Aurora watched Alice, whose gaze was focused on the food on the table.
Different plates of food with different types of ingredients were on the table next to very different salads.
Some of the dishes were strange, it wasn’t just that they were from magical creatures from Terra nova; they were literally bizarre.
There was a purple tentacle sweetened with sauce and decorated with small red leaves that were edible.
Unlike her, whose gaze was quite hard when looking at that kind of dish, Alice was looking with deep attention.
A little more and she was starting to drool....
“Come on, you can eat. I had a hard time ordering these ingredients, but they finally arrived,” Siba said, taking off the apron he was wearing.
“Don’t eat it looks disgusting,” Alros muttered with a strange look without hiding the disgust.
In his small section, he had more sophisticated and delicate dishes, nicely arranged and aesthetically appetizing.
“You only live once, you have to try it,” Meden said with a bright look and when her gaze crossed Alice’s, they both sat down at the table and cut a portion of that dish.
Aurora watched as her friend ate as if she was famished, part of a tentacle whose color was purple.
“It’s delicious...” Alice muttered as she continued eating, getting Siba to laugh pleasantly.
Today was a rather complicated mission that ended successfully, so they had this little meeting between captains.
Aurora sat near her friend, choosing traditional dishes that looked more normal.
“Do you want to try it?” Alice asked, cutting a piece of the part of the tentacle that had been served.
She didn’t deny that the aroma was delicious, but the sight and knowing where it came from was what made her want to refuse.
But looking into Alice’s sparkling eyes as if this was an important gift from her, Aurora decided to try it and...
“Strangely, it tastes better than I had thought it would,” Aurora murmured honestly, savoring the sweetness and delicacy of the meat.
“I won’t fall into that trap,” Alros said, refusing to taste it.
Aurora laughed and cut a piece of that strange food.
“When people overcome the visual impact of a meal, they will realize that there are greater delicacies than they might think,” Alice announced with a serious look.
The tone and expression managed to make her look slightly mature and knowledgeable as a person who had tasted too many delicacies... However, that she had a piece of meat on her fork totally diminished that image of wisdom.
“Wise words,” Meden confirmed and with a laugh, she specified. “The best thing to go with this meal, Is drinking!”
With those words, she pulled out a medium-sized keg of beer from her space ring, managing to get strange looks from everyone.
“Although we are not working, we have to be on guard for any situation,” Siba said in a serious tone.
They were in their camp, which meant that at this point they would have to be on guard even though they weren’t ‘working’ directly.
However, Meden gave her a slightly dismissive look.
“Even if I’m totally drunk, I’ll know you from a demon. Don’t worry.” Meden replied with a hint of mockery.
Siba’s expression quivered, not knowing how to respond.
She was making it clear with those words that even drunk she could act completely normal... Being able to tell the difference, something most people couldn’t tell the difference.
The simple difference between a human from the fire lands with a demon.
“This is nothing, once...”
Telling her drunken tales with some pride, Aurora’s expression quivered as she listened to rather peculiar stories.
At over a hundred years old, Meden was a dwarf who had lived quite a bit, and even though she was at S-Rank, she had actually participated in all sorts of situations.
In some of which she was not completely sober.
Attacking a bandit camp, traveling through huge tunnels teeming with subway creatures, participating in a war as a mercenary.
“Not all dwarves are like Meden. She’s a walking stereotype,” Alros reported, eating calmly.
“Bah, look who’s talking. Another stereotype. A haughty and dainty elf. Go on, tell them that elves are the best, thus confirming my words.” Meden growled as she shook her tankard with ale.
Alros, who was eating elegantly as if this was an important dinner, frowned and, wiping his mouth delicately, replied. “From what I see, my beliefs are getting more and more confirmed.”
They both looked at each other and chuckled.
“Just ignore them. I’ve seen them fighting for years and they never get aggressive,” Siba said to Aurora and Alice, who looked on, especially the former, as the latter was engrossed in the food and, seeing their curiosity, explained. “Although the three of us are captains, we’ve been a Falion Empire team for a while.”
Aurora nodded in slight understanding.
Even though she had been with them a week ago, she didn’t know them very well, but she had felt that the group had known each other for a while.
Before Aurora could continue listening to any more Terra nova stories, the entrance opened and Urfin arrived.
“Oh, feasting!” He exclaimed and with a smile, commented. “It remains for you guys to invite your boss. Then we’ll arrange.”
The comment sounded grumpy, but his smile was very noticeable.
“I thought you’d be working late,” Meden replied, passing him a tankard of beer.
A lot was going on today and Urfin, as her boss, was overworked.
He was practically second in command of the Falion Empire’s forces and also held the position of Greece’s Chief of National Security.
It was obvious that he would have a lot of work, despite having administrative subordinates.
“Yes, I’m still on the job. I won’t drink, at least not until I finish what I have to do,” Urfin said and with a long sigh, looked at Aurora and asked. “Sorry to bother you now, but can you come?”
Seeing that he was very busy, Aurora stood up quickly, swallowing her food.
“I’ll try to save you something for when you come back,” Said Alice, turning down Urfin, who also seemed to be inviting her.
Aurora shook her head with a smile and then followed Urfin out of the room.
That dwarf was smaller than her, but his stocky build and long braided beard gave him a touch of seriousness that was elevated at this moment that he had a solemn expression.
