Soren limped out of the tunnels for nearly half an hour before he saw the light that shone through the hatch he previously opened.
His entire body hurt but he grit his teeth and pulled himself up the ladder and out of the dark tunnel.
With a huff, he landed gracelessly against the stone tiling, embracing the dryness he so dearly missed.
After a few minutes of just appreciating the crisp and dry air, he pulled himself together and walked out of the ruined, abandoned building that housed one of the many entrances to the Undercity.
He had no doubts that he was all but exiled from the Undercity, his tales of terrorism likely being spread across every Undercity network.
The Undercity was vast, stretching beyond the subterranean city under Genesity.
It stretched well beyond the first city of Vulcanis and into the other territories of the sprawling continent of Atheo.
However, Soren only knew of the Undercity under Genesity as that was the limit of the Scavenger’s reach.
The Syndicate’s reach was likely much stronger than the Scavengers, however, with their network spanning beyond Genesity.
Soren winced at the thought of the problems he’d be facing from now on but he dismissed the pessimistic thought, acknowledging that the issue ran deeper than the surface-level act of terrorism he committed just earlier.
The Syndicate was out for him well before today.
They were after him before the Order Break.
Soren knew his worth and could find nothing of value to him other than what the Abyssal Titan called the Order Essence.
He grabbed his likely heirloom, the necklace, from his chest underneath his clothing and examined it.
It was trapped in a silver casing with complex shapes inscribed into it.
Other than that, it simply looked like a white stone—nothing special.
Soren sighed, tucking the Order Essence back underneath his shirt and trudged forward, out of the abandoned building.
He winced at the sun glaring into his eyes but continued, walking towards the Grand Stage of Genesity through the main streets.
It didn’t take long for soldiers to notice Soren’s figure limping out in the open, rushing over as soon as they spotted him.
“Halt!” one soldier commanded, his hand on the hilt of the sword resting on his hip.
“Identify yourself.”
Soren raised both hands up with a pained smile on his face, his injuries throbbing at the sudden movement.
“I’m Soren.
I’ve recently Awakened after the Divine Order Break and I’ve come to surrender myself according to the Ascender’s Mandates.”
The other soldier arrived and looked at Soren closely, taking in the cuts and burns on his exposed skin.
The soldier narrowed his eyes at Soren’s tattered cloak, singed hair, and messy appearance before exchanging glances with the other soldier.
The two nodded before they both turned to Soren with firm, solemn expressions.
“Then, according to the Ascender’s Mandates, we, soldiers of the Royal Army of Vulcanis, will take you into the Investigation Division.
If you resist, you will be killed on the spot.”
Soren nodded, finding no faults with what they said.
He was dead even if he did manage to successfully escape, hunted by the Syndicate, so he’d rather take his chances with the more lawful government.
The two soldiers held their hands of the hilts of the swords as they walked behind Soren, who had both his hands chained together.
He had his Dream Sword and everything that could be considered dangerous seized.
He walked the streets of Genesity, head held high as he ignored the stares of the curious citizens and soldiers.
He walked, passing by ruined buildings and dead Abyssal corpses, until he reached the Grand Stage.
The Grand Stage was reduced to a crater, a former shell of its great stage that was visible in every direction.
Among the rubble were pitched tents that housed bustling soldiers and limping civilians.
In what could be seen as pandemonium, Soren saw organized chaos.
There was clear direction and intent in each soldier’s actions, and the civilians, although panicking, were being split into different tents based on the priority of their needs.
Soren was guided towards one of the central tents, reinforced with heavy fabric and various runes inscribed into the cloth.
He stared at the imposing sight before he leveled his gaze and walked through the entrance.
As soon as he walked through the flaps, he felt a weight settle over his chest that caused him to almost stumble, but he tensed and maintained his outwardly calm composure.
Inwardly, he grimaced as his burned flesh and cuts throbbed, the flow of entropy that he had already gotten used to cutting off. Find the original chapter at novelping.com.
“That’s the entropy suppressors,” a voice called out inside the tent.
Soren looked over at the voice and saw a man sitting at a desk, hunched over stacks of reports that he was reading with a serious expression.
The man didn’t look up.
His quill scratched against the parchment paper with a steady rhythm until he finally set it down, done with whatever he was writing.
He looked up, revealing a stern face framed by grey hair at his temples, sharp eyes, and neatly combed hair.
He wore a pristine, gray uniform bearing various insignias and medals that indicated he was a high-ranking officer within the Royal Army.
His sharp gaze swept over Soren’s figure, taking in Soren’s tattered cloak, unusually white hair, scorched flesh, and the seized Dream Sword in one of the soldier’s hands.
“You’re an unregistered Awakened.
I see you’ve surrendered according to the Ascender’s Mandate,” the officer stated plainly, leaning back against his chair.
“You smell of damp water, burned sulfur, and smoke.”
Soren didn’t flinch at the hidden question behind the statement.
“I’ve had to… settle a debt,” Soren said seriously, not letting a hint of emotion leak through his voice.
“There were some unforeseen consequences that came with it.”
“Setting a debt,” the officer echoed, a cold smirk stretching across his face before he smoothed it out.
He pulled out a report from the stacks of paper on his desk and read it.
“Less than an hour ago, a massive explosion rocked the bedrock of Genesity, causing widespread panic.
When it was investigated, it was revealed to have originated from the Undercity.”
The officer set the report down, tapping a finger against the paper as he locked eyes with Soren.
