Far away, somewhere in between the stellar empire and the Zelum Empire, an empire led by zealous followers of a cult. Lay dangerous woods. The of Ezyl.

  In these dangerous woods that have monsters crawling around in every nook and crany. A wooden hut, stood tall undisturbed despite all the wild life surrounding it. Because inside of this hut, stood the most powerful people in the world.

  "Why'd she call for a meeting all of a sudden?" A loud, gruff and deep voice resounded, echoing in the small hut. The source being a muscular wall of muscles for a man. Brown hair and emerald green eyes and a well trimmed beard. He had quite the dangerous glint in his eyes.

  "I wouldn't know~" Another sound resounded as a tall, beautiful woman laid her cheek on her hand as she leaned on the wooden table in the middle. A small, dark mole sat just beneath her lips, adding an air of mystery to the playful and quircky expression the woman had. She had black dark hair with a sheen of purple arond it. "She's always been a weird one hasn't she?"

  "How stupid." A tall, man with a covered face and dark conspicuou clothes that blended in with the darkness, spoke up, voicing his displeasure.

  "Dude, stop being so grumpy." A high pitched voice sounded out. It came for an abnormally short girl, wearing a leather vest with a bit of dirt on it. She had a dark yellow spherical object with several shining blue ingravings on it. The sphereical object slowly floated up and down, indicating that it was magically powered.

  "I think you should learn when to shut your mouth, dwarf." The masked man spoke, his voice dripping with indignation.

  "Hey! Say that one more time, Zen. I'll burn you to ashes." The short girl outstretched her arm, the spherical object she had split into many pieces, electrical energy danced around between the pieces, indcating a charge up. On her palm there was a pure cyan blue glowing object that fit perfectly in her hand.

  "I'll slit your throat before you even get to do anything." His tone was cold and dangerous. He pulled out a dark green blade. The weapon, crafted by a master it seemed...

  "Calm down everyone." The gruff man spoke up, trying to dissuade them from fighting.

  "I took time off my job to come here. Just to watch you murder each other?." A sudden bubbly voice resounded and all eyes turned towards the door. "Yo. Long time no see guys." A girl with long hair and bronze gold eyes was standing there. Behind her, two majestic flaming wings extended outwards. It was the woman titled the pheonix, also otherwise known as Rania stella. The princess of the stellar empire. The king's sister.

  "Ah, Rania. You made it." The gruff man stood up, a wide smile on his face.

  "Signus, its been a while." She smiled, as she pulled a wooden chair and sat down. "So how's the strongest man in the world been?" She chuckled softly as she fixed him with a raised eyebrow.

  "I've been good. My daughter's been a little rebelious. Wanting to go to the academy." Signus scratched the back of his head, "I've been telling her she'll gain nothing from it. But she said something about making friends. I don't really get it honesty." He shrugged. "But, speaking honestly. I am a little worried about her..." Signus had a look of concern flash across his face.

  "Hmm~ really?" Rania rested her chin on her hand and smiled. "I know her. Her name's Suzi right? I got her in my academy." Rania grinned. "Don't worry, I'll take care of her." She reassured.

  Signus let out a sigh of relief. "Since it's you. I trust that you will do your best." He looked visibly relieved, his shoulders relaxed.

  "Since we're all here..." Rania trailed off, her eyes falling on each of the people present. "Hara." Her gaze fell on the dwarf. Her full name was Harahilda Bluntflayer, she is a dwarf inventor and the best inventor Rania knew. Her greatest creation was currently in her hand. Her and the assassin had calmed down.

  Speaking of the assassin... Rania turned her gaze to the fully masked guy. His blade, was an ancient dragonic dagger, one of their relics. It was truly magificent. But the person wielding it was not any weaker than his weapon. "Zen Hildar". The greatest assassin in the world. He was powerful truly. But compared to the next person...

  Rania's gaze turned towards the woman with straight long black hair and purple hair. She wore a black dress that only added to her air of mystery. A strange symbol was carved into her neck, a black tattoo of a black cat, its tail wrapped around a pillar of pure blackness. It only accentuated the ominous aura around her. "Artemis Shelley." The witch of calamity. She was by far the strangest of the bunch. Rania did not know what her ability was... she simply knew that she had an ability and that it was deadly.

  She had managed to wipe out a whole army of high ranking demons on her own. Though, nobody knew how she did it. She was just spotted, standing calmly in a crater full of high ranking demon bodies.

  "And finally..." Rania turned towards Signus. "Signus Terras." The strongest man in the world. "There is one more person left. Wait, actually, two more..." Rania furrowed her brows as she surveyed the room.