Noticing that expression, Aurora followed him as if she were a silent and professional subordinate.
Leaving the building they were in, they headed for the nearby building where the command center was located.
Even though it was night, many soldiers were patrolling the area along with drones, and radars were installed everywhere.
Sensors in the air, on the ground, and under the ground, and even space detectors that slowed down movements.
In general, space movements throughout Constanta City were completely blocked and only the military was allowed to use it, following some security restrictions.
Space mages had to go through the headquarters to go through a procedure to allow them to freely use space magic, and it was the same with objects that used long-distance space movements.
What was sought was that the goblins, even if they had space mages or artifacts with the same capability, would not flee far.
“We’re about to meet with the higher-ups,” Urfin reported as he realized he was distracted, he let out a long sigh and stated. “Sorry, today took me by surprise.”
Aurora knew he was referring to the lack of information that led to everyone being ambushed.
“We were all taken by surprise...” Aurora replied, nodding in compression.
As someone who had led missions, she knew the difficulty of not having information and the problems they could cause.
The members of the raid blamed the ‘boss’ who should be in charge of everything, but Aurora knew all too well the difficulty of being in that position.
That dwarf gave her a half-smile at her response.
“I’ve been about five years working on the ground. I’ve learned to use technology to get around. Radars, drones, or sensors of all kinds, but today we were tricked by those creatures,” Urfin said as he kept moving.
As if he couldn’t contain his slight annoyance, he continued.
“I am from the Dwarf Kingdom under the Falion Empire. We are an autonomous territory and live within high mountains. Our cities spread within them, connected by huge tunnels and subway roads,” Urfin reported and with a serious tone, he commented. “Now those creatures ambushed us from beneath the earth.”
The annoyance was directed at himself.
For a dwarf who had lived underground, where his race had built cities and roads to connect it... It was ‘annoying’ that they were ambushed using the earth.
It could be said that this was a successful mission, as they managed to capture the S-Rank, but in another sense, it was a hard blow.
The goblins were not just hiding in the buildings, but when they raised the barrier to hide, they did so underground.
It wasn’t as if they had overlooked it, but after preliminary explorations and finding nothing using the various methods of investigations, they put it aside.
“For two SS Rank and top-quality equipment to have missed them. It shows they have methods of concealment better than we had expected,” Aurora commented in a serious tone.
She wasn’t trying to comfort Urfin; she was giving her analysis of the situation, following what she had experienced.
“Yes, they have strange methods and mysterious artifacts. Enough to keep a psionic and an SS Rank Archmage from being able to discover it.” Urfin said as they arrived at the room where the meeting was to be held.
The private command room was of medium size and there was only a large table in the middle where the map of Constance City was projected, along with its surroundings.
The map was updating in real time, marking targets that the drones or satellites were observing.
This time it was also showing what was underground faster and faster, giving a 3D view of the city and everything beneath it.
While the subways and sewers had been protected before today, it was now better scanned.
Aurora could see that below where the abyssal portal was, several tunnels extended, while the radars detected large subway caves.
They were fuzzy, but they were present, proving that the goblins were hiding underground.
“I don’t think they know about Terran technology, but it seems to be another issue. Maybe where they came from, they lived that way,” Urfin commented with a complete lack of assurance.
That was a possibility.
Aurora, who had seen who had come out of the abyssal portal, knew that the baby goblins and their mothers had not been noticed since they had crossed the portal.
That meant that the families were hidden underground.
Before Urfin could explain further, the door opened, and a young man entered.
With a haughty look and a serious and slightly cold face, Aurora immediately recognized that young man because she had seen him at Emperor Victor’s party during the international tournament.
“Theodore Laurent, member of the Executors of the Order and who leads the team under Cardinal Auguste.” Urfin casually introduced the young man.
The young man nodded to Urfin and when he looked at Aurora, he frowned, even though she greeted him with a nod.
“Is the Falion Empire that bad to invite a student?” Theodore asked and with a serious tone, he specified. “What’s going on here is more than just practice.”
Aurora didn’t know if the young man wanted to look for trouble or it was simply his personality to be so direct... Perhaps it was the latter combined with a bit of his own emotions against the empire.
“I was the one who invited her,” Duke Kristoph replied as space distorted surrounding the room.
Aurora noticed that the room was moved to an unfamiliar location, as if they were waiting for the two groups.
Duke Kristoph appeared in front of them both.
“Inviting a student is foolish and burdensome.” Theodore pointed out without backing down, even though he was facing Duke Kristoph.
That day of the feast he had argued with Emperor Victor, while Princess Cithrel and Duke Kristoph were present... Aurora realized that the young man was someone with a lot of courage.
“She is not a student. She is a mercenary. We hired her to be Her Highness Cithrel’s guardian,” revealed Duke Kristoph with his cold tone. and looking at the young man’s side, he commented. “Cardinal Auguste had better start the meeting.”
He didn’t sound annoyed and simply explained to avoid any unnecessary mishaps.
Aurora looked in the same direction and her expression quivered as she saw that Cardinal Auguste had just appeared at Theodore’s side.
It was as if he had always been there...
—He used his psionic energy so that you would not perceive him.
Her system gave the basic explanation and although she understood the power of an SS rank, Aurora still found it frightening.
Her senses were sharp, and she trusted her instincts, but now, seeing that this cardinal was hidden practically in front of her without her noticing, she admitted it felt terrifying.
