A large number of people gathered together in the hall of the castle. It nearly filled the hall almost completely, leaving little room for movement. Noises were all over the place. There were adventurers and men from the village who were willing to fight. The air was heavy, and people's faces were mixed with anxiety and confusion. In front of them, there was a big staircase with red carpet in the middle. On top of the stairs was the king's throne. Behind the throne is a big wooden door made from teak.
*Squeak*
The big door opened and showed the man who had brought everyone into the place, the King, with two men behind him on the left and right. Suddenly, everyone was silent; all of the people were focused on the King above. The king then walked right in front of the throne and proceeded to sit on it. The man who was on King's left then proceeded to step forward and say,
"Kneel!", he said.
Everyone in the hall then proceeded to kneel. Then the king proceeded to stand up from the throne and step forward. He said,
"Thank you for all of you who came into this dire situation,", and then he proceeded to bow.
The Royal Arbiter, seeing that instantly make a sympathetic face while trying to make the king stand up, said,
"My King, you can't do that."
Despite the royal arbiter's efforts, the king doesn't want to stand tall. Everyone in the place was shocked. The king then continued,
"I have failed as a king to not be able to prepare for this misfortune that currently happens. I can't come with you into war, and you might lose your life handling this calamity."
His voice was loud but plaintive. The level of sincerity that King's showed was extraordinary. All the warriors standing there, hearing the king's action, showed sympathy to the king. The wise king was never wrong before, and he always made the right judgment. They knew that the calamity was not the king's fault. No one could ever think this would have happened.
But his voice gradually changed to that of an almighty king. He started saying,
"But aside from what went wrong, we need to fight! All of our loved ones were counting on us. We cannot afford to lose. I apologize for my selfishness that brought this upon you all, but we can't afford for the human kingdom to perish. Soon, the neighboring kingdom will also be doomed if we do not fight. We need to win!"
After the King's speech, the morale was high, and all of the anxiety had gone from their faces. It turns into a face of determination to win the war. To protect their families, their loved ones, and humanity itself.
The king then said, "Kairos, come forward!"
The knight that was the patrolling knight on the king's right stepped forward, went in front of the king, and kneeled. The king then took out his sword and held it high while saying,
"I've appointed you to lead all of these warriors into the fight. Win this war and come back alive."
"Yes, your majesty." Young Kairos was shocked while replying.
The King then sheathed his sword, went toward the kneeling Kairos, and whispered
"According to the letter, your leader has made a decision to appoint you to lead all of these warriors into the fight as reinforcement. I acknowledged his letter, since you are recognized as one of the best knights by the royal knights. I know this is sudden, but please lead them to win this war and come back alive."
Kairos replied, "I'll do my best."
After saying the line, the young knight inhaled a deep breath while standing up, turned around,and shouted
"My name is Kairos!"
His voice was loud and clear, like a bell. It conveyed his feelings toward the warriors.
"We'll need to work together as a team to handle the catastrophe that'll happen anytime soon, but for that, we need to know what our own strengths and weaknesses are and strategize. But since we don't have too much time, I want you guys to create parties of five or more. It's best to work with the one that you've known for each other."
After hearing what Kairos said, the warriors start finding people they know and make a party. Some of them are trying to get into a party that has a strong-looking bunch. While they're grouping, Kairos continued,
"After you guys finish grouping, we will gather on the border and start rallying to the point."
Kairos then saw a young guy with red hair who had a big sword on his back walking toward him.
"I don't know anyone here. I wanted to make a party with you since you're probably the strongest in here." He said.
Kairos was planning to pick the strongest to have his own party as the leading party in front of the rally. Seeing the young kid, Kairos said,
"Okay, kid. The party with me is going to lead in front. So we will make a direct frontal assault on the monsters. It's not going to be a walk in the park."
"Let's go outside, and you can see for yourself my true strength, buddy." He said.
Kairos was thinking that this was a waste of time, but this young kid picked up his interest slightly, so he replied.
"Let's go to the knight's training ground."
Seeing Kairos and a young boy walk to the training ground, some of the adventurers were curious and went with them to watch.
Kairos and the young kid walked to the center of the training ground. Once they reach the place, the knight starts saying,
"Hit me with your best shot. If you can make me move from this place where I stand, you can join me in front."
The young boy then smirked and started channeling his lumina into his sword. The sword turns from black to red.
"Here I go!"
The young boy ran toward the knight in a zig-zag manner and did a horizontal slash. Kairos replied to the young boy's movement by readying his shield.
"BAM!"
A shockwave from the clash between the sword and shield rang through the training ground. The momentum that the young boy has created by running couldn't be completely absorbed by Kairos. Kairos smiled and flung back about 30 centimeters.
"Tch"
The kid makes that sound and seems dissatisfied.
"You won; why are you frowning?" Kairos said
"Just so you know, that wasn't my full power either. This is not that exciting." The young boy replied.
"What's your name?" Kairos said
"Icarus," the young boy replied.
"I'm not using my lumina since we need to reserve our energy for the fight. But let's do an all-out duel after things are over, Icarus." Kairos said.
Then Kairos went toward Icarus and patted his head. "You're in the leading party now."
Icarus replied, "Okay, capt."
Kairos then said, "I'm looking for three more people to join me as the party that will lead this rally. Is there anyone who claims to be strong or specialized and wants to lead the frontline with me and Icarus?"
By any means, Icarus is not weak. Even the strongest veteran wouldn't be able to make Kairos flung back that far. Nearly all of the adventurers were hesitating to join. Some of them don't want to lead the frontline since it has more risks of dying; the others feel like they're not strong enough after they saw the fight. Then a man seemed to be walking toward Kairos, bringing a holy mace.
Kairos said, "You're Bishop Bernard from the Holy Church! You don't need to try. You can join us, but don't be on the frontlines. With the blessing of the goddess, you are certainly going to support and help everyone."
Bernard smiled, but in his heart he was a bit disappointed. He said.
"I have trained my lumina long enough. Could I try to move you?"
Kairos was shocked; he didn't know the Holy Church Bishop was also training his lumina.
"Okay. Give it a shot."