As Thomas drifted off to sleep there was a meeting taking place between the leaders of multiple countries throughout the world. The king of Reykhoten stood in a room within his castle and faced a group of mirrors. Reflected on each mirror was not his own reflection but the reflections of other men of various ages. Each exuded a feeling of nobility and power. It had taken some time to get this gathering together but now that it had happened there was only one topic of discussion. The king of Reykhoten addressed the gathering, "As I'm sure you are all aware of the anomaly there is no need for me to explain it. My question is, does anyone know what caused it or where it originated from?"

The majority of the leaders shook their heads, one of the younger appearing kings spoke up, "The ripple is too large for us to accurately judge where it truly originated from. Though it's caused no negative effects some religious groups are calling it a sign of the end times. Most citizens are ignoring them as being crazy but there is growing unrest the longer we are unable to figure it out."

Another leader wearing stark white robes and appearing like a religious leader spoke up in a solemn tone, "Small religions believe that everything is a sign of the end times. They should be ignored or dealt with, harshly. None of my oracles have received any messages from our God saying the world is ending."

The other leaders looked relieved at this. The religious-looking man was the leader of a country that only allowed a single religion within its borders. As the highest holy official, he had access to avenues of intelligence gathering that few kingdoms could replicate. After all, who would know more than the gods themselves? The religious leader continued, "That is not to say that the event is a good sign. Several of my oracles did receive a message from our beloved God. The message was the same for every one of them, 'He is free.'. Unfortunately, we do not have a single clue about who 'he' is."

Though the religious leader did not mention the name of his god everyone gathered was well aware that he followed Azalanta the goddess of light and virtue. He would never tell a lie even if his life was threatened. If he so much as told a white lie his god would instantly smite him and turn his powerful body to ashes. Though there were loopholes such as simply not revealing any information, if he said something it was instantly verified as the truth if he did not die. The other leaders were silent as they mulled over what they heard.

After a few tense moments of silence, the king of the small country of Lodoy spoke, "Whoever 'he' is he must be exceedingly powerful to cause a ripple in the very fabric of the world with his arrival." As he spoke his youngish looking face looked pensive as he said, "Is it possible that 'he' is Xogath?"

Immediately the leaders paled at the mention of the name before one of the older kings shouted, "Impossible! Xogath was killed more than a thousand years ago. His body was utterly destroyed by the hero of the age, Arthur, and his very soul was sealed deep within the earth by a thousand great wizards and another ten thousand high priests! Even if his soul could somehow be freed from its prison his body has long since been reduced to less than dust by the passage of time. With his body gone and his soul trapped for so long, even if it were to escape from its prison it would be so weak that a single wave of any of our hands could dissipate it. It would definitely not be powerful enough to cause the anomaly."

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The other leaders seemed to agree with what was said, still, they weren't entirely convinced. Nearly a thousand years ago Xogath had been the fiercest king of the demons and had led them on a bloody crusade that plunged the entire world into darkness and drove all other races to the brink of destruction. If he had really returned then the world was heading for another dark age. Seeing the unconvinced looks on the faces of the other leaders the older king continued, "Even if it is him, he will face defeat once again. Back then our ancestors only managed to summon a handful of heroes. They led the counter-attack and fought their way to Xogath's throne and slaughtered him. Right now there are at least several million heroes that have been summoned so far. Additionally, all of them are immortals. With such a massive army of immortal heroes, how could Xogath pose any threat at all?"

The other leaders immediately brightened at those words. It was true, with so many immortals all growing stronger by the day what did that have to fear even if Xogath had returned? All that awaited the king of the demons was another brutal death. The king of Reykhoten agreed and spoke, "This is true. Many of us have already begun nurturing these immortal heroes to have loyalty to our kingdoms. We should all increase our efforts and build even more loyalty within them."

The other leaders all agreed. The heroes were rather odd beings that seemed to be willing to do anything to earn a few gold coins or a piece of equipment. The bribes that the kingdoms offered to them seemed to make them exceptionally happy. No matter how dangerous the mission the summoned people were always willing to give it a try. With their immortality, they didn't fear death and would even rush into the jaws of death for the promise of a handful of gold coins. All the leaders knew this and had been using it to their advantage for some time now. All of their kingdoms had seen a marked decrease in annoying monsters and animals while the local dungeons had been raided on a scale never seen before. Every kingdom was profiting from the hard work of the summoned people immensely.

After speaking for a while longer but being unable to come up with anything concrete the kings ended their conference. The king of Reykhoten left the special room and addressed one of his loyal retainers waiting outside, "Pass down the word that we will be increasing the number of missions for the summoned heroes to undertake. List additional missions offering rewards for the killing of demons, unholy magic users, and anything else related to the powers of darkness. Any group or individual that manages to kill a demon with the rank of general or higher is to immediately receive a mark of nobility and be granted a small plot of land within the kingdom."

The retainer immediately clasped his fist to his chest, "As you order my king."

Once the retainer left the king moved through the palace and made his way to his private quarters. His guards took up positions beside the door and stood at attention. No one would be allowed to disturb the king. Once the door closed the king made his way to a bookshelf and pulled on one of the books. With a click, the bookshelf began to swing out to reveal a small room with nothing inside of it but a pitch black mirror made of obsidian. The king stepped into the room and knelt before the mirror to wait in silence.

After some time passed there was a ripple on the surface of the mirror and a woman appeared. She was hauntingly beautiful, though if Thomas were to see her he would know who she was with only a single look. The similarities between her and Selena left no doubt that this woman was Selena's mother. The still kneeling king spoke, "My Queen."

The woman within the mirror smiled at the kneeling king. It was not a warm smile and did not reach her eyes. It was a smile that would send shivers down the spines of anyone who saw it. With a soft and elegant voice she spoke, "My servant, how did the meeting go?"