“We must invite the representative on behalf of the guilds and the Romanian government.” Cardinal Auguste said.
“Yes, we must invite him.” Duke Kristoph replied.
For only a brief moment, Aurora felt that those two high-ranking officials did not wish to invite the representative, but she made sense of it.
Unlike the Church of Order, who had an excellent pecking order among their ranks, or the Falion Empire with Greece, whose tasks and jobs were very well divided, Romania was problematic.
After all, the expedition failed and had only turned the leader’s head, leaving the guilds reeling both internally and externally.
It was normal for there to be problems and leadership conflicts.
Duke Kristoph only nodded and after disappearing for a moment, he returned with a man with a friendly smile.
He wore formal clothes, clearly striving with giving a good appearance in front of the powerful.
“Marius Posse. The current leader of the adventurer’s guild, ‘The Custodians’, will be today’s representative,” Reported Duke Kristoph briefly.
That guild was the most powerful guild in Romania... It would be better to say that it was, because it suffered a hard blow when its leader and vice leader, along with several of its members, entered the abyssal portal.
The leader was the one who led the expedition with quite a few members, but that he turned his head... It made it clear that the chances of the others remaining alive were null or ephemeral.
Without giving him time to speak, Duke Kristoph led the way, giving them a signal.
Aurora noticed that the man’s expression trembled, though he hid his emotions behind a smile, which, to her eyes, looked false.
He was not well treated and just as Duke Kristoph had said when he was introduced... He was only the representative of ‘today’.
Opening a portal, the group moved immediately, arriving at a subway corridor of some ancient building.
“Those are the subway halls of the Falion Empire headquarters in Greece,” Urfin calmly informed the guests.
Walking down the hallway, Aurora realized that the ‘medieval’ and ancient feeling was strong, giving the impression of a cold and ancient dungeon beneath some fantasy palace.
Guards began to appear, taking that illusion out of her mind on account of them wearing clothes of different, more modern styles.
Some of these guards were elves and others were humans, the latter being difficult to tell if they were Terranovans or not.
The God of Time and Space connected the two worlds and while at first, the Terranovians came to help the Terrans against the demons, nowadays it was freer.
Merchants and ordinary people could come to this world to wander or explore and even meet old friends or family.
That was why the military forces of the Falion Empire were greatly reduced just to protect Greece.
Though now, with the abyssal portals, things could change.
So, the group made their way to a room, and when Aurora entered, her expression trembled.
Inside the room, several guards were present with cold expressions and they surrounded a goblin, who was trapped in a chair while unconscious.
The goblin was large, making it obvious that he was a hobgoblin and not a ‘medium’, as those in the middle between the ‘little devils’ and the ‘hobgoblin’ were called.
Tall and muscular, the entire face and body were full of wounds, some looking old and some new.
But most disturbing were the tribal tattoos that very few among them had.
“You healed him, eh...” Theodore muttered, looking at the creature in front of them.
“Yes, and we also kept him unconscious, because of his mind being so disturbed, and he made several suicide attempts,” Duke Kristoph explained and after ordering the guards to stand down, he pointed to the walls and commented. “He is bound, but this prison is specially designed to hold individuals of great power. Preventing a valuable prisoner from committing suicide or attempting to escape.”
Aurora, redirecting her gaze to the wall, noticed hundreds of small magic circles overlapping with very different ones, and realized that the overall image created a larger magic circle that took up the entire room.
“Suicide. Those guys are the most troublesome,” Cardinal Auguste muttered and, with a frown, added. “They’re like cultists or members of secret organizations whose members end up dead when they fail their mission.”
That was an explanation for Theodore next to her, but Aurora listened intently.
“Yes, but here, even if he commits suicide, his soul will be kept instead of going through the natural process of this world and allow us to interrogate him.” Duke Kristoph commented, fully activating the prison.
“And can he be revived?” asked Theodore, with serious eyes.
Is it possible to revive a dead person?
That was a topic that would appeal to many people, but in Terra nova, where there were gods and powerful existences, they came up with an answer.
“Yes, as long as his soul does not disappear and you have his body undamaged, you can revive him. You can also revive him as an undead using necromancy. Anyway, it doesn’t matter. I wouldn’t spend the resources to revive a goblin when I can interrogate his soul directly,” Duke Kristoph explained and waving his hand, an icy blast hit the goblin.
With the existence of powerful gods of all kinds, it was clear that a mortal could be helped to revive, but there were conditions and limits.
One that everyone agreed on was that they had to have their soul intact without their soul disappearing or their memories being erased... After all, would a person remain the same person when their memories, personality, and everything that defined them disappeared?
Aurora stopped thinking about it, it wasn’t as if those subjects were within her grasp or she could understand the intricacies of that matter that only a few scholars understood.
Turning her gaze and concentration to the goblin that was about to awaken, Aurora couldn’t help but feel tense knowing what was about to happen.
They were going to communicate with them.
“This is the first time we’ve communicated with someone of such high rank,” Urfin reported quietly.
It was obvious, for some powerful individuals it was easy to capture those of low rank, but they had no information.
Sensing the goblin’s movements, Aurora paid attention and...
“Gururua...” murmured the goblin, getting Aurora’s expression to tremble, realizing that she didn’t understand what it was saying.
The creature’s eyes went from dazed and filled with slight madness, but Cardinal Auguste snapped his fingers and the goblin’s gaze became distracted.
