The next day in the Jibril Mountain Range. Dawn.
Hundreds of Mortalia's imperial knights were scouring Jibril's treacherous mountains. They seemed to be in the search of something.
"FOUND ANOTHER ONE OVER HERE!" shouted a knight.
A handsome green-eyed boy cladded in beautiful white armor came to the knight's call.
He and the knight found themselves staring on a large cracked concave groove on the ground.
"Another crash-landing site." said the boy. "The size fit for a gargoyle."
"We've discovered hundreds of these crash sites all over the mountains, Sir Hayworth. What could these findings possibly mean?"
The boy in white armor pointed to the hint of ashes on the cracks of the groove.
"From the presence of the ash, I suspect the gargoyles were flying toward the Euphrates Province. But they were then shot down with an offensive fire spell. The magic that hit them was so powerful it killed the gargoyles instantly."
"How could you be so certain that the demons were immediately killed, sir?"
The Hayworth boy then scanned a dragging trail mark which initiated from the edge of the crash site.
"You could see the gargoyle was dragged from the crash site. Most probably by the attacker to collect the remains so they could sell the gargoyle's parts. The attacker could not have done this if the gargoyles were not dead upon crashing."
"We did find similar dragging trail on the other crash sites. How many people do you think could have done this?"
"One powerful mage could transport all the remains. But if a mage was the one who transported them, they would not need to drag the gargoyles as they could simply levitate the remains in the air. If they were dragged, it means the remains were removed by someone who couldn't use magic."
"There is no way one non-mage person could remove all the remains before we got here. Even if they started removing the gargoyles the day they disappeared from the sealed ground."
"I agree." said the boy. "Many people were involved in removing the remains."
He then saw something intriguing in the forest ahead of him.
"Wait a minute."
The boy inspected the forest and found weird gaping holes in some of the trees. He neared his head onto the holes to sense something.
"What's the matter, sir?"
"I can sense mana in these holes. They were created as a result of a spell."
"As if someone shot through these trees with spells?"
"Exactly!" said the boy as he made to the other side of the tree.
He found a trace of great indentations on the ground and similar dragging mark.
"The size of these indentations matches the size of a gargoyle's feet." said the boy. "I suspect some of the gargoyles survived the aerial attack and tried to hide in the forest."
"Seems like the demons did not survive as they were discovered by the attackers."
"'Attackers?'" asked the boy. "Are you implying this attack was done by multiple persons?"
"Haven't you, yourself, just established that fact from the dragging trails, sir? You said the remains weren't removed by a single person."
The boy frowned at this statement. He walked further into the forest.
"Bring me the map which marked the crash sites we've discovered so far." ordered the Hayworth boy.
"Right away, sir!"
While the knight fetched the map, the young Hayworth discovered numerous large indentations, deeper than the previous ones, on the opposite sides of the part of the forest where he found the holes in the trees.
"(These are gargoyle's footprints. There are numerous of them. They were all running at a same direction, toward something.)"
The boy looked at the way the gargoyles horde was running at. He discovered the trail abruptly ended on a large patch of ruined grounds.
But the boy in white armor managed to deduce that they were heading in the same direction where the holes in the trees were found.
"Hmm…"
"HERE'S THE MAP, SIR!" said the knight as he returned running.
"Thank you."
The boy inspected the map and analyzed the locations of the crash sites. He then compared them with his recent footprints discoveries.
The boy let out a gasp as he realized something from looking at his findings.
"There was only one." whispered the boy.
"Pardon, sir? 'Only one?'"
"There was only one person. All of these gargoyles were killed by one person!"
The knight frowned at his superior's observation.
"What made you say that, sir?"
The boy showed the map.
"See these crash sites? If we assume these were the positions the gargoyles were flying in at the time, you could see the demons were heading toward the same direction. The angle they were flying in suggest they were targeting a small group of people."
He then brought the knight to a certain position in the forest and pointed his finger to the holes in the trees.
"If you stand right here, you could see that the holes in those trees was caused by an attack launched from this spot."
The knight nodded, "The angle of the holes fits that assumption."
The boy turned the knight to the opposite direction and pointed to the large gargoyle trails on the opposite side.
"And you could see from those gargoyle trail marks, the demons were running towards you. From the angle that the horde formed, the demons were heading toward your position. Exactly on your spot." said the boy. "My guess is that the horde was decimated by a large spell which explains the ruined ground at the end of the trails."
"Wonderful observation, Sir Hayworth!"
The boy shook his head.
"What's wonderful is the skill of the one who did all these to the demons."
"Who do you think could've done it? A high-ranked adventurer, or a personnel of the Magic Tower, or maybe from the church?"
"I don't know. We didn't receive a report of a mage this powerful had entered the Empire. There are other viable suspects who are currently staying in the Empire, but I can assure you they were not the ones who killed these demons."
