As the fighting continued within the Temple of Geoise, something else was happening deep within the bowels of the dungeon. To be more specific, in a cave-like prison area, the rest of those being held captive were innocent humans and darwinians who were ripped from their home; they await to either be sacrificed or to be used as vessels for the souls of demons. Many of them were so scared out of their minds, they can’t do anything but sit still.

In a particular cell, sitting together were a Human-Darwinian couple, along with their friends and co-workers.

The darwinian wolf-woman, using her innate advanced perception, sensed a massive commotion coming from above, along with rumblings coming from underneath that had recently been occurring.

“Franklin, what’s going on up there?” wondered the wolf-woman.

“I don’t really know Heila,” he responded unsure, “I think one of three things are happening: 1. A gigantic quarrel occurred between our captives and these loud noises are a result of the in-fighting happening, 2. A rival demon cult has invaded and is trying to raid this place, with the intention of seizing this place as their own territory, or 3. Our rescuers have found out where we are and at this very moment, are brawling like mad-men against our captors to rescue us.” the human guessed, with great thought and intuition.

Heila sighed, “I really hope it’s the third option,” she said with desperation, “Also, I pray in Creador’s grace that our daughter is fine.”

“Honey, it’s okay,” Frank soothed, “We’re going to be fine; we’ll get saved sooner or later.” he assured, before lovingly stroking her head.

Heila really liked this gesture. It reminded her way back when she and Frank were in their early teen years, after a long day of helping each other being field hands after school.

Franklin noticed that his son, Greg, was looking off into the distance without purpose. The boy himself was locked up in another cell; those that were with him were his two good friends, Alan and Pedro. They were all slowly approaching the age of thirteen.

“Hey buddy,” the man called, getting his son’s attention, “How are you and your friends holding up?” he asked, out of concern.

“Alright, I guess,” the boy responded, “Honestly, had better days than this.” he remarked.

“Yeah bro, you can say that again.” Pedro interjected.

Meanwhile, Alan was sitting in a corner wondering what went wrong and how all of this transpired.

Flashback Begin – Two-and-a-Half Days Earlier.

Just like most small towns within the confines of Western Otono, it was a normal day over at Welmo Village.

When describing the village, it was essentially a reflection of the wealth that the majority of Otono had possessed: neither exactly rich, nor poor in the slightest. In this particular case, the village with all of its homes and businesses were quite modern and developed when it came to appearance. However, due to the fact that its population was so small, many buildings served multiple purposes; for example, Anya’s primary school had separate wings that also contained the town’s post office and library. To really drive the point home, Greg’s secondary school had a built-in bank, general store, and even a guard outlet where the town’s law enforcement were stationed.

The guard outlet in this specific location was rather useful, as when the occasional fight between delinquents broke out, peacekeepers were there to break it up. All of this may seem weird to outsiders, but when you’re an everyday denizen of this town, it’s pretty normal. Moving on, it was the end of the school day for Welmo’s students; many businesses were ready for the influx of children and teenagers arriving at their place to hang out and spend money.

Everything was going pretty great... until this particular situation occurred. A caravan of armored vehicles and wagons belonging to the Knight’s Association showed up to the village unexpectedly. All individuals present were bewildered and even perturbed by the unannounced arrival of a member of The Four Leagues. Really, it left a lot of individuals scratching their heads; one of them being an important businessman to the village and having strong connection to its mayor demanded to know what’s the meaning of this. His name was Hans Rhineman.

“Hey, hey, what’s going on here?” Hans interrogated, “I thought the Tournament of Lords doesn’t happen for another five months. Did you decide to start earlier than planned?” he queried.

A seemingly high-ranking member dismounted from his horse. He approached Hans; in comparison to physical heights, the warrior easily towered over him. The high-level knight wore from head to toe a suit of armor made with Obsidium, an ore that was considered the 3rd most powerful and valued for making weapons and equipment. Overall, this man had a presence so profound, that many villagers quivered in awe and fear.

The black knight spoke, “My name is Reginald Quinton: leader of the Sentitarian Division, a group dedicated to aiding humans and other sentient beings in times of crisis, and an important board member of The Knight’s Association.” he revealed, giving off a deep and solemn voice.

Hans was rather shocked and even somewhat fearful of Reginald’s aura, shuddering as a result. Despite that however, he still stood his ground.

The businessman gulped, “So, what’s your reason behind your arrival, along with the huge army you have behind you?” he queried.

“I was tasked by Head Chairman Eric Eisenhower III to escort every individual in this village to a safe place,” Reginald said, “Me and the Association were warned by the Grand Church of Northern Otono that a demon-worshiping cult named the Cult of Uruzel have been kidnapping, enslaving, plundering, and laying siege to numerous settlements in recent times.” he informed.

The villagers, hearing this, did not like the sound of that statement and were willing to follow every order the master-level knight would give out, however, there were some who were not easily persuaded. Despite being intimidated, Hans noticed that something was rather off in the manner that Reginald spoke, it felt rather robotic, cold, and emotionless. If he was being sincere about the whole thing, he would be more urgent, yet still remaining calm and professional about it. The business man did not notice any of this, so it raised many red flags in his viewpoint; one of them being that Quinton is being mind-controlled by a nefarious third-party.

“If you do not comply, then I will have you arrested and sanctioned for obstructing the aid of a sentitarian effort.” Reginald threatened.

Once again, the way that the elite knight spoke made Hans raise an eyebrow, giving him the impression that his mind was seized via magical powers. However, Rhineman had to acknowledge that even though Reginald was under the influence, he still retained all power and authority; if the businessman were to butt heads with him, it would spell immense trouble for him. With no other options, Hans had to concede. All of the villagers present proceeded to be loaded onto trucks with all of their belongings in tow; many of them drove off into the distance, never to be seen again.