  Suddenly, the sky outside lit up, blue light shone through the windows for a moment and the sound of thunder crackling resounded right after.

  "Well there is one..." Rania grinned as she glanced back. The door opened and a tanned woman, wearing chainmail armour with a saber tied to her waist, walked in. "I'm here." She spoke in her mature, serious voice. "I called you all here for a reason." Resnora stood tall before she pulled a chair out and sat down.

  "Recently, I was on an escort mission. I escorted a highly precious artifact. It can be even considered a national treasure. I'm sure Rania knows about it. We took it to your academy after all..." Resnora glanced at Rania, and the latter woman nodded, understanding her friend's words.

  "We were almost to our destination. But on the way we were attacked and that... Was why I had to leave early." Resnora searched the room, attempting to find a certain individual. She furrowed her brows. "Where is Tanya?" Her expression changed to confusion.

  "Tanya? The demon fanatic?" Rania spoke, her cheek rested on the palm of her hand. "I dunno." She shrugged.

  Hara jumped up. "Tanya isn't here? But I like her. She helped me build the demon detection machine..." Hara looked visibly down at the absence of this so called Tanya.

  "The girl with a little too much interest in demons and a little passion about biology isn't here?" Signus raised an eyebrow. "Is that a good or bad thing? Cause last time I saw her... she was a little out of it." He tapped his head slightly, a gesture that signified that she wasn't in the right mind...

  Stolen novel; please report.

  "Judging by your need for miss Tanya, miss Resnora. I will guess this matter has something to do with demons." Zen, the assassin, spoke up as he stuck his green dagger onto the table.

  "Ah~ It is truly unfortunate the little one isn't here." Artemis spoke in an overly sensual tone. "I quite enjoy the company of that petite scientist." She let out an audible chuckle. "

  Resnora nodded. "It does. But, does anybody know of Tanya's whereabouts?" She asked, glancing around the room. Nobody spoke up.

  Resnora was about to continue her speech before... "I may have heard of something..." Zen, raised a hand. "I am not quite sure if this is true or if what I heard even exists but..." He glanced around at everyone, they were all staring at him.

  "I may have gotten a missive about a secret organisation... And Tanya, that one was in contact with said organisation. She may be a member of it or is simply using its help." Zen finished speaking and glanced up at Resnora. "If anything had happened to her. It is most likely because of that organisation."

  "The strangest part is that we know this organisation exists but we don't know anything about it. We it is there but anything relating to it is in the black. I even consulted the other higher ups of the assassin syndicate. Nobody knew anything." He searched Resnora's face for any hint of reaction. But the woman kept her emotions closely guarded.

  Resnora met his gaze. She tapped a finger onto the table. I'm worried about her... What if she dragged herself into trouble with her eccentric personality? She pursed her lips, her teeth sinking into her lower lip.

  "I... see. That should be left for another day to discuss. Now we have a more pressing matter at hand." Resnora breathed before taking an item out of her dimensional ring. Everyone's eyes widened at the item. It was a finger, a cut off finger that was dripping with a black oozing substance... It was black blood, black blood of demons.

  "What is this?" Signus slammed his hand on the table and tremors flowed through the entire cabin. Strangely though, the table did not show a hint of damage.

  "I encountered a demon. In the middle of the stellar empire." Resnora turned her gaze towards Rania. The blonde haired girl already had her cold gaze on the dismembered finger.

  "Whaaaat... Wasn't there supposed to be like... a five year difference between each stampede? It's only been two." Hara jumped up, standing on her chair to lean over and take a closer look. She took out an item from her dimensional ring. It was a crossbow looking item but a lot smaller, with a display screen and a trigger. At the tip of the item, the end pointed at the dismembered finger. There was a hole where mana shined through and begun scanning the finger.

  They all waited for a few minutes before Hara's expression darkened when she looked at the screen. "Yuuup, it's a demon." Hara confirmed and closed her eyes, taking in a deep breath.

  "This is strange. How did a demon get inside the empire without being noticed?" Zen turned towards Resnora. "Is it a shadeskin demon?" He asked the SSS-ranked adventurer.

  "No. It wasn't a shadeskin, it wasn't even a high ranking demon. It was a simple demonic bear. It was like it just appeared out of nowhere..." Resnora took in a deep breath. "I believe... This might run even deeper than what we think." She exhaled.

  Rania looked completely unbothered as she leaned forward. "So what if demons are coming back? I'll just burn them back to their nether planes." She rolled her eyes.

