Chapter 886 The Ceremony
BANG!
In a room filled with Heroes, one had just gotten up from the table where he had been seated at before banging his fist down on it had and speaking in the tone of one who was completely and outrageously baffled.
"How can it even be so sudden? And so ahead of schedule? This is a war, dammit! It's not a small skirmish that they can plan at any time to deploy at will! How the hell did this escape all of our intelligence sources?"
He was directly followed by another one for a different table, but the same outrage was present in this one's tone, too.
"Yes! Fine, we have only a single informer in the Mainland, but even if he wasn't reliable, haven't we spent centuries building up defense after defense all over the damn Endless Sea? Aren't they the reason we've had to be so economic in how we spend resources? How the f*ck did they all fail?!"
Hearing these two, more and more started to get up, and they all had the same questions.
"Overseer, you must answer! How can-"
"It's preposterous, and frankly quite demotivating! What do we tell-"
"QUIET!"
As this single word was shouted by a grizzled man who stood up with his hands folded behind his back, silence finally fell over the room.
The tables were arranged in a square pattern, and there were multiple concentric squares present with the ones further behind being elevated so that those seated on them could still look towards the center to see what was going on.
And of course, right in the center was the body of the Overseer, which seemed to be quite agitated, because the faces on it were flashing at a much higher frequency than they usually did.
After letting the silence stretch on for a few seconds, this man spoke again.
"With the enemy at the gates, these are not the questions we must be asking. Rather, we should look for ways to estimate the strength of the force that has arrived, and decide whether it might be time to take drastic measures. You all know what I'm talking about."
Nods could be seen around the room as he said this, but where some were accompanied by gladdened expressions, others had uneasiness and displeasure clearly showing upon them.
It was then that the Overseer finally spoke out. Ever since the meeting had been called, this entity had been silent, so when its voice started to reverberate in the area, everyone started to listen carefully.
"The War Room has been opened for the first time since the calamity that the continent had to go through. This, in itself, should tell you how serious the situation is. As per the ancient rules, an investigative party has already set out. We shall await the report. For security reasons, they were ordered not to send back any information which could be tapped to find our location."
In most critical situations, one would always calm down if they found out that something was already being done to handle the pickle that they were in.
It was the same here - as soon as the Overseer told them that the best possible measures had already been taken, most calmed down, and even though some still looked very doubtful, they refrained from expressing whatever they had been about to say.
In a certain location in the large room where at least 300 individuals were present, there was a gaggle of people who had all reacted in this way, together.
Finding themselves free for the moment, one of them struck up a conversation.
"None of us could have expected that this would come so soon… But I guess it might be a good thing, because there is no way that the ancient traditions can be bypassed."
All of the Heroes in the room were wearing masks to hide their identities even though this wasn't really necessary in this day and age, but because it was the tradition that had been implemented back when there had been many factions who wanted to keep their faces hidden, it was still followed.
Hence, the features that were visible to the outside were all fake, but this didn't matter if one was looking at another's face to judge what they were thinking.
As for the man who had spoken, he looked almost pleased, but another beside him replied right away in a tense tone.
"What's to say that he hasn't already implemented something to bypass it? If I were him, I would definitely not have wasted all these years. All of you already know that the reason I joined this group is because I believe the Overseer might just be some opportunistic Hero from then who took the chance to enjoy a long life and unlimited resources. If I'm right, we'll be screwed once he's not bound by the rules anymore!"
At this moment, another among this gaggle of six individuals spoke up, and his tone was the most measured of them all.
"We have already discussed this. Nothing can be done which is not for the good of the continent, and this is a very strong binding that cannot be overcome in any manner. Unless we're talking about extreme measures that even we cannot imagine… We don't know if our fears are even justified."
This made a fourth Hero talk, and his face was, for some reason, filled with anger.
"Oh, please! We are the few who have been commanded by our ancestors to never forget what happened after the Apocalypse! The Overseer closed the doors of the Order, resulting in the deaths of so many who could have been saved! Someone so heartless… Cannot be at the helm of the continent! Who knows what could happen? If another situation like that occurs, can anyone guarantee that we will not be the ones who are locked outside? Just looking at him makes me feel incensed…"
The one with a measured tone replied to this, too.
"You see it in that way. But others see differently. In the matter of survival, hard choices need to be made, and for that, one who is capable of sacrificing the few to save the many is necessary. True, thousands could have been saved at that moment, but at the same time, there was a probability that it could have attracted the monstrosities which would have killed everyone who was already inside. Because we do not know the exact conditions at that time, the probability cannot exactly be calculated, but if the decision was taken, then it must mean that it must have been substantial. In that case, maybe even I would want to definitely save a few rather than regret later if the attempt to save many more backfired, and resulted in the Order having no future. Do you understand how disastrous that would have been?"
