"Do you think they are purposefully spawning wherever is decently populated?" a feminine voice said concernedly.
"That seems to be the case. Which is all the more reason to HURRY UP, BRADD!"
The great bear made of golden brown sand galloped with even more pronounced heft following the bellow of its master. It shot across the warm ground with immense speed, a light grumble escaping its black lips while its dark snout emitted a breath of frustration.
At this point, the tamed monster would have hoped that the many glittering spots of blue over its sandy body would have been good for something other than pretty aesthetic, but sadly...
"If we don't arrive in time..." Tulnas said with a dark expression. His body leapt up and down because of the movement of the tamed beast upon which he sat along with four pretty ladies.
"We can still salvage what's important from the residence and leave, right? Maybe the others are already on it! We really don't have to play hero and try to save the whole city like last time, right? I personally don't care enough for that," a gorgeous beauty with animalistic features – fluffy ears and a tail – who clung to Tulnas from behind said, though her whine had a tone of dread instead of playfulness.
"You are a disgrace to the Harem's Guild if you don't realise by now that the Guild master has a hero complex. At least it applies mostly to the ladies," a blindfolded woman interjected with a stern voice. "That hasn't changed even after he became Branch Head of the Guilds Association."
"Natalika!" the fluffy-eared lady turned with a sharp stare.
Tulnas didn't pay the two much mind, as did the other two. He would given the women a spanking any other day as punishment, but right now, the competence of a responsible leader crushed his tendency to provide levity in harsh situations.
What he had seen... those dark towers...
"Focus. We're close. You might not have seen it all as I did, but that's all the more reason to stop messing around. This is much more serious than you think..." Tulnas told off the ladies and they stopped glaring at each other – one more so than the other of course.
Tulnas, with Bradd the sand bear as his 'steed', had seen up close what happened to the small towns and villages close to where they had been dealing with a band of thieves – the organised kind who had good equipment and surprisingly firm fighting experience.
Large towers suddenly rose from the ground and as they did, it was as if the life from every living thing was smacked away simply because of the sheer presence of the structures.
And the sculptings on them...
Tulnas' face grew grave.
Something about those symbols just churned his core. He had immediately told his group to leave without waiting to see what would happen next.
Yet still, even while far from the towers and their symbols, Tulnas felt as though he should have washed his eyes after looking at them, or perhaps even gouged them out.
If something like that was waiting back home, back in Inhone City...
"What do you think those things were?" he asked in a small voice.
"What?" the fluffy-eared lady behind him asked quizzically.
"I'm not asking you," Tulnas said, annoyed, and then proceeded to listen to a voice deep within him.
Past the clearing and hills that hid the distant figure of the small city, Bradd seemed to expect some semblance of approval from his master. He had done quite a good job with getting them all to Inhone from the distant location of the Guild request in under fifteen minutes after all.
However, the large sand bear felt a tremor of shock from his master instead.
Tulnas had stood from Bradd's back, as did the four women.
"Damn it..."
It wasn't a pleasing sight, even from so far.
Right in front of the gate to the city, a massive tower had risen, its dark, filth-layered exterior full of jagged, and sharp edges that made it look like a coarse star from above. It cast a sharp shadow into Inhone, but nothing could further be discerned about the state of the city, save for the tens of corpses in armour laying sprawled across the entrance and...
"Bradd, stop!" Tulnas ordered.
The giant bear came to halt.
The blindfolded woman, Natalika hurried to hold the hilt to her sword while the others, urged on by a suffocating instinct to harden their resolves, prepared for battle without knowing why at first.
Over a kilometre and a half still remained to the city, but the group knew that this distance was insignificant.
Insignificant to the thing that was lurking behind what they could see of the large tower, at least.
They had realised now.
There was a thing there.
One of the corpses Tulnas saw laying on the ground was suddenly pulled towards the tower, and disappeared behind it, where he could not see.
Then, a long, nasty claw inched from the long tower, then a crimson eye, as well as a glittering beak looking to be made of a crystalline gemstone.
...!
"Run!" Tulnas screamed at Bradd who had already made a U-turn and started sprinting back to where they had come from.
Tulnas didn't dare look back, and his Full Body Aura was already flaring.
He didn't have an ounce of faith in their ability to escape the creature that had quite obviously noticed their presence.
And sure enough, the beating of wings audible even from far off, blasted against the group's ears.
The odd creature... had taken flight in their direction.
***
Maqi.
A bald man dressed in oversized robes was locking gazes with a bulky man seated on the throne. They each seemed to be making attempts at reading the most minute shifts behind each others' straight faces.
But ultimately...
"So these two events are linked?" the First Horn said.
"I can only imagine that the same individuals responsible for stealing historic relics that were agreed upon by all to be stored in our secure archives more than two months ago, are the same that have caused that annoying quake. I believe that the... Premium Age Royale was also something related to them. I sent some spies to join in and look over what Pelian had in store. They are dead now. Their souls lost, as are their bodies..." the bald man said.
"What good are the corpses of Fulgardt's Chosen? Do those measly necromancers – if they are indeed responsible – think that acquiring rotting bodies will help them control the world?"
"Perhaps, but their motives don't strike me as that dull."
"Hmmm," the First Horn groaned. "And once again, this all began in Pelian."
"Indeed. Apparently strange towers are appearing everywhere there. The death toll continues to rise as we speak because of them, I imagine the Six Houses will move now that there's something to do," the bald man said before narrowing his eyes. "Will you lend Pelian your aid?"
The First Horn looked at the bald man as if he had said something terribly insulting, and that was answer enough.
"Very well, then," the bald man relented. "As for THAT matter..."
"Yes. I've spent a month preparing a select number among my forces for Opungale," the First Horn said.
The bald man chuckled.
"That is quite the lengthy period for a simple military selection," he said. "Your manoeuvre spells to me that you did not truly intend to heed my advice. Killing the young Sif princess would have given you a better excuse to crush Opungale when they came for revenge. A close shave will not do. And all this brings me to wonder... Why did you not lead with that in the first place, if you did not intend to take my courteous advice? In fact, why did the previous First Horns not strike Opungale before?"
The giant of a man scoffed.
"Brash men can also exercise restraint. The previous First Horn told me of a blonde haired man with a lute who often appeared whenever he even had the thought to strike at the Sif. Meddlesome cretin. I imagined the same would happen to me. But no. The fact that my assassin served her purpose to some degree, was reason enough for me to believe that I am exempt from this... arrangement. I will not be deterred."
"A man with a lute, eh?" the bald man said with a strange twinkle in his eye. "Interesting." Amusement cradled his less than innocent smile, and then he continued. "Well, the grudge from the Second Grand War still burns within my people as well – though probably not as much as yours. I'll have a few of mine join your ranks for the assault. I quite expect something entertaining to erupt from this."
"As do I," the First Horn said as he leaned against his throne.
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