Nobody spoke after that, as they all knew what this information meant.

The city was soon going to experience an attack so violent that millions would die.

In the end, the only thing that could be heard was a quiet whisper from one of the Grandmasters, "God, help us."

*****

The next morning, Eric and Aria were looking at Grandmaster Gryndor, who had an unreadable expression, waiting for his words.

Their breakfast was on the table, slowly getting cold, but nobody seemed to be in the mood to eat, considering the current situation.

The old man took a deep breath, "There are three thousand awakened individuals. We have decided it with the Saint. They will be separated into teams and will be assigned to be taught by a Master. The training will happen outside the city."

The old man shifted his gaze to the two of them, "And unfortunately, our training would no longer be possible, as both of you will go and fight outside."

Eric raised an eyebrow, "Sure, real combat is usually the best way to get stronger, but why so suddenly?"

"From the reports, apparently massive spiders are going to attack, most likely similar, if not the same, as the ones you encountered in the Colossus Forest."

Aria’s eyes widened for a moment, "Wait... are you suggesting that we may be the reason they are coming toward us?"

The old man sighed, "That is most likely the case..."

Seeing her grimace, he quickly added, "But don’t blame yourself for this. The fact that you liberated a cathedral is already incredibly valuable. So, if being attacked by the spiders is all the price we have to pay, then it is worth it."

Eric scratched his chin as he realized something. "Does that mean that Olivia would come with us as well?"

The old man scoffed, "Naturally."

"Sweet, we haven’t been able to meet for some time now due to the training... I wonder how strong she’s gotten."

Aria, on the other hand, felt her heart becoming heavier. She was naturally happy that she was going to meet her friend again, but at the same time, how would Olivia react after seeing Eric?

She shook her head as she disregarded these thoughts, she had to focus on the most important thing right now.

"So when are we going to the frontlines?" she asked her grandfather.

He shifted his gaze to her as he answered, "Enjoy this breakfast, as immediately after, you two are going there."

After that, they didn’t speak much as nobody was in the mood for chatter.

It was hard to consider that they were about to go to the frontlines.

’This would mean that I will have even fewer opportunities to spend time with Aria,’ he thought as he shifted his gaze to her.

He sighed. ’I suppose I should be grateful that yesterday we had some alone time, just the two of us.’

He smirked as he massaged his left leg, where there was a bruise. ’But man, she really can get intense from time to time...’

After their breakfast was finished, the old man told them where they were supposed to go and bid them farewell.

"It was a bit short, but it was nice training with you, old man."

Gryndor scoffed, "You too, kid."

Aria noted how her grandfather didn’t seem offended by being called "old man," but didn’t comment on the matter.

After this, the two of them headed for the teleporting circle.

It didn’t take them long to appear before the grand walls.

Eric, despite seeing them multiple times, still couldn’t help but gasp. No matter what, their towering height, combined with their silver and gold engravings, always made for quite the sight.

Unlike the last time they were approaching another gate, as the city was large, there were probably dozens, if not hundreds, of them all around the walls.

"So is this it?" Eric asked as he glanced around.

There were hundreds of troops running around in the vicinity. It was clear that they had gotten the news that a possible attack was soon coming, and as a result, they were now trying to organize themselves as quickly as possible.

"Grandmaster Aria! Master Eric!" A soldier saw them and bowed as he addressed them.

Eric scratched the back of his head. He was still having problems adjusting to the special treatment.

"Report," Aria said in her usual emotionless voice.

Eric was startled for a moment, as Aria wasn’t usually using that voice when speaking with him. It seemed that he was special.

"If you would please follow me," the soldier spoke as he began to lead them to a building larger than the rest.

"Okay, let’s see what that’s all about," Eric muttered under his breath.

From now on, he was going to have to act as a strategist, so he put on his usual fearless persona.

*****

Kyle hugged his mother tightly as he told her goodbye.

"I told you that you shouldn’t do this," his father said, failing to hide his worry as he addressed his son.

"Oh, come on! Can’t you be a bit happier about me? Not to mention, with the money I’ll be paid, you won’t have to slave at your job anymore!"

His father smiled as he put a hand on Kyle’s head. "I am... I am proud. Just don’t die out there."

"Yeah, don’t die!" Kyle’s sister agreed with their father.

"Okay, I’ll come and see you as soon as I can!" Kyle said as he exited their new assigned house and went to the teleporting circle where the others were supposed to be gathered.

From now on, he was going to learn how to fight outside the city.

He clenched his fist as a smile appeared on his face.

He was excited—a change was coming. From now on, his life would have a new meaning.

Shifting his gaze to the clear sky, he took a deep breath, enjoying the clean air, unlike the air around the mines.

"Let’s do it. From now on, there’s only up!"