Aeon's walk with General Solare Samo didn't take too long. They were already inside the City Hall and just had to move to the conference room. After a couple of turns, they had finally arrived. General Samo opened the door, revealing the long table and the dozen or so people sitting around it.
All of the seats were taken except for two and it seemed like the meeting they were holding had already started.
The empty seats were next to each other. General Samo went inside and took one. After realizing that Aeon didn't follow suit, he looked back and gestured towards the other empty seat, prompting Aeon to move forward.
Aeon slowly walked in, although he didn't think that his presence was really welcomed.
Everyone inside the room was either a high-ranking City Hall officer or an Academy staff member. Montis and Klaus were there as well, but this fact didn't give Aeon peace of mind. Only he and General Samo were exceptions.
Aeon sat on the empty seat amidst the awkward silence and glances. After he made himself comfortable, it was only then that the person at one tip of the long table, the Academy Principal, Toran Fiore, spoke once more.
"Cameron, you may proceed."
A woman in her thirties nodded and stood up. In her hands was a notebook filled with notes. "These data came from several reports collated from the cities and towns of the Florentine Empire that have suffered attacks from magical beasts...Jordan Town, reptile-type beasts, southeast. Mistom Town, avian-type beasts, south and southwest. Willow town, amphibian and reptile-type beasts, south…"
The list went on.
As she spoke, the twenty or so people around the table began taking down notes. Some of them even whispered amongst each other and were probably sharing some ideas.
It didn't take long for Aeon to figure out what the list meant. The data contained the name of the city or town, the type of beasts that attacked them, and from what direction respectively.
He knew this, but he didn't know what the information was for. Heck, he didn't know the purpose of the entire meeting that included a student like him!
Only Aeon was lost. He didn't come prepared. Despite his confusion, he still spent the effort to memorize what the woman was saying. What good was his sharp memory if he wasn't going to use it?
After Cameron finished speaking, she nodded at the Principal, indicating that her report was over.
Toran Fiore nodded and said, "Philip. Please."
Another person stood up. Like Cameron, he had a notebook in his hand and he also began to enumerate what was written on it.
"This research was done with respect to the list gone over by Mrs. Cameron," Philip addressed everyone. "Homun Forest, 60 degrees southeast of Mockshire City. Ormo Swamp, directly south of Willow Town. Yamu Lake, 30 degrees southeast of Rosen Town…"
The list continued.
Everyone kept silent as Philip finished his own report. After he was done, he nodded at the Principal then took a seat.
The sound of lead brushing against paper permeated the air.
Even after the report, for a good twenty seconds, no one spoke. They were either just scribbling down on their notebooks or staring off into space, thinking about something.
One person finally put his pencil down. He raised a hand and was immediately acknowledged by the Principal. "So we know where the beasts that attacked the cities and towns came from. Big deal. What's the point of all this?"
Aeon stared at the man with gratitude in his eyes. He had the exact same question in mind. Judging from his clothes, he did not look like someone who belonged to the Academy. Then he must be from the City Hall. Aeon switched his gaze towards the Principal, anticipating an answer.
Instead of answering, Toran Fiore moved to the back of the room. He unrolled a large scroll making its contents visible to everyone.
The scroll contained a map.
A map of the whole continent with several lines drawn all over the areas within the Florentine Empire.
With one glance, everybody could see that the lines had some sort of a pattern. Then, after a deeper inspection, one could see that the lines had two points as their basis.
One of the points indicated the town or city mentioned earlier. And the other point indicated the different magical beast habitats.
The lines portrayed the path that the beasts from a certain habitat took.
The lines had a pattern... In other words, the attacks also had a pattern.
The people of the City Hall were visibly shocked, but they kept their gasps to themselves.
"You may have realized it already," Toran Fiore moved towards the table, "the siege from the magical beasts weren't random. They were heading towards a certain direction and just coincidentally bumped into human territories."
Aeon scrutinized the map. Indeed, the case that the Principal said was possible. If that was true then their direction should be…
Aeon imagined the lines to extend all the way, and he pictured them intersecting at a single point.
"Mt. Eirene? But why?" Aeon blurted out subconsciously, catching everyone's attention. It was only after a while did Aeon realize that he had said those words out loud, making him put his head down in embarrassment.
The room was dead silent and Toran Fiore looked at Aeon approvingly.
"You're right," Toran Fiore said, "The beasts were heading towards Mt. Eirene."
Instead of feeling joyful about their discovery, everyone else in the room seemed to shrink back. This did not escape Aeon's eyes and immediately felt something was wrong. They knew something that he didn't.
"For the sake of this meeting, we will divulge a piece of classified information," Toran Fiore said.
"Sir! This is a mistake," an Academy staff protested.
"No. It is necessary because he's the key to the main purpose of the meeting," the Principal replied calmly while shifting his gaze over to Aeon. The target of his message was immediately broadcasted.
Aeon was baffled by the Principal's stare. Was he really referring to Aeon?
Me? A Key? What Key?!
Aeon's gaze moved back and forth between the Principal and the Academy staff with a complicated expression. Ultimately, the latter sat down and Aeon's gaze finally settled on the Principal.
