Cain pushed open the heavy doors of the temple...
The darkness of night had seeped everywhere, but inside the temple was rather well lit.
Pilgrims of all ranks shuffled around, each one busy with sothing or the other.
A few of them threw curious glances at him when he opened the doors.
"Halt! State your na and business here!" A voice called out in a cold tone.
Cain’s lips stretched into a smile as he took off the hood of his cloak,
"Damn. Looks like I am not welcod here. Might as well be on my way."
"Oh. It’s just you..."
There was a flap of wings and then the sound of feet hitting the ground.
Cain turned around with a small smile hanging from his lips,
"It’s good to see you too, Edward. How is Abigail doing?"
Edward, the Sky Ward shrugged,
"She’s maintaining the outposts at the shore again. Won’t be back until, let’s say... two weeks from now."
"Is that so. Well, I’ll leave you too it then."
Edward gave him a small nod,
"Hm."
And didn’t say anything more.
Cain gave him a nod as well and began walking into the depths of the temple.
A Pilgrim ca up to Edward, a perplexed look on his face,
"Sky Ward... Who is that person?"
"Him?" Edward went silent for a mont.
Then he shook his head,
"He’s a weirdo. That’s all you need to know for now."
The Pilgrim’s lips trembled into a wry smile,
"Allowing weirdos in... Isn’t that a security risk?!"
Of course, Edward paid him no mind and continued to go about his business. He wanted absolutely no part in whatever that guy had going on.
’Tch. I could practically sll it off him. I know that sll all too well. It is the scent of trouble!’
He shook his head and flapped his wings.
***
Walking down the huge hallway, Cain let his eyes drift through, scanning the beautiful murals that had lost their life, particularly the one with the shifting sands.
The sands no longer shifted of course, instead resembling dry paint at the mont.
’It’s not too bad, is it?’
He shook his head.
A mont later, he arrived at his destination.
Without knocking, he pushed the door open.
It was the sa as always.
"Didn’t I tell you to knock before entering?"
Cain chuckled and plopped down onto a chair,
"Sorry. I forgot."
Gilead sighed and shook his head,
"Kids these days."
Cain chuckled,
"It’s good to see you too, Gilead."
Gilead was silent for a mont.
Then he chuckled,
"Good to see you too. Your Golden Asura seems to be doing rather well these days."
Cain pursed his lips,
"Maybe. But it feels like I am separated from it all, if you know what I an."
Gilead paused for a mont.
In front of him were huge piles of paper stacked from one end of the table to the other.
With a glance, Cain couldn’t help but shiver,
’Perhaps he does understand.’
Gilead eventually shrugged,
"I do. But organizing things is also part of what a leader does, even if it isn’t as exciting as bashing in the skulls of Devils."
Cain chuckled,
"I guess so... So? What is it you wanted to discuss?"
Gilead was silent for a mont,
"It’s about those from City A."
Cain imdiately sat up. His smile faded away and his expression beca serious,
"Is it good or bad news?"
Gilead pursed his lips,
"A mix of both, it seems. The city was more of less destroyed, so the survivors moved into the surrounding towns. However, those are in pretty bad shape themselves. Rebuilding and setting up proper security will take so ti. One I don’t think they can afford."
Cain humd,
"I assu that is the bad news?"
Gilead chuckled and shook his head,
"Unfortunately, no."
He paused for a mont, then continued,
"We have mapped out the rest of the continent. Here’s what it looks like now." Gilead said as he reached into a drawer and pulled out a small sheet of canvas.
Cain frowned and picked it up.
Upon unfurling it, he realized it was a map of the entire continent.
Earlier, he had told Alvi that he had eyes everywhere. He had not been lying.
He had been able to recreate and produce dozens of the {Demon’s Eye} magic item.
With Gilead’s help, he had been able to send them all out to explore and map out the rest of the continent. And finally, after several long months of hard work, it was finally done.
"This map contains only the geographic outline, but I can fill you in later on the details." Gilead said. Then he cleared his throat, speaking as Cain scanned through the map,
"The cities marked with X’s are those that have already fallen, most likely under Devilish occupation. They are located further in land. Most, if not all of those closer to the shore were also done it.*
Cain raised a brow, "That would make us the exception, then?"
Gilead nodded,
"In total, there are only five human cities that seem to still have human life in them, although their exact population might be up for debate."
Cain frowned. Those numbers weren’t good at all.
There were eight continents on the planet of Urbus, with several ’Cities’ scattered across all of them.
The cities of Zoan, Avalon, Thalor, Vermonth, Sereth, Ballen, Beagle, Blackstone, Greystone, and Caesaveryth were all located on the continent of Aderra.
In the past, it was located between the eastern and central region of the world.
It was also the largest, on terms of both size and population, housing ten cities.
The other continents were Veyra, Thador, Sirius, Calypso, Orsennai, Elaron, and a Glacial Continent at the furthest point north, often referred to as the Frozen North.
Out of the ten cities, only five of them still had human life.
That ant at the very least, half of the entire human population on the continent had beco rot and dust.
"I see. This is rather terrible news indeed." Cain muttered to himself.
User Comments
0 comments from readers