"What's the status report?"
Through the numbing void, hidden away from the sleeping eyes of thousands, and bloodshot eyes of the awake, Maestro waited for his soldiers to bring him the news.
"I'm sorry sir. But we received no reports from the searcher team after the death of the Al-one monster." One answered.
"What about the summoners? Any info?"
Through the dozen white screens portraying the previous events of the day. Hundreds of cameras went through multiple hours of footage. Before settling into one close by. Near a shop where the summoners were.
It wasn't as clear as usual. Their meddling made sure of that, but they were able to catch one of their soldiers walking towards an alley. Maestro and the others around him watched intensively as the footage displayed their comrade being grabbed by someone. And disappearing from view.
Without any orders, they sped up the footage. Before them in the footage, a cloaked figure, shrouded in bloodstained feathers ran out from the alley. The fight wasn't visible, but they could hear the sounds of blades clashing, shouts, and bodies dropping. Alongside the deafening boom that occurred later on.
A few more speeding up, going through the event, and towards the end of the day, they spotted an Indian boy step into view. And falling back in shock from what he saw in the alley. Then after a while, the forsaken headmaster appeared and took him away. Before disposing of the body and staring at the camera. He grabbed rock from the ground and threw it with pinpoint precision towards the camera. Shattering the lenses and ending the footage abruptly.
"Should I write down their names, Maestro?"
"All of the summoners. And the searchers."
They quickly wrote down something. And handing it to each other before placing it away. The Maestro let out a disgruntled scoff. Not only did Shoatan failed with their summoned spirit. There were more of Hanlerk's soldiers. And they lost contact with the searchers.
"What now?"
"Try to activate a few more sleepers. There's a few in the S-class. Make sure you try and get those."
"We already have around four. How many more should they activate?"
"As much as they can. Send out the code. And the message."
"Magically or technologically?"
"Technologically. They have their magic detectors on overdrive now."
His subordinates quietly nodded and began sending out their message. The sounds of keyboard clicking nonstop filled the air as Maestro scrolled through the footage. Rewinding as often as he can. He even checked some of the bodycam footage of his soldiers.
One caught his eye, it was ten seconds of footage before it was cut off. It showed one of his soldiers trying to navigate through the trees. Reaching a clearing somewhere in the surrounding forest. The sounds of the panicked red hand member was as clear as day.
"God damnit..how did he find us...I was so close-! I was-" As soon as he turned around, a figure blitzed past the camera. The footage completely inverted as it dropped to the ground. Showing a glimpse of the lower body.
To Maestro's shock, Headmaster Avshino appeared in the view again. His coat and beard stained with blood as he gazed into the camera. Before raising his foot and stomping it. Breaking it entirely.
"What a monster...And he's the headmaster right?"
Maestro furrowed his eyebrows as he pointed at the footage, "Whatever story you heard about this man...No matter the absurdity or gruesome it is...had been watered. DOWN." Some of the Red Hand were visibly disturbed by what they were told. Maestro often speaks the truth, if he said that Headmaster Avshino's stories of his adventures were watered down. Then it IS watered down.
But one thing is for certain. So he is close after all. But all of the progress was lost, "Message sent sir. What should we do now?"
"Any suggestions?" Maestro sounded more like he was giving an order.
The other soldiers sat quietly for a while before one was able to pluck up all of his courage, "There was some recent information that was released regarding our main problem. I believe that this could help us in a way."
***
As the fresh aroma of nature swept through the ruined city. Life slowly awakens under the sunlight dawnbreak. Humans, elves, and more follow in their footsteps. The chirps of animals signaled a new day after the previous afternoon of terror.
Citizens began pouring out into the streets. Some are still carrying their weapons as a precaution. In a matter of minutes, after exchanging friendly greetings and good mornings, the people began continuing to rebuild the destroyed monuments and houses. Working in unison like a hivemind.
The morning sun slips through the cracks of the curtains in the soldiers of Hanlerk's room. Awakening Samuel first. He stood up and stretched his body after a night's rest. Staring at the mirror for a second. His blindfold lay idle nearby his reflection. That mimicked his own movements.
He still pondered over the sight he saw last night. The mere thought of it still sent shivers down his spine. As he began to wrap the blindfold over his eyes, Gary slowly sat up, being the second to wake up, "Morning Sammy..."
"Morning Gary. Good sleep?"
"I guess so." Gary glanced at his surroundings. Spotting Aurora sleeping peacefully near him, a small smile etched itself on his face, "No wonder I had a good sleep..."
"How sweet..." Samuel chuckled, knowing fully why he said that.
"What's sweet?" Aurora spoke quietly. The third person finally sat up, stretching her arms above her head as she awoke.
"Oh, nothing really. Just you." Gary said.
"Awh...Thanks, baby..." Even in her groggy state, she managed to grab Gary's face and leave a kiss on his cheek.
The two of them quickly got themselves out of their sleeping place. Samuel is almost ready for the day. But in a split moment of clarity, he realized that he was lost. After the tournament, what's going to happen now?
"Where's Sultan?" Aurora asked.
"Went out to deliver a letter to his wife. Dunno where he went, however..." Samuel answered.
The two people who were still asleep were Karasu and Donovan. Who was resting soundly on the infirmary bed. Gary kicked Karasu's shin, jolting him awake, "Ha! Wha-! Where?!"
"Rise and shine crow boy." Gary pulled the disorientated Karasu to his feet.
"Ai...Don't do that...I was having a good dream." Karasu groaned.
Samuel turned to the two, "Which was...?"
