Point-of-View: Sylvar Miirphys

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No, seriously, what's happening right now?

"Excuse me, my lord, but I think I might have misheard you," I spoke up, "Could you repeat what you just said?"

"Hm? Very well...I must eliminate both Belia and Kuro Black, along with most of their forces. I ask that you assist me in this endeavor," He replied.

"Yes, my lord, as you command!" Responded Maie immediately.

"Lord Laus, forgive me, but I do not understand...this is contradictory to the commands you previously gave us. It is rather sudden to reverse your stance so abruptly like this," Remarked Bell, looking confused.

Yeah, that's putting it lightly, if you ask me...

"I cannot explain the specifics, all I can say is that this task was given to me by a higher power, and therefore, I adjusted my approach accordingly," Came the reply.

"Oh, I see...I understand, my lord," Said Bell, dropping it, though she certainly didn't look like she understood.

I'm sure she's happy with this sudden change, but for the moment, she's too busy trying to figure out how and why it's happened so unexpectedly and abruptly. And I'm with her on that...well, the difference being that I have a pretty solid guess as to why.

Samsara, the being that reincarnated me, must have asked Sant to kill Kuro and Belia...and as I realized that, I felt a sense of uneasiness envelop me. Something's wrong here...why would a being that's supposed to be indifferent to the living world interfere in such a direct manner?

I don't like this...but I probably shouldn't voice these thoughts. Sant stuck to his ideals for literally centuries, and now, just like that, he completely abandons them because of Samsara...well, assuming I'm right about this.

But I'm fairly confident that I am, it's the only explanation that makes sense...and in which case, if I respond negatively, Sant might take it as an affront to Samsara, and who knows what'll happen to me then. Either way, I'm not willing to risk it. Which means my only choice is to play along.

"First, we must gather information about the human nations. Unfortunately, they are well-secured by protective barriers, so we cannot simply infiltrate them. I believe that a more prudent and effective approach would be to capture humans and interrogate them. We will continue to expand our territory as much as possible, enabling us to surround the human nations," Declared Sant.

"That is certainly possible for the nation known as the Rustlands, my lord, but as for Abyss, it is surrounded by sea to the north, east and west, and further north is the toxic wasteland, it is not suitable for inhabitation. We have also received reports that the Krakens are once again in the seas, several of our scouts have fallen victim to them...it would appear that the 'Forbidden Zone' sealing barrier is no longer intact. It is possible that the other remaining monsters that Belia sealed, the Dragons and Ghouls, are also no longer trapped," Informed Maie, who'd been gathering the intel we receive from the scouts who were building fortresses throughout the land and expanding the territory of the Laus Domain.

"Hm, I see, that is indeed problematic. Do we know the location of the other so-called Forbidden Zones?" Inquired Sant with a frown.

"No, my lord, none of our scouts ever reported coming across one. The Kraken Forbidden Zone was likely underwater, and the others may have been in the wasteland," Guess Maie, adding, "Another possibility is within the human nations, but I believe that is unlikely."

"Those are all the possibilities?" Responded Sant, looking a bit displeased.

"Hm...no, I can think of a few more," Replied Maie, after mulling it over, "Deep underground is a possibility, or maze-like caves is plausible as well...ah, possibly in the volcanic mountain range as well, of the remaining areas, that is the only one that we have not fully explored as of yet."

"It is too uncertain, we will not concern ourselves with the Forbidden Zones for now. Instead, the primary task we will focus on is...killing Belia Lasmodeus, that will take priority over all else. The sooner she ceases to exist, the better. After she is dead, we will be able to deal with the rest at our leisure," Remarked Sant with a determined look in his eyes.

But why? Why the rush to kill Belia first? If you ask me, Abyss is the bigger threat as things stand...Belia isn't going to get any stronger than she already is, and in fact, if she uses up more Divine Magic, she'll only grow weaker.

Meanwhile, Kuro could very much definitely get stronger, and he's already too much for us for any of us to handle alone...even with the physical boost I gained from that new spear, I wouldn't fancy my chances against him.

