The light from the towering front gates of Kuraran illuminated the darkness of the night. Two straight faced guards stood, clutching lengthy staffs in their palms. The staffs were golden, and had small white cubes floating around them.
Their eyes scanned the landscape in front of them, watching for anything that may approach. Eventually, the Gruxx that carried Noda and Esten appeared. It glided to a smooth stop once reaching the gate.
"Mr. Kang, and Miss Bress. It's such a delight to see your safe return. Are Mr. Lancen and Miss Noss close behind? They seem to be absent." A guard asked.
"They're dead. Killed by the fuckin flies. We've gotta meet with the Legion of Elite to let 'em know what went down there, and decide how we're gonna move forward. So open the damn gate already." Noda stated abruptly.
Gahn and Cindra.... they were killed?" The guard said with a somewhat shaky voice. "Eh, y-yes. Alright then. We'll allow you entry at once."
The two guards tapped the base of their staffs onto the ground. A floating white cube from each hovered over to the gate, and entered two separate key holes, unlocking it. The gate slowly and heavily opened, revealing the buzzing and vibrant city which was still heavily active, even during the night.
High quality shops and restaurants, active combat training sessions, live music shows, among plenty of other events kept things lively. Only rich, or higher class individuals or families were able to afford to legally live in Kuraran. Therefore, nearly all of the people were dressed in detailed clothing, and could spend Yecca (the currency of Obliviana) without stress.
Noda hurriedly stomped his way through the area, pushing anyone and anything in his path out of the way. Esten was close behind. They passed through all sorts of different districts and sections of the city. After some time, they reached a massively lengthy staircase which led to a hulkingly sized castle like structure. It was at the center of Kuraran where the Legion of Elite resided. A group in which consisted of the higher ups and strongest individuals the city had. Previously containing fourteen members, it now had twelve.
Stopping at the base of the staircase, Noda peered upward. His eyes met the detailed door that rested at the top. The symbol of Kuraran in the center of it. A fancy looking, stylized tree with fourteen branches, representative of the Legion of Elite.
"Tch.... we're gonna have to replace that." He said, a faintly noticeable hint of sorrow in his voice. He then began to climb the stairs toward said door.
Esten followed, watching him closely yet still not saying a word.
Guards bowed their heads as the two ascended. Several were stationed all over the staircase. "Hey, Esten." Noda said as he continued to move forward. "Did ya bring Gahn and Cindra's remaining belongings?"
She nodded. "Yes. That's right. All that was left were the two bags that held miscellaneous items of theirs. I have no idea what significance any of this held to them."
"Give 'em to me." He glanced back, and held a hand out. "I'm gonna need 'em for something."
"Such as?"
Noda's eyes intensified. "I know how important everything was to them. I know who they cared for, what their goals were, what they were scared of, how they did things, and everything in between. So I wanna see what they have left, and be the one responsible for it all. No one here knew 'em as deeply as I did, so I'm the one who can best take care of it."
"..I see. You are indeed the type who irritatingly attempts to pry into the personal details of others. Even with me. Alright then, go ahead and take them." Esten placed the exceptionally crafted bags into the palm of Noda's extended hand. "Now, can you get back to rushing your way toward the conference room? I'm growing anxious to hear what the legion will come up with."
"Yeah. We'll hurry up and head inside. I'm sick of waiting too."
Noda and Esten climbed the last remaining bit of the staircase. Once reaching the door, Noda removed a badge he had from his pocket, and pressed it into a slot. The badge was of the Legion of Elite's symbol. It unlocked the door and shot it open.
Slightly more than half of the legion, seven members, were right there inside, sitting in a variety of positions at the lengthy conference room table. Noda immediately locked eyes with Setsuna Neare. Glasses rested upon Setsuna's face, yet it didn't hinder the forcefulness of his gaze.
"Welcome back, Noda. Esten." Setsuna finally said. "Where are Gahn and Cindra?"
Noda stepped inside. He approached the conference table, and placed the bags he was holding onto it. "Take a guess as to how wonderfully our encounter with the Colossal Soarers went. On second thought, I'll answer. Gahn and Cindra aren't alive anymore. The same thing was a second away from happening to us, and the Desert of the Fallen is a damn mess."
