War Meeting
Unknown Location, Somewhere in the East Midlands
Britain
~492 AD
As the light of the teleportation circle disappears, the people of Ratae find themselves within a massive room that lacks a ceiling, with around a dozen warriors standing at attention. One of the warriors steps forward and salutes Lajos.
"You've arrived just in time." says the warrior as he approaches Lajos. "Gawain and the others have arrived a few minutes ago and are currently debriefing in the war room." informs the warrior before looking at the people behind him that are still adjusting themselves after the teleportation. "I can take care of them for you." he suggests, earning a nod of thanks from Lajos.
"I appreciate it. They come from the town of Ratae. Most of them are shaken and traumatised by their experience, so standard procedure except for five of them." explains Lajos as he subtly points to Aeliana and her two boys who are too busy gathering themselves to notice. "The mother, Aeliana, and the two boys possess some form of supernatural heritage, and a powerful one at that, so for them it's the standard explanation of the supernatural along with an offer to join." he says to the listening warrior. "Also, there are at least two trojan horses within the group. By now Vanko should know who they are as well as whether there are more or not. Understand?" asks Lajos.
"Yes, 'Centurion Lajos'" says the man with a teasing smirk, causing Lajos to roll his eyes at the nickname given to him by Ambros.
"I will be on my way now." says Lajos as he turns to Gabriel and gestures for her to follow him with a wave of his hand.
Summoning her wings from her back, Gabriel takes to the sky and follows closely next to Lajos.
"Woah!" exclaims Gabriel as she looks down at the Edenian's base of operations. "This is pretty big for a temporary base." she comments as she observes the base that is easily as big as a city.
"This base isn't for us only. It's also where we take anybody affected by the war in need of help. Whether it be therapy, medical aid, or simply somewhere to live, we provide it all. The people shouldn't have to suffer just because they are caught in the middle of a war that has nothing to do with them." explains Lajos as he leisurely leads Gabriel towards the center of the city where a five story building can be found.
"War is a terrible thing." remarks Gabriel with a sad smile before turning to face Lajos. "Do you hate us for causing this war?" she asks him.
"It was either watch the devils slowly take over the world, or go to war with them. Considering how the devils treat captured humans, I say that the war is a preferable outcome." he answers as they descend in front of the building where two warriors wielding spears can be found guarding it.
Nodding to the warriors, Lajos makes his way inside with Gabriel following a step behind, only for the warriors to block her path with their spears before she can enter.
"She is with me." says Lajos.
"I'm sorry, but Gawain ordered that no one other than squad leaders be allowed inside." says one of the warriors with a shake of his head.
"That's fine, I will take responsibility for this." he tells them, causing the two warriors to look at each other before reluctantly allowing her to pass.
With a nod of thanks, Lajos continues back inside.
"Ahhh, that was sooo scary!" exclaims Gabriel as she jogs to catch up to her guide. "No one has ever pointed a weapon at me before." she says with a slight shaking in her voice.
"No one?" asks Lajos.
"Nope. No one." answers Gabriel.
"Then have you never fought in a battle before?" asks Lajos.
"Never." she replies with a shake of her head, causing Lajos to slightly frown.
Without saying another word, Lajos leads her to a door where he casually opens in and steps inside with her following closely behind.
Inside the room one can find various magical holograms with various information on them, such as situational reports for every minor Edenian headquarters throughout the island of Britain, troop positions, casualties, etc… Standing in front of a massive round table displaying the holograms with Enyo standing to his left is none other than Gawain with a slight frown on his face as he studies the holograms. Hearing the door opening, Enyo and Gawain turn their attention from the holograms to Lajos.
"Good, you've arrived." says Gawain before looking at Gabriel with a questioning frown.
"Gawain, this is Gabriel. One of the Seraphs of Heaven." introduces Lajos, causing Gawain to raise an eyebrow while Enyo looks on with a lazy expression on her face.
"You managed to get in touch with a Seraph, good." he says as he approaches Gabriel.
"I am Gawain, leader of the Edenian forces on this island, It's a pleasure to meet you Gabriel." says Gawain.
"It's nice to meet you too." she enthusiastically with a wide smile on her face.
"How is the situation?" asks Lajos.
"Not ideal. The devils have finally figured out that our numbers are severely limited and have begun to use that to their advantage." answers Gawain. "Their operations are now more numerous and subtle to the point that we have to choose which ones to disrupt and which ones to allow them to continue. In addition, House Vassago has finally taken to the battlefield. Between the devils themselves, their worshippers and the undeads that House Vassago commands, we're stretched thin. At this rate we will have to start thinking about whether some of the towns and cities are worth saving." explains Gawain.
"Tsk, how troublesome." comments Lajos.
"Are you able to negotiate an alliance for Heaven?" asks Gawain as he turns to Gabriel, catching her completely off guard.
"Me? No. Any other Seraph would be a better option than me." hastily replies Gabriel with a shake of her head, causing Gawain to quietly sigh in disappointment. "I can heal really well though." says Gabriel in an attempt to lift his mood.
"Very well, if you ask one of the guards in front of the tower they can lead you to the hospital." he tells her after a few seconds of contemplation.
