16. Forming An Alliance[2]
'By grand summoning ritual what do you mean. You also mentioned something called the Day of Reckoning earlier.'
"Beta! Show it to him," Nirvana commanded.
Beta brought a book from the top of the shelf by the roundtable.
"This is the Hexatose. An ancient book used to practice the dark arts. There are very few copies still in existence. The creator is of unknown origin," Beta stated.
Nirvana collected the book and opened it on the table.
"Here it is," she exhaled. "A grand summoning ritual is one in which a lot of high-grade sacrifices are required—what's more high-grade than the souls of over a thousand summoners. That's not all." She paused briefly. "The ritual was designed to open the Gates of Helm—a prison realm with calamitous entities who are capable of ravaging realms and destroying universes in their wake."
"As for the entity they plan to summon, we have no idea for now," Beta exclaimed calmly.
'Before we move further. How did you obtain all this information?'
"I'm afraid we can't tell you for now due to certain reasons," Beta replied.
'The Gates of Helm? This is the first time I'm hearing about it. I should extract as much information from them as I can.'
'You said earlier that you needed a deadly ally. For what exactly?'
"Ravter Abominations." Nirvana's tone darkened. "They are mindless creatures born of birth rituals. And Berry is mass-producing them. Most likely he plans to use them to overwhelm his opposition." She paused.
"In that light, I am proposing an alliance to put a stop to Berry's madness before he destroys us all," she stated boldly.
'Her reason seems sensible.'
'I have two conditions.'
"Go ahead," she answered skeptically.
'One, this alliance will be composed of just the both of us for now until we defeat Berry.'
"I was thinking the same thing. The lesser, the better," she exclaimed softly.
'Secondly, the details of my summons will remain undisclosed.'
"I don't plan to reveal any information about my summons to you either. I agree to all your conditions." She twisted her hair shyly. "I—I was wondering if—"
Beta cut her off mid-speech.
"Lady Nirvana would like to know your real name."
"Beta!!!" Nirvana blushed.
'Am Revet, nice to meet you.'
"Am... Nirvana, but I use Pearl as my summoner name." She shook his hand timidly.
After some deliberation, they decided to name their alliance The Pentagon Square.
"An interesting name indeed," Beta scoffed lightly.
'It's a bit over the edge, but it's okay.'
[You and Pearl have successfully formed an alliance under the name of The Pentagon Square]
"I look forward to working with you, Revet-dono," she said.
'Likewise Nirvana.'
Beta whispered something into her ear and her expression immediately darkened.
"We were just informed that a war broke out between two neighbouring domains in the south of Arstrea," she exclaimed sharply.
'And I won.'
"What do you mean?" She paused in shock. "Wait! You are the summoner who cloaked your domain in dark mist?"
'Yes, and my domain was attacked by its neighbour.'
"Lord Revet, was it advisable for you to leave your domain at such a crucial time?" Beta asked.
'My summons had it covered.'
Judging from their expressions, neither of them knew about his domain.
'I believe we should hold a proper strategic meeting with our summons next time to discuss how we intend to take care of Berry.'
"That will be arranged, and Lady Nirvana would like to host, if that's not a problem," Beta exclaimed boldly.
'Of course not.'He stood up. 'If you will excuse me, I have to get going now.'
"Please allow me to open a portal to your domain." She snapped her hand and a portal burst forth.
"I'll contact you in two days' time for the meeting... See you next time Revet-dono," Nirvana exclaimed as he stepped through the portal.
Whoosh—
He appeared right in front of his domain. The dark mist and barrier had successfully reformed.
'That's good.'
"You sure like to do as you please, human!" Reima said as she stepped through the dark mist.
'If it isn't Reima. As expected, your way of addressing me hasn't changed a bit.']
He smiled lightly.
"I wonder what kind of master leaves his domain on a fool's errand before a war."
'I thought you were all gods and goddesses. Surely a little war wasn't too much of a burden for you, or was it?'
"Tch. Using my pride to shut me up. You are as clever as they say you are," she scoffed. "Lovian, he doesn't seem to be a fake."
Lovian descended with her shadow dragon by her side, her pure white wings spreading feathers on the floor.
"Welcome back, Revet-sama."
A familiar figure appeared behind him.
Sniff... sniff.
Shina sniffed him rigorously.
"Eahhh! I smell a feminine perfume on him. Don't tell me you went to see your lover."
'Shina! Is that really the best ragebait you could come up with?'
"Hahaha, it's a joke, a joke!"
"The SS greets Revet-sama."
Their voices echoed in unison as they bowed.
'Fubuki! I know you can hear me. Please send an announcement to everyone telling them to gather at the central hall.'
"As you wish."
Her voice echoed calmly in his head.
On his way to the central hall, he came across Duran and Aria.
"Revet-san!"
Aria exclaimed, hugging him tightly.
"It's good to see that you are back in good health."
Duran scoffed.
'As expected you guys handled the situation properly.'
"It wasn't just us..."
She let go of him.
"It was the collective effort of everyone here."
"We have a lot to tell you, especially about the Ravter Abominations and the Nuxeons," Duran said.
'Let's head to the central hall first. Everyone must be there now.'
Creak...
He opened the door.
Voices filled the hall.
"Hahahaha! He finally descends to show himself!"
Entria laughed, holding a barrel of booze.
They filled him in on everything that happened.
'I can't help but feel there's a bigger scheme at play in the shadows.'
'The Nuxeons, Berry, the Day of Reckoning, Ravter Abominations, a grand summoning ritual...'
'All of these things feel connected.'
'But by what?'
Then it dawned on him.
'The Gates of Helm.' he mumbled to himself.
'Entria, have you ever heard of the Gates of Helm?'
The entire hall fell silent.
Entria's expression darkened.
"Child... where did you hear the name of that forsaken realm... that holds the most devastating Calamity?"