As evening descended, the world transformed into a canvas painted with the fading embers of the setting sun. The clock's hand pointed precisely at 5 p.m., marking the beginning of twilight's gentle embrace. The sun, now a mere sliver on the horizon, cast a golden-orange glow that bathed everything in its warm, ethereal light.
The landscape took on a magical quality, as if the very fabric of reality had been infused with the essence of the vanishing day. Shadows grew longer, and the silhouettes of trees, buildings, and people stretched out across the land. The world seemed to hold its breath, caught in the transient beauty of this twilight hour. The doors of the royal estate slowly opened, revealing four figures exiting the premises. The courtyard of the royal palace only had guards, and a few other domestic workers tending to the gardens in sight, so it was still rather quiet right now.
The only thing really escaping the dull silence was the gentle sounds of the water flowing from the garden's fountain, and the chirping noises coming from small birds that sought to alleviate their thirst.
"Hrrrghh!!" Stepping through the gates of royalty, Cecilia interlocked her fingers and stretched her slender arms in front of her, she could hear the faint cawing's of a flock of crows passing overhead as the rays of sunset caressed her slightly visible thighs and nape. The girl now felt a sense of ease as she could finally depart from the estate, but not before giving the dignified building one final glance. Narrowing her eyes in recollection, a certain statement came to mind.
("Have everything ready in four months or not at all.")
"Four months huh?" A slight breeze whiffed past as she stood near the gates in a daze.
".....lia...Cecilia?"
"Oh, yea? You were saying?" It took quite a while for her to register the voices calling out to her.
They had belonged to the other Salamander member that had accompanied her. Aside from Lucas, there was another majic caster by the name of Winks and a swordsman, Dennis. Neither of them had said much during the earlier proceedings but in the case of Winks, that was his innate nature and Dennis simply didn't have much to say. Given recent events and the now grand situation they had found themselves in, he was most likely still processing it all. Aside from Cecilia, the reason these three had been the ones to respond to the summons was because they were the only members from the fourth combat unit that ventured inland who weren't either dead, seriously injured or in an unstable state of mind.
"We were just talking about what we'd do after this. I think I'm gonna head back to the ship but what about you guys?" Dennis was the first to answer.
"I-I think I'm gonna head back to the ship too. Elena's probably waiting for me after all."
"I'm going to the guild. I've been thinking about it for a while, but I guess there's no better time than this to tell you guys. I'm leaving Salamander, so I want them to revoke my status as an adventurer. After what happened on Demon's crypt it seems like a fair decision." Lucas calmly relayed the news to his companions.
The guild was the organization that registered new state combatants across the Cian empire. After partaking in a physical, as well as academic exams, those who passed were given a rank based on the position that suited them best. They had the option of either joining the state military, or forming adventurer parties that took on quests. Winson had taken on a role in the military during his earlier years, but soon switched over to adventuring after the Cian empire took hold. Swordsman in service of the military were ranked by way of: Arch-Knight, Chevalier, Paladin and Templar, while adventures were given the general rankings of A - D rank.
A dull silence now lingered in the air.
"I figured something like this would start happening sooner or later." Winks interjected as he released a small sigh.
"I'm of the same opinion, things have gotten a little too big for me this time, and now they're planning an invasion on top of everything that's already happened. If you have a decent track record as an adventurer, it's highly likely that you'll be drafted to participate in the invasion by order of the state."
Dennis remarked as he glanced at the short sword affixed to his hip.
"What about you Cecilia, are you going back there?" Luas asked, drawing the groups attention to her.
She stared at the ground, pausing for a moment. She perfectly understood their concerns. Her lips slowly began to open in response
"I know how you feel, and.....I know that I can't stop you. Honestly, I don't even want to remember anything that happened on Demon's Crypt much less go back there, but..." She trailed off, finding the right words for her next sentence.
"I don't want to regret it. I don't want to run away now and regret not going back there someday. To make sure the deaths of the others weren't in vain. I have to make sure, no matter what."
The three men were left shock at the words uttered by the young girl in front of them.
"Go back there? Are you insane?!" Winks shouted; his eyes now bloodshot.
"The others were slaughtered all at the hands of one little kid, and you think you can do anything if you go back there?"
"............."
"You're gonna get yourself killed." Winks shouted, venting all his built-up frustration.
None of the others had ever seen him like this so it was quite the shock.
"Hey Winks .....calm down for a second." Lucas placed a hand on his shoulder, but Winks flashed him off immediately.
"Don't touch me!.....this....this is insane." His voice sounded like a somber cry.
Cecilia almost took a step back at his words, but she braced herself and stood firm.
"You're right. I might very well end up dead, but this is something I have to do. I have to see him again."
"You mean that bloodthirsty kid? You want to see that thing again? Who knows what he might do this time...."
"Aren't you afraid?...Hey you guys.....aren't you?" Winks slumped to his knees.
Tears welled up in his eyes as he directed those words at no one in particular.
"What a loser." The voice of a young girl was now mocking the sight of the grown man in despair.
Turning towards the estate, the figures of the three linchpin members could be seen casually strolling towards them. At a glance, you'd think they owned the place. Marion Weaver, the short-tempered mercenary had completely disrupted the entire flow of their conversation. The two respective gatherings were now reasonably close to one another, and Lucas shot them a hateful glare.
