"You realized it too late."
"Maybe they had a sudden mission?" Rasie said, her eyes still scanning the surrounding crowd.
"A sudden mission?" Zaefal shook his head, his jaw tightening.
"If so, they should have left some Guardians here on watch."
His brows furrowed.
"The only one who can command the Guardians is the royal family. The governor and other authorities can’t."
He stopped walking, forcing Rasie to stop with him. The festival crowd flowed around them.
"So what? What urgent business? How urgent could it be that all of them had to leave the city?"
"There’s something. I don’t know what. But there’s definitely something."
Zaefal turned to Rasie, his eyes serious.
"What do you think, Rasie?"
Rasie fell silent. She slowly tilted her head left and right.
"Maybe..."
"Maybe... there’s something extremely urgent at the capital that required all the Guardians to go there?"
Rasie then flinched, her eyes widening slightly.
"Or maybe... the king is dead!"
She immediately waved her hands and laughed nervously.
"No way, no way."
Zaefal’s face grew paler.
"That’s possible."
Seeing Zaefal grow even more paranoid, Rasie could only sigh.
"Alright, let’s say something is wrong. Then what? What do you want to do?
Yell, ’HEY, THERE ARE NO GUARDIANS! HEY, IT’S DANGEROUS! RUN! RUN!’"
Zaefal, whose face was grim, gave a small, dry laugh at the joke.
"Honestly, that’s not a bad idea."
Hearing that, Rasie flinched slightly and stared at him, bewildered.
"You really are weird."
"Should I hold up a mirror for you?" Zaefal said, smiling faintly at her.
He then looked toward the crowded town square.
"First, let’s find Illya and Fyar."
---
The inn
The inn was now even more crowded. Some patrons had come in to rest for a moment from the rowdy festival, and some guests had come down for dinner.
In the middle of the room, a large crowd circled a sturdy wooden table. They were shouting raucously.
"Kili! Kili! Kili!"
"DESTROY HIM, BAGAS!"
"BAGAS! BAGAS!"
"Hahahaha!"
At the table, 01, using the name Kili, was arm-wrestling a muscular local named Bagas. Their arms trembled violently in the center of the table.
Bagas’s face was red, the veins in his neck bulged, and his teeth were clenched.
"Come on, put some spirit into it... you..."
01, smiling faintly, looked like he wasn’t even trying.
With a little extra pressure, 01 slammed Bagas’s arm onto the table’s surface.
KRAK!
The sound of cracking wood was heard. The back of Bagas’s hand hit the table.
"Kili!"
"Hahahah, he did it again!"
"Hahahahah, you’re amazing, Kili!!"
"Tchhh."
"I’m disappointed in you, Bagas."
The crowd supporting 01 cheered. The others grumbled, pulling out their betting coins.
01 pulled his hand back, shaking it slightly.
"That makes ten times in a row, haha. You guys are all talk... hahaha."
He stood up, looking at the sweaty crowd.
"Who’s next? I’ll give three gold coins if you win! Hurry, hurry!"
Just as a drunk adventurer was about to step forward, a light touch landed on 01’s shoulder.
01 turned.
02 stood behind him, her red eyes staring intently.
"Two hours," 02 whispered.
01’s smile vanished instantly.
"Tch."
A look of disappointment flashed across his face.
He sighed deeply, looking around the inn filled with laughing, talking faces, and Laura rushing by with a tray of drinks.
01 jumped onto the arm-wrestling table, silencing the crowd.
"Alright, alright!" he shouted, his voice cutting through the noise. Several patrons turned to look at him.
"As thanks for treating us so well tonight... I have an announcement to make!"
01 paused, enjoying the attention.
He drew a blood-red sword from the sheath on his back. The blade seemed to glow, covered in intricate engravings.
"I am going to explode in thirty seconds."
"Get out within thirty seconds! I’m allowing it!"
Total silence enveloped the inn for a few seconds.
Then, a roar of laughter erupted.
"Hahaha! Good joke, Kili!"
"He’s drunk!"
"Hahahah, he’s stressed out!!"
"Explode?!"
"This festival is explosive!"
"You’d make a good entertainer, Kili!"
01 hissed, "I’m serious!"
"Get out! I’m blowing this place up in thirty seconds!"
02, who was standing near the door, looked at 01 with exasperation.
"Idiot," she hissed softly. "Why are you telling them? Agh, whatever."
02 gave 01 the middle finger.
01 just chuckled at the gesture.
He raised his sword slightly, his eyes sweeping over the still-laughing crowd.
