The Avicelis Council learned about the situation in Dusdolf after Anarim insisted upon an emergency meeting to discuss the potential fallout of the loss of Erben. Anarim did not even think that they would attack so soon, and this lapse of judgement did not sit well with the Council, just after they had praised him for a job well done on Arbal and Stadelitz. This slight was soon forgiven when Anarim argued that no one could anticipate it and, even if they could, the demons were already several steps ahead of them.

Ever the sharp mind, Anarim quickly drafted a plan going forward. With Erben gone, and the demon hunters scattered as they were, the surface world lost an organization they could trust to deal with the demonic invasion. Chapters like Struttemberg and Schweinhollen were already hard at work dealing with the distraught refugees and the demons preying on them. It wasn’t easy when the demons attacking happened to be more than lesser demons.

“We got reports of deaths and destruction everywhere),” said one of the Council members. “Struttemberg is swarmed with refugees while also dealing with demons that penetrated their defense. They were well-informed, so the city is spared. However, this completely reversed our fortune.”

“Now we lost two regions to the demons,” said Anenka with a sigh. “Do you have something to say, Anarim?”

“You made a good plan to counter this, but can we even trust you after this grave mistake? How can this be possible?”

Anarim paused, before he said, “We should’ve been more persuasive. I know it’s hard to give them our trust, considering that we are not exactly within their standard.”

“But this is Erben Central we are talking about!” said a demon hunter, slamming his desk. “How?! Even if it is a slight, this is not supposed to be possible! A mass demon summoning right under our noses? That’s inconceivable!”

“The more pressing issue is, what if what happened to Erben happened to us?” stated Mizarka. “Avicelis isn’t exactly as well-guarded as Erben.”

“Then we should prepare for war as soon as possible,” said Anarim. “We can’t afford to wait and become restless. They are playing with our minds and souls. They want to break us, to show that no matter what we do, it doesn’t matter to them. I say no to that. This is a major setback, yes, but we have been dealing with this setback for years, even before the fall of Tragoria. We can’t give up now, not after we have gained powerful allies.”

Someone then rang a bell, causing the whole Council to panic. Someone shouted something about a winged beast descending towards them, causing everyone to scramble away. But then, when the winged beast arrived, Anarim was the first to realize that it wasn’t an enemy.

“Don’t panic!” he shouted. “That beast is an ally!”

Sure enough, he saw Albert climbing down and shouted things that stopped the people panicking. A red-furred Lycan that could easily be mistaken as a werefox also climbed down and further calmed the public.

They waited for Albert to reach the Council room, and soon, the human did, along with the Lycan and a smaller-looking creature that vaguely resemble the winged beast that landed at the middle of the clearing. The bigger one disappeared.

“Members of the Council,” said Albert. “May I introduce you to Adeline and Zenithia. They were the one that helped me respond to Erben’s attack. I have seen the way they deal with demons. They are also the ones that liberated parts of the Tragorian coastline.”

“Why haven’t we heard about this before?” asked one of the Council.

“We weren’t aware of a different faction fighting against the Incursion,” said Adeline. “We, however, met Zagreus Kerberos, and he claimed to be working with his own group deep within Tragoria.”

“Zagreus?” said Anarim. “Interesting. I guess Rhynsa and Arnulfe never told him who they worked for.”

“But what will it change? I don’t suppose you have more soldiers than you do now.”

“We have the best people from Main to help us,” said Adeline. “And we have Zenithia.”

“Zenithia?”

“That would be me,” said Zenithia, the white-scaled dragon.

“What…do you do?”

“She scared the demon leading the charge,” said Albert. “Just by looking at it. It didn’t manage to stop the invasion, but now we know that, if Zenithia is here, we do not need to worry about retaliation.”

Those words were strong words that were full of hope, which caused the other Council members to murmur among themselves. Some of them were skeptical, however, nothing that despite this, it still did not save Erben.

“Yet Erben still falls,” said a different member. “How can you claim that she will be essential to our counterattack? There is no guarantee that the demon scared of her will be foolish enough to show its face after knowing she’s involved. The other demons don’t seem to be fazed by her.”

“She is but one dragon,” said Adeline. “But if the leader of the enemy is afraid of her, it will start to erode its confidence, and soon, it will make mistakes. We can rely on that tactic.”

“Like you said, she is just one dragon,” said the member. “And that demon can pop up anywhere it wants, maybe even outpacing you.”

“The reason Erben fell was because of sabotage,” said Anarim. “That explosion was clearly intended to destroy the anti-demonic security measures Erben Central had to keep the city safe. Someone must have been working with the demons to undermine the hunters’ efforts.”

“But who? Who would do such a thing?”

“It’s impossible to tell now,” said Albert as his eyes slowly glanced at Anarim. “And I’m not sure.”

Adeline continued the talk afterwards, detailing about her allies and what they could do. As they did, Anarim, who was just sitting and full of thoughts, was then called by Albert to follow him. They walked out of the room and towards the balcony, where members of the council would usually have a private talk, away from the scrutiny of the rest of the members.

After they calmed themselves by watching how Avicelis started bolstering its defenses and increased its protection against attempted demon summoning, Albert said, “I came face to face with the demon.”

“And?”

“He’s a fox, just like you and Eshdar. What do you call yourself again?”

“The translation from Hordo would be…Hunters of the Outer Realms.”

“He’s a Hunter like you, but he’s clearly possessed. Moreover, I think the possession is permanent, given how his body only resembles a Hunter, yet it starting to become demonic. And then there is another one, who resembles you. Now, I know I might be wrong. I can identify the different faces of wolves, but foxes aren’t exactly my thing.”

