Malikaswarna City, Capital of Indus.
Malikaswarna City was the capital of Indus and it was a normal city. The only difference was that there were hordes of people walking through the streets and the traffic on the road was making people furious and just plain tired. It's divided into many districts such as the Ankar District to the North, Surya District to the East, Chandra District to the West and the Raj District to the North.
The buildings were a mix of normal houses squished together with shops on both ends or very tall buildings that connected other very tall buildings. A sky-metro connected these districts in an environmentally sustainable way. Comparing Malikaswarna with Akuza in Lukia there was a massive difference in terms of quality, quantity, and people themselves.
The Sages were mainly the defensive group or the security for the city and it is the same for the entirety of Indus. The Seers are mostly the support to the Sages and help in detective work, fate reading and divination. The Brahmas are the executionary people or rulers who are mostly royal and nobles that live in the Holy Palace in the Raj District.
Multiple black lines from the tall electrical towers connected the city and gave it electricity and it was handled in a neat and tidy way without any drawbacks. Even though the city had a lot of people and its population was nearly double of current Jale, the city was neat and no waste was left on the streets. Any stray soul beasts or dogs were also well taken care of by the people or the Malikaswarna Beast Foundation whose Chief-Executive Officer was none other than the Calamity of Indus, Siddarth Ramakrishna.
The Holy Palace was a building in the Raj District where all the Third Stage Enlightenment Sages lived along with Siddarth Ramakrishna. It was a golden temple-like building with marble outlines on the walls and the door had two panels to it and they were huge.
There was an empty throne at the far front of the first room and Siddharth Ramakrishna walked towards it. He touched the arm rest with his fingers and walked circles around it before finally sitting on the throne. He placed his left elbow on an armrest and used his palm as support for his face as messengers started to line up one by one to convey their messages.
The messengers wore a tan or yellowish-orange hood that covered their upper and lower body with a removable hood for the head
"Guru, this message is from the Crimson Eclipse," said a messenger.
Siddarth got intrigued and sat straight. Siddarth knew the Crimson Eclipse were Suzumi's personal men therefore he wondered what he wanted from him.
"Read it," said Siddarth.
"In the Security Conference you got humiliated because of Chiro Zanami," said the messenger.
Siddarth's eyes twitched as he controlled his anger. The increase of Siddarth's soul energy was clear and intimidating and the messenger paused. Then Siddarth raised his hand in a classy and elegant way signalling the messenger to continue speaking.
"Even I have some 'problems' when it comes to Chiro Zanami. I've learnt your language to speak to you right now. I hope we can make an agreement and destroy Lukia together. After all Indus have no king as of now…You can join us without any problems," said the messenger reading out the opened scroll.
Siddarth chuckled as the messenger rolled the scroll and placed it neatly back into his leather sachet.
The Continent of Laxasis was also called the Continent of Diversity due to its different terrains across the land. Indus had deserts, rivers, and oases. The Snow Kingdom had snow, hail, and the Aurora. Lukia and Ninjaro have the most rivers and water bodies within them. The Starry Kingdom has the highest mountain in all of Laxasis along with a plethora of forests. The Dwarian Mountains, The Barren Wastelands, and The Holy Springs were all landmarks that defined this continent.
Due to Indus being a desert country due to the water drying up from an ancient calamity over ten-thousand years ago and the country turning dry. They required a lot of water and food to flourish so they became nomads and some became barbarians to survive. These nomads became the sages while the barbarians became the dwarves that left to the mountains.
Siddarth was a barbarian turned sage for power. The amount of masks he had started to pile up the more power he wished for.
Was he kind?
Was he rude?
Was his name really Siddarth Ramakrishna?
"Messenger," said Siddarth.
The Messenger who was about to leave turned around and kneeled in front of Siddarth.
"Tell Suzumi that I will help him if he gives me enough water to fully refill River Indra then I will help him," said Siddarth.
The Messenger removed his tan fabric hood that covered his head before revealing himself to be none other than Hiroshi Yamamoto.
Multiple security guards ran towards him and Hiroshi quickly untangled himself from the guards and easily overpowered them in hand-to-hand combat while they had spears and stared at Siddarth as all of the guards laid down on the golden concrete ground around Hiroshi.
"In order for us to refill River Indra we need you on the front lines," said Hiroshi.
Siddarth laughed.
"No madman would go to the frontlines and launch an attack on another country while knowing the consequences," said Siddarth.
"Then what do you suppose? If you have a better plan of course," asked Hiroshi.
"Cocky…I'll help you in matters of fate and resources for battle and finances," said Siddarth.
"That's alright," said Hiroshi.
Hiroshi walked past the messengers and reached the exit. The guards did not stop him nor did any of the higher sages as Hiroshi was outputting all of his soul energy which frightened most of them.
"Hope to see you again Mr.Yamamoto," said Siddarth.
Hiroshi ignored him and flew up into the sky using elemental magic of wind and left.
Meanwhile in Rein.
Nicole reached Rein safely and she walked across the streets with her purple suitcase in hand and her weapons in her bag. Since it was a public space she could not be seen walking with weapons it would be unparliamentary. Nicole unfolded a map of Rein and shook her head in disbelief.
"This city is huge…How would I find the DMMS?" thought Emily.
She already had planned out how she was going to break the news that Danso Narahara had disappeared to the Barren Wastelands to the DMMS. Danso had told her about him joining the DMMS over a phone call they had and she knew that if he chose to join something without others forcing him that meant he genuinely had some level of interest for it.
Nicole sat on a public bench and thought for a minute while sipping some water. Where would the country's secret military agency hide if they had to?
Nicole stood up instantly as she thought she had an idea on where they would be.
"There is no way they are not injured from the battles they faced in Jale, Akuza, and Relvon so they must be at a nearby hospital!" exclaimed Nicole.
After four hours of going to every single hospital, sneakily searching all the emergency rooms, consultants, and even the rooms that patients can have for rent, she could not find them.
There was still one last hospital but Nicole was almost certain that the DMMS would not be there.
Yet she decided to just give it a try.
She booked a cab and the cab dropped her to the hospital that she wanted to check. She checked her wallet and realised that she had used up more money than she was supposed to and then she promised to herself that she would never overspend again which she knew she would break.
She went through the front doors with the cool air of the air conditioner coldly welcoming her. Then a woman in a doctor's coat looked at her bizarrely and pulled her over.
"Welcome! May I please ask what you are doing here?" asked Natsuki.
Nicole's first impression of Natsuki was bizarre. She thought that she was polite and straightforward but she did feel startled that someone randomly pulled her over. She dusted off the place where Natsuki touched her.
"I am looking for any of these four patients…Here is a paper," said Nicole as she handed over the list of the four DMMS members Danso told her about.
Natsuki's eyes sharpened as she became much more serious. Then Emily walked into the hospital lobby.
"I don't know who you are but I'd advise you to leave," said Emily.