Another War - 21 Catching Up

After exchanging their stories, the aircraft arrived at their location. The vehicle was being remotely piloted by Avatara from the floating city, Tawalisi back in their classroom.

Just in time also, Haruto arrived while carrying Sanna on his back. He was panting heavily due to fatigue and the extra weight of his schoolmate. He was about to turn over Sanna to Yule when Professor Fields volunteered to carry his unconscious student.

Looking at them individually, the students wore a very explicit appearance, indicating that they were about to fall off on the ground due to exhaustion as opposed to the professor who still looked pristine despite battling aswang earlier.

They were all eager to rest their tired bodies inside the vehicle.

When the aircraft opened its metallic doors, Professor Fields led the way inside followed by Ranger and Yule. But then, Yule noticed that his two schoolmate-Haruto and Jin-Yoo didn’t trail behind them. Both of them remained where they were earlier.

“Hey, you two. Is there a problem?” Yule inquired at them.

Jin-Yoo shook her blonde-dyed hair at him.

“There’s no problem, silly! It’s just that we have to wait also for the two remaining members of our team.” She looked behind her, trying to squint her eyes, checking if she could spot another aircraft that will transport them back to the floating city. “Our professor pilots our aircraft also, so they should be here any minute now. Let just hope she already picked up our classmates from the ground.”

Nodding at them, Yule thanked them whole-heartedly and went inside also into the aircraft.

Upon entering inside, Ranger was already slouched at the seat, while looking expectantly at him, checking if Jin-Yoo and Haruto were behind him which he explained what Jin-Yoo told him.

He also checked on Sanna which she was sleeping peacefully on a seat behind Ranger, while the professor was back on the pilot area at the front. The professor was waving at the remaining students outside through the window and started pressing some button at the holographic screens before him.

Yule immediately took a seat beside Ranger and fasten his seatbelt. He was also beside the window where he could see the deserted area before him. He could spot some remaining carcass of the wolf-like aswang around the area. He was just glad he was leaving this barren land and back to the comfort of his bed.

“Do you want me to continue piloting the aircraft remotely?” Avatara offered in the communication line.

“Do you mind?” Professor Fields inquired.

“Of course not. Now go and check on your students, and let me do my thing.”

“I didn’t know you have a thing.” The professor retorted jokingly at the Engkanto.

Avatara didn’t reply to him, but the professor assumed that his good friend was rolling her eyes back in the classroom, and then the holographic screens started winking out in thin air, and the wheel started moving on its own – signs that the Engkanto started her remote piloting.

The aircraft started its lift off from the ground and flew in the air until reaching a suitable altitude, heading back to the floating city.

Professor Fields moved out of the pilot’s deck and approached his exhausted students.

“I didn’t know that you, professor, are capable of flirting,” Ranger started and teased his professor.

“I’m glad that your energy for trivial things is still intact, Mr. Yellowlake.”

“So you’re not denying that you were flirting earlier, but not just to anyone but to an Engkanto!”

The professor groaned at his brown-haired student and looked at Yule seeking for help. But Yule just shrugged his shoulder, yet smiling at him.

Surprisingly, the said Engkanto remained quiet in the communication line. The professor could only guess what was her reaction from Ranger’s teasing. He just had to have a separate conversation wiyh Avatara and assured her to pay no heed from his stupid student.

“Enough of that, Ranger. I just want to check on you guys. Any missing limbs that need to be reported to me?”

“Thankfully,” Yule replied. “No missing limbs on my side. Though to be honest, while we were on the battlefield earlier, I thought we will not be returning in one piece after the massive amount of horde we’d encountered.”

Ranger nodded, supporting the statement of his classmate. “Seriously, professor. This is my first time encountering this kind of horde of aswang. I have this feeling that something is changing. It feels like that the attacks were planned. Usually, they just roamed around the area, searching for any left meats on the ground. But this one, this simultaneous horde attack, these monsters are up to something.”

The professor looked at Ranger and pondered at the insights of his student.

Yule was also waiting for a reply from his professor. He thought that Ranger has a point. He may not be thoroughly familiar with the behaviors and traits of the aswang yet, but the earlier battle was an organized attack.

“Surprisingly,” Professor Fields started. “Avatara and I also had a similar discussion while I was en route to your location. We also thought that this is not just a random attack by the aswang. We’re thinking that someone is ordering them.”

“Is it possible? I thought these versions of aswang in your world are mindless creatures, more of following their instinct like a wild animal.” Yule asked at the professor.

“Remember what I told you that there are four kinds of aswang?”

He nodded at the professor, remembering how Professor Fields explained the four levels of aswang during a battle with Sanna and Ranger.

“The level four aswang has a human appearance, and I have to tell you, they are not just mindless creatures. They are fully capable of thinking for themselves. And to add that, every level four aswang has a unique power that can clash with an experienced slayer.”

After that revelation from his professor, Yule shivered at the thought of facing a level four aswang. He already had a hard time dealing with level one, two and three.

“Have you met a level four aswang before?” Yule was looking at the professor and Ranger.

Ranger shook his head, then they both looked at Professor Fields.

“I did,” but it was not Professor Fields who answered the question. The voice came from behind Ranger.

“Sanna!” Yule rose from his seat and moved to her. Her colors are back to normal after being too pale after releasing her magic attack to the horde earlier.

“I’m now fine, Yule. Thank you for worrying.” She gave him a weak smile. “My parents were killed by a level four. I was with them when the attack happened. We were riding an aircraft going to Sanctuary together with their teammates. They were planning to drop me off first in Sanctuary before starting their extermination mission, but they never reached Sanctuary. A level four attacked our vehicle. My parents and another two slayers tried to buy us time to escape the attack. Manu, whom you’ve met Yule before, grabbed me and three other slayers came along with us. That was the last time I saw my parents.”

There was a long uncomfortable pause when Professor Fields suddenly clapped his hand, getting the attention of his three students.

“Sorry about that, but I remembered something. Avatara found something interesting when she tried to point out all the attacks of the aswang this day.”

On cue, a holographic screen appeared beside him, showing the map of the country. Upon closer inspection, Yule was surprised that there were some missing islands on the map. Ranger noticed the questioning face of his classmate, and he pointed out that there were some islands sunken to the deep sea by some powerful level four aswang during their first attack.

“Avatara, if you may,” the professor asked politely to the Engkanto.

Various red dots appeared on the map, and the dots started moving. The dots coming from the southern part of the country moved upward going north. While the dots coming from the northern part moved downward going south, until all dots were all replaced by ‘X’ marks.

“X means they were all exterminated. Anything else, you’ve observed in the map?” Professor Fields asked his students.

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“T-They are, sorry were heading t-to Tawilisi,” Yule’s eyes widen from horror and realization. They were right. This was an organized attack from the aswang.

“Have you alerted the Council?” Ranger asked.

“I’m sure they are aware of their movements already.” The professor replied nonchalantly.

The three students were all stunned from the revelation. Ranger and Sanna couldn’t remember the last time the floating city was attacked before.

“On the other hand, I just want to congratulate you on defeating not just one, but two level-three aswang. Not all licensed slayers are capable of doing that. Maybe your generation could make a difference in this era.” He smiled at them, proudly.

Sanna was left with her mouth hanging open in disbelief. She embraced Yule and Ranger, congratulating them on this achievement. Since she was unconscious while they defeated the two golem-like aswang.

“So good luck on social media. This will spread like a wildfire.” Professor Fields warned them what to expect when they arrive in Tawilisi which they all groaned.