Realms of Magic: Demon Invasion

4. The Librarian

I knock slowly on Madam Fron's office door. "Come in!" Madam Fron's enthusiastic voice greets me.

"Huh? You're invited, too?" I say, after seeing John and Aelita, sitting beside each other.

"Yeah, as you can see," Aelita grins.

"Well, then, now that everyone's here, I can finally start. Let me introduce him to you: Anwar Bahri," Madam Fron says. A man, sitting beside Madam Fron, smiles.

The man smiles courteously. He has short, black hair, his skin brown and his arm scarred. "Good morning, Mr Bahri," Aelita says as she shakes his extended hand.

"Just Mr Anwar," he insists, "formality isn't a trait I cherish a lot."

"He, like me, participated in the previous war against the demons," Madam Fron says, "he was the man who helped me last night."

"Now, to start. Truth be told, Irvine is facing a great danger. Our military is small. The demons and their allies are starting to move again," Madam Fron says.

"Correct," Mr Anwar says with his deep voice, "according to my sources, the White Witch is preparing her army. There are reported sights of demon Lords Abel, Jessica and Luke. The Dollmaster and the Puppeteer haven't moved yet."

"Also, there are rumors of new demon Lords: Caitlyn and Eugene, but they seem to be weaker than the senior three," Mr Anwar continues. Madam Fron nods slightly, her face looking concerned.

"Lay the map, Anwar," Madam Fron requests. Mr Anwar lays a large map of the continent.

"Look, I'm not going to tell you the entire history of the war, but they basically capitulated Francia and Al-Azhar, blockaded the dwarven island nation of Elaise and almost took our capital Batavia. As I said, they almost beat the crap out of us." Madam Fron points at different locations on the map with a wooden stick.

"Okay, cool. What's that got to do with us?" I ask.

"Well, you see. We need the three of you as Imperial Guards. Demon and dark mage catcher. Elite magicians," Madam Fron mutters.

Imperial Guards?

Those Imperial Guards? They're elite units! There are never more than forty Guards at any moment!

"That's kind of overstretching our abilities ...," John quietly says.

"I literally had to step in to prevent that blast of laser from killing the judges. Aelita transformed the entire battlefield to a forest. Vio almost sent a girl to her death. You guys are just too lucrative to ignore," Madam Fron responds.

"Let me check your ranks first. Hands, please," Mr Anwar says.

He inspects Aelita's hand first. "Mmm. Class III, lower end," he murmurs. John extends his arm. "Another Class III, lower end."

He touches the palm of my hand. "Oh! Class III, but a little bit stronger. Wait ... no, what is this? A Class V? No, no! W-"

Suddenly, Mr Anwar is repulsed backwards. "Anwar! What happened?" Madam Fron asks worriedly.

"At first, it was a Class III. Then, it turns to Class V. I suppose that's the demon's power. But ...," Mr Anwar says, "suddenly there was a power surge. Like, the demon's power can't even be gauged by the rank system."

"How's that possible? Even the most powerful demon Lords only possess the rank Class V," Madam Fron asks, "even freaking Lady Jessica is only a Class V!"

"There is only one possibility. The demon inside is not a Lord, but a King or Queen," Mr Anwar shivers.

Madam Fron falls to her chair. "No way," she mutters, her legs losing strength.