A snap turned into a mental attack that, because of the goblin’s weakened state, it could not resist.
“Someone special is coming today to allow us to communicate without having to resort to psionic or magical telepathy,” Duke Kristoph reported and disappearing the next moment he returned with a woman.
A mature woman in her late forties, her eyes had a touch of wisdom and depth that only someone knowledgeable could have.
The priestess dress was gray with golden embroidery, while on her chest was an open book embroidered by different kinds of threads giving it realism.
In her hands, she carried a thick grimoire with many leaves in it.
“May I present to you Nerea, the High Priestess of the Goddess of Knowledge.” Duke Kristoph said with a distinct hint of respect in his voice.
The High Priestess Nerea gave a gentle nod and opened her grimoire, getting it to float in front of her and using a quill she wrote respectfully on a leaf
“The Goddess of Knowledge has answered me. She will help us understand the language of the goblins,” Reported High Priestess Nerea. afterwards begin to float.
What Nerea had written was a request to help them understand the creature’s language, but the answer was brighter in color and even though Aurora did not know the letters, she could understand the meaning.
I will help you...
—That is the ‘Grimoire of Knowledge’ can be considered a sacred artifact that allows all written questions to reach the Goddess of Knowledge. With such an artifact, believers can make requests and maintain communication.
How does he know?
That was Aurora’s question to her system, but then she fell silent when she realized that this question was silly... After all, her system seemed to know more than it might seem at first glance.
And it was even certain that the internet could find the information, as it didn’t seem to be something that was deeply hidden.
Giving a signal to wake the goblin, Cardinal Auguste snapped his fingers again.
“Gugurua? Guguruaa! Gurururaaa!”
The goblin hesitated as it realized where it was and, as if remembering something, began to let out grunts that sounded angry.
The letters of the grimoire’s response let out more glow and, with a small flurry, the grimoire’s blades fluttered, getting one blade ripped off and soaring with a small spark in its corner.
As it burned through the air, the words gained a greater glow and surrounded the creature.
“Gugur... What... Gugurua... This... Gugu... Happ… Gu… ening.”
Aurora’s eyes widened as the guttural sounds in her ear became understandable to her.
She was hearing it in English, just as she was hearing Akira, even though her friend spoke Japanese.
She had been baptized by the Church of the Goddess of Knowledge, which made it possible to receive the ability to understand languages, but now she felt as if the goddess was adding another language to the list.
However, her excitement didn’t last long, as...
“Damn humans! You bastards! I’ll kill you all! You’ll die!” the creature snarled as its eyes filled with madness and savagery.
“Who are you?” Theodore asked with a serious tone.
The goblin’s expression froze as it heard Theodore’s question... It was clear that whatever the Goddess of Knowledge did allowed the young man’s words to be heard normally by the goblin.
It was a two-way communication.
“You think I’ll tell you! You bastard! You filthy human! You’ll pay! We’ll kill all of you and rape your women in front of you!” the goblin snarled madly and savagely.
Was he exalted?
Being captured by enemies, he was in a very exalted and aggressive state, but to Aurora, if he was calmly wanting to cooperate, then it would be strange.
Still... She had hoped for a little calmer, though she knew that sentiment was too idealistic.
“This will not work, Duke Kristoph. I think more... Drastic measures must be taken.” Said Marius, the representative of the Romanian forces who had been silent until now.
Was he trying to get quick information or by giving his request, was he trying to do what everyone wanted to do?
He was aiming for torture to find out as much information as possible.
“Torture? A medieval method of interrogation,” Duke Kristoph replied in a serious tone.
Approaching the creature, Aurora began to feel a change in Duke Kristoph’s presence and slowly felt... That he was pleasant and trustworthy.
—He is using his ‘Vampiric Charm’ even though you are not the target. Its effect is powerful because of the strength of his bloodline.
Aurora came to her senses when she realized that fact and, looking at the others, she noticed that both Urfin and Theodore gave an acceptable glance at the duke’s back.
It wasn’t desire, but a sense that it was ‘nice’...
Cardinal Auguste waved his hand, and Aurora felt that emotion completely disappear from within her.
He had erased that emotion from the room, leaving only the affected goblin.
“Who are you?” Duke Kristoph asked, allowing everyone to look at the goblin.
The goblin’s eyes were calm and if anyone knew him now, he seemed like a creature that was friendly to the duke, as if he wasn’t actually haunted.
To put it in other words, he was like someone normal.
“I am Ragas, chief among chiefs. Follower of the great Goras and member of the army of Zrag the Savior.” Announced the goblin in a high tone, full of confidence.
Unlike what one would expect from the vampire’s ‘Charm’, there were no stronger emotions than being ‘nice’, which made it seem as if he was talking to a friend and acquaintance.
Chiefs among chiefs... He marked that he was a mid-level ‘chief’, only below two individuals.
“What do they want?” Duke Kristoph asked without changing his expression.
“Survive... All of us have banded together to survive, even if we have to abandon the weak and have to slaughter everything in our path. We must survive!” Replied ‘Ragas’ with a tone full of emotion and madness.
However, in that madness, there was also a strong will to survive that any creature would have when faced with despair.
“What do you want to survive from?” asked Duke Kristoph calmly.
Aurora’s gaze filled with concentration as she looked at the creature.
“From Chaos.”
