Realms of Magic: Demon Invasion

18. The Order

"It seems like," Madam Fron whispers to me as we walk through the corridors, "They only need King Arthur missing. They need to get rid of him so that our new army cannot be built."

"And his replacement," she mutters in disgust, "is more suitable in brothels than in the royal court."

"That's treason talk," I say cautiously.

"Well what will Queen Seira do if she finds out anyway?" Madam Fron smirks, "who will she send against me? You?"

"You don't have to be so condescending," I grumble.

"Haha. Sorry, sorry. Well, here we are. Meeting of the Order. Get in, we have some real things to talk about," Madam Fron says as we reach a large room.

"Ah! Here comes the host!" Mr Arctus declares.

The room is filled by a number of people; Mr Charles, Mr Arctus, Mr Agusman, Archduke Windwood–a balding old man, Madam Felicia, and a few others.

The furnitures are relatively simple; just wooden chairs and a huge table, with a few lamps.

"These are the members of the Order of the Three Knights," Madam Fron says. "From the shadows, we protect Irvine from extraordinary threats."

I don't understand how attacking a demon Lord frontally is "from the shadows", but whatever.

"Now, on to business, everyone. As we know, our leader King Arthur has gone missing, so the vice leader–me–will take over," Madam Fron says.

"Recently, we have recovered plans of the Empire to wage war once again on us," she says.

She touches a red orb, creating a projection of a map of Alxelis continent. Military maneuvers, crucial capitals and army reserves are all shown. At the center of Alxelis, Irvine and Erwing. In the east hemisphere, Al-Azhar and its northern neighbor Francia. In the west, the dwarven island nation of Elaise.

"They have roughly four million and seven hundred thousand troops across the entire battlefield," Sir Cadogan notes, "we are severely outnumbered.

"Correct, Sir Cadogan. We are heavily outnumbered," Admiral Talon, the current Grand Admiral, replies.

"Perhaps much worse," Sir Cadogan intervenes, "the situation in Al-Azhar front is extremely unfavourable for us."

"According to their plans," Mr Agusman explains, "the attack on Irvine and Erwing will tie up forces from the two countries. The smaller island duchies will also be raided. That leaves only Francia and Al-Azhar to fight off the gigantic offensive."

"The Alliance is outnumbered five to one, and that is assuming Francia arrives on time with its full force," Sir Cadogan remarks, "but what about Elaise?"

"That's the peculiar thing, Sir Cadogan," Admiral Talon interferes, "oddly enough, they haven't declared war on the Empire."

"Perhaps, Crown is involved in this," Madam Felicia says.

"Crown? Hasn't the Special Services captured this spy yet?" Madam Fron asks.

"Not yet. Crown is truly elusive," Madam Felicia replies, somewhat disappointed at herself. Her eyes gaze the cold floor.

Madam Fron sighs in dismay, "I recently interrogated an Empire traitor–thank Lady Caitlyn for that–and it seems like Crown has a much, much larger involvement."

"Crown orchestrated the attack on the King," Madam Fron remarks, "although Crown failed to tell the Empire that all of Irvine's top five mages were there." This triggers gasps from the entire Order.

"Then, where is the King?" Admiral Talon asks.

"According to the traitor, the Empire doesn't know either, and isn't very keen on murdering King Arthur. They just want King Arthur gone," Madam Fron replies.

Everyone frowns. "To make matters even worse," Madam Fron sighs, "look at this."

Madam Fron pulls a box of identical gems. Blue sapphires, green emeralds, red rubies, yellow topazes, and black and white gems with the same hexagonal shape fill the carton box.

"Don't tell me ...," Admiral Talon mutters with a horrified face.

"Pardon my intrusion," a sullen Archduke Luxor enters.

"Archduke Luxor!" Madam Fron greets him in delight, "And I see Doctor Nawal is with you."

"Indeed," he says, the pain and agony Dita's betrayal caused still present in Archduke Luxor's eyes, "I believe I might not be fit enough for this meeting."

Archduke Luxor leaves while limping and sobbing.

"Ah, Doctor Nawal," Madam Fron says. "Welcome to the club."

"My honor, Madam," Doctor Nawal replies. His appearance matches that of a healer. He wears the red eagle-sign of medics-on his arm. His eyes are sharp, despite wearing glasses. In spite of his short stature and friendly demeanor, I can feel his extensive mana reserves.

"So, Doctor Nawal," Madam Felicia says as Doctor Nawal takes a seat, "I hear you have analyzed this new Madu. What are the results?"

"Very, very terrible, Madam," the short Doctor Nawal sighs, "Our previous antidote has little to no effect. This new potion might share the same name and effect as the old one, but it is almost completely different. It's very complex and there are many unidentifiable ingredients."

"So this is yet another problem... our manpower is being stretched thin," Madam Fron comments in worry.

"I believe this is secondary matter, Fronica," Admiral Talon says.

"I agree, Admiral Talon. Where was I again, oh, yes, the jewels," Madam Fron continues.

"As we all know, the demons built a machine to crack the veil between our worlds. This machine is powered by six Sacred Gems," Madam Fron glances at me, as if her explanation is meant for me, "We have the Yellow Gem in possession, but these fake jewels can only mean one thing."

"They're trying to rebuild it," Admiral Talon says, "These fake gems will be used as decoys."

"Yes," Madam Fron concludes, "We have many problems here: we need an antidote to the new Madu, we need to capture the other five Gems, we have to design plans to face an imminent invasion, and we have an unfriendly Queen Seira opposing us."

"Let's have the Twelfth Imperial Guard Division investigate Madu," Admiral Talon suggests.

"That will do," I say.

Madam Fron grins. "Alright! Time to work, everyone, we have lots of things to do!"