After waking up from that astral-dream, I got out of bed and woke up the others.
Once they were awake, I told them about my dream of the crypt and the talking sword.
"So, you dreamed about a talking sword, and you believe that it's calling you?" Vlad summarized.
You know, when you make it sound like it, it makes me think that you believe I'm crazy.
During our conversation, Amy was in deep thought. It looked like she had something on her mind.
"What's up, Amy?" I asked her.
"Hmm? It's nothing. I'm just thinking about your dream."
"Do you have any clue as to why I had the dream in the first place?"
"No, but it seems like we can't leave this alone. You told us that you were hearing a voice, right?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Then the voice won't leave you be until you give it what it wants."
Yeah, I kind of already came to that conclusion.
Help me!
I heard the voice once again and flinched.
"Damien?"
"Master, are you okay?"
Both Vlad and Amy looked at me with concern.
The voice was stronger this time. This isn't good.
It was a lot louder than before, to the point where my head started to ache. If it keeps that up, I feel like my heads gonna explode.
"Alright, since we have to look for this talking sword, we need to find out where it is," I tried to shrug off the noise while I focused on the objective.
"Yeah, but all we have is some mysterious crypt in a grassy plain."
Vlad had a point. There's probably a lot of crypts close to the city.
I'll need to be specific. That's when I remembered something.
On the entrance of the crypt, there was a logo of some kind that showed a thorny rose with blood. Maybe we'll be able to find the crypt faster if we know that.
Hopefully, the people around this place will know what I'm talking about. Otherwise, we're going to be at this for a while.
-At Dawnmore Castle-
They're finally here.
After a while, the rulers' most trusted companions have finally arrived.
"Man, it's been a while since I've last been to the human kingdom. It sure has changed."
"Hmph! Let's just get this over with. I need to head home and be by my sister's side."
"What's the matter, little elf? Homesick already?"
"Shut it, dwarf!"
"My my, I didn't expect such hostile behavior. Then again, you dwarves and elves always had a grudge against one another."
As expected, they were being a very rowdy bunch. Standing in front of King Allen was the rulers' most trusted allies.
The first one to arrive was a girl about eighteen or nineteen years old with long dark flowing red hair that went down to her waist. She wore a brown leather jacket, combat boots, and dark brown military-style pants.
She was also wearing a red torn up scarf around her neck. One of the ends was hanging off on her chest.
Upon closer inspections, she had what looked like a sword made entirely of bone. The bone sword resembled a katana with what appeared to be a row of teeth poking out of the back of the blade and had a red strap around the handle.
Allen knew both the girl and her weapon. The woman's name was Zemmi and that weapon of her was Backbone.
It was said that Backbone was a legendary or even godly ranked weapon. Zemmi used Backbone in countless battles and won every single one of them.
She was known as [The Invincible Dragon], because not only has she won every battle she's ever been, but she was also never harmed. Some say that it was the sword's doing, but others believe that it was her deal with the God of War, and some say it was both.
Whatever the case was, Zemmi was without a doubt invincible in her own right.
The next person that came was an elf. She had should-length silver hair and wore a battle dress, which was basically casual clothes mixed in with armor platings on the chest, arms, and legs.
Her weapon of choice was a bow, but not just any ordinary bow. This elf's bow was known as a magical bow.
Magic Bows were in the rare to legendary rankings. The reason for that is due to the fact that you fire arrows that are made from your mana.
The elf's name was Lura Farcon and her weapon was called Herja meaning Devastate. Lura is the sister to Elora, the Queen of the elves.
She's also the leader of The Valkyries. The Valkyries is an all-female elves army that does special ops or high potential threats.
The leader used to be Elora, but since she became ruler, it was up to her sister to be her replacement. So far, she's been doing nicely and Elora was proud of her for that.
Next to her was the Dwarf that was making fun of her. Unlike Strofith, this dwarf was about the size of your average dwarf which was 4'5 ft, had a dark brown beard, and wore a workshop outfit.
Unlike the Elf and Dragonoid, the dwarf has no weapons. That's because he wasn't a warrior but a crafter.
In fact, this little dwarf was known for being the best Dwarven craftsman in all of the dwarven continent. His name was Norten Whitstone, the master craftsman.
Norten has created many weapons and other devices throughout his lifespan. You could say that it's his passion like any dwarf.
The next one was someone that King Allen wished hadn't shown up. It was a demon.
He had red skin, horns on his forehead that pulled back, and gray hair and beard. He was wearing a red and black dress military uniform.