  Resnora turned towards the princess and shook her head. "Rania. You don't understand. We're talking about a demon that suddenly appeared in the middle of your empire. And its not exactly a quiet demon, Rania." She hardened her expression. "We're talking about the possibility of the progenitor returning right now." She spoke. Her words were like a switch that started the arguments.

  "Hey, now... Let's not get ahead of ourselves." Signus held up a hand. "One demon appeared in the empire we can't just-"

  "But you shouldn't rule it out fo possiblity." Zen turned his gaze towards Signus. The buff man narrowed his eyes at the assassin.

  "I'd hate to admit it. But knowing Tanya she would say something similar to what Zen and Resnora are saying." Hara stood interjected. "Don't you guys remember what she always said during the stampede?" Her words seemed to bring about a collective recollection in all of them.

  "Yeah... I do recall it quite well. Hmm~" Artemis brought a finger to her lips, her eyes looking up at the ceiling as if she was remembering. "That little one would always spout somethings about the demonic energy being too dense in demon bodies." She finished.

  "She would say that the progenitor was coming back. Nobody really believed her back then... and honestly, neither did I." Signus nodded, releasing a sigh as he admited.

  "Enough everyone. So what if the demon king is back?" Rania stood up abruptly, her wings flaring. "We'll just cut its head off. Burn it to a crisp if needed." Rania rolled her eyes, almost scoffing at their overly worried attitude.

  "It's not that simple Rania." Resnora interjected. "Five hundred years ago, the demon king was sealed by the hero's party. And that was only after sacrificing themselves along with an angel the servant of the gods just to seal it." Resnora spoke up, narrowing her eyes on Rania. "You're taking this too carelessly."

  "Then the hero's party is just weak." She clapped back, her flaming golden wings flaring behind her back.

  Resnora stared at Rania for a little bit before shifting her gaze elsewhere. "The demon king is most likely back. And according to the prophecy, the hero of this generation should also be back. Without him or her, defeating the demon king would be an impossible task. Rania, you're the one most likely to find this hero, considering you are the principal of the most prestigious academy in the continent. You should search around your students. According to the prophecy, the hero should be a young man when facing the demon king." Resnora spoke calmly as she placed her hands on the table and stood up.

  Rania's expression did not waver at all. Her gaze remaining fixed on Rania, her flaming golden wings burning even brighter than before.

  "This isn't just directed at Rania. All of you should keep an eye out for any talented young people you may find and do everything that you can to send them to Rania's care. Cultivating talent should be our first and foremost priority." She finished making her statement before twirling around and starting towards the door. Her curly hair whipped around in the air as she threw one final glance back at them.

  "Make sure to find Tanya. Zen, you're most likely to be able to find her. I'm giving you this task." Rania nodded towards him.

  Zen merely nodded, his answer simple and easy.

  turning her gaze to Hara. "And Hara. Make sure to upgrade the demon detection device if possible. We'll need it soon enough..."

  Hara nodded. "Without Tanya's help. It might take a bit longer, but I'll try making it into a bigger version and more wide ranged version." She sighed.

  With that. Resnora opened the door and stepped out onto the grassy area. Her hair flowed up into the air, before seemingly, thunder struck her and she disappeared form her spot. The sound of thunder clapping resounded out, deafening and impactful.

  "Well, if that is all. Then I will take my leave." Zen stood up and seemingly melted into the shadows, disappearing from sight.

  Artemis stood up as well. "I have important matters to attend to. It has been fun to meet up with friends again, goodbye~" She threw a kiss at them before she casted a spell that opened a simple portal in front of her.

  "I'll go too. I got a lot of work to do." Hara jumped off her chair and proceeded to walk, her tiny steps, only taking her so far before she turned, throwing one last wave at Signus. "See you later Siggy. Have fun raising a daughter." She chuckled softly before the golden spherical item in her hand floated forward, shifting into a metallic golden plate in front of her. She stepped on top of it.

  A blue barrier surrounded her whole body in a blue light. The barrier was made up of several hexagons. It was slowly growing, encasing her. Once it has fully surrounded her. She threw one final smile at Signus. "Ey, maybe I'll pay a visit to the academy later. See what kind of daughter you raised, kind titan." She threw a little pet name in there before she disappeared along with the golden plate.

  Rania huffed, and without words stepped out of the hut, looking up at the sky. She jumped and with a flap of her wings she flew into the air, leaving a dust cloud where she used to be.

  "Hahaha!" Signus couldn't hold back his laughter. "That dwarf sure got a big mouth." He was the only one left. "Well, might as well relax a little in here." He threw his legs on top of the table, he interlocked his fingers behind his head.

  "It seems like times are changing quickly."