Endless Horde: Through the Eyes of a Godking

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Silverwing received a total of five reports from Squad #1 after dismissing them...

Four came from the 'Scanners' as Cedric calls them - people he tasked to scan their surroundings to not only make the report but also alert the team if there's danger around. The fifth one came from Cedric himself.

Silverwing breezed through the first four reports. Inwardly, he was satisfied. The reports contained some unnecessary details but that also makes it incredibly detailed. Someone even drew the environment they encountered.

Not bad considering that these were mere children who only learned about the truth of the world a few days ago.

Then, he saw Cedric's report...

It was ordinary. At least on the surface, it was. His style of reporting was already close to what a seasoned Squad Leader would make.

The real kicker though, was the rune he inscribed at the very end of his report.

The rune looked like some random, non-sensical intersections of lines and circles. It took up a whole page in the notebook. Considering who gave this to him, Silverwing knew that Cedric wouldn't just put this here without any particular reason.

Plus, Cedric gave him a certain look before handing his own report to him, emphasizing first giving him the report that his teammates made before handing it out.

Silverwing touched the rune, and as soon as he did so, he felt something attempting to connect to his consciousness.

'Well...that's new.' He mused inwardly.

He never encountered something like this before. What a unique rune!

Since he didn't feel any ill intent, Silverwing allowed the connection to be made, and as soon as he did so, a bunch of images flooded in his brain.

This didn't overwhelm him. After all, he's a Planar Traveller. Nevertheless, he's still shocked.

'What the fuck!?' He exclaimed inwardly, his fox-like eyes widening ever so slightly.

From the visions he got from the rune, he could conclude that there was trouble brewing just outside the walls.

'A Capra Demon was already surprising, then he tells me that there's also a Taurus Demon and a Nightmare Worm roaming this close to us?'

He didn't know how but Cedric used the rune to relay his discoveries to him. It's like he engraved the things he saw on the rune to show it to him.

If this was any other day, Silverwing would've bothered Cedric to teach the army this rune, even if they had to pay him way too much money because this way of relaying information could seriously be useful in so many ways.

But that's not the priority right now...

While his mind was still reeling at the reveal of the dangers Cedric witnessed, Silverwing was already running towards the Lord Commander's office.

He arrived there in no time and requested an audience.

"Silverwing?" Lord Commander Banestar looked up from his desk and frowned upon seeing his subordinate's alarmed expression. "Are we under attack?"

"No, Lord Commander." Silverwing shook his head.

If they ever were, the Lord Commander would be one of the first people to notice it, so his question was a bit weird. Still, Silverwing didn't dare to say that out loud.

"I need you to see something," Silverwing said before handing him Cedric's report notebook.

More specifically, he showed the Lord Commander the rune Cedric engraved on the book.

Lord Commander Banestar was surprised to see the very unique rune. He had never seen one like this before, but he's old and knowledgable so he could venture a guess of its uses.

Just like Silverwing earlier, he touched the rune and also felt an attempt to connect. The old commander's eyebrow raised, allowing the connection to the made.

And again, just like Silverwing, Lord Commander Banestar also saw the visions Cedric left on the rune.

What he saw did not make him happy...not at all...

He closed the notebook and placed it on his desk. The Lord Commander closed his eyes and rested his back against his chair while massaging his temples.

"How valid do you think this is?" He asked Silverwing.

"I'm 90% confident that he's not lying, Sir." He replied, "He sent an earlier report to me that they encountered a Capra Demon. They managed to evade it but it's a close shave."

"I went out and saw it personally. It ran away after sensing me."

The Lord Commander looked pensive for a bit. The tense silence within the room was only interrupted by the continuous tapping of the Lord Commander's fingers on his desk while he was in deep thought.

"...he highlighted something else in those visions." The Lord Commander softly said. "The route that the Nightmare Worm was making follows something..."

"It was brief, but it's there...a series of veins that had long lost its luster. The Nightmare Worm brushed its body to it, and while it might seem a little bit random, I don't think it is...because those veins...they're part of the leylines."

Silverwing's pupils shook upon listening to the Lord Commander's analysis. Recounting the visions he saw, it turns out to be the truth! He felt a bit ashamed to miss that because that was a big thing!

It's the Leylines! The veins and arteries where the world's vitality flows! Of course, that's a big deal! Anything that has something to do with it, no matter how seemingly random or coincidental it may be, will still remain a big deal!

"But they're..."

"Sealed or cut-off, yes." The Lord Commander nodded, taking a deep breath in as he felt stress coming. "It has been cut off to prevent corruption from seeping deeper into the world's core, given how badly damaged the rest of the world already is."

"But it's been decades since it was sealed." Commander Banestar's eyes revealed a deep look. "The one who sealed it was a trustworthy fella and he did his absolute best to ensure the seal was sturdy."

"However, like I said, it's been decades since it happened. And with the Demon Race's cunningness, I wouldn't be surprised if they've been going under our noses to study and/or break that seal."

"After all, that's gonna be one effective way to convert our world into their territory. And while I'm confident that the Demon Race are arrogant pricks who disdained to learn our ways, it's not farfetched that at least a bunch of them will be interested in doing so."

Banestar's eyes sharpened at this point.

"Nobody's guarding that seal since it's outside of the walls. And it is located straight out of the gate, which is an active warzone where explosions go off every waking moment."

"All that noise and chaos serves as a perfect cover to do their investigation. We wouldn't think that they'd be able to get close due to how much we are bombarding that zone with shells, but doesn't that explain why there are Planar Traveller-level Demons roaming around?"

"Like that Nightmare Worm...!" Silverwing shivered as he pieced the picture together.

The captain paled as he realized how dreary this was. Being caught unaware of a dangerous plot does that to anybody.

"What shall we do?" He asked the Lord Commander.

The old commander sighed and stood up from his seat. He grabbed his coat from the hangers and began wearing them.

"I will go down there to check, see what the situation is like, and go from there. Though I'm afraid that this will be huge...we might need to escalate this to Grand General...or to the High Marshal."

"Let us accompany you, Sir." Silverwing requested with his fighting spirit blazing.

"No." The Lord Commander refused, causing the captain to deflate a bit. "You need to look after the kids, they suffered a lot, only half of them remain and that just from their first patrol. Brainstorm ideas with the rest and give them a push. We can't send only a fraction of them back, we will face a serious backlash from that."

Silverwing grimaced. Yeah, he already knew that the batch of freshmen greatly suffered. 90 died and 10 were crippled. The rest were tired and traumatized, except Squad #1, and this was just from their 1st patrol. There are two more left.

If they don't do anything to improve this somehow, only a handful of these people will live to tell the tale. And even though the army's status was unshakeable, it would still be a PR nightmare.

The number of recruits applying to join might drop once this goes out in public.

"Don't worry about me, I don't plan to die just yet." The Old Commander grinned. "I've yet to use my vacation and play with my grandchildren."

"I'm taking the Old Coward with me and he won't refuse. So even if I was seeking death, that bastard wouldn't allow it."

Lord Banestar cackled mischievously as he finished grabbing his stuff. He then faced Silverwing and patted his shoulders.

He relayed some instructions to him, which Silverwing memorized and swore to do before he disappeared from the office.

The Old Commander moved like a phantom and appeared in front of a dilapidated house. He raised his foot and kicked the door down, announcing his presence.

"Knock, knock, Motherfucker! You there?"

"Fuck you, Banestar!"

"WAHAHAHAHAHA!"