A New Dawn 117 A spy in their mids

"So what if it is a suicide to enter? What if everyone here died just to get past the entrance? Are you willing to let those Dark Gods destroy everything you hold dear to your eyes? Your families? Your nations?" The man with the black artifact was not concerned by their fear. Otherwise, he would have not personally made a move and greet them all. It would be best if he managed to convince them to send their own troops and not use the Black Gauntlet, but that was just false hope.

"We currently have the advantage of knowing exactly where they are. We are in the dark while they are in the open. I guess you don't really know what I am talking about, but I can assure you that it is our domain of expertise. However, we can only overestimate their strength with the lack of knowledge at our disposal. In that regard, I hope that you can all spare as many troops as you can, to besiege them as soon as possible."

Hearing the call of help from one of the most hated and hunted humans in this world was something none of the guests expected, after entering the building. But if the threat they will face was on par with what their ancestors faced during the Second Calamity, it would require everyone to be vanquished.

"Massalia will answer that call. But, time is of the essence. In four weeks, no less and no more should all the armies arrive in the vicinity of Ronta. We can't let another month for them to heal their wounds and gather their strength."

The second prince of Massalia, Ferrod, was the first to agree. While others were still pondering, this action made them react in the moment.

"The Empire of the Desert will support you."

"The Republic of Avenio will too."

"The Forest Kingdom will battle with you, one more time."

Seeing this, the giant could finally smile, slightly at ease. Truthfully, he was still unsure if they would believe him, but apparently, the daughter of the Sword Saint was extremely convincing. Looking at her, he could not help but feel that she didn't appear extremely thrilled by the news. More like, scared. Shaking his head, he couldn't catch her face afterward, the woman hiding behind her brother.

"But we have one exigence." The first prince of the Synnada Empire suddenly raised his voice, while looking at Ferrod. Not really knowing what to expect, they wondered if it was related to the fact that they will bypass the frontiers between the two countries. After that, the nobles from Avenio began to murmur between each other about that detail.

"Concerning who will be in charge of the entire operation, the battle. I think everyone has something to say about that, right?" After that, it suddenly appeared to the crowd that at least four different armies, all commanded by different individuals will have to fight together. With such a complex chain of command, it made sense to have one above them all, but it will be hard to reach a consensus; or at least, that was what many were thinking.

"I suggest we appoint, him, to lead our men, everyone." When the prince said the word "him", he spoke with such disdain, such hate, that it could only describe one person. Someone that was partially responsible for the death of the late Emperor, to the extent of having a decree forbidding everyone to even pronounce his name in the empire.

Chuckling again, Amdir could only increase the ire from those tan humans. "You mean that old man? You know, he is very old, maybe even dead, do you think the Dark Gods will think that too?" Opening once more a wound that was ten years old, one finally lost his calm and drew his sword, attacking the brother of Muirnë. Of course, he was no match and was quickly disarmed due to his irrational action. But when another one tried to do the same, a loud sound resonated.

BOOOM

The saber that was in the hand of the angered man was cut in half, a clean cut. Looking dumbfounded at his half weapon, he turned his eyes toward the giant that was fuming. The darkness surrounding his hand was getting bigger and bigger, the black veins were beginning to pulsate at a great speed. "STOP! Calm yourselves." The prince of Synnada could only stop this nonsense before one of his men was truly killed. The sound from previously was something he hoped to never hear again since it was a death sentence. To only have a weapon cut in half was already a miracle.

"Amdir Gwendhir, we are currently talking about the future of all the humans. Can you please not do that again?" The host of the meeting had no choice but to calm everyone down. Even if he knew that the son of the Sword Saint was widely recognized as being carefree, it was a serious affair. With the nod of the interested party, he could only look at the two other groups, to see their stance of the subject.