Aurora watched Alice, whose gaze was focused on the food on the table.
Different plates of food with different types of ingredients were on the table next to very different salads.
Some of the dishes were strange, it wasn’t just that they were from magical creatures from Terra nova; they were literally bizarre.
There was a purple tentacle sweetened with sauce and decorated with small red leaves that were edible.
Unlike her, whose gaze was quite hard when looking at that kind of dish, Alice was looking with deep attention.
A little more and she was starting to drool....
“Come on, you can eat. I had a hard time ordering these ingredients, but they finally arrived,” Siba said, taking off the apron he was wearing.
“Don’t eat it looks disgusting,” Alros muttered with a strange look without hiding the disgust.
In his small section, he had more sophisticated and delicate dishes, nicely arranged and aesthetically appetizing.
“You only live once, you have to try it,” Meden said with a bright look and when her gaze crossed Alice’s, they both sat down at the table and cut a portion of that dish.
Aurora watched as her friend ate as if she was famished, part of a tentacle whose color was purple.
“It’s delicious...” Alice muttered as she continued eating, getting Siba to laugh pleasantly.
Today was a rather complicated mission that ended successfully, so they had this little meeting between captains.
Aurora sat near her friend, choosing traditional dishes that looked more normal.
“Do you want to try it?” Alice asked, cutting a piece of the part of the tentacle that had been served.
She didn’t deny that the aroma was delicious, but the sight and knowing where it came from was what made her want to refuse.
But looking into Alice’s sparkling eyes as if this was an important gift from her, Aurora decided to try it and...
“Strangely, it tastes better than I had thought it would,” Aurora murmured honestly, savoring the sweetness and delicacy of the meat.
“I won’t fall into that trap,” Alros said, refusing to taste it.
Aurora laughed and cut a piece of that strange food.
“When people overcome the visual impact of a meal, they will realize that there are greater delicacies than they might think,” Alice announced with a serious look.
The tone and expression managed to make her look slightly mature and knowledgeable as a person who had tasted too many delicacies... However, that she had a piece of meat on her fork totally diminished that image of wisdom.
“Wise words,” Meden confirmed and with a laugh, she specified. “The best thing to go with this meal, Is drinking!”
With those words, she pulled out a medium-sized keg of beer from her space ring, managing to get strange looks from everyone.
“Although we are not working, we have to be on guard for any situation,” Siba said in a serious tone.
They were in their camp, which meant that at this point they would have to be on guard even though they weren’t ‘working’ directly.
However, Meden gave her a slightly dismissive look.
“Even if I’m totally drunk, I’ll know you from a demon. Don’t worry.” Meden replied with a hint of mockery.
Siba’s expression quivered, not knowing how to respond.
She was making it clear with those words that even drunk she could act completely normal... Being able to tell the difference, something most people couldn’t tell the difference.
The simple difference between a human from the fire lands with a demon.
“This is nothing, once...”
Telling her drunken tales with some pride, Aurora’s expression quivered as she listened to rather peculiar stories.
At over a hundred years old, Meden was a dwarf who had lived quite a bit, and even though she was at S-Rank, she had actually participated in all sorts of situations.
In some of which she was not completely sober.
Attacking a bandit camp, traveling through huge tunnels teeming with subway creatures, participating in a war as a mercenary.
“Not all dwarves are like Meden. She’s a walking stereotype,” Alros reported, eating calmly.
“Bah, look who’s talking. Another stereotype. A haughty and dainty elf. Go on, tell them that elves are the best, thus confirming my words.” Meden growled as she shook her tankard with ale.
Alros, who was eating elegantly as if this was an important dinner, frowned and, wiping his mouth delicately, replied. “From what I see, my beliefs are getting more and more confirmed.”
They both looked at each other and chuckled.
“Just ignore them. I’ve seen them fighting for years and they never get aggressive,” Siba said to Aurora and Alice, who looked on, especially the former, as the latter was engrossed in the food and, seeing their curiosity, explained. “Although the three of us are captains, we’ve been a Falion Empire team for a while.”
Aurora nodded in slight understanding.
Even though she had been with them a week ago, she didn’t know them very well, but she had felt that the group had known each other for a while.
Before Aurora could continue listening to any more Terra nova stories, the entrance opened and Urfin arrived.
“Oh, feasting!” He exclaimed and with a smile, commented. “It remains for you guys to invite your boss. Then we’ll arrange.”
The comment sounded grumpy, but his smile was very noticeable.
“I thought you’d be working late,” Meden replied, passing him a tankard of beer.
A lot was going on today and Urfin, as her boss, was overworked.
He was practically second in command of the Falion Empire’s forces and also held the position of Greece’s Chief of National Security.
It was obvious that he would have a lot of work, despite having administrative subordinates.
“Yes, I’m still on the job. I won’t drink, at least not until I finish what I have to do,” Urfin said and with a long sigh, looked at Aurora and asked. “Sorry to bother you now, but can you come?”
Seeing that he was very busy, Aurora stood up quickly, swallowing her food.
“I’ll try to save you something for when you come back,” Said Alice, turning down Urfin, who also seemed to be inviting her.
Aurora shook her head with a smile and then followed Urfin out of the room.
That dwarf was smaller than her, but his stocky build and long braided beard gave him a touch of seriousness that was elevated at this moment that he had a solemn expression.
