Lloyd burst into the room, his face a mask of frustration and anger. "The mine! The resources! Gone, just like that! All those ideas, all that potential, wasted!"
He paced back and forth, his voice rising with each step.
"We had sketches, we understood the mechanics, and now what? What are we supposed to do with this knowledge?"
Kojo, sitting calmly at the table, sighed. "It's not the end of the world, Lloyd. I was reluctant to use the crude oil myself because of the negative impact it'd have on the environment, but I didn't want it to just lie there. No one got hurt, so it's no big deal."
"We had a chance to change the world, to revolutionize energy, and you're telling me it's no big deal?" Lloyd scoffed.
"It's a setback, not a defeat," Kojo replied.
"Lloyd, perhaps you should explain what you had in mind," Duke Philip asked.
Lloyd took a deep breath, launching into a passionate explanation of his plans for harnessing the natural gas and crude oil. "We could have powered the entire kingdom! Created jobs, stimulated the economy... and now it's all gone!"
Kojo held up a hand, interrupting Lloyd's tirade.
"Yes, yes. We've gone far with the plans, but it's an easy fix. We just need to change the energy source. There are plenty of alternatives. Steam, for instance. Or we could extract energy from Mystium, but that would require more mining, and I'd rather not put undue strain on the miners, especially after what happened. They're already trying hard enough without the extra load."
"Hmm," Lloyd scratched the back of his head as he thought about this.
"Or we could make it kinetic, like a dynamo, powered by the very machinery it's powering. A perpetual motion machine, almost. Or we could harness the sun's energy. It's a clean, renewable source."
"But how would he do that?" Lloyd asked.
Kojo grinned. "We could create solar panels using the crystals from the Mystium mines. It's a bit more complicated, but doable."
Lloyd sat down beside Kojo.
"Kojo, my friend...." He said, clasping his hands together. Kojo knew he was trying to convince him to tell him more.
"But first, we need to stabilize the current situation," Kojo said, turning serious.
"Yes, yes," Lloyd said with a sigh.
Dona got up from Kojo's lap and walked up to the center of the room, drawing everyone's attention. She pointed at Kojo.
"You're going to be the one to defeat the goblins," she said.
Sol and Sharone walked in at that moment.
The room was silent as all eyes turned to her.
"Little girl," Ovid the minotaur spoke up. "I understand that you believe in Master Kojo, but this is a council of adults. Please refrain from..." A sharp glance from Sharone caused him to keep quiet.
"I'm leaving the defense of this city in your care. I've left a very large commission in your hands. Now prove to me that you can take care of it. Let me see the strategies you'll take in order to deal with this. You're the only one who's going to deal with this and the only one I'm going to hold responsible," she said.
Kojo looked at her and folded his arms, leaning his head back in the chair.
"What do you think?"
"(What do you mean, what do I think? Do you wanna do it?)"
"Well, it's not like I have a choice."
"(Yeah. That was a pretty polite way of giving an order.)"
Kojo sighed.
"So....."
"(Your wish is my command.)"
Kojo smiled faintly.
"Okay, so here's the plan," Kojo said, leaning forward.
"Sasha and I are going to be the Vanguard. We're going to go after the enemy leader and take them out as quickly as we can. Chiron, Gabbi, and Eduar are going to help us. Their job is to keep the armed from breaching the city. Koniko and Altair will lead an attack from the wall as well as above the battlefield. Rey, it's your job to defend the archers. Sharone and Lin will go after Marconi. He's the one who betrayed us, and we'll make sure he pays for his crimes," Kojo finished.
The room was silent.
"Some of us didn't get roles," Adriana raised her hand.
"I know. The rest of you guys are to start rebuilding the buildings. We'll be done with everything before lunch. I personally think I'm using too many people. Oh, Adriana, your job is to look after Dona for the entire time. Eden, help her," Kojo said.
"So, any of you have anything against my plan?" he asked.
They looked at each other and shook their heads.
The air crackled with a sinister energy as Echo stepped into the demon realm. The demon realm sat outside of eternity and was on a higher plane than the Nexus world or any of its variants, existing beyond the concept of time. Lesser beings who somehow managed to get to any of these planes would lose their minds while their bodies crumbled. Echo, however, was made by Faust to not only survive the higher dimensionality but also comprehend his surroundings. This was all due to operating on him with parts of demons and Maajin as well as using his redefinition. He specifically made Echo as a weapon to take out Nefaria since he couldn't know her true name and therefore understand her.
Echo looked around. The landscape was a stark contrast to the serene human world, a twisted, infernal expanse of molten rock and jagged peaks. Shrieks of unknown beasts could be heard in the distance, and the shadows moved as if alive. Echo turned his attention to a shadow that appeared to be moving closer.
A figure emerged from the shadows, Xappa, a demon of immense power and ancient lineage.
"You're not welcome here," Xappa's voice echoed, a chilling whisper that seemed to pierce the very soul.
"If you'd be so kind as to go back the way you came, I'd overlook your invasion and let you leave with your life and one of your limbs."
Echo's mask cracked open, revealing a sinister smile of yellowed, uneven teeth. A deafening scream erupted from his lips, a sonic blast aimed at the demon, tore through the landscape. The earth trembled, and a volcano in the distance spewed molten lava into the ground. The crack on Echo's mask healed, leaving no trace of the terrifying power it had unleashed.
Xappa stepped out of the dust. He sighed, unimpressed, and brushed off the dust from his attire.
"If that's the best you can do, then you'll never defeat the Newborns, let alone a First Order Rank 2 demon like me," he sneered.
With a flick of his wrist, black chains materialized from his skin, writhing and snapping like venomous snakes striking with blinding speed. Echo parried the attacks, his movements fluid and precise. But looked down and saw his arm was missing. He looked up just as Xappa's fist connected with his face, cracking the mask and knocking him back. Xappa's chains wrapped around him, and he was pulled back into a knee that sent him flying into the molten magma. He got to his feet, the cracks in the mask healing. Xappa sighed.
"This is taking too much time. I need to prepare a glass of wine before she returns."