Eodem: A Rifle And Sword Adventure 9 Chapter 9: A New Day And A New Purpose

The sun rose that day in Tyr Rian or more specifically the UFE Colony New Albany as the Root Family prepare for a new day. Obediah's Wife, Leah had spent the early morning dark time of that day packing foodstuff into the truck. The Root Family Farmstead had several vegetables that were in stock before their trip across s.p.a.ce that they keep as spare food to be eaten or sold for trade. They range from Corn, Tomatoes, Bell Peppers and Red Chili's. The Family, once they got their Greenhouse running will be planting and harvesting these foods around the clock. Ms. Root hoped that she can sell the produce in the weekly Farmer's Market in Tyr Rian that day. With the help of her husband they boarded over a dozen crates into the truck.

"Are we ready to go?" Obediah asked from behind the driver's seat.

"Yeah honey that's all of them." Leah smiled.

"Mommy! I am going to school now!" April exclaimed as she barged outside, surprising her parents.

"You have fun and stay safe in Elementary dear." Her mother waved goodbye.

The only child of the Root Family kissed both of her parents in the cheek before she ran off to her school, which at least temporarily will be held inside the Eodem until construction will be complete. As Obediah was about to start his truck for his trip, his radio called.

"Hey Obed, you ready for the day?" Kayin said as he pulled over the Stryder Group's Land Cruiser behind the truck.

"Yeah, hey this market s.h.i.+t got me beat. Say the plan again El-Tee?" asked Obediah.

"Were going to check out this 'Adventurer's Guild' building Iris talks about. Says that it contains 'Quests' that relays the problems and other things that happens around Tyr Rian. Command wants us to gain the trust of the natives and to acquire currency and materials from within the UFE's 'New Frontier' and to be honest with you guys, we might have to redefine it with all these 'Aliens' we be seeing." Kayin relays.

The Engineer restarted the engine of the Land Cruiser as he began to follow the Root Family Truck towards the friendly Medieval Fantasy City.

"Do we have call the humans born here 'Aliens'? I mean they are basically us, right?" Crocker questioned as he ducked below the machine gun port.

"Yeah but by definition they are not of our origins Lewis. I don't even know why and how this can be even possible." Kayin questioned himself. He lowered his head down to the driver's wheel in confusion before focusing again on the road.

"Well, after the Guild we can pa.s.s by the Library. I think they keep some old text books about Gliesia you would love to hear." Iris proposed.

"That sounds great Iris. You know guys, what does this seems to be like the beginning of a Final Fantasy Game?" Samantha said.

"What makes you say that El-Tee?" asked Kayin asked.

"Well, we are in a fantasy world first of all. We need to understand the Lore and creatures that inhabit this planet. Then we go do 'Quests' and gain 'Experience' and that s.h.i.+t. I am still quite the geek even after Officer School." Samantha said.

"Ha! Throw in a Dragon keeping treasure and a pretty princess or a Demon Lord trying to start the apocalypse and it's definitely a Final Fantasy game." Crocker commented.

"Wait if that's the case… that means you're the 'Party Leader'?" Vincent questioned.

"Yes! No do what I say Thief." She spitefully hissed, making the Penal Soldier cringe as he recoiled backwards.

"What is this 'Final Fantasy' you are talking about?" Iris interrupted.

"Buckle up that seatbelt Iris. I am gonna tell you a story from my childhood." Samantha smiled nostalgically.

---------------------(Sometime later in Devico's Mansion now owned by the UFE) -------------------

After much cleaning and rearrangement by the UFE the other day to make way for their new property, Devico's Mansion, now called 'Little Earth Emporium' as nicknamed by some of the soldiers, was now good as new as if the intense battle several days ago never happened. Several Farmers, Craftsmen and even a few prospective restaurateurs have begun to set up shop. The UFE government has told them that the best way to make a name for ourselves amongst the natives was via cultural exchange and what better way than showing the unique products that Earth has to offer? Devico's old Mansion will have two new purposes. First it will become a shop that sells Earth Products like food, clothes, tools and other useful items that within reason by the Gliesian Population will both need and want to get their hands on. The second function the property has is to house what will essentially be the UFE's Emba.s.sy to the planet, for now the acting amba.s.sador will be Governor Jeremy White, the bearcats back in Earth are still deciding whether to export an Anthropologist from the core worlds or choose among the colonists to be appointed that position.

