Life was busting in the holy city. people were walking around buying from the merchants in the small market near the slums which were clean, organized, and well guarded to the point where calling it slums is offensive to it yet it was technically the poorest place in the holy city where the labor and workers lived. people were smiling and an impression of bliss was on their faces. The sun was shining with a few clouds in the sky and a hint of cold air was floating around for what was a really pleasant day. while people were walking around a man in a religious dress which was simply designed and in grey color with a few golden runes etched on it switched his gaze to the sky and what looked like a star started to shine in the noon sky which confused him because the star's glow was growing and before he knew it the entire sky shined in golden color and what sounded like a shattering sound was heard with the magical shield protecting the city having a small hole in it right under that shining star which then cast a pillar of dark mana that hit the ground without causing any harm and then gradually disappeared. The shield was already repairing itself but everyone at the market was stunned and shocked at what happened and all looked to the body that was walking out of the dark mana flow. It was an elderly woman with platinum gray hair, eyes that were almost grayed out due to old age, and a magic circle shining under her modest dress. She looked like it was a human female in her late 80s which is an age rarely anyone reaches in this world with magic, monsters, demons, and entities beyond comprehension. The religious man instinctively approached the old lady to assist her just before he snapped out of his chock and stopped " who are you and how did you bypass the holy city magical shield " he said in a terrified voice while the old lady smiled" young man can you please guide me to the holy king? we are legion, we came from the Collective to meet him" its eyes then shined unnaturally and it said" I have a message for him"
The soldiers in the king's palace were in chaos mode while everyone was arranging to march to the slumps to corner the messenger of the collective and while it was indeed chaotic the soldiers soon enough organized and were about to move before a great magical circle with 9 levels of rune formed in the sky opening what looked like a gate and someone appeared from it wearing a golden robe and a staff that had what looked like thousands of starts shining in the darkness of space in the shape of a wooden staff. All the soldiers kneeled once they saw the figure " cardinal Eve we are honored to serve you and ready to march " she looked at them but what looked like a magical distortion effect was in front of her face hiding her facial features. She looked around and said " no need, I will go there myself " none of the soldiers dared to even question her. She then joined her hand " Spatial Craft: gate" and then another 5 gates opened next to her with the other 5 cardinals appearing from them. the soldiers were in awe given the amount of mana and skill needed to activate 5 of these legendary rank magical spells at the same time. But the cardinal did not seem to be affected by the slightest. One of the five cardinals named john approached her. He was a man in his late 40s wearing silver armor with a black shield and what looked like a great sword covered in fire hung from his back and said in a worried tone " eve don't you think I would be a better match to a magic user . your powers are much more precious to even risk here " giving the distortion on her face her reaction was not readable but her voice was clear "I don't think it came here to fight. That should be clear by now, I want you all to protect the king while I will investigate " all five cardinals nodded and enter the palace moving towards the king's hall.
The market was quiet as a cemetery with no one around. Everyone including the soldiers was ordered to evacuate and form a circle of 5 km in a radius around the messenger. The old lady was already sitting on a chair when the space in front of it distorted and Eve appeared from thin air. Eve did not waste any time and spoke in a firm voice " state your business in the holy city foul creature. Things like you are not allowed here and any time you spend here defiles this place by the second " the messenger then stood " oh eve . you have not aged a day . spatial magic is sure amazing " then the messenger started laughing. Eve had an angry look in her eyes and she held her staff high but before she proceeded the messenger said "I didn't come here to fight and I am sure you already know that. all I need is to speak to your king about what happened yesterday in our land" Eve chuckled and said " what makes you think the king has time to meet a foul creature like you " the messenger smiled " because if I do not meet him in the next hour I will rain fire and blood on this kingdom". There was no anger or emotion in the words at all which made them more terrifying to Eve. Eve started the motion of casting before suddenly freezing in her place. Something caused her to stop and for a few seconds she was not moving at all before giving her back to the messenger and saying in an angry tone " follow me, the king wants to see you".
