"And that means there is no one left in the city," Annabel finished, her tone firm as she concluded her report to Quincy. Even as she spoke, her eyes kept drifting toward Amara. When the two had first noticed one another, there had been no open hostility but they had not stopped watching each other since, their expressions carefully blank, neither willing to look away first.
"And you are absolutely certain of that?" Quincy asked, her voice calm but insistent, wanting the reassurance stated plainly.
"Yes," Annabel answered without hesitation.
"I flew over the entire city myself," Samwell cut in before anyone else could speak, his arms crossed tightly over his chest, his eyes narrowed with irritation. "There is no one left. Now move on already."
Even turned sharply toward his father. "Really?" he shot back. "You are being aggressive even now?"
Samwell's glare snapped to his son. "I can act however I want, boy," he snapped. "She has asked that question several times already, and I am tired of repeating myself!"
For a moment, it looked as though the two of them might actually come to blows, the tension between them thick and immediate. Calvinel, ever the mediator, reacted at once, stepping between them and holding his arms out, palms open toward both sides.
"That is enough," he said firmly, while looking at the two like they lost their minds. "Both of you, calm down. Now is not the time to be at each other's throats."
With visible irritation, father and son both turned away, neither willing to back down outright, but neither escalating further.
"So," Edluar began carefully, clearly trying to steer the conversation away from the brewing hostility, "about the rift in the sky…" He glanced around the room. "Does anyone know anything about that?"
Xain raised his hand slightly. "Arkanis…" he said, then clarified, "…the Demon Lord opened that while fighting the demon that took me over."
The reaction was immediate.
Several heads snapped toward him at once. "What!?" multiple voices exclaimed almost in unison, shock rippling through those who had not been present for the earlier explanation or had not heard that part.
"What did you say took over you?" Zee asked, her expression tight with alarm as she grabbed Xain's hand.
"You are just going to say that like it is normal?" Mae added, her expression mirroring her twin's disbelief, a level of shock she rarely showed.
The Fiend stood rigid, staring at Xain through his mask, eyes wide beneath it. He knew about the Hatred—he knew that much—but Xain turning into a demon, or being overtaken by one, was not something he had ever imagined possible.
Amara looked no less stunned. "A demon?" she asked sharply. "What do you mean a demon? Do you mean that brother of yours?" She was clearly thinking it was Cain.
Xain looked sheepish under the sudden scrutiny. He sighed and spoke quickly, clearly trying to keep things from spiraling further. "We really do not have time to explain this," he said. "Just know that I do not know myself why it happened—but it happened. And the demon was on our side when he came out." He glanced around the room, his tone earnest. "Let us just leave it at that for now and focus on the invasion, please?"
"I agree with him. We need to focus on the plan against the demons," Prince Mark stated, his voice steady and authoritative. Zee looked like she wanted to press Xain for more answers, her grip on his hand tightening slightly, but she ultimately stayed quiet. One by one, the others followed suit. Whatever questions they had, whatever unease lingered, this was not the time to dig into it.
"Alright," Quincy said, drawing a slow breath as she stepped forward and addressed the room. "Then let us decide our next move. Does anyone have any idea what the demons could be doing right now? Did anyone see anything out of the ordinary while you were out there?"
"Well," Amos began, rubbing his chin thoughtfully, "everyone encountered far fewer demons than we were expecting. That alone feels significant."
Several of those who had gone out murmured in agreement, nodding to themselves.
"That's true," Clara added. "We barely ran into any demons at all until we came across Gurion and Hittag."
Annabel turned her attention toward the more militarily experienced members of the group. "Do any of our military-aligned figures have an idea as to why that might be?"
The Guard Commander straightened slightly. "Based on my experience," he said, "they are most likely pulling their remaining forces together. Consolidating. Preparing for a single, decisive attack."
Calvinel nodded immediately. "That makes the most sense."
"It is what I would do in their position," Prince Mark agreed.
"And they will come here," Quincy muttered, her gaze dropping for a moment as the implication settled in.
"With everything that has happened," Ulrich added, "I doubt there will be many of them left. It might come down to just dealing with the Demon Lord."
"That would be true," Clara said carefully, "if not for the fact that there was that… thing we all felt enter the world."
Annabel nodded grimly. "Yes. That… thing. Whatever it was, none of us have encountered it yet."
"I felt it too," Amara said, folding her arms. "But could it not simply be another Demon Lord? Not that that would not already be a massive problem."
Mae shook her head. "No. It might not be. Actually—no. It just isn't the case anymore."
Several people turned toward her at once.
"What do you mean?" Even asked.
Zee exhaled slowly before speaking. "Someone came back with us. A swordsman. He wore all black and had a wolf mask. That part does not matter." She hesitated briefly, then continued. "What matters is what he told us. He said he fought a Demon Lord. One that was not the one Zeva fought."
The room fell silent.
"So… there is another," Samwell said quietly, trailing off.
"That is not all," Drack added, breaking the heavy pause. "He also mentioned a Demon King." He looked around the room as he spoke. "That means there are four major threats present."
The weight of that statement settled over everyone at once. Several people looked down. Even with all of them gathered here, it felt overwhelming—borderline impossible.
Everyone, that is, except Xain.
"Everyone, there is something—" he started.
The door to the meeting room was suddenly thrown open with force.
A guard stumbled in, his face pale, eyes wide with fear. "The demons are coming!" he shouted.
The room erupted into motion as people looked at one another, then turned toward Quincy. She took a deep breath, her expression hardening into resolve.
"Get the defenders ready," she ordered. "We will show the demons that we will not go down—no matter, Who. They. Have."