Noticing that expression, Aurora followed him as if she were a silent and professional subordinate.
Leaving the building they were in, they headed for the nearby building where the command center was located.
Even though it was night, many soldiers were patrolling the area along with drones, and radars were installed everywhere.
Sensors in the air, on the ground, and under the ground, and even space detectors that slowed down movements.
In general, space movements throughout Constanta City were completely blocked and only the military was allowed to use it, following some security restrictions.
Space mages had to go through the headquarters to go through a procedure to allow them to freely use space magic, and it was the same with objects that used long-distance space movements.
What was sought was that the goblins, even if they had space mages or artifacts with the same capability, would not flee far.
“We’re about to meet with the higher-ups,” Urfin reported as he realized he was distracted, he let out a long sigh and stated. “Sorry, today took me by surprise.”
Aurora knew he was referring to the lack of information that led to everyone being ambushed.
“We were all taken by surprise...” Aurora replied, nodding in compression.
As someone who had led missions, she knew the difficulty of not having information and the problems they could cause.
The members of the raid blamed the ‘boss’ who should be in charge of everything, but Aurora knew all too well the difficulty of being in that position.
That dwarf gave her a half-smile at her response.
“I’ve been about five years working on the ground. I’ve learned to use technology to get around. Radars, drones, or sensors of all kinds, but today we were tricked by those creatures,” Urfin said as he kept moving.
As if he couldn’t contain his slight annoyance, he continued.
“I am from the Dwarf Kingdom under the Falion Empire. We are an autonomous territory and live within high mountains. Our cities spread within them, connected by huge tunnels and subway roads,” Urfin reported and with a serious tone, he commented. “Now those creatures ambushed us from beneath the earth.”
The annoyance was directed at himself.
For a dwarf who had lived underground, where his race had built cities and roads to connect it... It was ‘annoying’ that they were ambushed using the earth.
It could be said that this was a successful mission, as they managed to capture the S-Rank, but in another sense, it was a hard blow.
The goblins were not just hiding in the buildings, but when they raised the barrier to hide, they did so underground.
It wasn’t as if they had overlooked it, but after preliminary explorations and finding nothing using the various methods of investigations, they put it aside.
“For two SS Rank and top-quality equipment to have missed them. It shows they have methods of concealment better than we had expected,” Aurora commented in a serious tone.
She wasn’t trying to comfort Urfin; she was giving her analysis of the situation, following what she had experienced.
“Yes, they have strange methods and mysterious artifacts. Enough to keep a psionic and an SS Rank Archmage from being able to discover it.” Urfin said as they arrived at the room where the meeting was to be held.
The private command room was of medium size and there was only a large table in the middle where the map of Constance City was projected, along with its surroundings.
The map was updating in real time, marking targets that the drones or satellites were observing.
This time it was also showing what was underground faster and faster, giving a 3D view of the city and everything beneath it.
While the subways and sewers had been protected before today, it was now better scanned.
Aurora could see that below where the abyssal portal was, several tunnels extended, while the radars detected large subway caves.
They were fuzzy, but they were present, proving that the goblins were hiding underground.
“I don’t think they know about Terran technology, but it seems to be another issue. Maybe where they came from, they lived that way,” Urfin commented with a complete lack of assurance.
That was a possibility.
Aurora, who had seen who had come out of the abyssal portal, knew that the baby goblins and their mothers had not been noticed since they had crossed the portal.
That meant that the families were hidden underground.
Before Urfin could explain further, the door opened, and a young man entered.
With a haughty look and a serious and slightly cold face, Aurora immediately recognized that young man because she had seen him at Emperor Victor’s party during the international tournament.
“Theodore Laurent, member of the Executors of the Order and who leads the team under Cardinal Auguste.” Urfin casually introduced the young man.
The young man nodded to Urfin and when he looked at Aurora, he frowned, even though she greeted him with a nod.
“Is the Falion Empire that bad to invite a student?” Theodore asked and with a serious tone, he specified. “What’s going on here is more than just practice.”
Aurora didn’t know if the young man wanted to look for trouble or it was simply his personality to be so direct... Perhaps it was the latter combined with a bit of his own emotions against the empire.
“I was the one who invited her,” Duke Kristoph replied as space distorted surrounding the room.
Aurora noticed that the room was moved to an unfamiliar location, as if they were waiting for the two groups.
Duke Kristoph appeared in front of them both.
“Inviting a student is foolish and burdensome.” Theodore pointed out without backing down, even though he was facing Duke Kristoph.
That day of the feast he had argued with Emperor Victor, while Princess Cithrel and Duke Kristoph were present... Aurora realized that the young man was someone with a lot of courage.
“She is not a student. She is a mercenary. We hired her to be Her Highness Cithrel’s guardian,” revealed Duke Kristoph with his cold tone. and looking at the young man’s side, he commented. “Cardinal Auguste had better start the meeting.”
He didn’t sound annoyed and simply explained to avoid any unnecessary mishaps.
Aurora looked in the same direction and her expression quivered as she saw that Cardinal Auguste had just appeared at Theodore’s side.
It was as if he had always been there...
—He used his psionic energy so that you would not perceive him.
Her system gave the basic explanation and although she understood the power of an SS rank, Aurora still found it frightening.
Her senses were sharp, and she trusted her instincts, but now, seeing that this cardinal was hidden practically in front of her without her noticing, she admitted it felt terrifying.