Many curious onlookers gathered around the Mansion where the infamous Bandit Lord lived initially at first due to their amazement of how quickly the UFE cleaned up their mess (which they insist on doing themselves) in over a day in what in the Gliesian's based on their current technology would take a week without the expensive services of a mage. At the gate where days ago a heroic and mighty stranger held it open which the locals call that hero 'Ogre-Breaker', the said gate that kept Bandit from the oppressed people separate was now completely removed. All that separated the Locals was a blue ribbon that sealed between the gate's archway. The Emporium's hastily formed Security team urged the folks to back off. There will be a grand opening of the Little Earth Emporium that Prince Clovich will attend. The UFE Security Guards are now working in tandem with the Tyr Rian City Guards to keep the crowd under control as the Prince cuts the ribbon commencing the opening of the once forbidden property in the middle of the city.

In an orderly or as best as Security can allow by the best of their ability, the people from Commoners and n.o.bility alike flooded the Mansion's halls to be greeted in a grand bazaar that filled all five of their senses.

There was a Farmer's section which is normal for the Tyr Rian's to see that day due to it being Farmer's Market day which, unlike their farmers were selling foodstuff that n.o.body has ever seen before like Tomatoes, Corn, Peppers and even Mangoes. Another section was dedicated to more material goods such as clothes and tools. Then the best part of the Emporium was a makes.h.i.+ft restaurant with tables and a menu displaying several of Earth's favorite food like burgers, pizza and even some sus.h.i.+.

"Can I grow this in my farm?" inquired a farmer when he held an ear of Corn on his hand to one of the shopkeepers.

"These pants… are stretchy?" a man said as he pulled the pair of jogging pants to test its endurance.

"Wow, this 'Hamburger' is delicious! I must have the recipe." A n.o.bleman commented positively as he digged his mouth in the sandwich.

Samantha aimed her camera at the gathered crowd looking to get some shots of the grand opening for herself. She snapped pictures from a respectable distance in order to not scare the Gliesians with her picture taking. Initially she only had her personal photo camera for taking small snippets of her tour of duty to post in her social media but now she has, unofficially, been the Photographer of all of Gliesia's sights and wonders. Samantha felt amused undertaking the role of doc.u.menting her travels around the planet.

"Hey, Rose. I finished helping my wife set up shop. Let's go to that 'Guild' Building?" Obediah interrupted her.

"That's great to hear. Everyone let's move out." She called.

Stryder Group gathered themselves together and move out with Iris leading the way. They slowly made their out of the Mansion grounds to the city streets outside. Unlike before where they would hide their gear and clothings from the Native Populations, the UFE soldiers wore them out in the open with pride as they strolled down Tyr Rian's streets. People would turn their heads at the foreign warriors in astonished curiosity as they reached the Guild building which was down the street from the Emporium.

The Adventurer's Guild building was about the size of a normal suburban home of two floors with windows and a wooden front door. It held out a sign at the entrance showing the insignia of the Grey Order/Adventurer's Guild being a cross section between a piece of paper with written gibberish and a sword signifying that this building provides 'Quests'. The Squad entered the building together to be greeted in a quiet reception room.

The first floor contained a desk where a lone man slept soundly on his chair, a giant Notice Board filled with papers of news, bounties and other important information and a statue black colored statuette of a veiled figure with several lighted candles surrounding it. Upon the second floor was more lack l.u.s.ter being just a few bunk beds and some tables and chairs reserved for full time guild members.

