[Psychokinetic] Eyeball Pulling - Chapter 235:
Astrid looked up at her mother with worry as she gazed off into the distance; where the bubbled city was. Her mother frowned, but in the next second, she recovered her usual steely expression.
After another thirty minutes, they arrived at Rebirth. The docking station grabbed hold of Seabreaker and pulled it up with motorised winches. It took ten minutes to reach the Upper District where the Wayfarer and Seafarer docks were located. Major Steele saluted.
He didn’t die, Astrid thought in relief as she looked at the professional soldier. She wasn’t close to the man as she had only really seen him once or twice ever since she became a Wayfarer. But strangely, she was happy to see him alive and well. Well-ish. The man was evidently wounded, spoiled by the strange way he was hunched over. He was doing his best to hide it.
By his side was Freya. Astrid launched off the boat and hugged her cousin tight. “It’s good to see you, Freya.”
“Thank the Goddess you came back safely,” Freya replied.
“Thank you for the reinforcements,” Eli said, nodding her head to the Major. “Without them, we would be… dead.”
“It’s not my honour to claim I’m afraid, Lady Sinwen,’ Major Steele said. He glanced at Freya with more than a hint of respect. “It was all Lady Freya’s plan. She put Astrid’s… forces to work. Using their knowledge, they created the explosive ordnance that puts even our own to shame.”
“Freya, you have done well,” Eli said. Astrid noticed a hint of awkwardness between them.
Well, it wasn’t strange. Her mother and her sister had a strained relationship. Astrid couldn’t help but overhear rumours when she was younger. Apparently her mother’s sister–Nera–was in love with her father for quite a few years. The rumours still persist to this day. Because of that, it was a bit awkward between all of them.
Astrid hadn’t heard of Nera for a long time. She was an erratic woman. A scientist. Since she couldn’t have Lord Sinwen, she buried her head in her work. Astrid couldn’t remember what she did, but she recalled the mention of potions now and then.
“Thank you, Lady Sinwen,” Freya said, curtsying. “Without wasting time, I ask that we immediately head for the Sinwen Manor. There is a lot to discuss.”
Her mother nodded. Then the air changed. Astrid could feel it. It was coming from her mother. She looked at Major Steele and said, “Ignite the boosters. Relay to the admiral that we are plotting a course straight for the Dead Seas.”
“The Boosters?”
“The Dead Seas?!”
Major Steele and Freya asked in shock at the same time.
“Now,” Eli said.
“Right away, Lady Sinwen,” Major Steele disappeared in a flash. Heading straight for the admiral’s Bridge.
It was where the admiral steered the arc. If Astrid strained her eyes, she could see it in the distance, behind the broken buildings of the Upper District. It was a tall tower with toughened glass windows on all sides so that the admiral could see a full three-sixty degrees.
She remembered the Admiral only vaguely. A tall man with lean muscle. Astrid had never seen the man without his pure white uniform with iron pauldrons. He had a long moustache. It was white. The only time she saw him was at grand balls once a year, but he wasn’t a character to stay for very long. Usually he would have one drink then he would be gone. Presumably back to the bridge. Apparently her father trusted him. A lot.
The Boosters, Astrid thought. She knew about them. Right now, Rebirth was only using two of its twelve engines. The other ten were thought to be broken beyond repair. That’s why it was a shock that her mother would order the admiral to activate them. Astrid herself believed them to be broken. Apparently that wasn’t the case.
How fast would Rebirth move with twelve engines? Astrid wondered.
Her thoughts were interrupted as her army had returned. Well, a part of it, anyway.Kreka looked worried. So did all the other kobolds. It was immediately evident why. They didn’t know how to land. They arrived too fast.
“Watch out!” Kreka screamed as just under one hundred kobolds came barrelling toward them. They flew overhead, the spurting of some sort of engine coughed from the metal wings attached to their backs. They came hurtling to the floor.
Just above the Wayfarer and Seafarer headquarters were the once lush fields of crops, and verdant grass land for livestock. Now, it was mostly barren land thanks to the Corrupted.
The kobolds crashed into the field, flames spat into the air. Astrid still couldn’t use mana, or else she would have grabbed them in mid-flight. She rushed up the stairway attached to the side of Rebirth and ran into the field. Thankfully none of the kobolds were injured. It seemed their bodies were tougher than she had thought.
But she looked closer. A thin blue membrane covered the kobolds. Each and everyone of them. Astrid approached one of the kobolds, and noticed that it wasn’t a membrane at all. It was actually thousands, tens-of thousands, maybe even more, dots. Spores. It was coming from Kreka. In the next instant, the spores vanished.
