Chaos' Heir-Chapter 1148: Inbound

Now, Fabian had seen and studied his fair share of strange stuff. The universe had no shortage of that, especially when the mana was involved, and Prince Khan's organization had even added aliens to the equation.

However, the human mind had limits, even one as broad as Fabian's. It turned out that the several sea stations had created an immense cloaking membrane, and peeking past it revolutionized Fabian's entire understanding of the world.

Hills and slopes made of green scales floated on the vast patch of sea, isolated by the stations and their invisible barrier. Small ships, floating circular platforms, and proper structures hovered or stood all over that gargantuan landscape, performing all kinds of tasks. Fabian recognized some, but his mind went blank when he spotted a familiar reptilian head.

Everything suddenly made sense and didn't. Fabian recognized what was supposed to be a sea snake, but his brain failed to accept that immense size. The small window into the cloaked scenery didn't help, but he couldn't blame it. The young scientist knew his mind was falling short there.

It was surprisingly reasonable. Leviathan-class ships were among the greatest individual structures humankind had ever built, but the floating creature looked bigger. Fabian even struggled to find where that immense body ended, so he had no hope of acknowledging the existence of such a gargantuan size.

Still, the surprises didn't end there. Fabian almost couldn't believe his eyes when he spotted that glaring detail. The giant creature's head featured a vast crater, meaning something or someone had managed to kill it.

Life as Fabian knew it stopped having any meaning. Such a discovery was bound to change the scientific field forever, and his mind felt dizzy thinking about all the possible findings.

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"What is that?" Fabian gasped, forgetting honorifics or the general idea of a chain of command.

"Something the Prince fished out and killed," Garret explained, turning a blind eye to the slightly disrespectful tone since he understood that reaction. "The real reason the Prince called us to Coravis."

As marveled, stunned, and curious as Fabian was, his brain couldn't help but default to basic thoughts. An instinctive fear took root in his brain, making him ask the most understanding question that had ever been asked before the dead Great Old One.

"Are there more of them?" Fabian wondered. The sole existence of a few more of those immense creatures would be akin to an apocalyptic event, and Fabian didn't know whether to hurry to battle stations or hide in the most secure bunkers in the galaxy.

"This one should have been the last of its species," Garret reassured, refraining from adding anything else. Technically, Khan partially counted, too, but Fabian didn't need to know.

"Are you sure, sir?" Fabian insisted, still glued to that window in the terrifying scenery. "The sole possibility of a similar threat is deserving of all the alarms we possess."

Garret turned toward his Cousin, his understanding dwindling by the second. Fabian was right, but the shock made him forget where he was.

"There is a similar threat already," Garret declared. "The one who killed it, our Prince. Should we sound the alarms because he exists?"

Fabian couldn't miss the veiled threat in Garret's voice, finally allowing him to divert his gaze. He looked at Garret, knowing he had made a mistake and that only honest apologies could fix it.

"Apologies, sir," Fabian exclaimed, lowering his head. "I was too shocked. I misspoke."

Garret studied his Cousin from head to toe before glancing at one of the scientists nearby. He performed a beckoning motion, and the man hurried toward him to deliver an item.

"Is he still there?" Garret casually asked.

"He hasn't moved in three days, sir," The scientist confirmed before being dismissed with a nod.

"Fabian," Garret called, and Fabian lifted his head only to see the lead scientist offer him a pair of binoculars.

Fabian instinctively accepted the item, but a frown quickly afflicted his expression. He knew what that was, but it was his first time seeing such an outdated version. The binoculars looked completely analog, without a single tool that could provide digital enhancements.

"Point them in that direction," Garret suggested, pointing his arm at a seemingly empty place outside the encirclement of the sea stations.

Fabian complied, following the vague instructions and looking through the binoculars. He only saw slightly taller waves, but Garret promptly intervened, adjusting the device's direction and zoom.

Analog binoculars obviously weren't as good as their digital counterparts, but Fabian felt surprised by how far they could see. Still, the change in the scenery eventually attracted his attention. The waves in the distance grew higher and messier until proper liquid structures appeared.

Fabian had to adjust the zoom and direction on his own at that point since a single perspective wouldn't suffice. He spotted something bigger than a simple wave and, following its upward flow, revealed its true nature. The structure was a gravity-defying cascade that rose from the sea to stretch toward the sky, and it wasn't alone.

The young scientist noticed three more tall, upside-down waterfalls, almost resembling immense curved horns. Still, their tips seemed to converge toward a specific, glowing point Fabian couldn't properly inspect with that archaic device.

"What is happening there, sir?" Fabian asked, still searching for answers through the binoculars.

"The world is feeding the Prince's attunement with mana," Garret vaguely explained. "It's one of the Prince's techniques. You'll get used to it."

"But," Fabian gasped, abruptly lowering the device to look at Garret, "Shouldn't we establish a cloaking barrier around the Prince, too? He might not want to leave his secrets in the open."

The suggestion compensated for the previous mistake, at least in Garret's mind. Yet, his serious gaze relaxed a bit as it went into the distance, seemingly trying to inspect the same scenery Fabian had looked at until now.

"I suggested it," Garret revealed, "But the Prince has a way of making technology malfunction."

Garret had to hold back a sigh and suppress the headache that the memories from the past two months tried to cause. His time on Coravis hadn't been easy, and Prince Khan was mostly to blame.

"When I mentioned the issue to the Prince," Garret continued, "He just said: Let them see."

"Why?" Fabian asked, lifting the binoculars again to search for the tall liquid horns.

"Because if they see it," Garret explained, "They'll fear him."

Fabian almost lost himself in that profound philosophical lesson, but something attracted his attention again. Rather, the lack of something left him too confused to linger in Garret's words.

"It's gone, sir," Fabian warned.

Garret immediately connected Fabian's words to the issue and checked the binoculars' angle. The direction was right, so he asked for confirmation. "Are you sure?"

"Positive, sir," Fabian confirmed. He thought about being more thorough with his search, but a deafening cry resounded behind him and almost made him cover his ears in pain.

"Secure the equipment!" Garret shouted with all the strength his lungs and mana could provide. "The Prince is inbound!"