"What did you see?" Arthur asked with his heart racing. Whatever made Sier this shaken can't be something good. He waited for Sier to calm down before he walked over and pulled a chair to sit on.
"Si, what did you see?" Arthur asked again after he sat on his chair, leaning forward to meet Si's eyes. Si met his eyes before falling into silence. As if he calmed down, he butted out his cigarette with a sigh.
"I saw the Enders."
"What?" Arthur frowned, as he had already met the Enders before. "You mean those that took over Alfred?"
"Haha," Si laughed suddenly, an unfamiliar helpless tin in his voice. "Those are not the Enders, but purely creatures they created. Their minions, at most."
"You mean…"
"The Enders are far more powerful, Arthur." Sier looked him in the eyes. As violet and purple lights flickered in his eyes, he continued. "The only reason the world hasn't fallen is that they can't descend into this realm."
"Why can't they?"
"I don't know," Sier shook his head. "Maybe there's no one powerful enough to host them."
"Everyone calls them the Enders, and calls the one serving them the Nether Beings."
"They're not wrong, Arthur." Sier shook his head. "But that's not accurate. These creatures that we see are only a part of them. A fragment they tore of themselves."
"So, what did you see?"
"I tried seeing into the void to see their goals. I wanted to see their plans regarding…"
Sier suddenly paused as if he had been struck by lightning. He turned toward Arthur with clouded eyes as if he couldn't believe he was here.
"How long did I stay unconscious?" He asked with sudden alienation.
"A few days, barely."
"What happened in the Runes Apprentice Cup, how come you're here?" Sier looked at him with doubt. Arthur sighed and told him what happened. As he listened, Sier fell silent. "I see," Sier said after a sigh. "I'm glad everyone is safe."
"They're resting in the fortress," Arthur assured him. "Ivy was injured, but she's using the mana room to heal."
"Isn't it better to have Vihan heal her?" Sier was confused.
"She doesn't want to owe the drunk bastard, she said." Arthur shrugged. "She's using her ability to heal herself."
"Overpowered ability, to be honest." Sier laughed, diffusing the tension. Arthur wanted to say that all of Mistletoe's members had overpowered and unique abilities, but he refrained.
"That's why you chose them because you saw something in them." Arthur smiled. Seeing that Sier was calmer now, he brought the topic back up. "What did you see, Sier?"
"You should already know that there are two other artifacts beside the crown, right?" Sier asked. Arthur blanked for a moment before nodding. It was a long time ago, but Yuran has told him something like that in the trial.
"One of the other artifacts is as much as seen as the holy crown: never. If the holy crown makes you the king of the new world, then this one is the key to that world."
"You mean…"
"The Enders are looking for that Artifact." Sier massaged his temples. "If they manage to obtain it, then…" His voice trailed but the rest was obvious.
'What Jizo fears will happen.' Arthur realized; his heart being squeezed by dread.
"We need to find it before they do." Arthur's mouth turned into a thin line.
"The thing is… it has never appeared before." Sier's voice shook a bit. "Now, however, it appeared." The room fell silent before Si continued. "They're looking for it."
"Do you know where it is?" Arthur asked but Si simply shook his head.
"Nothing specific, just a general direction. I've tried to look into its location, but I was obstructed by the Enders. Thus, I ended up this way."
"What did you see?" Arthur repeated.
"I saw… a flying city." Sier sighed as if he found this whole notion ridiculous. "There's only one place that can match this description. However, it doesn't make sense."
"Jerano." Arthur's eyes widened as he remembered the pictures he saw before. The flying city of Jerano was known throughout the world. Sier nodded. "Why doesn't it make sense?" Arthur asked, confused.
"Because if there was such an artifact, Master Ronin would have known about it when he worked there. However, there's no such thing there. That means the artifact had just arrived in Jerano, or… had yet to arrive."
"Well, fate is a cruel jester sometimes." Arthur leaned back into his chair as he laughed helplessly. Sier looked at him with puzzlement so Arthur continued. "There's a part of what happened in Runera that I haven't mentioned before."