"Ok, I'll see you guys later." she says excitedly before flying out of the room.
"I've been trying to get in touch with the leaders of the angels to no avail." says Gawain as he watches Gabriel fly out of the room. "They seem to be quite wary of us."
"Well, we did wipe out fifteen of the Pillars when we first entered the war. To them we might seem like a bloodthirsty, warmongering people." says Enyo with a nonchalant shrug. "Lajos' squad being the way they are doesn't help either." she adds.
"My squad?" questions Lajos as he turns towards Enyo. "You have no room to speak when Aatrox and Ajax are part of your squad. Those two are just like Anlon and Ambros, maybe worst considering how much they try to hide it." refutes Lajos.
"Enough." interjects Gawain before the two can begin to argue about which squad is worse. It's a constant argument between them that never seems to end, and right now Gawain wants nothing to do with it. "We need to think on how to push them back soon. I don't want us to be losing the war when Empress Sindel and Emperor Ambrosius join. Not only will it be a failure on our part, but it will make it seem to outsiders that we are helpless without them." he says.
"In that case, I say that we continuously attack the underworld. I refuse to believe that they'll just stand by while their home is under attack." says Enyo.
"That would work, if Lucifer and the other Satans actually cared about the devils. As far as the Satans are concerned, the devils are nothing except disposable pawns." refutes Lajos with a shake of his head.
"That didn't stop them from being blinded by their pride and falling into Emperor Ambrosius' hands when we wiped out those Pillars." she says.
"It won't work a second time." replies Gawain with a shake of his head. "If we focus on attacking the underworld they are more likely to use that as opening to further their campaign on Earth while the rest of their forces go into hiding, and considering their familiarity with the Underworld I'm not willing to bet that we would be able to find them." adds Gawain.
"Don't forget that the Satans can always make more devils. After all, the original devils were not born, but we're instead made by the four Satans using a ritual." says Lajos, silencing the room as Enyo and Gawain realise that if the Satans wanted they could in fact make millions of devils to offset their casualties.
"Who's to say that they aren't already doing that?" asks Enyo, causing the other two to look at her questioningly. "Think about it, while the devils have always outnumbered us, the angels, and the fallen, they've never had enough to offset all three of our forces together. However, as of a few months ago they're suddenly pushing all of us back using nothing but numbers. Even their tactics are simplistic enough for any tactician to see through it, but because of their absurd numbers we can't effectively combat it." she explains.
"It would also explain what happened to the kidnapped humans that are never seen again. No slaves, no corpses, and not even a whisper on their whereabouts unless it's a rumor about them being devils. They turn them into devils and probably have House Sargatanas brainwash them into being loyal." adds Lajos.
"If this situation continues, we'll be forced to go all out in order to win. A battle like that would wipe out the island and every single human on it. We need to figure out how they're making new devils and where. If we can't figure that out then we need to at the very least figure out the necessary components to making a new devil." says Gawain.
"Don't they use the Evil Pieces?" asks Enyo.
"No, the Evil Pieces are something that has yet to be invented according to Lord Ambrosius and Lady Morgan." replies Lajos. "We can send Vanko along with Alexander on reconnaissance in the Underworld. In the meantime we need to stop the devil's advances. Perhaps it is time that we ally ourselves with Camelot." he suggests.
"No, it's not worth the hassle." says Enyo. "At best, the forces of Camelot will be able to slow down the devil worshippers and at worst they'll be completely useless until their Knights of the Round join the battlefield, something that most likely won't happen until the devils invade."
"You're right, however we can still use them as an opening to ally with the angels." suggests Lajos.
"We have Gabriel here. She can communicate with Heaven for us. Allying with Camelot will give us a weakness for the devils to exploit. They're just as corruptible as any of the cities that the devils have taken over so far." says Gawain with a shake of his head.
"True. We can also coordinate with the fallen. By the way, how are the negotiations coming along?" asks Lajos.
"They're going well. The fallen have agreed to police their own forces in order to stop them from preying on humans in exchange for aid whenever they find themselves in need of it against the devils. Now if only Azazel would stop trying to get in my pants, things would be perfect." says Enyo, causing Lajos to slightly chuckle at her situation. No matter where she is, Enyo always seems to have a man trying to get with her.
As time passes and the trio brings the meeting to a close, they fail to notice a small, seemingly insignificant fly listening in on their conversation, nor do they notice when the fly flies out of the building and into the ground where it digs deeply before using the earth as a cover to make its way out of the base.
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AN: Here's the chapter. As usual, tell me what you guys think. Sorry for the slow update speed guys, but I've been working on my first original story that I plan to start publishing sometime this month or next month. If you guys are interested in it follow me on my instagram account servant_ambrosius. I'll be posting drawings and bios of the characters along with other stuff.
Also the eighth chapter of my Campione fic is published. The name of it is The Godslaying Pharaoh. The ninth chapter is already available on my Pat re on which is (pat re on .com / servantambrosius), minus the spaces. That story will be updated once a week and patrons will be able to read chapters as soon as I finish writing them along with other ******* exclusive content such as the Authorities that I have come up with and are considering for the main character.