Without waiting for questions, a large screen at the back of the room turned on, and a few images were shown. The Minister of Defense moved to look at them, while giving us some time to understand what was going on.
First, there were some images of places surrounded by smoke, but no fire. There were people dressed from head to toe in dark clothes, and a few of them were throwing either rocks, bottles with a flaming tip, or another kind of bottle that I didn't know what it did.
“These are a few of the images that we have of today’s riots at the National University and the District University. They’re nothing unusual—as a few of you may know—but this time… They were more intense. They didn’t appear to want to give up on their fight, so we were forced to move in more cops and more people to the Mobile Anti-Disturbance Squadron,” the Minister of Defense said, the images swapping from the hooded people to the police wearing completely black armor-like gear with transparent shields, surrounded by large black trucks.
“We should’ve known better,” a man in a green military uniform said with his lips tightly pressed in regret.
The Minister of Defense nodded, but didn’t chastise the man as he continued. “Indeed… It was while our forces were focused on the riots, that another group of people took that opportunity to attack the Police Academy at the north of the city by bringing a bomb-car and blowing it up close to the building, killing several people there.”
The images changed to show the damage of the building. A wall was missing, there were black spots all over the place, with a just as blackened car frame surrounded by rubble. Close to it all were also the images of mangled corpses that were being inspected by people in either thick military clothes or completely white suits.
“They were also tracking the movements of a few Tenebreian people inside the city, so while everything was thrown into confusion, they also dropped bombs on their cars,” he continued, showing the images of broken cars, a half-destroyed bus next to it, and shattered glasses on the buildings closer to it. “Thankfully, their targets had a good amount of magic power, so they weren’t killed by the attack; however… the same couldn’t be said about the innocent people that were caught in the blast.”
“Motherfuckers…” James said with gritted teeth.
“Okay… so there were a lot of messy things happening in the city… What does this have to do with us?” Kang Hana asked, her arms crossed with one eyebrow raised.
“We managed to capture a few of the people responsible for the attacks, including the ones that tried to flee in motorcycles and the ones leading the riots at the Universities. It didn’t take long for them to proudly claim that they were working for the People’s Liberation Army… and a few of them even immediately confessing that they were doing this for the Holy Gods—that this was just ‘Holy Judgment’.”
“What you meant to say is that Eletha and her people are behind all of this,” I said with a frown on my face.
The Minister of Defense nodded. “There had been similar attacks to these in the past—before the people from the other world appeared here—but so far they hadn’t managed to get past our defenses like this… To think, they simply used a similar tactic from the past, and we didn’t see it.”
“If they managed to get inside, then why didn’t Eletha herself come here and do a full scale attack?” Feng Liu asked, his eyes set on the images.
The Minister of Magic nodded this time in response. “It wouldn’t be easy for people with magic powers to get inside the cities without us realizing it. She would’ve stood out like a flashlight in the night. All of the people that acted today were just common people without magic; normal militants just following orders.”
“Also, how did she manage to get to China if you’re watching those sorts of things so closely?” Kang Hana followed up with a glare directed at the Minister of Magic.
The man had a drop of sweat rolling down his forehead once she asked that, but with a hasty movement of his hands, he cleared it away with a piece of white cloth. “She… used one of the routes that the drug lords use to move their cargos out of the country. Those aren’t close to the cities at all, and if they weren’t moving the tons that they usually do, then slipping one woman, or a handful of people, outside of the country, wouldn’t be an issue for them.”
Kang Hana’s glare was sustained for a moment on the man, but she relented, and with a “Hmph,” she looked away and back to the screen.
“There’s something else,” the Minister of Defense said, bringing our attention back to him. “According to what a few of the people we captured said, they’re already aware of the attack we’re planning on their base at the Southwestern War Front. They’ve seen the people coming from other countries, and they are already getting ready to either move here, or stop us once we move. What happened here was likely a move to destabilize us and either give them more time, or get rid of us completely.”
“So, what are you thinking?” Feng Liu asked, and the Minister of Defense gave us a sweeping gaze for a moment.
“We must move forward with our attack now. Today, you all shall meet with the commanders of both the army, and the foreign Knights from Leyfall,” he said with a serious tone.
“Huh!? So fast? I thought that we would have at least a few more days to get ready…” Nicole exclaimed with a worried frown.
“I’m sorry it has to be like this, but if we don’t act fast, tomorrow might be another attack like the ones we had today,” The Minister of Defense said with a shake of his head. “We might have the cities on full alert now, but we can’t keep that up for long. The people are going to get anxious, and then they themselves might take to the streets to protest such a thing. Once you move out to find them, the people from the Followers of Leyfall and the PLA will be forced to go on the defensive. This is what’s best for the common population.”
This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
“If that’s the case, then we’ll get our things and set out immediately,” Feng Liu said with a slight nod. “We’ve been ready since the day we came here.”
“Right,” Qin Yue followed up with a confident nod.
“We’ll get this thing done in no time,” Kang Hana said with a just as confident smirk, which she then turned to me. “You’d better no disappoint me. I don’t want to be rescuing your ass like last time—much less sacrificing one of ours for it.”
I returned a serious look back to her. “That won’t happen. I’ll make sure that things don’t go like that this time.”
“We’ll see,” she said with a near mocking smile.
There was a moment of silence in the room while we looked at each other, but after a moment, Super-Demon shifted in his spot, raising his hand as he did. “Um, am I… going with you?”
“Of course,” I said, turning to look at him with a raised eyebrow. “I wasn’t able to understand how your magic works, and we might have a need for it there.”
