Chapter 236: Aftermath.

The giant beast crashed into the flooded street, sending a tsunami of mud and water splashing against the surrounding skyscrapers. Sabrina landed heavily on top of the corpse, reaching down to rip out the final, fist-sized glowing Resonance Stone from its center.

Silence fell over the capital city of Concordia for a moment. One by one, flares appeared in the sky, all the color of blue, indicating that in different cities and towns around the world, the tide had turned.

The capital, for some reason, had been the most infested with the sea beasts. The battle there had been the longest and toughest.

Then_ the cheering began as news of the calm came in like wave after wave.

"We won!" A teenage soul maiden screamed, pulling an energy stone from a beast corpse.

"The king beasts are dead!" Another added, in an excited voice.

The surviving Soul Maidens raised their bloody swords and guns into the air, screaming at the top of their lungs.

A large group of young, lower-tier maidens immediately swarmed around Sabrina.

"Senior Sabrina! You were incredible!"

"If you didn’t block that serpent, I would have been snapped in half!"

"Senior Sabrina saved us!"

Sabrina held up her bloodied hand, catching her breath, a smirk playing on her lips. "Save your thanks," she said, though her tone was much softer than before. "I did nothing_ we fought the beasts together."

The maidens laughed, their eyes filled with deep respect and loyalty. Seeing this, Trinity’s eyes narrowed into tiny slits. She wiped a single, calculated smudge of dirt onto her cheek, glided down from her Frost-Wing Swan, and stepped out toward the camera drones.

The doors of the government bunkers down on earth, slowly creaked open. Humans who had remained in their houses, in the city, began pouring out onto their high balconies and flooded streets.

Sanctuary elevators started lowering, delivering those who wished to come out of hiding.

Trinity stepped before the cameras, raised her hands to the sky, her voice melodious, tearful, and divine. "Citizens of New Earth! The nightmare is over! The heavens have blessed us with victory today through the soul maidens! If not for my careful planning, you would all be beast food by now or you would have starved from the inside of your bunkers eventually."

The crowds, completely ignorant of who actually did the grimy, dangerous frontline work, broke into wild applause.

"Trinity is the savior!"

"All hail the divine maiden"

"Trinity has saved us again!"

The rich didn’t chant, but they clapped their gloved hands, cheering for the beautiful white-robed savior to show their support, while the news drones zoomed in on her serene, angelic face.

Sabrina stood on top of the dead monster, looking at Trinity, then at the cheering crowd, and finally down at the crowd of younger maidens standing loyally at her own feet. She tossed the glowing resonance Stone in her hand, letting out a soft, dark laugh.

"Enjoy your applause, Trinity," Sabrina whispered, her eyes glowing with violent promise. "Let them crown you savior today. Because tomorrow, you won’t even have a crown left to wear."

"Now, we must clean up. Bury out dead. Count the missing and re-build." Trinity’s voice was transmitted to all corners of the world like a song.

Soldiers flooded streets, hauling bodies of beasts and dead humans away. People began creeping back to their homes_ or, more accurately, what was left of them.

Naturally, the reserve military was dispatched straight to the First and Second-Class residential districts. They were busy patching up fancy roofs and rebuilding polished marble walls. The low-borns? Well, they were left to figure out their own problems.

Meanwhile, Trinity was far too busy soaking up the glory. She practically had her eyes closed, floating in the sky and savoring the praise of the worshiping crowds like it was a five-course meal. People were flooding the Mystic sanctum with offerings, especially the poor.

Adelphina watched her with a sly grin. "Look at her," she whispered to the others. "She’s so intoxicated by her own ego she wouldn’t notice if a mountain fell beside her. Now is our chance to get away, while they are still counting the dead Soul maidens."

With Sabrina’s quick help, Adelphina and her group slipped through the chaotic crowds unnoticed. They scrambled into a waiting bus, the engine roared, and they sped away toward a secure safe house in another city, leaving the cheering humans and Trinity behind.

Deep in the Wild Lands, however, nobody was celebrating.

Tessi sat on a fallen log, repeatedly sending soul messages to her friends. Her forehead was slick with sweat.

"Come on_ connect! Etania? Claudia? Anyone?"

All she heard was static.

"Still nothing?" asked Yanxi who was pacing back and forth. Tension was rising fast. "They have phones. Why is nobody answering their damn phone?"

Zyra stepped forward, her sharp eyes scanning the stormy horizon. "We’re wasting time sitting here. What if we fly over the Wild Lands? We might spot the crashed plane or a flare."

Hunter nodded immediately, his face serious. "That’s actually a great idea. The Wild Lands are vast, but from the sky, a pile of big metal sticks out like a sore thumb."

Tessi nodded. "You, go I will keep trying to reach them."

Without wasting another second, they leaped into action. Zyra mounted the Drake, its blue feathers shimmering in the light, while Hunter summoned Tyrant.

Together, they took off into the clouds, sweeping across the vast, endless expanse of the Wild Lands. Two hours passed. The wind howled in their ears as they searched every valley and mountain peak.

Suddenly, a crisp, mechanical voice chimed directly inside Zyra’s mind.

[Host, a plane wreckage has been spotted five kilometers to the East.]

Zyra nearly fell off her mount. She called Hunter through the link band. "Hunter, a plane has been spotted five kilometers to the east."

Hunter nodded and ordered Tyrant to change direction.

"Beauty any survivors?" Zyra asked.

[Scanning..... host no human heat signatures detected, get closer.]

Zyra immediately pulled her Drake’s reins, turning the beast sharply. She cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted through the roaring wind to Hunter, who was riding Tyrant a few yards away. "Hunter! Let’s hurry up!"

Hunter squinted into the foggy Eastern sky, then grinned, patting Tyrant’s neck. "Hear that, buddy? East! Let’s see if your wings are faster than a Drake’s!"

Tyrant let out an annoyed, guttural growl as if saying, don’t compare me to that overgrown duck, but he swooped sharply toward the East anyway.

As they closed the distance, the thick mist began to clear, revealing a white plane frame in the thickets of a group of large trees. The air smelled like blood, and dozens of beast body parts were buried in the mud.

"Tessi was right to worry," Zyra muttered, holding tightly onto the Drake as they dove downward.