All the palace guards were ordered to evacuate the place and only the cardinals remained with the king waiting in the throne room before the big golden gate opened and an old lady walked in. the hall was so enormous that it took her almost 3 minutes of walking to reach the king's throne. it looked up at the ceiling which was so high that it couldn't recognize what was etched there but a clear magical circle and runes were covering both the ceiling and the ground with the center of the circle under the king's throne. The entire place was shining with mana which was pulsating at a steady pace from the circle under the king's throne. Eve was following it closely and intentionally positioned herself behind it.
The king who was a man in his late 50s looked like a deity with golden wavy hair, clear green eyes a muscular body, a short and well-trimmed beard, and well-defined facial features. He was wearing a crown which was made of mana with one hand holding a sword and another holding a magic staff. He looked at the messenger with a disgusting expression " foul creature what brings you here, answer directly before I wipe you from the face of this realm in an instant " the messenger said in a calm voice "I want the body of the one you killed and stole from our land that is all " the king was surprised "I thought you would be angry and attach directly ". the messenger said "I understand that you took from the old king almost 15 years. Yet your kingdom is suffering. Not in these glorious places but in the other cities and poor farm villages scattered around your kingdom. While the previous king maintained somewhat negative views of us he never attacked as per the peace agreement made with the king before him. We know that you have been increasing your aggressive speech trying to hang the failures of your policies and the declining stability on a scarecrow which is us in this case. we can ignore that but no act of aggression will be tolerated "
Cardinal john draw his sword at a speed that caused an afterimage and before an eye blink, he was already in the air in front of the messenger swinging his great sword while shouting in anger " how dare you foul creature " but the sword hit what looks like an invisible circle around the messenger causing the sword to abruptly stop but the force of the swing destroyed the ground behind the messenger and the shining ground was decimated into dust but the magic circle part was still there suspended in the air. the king waved his hand " john. Stop " the king then stood from his throne and the 6 cardinals immediately kneeled while the king approached the messenger who said " holy king, all I need is the body back and no consequences will occur because of that incident. However, if anything like that happens again we will kill every living creature including animals, we will burn the ground to ashes and dry every drop of water from this kingdom till nothing is left but death " the king mana raged and the 6 cardinals were extremely surprised and utterly terrified yet they instantly scattered each to a side of the hall and the magic circle on the ground and ceiling activated using the king's godly amount of mana " summon craft: archangel " a golden light shined behind the king and it instantly shaped into a huge creature 40 meters high with 4 white wings on its back holding a sword with two hands which covered it's face and emitting a terrifying amount of bloodlust. the king then shouted " Look upon my works foul creature and weep at its magnificence. How can you challenge a perfect immortal being? this is my avenging angel"
The 6 cardinals were trying to contain the king's mana within the enormous hall but they were struggling to do so since eve pleaded " my king the holy city will not be able to withstand your mana and might get destroyed and disappear in the great lake that houses it. The king then looked at the messenger " with my mana I can maintain that summon and many more till every one of you is dead and it will not take me much time". The messenger smirked and said " the old king tried that and it didn't work so well for him or the kingdom which shrank due to the same aggressive behavior from him. giving your kingdom's current situation are you sure a war is the best option? " the king then walked back to his throne and pointed to eve who whispered, " special craft: infinite space " and the shepherd's body appeared from thin air and dropped in front of the messenger with its heart carved out. The king then stopped his mana and the archangel scattered into particles that floated in the air.
The messenger then held the hand of the shepherd. a sad and angry expression was showing on its face before the circle on its heart disappeared which caused the old lady to start crying and wailing " my son " her words were broken " you poor child, what have they done to you " her words could barley be recognized from the tears flowing from her almost blind eyes. The idea that one of the last few scenes her eyes will ever witness is the lifeless body of her son with his heart carved out broke her heart. she said in an angry voice " you cursed kin.. " and before she completed her sentence the magic circle on her heart shined again. it then carried the shepherd's body and a pillar of dark mana descended from the sky destroying a part of the hall ceiling and covering the messenger and the shepherd before the mana pillar disappeared with both of them.
The king then looked at his cardinals " assemble the highest ranked teams from the adventure's guild and get me that legendary sealing item in the heart of the cursed dungeon. I do not care how many people will die from monsters' attacks, how much it will affect the kingdom's future or security I want that item at any cost " the cardinals all kneeled and said with a worried voice understanding the consequence of what will happen " as you order your majesty " before eve cast 6 gates and all of them disappeared in them.