"Wait… Demon's land?" I looked around.
Whatever happened here, everything was completely destroyed.
{"If there is a plaque here, then that means this is the border between Demon's land and MetroCloud. I can also tell for certain because of those ruins over there. That ruins, if it was still it after we joined the shadow legion, was a barracks. And standing next to the barracks, you could barely see the demon's capital, Haninc. Partly because it was on a mountain."}
Everything was bare, there was no mountain he mentioned.
{"What happened here? How long have we been away for everything to be gone?"}
This revelation was so shocking to comprehend. We walked into a dungeon to raid and this dungeon unbeknownst to me, is the remnants of my fellow companion's homeland.
I'm sorry.
{"What are you sorry for, master?"}
Your home, it's gone.
{"…"}
Wouldn't you want to at least see it one more time?
{"…"}
Lucifer only made a noise to my question.
Our group was spread out a bit as they took it all in. A lot of the High Flyers members commented that there was 'nothing' here.
Takoon was quietly talking to some of the members, I couldn't quite tell what they are talking about but by Takoon's pointing his finger at the ruins, told me that he's probably contemplating what their next move is.
I looked to Namise and Pyrus and they both looked worried. I was told by Lupin that they both were veterans and had been in many different teams and guilds. Pyrus was the most experienced as he had been in some of the top guilds like the TradeMasters.
The TradeMasters was an unique guild as they perform raids only to acquire drops for trades. They are the riches guild with tie ins with everyone, everywhere.
For a veteran like Pyrus to show a worrying expression, he must've never been in a situation like this before.
Namise on the other hand, had only joined teams and this was her first guild. Whilst, teams can do more in a raid than a guild because of the guild's regulations and laws that prevent guilds from monopolising gates, guilds had to register and be approved by the Guild's Core before they can do the raid. Teams can do as many dungeons as they like and keep any loot they find but unlike guilds, teams has no backing and thus they aren't allowed to venture into a dungeon that's above their grade. This is more prevalent if you're an solo act.
This was Namise first high rated dungeon in which she has no experience in.
This had me wondering now, what could the boss be? If there was nothing here.
Takoon hadn't finished deliberating yet as we stood in the middle of an open barren wasteland, completely vulnerable to be ambushed.
I sent out drones to scout the place, I used master's eyes and all I could see was ruins and nothing else.
I decided to let my drones scout some more and I returned back but as I did, a notification appeared before me.
[System Alert: This place has been linked to you. Story mode can now be activated, would you like to activate story mode? [Yes] or [No]]
Story mode?
{Story mode is a function in the story tab in the mastermind system.}
Wait… I thought the 'story' tab was just a place that recorded my life…
{It is and also everyone that's linked to you via the mastermind system. Story mode is a special feature I've created to visualise particular events and time of those associated with my system. Since this place is linked to the demons in the Shadow Legion than it's why the mode can now be activated. Story mode can show you the events of what happened to this place after when Aunty Lucilia and her family joined the Shadow Legion.}
I see.
{"Master…"} The demons cried out in my head.
Yes. Activate Story mode.
[Story Mode has now been activated.]
[Visualising Story.]
A strange feeling washed over me. Time was slowing down to a crawl and then all of the High Flyers members disappeared around me. Replaced with trees that appeared before my eyes. It's like when Harry looked into the pensive to view Dumbledore's memories, the barren wasteland was now a forest with a path leading straight through. The barracks that Lucifer had talked about was now there and on yonder, I could faintly see the mountain and around the mountain was buildings. That must be the capital.
{"Oh wow!"} Lucifer shouted as he appeared next to me.
Suddenly I heard some voices and then the door to the barracks opened. I looked to Lucifer and he stared intently at the people that came out of the barracks.
Does he know them?
Four guards stood in front of the barracks, talking in a hushed tone.
I wondered what they were saying, the guards looked exasperated, maybe a little bit paranoid.
[Translating…]
Oh nice!
[Guard 1: What are our orders?]
[Guard 2: The captain said that our orders are as per usual.]
[Guard 1: Usual you say… aren't we betraying our people if we keep doing this?]
[Guard 3: (chimed in) Do we have to though? Those humans are pricks…]
[Guard 2: Don't ask me… ask the captain, he's in cahoots with the upper council. I'm just a guard like you.]