“Do you know anything about it, scavenger?”
Soren let out a tired sigh, adjusting the tight shackles bound to his wrists.
“I went to deal with a rat and I found out that the Syndicate was behind the Order Break.
I had to blow up the Undercity in order to escape them.”
Silence stretched in the tent for several seconds but Soren could’ve sworn he heard a whistle behind him.
“So you hold the grudge of the Syndicate and believe that they were the main culprits behind the assassination of the Divine Emperor?” the officer questioned softly, his fingers rapping against the table in fast succession.
“On what basis?”
Soren sucked in a sharp breath, the necklace he wore burning a hole through him.
“I’m afraid I cannot tell you, sir.”
The tapping ceased as the officer stared at Soren with narrowed eyes.
“I see,” he said before turning to the officers behind him.
“Lock him up.
We’ll be interrogating him later on what he knows.”
The two soldiers nodded before pushing him roughly towards the side of the tent where several cells reinforced with strengthened iron housed various people of varying backgrounds.
Some were crying citizens, some were roughened up criminals, and some were familiar faces of scavengers that were using the chaos to steal.
“We’ll deal with you later.
Get in,” one of the soldiers said, shoving him into one of the cells.
The heavy metal gate slammed behind him, the hum from the shackles cutting him off of any entropy strengthening.
He looked around and saw he was shoved into one of the far cells, alone and away from the other prisoners.
Soren moved to sit on the prison bench and closed his eyes, taking the opportunity to rest after the constant fighting he did the past two days.
He expected the imprisonment—maybe even embraced it.
It was a nice reprieve.
However, his long deserved was cut short when he heard heavy footsteps outside the tent.
When he heard the tent flaps part, he opened his eyes.
An imposing woman clad in regal armor walked in and the officer sitting at the desk rushed to his feet and snapped into a salute.
The woman wore midnight-blue armor and had a longboard that remained at her hip.
The woman had softer features and long, black hair—a stark contrast to Captain Valen’s features.
It still shook him to the core with how similar she was to the Captain.
“My lady, Royal Commander,” the officer said, his voice tense and full of subservient awe.
“What are you doing here?”
The Royal Commander didn’t bother acknowledging the officer, her soft yet authoritative gaze sweeping across the desk and into the cells before locking eyes with Soren.
“Release that man right there,” she said, her eyes on Soren.
“My lady,” the officer said tensely, stiffening.
“He is a scavenger that caused the bombing of the Undercity below.
I cannot, under my own consciousness, allow this to happen.
According to the Royal Decree passed by the late Divine Emperor, all Undercity dwellers must—”
“And Empress Meridia has declared that man over there to be a Special Person.
He shall be cleansed of his scavenger roots and prior criminal history expunged,” she interrupted, a flare of her authority silencing the man into meek submission.
“Do you dare go against Her Majesty?”
The officer’s mouth was agape, his eyes darting back and forth between the Royal Commander in front of him and the battered man in the cell across the tent.
“N—no, my Royal Commander!” he stammered out, snapping back into a salute.
“The Righteous Council demands brutish inspections of every potential threat out of unfound fear,” she said coolly, walking towards the officer.
“However,” she continued, pulling out a golden scroll bound with the royal seal of the Empress from within her armor and tossing it on the desk.
“The Empress has little interest in the Council’s paranoia.
She is more interested in the man who braved the Abyss and survived the might of whatever it was that killed Valen and annihilated an entire district.”
The officer’s jaw tightened as he took the scroll and ripped off the wax seal, looking at the contents within the scroll.
His eyes widened at every line he read until he looked up at the Royal Commander in shock.
“A—A Royal Ward?” the officer whispered, looking at Soren with wide eyes.
“This is unprecedented!
He was a mere scavenger moments before—”
“And by the decree of Empress Meridia, the current ruler of Vulcanis,” the Royal Commander stated, her tone cutting off any further protest.
“That man right there is hereby removed from the Inspection Division’s jurisdiction.
He is no criminal, but a ward of the Empress.”
The officer stared at the Royal Commander and the scroll in his hand and then at Soren before bowing his head in submission.
“Understood, my Royal Commander,” he said, getting out the keys jingling in his back pocket and walking towards the cell where Soren was, watching the whole ordeal.
The officer unlocked the heavy iron cell door and walked to Soren, eyes burning holes into him.
He fitted a key into Soren’s heavy shackles and as the iron fell to the ground, Soren felt a surge of entropy rush back into him.
He rubbed his bruised wrists as he stared at the Royal Commander, trying to figure out what the hell was going on.
He never expected the Royal Commander of Vulcanis to personally visit him.
Soren just assumed that he’d have to personally evoke the name of Rivor, Meric, or even Captain Valen and hope that they had enough influence to save him.
But, when Soren looked at the Royal Commander, he had an inkling of an idea of what just happened.
The Royal Commander picked up the seized Dream Sword lying against the officer’s desk and tossed it, sending it flying across the tent.
The sword narrowly missed the officer’s head, who had to duck underneath, and Soren caught it with a firm grip.
Soren felt a small smile creeping up on his face as his fingers wrapped around the familiar hilt of the Dream Sword before he wiped it off, sheathing it to his side.
He knew that he was jumping from one disaster to another, but he could only pray that this disaster was going to be beneficial for him.
But as he stepped out of the cell, his eyes were lit with determination.
As long as he remained alive, he could get stronger and take revenge on those who dare try to get in his way.