“You are not mistaken,” said Anarim. His ears were lowered, indicating his sadness. “That Hunter you saw is Ensalder Winsel. He’s my son.”

Albert was surprised by this to the point where he just looked at Anarim in silence.

“I never told you this because…because it’s my fault.”

“Fault?”

“That demon was the result of a revenge attempt gone wrong,” said Anarim. “You see, I wasn’t exactly a popular king, at least to my advisors. I actively avoided wars and conflicts and focused more on domestic concerns. The original owner of that body was a radical who never considered the consequences of war. I was forced to dismiss him when he attempted a coup.”

“He wanted revenge by summoning a demon?”

“Unfortunately, it didn’t work as he planned. That demon claimed that his soul burned, leaving a lifeless husk that demon claimed. Can that really happen?”

“Only when the person’s will was at his lowest,” said Albert. “But that generally doesn’t happen. Conjurers know the risks of summoning a demon, hence the summoning ritual and demon circle that were supposed to keep them in check.”

“Then he bit more than he could chew,” said Anarim. “What happened next…was something I could not expect.”

“With your brilliant strategic mind, I’m surprised this can happen.”

“As brilliant as you claimed I am, that demon is something I didn’t foresee. For years, I have known that the demon was the one pulling the strings for everything that happened ever since. What I failed to notice is that it’s the most patient bastard I’ve known, and it’s so good at staying anonymous, I never even suspected that a demon has taken over my son. To be honest, though, I was too fixated to fix my son’s mistake later in his rule. My son, Ensalder, fell into his thrall long before he reached adulthood, at least from what the demon claimed. And now, I never expected him to be able to bypass the security measures at Erben. Can you tell me how anyone can just walk into your headquarters and blow it up from within?”

“The area beyond reception is off-limits. Even if there are compromised demon hunters, the security is strict. Any demon hunters tainted with anything demonic will be sent for decontamination. If they show signs of corruption, depending on the severity, they would either be suspended or sent into rehabilitation after their souls are cleansed.”

Anarim did not respond, knowing that Albert could work out the answer himself. As the vulpine hellhound expected, Albert’s gasp proved that he found the answer.

“The demon hunter’s not even corrupted?” said Albert. “But how is that possible?”

“You’re close, but my take is, whatever demonic influence that demon has was too big to be registered. Or maybe that demon can enthrall someone without corrupting them. My son fell victim to it when he was young. I didn’t even notice anything wrong until he started disobeying me and acting strange. Nevertheless, I think the demon hunters being stretched thin was also part of the plan to reduce security.”

“Oh, my god,” said Albert upon the realization. “I think I started to think that we can’t entirely rely on Zenithia.”

“Let her give hope to the despairing council while we come up with a plan. This time, we can’t afford to be distracted. I know Erben is important, but there is another very important mission that we can’t afford to fail.”

“And that is?”

“Ending the Incursion,” said Anarim. “By closing the gates of hell. If we can at least close the gates of hell—”

“We can reduce the frequency of the demonic summoning, returning it to controllable level,” concluded Albert.

“And fortunately, we got more than we need. Anubis and Wepwawet can do that. The Jackals lost their homes to the uprising and the demons. It is time for them to reclaim their home and be the guardians that they were meant to be. This will be our greatest battle yet. A war on two fronts.”

“And a big gamble, too. If we split our forces to fight the battles, we might end up losing.”

“Which is why I will only send the best of the best to liberate Sidve,” said Anarim. “Unfortunately, Albert, I can’t send you to accompany them. I need you at the Dusdolfian front, to be the commander the demon hunters needed.”

Albert chuckled. “That title’s just honorary. I’d never be entrusted to an army. Then again, it is a nice way to ease up the recruitment drive.”

“Do you know anyone who can do it for you, then?”

“I can name plenty, but…well, we still need to find them. I’m sure many of them survived the onslaught when Zenithia scared away that demon.”

“But I trust you,” said Anarim. “If I didn’t, I wouldn’t tell you about the Incursion and what-not.”

“You gave me too much credit. You know I can’t leave an old fox alone, especially when I happen to be the only one around.”

“Not the only one around. It was a rather busy night. Besides, you don’t find a demon hunter traveling so far out of Dusdolf for a job.”

Albert chuckled. “How obvious was I?”

“You wore a long leather coat,” said Anarim. “Either you’re a sleuth or you’re hiding something.”

“It was winter.”

“No one wore that kind of outfit but you, so even if you don’t like it, you were sticking out. In any case, you have proven that I was right.”

“Surely you have doubts before.”

“But those doubts do not change my opinion of you,” said Anarim. “And this time, I would like to finally rest those doubts by seeing you in action. You have worked closely alongside us, more than any demon hunter commanders out there. Anyone you recommended wouldn’t compare.”

Albert felt quite good after being given those words from Anarim, even if, personally, he did not feel confident enough to command an army in a war. He still felt a proper military general would be a better alternative. Unfortunately, it wasn’t possible to find anyone with a decent wartime experience, considering the peacetime between nations and kingdoms.

In fact, Albert considered a hellhound would be a better fit to lead them, owing to the tumultuous situation in the Underworld. No one would agree to that, of course, not unless they could sway more hellhounds to defect against their demonic masters.

Then again, it was inevitable. It might not be perfect for the first several months, but he couldn’t afford to abandon everything just yet. The Incursion was just the prologue. The Fall of Tragoria and the Fall of Erben were the opening salvo.

From this point on, the hellish war had officially commenced. It would be a war to determine the fate of the known world, and it would be a war to end all wars.