After the cultist pressed the device, Ericka quickly brought her gauntlet down on him, as she crushed his head like a melon, blowing his brain matter everywhere. She looked up at her comrades and said "What the hell did that bastard do?"
Aurelius went and kicked the cultists body over onto its back, as he searched within his robes, what he found baffled him "Hmm, it seems like a piece of magi-tech, if I was to guess, a sort of panic alarm, he may have called for backup?"
Ericka scoffed and said eagerly, "Let them come! I still have not had my fill of these fuckers! They actually dared to kill one of my... my...."
Connak, the rugged elf said gravelly, "Friends? It is okay to admit we are friends."
To that Ericka just quickly said "Shut it, brutish elf!"
Serena and Asura, as the other two were talking, walked off into the distance and finally after a few minutes, came across Zero's corpse, half mangled and a weird black smoke coming from his wounds.
Serena had a tear coming from her eye, as she bent down and closed his still shocked eyes, whispering "We avenged you, my friend, may you find peace in a paradise where the seas are never turbulent and the sun is always shining."
Asura standing next to her said, while looking at Zero "That was nice, where did you hear that?"
Serena stood, while simply replying "It is a saying from my village, that is used when a person passes on."
Asura nodded and then knelt down solemnly "The last thing I said to him was so unlike me, I was so stressed in the heat of battle... I....I"
Serena put her hand on his shoulder, as she stood next to him and said "There is no need to feel guilty over words, Zero knew you meant no harm. Do not fret Asura."
He nodded slowly, seemingly not convinced as he said "I will contact a team to come here and take him to where the other Lightborn dead are, he deserves a proper military burial. He was a true hero."
As both Serena and Asura were talking. Aurelius said to the other two "I will head to the city now, I need to speak with the Commander."
Both Ericka and Connak seemed to snap out of whatever reverie they were in and replied "Of course, Lord Aurelius" As he walked off into the distance still riding his colossal ice golem.
....
Within the headquarters of the Military Quadrant:
Commander Balin could be seen addressing the staff of the Lightborn Logistics Corps within the room that, while this confrontation was ongoing, was hectic and loud with a cacophony of voices, however, now is paradoxically quiet and calm, with a slight excitement radiating off the people here "Good job, everyone! You all performed exemplary, I will be sure to ensure you all get rewarded greatly for your services to the Lightborn House!"
They all cheered before he headed out of the control centre. With the plain-looking demon and that same woman as earlier following, Commander Balin said to the woman "Have half the battalion patrol the perimeter of the city, it's surroundings and secure it, I do not want to be taken off guard again. Also, about the dead, about Zero, have them all get the best ceremony, to show our appreciations for their sacrifices." The woman said "Yes Sir." as she split off from them and headed to fulfil her orders.
The plain-looking demon said "I will ensure our information network is in full effect, as we try and piece together this puzzle." Commander Balin nodded his head as the plain-looking demon moved away to fulfil his tasks.
Suddenly, as Commander Balin was walking out of the headquarters he came across someone heading his way and he had to do a double check, rubbing his eyes.
Of course, the one he saw was Aurelius, who had just entered the city and came straight to see the Commander.
"Emperor Aurelius?! What a surprise!" He said with some apprehension, before Aurelius simply said "Not emperor anymore, I am here to speak to you about some important things." Commander Balin seemed taken aback, before nodding and leading him to his office "Of course this way, Lord Aurelius."
As they entered his office, Aurelius spoke hurriedly "Firstly, it seems that one of the Emperor Mages that your commanders were dealing with, set off a panic alarm of some sort." Commander Balin nodded and said "Do not worry, I ordered teams to patrol and secure the perimeter, we will know next time they try to attack, but, I will, once we are done, send word to the battalion and staff to ready for a possible attack." Aurelius simply nodded, before saying what he originally wanted to know "I originally wanted to see you, to ask about Kyros, I need to see him and relay some important news." At this Commander Balin seemed taken aback, before replying "I cannot help you there, Lord Aurelius, I am not sure about his whereabouts, the fact he has not appeared means he most likely is not within the city at the moment."
Aurelius hummed in acknowledgement, before saying "I will head to the palace and await him there then, can you get someone to lead me and get me into the palace?"
Commander Balin replied "Of course, I will send for someone to lead you there."
....
Shortly after, on the perimeter of Luminosity:
A team were currently patrolling, on the look out for any more enemy advances, they were extra alert, as they had just heard from headquarters that one of the enemy commanders had, before being killed, set off a sort of alarm.
All of a sudden one team member shouted over the comms of his magi-tech device "Look! Can you see that?"
Another member of the team that couldn't make out what his teammate was going on about jibed "You seeing things? There is nothing there, I think you need to take a rest at base"
The others laughed at this, before the one that spoke first, continued on in a rushed manner "I am not seeing things, idiot! Look ahead to the right, what are those things?"
The others had a double take and their smiles vanished, as they could now spot what their teammate had seen, it looked like, just, black, until they focused and could see it was moving, and fast. Then they noticed other features, it was a humanoid creature of some sort, but nothing any of them and probably anyone in the world, would recognise. Black ooze was flowing out of its body, with black eyes like twin blackholes, and body parts that looked defective and corrupted.
Then another one was seen, and another and another, they seemed never ending coming from the north border of the Luminosity perimeter, that direction was the human empire. A literal hoard was descending.
At this point, the one who originally spoke said "Quick retreat! Call and report to headquarters!" As he said this, one of the others quickly got in contact, as they were retreating rapidly.
...
Within the city:
At this time the citizens of Luminosity were finally allowed back their freedom as they got on with their lives after the attack. The alarms had stopped blaring and life was again resumed. Some were relieved and visibly relaxed, while some didn't even seem anxious in the first place, they had complete faith in the battalion and well, the Lightborn's.
...
Within the headquarters:
Commander Balin was yet again in the command centre surrounded by the frantic scene of the logistics staff working. He seemed to experience some weird Deja vu.
The plain-looking demon was yet again at his side as he was sifting through information sent to him by the shadows.
Commander Balin was currently hearing the report of the situation from the same woman as last couple times "Sir, it seems patrol team five, on the north border, noticed more unidentified enemies. However, from their eye witness reports, it seems it is a hoard of alien creatures, not before seen on Magedom."
As she finished her report, Commander Balin simply sighed almost in defeat, as he looked at the images from the visors of the magi-tech helmets "Fuck, what the hell is going on!?" He said sharply, trying to think of the best response, but coming up empty.
They could hide behind the walls? Well, that was not the best idea, they would be overrun in a matter of days, not to mention lack of food and water among other things. If only those magi-cannons were not just a prototype. Commander Balin shook his head at this thought, before continuing to think, the battalion would be overrun eventually, we do not know enough about this enemy, are they mindless? Or do they have a command structure? Can they communicate?
He then said authoritatively "Sound the alarm and alert the citizens again, we will have to just hope His Excellency will arrive soon." That was his only hope at this point, they know too little and have too little time to prepare with the assets at their disposal.
Just as the woman was about to rush off to fulfil his orders, the screen at the centre of the command room in the headquarters, a large holographic screen, that covers multiple angles of the city of Luminosity, flashed an image of a single figure, flying on the spot in the air above Luminosity, it was just one single figure, but Commander Balin sighed in relief to a point, it seemed a couple of grey hairs had turned back to their youth.
"Thank fuck for that" He said as everyone in the command room locked their eyes on the screen and you could hear the audible relaxation of their bodies, and a pin drop silence came over the room that was moments ago, frantically loud with a mixture of voices.