Garrick was left confused by the Voranth's parting words; he couldn't make sense of them.
He felt a headache forming, but also knew that he couldn't linger too much thinking about it. Reconstruction work needed to start soon.
With that, he moved, basically teleported by how fast he moved, in Allan's direction. He stood in front of the boy's unconscious body.
'Who are you, kid? And why did it mention you?' He said in his head.
After a few seconds, making sure that all students were alive, he turned towards the broken wall and moved in the direction where soldiers and teachers had set up a perimeter.
A soldier who was standing at the edge of the perimeter, trying his best to calm the crowd of parents and family members that had gathered around the school, found himself in shock when Garrick suddenly appeared next to him.
"Report", Garrick said.
"S…sir" the soldier stammered a little, but said after a deep breath, "We have established a containment perimeter around the school, and all hollow creatures have been taken care off before any escape into the streets."
Garrick nodded, and asked, "What about the fissure?"
"It's been contained, we were only waiting for you or the vice-principal to close it." The soldier answered with a nervous tone, he was nervous because of the man standing in front of him.
Everyone knew who this man was; Garrick Veyne was not just the principal of East Gate High. He had been a soldier who, through personal merit, rose in rank in both military and personal power.
He was a legend in New Chicago's stationed army.
"Where is Victor? And why are you waiting for us?" He continued as he narrowed his eyes, "what is the fissure's rank?"
"The fissure appears to be of the fifth rank sir…and the vice principal is making sure that all staff and students are alive and accounted for." The soldiers answered.
"I see," Garrick answered with a nod. "Let's close it then." He continued.
The term fissures, referred to the openings through which the hollow crosses the veil. Weakened points in the fabric of reality. Each one different depending on the rank of the creature that created it.
As Garrick and the soldier moved to close the fissure, a frantic voice reached them from the side.
"Sir! Commander Veyne!" another soldier yelled out, trying his best to reach them as fast as he could.
Garrick turned to the clearly distressed soldier. Upon reaching him, the soldier gave Garrick a small cylindrical device.
"Sir, you need to see this…" he said between breaths, "it's not good" he continued.
Garrick frowned at that.
He grabbed the device, and pressed a button on the side. Once he pressed it, a holographic display appeared in front of him, and a message appeared.
Garrick's frown deepened as he continued reading its contents.
—
MILITARY COMMAND
To: Garrick Veyne, Principal, East Gate High
From: Central Military Command
Classification: Urgent — Restricted Personnel Notice
Principal Veyne,
This is an official notification from Central Military Command.
At approximately 19:40 hours, an assassination attack was carried out against the principals of South Gate High and West Gate High.
Both targets were killed during the attack.
Initial reports indicate that the perpetrators were highly organized and possessed sufficient strength to bypass the security measures surrounding both institutions. The identities and affiliations of the attackers remain unknown. Military personnel have secured both locations and initiated a full investigation.
Additional information will be transmitted as it becomes available.
Central Military Command
End Transmission
—
Garrick stared at the message for a few more seconds after reading it, trying to make sense of it. Two principals, individuals at the peak of the fifth rank, had died while he fought the Voranth.
Now he knew what Voranth was talking about.
"Shit," he said as he turned off the device and shot to the sky, heading in the direction of central command.
He couldn't help but think about the timing of the attacks. He had conveniently been occupied by a strong Voranth, clearly a Peak Five Rank individual, who could hold him off long enough.
The attacks weren't random, it was a coordinated attempt to weaken the institutional strength of New Chicago.
He could already guess that two more Voranths had somehow crossed the veil unnoticed. Probably specialized in assasination, as that was the only explanation he could think of since two principals were dead.
They were not pushovers whatsoever, he knew them, he had fought with them, trained with them, sparred with them, ate with them. They were his friends…and now they were dead.
Yes, he is the strongest in the city, but he wasn't born that way. He had suffered countless wounds, and had bled on countless battlefields to achieve his strength, but he never forgot the ones who fought alongside him.
As he flew, he took the surroundings of the city, spreading his senses in all directions, in an effort to try to identify the assassins, even though he knew that they would be long gone by now.
This was personal now, he had been manipulated into wasting time by these creatures, and two of his friends had died because of it. He didn't know why they were targeted, it didn't really matter. To him, these creatures will all die an agonizing death by his hands.
He made a vow to himself that day, he will find all responsible for this, be it humans, Voranths or hollows, and he will make them beg for death.