Another Incoming Threat

King Wart and his aides, Lady Pandora and Lady Silvanna were in the grand hall. The grand hall was the big, golden, and fancy cafeteria of the castle. Before the uprising, it was reserved for only the richest of the classes and the Count.

But since everything was eventually turned upside down in a span of only a day, the grand hall and the works of the chefs of skills but of common birth were made available to the rest of the peasantry.

King Wart and his aides were at a separate table from the rest. Since security around the King was lenient, courtesy of Artemis' policies, no retainers were needed to check for poison. 

The Dwarf King, the Elf Servant, and the Human Demigod all chowed down on the delicious food that was served to them.

As they ate, their lighthearted conversation about the future of their careers as newfound rulers and leaders of this young kingdom quickly turned into a serious discussion regarding what Pandora saw that night.

"Are you really sure there was someone else with Erik?" King Wart asked her the same question again. 

"Yes, I saw them," Pandora said. 

"But what do you mean she came out of thin air?" Silvanna asked.

Silvanna was a powerful Demigod and a Magic caster who could access Super tier magic spells at will but a type of illusion spell that was at the levels of what she heard seems extremely rare these days.

Hearing her Elf friend's words, Silvanna believed her story, so did Wart.

But the question was, who was that lady? 

"Didn't you hear their conversation?" Silvanna asked.

"I told you, I tried but there is something that prevents my hearing." Pandora replied.

"Hm, maybe that lady or Artemis or whoever put a sound blocking spell so nobody will eavesdrop on them. Hm, kinda smart." Silvanna said as she continued to eat her food.

"No, I don't think so, I don't feel any spells were casted in the room so there is really no sound blocking. But I still couldn't just step inside. But, knowing Erik until now, this is my first time seeing him completely distracted, like, the door creaked when I peeked through but he did not care." Pandora said.

Then the conversation took a very weird turn.

"First of all, why were you entering Erik's room, without knocking, in the middle of the night?" Wart asked. Suspiciously look at the Elf, whose face turns red.

"Oh—... I..  ugh… I was concerned!" Patricia said, desperately trying to get the right words.

But Wart and Silvanna's expressions said otherwise, they weren't convinced. 

"You had other intentions~" Silvanna said with a teasing smile on her face.

"I did not! Anyways, let's not stray away from what is the main issue here?" Patricia said, trying to get back to the topic.

"Fine, we'll discuss your intentions later," Wart said.

"Sooo, there was this girl, a beautiful girl, you described her like that so don't look at me with those eyes," Silvanna said, watching Pandora seemed too annoyed with the word "Beautiful".

"The lady was with Erik for the rest of the night, right?" Silvanna continued.

"Yes! But then she disappeared as if she was just an illusion," Pandora said.

Silvanna was aware that the lady in question was some sort of illusion just by what Pandora was telling her but the problem was, illusions were programmed only to do limited and menial tasks, mimicking a few or limited functions of their real life counterparts.

But the lady in question fitted the description of an illusion but her complexity was a bit contradictory. 

And the fact that Artemis was interacting with her as if she was his lover.

But maybe she was his lover?

Silvanna was now trapped in her own rabbit hole that she dug for herself. But who pushed her into digging that rabbit hole? Pandora. 

Wart, being the dwarf that he was, didn't really mind what the lady was as long as Artemis did not go astray from his loyalty and fidelity to the kingdom and Wart himself.

The discussion about the mystery went nowhere. 

"Fine, I'll just accept the fact Erik has a woman by his side from somewhere, someplace," Pandora pouted. 

'She's jealous' Wart and Silvanna's minds were in sync. 

And they weren't really far off from their umption since the evidence that pointed to the fact that she was jealous was too overwhelming and too blatant.

Meanwhile, across the City of Diadel, in the western fields where corn was being grown and cultivated, Artemis, Toby, and the battalion of 20 knights armed with magic weapons and armor he called for, marched towards the west.

They were to traverse the western boundary, although Artemis had done it before but this time, they were following a dirt path that went through a small clearing in the middle of the forest unlike Artemis' route which went directly into the forest. 

The knights and Toby were a bit weary because the area was known for frequent ambushes by Magical Beasts and Monsters.

Artemis, though not weary, was being cautious. 

His wife urged him to be more cautious since although she was confident that he alone could take on a large number of these so-called Magical Beasts, his followers weren't so safe. 

Artemis needed to protect his men as well to prove to them that they weren't just fodder to be given to the enemy to buy him time. 

Their lives mattered, even if it was a little I'm the eyes of Artemus who still viewed most of his companions as mere pawns. 

Even so, since his emotions as a human have begun to return thanks to Caitlyn loosening the restraints in his mind, he wasn't all that completely cold anymore.

Stoic, yes. Would kill you for a menial crime? Well, fifty percent more or less than in the past but it was still a huge percentage. 

As they marched further into the west, in the distance, some creatures peeked through the bushes and the treeline. 

None of them were aware that a tragedy had befallen the western frontier. The trail that they walked upon was as dead as their destination.

Another army of invaders was upon them. They had overrun Wart's former estate that was the lake at the south. They had overrun most of the western villages and none were spared.

Who were these creatures? They weren't magical beasts, no, magical beasts did not form any strong unions with each other. Even packs of direwolves would kill other packs if food was scarce. 

These creatures were foul, stinking, short, and ruthless.

And Artemis was all-too familiar with their kind. 

"Goblins," Artemis stopped in his tracks. The knights behind him drew their magic swords and formed a line beside Artemis. Toby and several other mages with him readied themselves to cast their spells.