In a dimly lit room, six figures sit around a dark, oaken table at its center. As they observe one another in silence, a woman opens the door with a knock. Quietly closing the door behind her, she approaches the table. Six sets of eyes follow her, as she wordlessly pours black tea into each china cup she set before them. The woman withdraws into the shadows of a corner in the room, away from the gazes of the six figures. After making sure that everyone has taken a sip, one of the figures, a black-haired man with pale skin, in flowing, white robes laced in gold stands up.

"I am Merita the third, the king of Sentra, and I welcome you to my humble capital."

He pauses as he observes the figures around the table, making eye contact with them one by one.

"With this, we shall commence our inter-kingdom conference. As time is of essence, I will summarize what we have discovered. The oracles of Dannal and Hoonan have also received the same omen as the rest. With this, we now know for certain that whatever disaster that will come will affect all of us, or perhaps the entire continent of Patagut. Our kingdoms are in a dire situation, and we need action now. We know neither when nor where..."

"Something big, Something bad. We don't know what, we don't know where. What's the hold up?" Across the table, a tanned man interrupts Merita. Leaned back on his chair, his lanky arms that hang out as if spilling over his armrest waves his cup around. "Oy lady, more tea." He yells into the corner that the woman from before was standing in.

"Is this degenerate really the son of that king of Jann?" The woman beside him glares at him in contempt.

"Former king. That idiot old man drowned in his own boat. Also, shut it, Palmera, you're just a placeholder for your dying husband."

"How dare you --"

"Ahem"

A loud cough stops the two's argument dead in it's tracks. The lady, having unconsciously stood up in the heat of the moment, blushes, as she lowers her head and sits back down.

"I apologise, King Merita. Please ignore this insolent man as well and continue." The young King of Jann grumbles under his breath, but refrains from speaking further.

"Thank you. However, as King Triten has rightfully mentioned, we know nothing about this calamity. Rather, we knew nothing. It appears that King Banen brings us good news."

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

To his right, a man roughly seven feet tall, covered from head to toe in a purple mantle stands to attention. With a cough, he begins to speak in a low, rumbling voice.

"Yes, King Merita. The magic researchers from my kingdom -the kingdom of Dannal- have discovered an abnormality -a fluctuation if you will- in the magic veins throughout the continent."

King Merita drew in a sharp breath of air. Everyone present in the room understood the statement's implications. Everyone's gazes turned dark.

"I knew we shouldn't have made the Alliance!" To King Merita's right, a man clad in armor slams his fist down onto the table as he yells so.

"Hey now, King Arken. It's thanks to the Alliance that all six kingdoms can work together to face the Demon King's revival." Queen Palmera glowers at the armored man while saying so.

"Without the Alliance, my kingdom's miltary would have developed a hundredfold faster! We wouldn't need to work together!" King Arken howls back.

"Hah, you guys were being beaten half to death by Banen's fairies when we made the Alliance. You guys would've died either way." King Arken glowers at King Triten's remark. However, noone dared to move nor make a sound. A few seconds of silence pass before King Banen scratches his chin, and decides to continue.

"The past is behind us. The problem is the future. Fortunately, my men have recently been studying the ancient rituals of summoning and have made a remarkable breakthrough; they have learned to tweak the summoning circles to be more specific in what we summon."

"Hah? How's that going to help us? You gonna tell it what colour you want your summon to be?" King Triten asks, unable to follow. However, it appears that the other four figures understood where King Banen was going with the discussion.

"You can't mean..."

"Quite so, Queen Palmera. With this, we can make sure to summon a being that's completely willing to help us, understands our language, and above all, have strength comparable to the gods'."

King Banen raises his arms in fervor.

"Yes... we can summon our own hero... A hero of legends!"