Gathering Wives with a System

Chapter 124: Near Annihilation

Horizon Institute Stronghold, Akaza Ruin, Fortified City 89

Unlike the Sanctum of Masters’ stronghold, which stood near the center of Fortified City 89, Horizon Institute’s stronghold was positioned near the city’s outer walls.

That location brought constant danger.

Where Sanctum of Master was responsible for dealing with city’s inner defense system and the monsters that had made the place their home, Horizon’s people were on the front lines, defending against monster attacks that came in waves from beyond the barrier.

The cost of that duty was written all over the current scene.

Blood, exhaustion, and urgency.

The stronghold was in chaos.

Medics shouted orders. Injured students limped or were carried on stretchers. Soot and blood smeared their uniforms.

A few collapsed in corners, too drained to even sit up straight.

Potions were being distributed, but stocks were running dangerously low. Healing spells were cast non-stop, and the air stank of iron and scorched meat.

It wasn’t a battlefield anymore. It was an aftermath.

Even the reinforcements from Aeternum University’s stronghold had arrived, but they didn’t ease the pressure much.

They had their own wounded to tend to.

Some mages were still unconscious, slumped beside the supply tents, pale and cold. The expressions on their comrades’ faces said it all. Last night had nearly been the end.

A massive beast wave had hit the stronghold.

No one saw it coming until it was too late.

Normally, the mages would be the first line of response with their long-range artillery, elemental support, precision strikes.

But during the last night’s heavy attack that no one expected, the mages ran out of mana midway through the battle.

That was the breaking point.

While mana potions existed, they weren’t bottomless.

Most awakeners could only drink two in an hour. The body’s capacity to absorb mana from external sources was limited, depending on their species and talent rank. Chugging more than the limit only led to mana poisoning.

As a result, Horizon Institute’s stronghold had been on the brink of destruction.

Thankfully, the Titan Edge Guild arrived in time.

They had moved faster than anyone expected.

Reinforcements came within half an hour, and more importantly, their Guildmaster’s younger sister, Celia Rae, had used her teleportation talent to bring someone else.

Vice Principal of Sanctum of Masters.

Eleanor Weiss.

One of the four Overlords of humanity.

She had been in the Sanctum’s stronghold at the time. It was a stroke of luck, or perhaps fate.

No one who saw her fight that night would forget it.

With a single slash of her sword, hundreds of monsters were cut apart.

With another step, she entered the heart of the enemy’s formation, and brought chaos to them. Her presence turned the tide of battle instantly.

Eleanor was like a goddess of war and thunder.

She held back nearly half the beast wave by herself.

It was the first time the new generation of Awakeners saw an Overlord rank awakener in action, and it stunned them.

That level of power wasn’t just a difference in stat numbers. It was an entirely different plane of existence.

Not even twenty Level 50 Champion rank Awakeners could scratch her.

But even she had limits.

When morning arrived, Eleanor entered the stronghold again through the main gate.

She normally avoided filth and disorder. Yet she was drenched in blood. Her once-pristine uniform was stained and tattered at the edges.

She had wounds on her arm, and one side of her coat had been torn clean off.

Despite that, she still carried herself upright, walking through the crowd without stumbling once.

She exchanged a few words with the stronghold’s command team, gave brief instructions to some officers, and then returned to her tent, which stood near the back corner of the stronghold.

The moment she entered, she let out a long, tired sigh.

”Finally,” she muttered, pulling off her gloves and tossing them onto the table.

Before she could even sit, the air beside her shimmered.

Catherine appeared.

”Master,” Catherine said with a quick bow, ”I have news.”

”Speak.”

Catherine reached into her storage ring and pulled out a small orb.

It was dark green, with thin golden lines wrapping around it like veins. It pulsed faintly, giving off a strange frequency in the air, almost like a heartbeat.

”This is a monster attractor,” she said. ”I found it buried five meters deep near the eastern perimeter. It was hidden just below the defensive formations.”