"What..? They're dead? You're kidding me. How on earth did that occur?"
"Once the initial group of Soarers were almost dead, they called in reinforcements with some weird ass chirping. Those reinforcements... tore Gahn's god damn heart right from his fuckin chest. In the blink of an eye, Setsuna. There wasn't a single chance he coulda dodged or avoided it. They had leggings that shot out some sorta lightning crap, which made 'em incomprehensibly fast. I didn't even see the things actively move. Only saw enough to make out the information I just told ya." Noda softly clenched his fists, reliving the moment in his head. "Only one of 'em was there at first, that's all it took to put Gahn down. Nine more came after his death. That's when Cindra volunteered to save Esten and I's ass. I guess her arm had more power than she ever told anyone about. I didn't see what happened to her, but I can say for damn sure... there's no way she survived. Even so, I have no idea how she kept those things in check long enough for us to get outta there."
Staying silent for some time, Setsuna took a sip of the drink he had placed in front of him. Some sort of orange colored beverage. He then wiped his lips with a cloth he pulled from his shirt. He wore a buttoned up shirt that was concurrently strapped to his body with incredibly high quality leather. Looking back over at Noda, he said. "It seems the Colossal Soarers are far more of a prominent issue than we initially conceived. Sementha... Drascic... both of those cities were without question, well developed and prestigious enough before the Soarers eliminated them in their first sudden appearances months ago. However, from how the attacks were described, I didn't see them as creatures capable of besting the four of you combined."
An astonishingly muscular woman named Naiken, one who's physical build blew Noda's away, almost to the point of looking inhuman, spoke up. She sat with her arms crossed, prominently displaying her burliness. "They probably did not have a reason to bring out the more powerful units when facing Sementha and Drascic, and we foolishly assumed that encounter could be used to measure how dangerous the Colossal Soarers are."
"A threat level of 38, and a 59 with all of 'em combined. Tch. Guess that was true for the first group. But the rest... assuming they've got a ton of guys like that, I'd rank closer to an 80." Claimed Noda.
"And that is assuming they don't have comrades at an even higher level, which is a naive speculation, especially after what has just occurred."
Another member of the Legion of Elite, Resk Rhodes, entered the conversation, slamming his hands onto the conference table, pushing himself up into a standing position. "Well I'll be damned, heheh. These Soarer guys are starting to impress me. Over an 80?? That's a threat to the entire planet itself, something we've never seen before. This is pumpin me up... so, c'mon! Let's make a plan and go take them on!!"
"You are even dumber than Noda." Esten looked at Resk blankly. "Can you not comprehend the situation we are in? Gahn and Cindra were killed. Clearly it is not obvious enough to you, that they were tremendously strong. As are myself and the filthy berserker. We are not people who die often or retreat. Let alone when four of us are together. In other words, in order to avoid further death, we will need to take our time before taking any form of action."
"Take our time? Yeah.. that'd be pretty nice if we had the luxury." Responded Resk. "But we don't. Nobody here has a clue as to what these guys are doing, where they came from, or where they'll be next. So, let's kill them before we even need to find out!"
"Fine then, imbecile. How do you suggest we accomplish this?"
Resk smirked. "I think you're forgetting about our little trump card. The man himself, Dusk."
Back behind the conference table, leaning against a wall in the lounge area, was the mentioned, and newest member of the Legion, Dusk. He had incredibly long and pointed ears, as Dusk was an elf. In fact, he was the last remaining elf in existence. A species long thought to have been extinct, elves were by far, the most powerful beings in the history of Obliviana. His crystal blue eyes stared in everyone's direction, but he didn't say anything.
Esten's eyes met Dusk's for a brief moment, before returning to Resk. "Yes. I did forget about him, because he's been completely useless. For the time being, this so called legendary creature is a non factor."
"Maybe he won't be a non factor if he's forced into danger. Now's the time to see what an elf is capable of."
