Dozens of holographic screens unfolded in front of the Crown Prince of Zirkonia. Standing next to him like a knight with their lord was Commander Brown—It didn’t suit his stature but he liked to stand when taking reports, unlike with meetings.

Even more so when the reports were unnerving. The clear flow of blood to his legs always made Brown feel more in control.

A figure appeared on the giant screen floating above the magic orb. The sight of the familiar bishop Polya, who had long since left Crimson greeted them.

Brown and the Bishop exchanged a small nod as the bishop greeted the Crown Prince, and right after, a person who the Crown Prince had to bow toward entered.

“Saintess Iras. It is an honor.”

“Not at all, Prince Grieg.”

They took their seats. It was customary to let the ones in the highest position speak first, but everyone here was fairly well acquainted with one-other. Brown posed the first question.

“Are the heroes doing well?”

“So it seems. The principal of the Caelum academy is full of praise for them,” the Bishop answered.

“I heard there was a small commotion with the heiress of a duchy and the archmage?”

“Ah, yes. It was an unfortunate incident. That student had to be expelled.”

Small talks about the heroes and the events around the world, the situation at the border, and the discoveries of new large and small sites of Starfall brought the conversation to a light and informal mood.

But as the talk proceeded, the anticipation of their agenda made them all tense. Finally, the Prince spoke up.

“About the core we had found… were you able to analyze it?”

Bishop Polya’s eyes turned grim. The saintess took the lead.

“Allow me,” she said as she crossed her legs. In the first place, talking directly to the saintess about this situation had made the Crown Prince and the commander realize the gravity of what was to come. She wouldn’t spare time for such conversations otherwise.

“Since the first encounter with the Violet Plague a year ago, followed by the death of the Serpent, we have dealt with a total of Five anomalies. Each of these eight varied in strength and was handled in different zones. It was difficult but with our cooperation, we have gathered a total of Three cores.”

Though all the kingdoms were currently allied, their actions were still guided by themselves. It wasn’t necessary to share everything, especially if it could mean more knowledge and power.

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The situation was the core was also similar.

Was.

“After personally analyzing the cores with the help of wizards, researchers, and priests, we have reached two conclusions.” The Saintess’ eyes narrowed. “This… demonic dark desire as you had called it, is not a virus or a plague or an evil spell cast by the demons. We have concluded that the Demonic Dark Desire is a naturally occurring phenomenon. One that does not depend on the stars or the laws of this world—”

The Prince’s chair slid back and Brown’s eyes widened.

“W-what do you mean? Naturally occurring phenomena outside of the stars? Saintess Iras, do you understand what you’re saying?”

Iras nodded.

“It seems to be something like mana.”

A power that the stars or the world did not control. A power that existed outside of the ‘realm’ of the gods.

The Prince simply couldn’t accept those words. It could not be true… the implications were far too huge.

Everything in the world was governed by mana, by the stars. The magic of wizards, the healing of priests, or the aura of knights, at the core of it all was the phenomena called mana.

If another thing like it existed, that would change the very fundamentals of their understanding.

It was not this ‘change’ that the Prince feared. He wasn’t afraid of a new phenomena outside of mana.

It was the rest of what the Saintess had said which scared him.

“I am afraid that is the conclusion we have all reached. It is unclear what and how this phenomenon works, and also unclear what its strengths are. If it could create beings like the Violet Plague or the Serpent… then it could go much beyond. I heard that the Paladins of Vespera in the North encountered a being that could control the wild monsters. It is highly possible that could be a being controlled by this Demonic Dark Desire too…”

The Prince heaved a heavy sigh and fell back on his chair.

This was beyond simple trouble.

“We do not know the limits or the methods it works within, but it may be safe to assume that strong emotions, negative emotions might be causing these phenomena.”

“What makes you say so?” asked the Prince.

“The stories around them were simply too tragic, you see?”

The Prince clasped his mouth shut. His hands gripped the seat tightly. He only wished that the thoughts in his head were not shared by anyone else, but Saintess Iras didn’t give him that leisure.

“The second conclusion… I call it a conclusion, but it is merely a conjecture I have reached personally. Pardon me, but these are my own thoughts.”

Even her voice was clouded by a glade of disbelief and fear. The Saintess loved by the gods spoke with a voice that wavered ever so slightly.

“Demons have existed with us for thousands of years, demon kings have fallen and risen. Even if the current demon king is as powerful as the ancient ones, we have always triumphed over those heretics.” The Saintess sighed and fell back in her chair too. Her eyes closed as she smiled.

“Why I wonder, did the gods only decide to summon the heroes now?”

The Prince had held a vain hope.

***

After the two superiors left, Bishop Polya and Commander Brown were left alone in the meeting room.

“Commander, have you heard anything about The Crow? I fear that might be the oldest of the ‘anomalies’ still alive.”

The Commander shook his head.

“Unfortunately, we have noticed no activity from The Crow. Two of our finest believe that the incident in Blue did not involve the demon alone, but also The Crow.”

“Blue… six months ago, is it?”

“Six months,” said the Commander. “But fret not, our people are still looking for The Crow.”

“I pray it doesn’t become something beyond our control.”

“Relax, Bishop Polya. We will soon have bigger worries than something like The Crow.”