A tranquil silence encompasses their surroundings as the army returns towards the fortress. No living, demonic beast can be found in the area surrounding the fortress, a testament to the army’s diligence. At the forefront, the General is flanked by the four heroes. On his left, Cale is supporting Eric who’s suffering from physical and mental fatigue, and on his right, Emily is carrying the unconscious Mia in her arms.

The General’s eyes firmly rest on the fortress’ walls as he says to the group, “Truth be told, I was expecting this day to be my last. Originally, when I trained the four of you, I saw potential, but nothing substantial. Hubris clouded my judgement, and the King’s poisonous words cemented this delusion.”

A regretful sight escapes the General’s mouth as he continues, “The King never wanted help from heroes, and he only gave in after intense pressure from the church. Your summoning was merely a symbolic gesture to appease the church. He gave you the bare minimum support and left you to fend for yourself. I naively believed in the King’s actions, and I believed in his judgement.”

Frowns form on Cale and Emily’s forehead. Still, the General continues before they can interrupt, “This mistake has led to the death of thousands of soldiers and I was prepared to atone for my sins by dying an honourable death. But, Mia’s spell lit a beacon of hope in my heart, and I’ve realised my mistakes. Despite your misgivings, you still came to our aid. I’ll never forget this favour.”

Cale turns towards Emily and their eyes meet. Coming to a silent agreement, they decide to remain quiet and discuss this information later. The march continues in silence, and only the rhythmic stomps of boots accompany their journey towards the fortress. The fortress’ gates open wide as teams of priests welcome the soldiers inside.

Celine approaches the General and the four heroes. She observes the group, her gaze briefly resting on Eric before stopping on Mia. While chanting a spell, she reaches out and hovers her hand over Mia’s body. Her expression grows with concern as she says, “I presume that impressive spell was her handiwork. I’m clueless how she managed such a feat, but it’s taken a toll on her mind and body. There’s little I can do for her except to let her rest.”

The General nods in confirmation. He turns towards the heroes and says, “Rest for tonight, Celine will show you to some available rooms. We’ll reconvene tomorrow. I promise, after all of this is over, we’ll hold a celebration fitting of your achievements.” They graciously accept the General’s offer.

“Come,” Celine beckons, leading the heroes towards some open quarters inside the fortress’ main castle. She assigns them private rooms and assigns a guard to each room, to ensure no one disturbs them. Making her way outside the castle, she thinks to herself, “The Goddess’ judgement is truly unquestionable. Only the heroes she chose would be capable enough to save us.”

Exhaustion envelopes the heroes as they each fall into a deep slumber. Standing next to Mia’s bed, Centum’s eyes are filled with concern as he observes her. He comments underneath his breath, seemingly speaking to himself, “You need to learn moderation, Mia. The pearl’s power is beyond your control. I fear what might happen if you let it consume you.”

He retrieves a letter from underneath his robes and gently places it on the bedside table. “I coated this letter in my aura so only you’ll be able to see it. I hope it finds you well.” Centum observes her sleeping expression, a hint of reluctance flashing in his eyes. Sighing to himself, he leaves the room; the guards outside are oblivious to his presence.

On the fortress' battlements, the General’s gaze is focused on Centum as he exits the castle. “Who is he? I detected his presence on the hill and now in the castle, but no one else can see him. After my breakthrough, I’m equivalent to platinum ranked adventurers, and I can only barely sense him. A new threat is the last thing I need right now,” the General ponders.

Their gazes briefly lock, and the General is filled with a sense of dread. Without missing a step, Centum continues towards another direction. The General’s back is drenched in a cold sweat as he tried to compose himself, “What was that?! I’ll pretend he doesn’t exist; I still value my life, and he isn’t causing any problems. Hopefully, it stays that way.”

The following day, the heroes, excluding Mia, gather outside the command room of the castle. “Is Mia alright, she hasn’t woken up yet?” Emily asks in concern. “There’s nothing we can do about it. Celine said that letting her rest is the best course of action,” Cale answers. “Still…” Emily protests, but her words are cut short. The General’s voice grabs their attention, “Enter, heroes!”

Receiving their cue, the three heroes enter the command room. Inside, the General, along with the division captains, are seated around a circular, stone table. “Please, have a seat,” the General offers. “Now, let’s begin. Firstly, I will summarise…” the General abruptly stops talking. As Centum enters the command room, the words are caught in his throat.

Taking a casual position in the corner of the room, Centum opens the leather-bound book and begins writing. “What is he doing here?!” the General frantically ponders. “Is everything alright, sir?” a captain asks. “Yes, yes!” the General hurriedly replies, “Let us continue.” In a bid to preserve his sanity and life, he continues to ignore Centum’s presence.

“As I was saying. Firstly, I will summarise the battle. Through the valiant intervention of the heroes, we’ve emerged victorious. By slaying the demonic minotaur, we’ve eliminated one of the three demonic lords!” the General announces. Around him, the captains break out in cheers. “Quiet, it’s still too early to celebrate. There are still two more demonic lords that we have to deal with,” the General says, dampening the mood.