"Eyah! Oh people! Oh my!" the man on the desk awoke to their presence. He scrambled to stand up and put up a fake smile as he leaned over his desk.

"Welcome, Welcome to the Adventurer's Guild Tyr Rian Branch. I am the Guild Manager of this proud establishment. The name is Flynn." He smiled. "Tell me stranger, are you looking for 'Quests' or are posting some of your own?" He asked.

"Just looking around for some 'Quests' sir." Samantha answered.

"Hey, you are those 'Foreign Warriors' that took down Devico?" Flynn asked.

"Indeed, I was the one who commanded the whole thing too." Samantha replied.

"You got the makings of a leader miss! So, you are interested in the 'Quests' quite a number around these parts. Take a look and see what interests you and if you ask, I can also give you some of the talk of the town although right now, its mostly about you folks right now. I mean holding a gate open? Only Ogres can match up like that!" Flynn said.

"Thanks for the complement." Crocker smiled.

"No problem Ogre-Breaker." he grinned.

Samantha turned to her right at the notice board and began to examine it. However, the words were in the Gliesian alphabet so she couldn't comprehend what she is looking at.

"Iris, can you read these?" she turned to Iris.

The Vampire Witch raised her feet up as she looked at the notice board written in her native language in every possible inch. She scanned over a dozen pinned papers as she absorbed the information into her brain. As the girls looked on at the board, Diaz leaned himself close to the candle lit statue non-chalantly.

"Hey don't come in close to that unless your placing a candle!" Flynn shouted.

The Ex-thief recoiled as the Guild Manager walked towards him and tended the statue.

"Oh Lord Temes, G.o.d of the Death forgive me." Flynn prayed as he fixed the statue and took away the burnt-out candles.

"This is a shrine? I'm sorry. I thought it was just for show." Diaz apologized.

"It's okay but please don't go near my Lord Temes Statuette unless your going to light a candle." Flynn replied.

Diaz looked down at the black veiled figurine for a moment before turning his head back to the Guild Manager again.

"So those candles. Are they representing people?" Diaz asked.

"Yes, sad to say this but yes. Some of the 'Quests' on the board have taken several lives and the people are getting desperate for some help." Flynn replied.

"Desperate how?" Samantha asked from across the room.

Flynn walked back towards Samantha and placed his fingers on one of the pinned papers on the Notice Board to present it to her.

"Take a look at this one." He pointed. "This bounty is asking for some 'Extermination' by the swamp near the Verden Valley Forest. It's Bask of Seadevils. The folks there will pay some good money for their teeth and meat. I sent this pretty blonde la.s.s with a s.h.i.+ny looking bow the other day on this quest too." Flynn explained.

As ill.u.s.trated in the poster, the 'Seadevil' is an alligator-like creature with fish like fins propping its sides and back. The front body of the creature rose upright creating a 'neck' and giving the creature a height advantage compared to their down-to-earth comparison.

"I live… I mean I used to go to the swamp nearby to harvest the mushrooms there. Those things can grow to around eight feet." Iris said.

"Eight Feet?" Samantha exclaimed.

"Yes, and I heard that they have a poisonous bite thanks to their saliva. Can't kill you in an hour." Iris added.

"That's scary to hear." Samantha lowered her voice and the paper. Before she was about to reject the 'Quest', Obediah interrupted her.

"I think I can take it." He said.

"Really Obed? You can hunt some of these down? They look actually pretty life threatening." Samantha said.

"I can take care of myself. Besides, the Hunter's a.s.sociation probably will appreciate some of the exotic monsters I will be hunting down here. Although, I could use some help. Iris, you said you know the swamp, there right? Can you take me there?" Obediah asked.

"I don't think I can go with you because I have to be with Samantha all the time when I am outside New Albany. But I can mark it on that… uhm Gee-Pee-Esss gizmo you use as a map." Iris acknowledged.

