Chapter 998: Sealing the breach


    ?


    Erik''s grin widened as he watched the chaotic scene below. The ckguards were fleeing the city in sheer panic.


    At the northern gate, chaos reigned. The streets close to it were littered with bodies, blood, and the remnants of what could only be described as a dreadful battle.


    Of course, not on the same scale as the one that took ce when the Thaid horde attacked New Alexandria years ago, but it was still big.


    The citizens and the rebels, emboldened by their victory, continued to harass the retreating soldiers.


    From his perch on top of June, Erik felt a surge of satisfaction. Finally, he was starting to really get back at the ckguards for what they did. To him, to his father, and to the world. Sure, he had destroyed the Crystal Cross Gang; he killed Shade, but he never openly fought against them. He never made the ckguards suffer.


    To help the rebels settle up didn''t count, neither it did infiltrating the organization.


    <About that, June, do you have news from the clones we sent to take my ce?>


    <Yes, sir, they got out of the city already. Unfortunately, they didn''t get orders yet, so we are not sure where the ckguards are going to meet to reorganize.>


    The rebels were winning, and the city was almost free from its rulers. When thest enemy got out of the northern gate, Erik knew it was time to end it all, or at least to end this part of his battle against the ckguards.


    Erik pulled out his phone and dialed Van Dyke. The phone rang before the old man''s voice came through, sounding tense and hurried.


    "Erik," Van Dyke said.


    "Tom," Erik said. There was a small silence, which was interrupted by Erik soon after.


    "Seal the breach at the northern gate. Now."


    There was a pause, a moment in which Erik could almost hear Van Dyke''s thoughts whirling. Then, with a tone that was unexpectedly submissive, Van Dyke uttered the words Erik anticipated and wanted to hear.


    "Understood, Erik. It will be done."


    The young man watched from above as Van Dyke''s and Fischer''s people ryed the orders they received from their bosses to the rest of the soldiers.


    People shoutedmands; others coordinated the barrier creation.


    The northern gate quickly became very busy.


    Erik''s eyes shone with satisfaction as he saw the wall go up, blocking any way for the enemy toe back inside the city.


    To see the ckguards and Volkov''s out and having to battle the thaids that were still outside and that were trying to enter the city until moments ago made him feel a grim sense of achievement.


    Not that the thaids would be able to kill the ckguards. Maybe Volkov''s soldiers, but the ckguards... It would be hard, even with most of these thaids originally living close to the Eldraith mountain range.


    June''s wings pped, creating gusts of wind that swept across the ground below.


    Cheers erupted from the streets when they saw the ck wyvern fly above them. The news channel already told everyone it was under Erik''s control.


    To see Erik on the ck wyvern, leading the battle, gave hope and pride to the citizens, but most importantly, to the rebels, who for so much time fought against Volkov. The city was theirs after almost a year of struggle. The problem was that all of this wasn''t enough, all of this wasn''t the end.


    Volkov''s death left a power vacuum, which the rebels now had to fill if they wanted to retake the entire country.


    <What do we do with them, Master?> June asked as he looked at the ckguards and the remaining soldiers flee from the city, heading toward the forest.


    <I already gave the order to the Chimaeric Demons. They will kill them all, well, most of them. We still need the clones to head back to the ckguards headquarters here in Frant.> Erik did so by sending a message through the Instability brain crystal power.


    <And what about the rebels now? What do you think is the situation?>


    <They need to secure the city and kill those who weren''t able to flee. Besides, they need to rally more people and free the other cities. I doubt the ckguards will leave Frant alone after this. They lost New Alexandria, not the entire country. At this point, it will be up to the rebels to chase them out. I need to focus on something else now.>


    <They can''t without the Chimaeric Demons,> June said. <They do not have that strong troops.>


    <I know, that is why I''m nning to make more clones and to lend Fischer and Van Dyke a hand, but after that, after the preparations, I''m going to settle my scores with the ckguards once and for all. Besides, I think Becker wille here as soon as possible once he learns we freed New Alexandria. He will be able to do the rest with the entire country.>


    Erik''s and June''s eyes caught sight of the Chimaeric Demons. The clones raced past the remnants of the battle, past the fallen bodies and the smoldering ruins, heading straight for the fleeing ckguards and Volkov''s soldiers.


    It took a little before they caught up with the stragglers. The clones made their targets scream, but they didn''tst long, since they died soon after.


    Erik and June left the northern gate and approached anding spot. The cheers from the streets below rose to meet them.


    <Where are Amber and the others?> Erik asked. He didn''t hear about them until now and was worried.


    <They retreated at some point,> June said. <Amber had ended her mana, leaving her unable to keep fighting. Emily was left without a suitable vantage point to shoot from and retreated, and Mira decided to apany Amber to ensure her safety.>


    "That is good to hear. How did they manage the battle? Did they have problems? How did they handle the situation?"


    <What about the Chimaeric Demons? How was the battle for them? The dual wielders must


    have been problematic.>


    <They were,> June said. <Much more than we anticipated. I don''t think we will be able to take advantage of theirck of neural links for long. >


    <Oh? Has this been confirmed? That they need to make new ones, I mean.>


    <It was.> June paused. <They mostly used one power at a time, which we assumed was their original one. The second one was used less frequently, and we more or less understood it was because of the few neural links they had.>


    <This means things will be harder when they get more,> Erik said.


    <Indeed,> June said. <But even the Chimaeric Demons will be able to do that. Besides, your neural link-establishing technique is much better than whatever the ckguards have.> <But they have more numbers and more resources. I bet they will give tons of stimting serums to their troops. At this point, they do not need to keep the price high since they have their target finally in front of them.>N?v(el)B\\jnn


    <The biological supeputer,> June said.


    <Yes.>


    <Ok master, but if Becker helps us, we will be able to scale up our production to the previous levels, even more if we get New Alexandria''s andter Frant''s full support. We might be able to make more of our own version of the stimting serums and we might be able to get more recipes we previously didn''t have. All in all, I think we might be able to equalize the


    situation.>


    <That''s all to see, June... Honestly, I think the ckguards still have tricks up their sleeves.>