The assembly had begun. The Scions had disclosed everything to the Alliance. From the discovery of Sovereigns, alien material, and up to the battle of Mt. Alnath. Some gasps and murmurs were heard as they learned of the treachery. By the end of it, after Rachelia summarized everything, the chaotic chatter from mythfolks, djinns, depthdwellers and magi couldn't be contained anymore."How absolutely despicable!" Sir Ragdorius' booming voice echoed. "How could the Scions do this? How did any of this get by us?"The audience erupted to louder blend of noises. Lars' heart went faster as he looked around, expecting there might be a riot soon. Rachelia took the matter at hand by snapping her fingers. A faint wave spread out and the entire place was silenced, regardless of whether the audience still moved their mouths to speak. Soon enough, they stopped trying."Now can we please continue the discussion in an orderly manner? Thank you." Rachelia snapped her fingers again, and the audienc

Lars tried to make as little sound as possible climbing up old creaky stairs. He didn't want to alert the arguing parents that he heard from the inside of apartment. The stairs led to a rooftop where Lars was presented with breathtaking sight of Rukbat region that looked like spangled with thousand stars.The buildings looked come to life with their colorful signs and lamps, lighting up the nightfall. However, contrasting the bright starry city, the sky was bleak with thick clouds hovered above, once in a while beating with thunder.Lars gazed at the dark clouds that slowly pushed to east by unseen wind, and wondered whether it was an ill omen. He quickly shook it off and held his star necklace, praying that he could successfully do his part on that decisive day."You're ready?"Lars turned to Wilhelmina who just arrived from neighboring rooftop. He gave her his best smile that could convey confidence. The maid in blue smiled back and nodded. They had been assigned on a team to

Under the guise of cloudy night, a container truck went by on the interstate road towards Eschemali region. The road breached through the thick green canopy of the forest and passed a bridge over a large river. The rushing water flowed from a waterfall in the north, and the crags formation on its each sides resembled spreading wings of an angel.Tirana always smiled whenever she passed the Winged Waterfall. Though it was dark, she could always make out the wings from the shadows. She found it a highlight of her day whenever she had to go stock up her supplies in Eschemali."I heard the Earth Sculptor made that," Saracenia said."Really? Mell did it?" Tirana looked back on the waterfall. "I wouldn't guess he'd think of creating something that artistic."Saracenia chuckled for a bit. Her fingers lightly tapped on the steering wheel in the same rhythm with the mellow song from the radio. "The Scions shaped a lot of places in Mirepa, especially the earlier ones. The Earth Sculptor

With their consecutive victories on a single night over the Silver Sovereigns, the Scions and Tirana gathered again at Calendula Residence conference room. There were smiles and celebratory cheers, but not from Lars. He was still grappling at the idea that anything goes in their effort to achieve victory, including causing disasters and taking an innocent boy hostage."Let's get to it, shall we? Anybody wants to start what they found so far?" Rachelia said."Me first!" Mell shouted. "I have destroyed those fucking Sovereigns' factory. They're gone, down and dusted. Fuck yeah!""Yes, Mell. I am aware of that. Your earthquake made it to Channel 6's news this morning. Hopefully that's a suitable price to pay to slow down the Sovereigns. The Alchemist Guild's been riling me up about destroying their property.""They didn't know about Claros being a two - faced bastard?" Vayu asked."Not until I told them just earlier." Rachelia let out a tired sigh. "Anything else?"Tirana rais

"Walk faster, maggot!"Len's vision was hazy from all the beatings and blood that trickled to his left eye. Duncan was especially rough with him that day. Len had beaten up so badly he couldn't even stand anymore. He had to be dragged across the hallway, leaving a trail of blood as he did.While barely hanging on to his consciousness, Len wondered what was it that made Duncan this angry. He had realized for a while that despite how rough and dreadful his torments were, they had never made him lose a limb or severely damage his vital organs. And yet, that day Duncan really pushed the edge.Len had repeatedly fainted by the time he was brought to his destination. Duncan shoved him inside of a dark room and left him in the silence. Len wanted to move but his body was close to giving up. He felt the coldness of the floor on his cheek and found it strangely pleasant.However, Len knew he wasn't meant to just lie there forever. He was thrown somewhere he didn't know, and he knew he g