The next day...
The next morning felt colder than usual. Arthur woke alone in his tent, stared at the ceiling, and chuckled — a hollow sound. After chuckling for a few moments, he sat straight and looked around. Nobody was in the tent beside him.
'Did I wake up late…?'
He checked the time on the meat glasses. It was indeed 8 o'clock. He sighed and morphed the glasses back into an earpiece. He relaxed his body then, he stood up. He put on his self-lacing sneakers and weighted vest in a few minutes. He grabbed his katana and slid it into tis sheath. Arthur drew a deep breath, the air smelling like rusted iron and copper. He stepped outside of tent and saw that all the other enforcers were gathered around the fire.
'Breakfast? Already…?'
He approached the fire, the enforcers giving him a side-eye. He ignored them and sat beside Maple. As he stared into the fire, he asked Maple a question.
"Why didn't you wake me up?"
Maple's heart skipped a beat. She stopped eating her food and looked at Arthur.
"Well…uh, you needed rest from…yesterday."
Arthur laughed lightly and nodded. "I see."
Right then, Josh handed him a plate, spoon and rations. Arthur locked eyes with him for a moment before snatching the plate away. Maple looked at him, worried as he poured hot water into the rations. Amelia leaned over, whispering in her ear.
"Worried about him? Hm?"
Maple's heart jumped as she snapped her head towards Amelia.
"Of course, I am. Do you know what he experienced yesterday?" Maple whispered.
"Jeez, I feel sad too but it looks like it hit him harder." Amelia replied in a low voice.
"Yeah…It did. I hope he's okay." Maple admitted, taking a bit of her food.
"Does he look okay, lovebird?" Amelia grinned, saying in a normal voice.
"D-Don't say that!" Maple dropped her spoon and covered her mouth.
"I know – I know." Amelia pushed her away. "Now, eat your food before it gets cold."
Maple sneered and went back to eating. During that time, she heard the other enforcers gossip about her captain.
"Isn't that the guy who escorted Sterling?" One asked.
"Yeah, look at him, laughing after his professor died." The other replied.
"He's definitely became a psycho. I mean look at his gaze." The first said.
"Leave it, man. He just lost someone important to him. He's probably just going through a phase." Another butted.
"Yeah…we all go through one, don't we?" The second stated.
Maple gripped her spoon firmly. She didn't care that the air tasted like rusted iron nor did she care that she was being pushed down by chaos day and night. But how could these enforcers talk like that about someone who had just lost someone dear to him.
'They're probably from the UEOC…those bastards…'
She thoughts, chomping down on her food. After a few minutes, everyone finished eating their breakfast. The enforcers left and Nyx pulled Arthur aside.
"Hey, are you feeling, okay?" She asked, bending down to his height.
"Yes, why ask?" Arthur replied with a smile.
"You don't look okay…That's why I'm asking." Nyx straightened. "What's on your mind?"
"…Nothing." Arthur replied coldly.
"…" Nyx stared into Arthur's eyes, noticing a glint of sadness.
She sighed and turned around.
"Then, go."
Arthur didn't respond, merely following the orders given to him by the supreme commander. Nyx drew a deep breath.
'Arthur…I'm really sorry. I failed to do my one job. I must apologize to Chris for this when we return…'
She shook her head and headed towards the main tent. As she entered, she noticed that Lancelot, David and Charles had gathered round the table. She walked past and sat at the end, crossing her legs.
"What agenda do we have today…?"
Charles locked eyes with her. "…It's about Sterling's data."
The room went silent as the dead professor's name was mentioned. Nyx's eyes dampened as she spoke up.
"I'm really sorry, Charles…I couldn't protect him."
Charles heaved a sigh. "No…it's okay, ma'am. It isn't your fault. His own curiosity led him to his demise. Thought spending these last few months with him was an honor. He wouldn't have wanted to focus on his death rather he would've wanted us to finish this damn expedition."
Nyx nodded. "Then…what did he gather?"
Charles pushed a folder towards her. Nyx picked it and began flipping through the pages as Charles began summarizing.
"Basically, as you know, the chaos I quite massive around the abyss. The average chaos ranges the data shows to 1500 omegas to 2000 omegas." He stated.
"What?" Lancelot blurted. "That's too much! Even across the continent, it's barely 300 omegas!"
"That's the thing. That much chaos is making the air taste like rusted iron and that abnormal pressure your chaos incarnates feel." Charles acknowledged.'
"Interesting…but it says here as it gets closer to the abyss." Nyx dropped the folder.
"It's spikes to 50000 omegas." Charles replied.
"If it's fifty thousand omegas, isn't the exuding chaos meant to be even higher than what we have currently?" David asked.
"Exactly, though it isn't exuding, rather it's absorbing. That's why we thought it was a chaos fragment before." Charles said.
Suddenly, they heard a crack as a massive aura took over the camp. The air shifted, the rusted iron smell becoming even more intense as another pressure layered upon the previous one. Nyx's eyes widened as she what was happening. She stood up, knocking down the chairs with urgency.
'My barrier's…collapsing?!'
***
Meanwhile…
Outside of the camp, the enforcers were suddenly alerted. Nyx's dark barrier suddenly had cracks like veins of light flowing through it. Then, the next instant, it shattered like glass as if it had been struck by a hammer. Arthur snapped around, his pupils dilated as he prepared for any incoming threat but…
'What the…?'
In front of him and the other enforcers, flying above their heads without any wings were…humans? They wore clothes of different eras. One wore a white robe, was bald with blue eyes, one wore a tattered rag and had dark hair with red eyes, one was naked and had long black hair and blue eyes and another was dressed fashionably, having blonde hair with oceanic blue eyes. The aura radiating off of them was no less than the abyss.
Arthur tensed up – so did the others, unsheathing their swords and pointing them at their enemies. The 'humans' didn't react as if they perceived no threat from the enforcers. The atmosphere became tense and froze for a moment too long as if time was too afraid to move. All enforcers waited for someone or something to break their silence as they shifted in their position.
Then, the dressed one scratched his head and groaned.
"Ah…this is the worst. The prince has yet to come, still we have insects to clean up."