With the amount of tricks he has up his sleeves and his sheer level of skill, he's not someone I'm willing to risk going up against alone. And then there's the Water Sage...his Elemental Magic is off the charts, he could have wiped out every single person in the forest if he'd wanted to.

Well, if I'm not going to argue against Sant's strategy, even if I don't fully agree with it...so I might as well do my best to make sure it doesn't fail, I guess.

"My lord, regarding what you said about capturing humans...some of the other Elves managed to capture one of the humans that attacked us alive. We have not yet been able to garner any information from her, but I believe that-," I began.

"Ah, excellent! Make sure to obtain every last detail of what this human knows about Belia and the rest of her forces. After that...you may do with her as you please, I suppose."

Sant, he's...like a completely different person. There was something...chilling about him, with this sudden change...

"Very well, my lord...I understand."

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Point-of-View: Shiro Blanc

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"So, these are Ghouls, huh?" I remarked, with a raised eyebrow.

"Yup! Aren't they ugly as hell?" Laughed Belia with a grin.

I was currently outside the Rustlands, along with Belia, the Undead King and some of the X and S-Ranked Adventurers.

Belia had trapped all the Ghouls in a huge barrier in the outskirts of the Rustlands, and after informing the Rustlands' higher ups about what she'd done, she brought all of us along to have a look. I was curious enough to go along with it, and why not, since this is one of the few monster types I've never seen before.

"They're, uh, definitely creepy as hell," Remarked Minise warily.

I've got to agree with that notion, the Ghouls definitely have an unsettling feeling about them...they had pale green skin, sharp teeth and claws, and they were all staring at us ravenously, clawing at the barrier and drooling, hungry growls echoing out.

They were about the same size as an average human, with slender, agile-looking bodies, limber arms and legs that looked really flexible, and the looks in their eyes were cold and bloodthirsty...

"You said that these monsters are the respawnable type, right?" Asked Cusnai with an uneasy look on her face, "Then I take it that they're weak? Why exactly did you seal these ones away, they don't seem nearly as dangerous as Vampires or Demons."

"Well...technically speaking, that's correct, a single Ghoul could even be defeated by another respawnable monster, but...these things are terrifying in a much different way, even I was disturbed the first time I saw them in action!" Exclaimed Belia, a gleam in her eyes.

"I don't get it, weren't you the one who created them?" Inquired Shin with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, I did, but I didn't detail every aspect of the monsters myself, I left a lot of elements up to chance...and as a result, a lot of the monsters ended up different to what I'd imagined, most notably the Dragons and the Ghouls," She replied with a wry smile.

We'd all heard about how, apparently, Kuro recruited the Dragons, along with their king, instead of consuming their life force like he did with the other Monster Kings...if I had to guess, he's opting to boost the overall power of Abyss more evenly instead of just continuing to increase his own power. I suppose that emphasizes the tense situation that this world is currently in.

"So, what exactly makes these Ghouls so scary? I know they're supposed to crave living flesh or whatever, but all monsters try to kill us, so are they really all that different?" Inquired Minise skeptically.

"Hm, I think a demonstration would be a better indication of that...anyone want to take a few of these things on?" Suggested Belia with a smirk, looking around at us.

Based on her attitude, I have a bad feeling about this...yeah, I'm staying out of this, at least until someone else has a go first.

"Let me have a crack at them," Volunteered Minise, stepping forward and slamming her fists together with a grin.

"Hey, I don't think that's a good id-...," I began.

"I'll be fine, don't worry!" She responded before I could finish, as she jogged over to Belia.

Huh? Worry? Was I...worried? No, no way...I don't care about anyone but myself, I-...but, then, why did I try to stop her at all? I couldn't care less what happens to her...right?

Before I figure out the answer to those questions, Belia activated a barrier around Minise, before opening a portal and dropping five Ghouls into the barrier with her. Damn it, what is this? I've just...I've just got a really bad feeling about this...

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