[Guard 4: Naw… we aren't guards anymore… that ship had sailed when we agreed to do this with the captain… we're just puppets that can easily be tossed away at a moment notice.]
[Guard 1: I agree.]
[Guard 2: I say we should stop…]
[Guard 4: Stop? Ha! Our families we be taken from us if we do that.]
It was then a horse and carriage appeared out of nowhere and stopped a few feet away from them.
The driver took out some papers out of his breast pocket and waved it at the guards.
I could see from the guards expressions and the way they looked at each other that the conversation they were having is about to transpire.
Guard 3 hesitantly walked towards the carriage, avoided looking at the carriage itself or who sat in it. He closed in on the driver and took the papers. He read them and frowned.
[Guard 3: How long are you going to be staying in here?]
[Driver: Not long. Maybe a day or two. My master is only here to conduct business and that's it. He hates prolonging things.]
The guard sighed and handed the papers back to the driver.
[Guard 3: Alright, you may head on through.]
[Driver: Thank you. Have a very good day Sir.]
The guard nodded and the driver whipped the horses to move forward.
Though the guard avoided eye contact with the carriage itself and I wondered why, I tried to peer inside the window.
I couldn't quite tell how many people were in the carriage but I did catch a small smirk on one of their faces, the one who sat next to the window. It was faint but I caught it at the right time.
The carriage entered the forest, that led to the capital, Haninc.
Words appeared in front of me like text in a video game or in a movie.
[Please move forward to continue the story.]
I did as the it told me to and walked forward.
As I ventured into the forest, following the carriage as it moved its way towards the capital, I wondered what type of story was this. For this whole place to be turned into a complete barren wasteland, something significant must've happened here.
As I walked along the path, I looked to my side and saw Lucifer intently staring at the backside of the carriage. His jaw was set and he walked with purpose.
It was then, words appeared in front of me.
[The demon race, the kingdom of Caldonia was at their peak in power in the year of 1604AR. After the disappearance of the Hornborn family, a power void was created and filled almost immediately. The one that filled the void was High Councillor Zilma.]
{"He's a high councillor now?"} Lucifer scoffed as he shook his head. {"That bastard must've snuck right in once my family joined the Shadow Legion. Probably taken all my stuff and my family's home for himself too…"}
[The council also took the opportunity to bring themselves forward when the Hornborn family disappeared. Some even made a deal with the heroes on the human side.]
{"What?!"} exclaimed Lucifer.
[With the council fully on board in leading the heroes to their doorstep, Demon King Amano caught wind of this and started an internal investigation. Whilst the internal investigation was happening inside of the kingdom, the Demon King's army readied themselves to fight against the heroes on the outside. The whole kingdom and the capital of Haninc was on lockdown.]
The carriage that we followed through the forest, stopped just shy of the end of the forest. Four figures walked out of the carriage and stared at the giant mountain. As I got a better looked at them… I sighed.
This really felt like all the fantasy stories and Isekai's I've read and watched. Heroes goes on a journey to defeat the Demon King. A tale as old as pop culture.
The heroes were typical as they appeared to be. A knight, a mage, an assassin and a priest. It was the most typical combination of roles and right now, With the setting as a whole, I felt like I was playing a VR fantasy RPG game.
[Knight: You sure we should trust those demons?]
[Assassin: Trust? No… but we got passed the border with no problems and that's all that matters.]
[Priest: Maybe we should wait a few days and see what's going on?]
[Knight: I don't know… waiting isn't my thing…]
[Mage: (She scoffed) Waiting was never your thing… ]
[Knight: Oh! Come on honey, you like that part about me, don't deny it, you told me so when we had our first kiss!]
[Assassin: (Scrunched up his nose) Even though my sister is banging you now oh fearless leader, I agree with our little priest, that we should take this slow and scout out a bit and form a game plan.]
[Unknown: (A deep echoey voice) Why bother with scouting, when I can just help you right now?]
All four of them was startled. I was startled. Out of no where, someone appeared behind the heroes. The heroes turned around and their eyes widened.
{"Zilma…"} Lucifer said his name in a low and threatening tone. {"I should've slit his throat when I had the chance."}