In a dimly lit room seated on a table there can be seen thirteen figures. Twelve of the figures are wearing armored bodysuits with helmets. On their left side a roman numeral can be spotted ranging from “I” to “XII”. In the font there was an imposing man with gray hair and his face full of wrinkles. The room had no windows and in the center of the table a hologram with the map of Zapotes City could be seen.
“Excellent job, Two.” The old man said. “We were able to steal Saintess Amelia’s Staff from the temple thanks to your distraction. Eleven and Twelve, thanks for sneaking into the temple to steal the staff.”
“You are welcome, sir.” A man in a tan bodysuit with the roman numeral XI said.
“My please, sir.” A woman in a pink bodysuit with a roman numeral XII said.
“I never fail any mission, Leader.” Two replied. “Besides, it was fun. I got a good warm-up exercise.”
“How was Joseph’s son, will he be trouble for us in the future like his older cousin.” The Leader asked.
“Everyone knows he has no Magical Power and his physical capabilities are nothing special. We only have to worry about the four candidates for the Deus family head.” Two responded as he hid his true evaluation of Oswald.
“For your own good I hope Amy is unharmed.” The man whose orange bodysuit had the roman numeral IV spoke.
“You know I wouldn’t dare letting your daughter come into danger, Four.” Two said. “Shouldn't you also be concerned about your niece, Hannah? Poor girl losing both of her parents and is now stuck with an uncaring uncle.” Two responded with a hint of anger. “How are you going to face your sister if you treat her daughter like this?”
“Hannah is doing alright. I mean she is showing such great promise as a fighter. She is an excellent tank and has great magic control.” Four responded.
“Why did you have to tell Hannah that you are part of the Lunarian Rankers, eh?” Two questioned with an angry tone. “I bet you are not even planning on telling your daughter. Are you trying to keep your good person act infront of her?”
“You have no right to speak about those matters, Two.” Four argued back. “You were simply my deceased brother-in-law's friend. You’re nothing to Hannah, I on the other hand am her uncle.”
“STOP THIS AT ONCE!!!” The woman with the roman numeral I on her white bodysuit yelled. “This is not the place for your personal issues. Now father, continue with the meeting.”
“Thanks, One.” The Leader responded. “Our next goal is to assassinate some of the high ranking Holy Knights. Our operation will take place during the Deus family tournament, that way the Church won’t have immediate assistance from the Deus family.”
“Allow me to kill the Holy Knight Captain, sir.” The voice of an old woman could be heard, she was wearing a black bodysuit with the roman numeral VII.
“It’s not yet the time of his death, Seven. Have patience.” The Leader responded. “Now moving on to the next topic. How is the Moon Guild doing?”
“The Adventures are doing an excellent job of gathering resources from the dungeons. We have a steady flow of income. No one suspects we are the ones in charge of it. Only the top administrators know this.” A woman in a yellow bodysuit with the roman numeral X gave the report. “Soon, we should be in third place just below the Church’s guild.”
“Excellent report, Ten.” The Leader said. “Four, when do you think you will be able to take on Joseph Deus?”
“In about two years I should have enough power to kill him, sir.” Four responded.
“I’ll be waiting for that day. The Deus family shall be destroyed by us for helping the Church. I mean your attack on them six years ago was impressive.” The Leader said. “You managed to kill the Saintess Mary Deus and also cut May Deus’s arm. I’ll make you pay, Victor Deus. We took your daughter’s arm and your wife’s life already. The next big target will be taking the life of your son, Joseph Deus.”
“You better control your niece, Four.” A man in a blue bodysuit with the roman numeral IX confronted Four. “She shouldn’t become that close to someone from the Deus family. Force her to cut off contact with Oswald.”
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“She does whatever she likes besides that guy should be afraid of me. Afterall he witnessed me killing his grandmother and cutting off his aunt’s arm.” Four responded. “It’s not like she getting close to him will damage our plans.”
“Calm down, gentlemen!” The Leader commanded. “The day this world belongs to us is almost upon us. Meeting dismissed.”
The twelve people suddenly felt Magic Energy and the Leader vanished from the room. Little by little the Rankers began leaving the room, only leaving Two and Seven in the room.
“Did you need something, Old Lady?” Two asked.
“Tell me your real thoughts on Oswald. I don’t buy that he is that unremarkable or else why did you prolong your fight with him.” Seven demanded.
