"How many lived?"
"...Only a handful. We weren't expecting them to be so full of energy. A lot of the guild member couldn't hold back."
The mid-ranking guild member slicked back his hair and sat down on a nearby bench, covered in blood. He couldn't tell if it was his or not.
"...Christ. How many casualties on our side?"
"...Still counting. Only a few died, but many were tagged, yourself included." He pointed at a gash on the man's face.
Suddenly, the ground shook. A massive impact from just outside the hall sent the barely standing men tumbling.
The doors burst open and the Eternal Flame huffed as he entered.
"I want the reports, now! Where's the Hermes?"
The elf counting off the numbers to the man fell quickly into a brisk pace behind Kaelthar.
"Thirty-four of the prisoners died, guild master. We managed to capture seven-"
He stepped over the puddles of blood and bodies. "Count again. There were fourty-eight prisoners here, not including the four we just brought in. Any casualties?"
"W-well, guild master, there were deaths from lower ranking members, and a large portion of the outpost was injured-"
They had entered a hallway beyond the main entrance, heading to the Hermes' office.
Kaelthar stopped. "Your outpost couldn't handle a pack of malnourished prisoners?"
"I-I'm sorry sir, many of the stationed members are new recruits, I-I'm the only member higher than a capt-"
Kaelthar swung his arm back towards the elf, colliding with his chest. In an instant, the elf's upper half had been turned into a red paste covering the wall.
"Useless fucking sergeants."
Kaelthar opened the door to the Hermes' office and approached a hooded figure who stood over a sheet of paper on his desk. The man quickly noticed Kaelthar and jumped into a salute.
"Guild master! I've already reached out to Special Unit 13, they said they'll start the search right away!"
Kaelthar walked right up to the man and examined him. He raised his hand up and flicked the Hermes in the chest. A small hole appeared through his torso, except there was no blood that poured out. The inside of the Hermes was entirely hollow.
"How long have you worked for me, Dion, and you expected me to fall for this?"
The fake Hermes melted into a puddle at his feet.
Out in the land between Zones, Dion winced.
"Damn, I had hoped it would stall him a little longer..."
In front of him now stood the entrance to Eryndria. The soil beneath him were covered in footprints and tracks of wheels from catapults. By now, all of the troops should had occupied Eryndria in it's entirety.
Velocis sat down in his cheetah form. "You think they made it here already?"
Loki extended far enough around Dion's hood to see Velocis. "Unless they wanted to destroy the city even more, let's hope they didn't lead him here."
Dion stepped beyond the barrier and entered Eryndria, the constant downpour seemed weaker than when they were here last. When he entered, he noticed something was different.
"...She made her entire Zone a Safe Zone..."
"Why would she need a Safe Zone? I thought most of her citizens weren't Champions?" Zephyr added.
"She must've wanted to protect the few who were..." Serendelle chirped.
"Nah, she probably did it to protect herself." Loki mentioned while coiling back around Dion's neck.
Dion pulled his hood over his pointed ears and hesitantly marched forward. Approaching the city, many of the buildings were either damage or fully demolished. From what he was told, this was only meant to be a preliminary attack, a warning strike, and yet it looked like they had ravaged everything.
Lady April's giant tower remained standing, besides a lot of broken glass that now laid on the streets. Standing outside was a line of Eternal Flame guild members each holding a weapon with a person tied up on their knees in front of each of them.
Zephyr flew low, whispering to Dion. "Hostages!? What are they trying to get from the Tidecaller?"
"You want a wild guess? To turn herself in or they'll keep killing the citizens." Loki hissed.
"She's a Major God, and she couldn't handle a bunch of Eternal Flame foot soldiers?"
Dion shook his head. "Kaelthar trained a special unit specifically for fighting the Tidecaller. He's done the same for the other Major God's, but we don't know how effective they'll be until they're actually used."
"...Then Lady April must really be backed into a corner if she cut herself off from defending the city..."
"I guess we just need to find out. Can the rest of you stay here? I don't want those foot soldiers to get suspicious seeing me walk in with a bunch of Gods."
Velocis sighed. "Always gotta leave us behind..."
"Would you rather make the situation worse, or just sit on your ass for an hour?"
"Depends how 'worse' we're talking."
Dion sighed, and turned towards the building.
As he crossed the path of the guild members, they all laughed and called out to him.
"You gonna go talk some sense into her, stealth man? I'm getting tired of just standing here."
"Hey, can we speed up the killing process? We've got a lot more guys to kill here, we could be here for weeks."
Dion dropped a quick "No." as he entered the lobby. Blood stained the walls and floor, and the main elevator wasn't working.
He sighed. "Figures..."
Taking the emergency staircase, he marched up flight after flight. Even with how long he's been in this game, he swore his legs were going numb.
Eventually, he reached the top. Pushing the door open, he intruded upon a heated argument.
"If I lift the Safe Zone, my citizens will die before I can get them away from those grunts!"
"Then maybe we need to accept that collateral damage! If you go with them, the Eternal Flame will just kill them all anyways!" Vergo threw his arms out while he spoke.
Lady April sat back in her chair as she noticed Dion enter. Her usual dress was in tatters, instead she wore a small suit of metal armor.
"You- You're the one from Sachi's team..." Her face quickly shifted from surprise to anger. "You're the reason they attacked, aren't you!? I never should've entertained the idea of helping that Lesser God with such a ridiculous plan!"
Dion tilted his head down. "Don't blame Sachi, blame me. I'm the reason the Eternal Flame found out."
Vergo stepped towards him. "So you just waltz in here admitting that? Just because I'm not Champion doesn't mean I won't slit your throat open right here!" He drew a dagger from his hip.
Dion quickly blurted "I'm not here to stoke the flames, I want to help you fight back!"
"And what makes you think we'd just believe whatever you say!?"
Loki, who had disappeared from Dion's neck unannounced, now sat on a chair in the corner, blowing smoke from a cigarette. "Do you really have the luxury to choose to ignore us? From the sound of it, your options here are limited," she put her cigarette out on table next to her. "We have another option you might be interested to hear."
Lady April contemplated for a moment, and then waved Vergo back. "...We can at least hear what you have to say."
Loki gave a wide smile, making sure they saw her sharp fangs. "The only reason Kaelthar hasn't burned this place to the ground years ago is because he doesn't know where his child is..." She leaned forward.
"The child you had, and are hiding somewhere in Eryndria."