There was one individual that saw it all and refused to believe it all; it was none other than Gregory himself. Being highly alarmed on what’s happening, the boy rushed back home. When he arrived at the Willmore household, Greg was relieved that everybody was still there. Heila was in the kitchen chopping vegetables for a stew, Franklin was reading a weekly newspaper, and lastly, Anya was in the backyard learning how to cast spells from her teacher, like creating small spheres made of air and emitting tiny jets of fire for utility purposes e.g., lighting torches and campfires. Sooner or later and when Anya is ready, will be taught major offensive and defensive Super-Techniques.

Greg barged through the door, along with thunderous foot stomps when entering the foyer. Heila and Frank immediately noticed this; they stopped what they’re doing and rushed up towards their son who’s panting rather heavily.

“Kiddo, what’s wrong?” Franklin asked, “What happened that made you run like a madman?” he wondered out of concern.

“Oh sweetie, please don’t tell it’s that punk Evan and his no-good friends…” Heila uttered with resentment, “I’ll do everything I can to get that menace and his family thrown out of this village.” she promised with a great vengeance; a testament to a mother’s wrath.

Gregory caught his breath, “To be honest, I haven’t seen Evan all day, let alone at school,” he revealed, “But that’s not important; there’s another reason.”

The boy went on to tell them what really happened; they both reacted with shock.

“The Knight’s Association? Demon-worshiping cults kidnapping people? Man, things are REALLY going south recently.” Frank commented with horror and disgust.

Entering the house from the backdoor were Anya and her teacher. They wrapped up their lessons rather quickly, as the master wizard sensed something was off in the distance.

“Hi, big bro.” Anya casually greeted her brother with a smile.

“Hey there, lil’ sis.” Greg responded, before stroking her head; she liked it quite a lot.

Jacques Ortega cleared his throat, getting the attention of the young adolescent. Appearance-wise, was an elderly man with an athletic build; he had long white hair with a matching beard and his eyes were deep-blue. For clothing, it was semi-formal, with a formal vest as his most stand-out article of clothing.

“My boy, did you mention something about The Knight’s Association?” Jacques asked calmly.

“Oh, definitely sir.” Greg confirmed.

Suddenly, Jacques along with everybody else, heard a loud commotion coming from their neighbors. They all went to a nearby window and saw a group of soldiers rounding up their fellow villagers. Some of them refused to leave, but were forced onto the army trucks and then shipped away to someplace else. Master Wizard Ortega, using his supernatural perception, sensed a demonic aura emanating from the soldiers; it gave him the suspicion that they were under the influence of a mind-control spell or outright possessed by a demon. Whatever it is, it spelled a lot of trouble.

“Everybody, get down!” Jacques ordered.

“What, why?” Heila questioned.

“Just do it Mom!” her son demanded.

Everybody got down onto the floor; Master Ortega then casted two spells: one to shutter all the blinds and the second to render everybody’s aura undetectable; all of them remained still and barely made any movements. After a while, the old man peaked out the window and noticed that the coast was clear; creepily enough, with all sentient beings completely vacating the area, Welmo Village was essentially rendered a ghost town. However, he won’t let this opportunity for an escape pass him by.

“Alright everybody, we have to leave through the backdoor and out of this village all together!” the old wizard informed with great urgency in his voice.

“But before we go, I have just this one question: why is this happening?” the wolf-woman asked with great fear and concern.

“I don’t really know, but I will use my deductive reasoning skills as a way to answer your question,” Jacques said, “Over the past several years to a decade, I’ve heard/analyzed from underground sources and confident information that undercover demon-worshipers have infiltrated the Knight’s Association and slowly corrupted it from within, more than likely converting highest-ranking members, who are not only reputed to be the most powerful knights in the continent of Otono, but also the world.” he carefully deduced.

“Oh man, if the Knight’s Association are essentially controlled by demon-worshipers, then there’s a chance that the Four Leagues are also infiltrated, namely the Brawler’s Guild, the Institute of Mages, and the Order of the Assassins.” Franklin added.

“Of course, it’s proof that things are twisting in a rather horrible way.” Jacques stated.

After that conversation, the Willmore family and Ortega shortly left their house and soon the village. The intention was to head towards a secret base Jacques had built not too far away. However, that plan got sidelined when a group of human and bribon mercenaries found them running for their lives and were turned into the corrupted Knight’s Association. Long story short, they were enslaved and forced to work against their will.

Bottom line, they and so many others were victims of an occult war during its early stages.

Flashback End.

Out of nowhere, the door of the prison was blown open with a fireball. A team of armored knights and Henry Schwarzen arrived at the scene to rescue the prisoners; they were soon released and cheered in absolute relief. Almost all of the prisoners wasted no time fleeing to the surface for their freedom, while being escorted.

“Where’s our daughter Anya at?” Franklin asked out of concern.

“We’re not leaving without her!” his wife exclaimed.

“Calm down, I think she’s nearby trying to look for you guys out here.” Henry informed.

Relieved, but fearful for her safety, the couple rushed out the prison to find their daughter, with Commander Schwarzen behind them to provide protection. Greg was about to follow suit, however, he found a one-handed steel sword in a scabbard and a steel shield laying on the ground. The boy picked them up and strapped them onto him. He then proceeded to follow his parents and the knight commander.

In his mind, this was the perfect time to prove that he’s a warrior. If he passes on this opportunity, he may never get a second chance.

Gregory continued to run, with his newfound courage brought upon by his weapons in tow.