The elevator doors opened with a quiet hiss, and Julius stepped onto the Command Bridge of the Aether Ark.
The chamber was wide and bright, filled with rows of glowing consoles and floating screens that showed maps, mana readings, and reports from across the capital. Knights in white coats and masks were patrolling the bridge, their masks giving nothing away.
At the top of the bridge was a circular platform where Commander Reinhardt was waiting for him. Generally speaking, this would be the first time Magister Julius and Commander Reinhardt would speak face to face.
But what Magister Julius saw wasn't what he expected.
Commander Reinhardt was wearing the traditional uniform. A white coat over a dark, fitted undersuit. On his feet, he wore dark propulsion boots used for flight and better mobility. Normally, he wore a full-face mask with only faint blue light emitted from the eye slits, but Commander Reinhardt wasn't wearing one.
His face was quite young. His eyes were deep blue, and his blonde hair reached his shoulders.
Compared to the stories Magister Julius had heard, he had no scars on his face.
Stunned, Magister Julius was left without words. He was quite young himself, having become a headmaster at the age of thirty, but nothing compared to this commander, who's been said to have lived for nearly seventy years.
He was now starting to wonder if that was true, too.
"Headmaster Julius, why the long face?" Commander Reinhardt said with a smile on his face.
Magister Julius snapped out of his daze.
"Forgive me for my lack of speech, Commander. And I prefer the term Magister for now, if you don't mind."
"Forgive me for my mistake, Magister Julius," Commander Reinhardt chuckled. "Now, onto my reason for requesting you."
He snapped his fingers, and one of the floating screens appeared in front of Julius.
"Do you, by any chance, know this woman?" he said. His carefree voice from before had become cold and menacing.
Julius looked at the screen. It was a woman with black hair and crimson eyes. It was the first time Julius had ever seen her. Right next to the woman was a young girl with blonde hair and silver eyes.
'I don't know who the black-haired woman is, but I don't recognize the little girl. She's Claudia Morningstar.'
"I see. The woman is Claudia Morningstar's older sister, Luna Dragonheart."
Luna Dragonheart!?
The same Luna Dragonheart who caused the Crimson Rain Calamity, the same Luna who managed to earn the nickname Blood Tyrant for killing over five hundred S-rank monsters in one night.
She wore a mask, so no one had actually seen her face before. He never expected her to look so... delicate. From the way she was described, he had always imagined her to be rougher, to say the least.
More importantly, how was Claudia related to her? They didn't even look the same.
Fortunately, his question was answered immediately by Reinhardt.
"Have you ever heard of Blood Synthesis?"
"...Not in detail, but I understand it's used for binding an individual to a certain bloodline, essentially changing their bloodline."
"Correct. But how that is not important. Luna Dragonheart was spotted during this little incident."
He swiped his hand, and the image on the blue screen changed. What he saw was a young man wearing the Selene Academy uniform, holding Claudia. Behind them was Luna Dragonheart.
W-what happened? Why is Claudia being chased by her own sister?
"The report shows that Claudia was knocked unconscious. Due to the advancement of the Crimson Army, we could not catch up to them. For that, I'm truly sorry."
But while Reinhardt was apologizing, Julius had a different thought in mind as he stared at the screen.
If she truly is Claudia's sister, then logically, wouldn't that mean that the person in the uniform has kidnapped Claudia? Wouldn't that mean that she's just trying to protect her own sister?
Logically, Julius's assumption was correct. An outside viewer could automatically see she was being kidnapped. But the look on Luna's face made Julius a bit skeptical. Her face was completely blank, devoid of all emotions.
She should have been angry, sad, maybe even disgusted, but there was nothing. No sense of self could be seen on her face.
Did she just have that much control over her emotions, or perhaps something else was afoot?
But—
"With all this in mind, what do you suggest we do here?"
Reinhardt gave a light smile.
"Luna Dragonheart is said to have Draconic Energy within her body. The Crimson Army possessed Draconic Energy as well. Coincidence? Highly unlikely."
The screen changed again. This time, it was a video. The Crimson Army—as Reinhardt put it—were all floating in an empty white space.
"What is this?"
"This is the Containment Unit where they are being kept. I thought you might like to come along. I assume you have your own questions, correct?"
He wasn't wrong. Julius was confused. But he was still skeptical about Commander Reinhardt's decision. Was he really keeping them all in one place, knowing what they're capable of?
Was he just that confident in his abilities as a commander, or was this just arrogance? Julius didn't know.
What he did know was that he wanted answers. Whatever was happening, he had to believe that Reinhardt knew what he was doing. What else could he do?
"Yes," he replied. "I do have some questions."
"Well then, we leave now."
Reinhardt snapped his fingers, and the circular platform he was in expanded, reaching all the way to Julius. It began to glow a faint blue light before extending upwards. Above them, a dark hole had appeared. Commander Reinhardt and Magister Julius passed through it and entered the darkness. Julius heard a snap, and then the darkness became a white room.
Julius's eyes widened. Above him were thousands of the Crimson Army. They all just seemed to be floating, unconscious. Commander Reinhardt just stood there with a smile, not even worried about the fact they were now with the same group who managed to destroy the capital.
I thought we would just be taking one of them and interrogating them, but he brought me straight into the lion's den. Is he crazy?
"Do not worry. None of them can perceive us. To them, we're like one of them. So, Magister Julius, ask your question."
How is them perceiving us like one of them going to help?
"I can see you're skeptical, but I want you to trust me. Nothing bad shall happen."
At this point, Julius was ready to just abandon everything. That was until he remembered he still needed to find Claudia, and from what Reinhardt was saying, the Crimson Army seemed to be his only clue. For the sake of finding his students, he would abandon his fear and continue with this dangerous plan.
He took a deep breath and proceeded to ask his question.
"Where is Cla—!?"
As soon as he muttered those words, the whole room began to shake. The Crimson Army began to glow a scarlet red, and waves of energy came crashing out.
"Draconic Energy?" He said.
Julius looked at Reinhardt as he attempted to steady his grip.
"What's going on? You said nothing bad will happen."
"Nothing was supposed to happen. This isn't normal. Before, they were completely unresponsive."
"Then how did you expect me to—!?"
His words were cut off by the sight of magic circles appearing above each of the Crimson Soldiers.
They slowly rose into them, and just like that, they were gone without a trace.
Both Julius and Reinhardt stood there speechless.
BOOM!
In the distance, they heard a loud explosion.
The circular platform descended back into the Command Bridge. There were warning labels on each screen as the Arcane Knights each ran out.
Reinhardt stared at the warning screens. For the first time since Julius had met him, the smile was gone.
"What's happening?" Commander Reinhardt asked.
One of the Arcane Knights stopped and saluted before proceeding to answer.
"Commander, the Capital is being attacked by the Crimson Army."