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He wasn\'t sure that letting the kid with Aravelle was even remotely a good idea, and he hated every second that passed more than the last.

"What if the boy insults him? Or worse, pops off at him and attacks him? Will his powers as an Abnormal bring him back? Or will the powers of the progenitor erase him permanently? By the Star Lady\'s grace, Astaroth, please be smart enough to keep respectful…"

Further down in the palace, inside the throne room, Phoenix was busy discussing with the officers. She was worried about why Astaroth had never shown up and had already checked her friend\'s list to see what he was up to.

His tag showed online, but his location and status were greyed out.

\'What did he land himself into this time?\' she sighed internally.

But she kept talking to the officers since she had called this meeting, and no one seemed to notice that Astaroth was missing.

***

On the western side of the continent, in the Ash Elf kingdom, far into its forbidden forests, Killi was busy organizing more and more patrols into the lands surrounding the budding fortress he now called home.

The corrupted beasts\' presence, which Astaroth had assured him he had taken care of, had suddenly restarted in full force. He didn\'t know what had suddenly caused this, but it was a problem he hurriedly had to deal with.

Fortunately for him, the number of players in his guild was still rising every day, and he had more than enough manpower to deal with it. He constantly had to promote trustworthy players to higher ranks to control the patrols he sent out.

At this pace, his guild would be more of an army than a guild. Not that he minded.

Since he had allied with Paragon, or rather, under Paragon, many players flocked to his guild, as the easier-to-enter option. He had no idea who had put the standards of recruitment so high over in Paragon, but he was glad they did.

He couldn\'t care less how many low-level players he got. Levels could be raised.

And even if they weren\'t the cream of the crop, there was also a quality, in quantity.

The door to his office opened up, as Killi was looming over the map of the region his people had drawn up.

"Sir! Patrol team S-21 has found a tear. They reported to us as soon as they did, and are currently trying to contain the miasma leaking out of it. They contacted us again, asking for a raiding party to come take care of it. It seems it\'s about to open up into a portal."

Killi cursed under his breath.

"Contact them back. Tell them our priests are all busy. They will have to hold out for a bit. I\'m having a batch of them trained in Kormir. They should be back tomorrow.

"Send a second patrol team to rotate with them so they can rest. Send a third one if needed. But don\'t let the portal become a problem. Astaroth told me that portals held far more dangerous foes than corrupted beasts. I don\'t want whatever it is to roam our lands."

The reporting officer saluted Killi before running back out of the room.

Killi was left with his second in command once again. The man had been awfully quiet up to now.

"Spit it out, Savnir. You are never this quiet without reason," Killi spat, looking at his vice leader from the corner of his eye.

"I have a bad feeling about the situation, that is all. If Astaroth wasn\'t lying, which I doubt he was, there shouldn\'t be tears left. Why did they suddenly open again? What changed?"

Killi looked at him with worry.

"What do you think?"

Savnir scratched his chin, looking at the map. He pointed to an area more to the north-east, where the map stopped.

"From what I gather from our scouting reports, the kingdom of the Ash Elves is many miles out in this direction. And the further we send out patrols in this direction, the more corrupted beasts they encounter. I don\'t think this is happening at random…"

Killi looked at him, and his eyes became cold.

"You think this is intentional?"

Savnir only nodded.

Killi\'s fists clenched as his eyes fell on the map again.

"I should tell Prince Nalafein what you told me. If what you say is remotely true, he needs to know. And we will need to start pushing against his homeland sooner than anticipated."

Savnir looked at Killi with resolve flashing in his eyes.

"I\'ll start making plans for our troops."

Killi nodded his head at him, watching his second-in-command walk out of his office.

A long sigh escaped his lips.

"We aren\'t ready to fight the kingdom… Our players are too few and too weak… But if they play dirty like this, we will never be able to attack them. They will just keep us busy with beasts and lesser demons, while they plan and expand…" he muttered.

This was not an ideal situation. But fate had dealt him his hand.

Now he needed to play it.

Leaving his office soon after, having put into writing his report, he walked toward the higher floors of the mage tower. Contrary to Paragon\'s palace, Nalafein had opted to put his offices and court on higher floors.

This was a tactical move, allowing him to have a large buffer before anyone could reach him, in case of attack. And they expected them any day now.

After reaching the fourth floor, Killi stopped before a massive set of double doors, flanked by guards.

The guards nodded at him, recognizing him, and one left inside to announce his presence.

Killi was ushered inside the room soon after, but asked to wait for the prince to finish his meeting before reporting. And as he entered, he saw why.

In the throne room, in front of the four-step dais, a woman was pacing, her hand behind her back, as a magic structure made of words followed her around.

Killi wasn\'t a mage, and the display confused him, as much as it awed him. But he maintained his silence until he was called.

And as he waited, a tall Ash Elf walked next to him. It was the new general under Nalafein, Kloud Stryph.

Both of them nodded to each other, Killi handing him the written report, before they waited for the prince to call on them. The two men had grown to respect each other greatly since Killi arrived, sparring regularly in the courtyard below.

Kloud knew Killi wouldn\'t come up here for no reason, so he was already apprehensive of his presence.

\'Are we already stepping into the warpath?\' he wondered, eyeing the prince protectively.