[Reconstruction of the Sylven District is finally beginning two weeks after a horde of monsters laid it to waste. It is unknown how the city will look by the end of it, but one thing for certain is that a symbol of Aegon will be lost forever.
On related news, interest in the heroes of Sylven is steadily rising. Their identities have yet to be uncovered, but some Chosen claim to have witnessed the first appearance of the man known as the Angel of Slaughter in Reignbow Park a week before this incident.
A video on the internet has garnered much attention as it showed a man killing a troll alone. The Global Alliance has estimated him to be among the strongest of A-rank Chosen together with his partner, the Angel of Light.]
"Hey, they're talking about us again. Don't you think it's time they focus on something else?"
"Don't mind them. Actually, turn it off. I don't want to hear that embarrassing name they gave me. More importantly, how do I look?"
"Come on, it's not that bad. It actually sounds cool! An angel who slaughters the world's enemies… Wait, where are you?"
Erta looked around searching for Caelum. They were just talking, but his presence suddenly vanished. She could tell that he was still in the room through their connection, but she could not find him at all. Suddenly, something cold touched the back of her neck.
"Kyaaaaaa! What was that?! That's so cold!"
"Good, it's working properly. Here's your ice cream, ma'am."
"Don't think you'll get away with this! You'll have to buy me more later if you want me to forgive you."
"Sorry, I don't want your forgiveness. Also, you'll get fat."
"You insensitive man! Don't you know talking about a lady's weight is taboo?!"
Caelum sat down on the sofa with Erta who was still hitting his arm in protest. Seeing no reaction, Erta stopped and snuggled against him before eating her ice cream.
They were in an apartment in the Eastern Quarter, a district in Aegon City primarily occupied by those with eastern descent. It was a nice and quiet community unlike the bustling Central District or the rowdy and less accommodating Downtown.
Caelum paid for the place with the money he received from Reynor. According to him, since no one knew who Caelum was, the GA could not give him a reward for killing the demons. In the end, Halo decided to give all the rewards they received to him.
He did not refuse since he had no money of his own, and he did not want to rely on Ceres especially after their fight. Caelum sighed thinking it was such a troublesome thing. He held Erta in his arms to ease his mind.
Erta, who thought he was asking for a taste, fed him some ice cream. After having a bite, Caelum turned his attention to the television. The news these days mostly covered the battle in Westminster, so there was not anything interesting.
[A Chosen belonging to the Knights of the Round Guild was reported missing. She was last seen last night during a patrol along the perimeter of the battle of Sylven…]
"This is the fourth one this week, isn't it?"
"It is."
Erta looked at Caelum's face as he answered. She tilted her head when she realised he was being strangely serious about it. She drew closer to him and asked in a serious tone.
"Is it someone you know?"
"What? Oh, no. I just have a slightly uncomfortable feeling."
Seeing Erta worry about him brought a smile to Caelum's face. They had only been together for two weeks, but their connection was so strong that it made them easily close the distance between them. He still wondered what their relationship was.
They were more than friends, but definitely not lovers. Partners was a little too stiff for him to call it that, but he decided to worry about it some other time. He patted her head to let her know that he was alright. That was when he suddenly thought of something.
"Hey, Erta. You've never had a boyfriend before, have you?"
"Tsk, I was seriously worried about you, yet here you are just picking a fight. Yeah, I've never had one before! Are you satisfied? Go ahead and laugh!"
"I'm sorry. I wasn't making fun of you though. How about this? Let's go on a date."
"...What?"
"I mean, if you've never had a boyfriend before, I was thinking maybe you've never gone on a date either. It's fine if you don't want to."
"No, let's go!"
Erta jumped off the sofa and pulled on his arm. The smile on her face was so bright and beautiful that Caelum wondered why she never got a lover before. They left the apartment with Erta clinging onto his arm happily.
Walking down the road, they stopped by several shops just to appreciate the goods being sold. When they passed by a café or stand selling sweets, Erta would insist on taking a break to eat.
They spent nearly the entire day walking around the city. Being avatars, they were not even the slightest bit tired. By the time the moon had chased out the sun, Erta asked a question with clear suspicion in her voice.
"Tell me honestly. You didn't take me out on a date just because you wanted to spend time with me, did you?"
"Of course not. I mean, we're always together anyway. I just wanted you to see the world without worrying about anything."
"That's sweet, but you can't fool me. We've been moving in a set pattern from the beginning."
"Well, I thought you'd want something exciting as well. Ah, there. Don't you feel it?"
The moment Caelum pointed it out, Erta felt a subtle wave of mana spreading outward. She turned to look at the direction it came from but saw nothing, just the Watchtower, the Roen River and the ruins of Sylven on the other side.
The mana had already diffused into the air so she could not track it directly to its source. Perhaps if they were closer, they would have found it. Caelum spoke right as she thought that.
"There was something that's been bothering me since two weeks ago. To get to the battlefield quickly, I flew over the river. And then these fish monsters jumped up and tried to bite me. At the time, I didn't think much of it. But some time after the battle, I remembered that the underwater dungeon of Roen River was downstream on the other side of the city."
Dungeons were unnatural and mysterious environments created when high concentration of mana in a single area causes changes on the geography and topography.
It could create a cavern system in the middle of a city or a forest in the middle of a desert. It breaks the natural laws of the world to create these highly dangerous places filled with monsters mutated from the original animals of the world.
The natural-born monsters of the world are those that do not appear from gates. Instead they appear within dungeons.
The only way they could leave a dungeon and threaten humans, however, is when a dungeon is left unchecked for too long leading to more monsters being created than the dungeon could contain.
At that point, the dungeon would break and release all of the monsters out into the world.
"But there are no signs of a dungeon break… Wait! Do you think there's a different dungeon here?!"
"Precisely. And it's a dungeon that we couldn't find so easily."
"Then the avatars that have gone missing might have entered the dungeon without realising it. Caelum, I get the feeling that Earth is more than just a little weird. It's definitely abnormal."
"I think I'm going to have to interrogate you about that one of these days. For now, we need to keep people away from here."
Caelum took out his phone and began typing away. Erta, who understood that there was nothing they could do for now, grabbed his free hand and walked on.
After sending a short message, Caelum put his phone back in his pocket and matched Erta's pace.
The evening breeze blew against her silver hair that shone brightly against the streetlights. The only thing he could think of when he saw her face lit by the moon under the starless night sky was that she was very lovely.
However, while the two seemed to be continuing their casual walk and date, their senses had already been primed, blanketing the entire area around them. It was just an initial hunch from Caelum at first, but that wave of mana was all the evidence they needed to know something was wrong.
They may not have been able to track down the source, but that did not mean they could not keep an eye on their surrounding vicinity. Unfortunately, they just missed a silhouette from Sylven District quite some distance away heading toward the river.