"I'll be upfront with you... I find this report to be somewhat crazy..." The guildmaster, Simon, shakes his head.

"But... testimony from the Princess, the... Sage... and even I can't debate that skulls origin." He adds, sighing.

Simon appears to be a traditional magister. He's in his fifties, I'd say, with a shaved head and spectacles. And of course, a navy-blue robe covered in arcane symbols.

He almost choked when he heard Seria was the Thunder Sage as well. He didn't believe that at first either. But activating his magical sight literally made him roll around on the floor in agony for a while. She just cackled, of course.

We caused a bit of an uproar exposing the skull in the main concourse.

I did feel a bit bad for that, but Kurono really seemed to enjoy herself at that point, and was actually puffing out her chest in pride and was talking happily to swooning mercenary maidens afterwards. I guess her own preference is a known element here.

"I suppose with this party; its demise would be plausible. Especially if the daughter of Kane Arnas is also a member." He clicks up the spectacles.

Huh, Kiku's dad's reputation reaches this far? He must be a seriously insane swordsman. No wonder Kako and Kiku have such a hell of goal to bypass.

I'd really respect that; but it gives me a shiver because all I can recall about him is the face of an overprotective father. Who I will likely have to face now when we return. And I'm doing exactly what he warned me against. Shit...

"And... what will you do now?" Seria asks whilst I'm paralysed with fear.

"Set up an investigation to go all the way to the dungeon core, of course. It will require us to rappel down one of the chasms. But this cannot be ignored. If a skull beast was generated, and the Void spirits are as intense as you say, then the restraining barriers have clearly failed."

I take a deep breath to remove Ser Arnas from my mind.

"That would be good." I affirm.

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He nods and readjusts the glasses. It makes me want to do the same, but of course my vision is perfect these days.

"It would be appreciated, I'm sure, if you and all these ladies would join this exh..."

Suddenly the door slams open, revealing a tanned young lad with a cap. His whole appearance screams 'message runner'. He closes the door and dashes past us.

"Boss! Bad news... its!" He exclaims.

But he stops.

"Urrrm... should I...?" He then looks at us and squirms, his gaze especially settling on Kali for a moment for some reason before he looks away.

"Carry on, Rossa. There is a princess here, there is nothing you can say that should be kept hidden." Simon beckons.

Rossa looks wide eyed, gulps, looks briefly at Aria who has been indicated, and then at Kali again, looking confused.

He shakes his head.

"Fejica Fortress has fallen!" He exclaims.

"WHAAAAT!?" Aria practically explodes, her hannya face scaring the wits out of the young lad who wheels back and cowers by Simon.

I put my hand on her shoulder to prevent her advance. This is obviously shocking news for her...?

"I see. You... you are certain this is not just a rumour in bad taste, Rossa?" Simon stays level headed.

"Ngh... no way, boss! A windquill from the palace sent the news to Lord Remus. And he sent me to you with a report straight away. We're not to inform the whole city yet."

He looks shiftily at us again.

Simon grimaces and sighs.

"Yes... it would probably cause some panic. Give the full report, then."

"Aye boss!"

...

...

"Gah... that is not good." Aria sighs, deflating onto a sofa in the office. Rossa has just left.

"So, it’s an important fortress then? What does this news mean?" I question.

"Nii-sama, Fejica is the town closest to the front-line, yes? My own... village... was not far from that point." Kaede clarifies.

Aria looks up with haunted eyes.

"It means, Elijah, that our time limit is diminishing quicker than Dad's estimate. If the attack... if it..." she gulps.

"Mmm... it is roughly five months to the capital if they maintain that pace, boy. They are about six days walk out from the tower. Despite their losses, it is still a major military victory for the demons." Seria explains.

Well shit on a stick, that more than halves my time limit.

"At least the momentum was halted at Havan Bluff. The town itself isn't in danger yet, right?" Yuuzu says, her eyes narrowed.

"Not yet, apparently. Its fortifications will help, indeed. And the heroism of Duke Benedict is to be commended." Simon agrees.

"I've already had quite enough of Skull Beasts!" Kurono exclaims.

Yes, apparently a skull beast appeared amongst the demon army, this time basically a tank, wrecking this fortresses’ walls. Cultivator is clearly pulling no punches with the necromancy. The only good here is that, much like the one we fought, it's rage was irrepressible, and it killed off its own allies indiscriminately after shattering the castle. This Duke then led an elite unit and slew it before abusing the break in the demon’s own force to smash them back.

That's something at least. It probably gives us a small time-extension.

But I cannot deny it's still a serious problem.