"So continue with the search we go."
"Indeed." the boy nodded.
The Hayworth soldier then looked east, toward the other side of the Jibril Mountain Range.
"Whose domain we'll find ourselves in if we proceed in this path to Euphrates?"
"The lands on the west border of the Euphrates Province belongs to many noble families." said the knight. "But if we keep going straight in this direction, I believe we'll find ourselves in the domain of the Leonardo Barony."
"Leonardo, huh?" replied the boy. "Well then, we'll just have to advance to their domain and investigate--"
The sound of a caw interrupted the Hayworth boy,
He and the knight looked up and saw a silver-feathered crow was flying in toward the boy in the white armor. Attached on the bird's right leg was a tiny scrolled letter.
"That's the mythical familiar of the Champion of Mortalia!" astounded the knight.
The boy extended his arm and shouted at the crow.
"COME HERE, PLEETA!"
The silver crow landed on the Hayworth's arm and the boy took the letter from the bird.
He read the content and immediately let out a sigh. Whatever written on the letter did not bring joy to the boy.
The young knight's expression made the soldier beside him worried.
"What's the matter, Sir Hayworth?"
"More demons are gathering at the Empire's northwest border. The frontline is being pushed back. Countess Gerhardt wants me to return immediately and join her in the battlefield."
"Most of the Imperial Army already gathered there! And even still they needed the Empire's Champion AND her squire to ward off the demons?"
"You can't blame the Empire for being cautious. After all, the imperial family just welcomed the birth of Princess Mariana. So they needed to secure the border of the Gihon Province where the imperial family resided."
The boy then pointed toward Euphrates's direction.
"Added to that, there are demonic wolves infestations in the southeastern border. The emperor wanted the army to settle the demons in the northwest quickly so we could immediately focus handling the problem in the southeast."
The crow flew off of the Hayworth's arm. The bird suddenly flashed like the sun.
In an instant, the crow turned as big as a horse. Its feather turned charcoal black. Its eyes, wings, and claws burned with great flame.
The boy in shining white armor climbed onto the giant magical crow's back. He didn't seem to be affected by the fire raging on the bird.
"Contact the Magic Tower! If the remains of the gargoyles were collected, that means they were going to be sold somewhere. The Magic Tower should have information about it since they are the ones who usually purchases such objects." ordered the boy to his knight.
He threw his gaze around the mountain range and pointed his finger toward the Leonardo Barony domain.
"Also, keep scouring the mountains in case there are more remnants of the demons. After you're done, make your way to the Leonardo Barony and see if you could find any information about our missing gargoyles."
"YES, SIR!"
The handsome boy looked over to the Euphrates Province, to the domain of the Leonardo family.
"Too bad. I was looking forward to meeting the mage behind this gargoyles' killing." sighed the boy. He tapped the crow's head. "LET'S GO, PLEETA! TO YOUR MASTER!"
The crow cawed.
But instead of flying, the bird turned its head toward the Leonardo domain.
It fluttered its wings as if it was excited about something. As if the crow was attracted by something, or someone.
The boy in the white armor frowned his head in confusion upon the bird's attitude.
"Pleeta, that's the domain of the Leonardo Barony. Your master, Countess Gerhardt, is not there. She's at the other side of the Empire, on the border of the Gihon Province."
He tapped the bird's head once more.
"COME, LET'S GO! WE SHOULDN'T KEEP HER WAITING!"
As it had been reminded, the crow then cawed once more and flew to the sky. They headed northwest toward the Gihon Province just how the boy wanted.
The knight watched his commander in amazement.
"(Daniel Hayworth. The boy who was chosen, amongst thousands of candidates, as the owner of the Doulos Armor.)"
The Doulos Armor was a legendary set of divine artifacts consisted of a great white sword, a shield, and armor that were gifted by God Einsof through His angel to the ancestors of Mortalia.
The Doulos Armor prepared one to later don the Champion Armor. Another legendary set of artifacts granted by Einsof to the bravest of Mortalia's ancestors many years ago which proves one is the champion of the Empire.
Only the bravest and the strongest of Mortalia could don the Champion Armor.
As the artifact was a gift from Einsof, being chosen to don the Champion Armor meant that one had become Mortalia's Chosen One, or Champion of Mortalia, that would carry out Einsof's will in the world that He loved.
In other words, being chosen to don the Doulos Armor meant that one had also been chosen to become the next Champion of Mortalia.
Which was why the owner of the Doulos Armor was often regarded as the 'Champion Candidate' or the 'Future Champion' in the Mortalia Empire.
The knight smiled at he thought of his superior.
"(Oh how honored I am to serve under the Future Champion of Mortalia.)"