“We must invite the representative on behalf of the guilds and the Romanian government.” Cardinal Auguste said.
“Yes, we must invite him.” Duke Kristoph replied.
For only a brief moment, Aurora felt that those two high-ranking officials did not wish to invite the representative, but she made sense of it.
Unlike the Church of Order, who had an excellent pecking order among their ranks, or the Falion Empire with Greece, whose tasks and jobs were very well divided, Romania was problematic.
After all, the expedition failed and had only turned the leader’s head, leaving the guilds reeling both internally and externally.
It was normal for there to be problems and leadership conflicts.
Duke Kristoph only nodded and after disappearing for a moment, he returned with a man with a friendly smile.
He wore formal clothes, clearly striving with giving a good appearance in front of the powerful.
“Marius Posse. The current leader of the adventurer’s guild, ‘The Custodians’, will be today’s representative,” Reported Duke Kristoph briefly.
That guild was the most powerful guild in Romania... It would be better to say that it was, because it suffered a hard blow when its leader and vice leader, along with several of its members, entered the abyssal portal.
The leader was the one who led the expedition with quite a few members, but that he turned his head... It made it clear that the chances of the others remaining alive were null or ephemeral.
Without giving him time to speak, Duke Kristoph led the way, giving them a signal.
Aurora noticed that the man’s expression trembled, though he hid his emotions behind a smile, which, to her eyes, looked false.
He was not well treated and just as Duke Kristoph had said when he was introduced... He was only the representative of ‘today’.
Opening a portal, the group moved immediately, arriving at a subway corridor of some ancient building.
“Those are the subway halls of the Falion Empire headquarters in Greece,” Urfin calmly informed the guests.
Walking down the hallway, Aurora realized that the ‘medieval’ and ancient feeling was strong, giving the impression of a cold and ancient dungeon beneath some fantasy palace.
Guards began to appear, taking that illusion out of her mind on account of them wearing clothes of different, more modern styles.
Some of these guards were elves and others were humans, the latter being difficult to tell if they were Terranovans or not.
The God of Time and Space connected the two worlds and while at first, the Terranovians came to help the Terrans against the demons, nowadays it was freer.
Merchants and ordinary people could come to this world to wander or explore and even meet old friends or family.
That was why the military forces of the Falion Empire were greatly reduced just to protect Greece.
Though now, with the abyssal portals, things could change.
So, the group made their way to a room, and when Aurora entered, her expression trembled.
Inside the room, several guards were present with cold expressions and they surrounded a goblin, who was trapped in a chair while unconscious.
The goblin was large, making it obvious that he was a hobgoblin and not a ‘medium’, as those in the middle between the ‘little devils’ and the ‘hobgoblin’ were called.
Tall and muscular, the entire face and body were full of wounds, some looking old and some new.
But most disturbing were the tribal tattoos that very few among them had.
“You healed him, eh...” Theodore muttered, looking at the creature in front of them.
“Yes, and we also kept him unconscious, because of his mind being so disturbed, and he made several suicide attempts,” Duke Kristoph explained and after ordering the guards to stand down, he pointed to the walls and commented. “He is bound, but this prison is specially designed to hold individuals of great power. Preventing a valuable prisoner from committing suicide or attempting to escape.”
Aurora, redirecting her gaze to the wall, noticed hundreds of small magic circles overlapping with very different ones, and realized that the overall image created a larger magic circle that took up the entire room.
“Suicide. Those guys are the most troublesome,” Cardinal Auguste muttered and, with a frown, added. “They’re like cultists or members of secret organizations whose members end up dead when they fail their mission.”
That was an explanation for Theodore next to her, but Aurora listened intently.
“Yes, but here, even if he commits suicide, his soul will be kept instead of going through the natural process of this world and allow us to interrogate him.” Duke Kristoph commented, fully activating the prison.
“And can he be revived?” asked Theodore, with serious eyes.
Is it possible to revive a dead person?
That was a topic that would appeal to many people, but in Terra nova, where there were gods and powerful existences, they came up with an answer.
“Yes, as long as his soul does not disappear and you have his body undamaged, you can revive him. You can also revive him as an undead using necromancy. Anyway, it doesn’t matter. I wouldn’t spend the resources to revive a goblin when I can interrogate his soul directly,” Duke Kristoph explained and waving his hand, an icy blast hit the goblin.
With the existence of powerful gods of all kinds, it was clear that a mortal could be helped to revive, but there were conditions and limits.
One that everyone agreed on was that they had to have their soul intact without their soul disappearing or their memories being erased... After all, would a person remain the same person when their memories, personality, and everything that defined them disappeared?
Aurora stopped thinking about it, it wasn’t as if those subjects were within her grasp or she could understand the intricacies of that matter that only a few scholars understood.
Turning her gaze and concentration to the goblin that was about to awaken, Aurora couldn’t help but feel tense knowing what was about to happen.
They were going to communicate with them.
“This is the first time we’ve communicated with someone of such high rank,” Urfin reported quietly.
It was obvious, for some powerful individuals it was easy to capture those of low rank, but they had no information.
Sensing the goblin’s movements, Aurora paid attention and...
“Gururua...” murmured the goblin, getting Aurora’s expression to tremble, realizing that she didn’t understand what it was saying.
The creature’s eyes went from dazed and filled with slight madness, but Cardinal Auguste snapped his fingers and the goblin’s gaze became distracted.
