Endless Horde: Through the Eyes of a Godking

Chapter 488: Paragons, Budding Threat

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"What’s the verdict? Were they correct? Should we start preparing?"

Inside a spacious room filled with numerous machines, creatures from different races move about, busying themselves with their work.

If one were to look closely, they’d discover that despite the calm and ordered manner of their movements, it is accompanied by a slight amount of urgency. It’s hard to notice at first, but their movements were just a little bit stiff and hurried. Their faces didn’t betray what they truly felt inside, sporting a disciplined reaction so as to prevent any panic from affecting them as a whole.

Observing them from above were a few people wearing solemn expressions, whatever the equivalent of that in their own racial expression. These people radiated strength and authority as they observed the calm yet urgent operation beneath them.

"So far, we have no reason to deny their claims." Someone from this group replied to the previous question. "As much as I truly wanted to, unfortunately."

His words caused the atmosphere within the room to become even more solemn. If there were anybody to blame for this, it would be the folks from the Occult Decoding Team... Well, technically, it’s them as a whole, but the real reason behind this stemmed from one officer who had a surprisingly high level of All Speak.

On any other day, none of these people would’ve believed a single person could raise this much alarm throughout the Border Patrol Guardians as a whole. Yes, this doesn’t just concern the Northwestern Camp; it spread throughout the entirety of the Border Patrol Guardians as a whole.

Alas, the speculations were too serious to ignore this time. Especially since it has just been proven to have some merit behind it.

"It’s still difficult for me to accept that those abominations possess intelligence," someone stated with a slightly irritated tone. "Or maybe I just don’t want to believe it, because it’s easier and less terrifying that way."

"Same." Another one sympathized with the notion. "But the facts are laid out in front of us, and we are bound by duty to take care of this."

These people were the true big shots of the Border Patrol Guardians. They are the real leaders of the first line of defense against the Void. All of them were cosmic-level experts; some were even cosmic lords. The youngest of them had lived for at least 2000 years already.

Once upon a time, these people were legendary figures from their respective races. Some even had the entire alliance cheering for them due to their fame. However, this was a thing of the past now. All of them saw the situation in the frontlines and decided to be stationed here, assuming a near-thankless duty to ensure that the realm lives on.

One has to know that everybody in this room holds sufficient authority and strength to not be trifled with. Even the Chancellors of the Divine Council cannot exert their might and authority over them because their positions are roughly equal to each other.

Normally, these people were relatively undisturbed. They don’t go far from the walls, but they don’t show up frequently either. They just observed from behind the scenes and made decisions from time to time. And only when the camps faced a dire crisis would they mobilize.

However, there’s an exemption for everything. And what they’re facing now was one of said exemptions.

The report came from Chief Blackwood himself, one of the founders of the Occult Decoding Team. To say that the contents of his report were alarming would be an understatement. After all, if his conjectures turned out to be correct, then this matter is a concern to the Primeval Scarlet Dust Realm as a whole.

Beep!

[Incoming call: Field Marshal Carver.]

Beep!

"You’re on, Carver. What do you have for us?"

"Greetings, Paragons. I just got back from the Patrol. I roamed up until the edge of the True Abyssal Zone, following what should be the most populated route we’ve drawn since the last shift. However, not a single Void Creature was sighted."

"..."

"It’s like they all disappeared for some reason. I even made lots of noises on purpose to see if there was anything. I tried every trick in the book; I even set off explosives and fireworks, but none came."

"I saw traces of them, though. And everyone points to the direction deeper into the Abyss."

"I initially planned on at least stepping foot in the True Abyssal Deaths, just to see what the fuss was all about. But when I was out there...I don’t know, something just didn’t feel right to me."

"Visually, I see nothing different. Sure, the density of Void Air was thicker than last time, but that’s hardly a concern at this point."

"However, there’s something about the True Abyssal Zone that just feels...wrong, if that makes sense. I had shivers just staring at it. I even nearly fell into hallucinations, like the void itself was trying to swallow me."

"I apologize, Paragons. I couldn’t bear to stay there any longer after barely extricating myself from that pull. I don’t know what’s going on, but I can tell that something’s not right in there. Please, think twice about sending more people after me. That’s all I have to say."

"Don’t sweat it, Carver. You’ve done well. Rest up, and pay attention to your health. Don’t take any chances."

"Yes, Sir. I’ll take good care of myself. Carver, out."

The Paragons looked at each other after listening to Field Marshal Carver’s words. They could hear the fear and trepidation in his voice. Which, in itself, was astonishing.

You see, Field Marshal Carver was one of their best scouts. With his speed and mysterious methods, he was among the very few people who could roam the void almost fearlessly. In fact, Carver’s contribution to establishing new patrol routes usually amounts to no less than 30% ever since he took the position. He’s one of their most reliable guides to the void.

And yet the very man himself sounded terrified, which doesn’t usually happen. He hadn’t even stepped into the True Abyssal Zone, a place that he had been into before and came out from just fine and dandy, yet this time around, couldn’t for some unknown reason.

The Paragons knew better than to dismiss the instincts of Carver. It has served him well throughout his tenure and was the key to promotion to this position.

So if his instincts were telling him that there’s something terrible happening in the True Abyssal Zone right now, then it’s most likely true.

"Damn! So it’s true then? The void is giving birth to a really troublesome entity?"

"We’ve got no reason to not believe it at this point. All clues are pointing to it, after all."

"Should we go see it for ourselves?"

"I’m down if you guys are too."

"This is too risky. If we’re going to do it, we need to be as prepared as we can. You all know we can’t take any chances."

"Is a field inspection truly necessary at this point? Haven’t we all but confirmed that Chief Blackwood’s speculations are true with these clues?"

"I also think it’s unnecessary. Instead of going out, I think it’s wiser for us to start planning our response to this. We all know the Void Creatures are coming to us harder this time. So much so that even the wall might not be able to stop it. This should be a priority."

"Divide and conquer, I say," someone suggested. "Those who want to stay here can do so while maintaining order and operations within the camp. Those who want to do field inspection can go too, given that they are careful from any ambushes."

"Sounds perfect!"

All of them could’ve just stayed behind and watched as everything played out. They could just sit back and respond accordingly to what’s about to come, and nobody would’ve batted an eye or complained. It’s well within their right to do so anyway.

They’re more useful to the realm alive rather than dead, after all.

But these paragons have their personal moral codes and sense of duties. Their ideas might clash against each other from time to time, but all of them are concerned about the well-being of the realm.

And even though all clues had been telling them that Chief Blackwood’s conjecture, which was Cedric’s actually, was most likely correct, some of them still decided that they had to see it for themselves. Because only by doing so would they be able to accurately gauge their next course of actions accordingly.

It’s not that they don’t trust the clues they had so far. They just wanted to confirm it on their own.

And so, at least half of the Paragons got up and began making their way to the Void Gates in their Void Suits. The other half stayed behind to manage the camps.

Unbeknownst to them, the threat looming over the realm was far greater than any of them could have expected.

Because as it turned out, Cedric wasn’t overthinking at all. The reality was that even his paranoid conclusions turned out to be an understatement in the end.

What they’re about to face goes beyond a simple threat to the camp, but to the Primordial Chaos itself.