Arknightcraft Modpack
Chapter 466: An Unusual Reunion Movement
Even though he had more or less figured out who was responsible for staging all of this, Steven didn't rush to leave. Curiosity about the contents of this "dream" won out, and he instead passed straight through the fleeing crowd, strolling unhurriedly toward the source of the chaos.
After all, he was in spectator mode right now, what was there to worry about? Besides, ignoring free drama wasn't exactly his style.
Before long, as he drew closer to the heart of the disturbance, the surroundings began to change. It looked as though the city had just been through a war. Despite being a highly modernized mobile city, the streets were filled with smoke, scorch marks, and the remnants of burning structures.
There were far fewer civilians fleeing now. Instead, Steven saw Ursus city guards covering the evacuation of the people—and another, far stranger force clashing with them.
The moment Steven laid eyes on those fighters clad in odd uniforms, wearing hooded outfits and, most notably, eerie white masks, his expression immediately turned amused.
He knew that getup far too well.
Wasn't this the standard uniform that Talulah's newly founded organization—so-called Reunion Movement—had agreed upon?
Since when did these guys become this bold? Bold enough to assault a mobile city directly? And judging from the current situation… they were actually on the winning side?
Watching the Ursus guards being driven back layer by layer, Steven couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth. The Reunion Movement he remembered had never been this fierce—let alone capable of fielding such well-equipped troops.
Taking a closer look at the weapons in Reunion's hands and seeing that their craftsmanship was in no way inferior to that of the city guards, Steven's expression grew even more intrigued.
Someone was clearly providing this organization with military support behind the scenes, and one thing was certain: that someone definitely wasn't him.
After all, the weapons he made would never be this low-tier.
Even so, what Steven looked down on was more than enough to be deadly to the city guards. Faced with Reunion's seemingly fearless charges, the defensive line soon collapsed completely.
Steven witnessed it all from start to finish, letting blades clash and blood fly before his eyes—even as it passed straight through his body. His expression remained that of someone watching a war epic unfold firsthand.
Honestly, the sense of immersion here put any kind of VR experience to absolute shame.
But soon, Steven's brows furrowed.
In his eyes, the battle between Reunion and the guards was an inevitable clash between two irreconcilable sides. That much was understandable. What he couldn't understand was what happened after Reunion completely shattered the guards' defenses and began catching up to the fleeing civilians.
The Infected—once the oppressed, the weak—now raised their weapons without hesitation against civilians who were even more defenseless than themselves.
They didn't care what those people had done—or whether they had done anything at all. It was less about revenge and more about venting the murderous rage festering in their hearts.
If violence by Infected against ordinary people could at least be explained as revenge, then what Steven was witnessing now was nothing more than beasts using that excuse to indulge their bloodlust.
Even if there were Infected among those civilians, in their current state, these attackers would undoubtedly cut them down without a second thought.
Steven frowned as he watched their actions. What confused him even more was that behavior like this—something that clearly violated the principles of the Reunion Movement—was going completely unchecked.
From beginning to end, he never once saw a leader step forward to stop them.
Lifting his gaze past the riotous Reunion members who now looked more like mobs than revolutionaries, Steven spotted the one directing them.
It wasn't a familiar figure.
Instead, it was a frail-looking, sickly teenage boy.
Beneath his short white hair was a face that screamed brat—the kind of face that made you instinctively want to grab him by the head and punch him senseless. That punchable face was twisted into a smug, deeply irritating grin. He wore a pristine white uniform, and in his hand was a strange black cane.
He merely watched his subordinates carry out what could only be described as a massacre, wearing a mocking expression. Not only did he show no intention of stopping them—he looked as though he was actively enjoying it.
"That's strange," Steven muttered. "I don't remember there being a kid this young in Reunion."
He stepped closer, openly sizing the boy up. There was one thing Steven was absolutely certain of—forget Reunion, there shouldn't have been anyone like this among the Infected at all. With a face this irritating, there was no way he would have failed to remember him.
With a faint frown, Steven withdrew his gaze and quietly etched the name floating above the boy's head—[Mephisto]—into his memory.
Since he couldn't punch him in this state, he'd just save that debt for later. If they ever met for real, he'd make sure to collect.
As for why the Reunion Movement—something Steven remembered as a force meant to blaze a path forward for the Infected, a light cutting through the darkness—had twisted into what he was seeing now, he didn't yet have a clear answer.
But that didn't mean he was out of options.
The solution was simple. If he could meet the leader of Reunion within this dream, then the truth wouldn't be far away.
And as for where that so-called leader might be, Steven only needed to glance at the meteorites slowly falling from the sky—and the clouds scorched into a deep crimson by some unknown force—to form a rough guess.
This catastrophe had arrived far too conveniently.
Convenient enough to make one suspect it had been deliberately triggered to cover Reunion's assault.
As for the eerie red glow, and the scorching heat in the air that could be felt even from this distance, the identity of the one responsible was obvious.
"That little fire dragon is usually this strong?" Steven muttered to himself. "Has she been hiding her power all this time… or did this version of her get some kind of power boost in the dream?"
With those thoughts, Steven strolled unhurriedly toward the source of the red light.
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Note: Character Illustration is in this Google Drive:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1iuyfwNVFHzIi9H4rWNT_lAm7jTSiah_M
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https://www.patreon.com/collection/55713?view=condensed[4]
[1] https://www.patreon.com/collection/55713?view=condensed
[2] https://www.patreon.com/posts/156361807?collection=55713
[3] https://www.patreon.com/posts/156361807?collection=55713
[4] https://www.patreon.com/collection/55713?view=condensed