A snap turned into a mental attack that, because of the goblin’s weakened state, it could not resist.
“Someone special is coming today to allow us to communicate without having to resort to psionic or magical telepathy,” Duke Kristoph reported and disappearing the next moment he returned with a woman.
A mature woman in her late forties, her eyes had a touch of wisdom and depth that only someone knowledgeable could have.
The priestess dress was gray with golden embroidery, while on her chest was an open book embroidered by different kinds of threads giving it realism.
In her hands, she carried a thick grimoire with many leaves in it.
“May I present to you Nerea, the High Priestess of the Goddess of Knowledge.” Duke Kristoph said with a distinct hint of respect in his voice.
The High Priestess Nerea gave a gentle nod and opened her grimoire, getting it to float in front of her and using a quill she wrote respectfully on a leaf
“The Goddess of Knowledge has answered me. She will help us understand the language of the goblins,” Reported High Priestess Nerea. afterwards begin to float.
What Nerea had written was a request to help them understand the creature’s language, but the answer was brighter in color and even though Aurora did not know the letters, she could understand the meaning.
I will help you...
—That is the ‘Grimoire of Knowledge’ can be considered a sacred artifact that allows all written questions to reach the Goddess of Knowledge. With such an artifact, believers can make requests and maintain communication.
How does he know?
That was Aurora’s question to her system, but then she fell silent when she realized that this question was silly... After all, her system seemed to know more than it might seem at first glance.
And it was even certain that the internet could find the information, as it didn’t seem to be something that was deeply hidden.
Giving a signal to wake the goblin, Cardinal Auguste snapped his fingers again.
“Gugurua? Guguruaa! Gurururaaa!”
The goblin hesitated as it realized where it was and, as if remembering something, began to let out grunts that sounded angry.
The letters of the grimoire’s response let out more glow and, with a small flurry, the grimoire’s blades fluttered, getting one blade ripped off and soaring with a small spark in its corner.
As it burned through the air, the words gained a greater glow and surrounded the creature.
“Gugur... What... Gugurua... This... Gugu... Happ… Gu… ening.”
Aurora’s eyes widened as the guttural sounds in her ear became understandable to her.
She was hearing it in English, just as she was hearing Akira, even though her friend spoke Japanese.
She had been baptized by the Church of the Goddess of Knowledge, which made it possible to receive the ability to understand languages, but now she felt as if the goddess was adding another language to the list.
However, her excitement didn’t last long, as...
“Damn humans! You bastards! I’ll kill you all! You’ll die!” the creature snarled as its eyes filled with madness and savagery.
“Who are you?” Theodore asked with a serious tone.
The goblin’s expression froze as it heard Theodore’s question... It was clear that whatever the Goddess of Knowledge did allowed the young man’s words to be heard normally by the goblin.
It was a two-way communication.
“You think I’ll tell you! You bastard! You filthy human! You’ll pay! We’ll kill all of you and rape your women in front of you!” the goblin snarled madly and savagely.
Was he exalted?
Being captured by enemies, he was in a very exalted and aggressive state, but to Aurora, if he was calmly wanting to cooperate, then it would be strange.
Still... She had hoped for a little calmer, though she knew that sentiment was too idealistic.
“This will not work, Duke Kristoph. I think more... Drastic measures must be taken.” Said Marius, the representative of the Romanian forces who had been silent until now.
Was he trying to get quick information or by giving his request, was he trying to do what everyone wanted to do?
He was aiming for torture to find out as much information as possible.
“Torture? A medieval method of interrogation,” Duke Kristoph replied in a serious tone.
Approaching the creature, Aurora began to feel a change in Duke Kristoph’s presence and slowly felt... That he was pleasant and trustworthy.
—He is using his ‘Vampiric Charm’ even though you are not the target. Its effect is powerful because of the strength of his bloodline.
Aurora came to her senses when she realized that fact and, looking at the others, she noticed that both Urfin and Theodore gave an acceptable glance at the duke’s back.
It wasn’t desire, but a sense that it was ‘nice’...
Cardinal Auguste waved his hand, and Aurora felt that emotion completely disappear from within her.
He had erased that emotion from the room, leaving only the affected goblin.
“Who are you?” Duke Kristoph asked, allowing everyone to look at the goblin.
The goblin’s eyes were calm and if anyone knew him now, he seemed like a creature that was friendly to the duke, as if he wasn’t actually haunted.
To put it in other words, he was like someone normal.
“I am Ragas, chief among chiefs. Follower of the great Goras and member of the army of Zrag the Savior.” Announced the goblin in a high tone, full of confidence.
Unlike what one would expect from the vampire’s ‘Charm’, there were no stronger emotions than being ‘nice’, which made it seem as if he was talking to a friend and acquaintance.
Chiefs among chiefs... He marked that he was a mid-level ‘chief’, only below two individuals.
“What do they want?” Duke Kristoph asked without changing his expression.
“Survive... All of us have banded together to survive, even if we have to abandon the weak and have to slaughter everything in our path. We must survive!” Replied ‘Ragas’ with a tone full of emotion and madness.
However, in that madness, there was also a strong will to survive that any creature would have when faced with despair.
“What do you want to survive from?” asked Duke Kristoph calmly.
Aurora’s gaze filled with concentration as she looked at the creature.
“From Chaos.”