Super-Demon lowered his head slightly while looking forward, making him look like he had a hunched back. “Though… I don’t think I’ve ever been outside of the city… and I don’t have any military training.”
“But you have Soul Magic and magic powers. That’s more than any soldier with a rifle can ask for,” The Minister of Magic said with a smile. “Believe in yourself, boy, don’t squander the gift that you have.”
“Believe in myself…” he said, looking down at the floor.
“As long as you’re able to keep up, I’ll make sure to give you the opportunity to do what’s best for Eletha. That Soul Magic of yours will be—”
“I’ll do it!” he suddenly exclaimed, puffing his chest out and interrupting me in the process. “This is the job for a superhero! You’re right!”
“Urgh,” Reeta let out, covering her face in annoyance with one hand. “Let's hope that he doesn’t get in the way…”
“If you’re all ready, then I suggest you go to the captain right outside the building. He should be ready to take you to the airport, and from there, to the base near where this whole thing will start,” The Minister of Defense said, the screen behind him shutting off while he looked at us with a serious look. “I’ll be keeping track of everything. And while we would’ve liked to have a bit more time to prepare, sadly, our enemies won’t give it to us.”
A woman standing by the door opened the door and beckoned to us. “Please follow me.”
* * *
A few hours later, when the sun was already shining over the mountain range, we were all ready and set inside an airplane. It was a different kind of plane, with a gray exterior, a very wide interior and no windows that could be looked out from. There were also plenty of chairs with their backs to the walls, and in the middle there appeared to be other officers and people in military uniform. There were none of the comforts that one could see in the other kinds of planes that I’d used before.
Sitting next to me was Nicole, dressed in her usual black battledress, while on my other side was James, and just like her, he was wearing the same armor he usually wore. Not too far away from me were also Reeta and Super-Demon, who even right now was refusing to use anything other than the black mask he wore; though, he relented when pressed about changing out of the colorful clothes and wearing something that wouldn’t stand out as much, so he was wearing a normal military uniform… that somehow still had apparent muscles that a skeleton shouldn’t have.
Behind me, in the row next to mine, were Feng Liu and his team. They were all dressed with the same outfits that I saw them with the first time. Feng Liu had what appeared to be normal clothes at first glance, with a thick white shirt under another thick black coat on top and black pants. But it was easy to tell that they were magically enhanced, just like Nicole’s, so he was just as prepared as we were.
The same could be said about Kang Hana, since her clothes were just as revealing as they were back then. For her, however, they were a dark red top with intricate golden patterns that revealed one of her shoulders while covering the other, as well as showing half of her chest. It was tight around the waist area, and then it opened up in a side of her legs, almost completely revealing her right leg, which also had a few tattoos painted on it. Her hair was loose, and I could see that there were a few rings on her fingers, and like Feng Liu, nothing of her attire was normal.
Lastly, Qin Yue was wearing something similar to the military uniform that the other officers had on the plane, only that hers was a dark gray, her pants were tucked inside her black boots, and her hands—similarly to Nicole—were covered by black gloves.
As for everyone else inside the plane, besides the officers, there were a couple of people that I could sense magic from, but it appeared like they weren’t strong enough to stand out, making me think that they were here for support and nothing more.
This flight in particular wasn’t as long as when I had to travel to other sides of the world, so in no more than an hour, we already were at the place we had to be.
There was nothing more than jungle to the horizon where mountains stood, probably leading to more jungle, and from the airport itself, I could only see what appeared to be a rather small town, with no tall buildings, and nothing like the noise of the city. This place was also much hotter than the city we left from. Even the jungle’s woods, bushes and plants appeared to match that change.
We had no time to look at our surroundings, as soon after, we were led to another place where we got in a large car with colors that matched those of the jungle, and then to yet another open spot where a big helicopter was already waiting.
The trip was getting longer and longer it seemed… and I just felt like asking for the exact location of the place we were supposed to be at and simply fly there with Nicole and James. But I realized that some of the people coming with us couldn’t do the same, like a few officers and Super-Demon, so I set my frustration aside and followed the procedure that they had prepared.
Similar to the trip on the plane, this one was short, though not as comfortable, as the noise from the thing’s blades spinning could drown out anything that anyone could say, so instead of trying to overpower it, we quietly made our way, deeper inside the jungle.
Nothing more than trees, some rivers, and the mountains in the horizon were the things that I could see. I was somewhat expecting to see some sort of structure on our way there, like a castle, a fort, or even a town from where the base of the Followers of Leyfall could be seen, but there was simply nothing.
I understood then why it had been so difficult to find Eletha and her group. They were probably masters of hiding.
The thought that the Holy Gods weren’t ones to hide their powers and their presence crossed my mind, and I was amazed to see how they were okay with operating like this, but it was also likely that they couldn’t risk the weak connection that they had with our world, and so, extreme measures were taken to ensure that someone like me couldn’t find them before they were strong enough to come here—if they were coming here at all.
After a while, we landed in a clearing, from where I could see a few soldiers already moving in the periphery, with another handful of officers that were standing not too far away from where we were. Most striking of all, however, were the few people in golden armor that stood out in the middle of the jungle, clearly the ones that came from the Empire as Lodrick’s people.
Once we landed, both the officers and a knight in golden armor quickly moved over to greet us, and as I turned to look at the side and the jungle, I prepared myself for what was likely going to be yet another difficult fight with Eletha… one where I hoped things turned out differently from last time.