Chapter 467: The Border
The Border.
Several decades ago, the leaders of the Central Plains came together to create an impregnable iron wall to barricade the western border of the Central Plains.
This was an emergency situation after the disaster in the continent of Stelia broke out and it was discovered that monsters were leaking out of the sea.
Several teams of drifters were sent to quell the rising disaster, but none of them got past the sea.
Not with the serpentine disaster or the enormous beast of the ocean. No one got as far as the middle of the sea.
It was difficult for ships to pass through, and even sometimes airships were not safe. The thought of having such powerful monsters creep up on the border of the Central Plains unexpectedly one day paled many in their frail minds.
Then Rughsbourgh came up with the idea of the Protection Wall. Several leaders bought the idea immediately, and with the intentional resources of kingdoms, the wall rose in no time. It was a dark fortress of protection, situated in the coldest region of the Central Plains. Although technologists proposed that the atmospheric condition of the western border was an unnatural phenomenon caused by the high rate of discharge of atmospheric essence because of the presence of monsters-and the northern border should naturally be the coldest.
Of course, the Central Plains sat comfortably in the middle of all other three continents and could be called the western world of this epoch.
In the border wall, there was nothing out of the ordinary going on. Drifters were sent to this place by the government, noble families, and kingdoms.
Oftentimes, those drifters saw being sent to the mouth of disaster, such as this one, as a worse punishment than death.
But even so, being a protector carried an amazing level of recognition and respect, because they are seen as the guardians protecting the continent from the monsters of the dark continent.
However, within the walls, they undergo rigorous training and intermittent missions to the sea in order to subdue monsters that somehow find themselves offshore.
And sometimes, this subjugation could tend to be so daunting that they have to follow the monster into the ocean. Many lose their lives more often than not.
And a slight mistake by a captain could be extremely costly.
For the past two days, the borders have been especially busy.
Not because there was an influx of monsters as usual, no. But because of an influx of humans... students.
Students that were lost for ages.
A ship suddenly arrived at the shore, somehow managing to get past the sea in shambles. The aquatic fortress had managed to scale past the vast sea while enduring the damage of
monsters.
Its metallic body was wickedly scratched, metal plates peeling off on several parts of its body. In corners, a large dent that could only have been caused by monsters of incredible sizes could be seen.
It was a miracle that it had managed to come this far. And a factor of such a miracle was no less than its enormous size and body.
The obvious logo of the Luinngard Empire had been eaten off and scratched by monsters such that it was unrecognizable.
Immediately, this vessel of salvation started pulling towards the shore; several squads of protectors prepared for a large-scale subjugation operation.
To their surprise, humans began to come down from the ship.
Everyone was shocked until a certain protector screamed the name of his sister who had left for the academy over seven years ago.
Abandoning all reason, he rushed and hugged her. Everyone's eyes widened and frowned with confusion.
What exactly was going on?
It was slow and strange at first, but the people were then paid attention to and cared for. As they arrived at the border fortress, news began to spread amongst the protectors themselves. This caused a certain one of them to go crazy, shouting as he searched the crowd of people that were brought to the border to be cared for-
"Northern! Northern! Northern!"
There was no one that did not raise their head at the mention of the name, because the name in and of itself was kind of legendary.
Was it the feat of single-handedly taking down a tier five rift?
Or the horror of Brimfield estate?
The master of the vicious Night Terror, and the savior to many that night.
Ellis couldn't help but rush to the dark-haired man with a scar over his face, crying
desperately for Northern.
Not just Ellis, across the two nights, several people would come and tell him strange things about this person, his own son.
Shin, hearing these praises of some sort, felt weird. He didn't even know what to expect.
His son? Or an absolute stranger?
The stories that were told of him informed of an entirely different and grown man. Almost a hero.
Sadly, some had other things to say that painted him quite vicious, that showed that as much as many respected him, many more feared him for the power he wielded.
Even the oldest man amongst them.
A lot of things have happened since Northern stepped out to go to the academy. And standing at the top of the wall, staring at the surface of the ocean, Shin couldn't help but regret the day he decided to let Northern attend that damned place.
He leaned on the metallic trail of the wall and sighed. Right there, a comrade came to him and tapped his shoulder sympathetically.
Shin rubbed his hands together, each breath came out with a smoke from his mouth; their uniforms consisted of thick clothes that protected them against the intense cold.
But this night, he felt awfully cold compared to other nights. Perhaps, he was tense and
scared.
A lot of them have returned and his son is not here yet. Several things ran across his mind as he
stood there.
The man standing next to him suddenly shivered.
"Oh shit. Why the heck is it so cold this night?"
Shin raised a brow and stood up, saying, "I thought it was just me." He narrowed his eyes
towards the ocean, immediately noticing the intense fog.
It was so intense that it was impossible to see the ocean at all.
Shin frowned darkly. "Ansene, something is wrong. Alert the Commander. Something is
definitely wrong!"
Ansene saw the urgency in Shin's eyes and immediately strode across the surface of the wall, entering a tower and finding his way down.
Shin, by the way, stood at the wall, keenly inspecting the sea, forcing his eyes to see through.
Suddenly, a pillar of flames erupted out of nowhere, causing the entire foundation of the
fortress to tremble.
Shin's frown got darker. He looked to his left and right then closed his eyes.
A very large bird, a raven, appeared above his head, spreading its wings all the way over him
and oozing with an almost liquid skin.
The bird's eyes were as red as Shin's. It flew forward into the thick fog to see exactly what was going on while Shin patiently waited on the surface of the wall.
A few moments later, his eyes suddenly widened.
He could see a cacophony of monsters crowding the surface of the ocean. They were so numerous that it was hard to even see the water.
And all of them were desperate for one single person who was viciously fighting for his life, destroying the monsters with a level of ease.
Taking a closer look at the person with his familiar's eyes, the guy looked like he knew what he was doing but the numbers were outrageous.
However, what Shin couldn't help but notice almost belatedly was the white hair. It was dirty and not what he remembered of his son's snow-white hair and flawless skin.
But a moment's glance, where he was permitted to see Northern's face, immediately
informed him.
Such that before Shin could tell, his legs had leaped off the wall of the fortress.