A week later…

In the far south of the map, above the mountain ranges, the dragons rule the sky. A hundred meters underground, there’s an enormous fortress brimming with life. A place where day and night are the same. The only light they have is coming from their own homes, stores, street lights, and giant braziers; the light it emits ranges from yellow, red, blue, and orange. Their homes are mostly made out of stones and clay.

The town square’s atmosphere doesn’t change, it’s always full of travelers, adventurers and merchants. The store rarely closes as merchants are highly competitive with each other. The citizens here are mostly pale or grey skinned. In some cases, outsiders mistook them as demons.

The ceiling of the underground fortress succumbed to eternal darkness. Gigantic pillars support the ceiling in odd directions, some of it have seven giant braziers vertically aligned, enough for everyone to see, not as a light source but to determine the time.

From top to bottom, the first brazier is distance away from the rest, it tells the current day and night, respectively lights on and lights off. The six braziers close to each other describe the current time, lighting up from top to bottom.

This enormous fortress is known as The Biringan Empire.

--

Inside the Imperial Chamber of Council, twelve old men sit in a circular fashion higher above ground. At the center below them, there’s a shattered dark knight lying on the table.

“I can’t believe this!”

“The armor is hardly recognizable...”

“Only one person did this?”

“The Kingdom of Arcadia might have gotten another instrument of destruction. We must prepare to attack now before they bring us down!”

“No, we should not. We must first verify the integrity of the smuggler’s account.”

“I agree with him, our spies haven’t sent any letters regarding this matter.”

“How did the smuggler manage to get here first?”

“He passed through the underworld.”

“Mmh. Commendable.”

Traveling through the underworld is the fastest way to move around the globe. But in exchange, their lifetime is slowly taken away. Traveling for a week in the underworld takes a month's lifetime. A year takes eleven years of lifetime. They grow older the longer they stay until they eventually die of old age.

“The smuggler has the seal of our spies. We should prepare immediately!”

“No, We should avoid such drastic actions.”

“He’s right, we must wait for the other spies.”

“But we must at least prepare for the worst.”

** kata kata kata kata **

The voices in the chamber gradually went silent as they heard someone approaching.

a 6ft man and a 4ft man appeared and stood near the shattered dark knight.

“So… you have called… for me…”

Said the short one - the doctor.

The doctor’s voice is muffled by his beaked mask. His inhale and exhale is heard by everyone in the room especially after the room was filled with silence. His mask covers his entire face to shoulder. He wears a wide brimmed hat, a black overcoat, and a pair of leather gloves. His skin isn’t exposed except for his white hair. He holds a two-n-half-meter long black staff with an incomplete halo-like object attached to the tip of it. The halo-like object is placed above the head of his taller partner.

“We would like to confirm the smuggler’s account about what happened to the dark knight.”

One of the old men spoke, he seemed to be representing the entire council.

“May I... ask... what happened?”

“The smuggler claimed that a three-meter tall woman with two sets of black wings did this kind of thing.”

“... … … … …”

The doctor remained silent, his breathing stopped for a moment.

“As you... wish, My Lord...”

The doctor taps the staff to the ground, and the 6ft man began to move towards the shattered dark knight.

** charing **

The metal chains in his body clangs as he walks. His appearance is almost similar to the doctor except for the mask. His mask has eight holes for his eight eyes. He doesn’t have a mouth or a nose, just… eyes. One of them is open.

The eight-eyed man took a scrap from the body and he looked closely.

The eye from the bottom left corner opens, emitting blue light color. It closed afterward. Another eye opened one after the other. Each eye emitted different colors from red, yellow, orange, pale green, to dark violet. One of them didn’t open.

The twelve old men silently observe the eight-eyed man.

The eight-eyed man returned the scrap of metal to the table. He once again stood beside the doctor under his staff. He does not voice out any words, but rather, he communicates through the doctor’s staff.

A long silence followed…

“Nnh!!!”

“What, what is it?”

The doctor lost his composure for a moment after learning some surprising information.

“My Lord, If I’m not mistaken... you said a three-meter tall woman... with a set of two wings... did this?”

“Yes, you’re right.”

“We might be... dealing with... an archangel.”

** gasps **

Most of them were shocked after hearing those words. The murmuring of concerns filled the entire chamber.

Archangels are considered to be a myth to a commoner, but they do exist. For the past three thousand years, there’s no records and accounts about the appearance of an archangel. They were only taught at school as some sort of prerequisite like from the Church of Gaia, and only a few nobles believed they existed.

“...but…”

Murmuring stopped for a while after the doctor spoke again.

“An archangel... has white wings,... this one has... black wings...”

“So, you’re saying this isn’t an archangel?!”

“Maybe… maybe not...”

“This is the first time you have become unsure of your assessment.”

“My apologies… My lord… As this is the first time... I’ve sensed... one of their kind...”

“I understand.”

The old man representing the council brushes his beard. He let out a single nod with satisfaction.

“Your job here is done and we appreciate your cooperation. We’ll be sending someone to investigate it further.”

The doctor didn’t respond and remained standing.

“Is there still something you want?”

“I’d like to… investigate it myself…”

“We’ll see about that.”

“Thank you… My Lord…”

The doctor and the eight-eyed man bowed. A glint of red shines deep within his dark glasses as he walks out of the chamber.