In the vast wasteland located further south of the Southern Kingdoms, lies a large unusual town. Holding so many races from different parts of the continent, it has a wide range of culture and vigor that is rarely seen.

However, in the week that followed after experiencing a catastrophic event, the residents are strangely even much livelier than they usually had been. The feeling given off by the town, can be credited to an unexpected hero, who not only saved the town from a disaster, but also opened the minds of its residents, freeing them from their ignorance. Never again would they allow themselves to be easily manipulated and be restricted by uncertainty and fear.

An uneventful week passed, but not long after, the town of Orgo soon stirred under a new incident taking place… an entire armed force of 5 legions of soldiers arrived within the town’s border.

Seeing the armed soldiers and knights, the people were tense, but soon grew relieved after seeing one of the flags bearing their Kingdom’s banner, a shield overlapping two crossed swords and a winged dragon, the crest of Argodia.

As the knights and soldiers were camped outside of town, their representative commander, Sir Jerem Morlaine of the Argodian Legion, is currently in a discussion with Gren due to the current lack of a representative town governor.

“Sir Worrick, it truly is an honor meet you. Never in my dreams did I ever hope to meet the legendary War Lion King!” said the Knight Commander with short light brown hair, strong chin, and spirited eyes wearing an eye-catching silver shining armor.

“It’s all in the past, so please just call me Gren. After all, I’m just a retired old man.”

“Nonsense! Despite not being a knight, the stories of your glory and valor are still looked up to by the countless youth of many a Knight Order. Also, retired or not, you’re still literally among the most powerful men within the Kingdom.”

“Ha ha… alright, let’s get back to the matter at hand. I understand it would have taken a while for the armies to amass considering the level of crisis of the news we sent, but didn’t we already submit a follow-up report that the Monster Wave was already subdued?”

“Indeed, I do not doubt your words, Sir Gren, however, by the time we received your message, the Five Kingdoms Coalition had already been formed and was already half-way towards Orgo. The fact that we were able to form five legions with four other participating Kingdoms within a span of less than two weeks is already a miracle.

However, considering the amount of time it took, even with your presence we already feared the worst. But when we heard the news, the idea that not one, but two Waves were subdued with barely any casualty was viewed with high suspicion, so all the participating commanders and I agreed to continue with the mission to verify the situation ourselves as well as reinforce some of the settlements along the way.

Never did we imagine the information to be actual fact, so you could imagine our surprise when we arrived.”

“Hmm… I see. Now that I think about it, if I were in your place, I’d probably have thought the same. It’s just that… sigh… ‘he’ made the results of that situation seem so normal, that I completely forgot my sense of logic. I truly must be getting old…”

“Um… by ‘he’, are you referring to the Dragonkin in your report, sir?”

“That’s right… Camus Helmight. Were it not for his presence, this town would have been a site of terrible tragedy and erased from the map.”

“Hmm… is that so.”

Sir Jerem’s eyes narrowed after hearing this news while cupping his chin in his hand in contemplation. Concerned about the sudden change in mood, Gren thought to ask further.

“… is something wrong?”

“No… there’s nothing wrong per se… only… you did mention he was headed for Llorden, am I correct?”

“Correct. Is there currently a problem within Llorden?”

“Well… as we passed it along the way, we heard rumors of a strange cult appearing within the city. It was quiet when we arrived, but talks of disappearances and strange occurrences were often heard amongst the populace. We also found evidence confirming the presence of a more worrying group… the order of the ‘Serpent’s Shadow’.”

Gren’s eyes narrowed after hearing this news, and soon a dark and solemn expression appeared on his face.

“I see… the Serpent’s Shadow… to think one of the strongest Assassins Orders among the elusive Dark Guilds have based themselves within the city... if it’s them, then there’s no doubt that trouble will be brewing within Llorden.”

“Indeed… had it not been for the urgency of the Monster Waves and the appearance of one of the Mahjin-kai, we might have taken time to root them out, but now I’m afraid for the Margrave’s life.”

“Hmph. Gaspard isn’t so weak that he’d be easily taken out by even the likes of the Serpent’s Shadow. His title as Margrave isn’t just for show… although… the fact he never provided this town support when we requested it... and that his forces didn’t participate in the expedition... is worrying.”

“I’m afraid I agree… his forces aren’t small and with his backing we’d have reassured support, but after meeting him I couldn’t help but feel that he was… being tied down.”

“If that’s the case… before the Coalition’s return… I can only hope and pray our friend doesn’t get embroiled in this conspiracy… from my impressions, he has a good sense for battle, but… I doubt he’s ever dealt with true specialized killers… especially those of the Serpent.”

'And even more so now that they have that monster on their side...'

While not mouthing the last words, with a heavy heart, Gren could only look on and hope for the best for the Dragonkin’s journey.