"It is a map Iris." Obed corrected her "And Diaz, can you be my partner? I could use some extra fire power." He then turned to the Ex-thief.

"Me? on one of your hunts? Really?" He asked.

"Yeah, it will be fun. You could use some outdoors. Besides you do get them Aug's right, so you can easily run away if they get to close. Tomorrow is a Sat.u.r.day and it's our day off so we can split the cash between ourselves." Obediah proposed.

"Well, other than p.i.s.sing myself on the bar on that day, alright let's kill some Crocodiles." He smiled.

"Well good luck to both of you. And Diaz! Don't try to run away now since you can understand the

locals now." She pointed out.

"And lose my supply of Bio-Cells? Won't even dream." He denied her with a hint of snark.

"Okay, that's one down to you guys. Flynn, by any chance you have a 'Quest' that doesn't involve monstrous creatures? Preferably within the city?" Samantha asked.

"Yes, I do! It's relatively easy and safe. The Drunken b.a.s.t.a.r.d Inn is going to hold a show in their place tomorrow night and they need some Bouncers. Will pay good money and free food to any applicants." Flynn said.

"The Drunken b.a.s.t.a.r.d? We are actually friends with the owner. Maybe he can let us be the Bouncers." Samantha said.

"Lutheor Mirrien? Your friends with him? That's pretty neat of you. Just go up to the guy and ask if it's okay with him that he throws the responsibility of the Drunken b.a.s.t.a.r.d security to him." Flynn smiled.

"Well looks like while you guys are going out Hunting we will be Bouncing back in the b.a.s.t.a.r.d." Crocker said.

"Well have fun and don't drink the beer." Diaz waved.

"Happy Hunting then to you. And good luck." Kayin said.

"Alright that settles it everyone for our first 'Quests'. Let's head back to the Emporium." Samantha said.

"Ai, my wife's Corn on the Cobs are on me for the day." Obediah smiled.

--------------------------------(Meanwhile back in Haringpoint) --------------------------------

"Petur, the Plan has failed. The Demons have arrived." Said the projected virtual image of Aliathra via her Tweeter Spell Bird.

The Magic Knight became shaken with denial and horror as he heard the Elven Princess's grim news. With him at the Grey Order's HQ in Haringpoint was his colleagues Carliah, Mita and Findrum alongside with them Grandmaster Owyne. Their faces too were of utter dismay.

"We have… failed?" Carliah softly lamented. Tears of her first failure trickled down her cheeks.

"So… the End Times are here?" Mita commented.

"I knew we should have killed that Metal Demon as soon as we saw it!" Findrum grumbled.

"The plan should have worked! The Illusion… what did we do wrong?" Owyne despaired.

------------------------(Flashback about a week before Planetfall)----------------

A gathering of over one thousand of the Conclaves best Illusion Mages plus an escort of the Empire's best Paladins have gathered in Tyr Rian's Verden Valley that day. After getting permission from Prince Clovich for a 'Study Group Field Trip' in his lands, the Grey Order members and their Conclave friends readied themselves for the so-prophesied 'Eye' that Owyne obsessively foretold its coming. They have camped out at the field for about three nights waiting for a sign of the 'Demons' arrival.

"Grandmaster are you sure the first demons will be here?" asked Petur.

"I saw it come down from the heavens like a falling star. As it makes land, it will follow a great explosion creating a crater from where it arrived. Then it will see the world for souls to feast upon. Remember the Plan is to prevent it from seeing the world as filled with souls." Owyne said, reminding the plan to Owyne.

"Is everyone ready? It could arrive at any minute." The wizard asked.

"Carliah and Aliathra are preparing the Crystals as we speak. Findrum has his blades ready and Mita has been scouting the forests for anything out of the ordinary." Petur reported.

"That is very good to hear Sir Reikdorf. Pray to the G.o.ds that..."

