Back in the palace in Lenora, an elf was reporting some information to Giselle and the others.
"That's all I have to say." He concluded and was excused.
Giselle and the others were beginning to worry. Its been three days since I left for sector F. They heard no news from me. The only thing they were getting were the bad rumors about where I was going.
Giselle thought about asking them to go and look for me. But they knew I was strong enough to hold out my own against anything. They did have their doubts though.
The area wasn't as big as any kingdoms in the continent. So I knew that walking around for so long was bound to get me somewhere eventually.
I was practically blind though. I didn't have a single clue of what to expect from where I was going. The fog wasn't helping me. The only mana I felt in the area were from plants and trees. There was no sign of humans or monsters in the area. The only lead I had was a mental map and the fact that all other sectors had their lords at the middle.
Its been over a day. The silence was getting to me. It felt like something was staring daggers at me but I sensed nothing around me.
The second night fell. That's when I realized something that has been happening to me the whole time. When I tried lighting a fire, it didn't work. I couldn't make fire at all. I panicked and tested the other elements. I couldn't use any elemental magic, probably since I walked in there.
But I could use my skills. That means there was a weak anti magic barrier surrounding the whole place. Since I didn't notice it, I sharpened my senses with a skill to make sure it doesn't happen again. Because of that, my hearing increased and unsettling noises clouded my head.
Echoes of distant woman screams, howling, trees creaking, children cackling and many other indescribable sounds I didn't notice before. The worst of them were the continuous screams. Some sounded like screams of terror, others fear, as if being chased by something and torture screams. They all however sounded like they came from one person. A girl.
I had a long night. When it was daytime, for a while, I didn't know what to do. I've never felt more creeped out before like that in my life. I didn't know if someone was playing with my head, or something was actually making those noises.
After pulling my thoughts together, I continued with my conquest. I listened to try and find where the sounds were coming from so I wouldn't go that way for obvious reasons. But it was quiet. I didn't hear anything other than wind against the trees. It seemed as if I could only hear them at night.
I tried ruling out the possibilities of what to expect when I suddenly felt as if my back caught fire. In fact, I could smell the smoke coming from it. It didn't hurt much which was not normal. I tried touching my back when the burning sensation instantly disappeared.
When I turned to see what it was that caused that, I caught a glimpse of something in the trees. I stared at it to see properly what it could be. I didn't expect to see dozens of glowing eyes looking directly at me. From all directions.
I looked around nervously. Eyes of different colors, shapes and sizes. It terrified me. For some reason, I felt scared to the point where I couldn't move. My senses were dulled. I didn't notice it.
A fully opened mouth of a beast hanging from the trees above me. The beast was hanging from tree branches with long tentacles and had a small body but a massive oval-shaped mouth. The mouth instantly shut with huge amount of force and bit off the top half of my body. My legs were left standing there. A lot of blood came from the beast's mouth as it slowly creeped up the trees.
The eyes slowly closed one by one when voices came from them.
"You were warned. You were warned. But you still came. But you still came. She chose you. She chose you. You are hers. You are hers." Then the last one closed and everything went quiet.
Its been five days since the fall of Farglade. Most of the people wasted no time to run away from there. Around 20% of the city's population died. Over half abandoned it. The rest were still there trying to rebuild or gather together what was left.
"Many children lost their parents. Many parents lost their children. I doubt they could heal from that." A familiar voice, the king of Aetheria. He was explaining this to the emperor of the Reunen Imperium.
"Before the attack, there were riots in the city. Nobles got scared and refuged at the palace. But an accident happened and the entire building collapsed. None of them survived."
"What kind of 'accident' was it?"
"I don't know. I couldn't see it clearly. All I remember was the building suddenly collapsing. It was probably caused by the monsters."
"I see... How's your family?"
"My son survived with minimal injuries." His face saddened. "My wife is currently in bed. She obtained multiple injuries that were tough to heal. But she'll be alright."
The emperor looked at him pitifully. "Go rest. We can continue later." The king stood from his sit and thanked him. Then he walked out of the room.
The emperor rubbed his face with his hands and sat there thoughtfully. "Two days ago, we received news of a massive wall that suddenly appeared running from west to east. A whole city was destroyed in the process of the appearance. Everyone living in small villages and towns close to the wall feared it."
"Claiming that the wall was moving like a serpent, they were afraid that it may move again and destroy their homes. Later on, a large amount of refugees suddenly showed up in multiple cities around the empire."
"All those that lived closed to the wall apparently abandoned their homes. They all became refugees in other cities where they felt safer. Overpopulation occurred. Many didn't have homes and resources weren't enough. If this continued, crimes would increase."
"Now monsters have attacked yet another city. A city which was already in chaos. The monsters we're referring to are sector lords. One of which is the dragon lord." He paused and looked in front. The High Priest of the Holy Kingdom and four kings of the four south eastern kingdoms were his audience.
"The hero already attacked them but she failed. Now no one knows where she is. The demons have also become active."
"In a matter of days," The priest spoke. "The continent has been rearranged in ways we didn't know were possible."
"Monsters and demons... Monsters, for hundreds of years, have never been able to bring so much trouble. Demons have been inactive for 50 years. Now they come all at once. Was it planned?"
"We have no way of knowing." King Roshar of the Lumar Kingdom commented.
"We do, actually. We could find out in the easiest possible way. By asking them." His audience couldn't believe him.
"You can't be serious." King Andronicus of Nectaris spoke. "Your asking us to communicate with monsters? There has to be a better way."
"The attack on Farglade speaks volume. The monsters didn't destroy the entire place. they had every opportunity to destroy it all. That would have been the best outcome for them. But they didn't. They're practically telling us to do two things. One, not to mess with them. Two, to try and keep a friendly relationship with them."
"How did you come to that conclusion?"
"The attack was only meant to scare us. We know that the sector lords are intelligent. They wouldn't attack for no reason, they never did. But they suddenly destroyed half a city right after a wall that divided us and them appeared. They know that humans will try to cross it and go to their side. They're trying to prevent that by scaring us and reassure themselves by keeping us in check. And we don't want them to attack us like that again."
"So that was their plan. What do we do now?"
"That's what we're here to discuss." He looked at the priest. "Tell us. You know something."
"I know someone." The priest responded. "I know a name. The one who began all of this. I know his name."
They silently watched him and waited for him to speak. "What are you waiting for? Who are we dealing with? His name is..."
"Nerezza Vingar."