"We agree, he, we think this man will be the most qualified for this job. If he isn't, who would be?" The nobles of Avenio could only acknowledge that fact. But in the end, the only one that was still a bit perplexed was the elf. He had no idea who they were talking about, to the point of all being fearful of that name. But because he did not want to be seen as ignorant, he also agreed.

With that, they talked the entire night about all types of issues that could come up. The legions posted at the borders that needed to let a vast army bypass them, enough food to feed everyone at Ronta, everything related to such a large amount of soldiers traveling and fighting. Because it would be too slow to transmit the news by horses, the Organization graciously offered their services.

"You know that it would take at least 4 magus to operate that thing, right?" Amdir was looking at the orb in front of him. After the fall of the Dark Gods, they had salvaged many objects, including something capable of establishing a connection between two objects. But unlike the monsters of the legends, one human could not accomplish that alone. Depending on who was activating the device, it could take four magus to rest for half of a month before having enough mana to use it again.

But to his surprise, he saw ten mages appearing out of nowhere, with only two surrounding the orb. "Maybe your technology is like that, but we have made some improvements. You can also tell Arthar Rodil that it was truly groundbreaking what he found out last year." Not knowing whether they should be happy or sad that their own research was stolen and used, the three humans from Massalia had mixed feelings.

Each nation had at least three of those, spread across the territory to be used in case of extreme urgency. With that in mind and a bit of patience, everyone could tell in person what happened at the meeting. With the magus replacing the exhausted ones after each utilization, no issue came up. After that, everyone looked awkwardly at each other, not really knowing what to say to excuse themselves and leave.

Because he was not really used to such things as talking, the giant only walked toward a wall and disappeared through a hidden door, letting them deal with that themselves. With that, the twenty or so guests all decided to leave together and part ways after reaching the exit. Seeing the sun quite high in the sky, they only realized they were tired at that moment.

Still escorting the prince outside, Amdir and Muirnë finally arrived at the inn and got rid of their mission. Wishing a good day of sleep to her brother, she sat on her bed, not even feeling pain anymore. She undressed, putting the clothes she used in a basket. In the early days, she only created an image of being clothed, but afterward, the maids began to ask a question about where her dress had gone.

Therefore, she had to wear those pieces of fabrics, even if it was painful. But by now, her soul was so used to that feeling, that one time, she accidentally pierced herself with a real sword. She was alone at that time, fortunately, but she only noticed the tip of the sword on the other side of her arm after a minute. This also reinforced the need to have a real armor, otherwise, she could be attacked without her realizing it. At least, with some iron, it could create noise.

Trying to meditate in the bed, she was ready to waste ten hours at doing nothing. With her brother so close, and the bodyguards of the prince, she could not train her new powers like she usually did. Creating a sword in her hand, she waved it a few times, enlarging or minimizing it as she wanted. The sword turned from a dagger to a claymore in less than a second. She could also change it by just a few centimeters, catching by surprise some experienced swordsmen.

Right after absorbing the sword in her soul, she began to feel her neck getting colder and colder. Not daring to touch the silver necklace that was fused with her skin, she could not do anything. Thinking for a bit, she realized it was the first time she felt that cold, even colder than just being a living soul. A bit fearful, she grazed with her fingers the silver, only to feel a shock in her entire body. Looking at her finger, she saw a growing shadow on it, like a tentacle coming from her neck.

Knowing that she couldn't move at all, she looked at her own body in the mirror nearby. With their identity, the rooms they all had were well equipped and extremely clean. What she saw made her remembered the first time she saw Leilade. Out of her flesh, something was desperately trying to escape, a monster without any name, any form.

When it reached the size of a fist, it suddenly fell to the ground, not moving anymore. Carefully approaching her hand, she jumped back when she saw it rush with great speed toward the window, stuck on it. The shadows then infiltrated the tiniest holes in it, to reach the outside. A few seconds later, she could see once more the clear blue sky, without any traces of the monster she had just seen. Putting her hand all around her neck, Muirnë wondered what was that thing? And how many more are inside her?

Chapter end