Just as Owyne was to bless Petur with his wishes and prayers, the entire camp felt a great convulsion that knocked many unsuspecting Imperial off their feet. Falling down to ground in shock from the great seismic disturbance, Owyne could only freeze in hysteria.

"They.Are.Here." he cried.

"Get a hold of yourself!" Petur knocked back Owyne's senses together with two light slaps to return him to reality.

"The Demons?!?" Petur exclaimed.

"Yes, where did that Earthquake come from?" Owyne asked.

The two ran out of their tent with their feet barely upright to only be embraced by a panicked campsite with men screaming and running away. From up above, the two spotted smoke rising from their west followed by a red-yellowish glow. Just as they were about to follow the source of the fire, Petur noticed that his colleague Carliah, their Elven ally Aliathra and standing frozen at the sight of the unnatural fire.

"Carliah! Get the mages and the crystals now!" Petur ordered.

"Y-yes! Let's go!" Carliah leaded. She waved her hands to her fellow mages as they followed her lead.

The Heroes hurried themselves towards the source of the red glowing smoke until they ran beyond the edges of the camp to the open field. There was a sense of anxiety between everyone since n.o.body but Findrum the Monster Hunting Dwarf had experience fighting demons. It is said that Demons possess immeasurable strength, speed and endurance that only the strongest of people can even hope to keep up with. Legends spoke of names of several demons that can challenge the G.o.ds of their world in combat. Some are known to cause volcanoes to erupt in terrible anger, another can cause widespread diseases, and some of the worst can pierce your soul and make you turn against everything you had held dear with immense hatred until their humanity is lost forever.

Guild Mission dashed themselves across the empty field until the red-yellow glow grew brighter and brighter until they spotted a large crater from where the smoke arose from. The Grey Order halted their advance as they readied themselves. Findrum unsheathed his custom-made axes made from special 'Monster-Bane' metal or otherwise known as Silver ready to fight what could be his greatest prey yet. On from the front and back lines, the mages summoned up their magic from their hands, wands and staffs ready to conjure the pivotal spell needed for the plan, if of course this 'Eye Demon' doesn't come with an escort of its own. Yet even then, all of the Gliesians in that field that day were all equally nervous. The only noise they could here was their quiet breathing and the crackling of the fire coming from the crater.

Until they heard the sounds of c.h.i.n.king and chipping from the craters as if something was trying to climb out of it.

"Hit the Illusions now! Now traces of anything." Owyne ordered.

Carliah, Aliathra and all of the mages that followed tapped their powers from the hastily grabbed crystals back from camp to form the virtual image of an empty world with no signs of sentient life or civilization. The mages hope that they can fool the Demon with their spell. They surrounded the crater in a circle to form the illusionary mirror image which their magic's outlining traces formed a dome that surrounded the crater in a 360-degree view of its surrounding.

From out of the crater the shape of a shadow emerged. At first the umbra figure gave the designs of an alien like beast with a long neck but as the image got closer to getting out of the crater, the shadow reduced in size to the child like height of no more than 5 feet.

"It is the 'Eyes' of the Demons from my visions…" Owyne dreaded fearfully.

After a few more moments of hearing the 'c.h.i.n.king' and 'chipping' of dirt, the shadow of the 'Demon' finally emerged and everyone held their breath for their first encounter with the Demonic Kind.

"By the G.o.ds… what are you…" were the words Petur could only mutter softly as the creature emerged.

The interloper's skin was made of metal painted in gleaming silver that reflects like the gleaming towers of the Elves of Alfel-Nora's towers. The rest of its body was even more alien than the metallic skin, it had a single 'eye' at the center of its round vase like body which looks almost lifelike yet at the same time is uncannily deceased. At the bottom of its round body is several tiny arms in differing shapes that not even their world's greatest engineers can decipher its purposes. From the bottom of its As it raised itself from the ashes, to the shock of the Gliesians, it can fly without any visible wings attached despite hearing the obvious fluttering sound of wings which beats abnormally fast.

