The Virtues' Magecraft

Page 17: New World

Arnhild swallowed her saliva. She stood in just another room of the Eagle's Fortress. A subterranean room used as one of the command centers of the Golden Dawn. One of the most fortified locations on the entire estate.

There were tables and chairs scattered around the room. And before her sat a massive circular table at the room's center. It was adorned as a mosaic, showing the exact map of the labyrinth of Crete. Colored figures represent people and movements.

The figure that was supposed to be a Prince of Hell had disappeared. What was displayed as seven humans disappeared. Four of the Golden Dawn's warriors had escaped as well.

Standing around the table was an assortment of officers and soldiers, each scanning and studying the table carefully.

Her eyes widened as her gaze on the screen focused.

"Where is it? Where'd the demon go?" she asked, her golden eyes scanning over the entirety of the map.

A man at her side stammered. "I- I don't know. It's just suddenly gone," he hesitantly said. He wore a white uniform, instead of the regular cloak.

A man in a black cloak cleared his throat. He sat in the corner of the room. He smiled as he approached Arnhild. "If I may, Commander... The demon and his opponents are likely in an Enclosed World."

The boy looked at the man shocked, saying, "B-but that impossible. If they had a spatial mage of that caliber, we would've known. It's not like-"

"We've summoned two Princes of the UnderWorld. The first in some subterranean cemetery and the second in a labyrinth on a minuscule island. Belphegor was killed without a single casualty. The same might happen again."

Every head in that room turned to the origin of the voice.

"Vice Commander Arnold?" a uniformed man asked as he noticed his entrance. "What are you doing here?"

Arnold ignored the question and put his hands in his pockets as he began walking towards his sister. He leaned close to her, asking and whispering, "Who gave the idea to summon a Prince of Hell in such an obscure location?"

"I did."

Arnold furrowed his eyebrows in confusion before letting out a frustrated chuckle. "Arnhild, my dear sister. If one wishes to threaten and destroy the realms, you cannot simply cause minor damages to-"

"It isn't about the damage, Arnold." She smiled.

"It's about the message we're sending. Trust me, brother. This will work the way we intend it to," she said, with a smile.

Arnold spat out a sigh and forced a smile onto his face. "Of course, sister. I have faith in you after all. You will be the one to change the course of the universe."

"Thank you." She pulled her cloak's hood over her head.

"Atlas," she began. "Get ready. Today, we'll show humanity the might of the Golden Dawn."

Atlas smiled, clenching his fist and placing it onto his heart. "As you wish, Commander."

She nodded. "Now then," Arnhild muttered. "Who should I bring for today?"

- - - - -

With a blinding flash of light, Alexander's dull sandstone surroundings turned into a beautiful green landscape and an azure sky.

He swallowed his saliva as the wind brushed against him. This was Anastasia's Enclosed World. A New World. "This is amazing," he mumbled.

He spun as he noticed the man beside him. He wore a hood over his face, connected to the white cloak.