"What is it?"
"I threw away my identity as Arthur Silvera." Arthur chuckled wearily. "I had no choice, given that they had already caught onto me."
"You… what?" Sier tilted his head with raised brows. Arthur looked around the room and spotted a TV.
"Well, I haven't seen the news yet either. Let's figure out what happened together." Arthur smiled and opened the news channel.
As he had expected, the attack on Runera was the main headline in the world. There was also a dungeon break in Orlan that was a big deal, but Runera's event was the juicier of the two.
"The whereabouts of Mistletoe, who had sided with the forbidden magic users, are still unknown to date." The reporter said.
"What is he talking about?" Seir gaped.
"Well, that's the result of the trap I told you about. They've set us up to be the villains." Arthur hmphed. "It's obvious that the Ilios Empire was pulling some strings, but I guess our reputation wasn't as solid as we thought."
"Luckily, the Ilios Empire was there to negotiate peace with Runera." The reporter continued. "The empire has declared that the reason for the way they started was due to their belief that the Calamity Spider was going to be used by the Yalveran Union against them. After all, a member of the royal family was the one that had taken over the giant metallic monster."
"Oh, that excuse is pretty good. After all, the attacks happened simultaneously." Arthur raised his eyebrows in surprise.
"I guess that's the reason they arranged Alfred to be the traitor." Sier sighed. Arthur was about to ask something but hesitated. "What is it?" Sier asked.
"Well… I'm sorry about your brother."
"Hah," Sier laughed in self-ridicule. "Don't be, I don't mourn the bastard. He was younger than I was, but he didn't mind making my life a living hell at the palace."
"The Iliosian army was teleported on short notice to apprehend the culprits of the attack. The Ilios Empire has stated that the army was on standby because there was an anticipated dungeon break."
If the awakeners couldn't stabilize the dungeons by clearing them and opening the gates to the other world, the monster inside the dungeon would break through the unstable portals and attack the citizens.
"This is bullshit." Arthur felt his blood boil in frustration. "They're trying to make ends meet in any way they can. How can the people not see the hypocrisy of their actions?"
"It doesn't matter." Sier shook his head. "Unless they had the power to take down the empire itself, there was very little meaning in antagonizing them. As for Runera, the only neutral power in the world, it's ironically filled with inner-conflict because of everyone's different nationalities." Before Arthur could answer Sier's words, the reporter continued.
"Sadly, there are many causalities and missing people. One of them being Arthur Silvera, who had lost his life in his fight against one of the forbidden magic users. In his tribute, we have secured footage of his last moments. Let the world remember his sacrifice."
"Hahahaha, they think you've died!" Sier laughed until there were tears in his eyes. Arthur didn't find it funny but still chuckled at the sight of his friend's laughter.
The footage then changed. The moment it started rolling, a figure was hurled from inside the smoke and rolled on the ground. It stood up and the camera zoomed on his face.
It was Arthur's face and Sier was trying to stifle a laugh so desperately that his shoulders were shaking.
From the crowd jumped three robed people that transformed into giant creatures. Arthur stood up from the ground as he looked at them defyingly.
The gruesome creatures then multiped as two more came from inside of the barrier. As Arthur was surrounded by the monsters, the Iliosian Paladins and the runes master from Runera came over to save him.
However, the Enders, known as the eaters of mana, were there to keep them at bay. A few of them started attacking Arthur who dodged with breathtaking speed and agility that he managed to avoid being hurt.
"Nether creatures, you've chosen the wrong person to target!" Arthur roared as he pulled several runic cards from his robes. "I won't fall in this place, and not at the hands of you lowly beings!"
"Why is he screaming like that?" Arthur was dumbfounded. "I asked him to underdo the acting, what the hell is he…"
Arthur, or Reece as Arthur, activated the cards as flames surrounded him like a tornado. In their midst stood the young champion, his hair fluttering in the wind.