These words made everyone present ponder seriously, but after a few seconds, one of the Heroes in the group who hadn't spoken yet said, "That's all well and true… But where does one draw the line? Who decides the point at which it becomes too much of a risk? My opinion could vary from you and all the others, so what if the Overseer's opinion varies the most? To him, it might even feel justified! The fact of the matter is… That we all feel uneasy. Uneasy that placing the continent in the hands of one who is ready to condemn millions to save thousands, which just doesn't make sense to me even if those thousands have been lucky enough to be born with potential. Basically, luck has become the thing that shall decide whether one should be given life, or not! This shouldn't be the case! The Will of the world decreed that those individuals have the right to live, just as much as us, but someone will be superseding that Will!"
His words made all the others frown as they could resonate with at least some part of what he said, and finally, the one who had spoken first said, "All of that may or may not be true, but either way… There is nothing to be done now. We can only trust in the ancient rules which must definitely have been made to ensure that executive powers would be given only when it was absolutely necessary. The rules are pretty watertight - they…"
Suddenly, this man was interrupted when a loud sound was heard in the room.
It sounded like the wrath of the sky which was all being focused on a single spot, and in the next instant, 10 individuals appeared in the room, thoroughly battered and bleeding with some even missing a few body parts.
Two were in a critical condition - it looked as if they had survived with just their head and a portion of their upper body, with the rest torn off indiscriminately. In one of these two, their intestines were even trailing on the ground helplessly, and soon after they appeared, they directly collapsed onto the floor.
As the hundreds of Heroes watched on with shock, those who had been trained to save lives on the frontlines directly rushed forward. They were a team of 20 Heroes- half went the one who seemed to be the most critical, while the other half gathered around the one on the floor.
Right away, a blue barrier came into being, and it was a spell so complex that even an amateur Hero would feel dizzy if they were looking at the patterns of elementary particles that were being created to make it come into effect. This, and the fact that it needed so many Heroes to cast was enough to make it clear that it was definitely at a level that most couldn't even imagine, and its effect was also instantaneous- not even two seconds after the barriers came into being, the two individuals whose breathing had been ragged and looking as if it was about to stop evened out, and at the corners of their bodies where their worst injuries were situated, the flesh even started to regenerate.
It was then that those watching finally turned their gaze to the rest of the Heroes who had appeared, and they had to take in another sharp breath as they examined these people. All of them had fear and vexation apparent on their faces, and one had even begun to hyperventilate, taking in such deep breaths that he made audible sounds echo in the room.
They were bleeding at someplace or the other on their bodies, and even though a couple were missing large chunks of fish and bone, it was obvious that they could overcome the injuries with time, without any outside help.
Finally, it was a woman who stepped forward to speak, and if the Head was here, he would have recognized her as the same person who had controlled his mind and made him cut off almost half of himself in that battle.
The cockiness and confidence that had been present in her at that time were absent, though, replaced by considerable panic that she had to visibly control before speaking.
"We- we saw it all… It was a mistake to try to take that brat in! He should have been killed on sight! He saw me… And laughed before setting more than 50 Heroes on us! We didn't really have time to scan their forces, but from sight alone, it looked as if there were hundreds behind him, all dressed in the same way! They were all much bigger than normal humans, and at first sight, they even looked like the monstrosities from ages ago! But this is definitely not the case because their heads were also enlarged! I'm sure of this, even though they were all dressed in thick robes! It's definitely an invasion, and it's definitely the Church!!"
Her words made all the Heroes stare with disbelief, and it was the grizzled man who had quietened the room before who spoke.
"War is upon us. According to the ancient rules, I call forth the Obelisk of Authority. Five of you- come forth. Even though many know of it, I shall announce the rules once more. To ensure that only real war situations would result in executive powers being given to the Overseer where the rules will no longer need to be followed except for the one where the Overseer will act in the interest of the survival of the continent, the rule states that five Heroes who are unaffiliated strongly to any force testify that an invading force that is capable of ending the continent has arrived. They will swear temporary oaths to only say the truth before giving the testimony. Let us begin."
The rest of the Heroes could only watch on as five Heroes from the group came forward and swore Oaths to speak the truth before giving their testimony, and following that, the stone obelisk which was exactly like the one which gave missions and rewards in the Order that had appeared in the room beside the grizzled man glowed.
Touching it, he said, "Overseer, executive powers are ready to be taken. Swear the oath to act only with Angaria's survival in mind, and proceed."
That unemotional voice returned, and with slight palpitations, it resounded in the room.
"I swear. No matter what course of action is needed, I will ensure that this continent survives. Long live Angaria!"