"One... Two... Three..."
Near the door, Laura dropped her tray of glasses.
KLANG!
She stared into 01’s eyes.
She saw the seriousness in them.
Laura didn’t want to take the risk.
She turned and ran out the door, bumping into a few guests who were just entering.
01 watched her run.
"Smart girl," he muttered.
The other adventurers laughed at Laura.
"Look, the little waitress is terrified!"
"Keep counting, Kili!"
"Hahaha, she actually took Kili seriously!"
"She really can’t take a joke!"
01 continued to count, his voice calm.
"...Twenty-seven... Twenty-eight... Twenty-nine..."
The laughter began to die down.
Some of the more cautious adventurers started to feel uneasy.
"Oi, is he serious?"
"What’s he doing?"
"H-He’s serious."
"Look, his sword is glowing brighter!"
"Thirty."
01 looked around the room, staring at the now-confused faces.
"You all could have been my friends. But you’re stupid."
He raised his red sword high.
"I’m disappointed, folks."
Bright orange fire erupted from the blade.
The heat was instant, illuminating the entire room with a terrible light.
The adventurers’ eyes widened in horror.
"ATTACK HIM!"
"RUN!"
"Shit, he’s serious!!"
"Stop him!!"
Some tried to draw their weapons.
Others scrambled in panic toward the only exit.
But 01 gave them no time.
He plunged his flaming sword straight into the wooden floor beneath his feet.
BOOM.
Pure fire energy exploded outward from the point of impact.
A shockwave of fire expanded instantly.
Wooden tables shattered into charred splinters.
The wooden floor split apart.
The adventurers who were laughing seconds ago were thrown against the stone walls.
Their bodies were burning and blackening even before they landed.
Their screams were cut off by the roar of the fire.
The glass windows shattered outward.
The entire inn building collapsed in on itself, exploding in a giant fireball that rose into the Elfier night sky, rivaling the light of the festival fireworks.
On the streets, people screamed in panic.
Across the street, 02 stood in a dark alley, watching the destruction without expression.
Laura, who was already a short distance from the inn, had a pale expression, her breathing erratic.
Her body trembled violently and she collapsed.
01 walked out of the fire, his cloak slightly smoking but otherwise unharmed.
He brushed some dust from his shoulder.
The smell of burning wood and flesh hung in the air, thick and suffocating.
Sparks drifted like dying fireflies around 01’s boots.
People screamed in the distance, but his expression didn’t change.
02 approached slowly, her shadow stretching beside him.
"I hate this," 01 said calmly.
"aww Don’t be like that," 02 replied.
---
Three figures leaned against a wall.
a woman with long black braids, a short-haired woman with red eyes, and a man clad in heavy black armor.
"I find our team placement a little strange," said the woman with braids.
"Why?" asked the red-eyed woman.
The braided woman sighed.
"The numbers don’t line up. I’m 03, you’re 04, and..."
She looked at the armored man.
Engravings on his black plate glowed faintly red.
"07?" said 03. "Why not 05?"
04 burst out laughing.
"Is that all? Just the numbers?!"
She clapped 03’s shoulder.
"Stop it. They’re just numbers. Don’t overthink it."
Moments later, a loud explosion echoed through the city.
The vibration traveled through their feet, shaking dust from the brick wall beside them.
"Oh. That’s their signal."
03 pushed herself off the wall.
"Finallly. I can’t stand this festival."
07, who had been silent, finally spoke.
"Split up. Target high-level adventurers."
He paused.
"Don’t cause chaos or any unnecessary killing."
---
A secret underground chamber.
A woman with long blonde hair, dressed in all white, was meditating in the center of a glowing magic circle etched into the stone floor.
She felt the dull vibration of the explosion above.
The woman opened her eyes.
"It has begun," she whispered.
She raised her hand.
The dark purple magic circle on the floor pulsed brighter.
A black portal opened in its center.
The sound of scraping and claws on stone echoed through the chamber.
A legion of shadows and small, twisted monsters began to crawl out of the portal.
---
A high rooftop overlooking the city.
The night wind blew gently.
On the edge of the roof, a half-animal woman with white hair and a dark-skinned man with white hair sat casually.
Their legs dangled over the edge as they ate candied fruit from wooden skewers.
They saw the blaze from the inn illuminating the night.
"Are you ready, 06?" the half-animal woman asked the dark-skinned man beside her.
06 stood up from his seat and began to stretch.
"Let’s enjoy this overtime, 05."