Episode 18

As that beast closed in, arrays of blasts started pouring on the dragon. "Was that small fly out of your reach, Legendary Ace'' Griffin asked Aeneas in a ridiculing way. "If I had a pair of wings like you…" he replied in a sharp tone. To which Griffin laughed and walked to the gallery, "Move aside everyone." To his command, all the wizards in the vicinity moved back letting the dragon close in. As he closed in Griffin started chanting, "Gravitas". To his chant, the dragon was pinned to the ground, though he was struggling to get up. "A stubborn one, let's see how you handle this." Saying this he began chanting again, "In the name of the god of magic, come forth, Minor Sun!" To his chant a glow radiating from his hands disappeared, suddenly the dragon seemed to be in pain. He began shooting out the fire and before everyone's eyes, he exploded from within violently. It was followed by a huge explosion, it was so huge that the shockwave literally shook the entire temple. Everyone was stunned by the display of his strength and while everyone was looking at it, the dragon was incinerated. "Did it go overboard a bit?" Griffin had an awkward smile. "That was a minor spell, never thought that dragon would be so weak." His words shook onlookers, Catherine replied stumbling, "That was a 6th tier magic, most legends dream of such strength and you are calling it minor?" To his question, Griffin replied with an awkward smile, "Dear, when you can play with 12 tiers of magic, this one is just a minor one." His words were casual but were carrying such a weight, it showed his capability. "Ha, such a show-off," Aeneas said in a laughing tone before jumping onto the ground. "That's our plane guardian for you." Athena proudly said it to others. "Hua! You still alive you old hag?" Aeneas asked Athena in a mocking tone. "Old hag? How dare you? You calling me old had as you are quite young, brat? Aren't you some 2-300 years old?" She replied angrily to which Aeneas replied with a laugh, "Yeah, but even by those standards, you are an old hag. Ha…" To his reply she seemed to have gotten quite angry. Others were speechless as the people who were arguing in front of their eyes were one of the most formidable people on the plane. "My, My, let's not fight over such trivial things. Aren't you here for something to ask Athena? And Aeneas, I believe you have something to collect as well." To his cue, Aeneas suddenly said in a startled look, "My berries!" "Not that, Intel Aeneas!" Griffin reminded him of his goal. 'Oh yeah, I'll be back by tomorrow, till then take care of my guest's old hag" Saying this he jumped out of the window. "I'll get you next time…" Athena yelled at his disappearing shadow.

As the ruckus settled, Griffin asked all of them to settle down before beginning the discussion. "Let's hear from you all what happened and then I'll tell you what my thoughts say, will that do my queen?" To his request, Athena nodded in agreement. After a brief moment, Chloe chose to speak-up, "As we all know, it was the time of harvest for us in our kingdom. For a few past weeks, our scouts are getting reports of missing animals. We thought it'd be the work of wild animals, so we set up a quest for adventurers to go and investigate the issue and report back. But then a party of a few powerful adventurers went missing. The guards reported this to us, as the adventurers were quite famous for their strength and if they were in danger it meant no other party would be able to handle the situation. So we set up a party of a few imperial knights and Catherine herself. It seemed like Aura, Catherine's wind spirit felt some danger that day. But it was too late, before we could act we were informed that all of the magical barriers were broken by some strange force and loads of enemy spawns were pouring into the kingdom. We immediately started gathering all the soldiers but they all got caught up in the attacks that were spread throughout the kingdom. We along with around 80,000 people and soldiers were forced to move out of the capital city. We have chased down the border. I, along with the party of Imperial knights and Catherine tried to hold off the enemy but they were too powerful." After listening to her Theodore asked, "Were there any soldiers? Like the ones who attacked us?" "No, only the Demonoid," Catherine replied as she was petting Aura. "They were infested with mana. No ordinary mage or soldier could hold them. I never saw such a fierce enemy. We had to abandon over a million people behind." Chloe's tone suddenly got sad. "That is strange, why were we attacked by the Etherblade then?" Theodore was curious. "What?" Everyone was startled by the fact. "Yeah, we first received the warning, and then it was a combined attack by the imperial army of Etherblade and the Demonoid. We were forced to leave as well. Even Jason was wounded because of us." Evan replied in a lower tone. "Vivian, did you receive any message from your kingdom." To his question, she nodded back with a sad look. "Cheer up, Jason's younger brother Anthony is a real powerhouse, there must be no issues and as the Great Lake City is surrounded by the great lakes of sacred water, the Demonoid won't make it through," Griffin replied while taking a sip from his tea. Listening to this, her worries faded a bit.

"If he's in charge, we are doomed." A sound came from behind. To everyone's surprise, Jason along with Nicholas and Merida walked into the room. "Huh! How can you forget us, little brother?" Merida pulled Theodore's cheeks while asking. Looking at them he replied, "You, you all right?" "Yeah and not only we are doing well we are fully recovered." Hearing this Theodore felt better. "Jason, you shouldn't doubt your own brother," Griffin replied to Jason while laughing. "Yeah, I shouldn't. So what is the situation?" He asked. "It isn't small matter dear, 'Nine Hells' is involved. Athena replied to Jason in a serious tone. "What do they seek?" Theodore asked to which Griffin replied after putting down his cup, "It's all connected to the gates of Heaven."