Paragon

Remnants of the Great War [25]

PARAGON

Remnants of the Great War Arc [25]

Chapter 34 : AZ's Titans

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Trees, shrubs, and stones all whipped past Sabrina in a blur as she glided over the forest floor. The foliage above blotted out the sunlight, and the copses of leaves all around her dampened the sound of the war as it raged on all around her. She'd selected a route she sensed wouldn't contain any enemies, wanting no delay on her way to the portal.

Last she'd seen, AZ's hooded acolytes were still surging out of the forest boundaries into an open field, where the Guardians were engaging with them directly. Past the field lie the burning town where she'd broken off from Ash and Riley, and beyond that sat Cameran Palace itself. Although it looked like the Guardians were holding their own, AZ's forces seemed endless, so sealing off their way in was top priority. She wondered briefly about how and where AZ had recruited such a massive army after spending so long in prison, but she quickly dashed the thought. That was the sort of question she could find the answer to later. For now, she needed to focus on her main objective.

Once she was deep into the forest, she slowed her pace, eventually coming to a stop. There was silence all around her, save for the river that trickled past beside her. She closed her eyes and extended her awareness beyond her immediate periphery. Up ahead lie the portal she'd been visiting every now and then for the past month. And as expected, as her field of consciousness got closer to where it was, she began to sense other people. Enemies. And lots of them. Some stood guard near the portal, while others moved swiftly away from it, no doubt off to engage the Guardians. And as the seconds passed, more presences made themselves known, emerging from the portal at a consistent interval.

Her eyes snapped open, the jade glow of her psychic power fading in her eyes. She knew what she had to do. Her gauntlets whirred, and she disappeared in an emerald flash.

She reappeared in the darkened forest in an area not dissimilar from the one she'd just left. She crouched down and started moving forward. As she moved, the forest thinned around her. After a minute of creeping, only a line of bushes barred her exit from the cover of the trees. Sensing no one looking in her direction, she brushed the bushes aside and peered past them.

In front of her lay that massive canyon created by Albrecht's, no, Sir Aaron's Nidoking. On the other side, she could see the psychic dyad, now fully expanded into a swirling gateway of magenta psychic energy. A few moments later, another hooded figure emerged from the portal in a flash, stepping out onto the grass, nodding at their comrades, and racing off down the hill toward the battle.

Sabrina raised her hands, and her gauntlet's twitched, lighting up. Her fingertips and eyes both became limned in a jade light. From here on the other side of the earthen rift, she could collapse the portal without ever having to engage a single enemy. With any luck, she'd be gone before they even had a chance to realize what had happened.

As she worked, the portal seemed to flicker and dilate ever so slightly, though none of the gathered seemed to notice, minute as the decay was, and hooded figures continued to empty from the portal without delay. One by one, she shattered the nodes of psychic power that kept the portal anchored to reality. However, now that the portal was fully realized, and Sabrina could view its elaborate construction, a pervasive sense of unease coursed through her. This portal was far more complex than any she'd seen before. If AZ's base was in Kalos as N and Zinnia thought, then creating a long-distance portal all the way to Kanto like this was already extremely advanced to begin with. But this portal was stable, and showed no signs of weakness at all. Unlike most long-distance portals, which were created only to remain open for a few seconds, this one had been active for nearly an hour already. Whatever had created this portal was extremely powerful.