"In order for you to fully understand this, we'll have to go back to seven months ago…"
The Principal told Aeon everything about the Eclipse Project.
How it was first discovered by wandering people.
How it could interrupt any spell as soon as it was casted.
How they began their research and how they planned on replicating such a phenomenon.
He didn't even hold back and told Aeon that the Academy was merely using the students in order to speed up their search for alchemy materials in Grey Forest.
He also included how and when the platform was activated. That now, the entire mountain was a magic-free zone.
Finally, the Principal threw in their hypothesis that the main cause of the weird behavior of the magical beasts was the activation of the Eclipse Platform. This was because, after it was activated, the attacks from the magical beasts began.
The Principal finished everything he had to say and left Aeon to ponder on the details.
It was really too much for Aeon to handle in a single breath. He didn't fully reject its possibility because if Gods existed, then the phenomenon that the Principal mentioned could also be real. Though he felt hurt being used, he thought that the students would've understood if the Academy just told them.
Okay… suppose that everything is true, there is still one thing that bothered Aeon.
He stared at the Principal then pointed at the map, "I noticed earlier that you were missing something in that map..."
Toran Fiore turned around to take a look at the scroll.
"It wasn't in Mrs. Cameron and Mr. Philip's reports so I'm going to bring it up. The map doesn't seem to have a line drawn between Grey Forest and Sera City," Aeon continued, "and if it did, it would surely intersect with other towns. How do you explain this?"
The people inside the room looked at each other with questioning looks.
Of course, there was a hidden message behind what Aeon was saying and it didn't take a genius to figure out.
"The attacks on Sera City came from Grey Forest?! Bullshit!" a City Hall officer yelled mockingly at Aeon. Immediately after, many people also cursed at him, saying that he was losing his mind. Many were even yelling at the Principal to kick the student out.
Aeon paid them no heed. They had failed to realize that the magical beast habitats surrounding Sera City could not house the number of magical beasts that their City had encountered. Aeon knew because he saw both the raging war outside Sera City and the onslaught inside it.
The City Mayor, the person sitting at the other end of the table opposite to Toran Fiore gently raised his hand indicating that his men should settle down. After a few moments, everyone finally pursed their mouths to allow the Mayor to speak. "Is this true?"
For a few seconds, there was an awkward silence. Everyone waited eagerly for the Principal's response.
"It is," Toran Fiore sighed then faced everyone. "this information had not been discussed prior to this meeting and only the military and the Academy staff know some of its details."
Except for those who already knew, everyone was outraged. They hadn't completely forgotten that they had been yelling at the junior just now for spouting nonsense. They wanted to apologize, but they shouldn't be faulted for not knowing as well, no? After all, the truth of the matter was incredulous!
Aeon didn't care about their thoughts though. And he certainly didn't need anyone's apology. He simply stared at the old man with curiosity.
The Academy Principal waited for everyone to focus before he continued. "We knew that we were facing off against magical beasts from the Grey Forest because the Academy, together with the Military, fought and slew a Colossal Gray Lion, a Lesser Demonic Beast."
"The Colossal Gray Lion of Grey Forest!"
"The King of Grey Forest?!"
"It finally fell?!"
The room immediately burst into commotion caused only by the City Hall staff. Everyone else remained quiet, having known about the truth of the matter.
Many people had known about the existence of the colossal gray lion. In fact, many had even attempted to slay it in order to prevent the risk of the monster growing into something much more terrifying, but they had all failed because the beast took advantage of their territory really well.
So now, it did fall? It finally kicked the bucket?
"No," Toran Fiore said, his voice reverberating in everyone's ears, silencing everyone. "It wasn't the King of Grey Forest that we slew. The reason why we know this is not relevant."
Every City Hall officer reacted negatively. They obviously did not appreciate the Principal withholding any piece of information no matter how irrelevant it was.
"How does this lead to the idea that the Grey Forest beasts had been avoiding every single city or town along the way except for Sera City?" the Mayor asked with a dark face unpleased by Toran Fiore's response.
Aeon did not miss the wordplay that the Mayor used in his sentence. He said 'idea' instead of 'fact' because he had yet to be convinced by the Principal.
"The answer is quite simple," Toran Fiore said while habitually combed his long white beard using his hand.
"The attack was planned."
The Mayor and his staff stared dumbly at the Academy principal. His words were becoming more ludicrous by the second.
The room fell silent for almost half a minute before the mayor spoke again.
"But beasts are not capable of doing this!" the Mayor yelled as he banged on the table. He had finally lost his patience.
"Initially, they didn't. But after the King of Grey Forest evolved into a Greater Demonic Beast, it should be possible," Toran Fiore responded with a grave expression. Everyone looking at him would immediately realize that he wasn't talking about mere speculation.
Everyone froze in shock, even the Mayor.
"T-T-The…" the mayor swallowed hard, "it evolved into a Greater Demonic Beast?"
"Yes," the Principal nodded. "and it ordered its followers to lure the able mages of Sera City outside by sending waves after waves of beasts hordes while their main force was tunneling underground to attack the defenseless city."
…
The room fell silent once more.
The Mayor who was leaning forward from the tension fell back on the chair's backrest and slumped on his seat.
The reality of the battle had finally been revealed.
….