How To Survive A Calamity

"Haah.... Haah...haa..."

Goddamnit...

I spent a few seconds trying to control my breathing and keep my mind stable.

For better or worse, the Ruler's Authority Enchantment consumed a lot of Ether, and, i mean, i could spare a bit more of that but there was still some level of mental exhaustion depending on the scale i activated the Enchantment on.

At the very least, it was at a level where i couldn't maintain any other Active Enchantments at the same time, like the Crown's Veil which was kind of similar to an opposite and contrasting enchantment of Ruler's Authority.

Activating one of the two required deactivating another at the same time.

And switching between the two Enchantment simultaneously swiftly took some time and focus.

I was leaning against my spear while expanding my senses sharply, a small portion of my mind was still fused under the influence of Immersion that was still active.

It was how i was still capable of holding myself together as my mind began to recover under the skill's influence.

Next to me against the ground was the female cadet who had lunged at me.

She was sobbing her eyes out with her face in her hands, kneeling against the sharp sand. Her shoulders continued to tremble

I glanced at her from the side and sighed.

"... You alright?" I said probingly, with concern.

Even though she was the one who unsympathetically lunged at me and aimed for my head, that was while her emotion and thoughts had been manipulated.

Now she was probably suffering the backlash from the effects.

I could understand.

If it weren't for Immersion holding me up like mental pillars, i too would probably be on my knees.

Heck, i could even barely stand upright on my own without support.

There was a big mental drain and despondent emptiness left behind that seemed to want to swallow you up.

At least, for me, that was how the lingering side effect of the diabolical mental attack felt. And this was with the Immersion skill activated even.

The cadet continued to cry to herself without saying anything in reply.

I didn't mind, and aside from that, she seemed to be alright. As far as fine could go in this situation at least.

Well, taking a broad look around, for the meantime, everything seemed fine.

For now.

The cadet continued to cry and sob, but at least she seemed to be in a more rational control of her actions. She wasn't lunging around recklessly while spouting ncomprehensible nonsense all around.

"Wh-what have i done... What happened... Huh?" Occasionally, i would hear her say in-between sobs.

A small sigh broke from my lips as i struggled to restrain my bathed breaths.

Everyone else seemed to share the same sympathy.

I gripped the spear i used for balance tightly and said in a small voice only i could probably hear.

"Meta...haahh... analysis?"

Meta promptly responded, the synthetic voice vibrating in a symphony inside my head.

[Affirmative. Analysis, so far, shows the symptoms revealed are the results or effects of a powerful wide scale mental attack that triggers high emotional responses instantaneously like lighting a gas with a mayvh stick. You have barely managed to mitigate the mysterious skill, but there are still chances that remnants of the effects still linger. Best course of action is to avoid or be mindful pf any excessive emotional stimuli from now on.]

A mental attack... My eyes coldly narrowed.

One that instigated mental and emotional breakdown from experiencing even the most mild shocks and emotional tension.

I swept a carpet glance across the vicinity once.

At the same time, i caught sight of Deandra staring at me.

"V-vic...! What the hell happened to you — no, what the hell is going on?! One minute, w-we were just...! A-and then i...!"

The panicked voice belonged to a pale faced Chelsea with dried blood staining her roughly wiped cheeks as she stumbled her way up to me.

"Chelsea..." I said weakly.

And then.

•[Skill: Immersion has been terminated]

As i heard the system prompt abruptly say so out of nowhere, i felt my head go lighter and consciousness turned fainter as it flickered for a moment enough to make me stumble.

It was so sudden that i couldn't even maintain standing on my feet and fell on my ass with a thump.

"Oof."

"Vic!"

A small groan left my lips and Chelsea threw herself with concern at me.

"Chelsea, Victor, you two are safe " then a third familiar voice said and approached.

The figures of Deandra, Trise and Don came into view around me.

My held was throbbing, i held up the heel of my palm against my forehead in a futile attempt to mitigate it slightly.

"Yeah... mostly." I said and glanced at Don.

The young black haired cadet was being held up by Trise with his head lowered. His eyes were vacant and hollow, ushering with darkness.

Don lowered his head as his fingers incessantly trembled and vibrated, and he kept mumbling something something incomprehensible and unsettling from his lips.

Trise noticing my glance at him parted her lips, hesitated in a meek fashion, and said pitifully with a dark expression.

"Don is..."

"I know. You don't have to tell me anything, i understand." Before she could bring herself to continue, i interjected with a sigh.

"Can someone tell me what the hell is going on?" Chelsea said urgently, shifting her gaze between each of us, and ultimately Deandra.

Deandra met her gaze woth her usual stetn and composed expression as she seemed ready to give a reliable response.

"I..."

But Deandra froze and hesitated, her expression faltered and an uncertain voice flowed out instead.

"I... I'm not sure..."

She lowered her head and looked away with unease.

Then Deandra suddenly looked back at me.

"Do you have any idea?"

She blinked, her voice sounded a lot meeker.

She was probably asking me because i eas the first person to notice we were under attack while no one else did.

Thinking that, i didn't pay too much attention about Deandra's sudden change and submissive personality and nodded darkly.

I looked at Chelsea who offered her hand to help me up.

"I do."

Trise's eyes brightened up slightly.

She took a steo forward.

"Then..!

Before Trise could continued we suddenly heard the shattered sound of an explosion from the distance.

-BOOM!

A powerful explosion erupted from distant direction not too far from us, and a powerful gale swep over us like a shockwave.

I felt the ground tremble under my feet as the roar of an explosion reached my ears from afar.

"Holy cow! What the fuck was that?!" Trise screamed in alarm, staring at a tall and rising cloud of dust and smoke stretching into the red sky from afar.

"That's..."

The explosion...

"It's from the direction we came from!"

The Shockwaves and winds seept over us like a storm.

Eventually, once it all seemed to be over—

"Heeeaaaiiiiaaakkkk—!!!"

We heard a bloodcurdling scream.