“General, there’s only one demonic lord left. We’ve already slain the demonic wyvern,” Cale announces. The captains’ eyes widen in disbelief, and one asks in shock, “How did you do it?! Killing a wyvern is already an impressive feat, but killing a demonic variant is practically impossible.” The group wants to answer the question, but only Mia was present for the wyvern’s death. “We had help, but I can’t elaborate any further. All you need to know is that the wyvern is dead, you have my word,” Cale promises.

The General’s gaze drifts towards Centum and a realisation dawns on him. “Alright, I believe you,” the General agrees, signalling the captains to cease any further questioning, “That leaves only one demonic lord left, the demonic basilisk. It’s a giant serpent close to a hundred meters in length. It swallowed hundreds of my best men whole.” Merely mentioning the creature makes the room turn sombre.

With a serious expression, the General continues, “Truthfully, the troops we have left will not be able to conquer the portal if the basilisk is still guarding it. Mia might be able to turn the tides of battle, but there’s no guarantee she’ll fully recover in time.” The room quiets down, and Cale asks a question, “General, have you heard of a portal guardian? Anything you know about it might be vital to defeating the demonic beasts.”

The General ponders for a bit and answers, “Unfortunately, my knowledge on portals are limited. I can’t recall ever hearing about a portal guardian, my apologies.” The heroes’ expression turns downcast. From outside, a heavy knock sounds from the command room’s door. “Enter!” the General commands. Worn out from days of continues travel, a weary scout delivers an envelope to the General.

He opens the envelope and reads the message, a wide grin forms on his face. “Finally,” the General proclaims, “The adventure Guild has agreed to help us, their reinforcements will be here in a week.” The captains begin to cheer again, and the General doesn’t stop them. He turns towards the heroes and says, “In a week, when the adventures arrive, we’ll launch a full-scale attack on the portal. Rest and recover, I pray you’ll all be at full strength by then.”

After two more days, Mia finally wakes up. It’s already past midnight as she opens her eyes. She turns towards her side and spots Centum’s letter. She opens the letter and reads its contents. A gleeful smile stretches across her face, “Despite the important matters he has to attend, he still managed to send me a letter. I don’t know how he knows so much about the battle on the hill, but I can’t judge him with conventional logic.”

Tightly gripping the letter in her hands, she continues to ponder, “I understand his concern for me overusing the pearl’s power, but I had no other option left. If it means saving others, then I don’t mind getting hurt. I’ll avoid using the pearl unless I have to, I promise.” She doesn’t know if this promise was to herself or to Centum who’s somewhere beyond her reach, but its existence eased her heart. Still gripping the letter, she falls asleep.

The next day, the whole fortress is filled with cheers after Mia’s recovery. She was still hurt from the pearl’s power, but she hid this fact from the others; she didn’t want them to worry about her. Emily filled her in on everything she missed the past couple of days. After a small feast to celebrate her ‘recovery’, she joined the other heroes in their daily routine.

A full week passes since the General received the Guild’s letter. Travelling on the main road towards the fortress, thousands of disorderly adventurers form a kilometre-long column. The ruckus created from the sheer number of adventurers travelling together is enough to scare off any bandits. The Founder, Rebecca and the Guild Master, are at the forefront, leading the group. “It is really alright for you to come along; didn’t he forbid any outside interference?” Rebecca asks the Founder.

Looking over towards the Guild Master, the Founder reiterates, “If this operation fails, then the planet is doomed. I don’t trust anyone else to lead such an important expedition, especially the Guild Master. If we don’t directly interfere and just command from the backline, then he shouldn’t mind. Now, quiet down, we’re nearing the fortress.”

Deeming it pointless to clear the fields of demonic beast corpses, the area surrounding the fortress perfectly conveys the brutality of the battle a week prior. The horrific sight of a seemingly endless field of demonic beast corpses is enough to shock the adventurers. “Did the army do this? Why do they need our help after killing so many demonic beasts?” a gold-ranked adventurer asks.

Adventurers never had a high opinion of the army, but this aftermath is enough to turn their opinion. On the fortress wall, the remaining veteran soldiers line up. Their presence radiates a strangely oppressive aura over the confident adventures. The fortress gates open, welcoming the adventurers inside.

The General, along with his captains and the heroes, are waiting to receive them. Rebecca breathes a sigh of relief as she spots the heroes. “I knew they would make it,” she says to herself. The General nods towards the Guild Master before stepping forward. In a commanding tone, he says, “Rest up brave adventurers because tomorrow we’ll bring an end to the demonic beast scourge. My captains will show you towards the barracks’.”

The captains quickly section the adventures into different groups as they lead them to the numerous barracks. The courtyard clears, leaving only the General, the heroes, Rebecca, the Founder, and the Guild Master remaining. Observing the remaining group, the General nods his head and says, “Let’s head inside; there’s a lot we need to discuss in preparation for tomorrow’s battle.”

Silently agreeing to his suggestion, the group heads inside towards the command room. Behind them, Centum follows quietly along, keeping to his observer status. Half of the group can detect his presence, but out of either respect or fear, they decide not to acknowledge him.