Chapter 282 - 282: Infiltration
A single sweat started to form on Evangeline's face as the ground they stood on continued to slowly lift up in the air along with her.
"How sure are we that Hermes's body won't explode by doing this?" Van could not help but ask as his eyes scanned over the horizon.
"Because she is lifting a landmass wide enough for them not to even notice that they are being lifted into the sky," Athena calmly answered Van, "That is why that small unusual human went inside ahead of us, for her to tell us if she could feel the base shifting."
"...Is that even possible?"
"Of course," Athena nodded her head, "And it is only possible because your birth mother is lifting the whole reservoir, along with the land of 40 cube kilometers. That is why we needed a huge distraction, for no one to notice a whole island floating to the sky. It's honestly quite a simple plan."
How is any of that considered simple? Sarah, who was quietly listening in on the side could not help but almost pull out her hair from what she was hearing. It had only been a month or so since she last saw Van, and it was as if he was already in a world far removed from all of them. The talks of gods, and Van being a father... she couldn't even fathom it.
Van, a father? Given, he was already 17 now, he didn't look a day over 13. Sarah could only imagine what Andrea would say once she gets hold of it. Now that she was thinking about it, Evangeline lifting the mass of a whole island wasn't as ridiculous anymore.
"So, we're going to have a child?" Van then stood beside Artemis, still taking minute glances at her belly.
"Hm," Artemis let out a smile as she held her belly, "I could feel it growing, even now, it is starting to move inside me."
"Really?" Van could not help but blink a couple of times as he gently placed his ear on Artemis's stomach. He then closed his eyes, trying to focus if he could hear something, and true enough, he could hear something move inside Artemis's belly. And it wasn't that her stomach was growling, Van had already memorized the sound of hunger, and it was definitely not that.
"!!!"
He then quickly retracted his head as he heard a loud beat. But to his surprise, it wasn't only him that heard it. Even Evangeline, who was busy lifting an indescribably heavy mass, could not help but momentarily pause upon hearing the heartbeat that suddenly came from Artemis's belly like a war drum.
Upon hearing this, Athena, who was already tapping her feet rhythmically, could not help but become excited. It was as if even the future Olympian was cheering for them.
"More reason not to fail," Athena voiced out.
And soon, finally, after a few more seconds, the crevice that circled the landmass which Evangeline was lifting finally completely unshackled from the rest of the ground. Evangeline quickly released a short but deep breath as the most difficult part was done. With the landmass separated from the rest of the area, it became easy for Evangeline to smoothly lift the whole island, slowly floating it into the air without even producing the slightest noise.
Even the smallest pebble, even the tiniest root could be seen protruding from the lower corners of the cube. The water that was being stored in the reservoir was even calmer than it previously was when it was back in the ground. And in this massive block of land that Evangeline lifted, was the underground base where Hermes's body was being kept.
And true enough, the people inside had no idea that they were now kilometers up in the air. The same could not be said to the people in the main base currently in a brutal war against the thousand members of the Resistance.
Even though it was getting dark, they could clearly see the colossal block of earth floating in the air, covering the stars that were already littering the sky. But that was the extent of what they could do, as they could not offer any reinforcements due to the simple fact that they were at a stalemate against the forces of the Resistance.
Although none of the members of the Resistance have penetrated their base, they still had their hands full from the chaos that the Resistance were bringing to their home. Almost every member of the Resistance were equipped with guns, and it may not be enough to penetrate the skin of the high-level Enhancers, it was still enough to deal with the Mage-types.
The ones that proved to be a threat towards the System Holders of the Resistance were the enhanced humans, which most were comparable enough to high--level Enhancers… and there were a ton of them.
However, the shift of the battle suddenly shifted as the members of the Circle were distracted by the floating colossal block of earth. The members of the Resistance were waiting for this moment to launch a full-on strike.
But as their war on the ground was reaching the climax, the battle in the air had barely even begun.
"How high is she taking us?" Van said after he checked the edge of the floating island.
"Higher," was Athena's only response.
But finally, after a few more minutes of waiting in silence and anticipation, Evangeline slowly descended to the floating island. As soon as she did so, Van raised his hand, summoning a bundle of roots that quickly turned into a chair for Evangeline to sit on.
Athena then stood in front of Evangeline, calling the weapons that were already pierced in the ground to surround the two of them.
"Close us up, King Evans," Athena said after taking in a long and deep breath, "Take care of the King, Artemis."
"You don't need to tell me," Artemis said as she and Sarah walked away.
"Are you sure you two will not kill each other?" Van said, not yet moving from his spot as he looked back and forth between Evangeline and Athena.
"For now," Evangeline answered as she sat on the chair made by Van, "If things go awry, just leave all of us, my son."
"I'm not you, Evangeline-- I don't leave family behind," Van said before walking away and following Sarah and Artemis.
"Pft," Athena let out a light chuckle before the area in their perimeter turned darker as Van summoned a dome of roots to cover their position, "It would seem all your forced grooming is useless, clone."
"Is it?" Was Evangeline's only response as she finally closed her eyes. Even with all of her strength and experience, it took all of her focus to keep the cube island afloat. It was big enough to be seen even from a distance, and its weight reflected all of that. With its size, it most probably weighed more than 10 billion kilograms.
The task of protecting Evangeline as she tried to literally keep the plan afloat was Charlotte. But due to her being one of the most influential people in the world, she refused to be seen taking a side and just chose to protect the New Wall city in secret.
"Will the baby be safe?" Sarah, who was quietly following Artemis from behind as they made their way towards the reservoir, could no longer stop herself from asking, "Please do not stress yourself, I am still one of the strongest System Holders in America."
"I know what you are capable of," Artemis nodded her head, "But they said the goal here is for you to focus on recovering Hermes's body while all of us protect you."
"But still... for a pregnant woman to protect me is--"
"You do not need to worry about me," Artemis let out a small smile before looking at Van, who was walking ahead of them, "The King will not let anything happen to me... to any of us."
"The two of you, huh," Sarah still could not believe it. She thought that if anyone was going to be with Van, it was going to be Charlotte's granddaughter. But to think that he was going to end up with an older woman... and a beautiful one at that. "When did the two of you me--"
"Shh."
Artemis did not let Sarah finish her words, covering her mouth as her eyes scanned the area ahead of them, "I smell someone a kilometer in that direction."
"What?" Sarah closed her eyes as she used one of her skills, [Life Detection]. But besides the small wildlife, she could not detect the flow of blood that one would detect on a human, "I don't sense anyone."
"There is. And by the sound it's making, it's flying towards us," Artemis then kneeled and touched the ground, calling the roots on the ground as she lifted up her hand and slowly turned them into the shape of a bow, "You don't need to do anything, Van. I can just hit him from here."
"...Alright," Van, who was about to run ahead, stopped in his tracks.
Sarah once again used her skill to detect if there was anything coming towards them, but no matter how many ripples she was releasing, there wasn't anyone coming up, even from the air. Perhaps whatever was coming towards them wasn't alive?
Artemis then let out a short but deep breath as she pulled the strings of her bow. However, as soon as the person that was flying towards them came in to view, Sarah blocked Artemis's view.
"Wait!" Sarah screamed as she gestured to Artemis. Sarah finally found out the reason why she wasn't detecting anyone-- because the one flying towards them could be considered a stronger version of herself.
Her grandfather, the chairman of the Explorer Association, and former Platinum-rank Explorer, Clark Hearst.