"What do you want?" he asked with an irritated tone.
"Why the angry look?" Renard gave him a confused response.
"We're kind of in the middle of something right now." Dennis interrupted.
"Oh, your farewells huh? Then we'll wait a bit. We have business with Cecilia there, seeing as we'll be working with her again in the coming months."
"Yea, the rest of you are a bunch of cowards who just decided to run away and leave everything to a girl." Marion mockingly remarked.
"Tch! Is everyone from linchpin like this? I've had a bad feeling ever since the captain decided to work with these freaks. And you Renard, I always hated your haughty attitude; you did whatever you wanted back on the Leviathan and acted like you owned the place, but in the end, you didn't even go out to fight them yourself. You've got no right to call any of us cowards!"
Lucas bombarded the mercenary with an enraged verbal assault.
But Renard merely shrugged.
"I've fought Asura before." He calmly answered.
"W-what?" Lucas gave his reply with a shocking expression.
"It was around eight years ago, and it wasn't exactly a famous topic, so I doubt you heard anything about it." Renard continued.
"If you knew about those things then, then...why didn't you help them!?" Winks shouted in rage once more.
"I did give your captain a fair warning, and I didn't go there looking for a fight last time. It was more in the way of reconnaissance if anything."
"Huh?" Winks' rage began to mellow out into confusion.
"I wanted to see if the same trick would work twice, given that a lot of time had passed. Hey, why do you think we used that majic before we got there? There must've been a reason behind it don'tcha think?"
"W-well...." Cecilia was at a loss for words. The strange technique they used before they made landfall did somewhat fascinate her, but at the time they had merely referred to it as "insurance."
"Who cares about that right now? You're still being a nuisance." Dennis said with a grimace.
"Well, well, just list listen alright. The purpose of that technique we used before making landfall was to weaken the barrier surrounding the island."
"There was something like that there?" Dennis gave a dumbfounded stare
"Of course. Your captain even knew about it, that's why he reluctantly agreed to bring me and Leno along, because my good man Ferris had put in a word for us." Renard said in his usual nonchalant tone.
"So why are you telling this to us now?" Lucas inquired.
"Us? The only reason I'm saying any of this right now is for Cecilia's sake. The three of you have nothing to do with this anymore."
"Tch! Damn you..." Dennis seemed to be on the verge of flaring up, but Lucas restrained him."
"So you let our friends die because of your stupid reconnaissance?" Winks asked with gritted teeth.
"I let them die? They were your friends, so don't go blaming others for your own weakness. They died because they were weak, and you stood there and watch them get slaughtered."
Renard's tone had shifted into something far more serious, neither Marion or Kreig had ever seen this side of him before, they could only give a bewildered stare.
"I don't want to hear that from a bunch of contracted killers." Winks retorted, avoiding the weight behind Renard's statement.
"Contract killers?" Cecilia turned towards Winks for more details.
"Yea....I heard about it. Apparently, most of the members in linchpin are either criminals or killers united under Renard's rule, but he's got some connections with high-ranking nobles in Cian, so he's able to roam freely."
Renard made a slight whistling sound.
"You've certainly done your homework but....so what?"
BANG!
There was a loud metallic sound. Marion had dropped her metal case on the floor, it destroyed the concrete pavement upon impact.
"Oi Marion what are you doing?! We'll have to pay for that you know?" Renard said in a somewhat panicked tone, it seemed his usual demeanor was back.
"Shut up Renard. These guys are pissing me off." Her black pupils had a determined glint in them.
"Contract killers huh? So what? No matter what kind of past the members of our group have, we will accept them so....Don't you dare insult my friends you fucking loser!" Marion was now seething with rage, true rage and not just that of her agitative personality.
Krieg resigned himself, he knew there was no stopping her right now, and he too was somewhat angry, as the only action he took after the girl's outburst was tightening the blue gauntlets affixed to his arms.
"Krieg, we're gonna do this."
"Yea."
With his brief reply Cecilia knew what was coming.
"Let's fight. This is perfect since it's four on three, you even have a handicap. And I've been curious about this girl's abilities, so this really is a good opportunity."
Lucas had a stern expression, but before he could even say anything, Dennis rose to his feet.
"I'm in, what about the rest of you?" The swordsman gripped his short sword upon asking that question.
Cecilia stepped forward, being backed by nothing but her determination.
"Me too, I'm kind of angry myself after hearing him talk about our comrades like that."
Lucas stared at her; this was the second time today her determination had caught him off guard. The alcoholic clenched his fist and took up his position beside his comrades, ready to duke it out in one last brawl.
"What about you Winks?" Lucas asked the recently distraught mage.
"Count me in, this will be my final act as a member of Salamander. I'm going to teach these fools a lesson."
"Heh I wasn't expecting this, but it does seem interesting, so I'll tag along. There's a training ground used for the selection exams somewhere around here, so let's head there." Renard departed first, waving his hand over his shoulder as if to signal them to follow.
Seven fighters were now headed to the capital city of "Achilles." The place where they would have their fated showdown.