Everyone had been quiet when Yidra started speaking, and this silence continued when she was done also. The news that Almati wasn't as safe as they thought came at a shock to everyone, but it would be a lie to say they didn't expect the worst outcome to arrive at their doorsteps.

  "When will it arrive ?" Naro asked with a much more muted expression.

  Yidra answered while she put her blindfold on her golden eyes and wrapped it behind her head "I do not know. This was all the vision wanted to show me it seems."

  He was a little bit frustrated by this answer, but he could not blame Yidra at all. Had she been a full fledged Oracle like Rami's mother her fate would be doomed. That is the price mortal-borns pay for knowledge they should not hold.

  'Nothing is truly free in this world...'

  Khiel rubbed his temple and exhaled. "So we're going to have to fight the offspring of something that ate the sun without knowing when and how it will come ?"

  "Moreover, I will apparently rain weapons on that thing ? Seriously ?"

  Agir who had been silent for a while raised an eyebrow and smiled despite the serious topic "Isn't that your entire thing ?"

  Soaring Blades gave him a small glare "I only spare a few blades, and most of them are aimed at weak points. But the situation Yidra described means I'll be going all out."

  He regarded everyone in the room "Overwhelming an opponent with an immense amount of weapons is my last resort."

  With a frown he added "If it comes to that, then it means our little dragon is a big fucking problem."

  Agir's smile dimmed at that.

  Naro shook his head and looked at the Ascendant next to him"You won't be the only one to go all out, all the Magus in Almati will be fighting alongside us. You're not alone, Khiel."

  His expression seemed to ease a little at Naro's words.

  The volcanic-armed knight looked at everyone in the room "What's our current intel on the devourer ? If we know what it's like, we might know how it's offspring works too."

  The young Ascendant pondered then spoke "From the books it is said The Devourer has a draconic form boasting wings and has very tough scales. Its intelligence scared many of those who went against it. I think we can assume it will have some of these traits!"

  "I assume you left out the corrupted Authority part on purpose ?" Naro asked, unamused.

  Agir laughed awkwardly "That wasn't really my intention... The thing is, despite everything that happened, we have no idea what the Devourer does exactly. The theory us scholars have is that it brings out the worst or the opposite concept of everything on Gaon."

  He pointed his finger at Naro. "You solidified this theory a bit, Paro was no longer on the side of "Creation", and instead had the most destructive aspect of nature and earth."

  "I see..."

  Khiel interjected "I think it depends on the Guardian also, Hama's Authority always had a destructive aspect to it since it has to do with all manners of weaponry, forgery and armour. Hell, anything that's metal really."

  His expression turned somber "Fighting him.. no surviving him was not easy at all for Scylla and me. It was only a slimmer of luck that made us and some of the survivors of Zyr get out of it."

  Soaring Blades chuckled, yet his smile didn't quite reach his face "I guess Spike was right at that time, I really do have a "Fate better than most".

  Naro looked at Khiel with a hint of sadness. He wanted to know what exactly happened in Zyr. Why did Khiel sell himself so poorly, what act of "luck" presumably managed to save so many people.

  He wanted to know so much, but he knew it wasn't the right time to ask Khiel those questions.

  "Corrosion of the mind is part of it also. None of the current Guardians are sane of mind, do not believe they even have one chance of becoming wat they were before." Naro said in a cold tone.

  Agir cleared his throat "Going back into the topic of the Devourer's shade, I do not know how it will behave. Though it's probably operating at the same logic as us Ascendants, otherwise no spell assaults would've been launched on it."

  Astor raised an eyebrow "You mean it won't affect the surrounding environment with its Authority ?"

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  "Maybe not that far ! I think the creature will be quite destructive, but I think we can expect it to not shut down our Magus's connection to magic."

  "That is a very wild assumption." Naro added.

  Yidra nodded "I agree, but my visions do not lie. The spells from the people of Almati managed to hit that thing, and with how big it is — if it had a magic reducing radius, no spells should have been even fired."

  Agir nodded "I think our main offensive forces will be Naro, Khiel and the Magusses."

  'Rami included, huh.'

  She was a Magus after all, heck if she hadn't been repressed on their journey to Kresha she would have been able to have a much bigger impact in all the fights they were in.

  But it didn't matter to the Authority of the guardians if your magic output or reserves were higher than the norm.

  Magic was still Magic.

  Astor coughed "Despite all that, I still need to announce it to everyone in the city. Both Paro's fall, and what Yidra just told us."

  Naro opened his mouth-

  Earth-Shifter stopped him with his large palm and closed eyes. "Yes, the people will panic, I know."

  He sighed and continued "Most of them came here because their homes are no longer safe and it will have a negative impact on their morale to know that the safe haven they arrived at isn't as safe as they thought."

  Astor's eyes opened with a flame of determination dancing in them as he spoke with conviction "But I will never, oh never, lie to them. They must know the truth, even if it hurts them, even if it makes them scared of tomorrow, I shall not falter."

