Chapter 754 A Wave Of Panic
All around the world of New Eden, tensions reached a high point. Small kingdoms reinforced their defences, villages boarded up their houses, and even guarded road checkpoints were suddenly refilled with soldiers.
They kept the attacks from corrupted monsters under limited control, and the only reason the damage levels hadn't reached catastrophic levels was that the great alliance had been sending their armies across the two continents, trying to maintain liveable conditions.
But they were now pulling back all their troops, and people were scared.
Everyone knew this moment was coming since it was 'That' time of year. But they had somehow wished the great alliance would bring the situation under control before starting their vanity contest.
Missives were being sent back and forth between the smaller kingdoms and the great alliance, asking to have the support back, but the answers were never positive.
"How can your kingdom thrive and become big if you always rely on us to defend your borders and lands?" a familiar man said into a communication device.
"Sir Enzio… Without your troops, my kingdom on Azarim will fall… The beasts of the region have become much too powerful for us to handle…" a haggard-looking king pleaded on the other end.
But Sir Enzio was having none of it.
"Listen, King Farim. We have warned you for over a month to hire adventurers or conscript more soldiers. The military exercises will happen, regardless of your plight, and we need all our troops present.
"Sunpeak is hosting them this year, and we can't afford to have a part of our army out defending elsewhere than the capital. The decision has been made a while ago, and I warned you. If you haven't made arrangements, that is your problem.
"Now, if you'll excuse me, other people await my call. You aren't the only smaller entity we were helping. Any further communications until after the exercises will be ignored.
"Have a good day, King Farim, and godspeed."
Sir Enzio pressed the crystal apparatus, and the image vanished.
With a loud sigh, Hakim Enzio pressed his fingers to his eyes, fatigue evident on his face.
It had been a rough last few years, and his body was suffering from it. He was only thirty-eight, but crow's feet could already be seen in the corner of his eyes.
His once golden blond hair had tarnished down and now looked closer to grey than blond. But the sharpness of his gaze had not degraded at all in the last ten years.
Hakim took a moment to breathe, as he had been on calls like these all day, and his mind was numb. He grabbed a teacup on his desk that had long gone cold and reheated it with a clever application of mana.
Reclining back into his chair, he looked up toward his decorated ceiling, with the motif of a golden dragon painted on it.
"In two weeks, the exercises… Already. I wonder if this year is the last year we can relax enough for them… These breaches from the demon realm are becoming too numerous and frequent," he mumbled.
The year the Abnormals disappeared, the breaches, tears, or whatever other name the people gave them started spreading like wildfire. It took them years to figure out that they could be closed by high-level priests.
That same year, Grand Marshall Promenta, his predecessor, had retired. He was pretty young and still quite stout of a man back then, and a lot had wondered why he took his leave from his duties.
But, looking back and looking now, Hakim could think of many reasons, the primary one being the workload. Hell, he wouldn't be surprised if that was the sole reason.
"Old coot even vouched for me, making the Grand Marshall elections a breeze… If I'd known, I wouldn't have applied for the job…" Hakim muttered.
As he reminisced about his past as a general, a memory about one particular Abnormal man resurfaced. One he had tried roping into his political agenda, only for him to bolt away from the kingdom on the first occasion.
"To think he'd go on to become a king… That idiot Amal should have let me knight him fully. If he had the potential to be recognized by the world for rulership, keeping him close would have been much better," Hakim said, sighing.
"I wonder if he'll recognize me when we meet again."
He had heard from some Abnormals that the army had employed that the 'Update,' as they called it, the ten-year span that they had disappeared, had only lasted a week for them.
So, to him, it would have been a couple of months. But to Hakim, the ten years hadn't been kind.
"Bah, why worry? It doesn't matter if he doesn't. I'll reintroduce myself. Nothing wrong with being close pals to a king, after all."
But, in the meantime, he still needed to make other calls. His duties were almost done for the day, but he dreaded the last three calls.
'They were barely holding on, even with our periodic help. Will these two weeks be their end?' he wondered, picking up another crystal.
The crystal vibrated rhythmically in his hand as he infused mana into it. But no one responded.
It was strange since the liaison to that kingdom was usually punctual to a fault. For him not to answer meant he was either extremely busy or something had happened.
But they had received no news of an incident in that small kingdom. At least not in the latest days since their last visit.
After a minute, Hakim gave up and put the crystal back on his desk.
"Guard!" he called out.
A soldier quickly entered his room, slamming his heels together and saluting him.
"Yes, Grand Marshall!"
"Call the thirty-fourth. Have them send a scout division back to Lizbat. Their liaison isn't responding. I have a bad feeling…"
"Sir? The thirty-fourth left that kingdom only two days ago. Maybe the man was busy?"
Hakim scoffed.
"I know I told you lot that I preferred if you could think for yourselves. But this isn't a request. It's an order. Get moving."
"Yes, Grand Marshall!" the man exclaimed, his face turning red from the rebuke.
He quickly left the room and headed to the communications station for the military.
'I should have just obeyed instead of talking back… Why did I listen to such trick advice? I'm so stupid,' the guard berated himself, as he ran away.
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