Endless Horde: Through the Eyes of a Godking-Chapter 549: De-briefing

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The invasion was scary, but luckily, it wasn't apocalyptic...

20 million Void Creatures were wiped out in this battle, but this hardly puts a dent in the total amount of them out there. The office has expected more to come, but they didn't; it seems that they realized that it's a losing battle anyway and it's not worth it to send more.

On the other hand, the Border Patrol Guardians didn't suffer much. Nobody died, as a matter of fact. A lot of people were injured or passed out from exhaustion, but all lived to tell the tale. This was probably the most successful defense the guardians ever had, and there is no doubt that they owe it all to Cedric.

Speaking of Cedric, he's currently attending a debriefing meeting with the other Paragons and the Chancellors.

The atmosphere within the meeting room was strange, especially since their sole subject was rather interesting.

"...we all saw them displaying higher levels of intelligence. No doubt caused by the Void Prince, if I might add."

"Currently, our surveillance devices aren't able to go deeper into the void. We are prioritizing the establishment of a preliminary network so that we will be alarmed if similar cases of invasion were to happen. It will take us some time before we can get them deeper into the void, meaning that for now, we aren't able to figure out just how the Void Prince was doing this."

"Does it really matter, though?" The Holy Spirit Chancellor asked. "Knowing how he did it is fine and all, but don't you think it's already too late to be fixated about it? What concerns me more is getting more of our people to transition to the Ancient Chaos Path."

"I understand where you're coming from, dear Chancellor." The speaker responded, "We aren't really forcing the issue. We are just bringing it up to everybody's attention because, in our opinion, the Void Creatures displaying advanced intelligence isn't a good thing for all of us."

"If we could discover how he's able to do this, maybe we can also discover how to impair it, or at the very least, slow it down. After all, our intelligence is one of our greatest weapons against them. If we let them close that gap, then it's quite possible that we will be in for a rougher time in the future."

"Your concern is valid, Speaker Yang," the Wise Dragon Chancellor stated, "but until we get the surveillance network deeper into the void, we shall focus our efforts on other things. If you don't mind, I'd like to hear about the analysis of our defense this time. How did our soldiers, especially the rookies, perform? Was it good? Bad? How about our updated weaponry? Are they efficient? Any feedback from our army?"

"Yes, please hold on." Speaker Yang adjusted the system display with quick and expert movements.

He cleared his throat and then started his report: "First and foremost, the defense went phenomenal. None of our soldiers died; at most, they were injured, but nothing life-threatening."

"Our soldiers, the ones that have been here for a while, displayed excellent results. As for the rookies, their performance was satisfactory given their upbringing. We already have plans to make them better, too."

"As for our updated weaponry..." Speaker Yang wore a satisfied and relieved smile as he got into this part. "...it's no less than excellent. Their efficiency against the void has been proven and tested. If it weren't for these upgrades, we would've lost more soldiers in this small-scale invasion."

"The old cannons, ballistas, and other weaponry wouldn't have been enough to put a dent into the horde, which will certainly force our soldiers to get closer, increasing the risk of injuries and death. The barriers wouldn't have been able to last that long. It would've collapsed at the very first hit by the black comet. And the following hits would've landed on our important sectors, which will cripple our operations and inflict more damage to our army."

"But with the updated and improved weaponry and defenses, none of it happened. We were able to funnel and contain the horde into where we wanted them to be. We minimized the damages and defended our home."

Speaker Yang then looked at Cedric and said, "We couldn't have done it without Director Dawnbringer's ingenuity. Our success is tied to his relentless efforts in spearheading the progress in the army."

Cedric smiled humbly as he accepted the round of applause from his comrades.

"Very well, then. At least, we're finally moving in the right direction. And once again, we all owe it to our Young Friend Dawnbringer over here." Chancellor Igor stated, "This gap in progress and level of intelligence isn't something that the Void Creatures can breach within a hundred years. We are ahead of them, and our future is bright. Time is on our side, but it's not a reason for us to slow down our development. In fact, we must become even more proactive with the time they're giving us."

"I believe we all understand how we must take advantage of the lead we have. But we can take care of it later. For now, why don't we all return to our posts and have a short rest? We deserve that much after a hard day of work."

Chancellor Igor's words marked the conclusion of this meeting. Indeed, there isn't much to talk about. Everybody was clear about what happened; this was more or less a summary of what transpired during the invasion just to level out the information to everybody.

Cedric originally didn't plan to join this meeting since he predicted that it'd be like this. He wanted to return to his room to sleep, but alas, he joined in anyway. Why? He doesn't know either. He just felt like it was wise to do so.

He wasn't really listening to the discussion. Well...he was, but his focus wasn't on it. He spared maybe two or three of his thought chambers to pay attention; the rest was analyzing something else.

Cedric didn't agree with not prioritizing the strangeness of the Void Creatures. Well, not as much, at least. He understands the need to postpone it since, like they said, the surveillance network will take some time before it penetrates deep into the void to gather more intel. It's even unlikely if the feedback will remain functional deep into that place, but that's a future matter.

The reason why Cedric wanted to put more emphasis on the strangeness of the Void Creatures was because it really made him uncomfortable.

To put it simply, Cedric was hyperfixating on it for some reason. And while he doesn't understand why, he knows not to ignore his instincts like this.

Something about the Void Prince being capable of elevating his subject's intelligence rubs him the wrong way. The worst part is that he feels like the answer to why that is was on the tip of his tongue, yet it just refuses to show itself.

"What's wrong, Child?"

The strong and solid hand of Chancellor Igor woke him up from his stupor. When he came to, people had already vacated the meeting room. The only ones left were him and the Chancellor.

"Ah, oh! Sorry, just..." Cedric then realized something as he looked at the Chancellor's face. He then blanched and continued, "...just thinking about some matters."

"You don't look well." Igor frowned in confusion, "Did you not get enough rest? Do you need me to call the medics?"

"No! No. It's fine...I'm fine. Yes, I am still a bit tired, but I don't need the medics. I'll be fine on my own."

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"You sure?"

"Yes, sir." Cedric smiled wryly. "I just had to sleep some more, I suppose."

"Alright, you go ahead then."

After saying this, the two of them parted ways.

Once Cedric returned to the confines and privacy of his own residence, his expression turned a bit sorrowful. The aged face of the Wise Dragon Chancellor resurfaced into his mind, and the image weakened his resolve.

Although nothing has been confirmed yet, the idea remains logically sound but heartbreaking at the same time.

If the increase in the void creatures' intelligence was gradual or at least slower than this, then it could've fooled him better and maybe made him feel less guilty.

Unfortunately, it all checks out. The speed at which wisdom spreads and the increase in quality and understanding—this isn't a mere coincidence.

The path it took was mapped out in Cedric's brain. The reason why the void took such a long time to condense its champion, what its plans were, its motives, and most importantly, the final ingredient that made it all possible...

The Young Dragon Patriarch.

Now, Cedric wouldn't believe even for a second that the Void was able to convert the Young Dragon Patriarch to its side. But it did catch his soul.

The ability to bless creatures and elevate their wisdom level is something unique to Wise Dragons. It's an ability that has never been stolen or replicated by anybody.

Not until the Void did it...