(5 Hours Ago)
*Ting!*
"Cheers!" The sounds of glass hitting each other filled the room as laughter quickly started.
The barracks was lively although it was the dead of night. The soldiers, although they were far fewer than their last party, were full of energy and happiness.
Leading the party was Reinhard, blessed with a bag of money from the Man in Black himself, he started the party to honor their new beginning.
"A bright future is ahead of us!" Jord shouted before chugging down his beer.
The party was being held in the hall. The tables were packed with all kinds of meat, fruits, dairy, and drinks from cold beer to good old water.
The party's other difference from the past was that there weren't any prostitutes. Normally there would be two prostitutes per one man but ever since the revolution, prostitutes have retreated from their business.
Reinhard knew what happened to them. Whenever he patrolled the streets, he saw the ladies they once played with actually doing labour, working in workshops, sellings, farming, or being dispatched to cut down trees for lumber.
They were given a new meaning. Seeing that made Reinhard happy, he felt that his decision to follow the Man in Black from the start was the best decision he had made.
Unemployment plummeted to near zero, the living conditions were being improved but by bit and every household was guaranteed a meal before they went to bed.
It was as if they were in heaven.
Still, Reinhard was aware that some of the knights and a handful of mages were still skeptical of the Man in Black. Their skepticism wasn't without good reason.
Just a few weeks prior, the Man in Black came in and destroyed the southern wall and most of the outer garrison and then suddenly crowned the famed dwarf Wart as King.
However, none of them dared to speak out against his majesty or the Man in Black in fear that they'd be executed on the spot for doing so.
In actuality, there hasn't been any execution of the like ever since they took power. The only people that have been executed were the Count, his goons, and several criminals found guilty of the so-called heinous crimes.
As the knights indulged themselves with the temporary luxury of a feast, Reinhard, Jord, and Toby were gathered around their own table.
Toby, despite looking like a shy man, once drunk, would become a babbling drunkard who always laughed.
Reinhard was a drunkard himself back in his old days but the alcohol didn't really have any big effect on him anymore from him being grown strong towards <A+> rank. Oh, he sometimes wants to be weak and feel the effects of Alcohol once again. Jord, on the other hand, was a normal drinker but was also a big glutton.
The food on the table was the same as the other tables, meats, fruits, and drinks.
"This is the life," Toby said before chugging down another glass of beer.
"I wouldn't be surprised if you died right after tonight," Reinhard teased.
"Oh hell no, I'm gonna live through this paradise for many more years to come! Gonna go and raise a family once I retire and work on the fields," Toby said as he chuckled. " Oh, one more thing, I just broke through <C> rank just earlier today!"
"Oh, congrats buddy," Reinhard smiled at the mage in front of him.
"This meat is amazing," Jord was too focused on eating his share of the pork.
But although the atmosphere around them was a lighthearted and jubilant one, Reinhard raised his concerns for the future.
"Two weeks," Reinhard whispered.
Jord and Toby both stopped what they were doing and looked down on the table.
"Do the others know?" Jord asked.
"Not yet. The Man in Black specifically told us NOT to tell anyone of what the bastard said. But since he was once my friend, I couldn't help but believe what he said," Reinhard said.
"It's funny, ya know," Toby said.
"What is?" Reinhard and Jord said in unison.
"Well, before shit hit the fan a few weeks back, I was just some random mage from the garrison. And now look, I'm here with you guys, the top brass, and... I'm part of the top peeps as well now," Toby smiled.
But his smile quickly faded.
"I can't help but fear that this is just a temporary dream and that in two weeks time I'll be lying on the ground, dead and dismantled like the rest,"
Reinhard then passed him his beer.
"Huh?" Toby looked at Reinhard. Reinhard smiled and winked.
"Then drink as much beer as you want before that happens," Reinhard said.
"Y-Yeah," A smile broke away from Toby before he began chugging down the beer Reinhard gave him.
Jord smiled before continuing his gluttonous adventure.
As the rumbling atmosphere of laughter continued throughout the night in the barracks as another day ended.
Back at the castle, Artemis applauded Reinhard's use of the bag of silver he gave him back then for his work.
"I wonder if he knows I took that bag from Lady Ava's secret treasure room," He said as he turned back and retreated into his room.
The night was peaceful, no spies, no infiltrations, he went back to planning.
Or so he thought.
Just as he was about to sit down once again before the desk, he sensed a high level energy fluctuation from his scans, or someone with immense magic power appeared.
He walked outside towards the balcony again and saw the figure he had sensed. A silhouette against the moonlight of one of the two bright moons.
They were both staring down at each other.
Artemis' eyes glowed red as he readied his two blades.
Just as the figure raised his hand, Artemis deactivated one of the blades and pointed his finger at it.
"Two can play that game," He said before firing a thin beam of energy at the figure.
Not to be outdone, the figure cast his own magical attack in the form of a beam with the same trajectory.
The two beams collided in the air and resulted in a blast of energy that bursted windows below, alerting the entire population.
King Wart was immediately awoken as the garrison immediately scrambled. Reinhard, Jord and Toby along with the rest of the knights in the barracks quickly stormed out and looked up.
As for Pandora and Silvanna, a fight sound started inside their room but nobody noticed because a magic barrier blocked every sound coming from inside the room.
"Is that?" Back to the scene of the trio, looking up, Toby recognized the figure's shadow.
The entire City of Diadel was shaken awake by the sounds of two powerful beings about to clash in a battle of epic proportions.