“I’ll talk, only because I respect you. Oswald might be similar to him, no Magic Power or Magic Energy and he still had the same strength as when his friend applied buffs..” Two answered. “Although he is weak now, he should be able to stand up to him with enough training.”
“You mean there is hope to avenge our old world.” Seven said. “If the Leader knew the true potential of this young man, I know he would want him dead immediately. Despite that I want to cling to the hope of avenging our old world. The Leader must be scared of him and that is why he is not seeking revenge from him and instead is only focusing on this world. But we have no guarantee that he won’t come here.”
Meanwhile inside a meeting room in the Temple of Oreto, five figures are seated at a table. The five men are dressed in bishop robes, all five men have wrinkles all over their face and have white hair.
“HOW CAN THIS HAPPEN?” Pope Marcus yelled. “Those filthy bastards stole Saintess Amelis’s staff. We had it in our custody for the last 6 years after Saintess Mary was killed by those filthy Otherworlders.”
“I am sorry. I should have seen this coming.” Cardinal Sebastian responded. “I didn't imagine they would attack Zapotes High School to distract us.”
“At least that attack didn’t have any casualties, but my heart breaks for what those students experienced.” Cardinal August added.
“Your Holiness, I don't think it’s sensible to refer to all Lunarians like that. Most of them are honest people.” Cardinal Juan said. “The only ones committing atrocities are the Lunarian Rankers.”
“Why did the Otherworlders have to come to our world? I prefer if they just left Earth.” Pope Marcus continued. “We shouldn’t have welcomed them here.”
“I agree, Your Holiness.” Cardinal Jose replied. “Ever Since the Otherworlders showed up, our world has become socially unstable. In the name of Our Goddess Oreto, it is our duty to protect our world.”
“Your Holiness, I believe they deserve our compassion, for their world was destroyed.” Cardinal Juan pleaded. “And also most of them are already integrated into Earth. There are even children born from the union of people from Earth and Lunaria.”
“It matter not. I believe Lunaria was destroyed because of their sins.” Pope Marcus responded. “Theri sins will also lead to Earth’s destruction.”
“The Otherworlders deserve nothing from this world. They are taking our resources.” Cardinal Jose added. “How is the Holy Knight Guild doing, Cardinal Sebastian?”
“The training is making them stronger quickly. I believe Goddess Oreto has blessed us because this training shows us the promise of awakening a power similar to the Deus State.”
“Excellent, we will now have the power to fight the Deus family in case they stop obeying the Church’s rules.” Pope Marcus said. “They are too powerful, that is why I am glad Joseph’s oldest son has no Magical Power.”
“Your Holiness, have you heard about the rising healer, Maria, at Rosemary High?” Cardinal August said. “Her healing magic is beyond that of any regular person on par with Saintess Mary, may her soul rest in peace. I believe she might be the next saintess.”
“Maria Kim is the only one who has shown any promise of being a saintess.” Pope Marcus said. “I wish to recruit her into the Church before she finishes high school. But first she needs to obtain her Adventurer’s License.”
“Cardinal Sebastian, I leave the matter of Saintess Ameli’s Staff in your hand.” Pope Marcus said. “I’ll be waiting for good news. Gentlemen, may you receive Oreto’s Blessing. I will be taking my leave.”
Cardinal Juan felt uneasy from how events had unfolded. The more he thought about, the more it didn’t make sense for Two to leave Oswald alive. Two was known to kill his opponents, leaving only the ones he found fascinating alive. Cardinal Juan’s thoughts began to wonder what made Oswald special in the eyes of Two and how the future encounters with the Lunarian Rankers would unfold. Cardinal Juan knew his influence was diminishing within the Church because mostly everyone else was prejudiced against the Lunarians and called them Otherworlders, thus labeling them as others.
“Cardinal Juan, try not to go against the Pope.” Cardinal August said. “He is someone you don’t want to antagonize. I also don’t fully agree with him.”
“What do you mean?” Cardinal Juan asked.
“I’ll give you a hint. Dig deeper into the events of the Mass Lunarian Suicide.” Cardinal August whispered. “I have to go now.”
Cardinal Juan was familiar with the Mass Lunarian Suicide where many Lunarians decided to commit suicide and according to Pope Marcus’s investigation team, they took their lives because they missed their destroyed world and couldn’t cope with integrating into Earth. But after being prompted to investigate further, Cardinal Juan felt that Pope Marcus was hiding a sinister secret.