Chapter 1033: Battle Teams Assemble
"Headmaster, there should be a limit to your fantasy, you know?"
Zeek said with a disappointed tone.
Others also looked away and sighed.
At that moment, Thalen’s weathered face became flustered.
"What? He is right here! Why just straight-out dismiss me when you can ask him?"
Jynxa yawned and rolled her eyes.
"I’m getting tired of all this. Do you need us to crush necks, or do you want to chat all day?"
Thalen looked at her and exhaled.
Then he suddenly grinned.
"Now that I think about it, the end of the continent is coming. It might not be a bad idea to have a party!"
All of them grimaced at him and uttered at the same time,
"No. We are not having a party."
Zeek added,
"And we are not going to spend the whole day talking, either. After all, our attackers are barely ten kilometers away."
Thalen nodded.
"Zeek is right. There’s still much to be discussed, but first I want to tell you all how this is going to go."
All of them paid attention, even Gourdon—where he was seated—focused on Thalen.
"We will all be dividing ourselves into groups of three, and each group will be assigned to different sections and different roles. Of course, this grouping does not include Zeek, Gourdon, and Zahir. Those three will act independently."
Rex muttered with an arrogant frown,
"Of course."
"Zaire, Jynxa, and Rex—team one."
Rex’s face immediately paled. He raised his head and shouted, pointing to Jynxa,
"What?! Why? Why would you put me on the same team with that woman!"
Thalen fixed a stern gaze at him, making him shrink back.
"Lira, Nova, and Sir Sael will form the second team."
Sael bowed politely in response.
"Half Cut and Grey will form the third team. The fourth, fifth, and sixth teams will be Zeek, Zahir, and Gourdon."
All of them nodded.
Thalen inhaled deeply and exhaled, then he looked them all in the eye as he spoke.
"This is going to probably be a brutal battle. I have no idea what to expect, but I hope that none of us loses our life. We can move to the front lines for now—information will be dispersed as the need arises. You guys are also there to provide aid to the lacking areas around you. Whenever you see an enemy that is too difficult for others to handle, deal with it and deal with it as a team..."
He particularly faced Rex.
"Do not be reckless and charge in alone."
Rex frowned and looked away reluctantly.
Thalen sighed once more and folded his arms.
"That should be all for now. Thank you all very much."
As they all dispersed, Zahir raised his hand slowly.
Thalen looked at him with a slightly raised brow.
"I want to take the boy."
Thalen sighed.
"Zahir, he is not something you can just use to feel cold. Besides, isn’t the cold weather enough for you?"
Zahir’s eyes narrowed a little.
"Far. Far from it. I want the boy—his talent makes everywhere feel like home. It makes mine even more potent."
Thalen was silent for a while, studying Zahir and thinking of what to do with his peculiar attachment to Ryan’s talent.
He eventually sighed.
"Alright. But do protect him."
"That’s a given."
Zahir also left the room, slowly walking behind the others.
After they had all left, the remaining people in the room were Savant Treasure, Ilitis, Thalen, and Gourdon.
Gourdon folded his arms and looked towards the walls of the city.
There was silence in the room before Thalen breathed softly and asked in a low tone,
"What is going on in your mind?"
Gourdon was distracted for a minute, then he suddenly turned to Thalen and pointed to himself.
"Me? Oh. Ah... pfttt. Nothing. This is all a mess we didn’t see coming—it feels unreal but is actually happening. Worse still, we feel alone in this."
Thalen nodded.
"I think the enemy intentionally isolated not just us but every nation. There is a high chance that the military is attacking every single nation."
He walked forward slowly.
"I spoke to the government official before the evacuation began, and they said there’s been underground intelligence of Dante killing the Governor of Arcadia and has been mobilizing the military, even since before then."
Gourdon tilted his head.
"The new Paragon? Ouch, that is so cliché. I don’t know, but anyone would have expected this. But what anyone wouldn’t have expected is how a Tyrant fits into all of this."
Ilitis spoke at this point.
"That is a much larger story that even we are not yet sure of. This said Tyrant was only recognized by the Void Lord. I had come in contact with him once, and he had programmed me to act as a medium to put the Void Lord in certain circumstances to wear him down. Which worked perfectly well. This is what my master and I believed."
Gourdon looked at him for a few seconds—he was silent, and with his golden hair shrouding his eyes completely, it was difficult to read his expression.
He turned his head to Thalen.
"By Void Lord, does he mean... your guy?"
Thalen glanced at Ilitis and slowly looked back to Gourdon.
"I think so... honestly, I am slightly confused too."
He turned back to Ilitis.
"How exactly did Rian become your master? What is this Void Lord you keep calling him? It can’t be associated with the Void... right?"
Ilitis smiled gently.
"Ah... you know about the void."
For a moment he was smiling. The next, however, his face seemed to go pale and a bead of sweat slowly crawled down his face.
He inhaled and exhaled several times, trembling.
Gourdon looked at Thalen, Thalen also looked back—even Savant Treasure was alarmed for Ilitis.
It looked like the gentleman was reliving a harrowing experience.
He eventually sighed deeply and steadied his shoulders. He lowered his head for a moment, brought out a white handkerchief, and cleaned his face.
Then he raised his head, adjusted his monocle, and smiled.
"Ah. The Void. How refreshing..."