  Everyone in the room looked at him in awe

  Yidra whistled "That's a lot of nice words but we can't possibly keep some of them in if they want to leave."

  Earth-Shifter nodded "You are completely right, and that comes with my next question to Naro."

  "Again ? Haven't I been interrogated enough ?" He said with a bored expression.

  Astor shook his hand "It's nothing too serious. Tell me, how safe is Kresha at the moment ?"

  Naro rubbed the back of his head "Well, Rami and I pretty much ran into almost nothing or when we found some monsters we just killed them immediately. I think mundane Gaonians accompanied with Magusses will have no problems going there since Paro's Authority is gone, hence there will be no magical restriction placed on people."

  The broad-shouldered man nodded "Good. This will be my backup plan if people really start to riot."

  Astor stood up and stretched "I guess this is the end of this meeting, though we will gather at the plaza tomorrow when The Scar is above us for my announcement. I know it's late and I'm thankful to you youngsters for coming despite that."

  Yidra smiled "Well my presence was needed honestly, and I wanted to see my cousin's fiancé in person."

  'Huh ? She's Rami's cousin ?'

  Naro had no clue, Rami never mentioned it after all.

  "I managed to experiment on someone, so it's all good !" Agir said with his usual cheerful smile while standing up.

  Khiel simply nodded and walked toward the door.

  The knight smiled "Thank you for having me, and thanks Agir. I really owe you one," he said while flexing his new left arm.

  Agir turned to him.

  "Pay it by saving people's skin and giving the thing that's coming a hard time!"

  He chuckled "Will do, and by the way... the Runes engraved by Rami's mother on her staff could not work properly in Authority heavy areas, won't it do the same for the runes you engraved on my arm ?"

  The young Ascendant gave him a confused look "It depends on the vessel... the material you gave me comes from a Guardian so it's already resistant to those influences, if Miss Arielle's Rune-work didn't work it's because the staff wasn't a proper vessel."

  Agir pondered "But wait, the Rune of Life was on it. Why did Spike put it on a..."

  "..."

  Naro's eyes widened, because for the first time he saw a look of cold anger on Agir's face

  He walked toward the door until he was in front of it

  "Whatever. You won't have to worry about your arm not working. Even if it gets separated from your shoulder, you can just place it right back and it'll work just fine."

  "Klé Twal (Good stars) everybody."

  Agir was now the second to leave Astor's lodgings.

  Yidra exhaled with a hint of irritation, but Naro knew it wasn't directed at Agir.

  Maybe it was Spike himself.

  She stood up "Then I guess it's my turn, see ya leader and little hero."

  "Miss Yidra." Naro said with his gaze on the table.

  The Ascendant looked back at him with a soft smile "You don't have to call me Miss, I'm not that much older than you and I'm Rami's family."

  He continued with a somber tone "Did I scare you, When you had that vision ? Did I scare you when you removed your blindfold and turned your eyes on me ?"

  Yidra's smile faltered for a bit before forming again "Yes you did."

  Naro looked at her in surprise.

  "But everything is scary to me when I remove this blindfold. No matter how many horrible things I see, I will never get used to them." She shook her head and continued walking

  "So don't feel bad... well, knowing your personality and from what my little cousin told me, you'll feel bad anyways."

  She waved at him.

  "Cya, Beastly Knight."

  The door opened and closed with a soft sound

  "..."

  "Bye Astor." Naro stood up and went to the exit.

  "Wait."

  Naro stopped him with his clawed palm

  "No, no it's fine," he sighed "I had enough therapy sessions for one day. I know how to pull myself together."

  Astor was silent before laughing "I wasn't going to give you cheering words, Naro."

  The knight turned around "Then... why ?"

  Astor smiled at him with his green hair and chiseled face illuminated by the starlight from outside the window "I wanted to ask you one last question for today."

  "Yes ?"

  Earth-shifter approached his window, where he could see the tall hills of his homeland. "What were Paro's last words ?"

  "... It was about to be my name again, though I had killed him before he could say anything else. I'm sorry."

  The older Ascendant exhaled and his shoulder sagged "Figures. You said it yourself, there's no hope of them becoming what they once were."

  A barely hidden saddened expression covered Astor's face. "You can go, that was all I wanted to know."

  The knight nodded with a small smile "Bye Astor."

  Naro was the last person to leave Astor's lodgings.

  The Ascendant sat on their couch, back turned to the window who reflected the light of the eternal night of Gaon.

  Tonight was a beautiful night. For those who were awake at such a late hour they admired the sky, some made wishes when a shooting star came by, some went to see their loved ones, some others simply looked at the sky with no emotion, a few looked at some constellations with anger.

  Astor was not any of these people. He could not see the beauty of the sky tonight, for his hands were in front of his eyes as tears streamed down his face.