Despite looking a little old, he was strong enough to destroy an army of a thousand soldiers. Allen knew this well because he knows who the demon was.
His name was Vanomore. The reason why Allen knew him was due to the fact that he was a general to Raizur, the Demon King.
Van was known for being The Petrifying Demon. The reason why is due to his special Skill known as [Petrify].
This skill allows Van to turn anyone he gazes at into stone. Thanks to this ability of his, he made a name for himself and was granted a seat with the generals.
Lastly was . . . Hmm?
Where is the last ally?
King Allen looked around the room, but couldn't find the last ally. Allen finally found her leaning up against a wall in the shadows.
It was hard to get a good look at the person, but Allen could tell that it was female and had cat-ears. That must mean that this was Reiko, the Cat Assassin.
Reiko was what you would call a hitman or mercenary. Her specialty was stealth of many kinds like assassinations, recon, and more.
Reiko used to be part of a mercenary group called The Gray Outlaws. They were a notorious beast-folk mercenary group that takes jobs like assassinations, robberies, and others.
A little while after, Ghef decided to make Reiko into his personal mercenary. It was unclear why, but that doesn't change the fact that Ghef has his own mercenary in the palm of his hand.
And that was all of the allies here. Knowing this, Allen soon spoke up.
"I'm glad all of you can make it. I assume that your rulers informed you of what's going on?"
"You mean about the Champion of Zerris, right? Yeah, I was told." Zemmi confirmed.
The others nodded as a sign of agreement.
"Good, then I won't have to go into full details since you know the gist of it. As we currently know, Zerris has chosen her champion, and it is currently in the Human Continent. My best people are on the hunt for the walking disaster maker, and you will accompany them."
No one said a word, yet. It seems that they weren't going to argue.
"I already informed my people about your arrival, and they told me of their next location where you'll meet them. It seems that they're heading towards Grayhaven."
"Grayhaven? Isn't that a known vampire hotspot?" Zemmi asked.
"Yes, it is. It seems that the Champion is moving East. If it keeps moving in this direction . . . It will soon come here."
This was what Allen feared the most. If the Champion kept moving East, it will reach the kingdom in no time.
That is the one thing that he cannot allow. That's why he needed to make sure that they eliminate the threat before it reaches here.
"You're current mission is to head to Grayhaven and see if the Champion is there. While you do that, I'll build up the defenses here so that the Champion can't get in or long enough to keep it out for you guys to arrive."
"I see. And what if the Champion was already in the city?" Van asked out of the blue.
. . . Allen hadn't thought of that.
It's very possible that the Champion was already in the city. If that's the case, then this is worse than he originally thought.
While Allen was panicking over the thought, Zemmi spoke up.
"Well, since we don't know much, I say we split up."
Allen looked up at Zemmi with a confused look.
"What do you mean?" Van asked.
"I mean some of us should stick back while the rest of us head to Grayhaven. If the Champion is here, then it's best that some of us stay here to hold it off until the rest of us comes back."
That's actually not such a bad idea. The problem is choosing who should stay and go.
If the Champion is in the city, then he'll need at least one of the strongest allies to stay here. And if the Champion is in Grayhaven, then he'll need to send in a couple of the strongest allies.
While Allen thought about this, Zemmi spoke up again.
"Alright, Lura and I will head to Grayhaven while the rest of you stay behind."
"Excuse me, but what happens if you encounter the Champion at Grayhaven?" Van asked.
"Then we'll contact you and get your sorry asses to us asap."
Van thought about this for a moment and soon nodded in agreement.
"Okay, I'll agree to stay here. Since you, Lura, and I are more on the offensive side, this will work."
"That's right. Plus, with Reiko here, she can scour the city and look for the Champion. Once she finds it, she'll inform you and the rest of us to get back to the City."
"Indeed. This is definitely a good strategy." Norten agreed.
Reiko said nothing but nodded her head.
"Alright, we should get going so that we won't miss the Champion if it's at Grayhaven," Zemmi said as she walked off with Lura.
The others did the same and went for the door. Allen tried to stop them, but they were already gone.
". . . What was the point in coming to me if they already planned out everything?" Allen felt dejected and he pondered over the thought.
Author's Note:
Van and Zemmi are back! That's right people!
If those of you know who Van is, he's the demon that Damien fought in the village in my old story. As for Zemmi, she's the one that was hunting down Damien along with everyone else.
Anyway, let me know what you guys think and I'll see you guys in the next chapter.
See Ya!