"That's the 'Eye'?" Findrum questioned. "It's rather… tiny for a demon." He added.

"Well its more of a scout than a fighter." Petur said.

The pint-sized Metal-Demon began to float forwards to the Imperial's position alarming them.

"Did it see through it?" Carliah anxiously asked the Grandmaster.

"I don't think so. It's not acting erratically and trying to charge like what most Demons do. Have the mages move backwards while they maintain the dome." Owyne ordered.

Carliah acknowledged and slowly she, Aliathra and the rest of the mages slowly moved backwards. Whenever the 'Demon' moved, the mages would move in a synchronized fas.h.i.+on. Nervousness run abound by the Imperial's as every time the alien being paused in its tracks, its oddly shaped arms would probe the ground or plant life it comes near off. Was it… trying to smell for Mortal Souls?

"It's rather calm… for a demon. It doesn't even look like it needs to breathe." Aliathra said.

"You got that right Princess." Findrum nodded.

After much probing of the ground and plants, the metal 'Demon' started to float towards the Imperials camp. Alarmed, Owyne ordered the soldiers to dismantle the camp. Every rope, nail, cloth, campfires and every man-made object were hastily hidden away as the illusional 'Demon' made its way through what WAS there camp.

---------------(Meanwhile in UFE s.p.a.ce somewhere outside Benham-3/Gliesia)------------------------

It was another routine mission for the UFE Planetary Surveyor Corps. The operators in the control room leisurely sipped their coffee and blankly stared at the screens. They have sent out one of their Probing Drones to the planet Benham-3. Their a.s.signment, scout out a given coordinates for the future landing of the Eodem Colony s.h.i.+p. It was a boring job of just inputting commands to the Probe to collect samples and observe the surroundings. As the operators looked at their viewing screens, all they could see was just the verdant hills of gra.s.s and a forest full of trees that look familiar to the ones grown back at Earth. Everywhere the drone goes and does its sample collection, it only further pointed that the planet was just another Earth-like planet with nothing special or cautionary from what the Probe reported via it's data uplink to their computers.

"Looks empty, nothing but trees and gra.s.s everywhere. Man, I can't wait to get off this d.a.m.n station and get some fresh air." the Control Operator said placing his hand behind his head as he lazily leaned back from his reclining chair.

"Should we get the Probe backed to the s.h.i.+p?" his colleague next to him asked.

"Meh, it's going to be decommissioned anyway for better droids. Have the Colony salvage it up when they drop." He shot down.

The operator grabbed a telephone that was near his workstation and dialed a phone number.

"h.e.l.lo, this is Mata Station. Tell Colonial Affairs that the Eodem has its drop site. The Drop Site is clear for planetfall." The operator said.

After dropping the phone, he turned back to his workstation and pressed the command for the Probing Drone to shut down.

---------------------------(Back in Gliesia, Tyr Rian Princ.i.p.ality)-----------------------------------

The 'Metal Demon', after much floating and digging around the now cleared camping grounds that is devoid of any signs of civilization suddenly fell down dead much to the surprise of the Grey Order.

They approached its carca.s.s carefully until they are all pointing their weapons and magic at point blank melee range.

"Is it… dead?" Carliah asked.

Findrum emerged from the crowd of soldiers and with a might downward thrust of his Silver Axe he split the 'Demon' in two. Exposing mild electric currents that discharged from the corpse and strangely colored blood vessels from within. The blood vessels were colored blue, red and yellow yet instead of bleeding liquid it bled electricity.

"Mages contain that thing!" Owyne ordered it to be sealed with Holy Magics and to be transported to a Demonologist for study.

"What happened? It just died just like that?" Petur questioned.
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"Well Demons need souls to feed upon to survive. Since we casted an illusion in order to fool it to think that this place is devoid of souls…" Aliathra began to reason.

"It couldn't find anything to feed on so it fell dead from hunger!" Carliah concluded.