"There's no need." Setsuna said. He took another sip of his drink before continuing. "It's ridiculous to put our faith in a maybe. If Dusk fails to take action regardless of the danger he's in, everything falls through. And there's no evidence to suggest he would take action. It's a blind gamble I'm not willing to take. Instead, I have a far better suggestion."
"And what is this suggestion of yours, Setsuna?" Questioned Naiken.
Setsuna pushed his glasses up, and glanced at everyone before responding. "The Blackened Archipelago. A horrific grouping of dark islands filled with deformed, indescribable beings. The very same place Gahn received his dark abilities from. We'll travel there ourselves, and use it to dramatically increase what we're all capable of in a short time. It holds a threat level of 80, however our intent is not to eliminate it, but use it. Gahn only obtained a minuscule fraction of the power available at the Archipelago, and it uplifted him to the level of an elite. Therefore, it has the potential to lift our own selves to the level of the greater Soarers, or even beyond."
Naiken briefly closed her eyes in thought, then replied. "There must have been a reason why he did not increase his strength further. Otherwise, there would have been no purpose in not obtaining more than only a fraction of the Archipelago's power."
"It's because the damn place is a threat level 80 for a reason. We'd be fucked if those things weren't so fond of their shitty home." Noda said. "Gahn told me all about the Blackened Archipelago. How he could barely sleep anymore after what he witnessed. We'd probably be able to get a hell of a lot stronger, yeah. But just like him, we'd only be able to handle a fraction of it. Any more, and who knows what the side effects would be. That's assuming we'd survive any of this."
"Too bad, because that's what has to be done!! We have no options other than to face the islands with all we've got, and fight our way toward the power we seek!" Passionately stated Resk.
Suddenly, the final member of the Legion of Elite that was in this room leaped onto the table. Most of his clothing was standard everyday attire, however he wore a silver colored, shining Knight's helmet upon his head. His arms were also covered in expertly drawn tattoos. He had been observing and taking in the information thus far. This man, was none other than the King of Oblivana himself. Schalle Pasc.
"What a remarkable idea!" Schalle shouted with pride. "Journeying to the petrifying forbidden land of shadows and monsters for the purpose of sheltering this land from the wretched insects, hahah! My wonderfully quick witted friends never fail to conceive quite the masterful scheme! I only wish the other five were here to join me in triumph of how proud I've become!"
"About that... where exactly is everyone else?" Asked Noda.
"They have been tasked with traveling to other high profile cities, to let us know if the Colossal Soarers attack anywhere else. We're clueless as to how large the Soarers overall numbers are. At any moment they could appear at multiple locations." Setsuna answered. "Them being at each city alone is far more dangerous than we knew at the time, though. We should contact them and get them back here at once. Then, travel to the Blackened Archipelago as soon as possible. Within a few days. It's the only known way for us to stand a chance against the Soarers. So like it or not, it's the only option at the moment. While we're gone, it's more than likely at least one city will fall without our protection, but there's nothing we can do. Even if we were here, now having the knowledge that the Greater Soarers exist, we wouldn't be able to protect anything regardless. The time to act is now. Everything is at risk. This threat we face is far stronger than the most powerful individuals Obliviana has to offer, us. In which case, we simply need to improve ourselves so they are no longer out of reach."
Schalle shifted his head toward the direction of Setsuna, still standing atop the table. "A splendid speech Setsuna, I believe your astute mind has led us to an undeniable decision. I hereby claim that the entirety of the Legion of Elite will be tasked with the assignment of boosting their might at this Archipelago of Blackness! Now, let us gather the others and set about our journey! Well... I will remain here and make the needed arrangements while the rest of you contact them. I shall see you all shortly!"
Smiling confidently and putting a fist up, Resk yelled. "Hell yeah! Heheh. Alright then guys, the King himself has given us our task. This island place is going to make us all completely unbeatable, I'm seriously pumped up. So let's hurry up and let the others know-...."
BOOM! Resk was cut off by a thunderous noise. Something viciously bursted through the ceiling. Dust from the impact and damage briefly covered the room before fading away.
The expressions of everyone within the room shifted to states of complete shock and disbelief. Eyes grew wide, jaws dropped, and nobody said a word.
A Colossal Soarer had landed directly behind Resk.