Busy with Preparation

The grounds of the Nox Sacred Order, located in the mid-level behind the Church of Nox, was currently filled with hubbub. It had been like so ever since they got the message from the Grandmaster. The first message they got was less than a month ago, after which they immediately put the city into lockdown.

Thorn was sitting inside his office, slouched on his chair and closing his eyes and rubbing his temples. His table was full of stacked up paperwork. He seemed to have been working very hard as the Grandmaster had left him in charge of the city's defense. "Haah..." he sighed.

"Already tired? You haven't had a good sleep for two weeks only, it's still too early to get tired." His door opened and his brother, Vine, entered the room with a smile. "Haha, I'm not tired. In fact, I was getting excited just thinking about all the work that is left." he joked back without opening his eyes and still rubbing the temples of his head.

Thud

"Then you'll be ecstatic because I brought some gifts for you!" Vine laughed as he plopped down more stacks of paperwork on Thorn's desk. Opening his eyes due to the sound, Thorn groaned when he saw more paperwork. "What's this?" he asked Vine in a defeated voice.

Sitting on a chair in front of Thorn's desk, Vine looked at his brother and shook his head with a slight smile on his face. "Just some more paperwork about the usage of relics, city's lockdown regulation, knight's overtime-"

"Stop" Thorn interjected Vine, already getting a headache. "Why do I have to fill the same paperwork again and again.." He looked at the stack of paperwork marked with the Relic Department's seal on it. 

To defend the city, they had used the relic, Everburning Brazier, which was an Epic level Relic. The Everburning Brazier was a defense relic, which contained the spell Cinders of Protection. The spell continuously shed embers of azure flame which transformed into shimmering azure spheres invisible to the human eye. The small spheres then merged with each other around the exterior of the city. creating a layer of defense in the shape of a dome. When the damage done to the protection layer exceeded the capability of the relic, the spheres attacks the attackers by flying to them and exploding. So, it could be said the relic was an attack relic also.

On top of that, they had strengthened the relic with amplification relics like the special incense, warding runestones and the Codex of Resonance. Using these relics, the Everburning Brazier was amplified up to nearly legendary level, which they deemed enough to hold back the lunatized Saint.

As Thorn lamented, following his eyes which landed at the heaps of paperwork, Vine let out a slight laugh. "Well... The Relic department is quite the stickler for rules." He looked back at Thorn. "Can't blame them though, they have to report every usage of Relics to the Union after all..."

"Right..." Thorn nodded and looked at Vine. "Speaking of the Union, did things go smoothly?" He asked, turning serious. The smile from Vine's face disappeared and he let out a sigh. "Apart from the first one, we haven't gotten replies to any of our other messages yet. I wouldn't stay hopeful..."

Depressed at the news, Thorn slouched his head. They started sending requests for backup to the Union from two weeks ago, but they had only got one reply which was not in their favor. They wrote about the urgency of the situation, but that didn't work either.

"I'm sure they'll send some backup.. Maybe they're just being held up by something." Thorn tried to stay positive. "Don't try to fool yourself brother. The Union has always been hesitant against the Church of Nox.." Vine sighed.

Knock Knock

Someone knocked the door while they were chatting. "Come in." Thorn adjusted his posture. The door opened and a serious looking girl with a ponytail entered. "Edana..." Thorn relaxed and slouched back again.

"Sir!" Edana exclaimed, but her voice was low. She turned her head towards Vine. "Night Leader Vine." She saluted the both of them. Although Vine was a Night Leader, just like her, she still saluted him because he was sure to be promoted to a commander when the Grandmaster returned due to his achievements and loyalty. She also respected him because of that and also as he was Thorn's brother.

Thorn took a look at Edana's arms and let out a long breath. "More paperwork? What are these about?"

"The complaints of citizens about the lockdown. I've already reviewed them, these just need your approval." Edana walked in front of Thorn's desk and put down the stack of papers. "Haha, thank you Edana. You've worked hard." Thorn smiled.

Appointed as a Night Leader, Edana had also been working hard as of late. She worked so much that she had barely time to sleep and she just stayed in the office 24/7 without returning home. "You can sit down for a while Night Leader Edana." Vine spoke with a smile.

"Thank you..." Edana pulled a chair back and sat down. Looking closer, they could see her puffed eye bags and dark circle under her eyes.

"Ahem.." Thorn coughed. "When was the last time we received a message from the Grandmaster?" He asked.

"It was a week ago. The message said the Saint had reached Westcombe.." Edana replied.

"Westcombe..." Thorn put a hand on his chin. "Then it will take the Saint approximately a week to get here.." The atmosphere inside the room turned dark.