"And since if it can't find any souls…" Findrum continued their deduction.

"The Demons will have no reason to invade because they think there is no Souls to consume. We did it! We prevented the Apocalypse!" Owyne cheered.

Everyone began to join along in the Grandmaster's delight as they hugged and tossed around their helmets and hats to the air in celebration. Thanks to the Grey Order's brilliant plan of deceiving an Eldritch Demon but cancelled the fall of their beloved Empire. Petur hugged Carliah and Findrum in a mighty grasp and thanked them for their helped. Yet he noticed that the Elven Princess Aliathra was slowly walking away from them during the middle of their revelry. Letting go of his colleagues, Petur managed to tap the Princess' back before she got too far.

"Hey, stay with us. We can drink and eat together like friends between to partners. My Empire and your Entente?" 'the Faithful' diplomatically said, reminding her of the positive relations.h.i.+p between their two nations. Petur marveled at her ethereal beauty.

No other woman he knows or heard of could match the beauty of the female Elves from the continent of Alfel-Nora. Even a humble Elf Commoner could not compare to the n.o.ble Women of the Slaegian Empire in terms of vanity and elegance. From the moment he first lay his eyes on Aliathra, he could only stare in awe at her.

"I have finished what I was sent to do. I helped your order prevent the Apocalypse so I am done here. I'll stock up on some supplies and say h.e.l.lo to an old… 'family' friend before I depart for Alfel-Nora." Aliathra politely declined.

She gracefully turned her back and walked away from the Magic Knight leaving him behind. Petur lay his head down in shame that his attempts of possibly pursue courts.h.i.+p with the Elven Princess was turned down. Yet… for some reason… judging from the tone of her voice, there was something suspicious about her.

"There goes that Elf. Of on their Mysterious ways." Owyne said walking up beside him.

"Grandmaster, when Mita comes back. Tell her that I want her spies to keep an eye out on Aliathra." Petur said.

"Why?" Owyne asked.

"I don't know but my instincts say she is up to something… I can't tell what." Petur said.

--------------(Back in the Present Time) ---------------

"The Plan was supposed to work!" Owyne flipped the tables and scattered dozens of papers and ink that spilled on the marble floors.

"Mita! I told you to keep an eye on the Elf. What else happened to her?" Petur accused the Crow.

"I told you again. My spies in the city tracked her until she reached the Clovich's Castle then we lost track of her. That's all I could say. Maybe she was on to us." Mita defended herself.

"That's besides the point. But does the Elf Princess know something that we don't?" Petur questioned.

"That I do not know. But judging from her Tweeter Bird, maybe she does, not from when we last saw her, but now maybe she does know something. She is still in Tyr Rian as of this message's dispatching" Carliah deducted.

"So… the Apocalypse is indeed happening now…" Findrum depressingly lowered his head fearing the inevitable.

"Hold on… maybe it was just a mistake. Or some sort of Poor Communication? Aliathra does look rather distressed from the way she spoke so quickly on her message. Perhaps we just need to confirm with her on the details. Then we can decide on a course of action." Carliah mediated the group from descending into despair.

"You… you… are right. We can't afford to be emotional now." Owyne calmed himself.

"Indeed Grandmaster. Mita! I want you try and track down Aliathra again in Tyr Rian, check for Inns, Pubs, the Guild Building there for any signs of her. Owyne, I need you to relay to the Imperial Legions of the news. Have them mobilize near the borders of Tyr Rian and wait for further orders from us. Make sure they prepare for a Demon Invasion. Holy Water, Blessed Bolts, Relics, Demonbane, anything they can get their hands on. If these Demons are indeed pouring from Tyr Rian, we must contain them there. No Demons shall invade the Empire while we still breathe!" Petur exclaimed.

Everyone in the room raised their hands in salute at the heroic Magic Knight in defiance to fate. They may have failed to prevent the Apocalypse of their world. But they will, no matter the costs push the demons back from all that they love and hold dear.