"I had a servant...serving me Takoyaki whenever I wanted..." Samuel noticed that Karasu was slightly drooling at the thought, "And he had an unlimited supply! Oh my...! Just as I was about to eat some, a Viking maniac kicked me out of my dream."
Gary had a sly smirk of his face, before he kicked Karasu's shin yet again, causing him to wince in pain, "Whoops. I'm not sorry."
"Hey!"
The two began arguing with each other. It was more like Karasu complaining at Gary for ruining his dream while Gary just stood there, trying not to laugh. Aurora simply ignored them and continued on to the nearby shower. Grabbing some spare S-rank clothes.
"Oh my days..." Karasu rubbed his fingers on the bridge of his nose, "I need coffee right now..."
"I'll find a way to make some." Samuel said, "Same thing? Triple shot?"
"As strong as you can make it I guess..."
Just before Samuel left the room, he spotted a minuscule body movement from Donovan. Samuel's gaze alerted Gary and Karasu as the three of them turned to face their friend. they watched as Donovan slowly opened his eyes. And moving his head around.
"G-Guys...?"
"Let's go! He's awake!" The trio ran towards Donovan's bed. Relief settled in all three of them.
"How long...was I out for?"
Samuel turned to the clock, "Around ten hours..."
"Damn..." Donovan slowly sat up straight on the bed, His body was wrapped with bandages, and some part of his body felt tight and constricting, "Why did I fall unconscious again?"
"Overexerted yourself." Samuel answered, "I will admit, you did great. But a little overboard. Was letting yourself get molly wopped by Crystal really that necessary?"
"Kinda. Wasn't thinking properly at that time..." Donovan scratched his neck, "How's...everything?"
"Dunno. We just woke up so...Why don't you find out with us?" Karasu asked.
"What do you mean?"
Karasu grabbed his S-rank coat off the wall and handed it to Donovan, "If you can walk, let's go out. All four of us."
Gary stood back as Donovan pulled the blanket off of him and stepped onto the floor. He nearly fell forward to the ground if Gary wasn't there to catch him, "I'm fine....Maybe I just need a crutch."
"Here." Samuel took one out of a nearby cabinet, "Better?"
"Much better..." Donovan nodded as he wore the coat Karasu gave him.
As they prepared to leave, Aurora walked out from her shower wearing a fresh batch of S-rank clothing, she was humming quietly. Unaware that Donovan was awake until she pulled her head up and saw him, "What the-Don!"
"Oh, Aurora."
"You're awake! How're you feeling?"
"Never better..."
Aurora turned her gaze towards her boyfriend, shifting it between the four with suspicion, "And where do you think you guys are going?"
"Out. See how everything is. Wanna join us dear?" Gary asked.
Aurora smiled before shrugging, "Why not?"
The five of them left their rooms shortly. Still carrying their weapons just in case something happened. The other rooms and halls were mostly busy and brimming with life. Nurses and doctors tend to their patients with potions, medicine, and other anointments.
As they exited the infirmary, the warm welcome of the early morning opened its arm to them. As if congratulating the soldiers for what they had done for yesterday. Samuel quickly snapped his eyes everywhere, checking for any disturbances. But so far, he found none.
The five mindlessly walked down the stone pavement. Passing by patches of greens with blossoming flowers and trees. Houses and shops that resembled old medieval houses. Painted with different colors to the homeowner's liking.
A fresh batch of natural air was shared by the numerous town denizens strolling around like nothing happened yesterday. There were still some ruined buildings that had people consulting with each other on how to deal with it. But the general population was mostly calm and upbeat.
"I still need my coffee..." Karasu whined.
"Shut up feather boy. We'll get it soon." Gary said.
A small idea popped into Donovan's head, "Hey, we can make coffee real quick in the security force room. In and out. No witnesses. The only problem is how do we use our rings?"
"No one taught you that yet?" Samuel asked.
"Nope." Both Donovan and Gary answered at the same time.
Samuel sighed before turning to face a nearby building wall, "Just hold out your fist with the ring and just chant the...was it password? Or was it called a code?"
"Doesn't matter Sammy." Aurora said, "Just focus on the actual chant."
"Right. I don't know if you two would actually be accepted into the security force without possibly raising suspicion..." Samuel contemplated it for a second.
"Let's...not dwell on that for now, just show us how it's done."
Samuel snapped back to reality and took a deep breath, "Rovanne taught me this. Just say... Halstrumg."
A chime rang quietly in front of the five as two lines formed a short distance away from each other. Before extending out to form the outline of a door. A second later, the actual security force door appeared.
"Woah..." The other four seemed to be impressed.
"Yeah. It is kinda cool."
"Well, what are we waiting for?" Donovan slowly opened the door, before walking in with the support of his crutch. The rest followed shortly after him.
As they entered the room, the smell of cinnamon and mint hit their nostrils like a tidal wave. The air felt cooler here. And even more comforting. Through the weeks the three were part of the security force, and some decorations and renovations occurred. Hoping to make it prettier. Now there was a bigger wooden table, the walls were painted with a golden pattern, and There was a skylight on the roof. Yellow rays of sunshine shone through it. And somehow, from the edges of the skylight, there was an overgrowth of plants and grass. With upside-down flowers blooming from it. And it slowly reached the top of the wall.
"Welcome! To-" Before Donovan he turned around to see his friends just frozen in place, "What's wrong? I-"
As he spun around again, he immediately knew why. Not only was it not empty, but all of the other members were there. Elyssia, Matthew, Madhav, Rovanne, and now even Aziroth. Who was in the middle of claiming his own ring.
The two groups just stood there, staring at each other in silence. Right before Donovan spoke, "Shit."