Kreka broke out into a mad laughter. “My Lady, you see that? It won’t be long before we have wings of our own! We will evolve into dragons and help you ascend! We will make you a dragon mother capable of taking over this world.”
Astrid laughed. “That’s a grand ambition, Kreka.”
“What’s wrong, my Lady?” Kreka fought off the scrap metal wings and flung it to the crop-ridden floor. He rushed over to Astrid. “You sound sad.”
“It’s nothing,” Astrid brushed it off. “Anyway, where’s the psychos?”
Before Kreka could answer, Astrid could already hear screaming coming from the water below. They were moving to the back of the ship, where the Middle District docks were located. After all, there was only so much room the militant headquarters had at its disposal.
After that, Freya took her mother, Astrid, and Brett and the others into the Sinwen family hall. Waiting there were most of the top nobles responsible for Rebirth. Jonathan was also there, sitting beside his family. His father, the admiral, was not here. They all sat at the enormous table.
“First of all,” Freya looked at Astrid’s mother. “What is the report? The situation must be terrible for us to utilise the Boosters.”
“And to head to the Dead Seas?” A top noble named Meridan asked. His long eyebrows fluttered. He was furious. He was a high commander of the Seafarers. “To decide our fates like this on a whim, without being discussed, since when is the Sinwen family the sole ruler of Rebirth?”
Lady Sinwen ignored him. Usually she would humour him with a smile, just like how she usually acted with the noble families. But she had lost all patience. Her mother was scary.
Instead, she said, “Life and death of the Grand Nobles is unknown. The Order, as we have just recently learned, are in cahoots with the Great Migrators. They have returned. It is clear they wish us dead. together, they have somehow summoned the Leviathan. What else they have planned is a mystery. For the safety of our people. For the continuation of humanity, we need to head to a place where they will not attack us.”
The table exploded into murmurs.
“Fighting to our last breath is what we should be doing!” Meridian slammed the desk. “We should be sending out every last man and woman into Apocrypha for reinforcements! For all we know, Lord Sinwen may need our help.”
“It isn’t a fight of numbers,” Lady Sinwen said calmly. “We will just be sending them to their deaths. For the future of Rebirth, we need everyone. We can’t afford any more losses. If Lord Sinwen–my husband–dies, then he will have died saving us time to reach the Dead Seas. If we hesitate, that sacrifice will be for nothing.”
At the cold words, Astrid’s tightened grabbed her thighs tightly. Was this the responsibility of a Sinwen? To disregard family for the greater good? The thought pained Astrid.
“But–”
Her mother interrupted Meridian. “There are no buts. The decision has been made.”
Meridian huffed. His shoulders relaxed, then he said, “Alright. Fine. let’s say it’s the best decision to escape, how will we enter the Dead Seas? It’s a certainty the Order won’t follow us, because we will be doing their job for them. No one has ever entered the Dead Seas and returned alive. Not even the most powerful of us.”
“There is one person,” Freya added with a smile. She seemed carefree. The fact that there were so many top nobles around her made no difference to her. Like a general in war, she was calm. “Noah.”
All the nobles at the table broke out into discussion. They had forgotten.
Her mother nodded. And as if on key, Noah entered the hall. She stood behind her mother. The pirate king of kings was still injured, wrapped in bandages, but she had enough strength to walk, it seemed.
“Lady Sinwen, you wish to forge a path through hell?” Noah asked.
“It’s only fitting, isn’t it?” Lady Sinwen said with a slight smile. “There’s no use asking if you can accomplish this feat, is there?”
“No, there isn’t,” Noah sighed. “Lord Sinwen made sure of that. Operation: Hell’s Sunder.”
The moment Noah uttered the words, the floor shook. No, the entirety of Rebirth trembled. Loud warning sirens fired across all the floors of the arc, and a minute later, a roar that could shake the skies erupted from the back of Astrid’s home.
Astrid’s body jolted. She held the table tight. Leena had her hand pressed against her back, keeping her in position. Without her mana, her body was weak.
Then, it sounded like a tower of god’s fire blazed through the engines. Astrid could feel it. They were moving fast. Incredibly fast.
“That will shock the residents,” Rachelle said in a whisper behind Astrid as she held onto Rob for support.
“Now that you’ve mentioned that,” Freya said. “We have a big problem in the Lower District. The people are rebelling. The Sanctity Healers are refusing to cooperate with us. And with ties to the Order, we were waiting for you… to provide a hand of force.”
“There’s a lot to do,” Her mother said.
