Arlesk, the three heroes, and the king had moved towards a private room for even deeper discussions. Arlesk used this opportunity to present a massive problem to them.
"I heard that this Crystal Mine has been releasing some sort of miasma right?" "As expected... Even the Preeliance knows about such problems in my country..." "Our scouts and investigators are definitely top notch, so we would easily identify something like this. More importantly, we intend to investigate this with Ulysses, the hero of Quisterion, Pantheon, the hero of Paladia, and Claude, the hero of Polytopia, with myself as the one leading." Pantheon stood up to offer a handshake to the king. "While we were once considered as former enemies, I'd like to offer the chance for our countries to reconcile, young king." The king was actually a young adult in his early twenties, just barely older than Arlesk. He had black hair and purple eyes, wore royalty clothing with a proper mantle. "Alright, I will allow this investigation to happen. But there may be a chance that nobles here will go on and try to start a revolution." "Why is that so? Wait, is it perhaps because the nobles think that your young age comes with being a naïve king who can be swayed huh?" "Yes, because my father has been a tyrant along with the hero. I actually had to make arrangements for his assassination once the hero is away. But ever since I took over the throne, I was pretty much having a lot of trouble... It may be due to the fact that I'm inheriting a country that's ruled by a tyrant, but people do speak that I'm unfitting for the king's throne." "I see, then I will call on some [Guardians] to keep everyone at bay." "I'm very grateful." With the king now secured and granted proper protection, Arlesk made suggestions for him to act a bit braver. He called over Oswald, to help the king get through the current economical crisis.
"This is quite an unusual request Arlesk. But this may be a great opportunity for us to get closer to the goals so I'm in." With the requests being accepted, two changes start to go over in the country of Bovoyna.
Now in front of the crystal mine in the center of the country, the four had prepared themselves once more for the expedition. "Remember everyone, stay frosty with your surroundings." Their equipment had changed greatly, they gave themselves some items that allow them to generate oxygen. Arlesk had to explain one last time to ensure that the three heroes understood what to do.
With gas masks equipped, they entered the mine and was met a downward spiral immediately.
"This looks... Hella deep... Can everyone fly?" "Yeah, I can handle that no problem" "Same here." "No issues." "Good, I'll handle the lighting at the very least." As the walls were filled with nothing but dirt and stone, they flew downwards to go into the deeper parts of the mine. This was when Arlesk's light has started to dim due to being covered in miasma. "This miasma is really annoying, we need to quickly find the source of this as fast as possible." "The miasma comes from very deep underground right? Not only that, monsters would absorb the miasma and mutate through them, so we need to find the source itself." Claude looked around and took notice of a giant scorpion monster. "Guys, we got a big one already." A black giant scorpion with two stingers and four pincers. With the size of the mine, they have a somewhat limited space on the ground to fight it. "What the hell, this mutation is already pretty bad." Pantheon commented on the miasma the scorpion is oozing out. The light Arlesk used had completely dimmed, shrouding the scorpion in darkness. It was then Arlesk heard the clicking footsteps. "It's on the move! Do not stay at the front and try to hit it from the sides!" """Got it!""" Ulysses and Claude quickly moved to the left side of the scorpion after landing, they quickly launched attacks but was unable to push through due to the miasma. "We can't force...!" "Stinger inbound! Distance!" Arlesk landed while warning the three of a possible attack. He quickly finished his analysis and shot magic towards the scorpion. With a slightly impossible speed for a large monster, the scorpion maneuvered around the magic without getting hit. "Tch! It knows about what can get rid of miasma huh? Moreover, it can sense magic being used." Arlesk quickly thought up of a plan while intercepting the pincers with his sword. "[Magicannon Form]! [Stellar Astronomiya]! [Sagittarius]!" Arlesk prepared two things as he told the three heroes to take some distance. "Get the metal rope ready! We need this fucker to be held down when I attack." Claude brought out the rope and flung one end to the other side of the scorpion where Pantheon stood. He caught the rope and started pulling it with his full strength. Ulysses helped Claude hold down the other side, forcing the scorpion down. "[Magicannon]! [Mana Scatter]!" Arlesk blew off the mana that had been causing the miasma for a quick moment, allowing for the scorpion to be seen its true skeleton. "[Sagittarius]! [Fire]!" Before the scorpion could retaliate, Arlesk shot the arrow from [Sagittarius] to quickly kill it." With the scorpion literally sliced in half by a giant arrow, the four were already slightly exhausted with the first opponent. "I'm sure that's not it right?" Pantheon panted as he sat down from using his full strength. They had regrouped for a moment, but the are is still pretty dark due to the miasma that had been flowing around. "The traces go towards that hole over there... But if our enemies are gonna be like this, where our weapons and magic can't normally reach until we scatter the miasma, then we're probably going to be in trouble..." Arlesk sighed as he pointed towards a direction, wherein the miasma is leaking on a small hole enough to fit a human inside. "We're gonna be here for a while then..." Ulysses sighed in resignation as he realized that the situation is a lot more serious.
In the meantime, Oswald and the young king of Bovoyna quickly made arrangements for some reforms. With the [Brilliant Guardians] as protection and peacekeeping, they managed to work on some important laws. "Alright, with this, we can start turning this country into a better place.