Premonition For What Is To Come
"U-urgh…"
Aurora felt a sharp sensation in her head as she woke up in a flowery expanse.
The place was lit by fire-fly like sources of light that floated all around the garden that seemed to exist in a cave.
'We're back here…?' Aurora's thoughts trailed as she looked around.
She could see her sisters still asleep. There were twelve of them in total.
'What happened back then? What did the humans do? My memory is fuzzy…'
The last thing she remembered was the exchange of goods with the humans, and then they went their separate ways.
'Did we get attacked on our way back? Was it a Dragon?' No, if that was the case, they would already be dead.
Besides, Aurora still had the pouch which contained the Spatial Rings in her possession. All the items were secure, and her twelve sisters were safe.
A Dragon would not show that sort of mercy.
'This place is accursed. We shouldn't have come here, to begin with!' Aurora chastised herself as she rose to her feet.
Still, they had no choice thanks to their desperation.
'Now that we have recieved these Items, we can return to our home.'
Aurora stole one final glance at her sisters and felt a surge of bliss. It had been a long, ardous, and frustrating journey, but they were finally done with their mission.
A subtle feeling within her told her she was forgetting something, but Aurora could hardly notice it. Not while her heart raced and she remembered the sisters who were busy fighting against the scourge of the world.
'Wait for me, everyone!' Aurora clenched her fist in resolve and smiled with sheer determination.
'I'm coming back!'
**********
[The Next Day]
The Otherworlders were busy in their living quarters, all of them enjoying their time off by either moping around or engaging in interesting conversations.
Even Adonis, the training obsessed one, was taking a break. He also urged Trisha and Billy to take the day off. As a result, all nine of the Otherworlders were in their residence when a neck came from the door.
Naturally, everyone's attention was drawn to it.
Before long, the door was opened and the Royal Council Members entered in their majesty.
Surprise was plain on the faces the students as they watched the two enter their living quarters. After all, they had all been informed that there would be no official business for at least a few days.
They were to enjoy their time as they saw fit.
Seeing the sources of official business enter the room, they felt a bit tense. Unfortunately, their concerns were valid.
The Royal Council came to visit for an ominous reason, after all.
"Could you all gather around, please? We have a very serious announcement to make." Vida spoke up first.
Somehow, hearing her nice voice set up a somewhat friendly atmosphere in the living room.
The students who were in thier rooms were called for, so before long all nine Otherworlders were in the same living room.
There were a few murmurs, but most of them were silent.
They looked at the Councilors with curiousity and tense expectations. Somehow, most of them already had a good guess of what this meeting was all about.
Without a doubt, it was related to the very reason they were summoned in the first place.
"We are here to inform you that we have finally recieved a response from the front lines of the battle. Lucielle and Brutus will be arriving in about about ten days to fetch you all for your confrontation with the Dragons." Conrad spoke up.
He tried his best to be calm and warm in his voice, but even if he did so, it didn't take away the heavy meaning that his words implied.
The time for war was near.
It didn't matter that they had spent the last three months preparing for this moment. The mere fact that it had come was enough to cause most of the Otherworlders to shudder.
There was fear.
Anxiety was written on the faces of everyone present.
However, this was only temporary. Once they overcame the initial apprehension, most of the students leaked out a smile.
A certain glow could be seen in their eyes.
It betrayed the initial apprehension from before. Their gaze transcended mere excitement or anticipation.
It was sheer exhiliration!
They seemed to be saying with their faces "I CAN'T WAIT!"
"In ten days, you say…" Adonis raised his hand, causing everyone to look in his direction. "And what should we be doing before then?"
Claudius leaked a sigh of relief as he heard those words, so Vida took it as her cue to respond to the Hero's question.
"You can do whatever you like pending that time. Consider it as a little vacation before the main work."
The students understood this well, and so they nodded at each other.
"Once again, we would like to thank you all. Brave champions like you, visitors from another world, who have chosen to remain here in order to save us…" Claudius bowed his head before them.
Vida did the same with a bright smile on her face.
"You have all grown so much stronger in such a short span of time. Your power is unrivaled among we humans, and your potential for growth never seems to end."
In this awe-inspiring moment, the Otherworlders showed the courtesy of silence as they watched the Councilors appreicate them with all thier hearts.
"For all you have done and are about to do… THANK YOU!"
**********
[Meanwhile]
[10 Days before Front-Line Deployment]
In the barren lands, west of the Adventurer's City—directly in its outskirts—a rumbling sound echoed.
The capable men who guarded the City's borders, and the patrol officers who just happened to be walking nearby at that exact moment, experienced the amazing thing that occured.
The wasteland, which occupied everything in the south—as far as the eyes could see—was trembling vilently.
The sands parted, giving way to something…
… Something beyond normal.
Emerging from the deserted land was an ominous building, one so black that it far surpassed the gift of the night.
Strange energies poured out of this colossal establishment, and moments after it rose from the earth, the rumblings ceased. Everything went silent, and the wasteland entered a lull.
It was as if nothing had even happened.
Other than the massive dark structure that stood in the distance, nothing else changed.
Every guards and patrol officer present stared at all of this happening, their eyes wide and sweat dripping down their faces.
They all thought the same thing.
"I-It's a Dungeon!'
For the first time in about a Century, a new Dungeon had appeared within the Western Continent.
This was an amazing discovery—one worth celebrating.
However, just as a Dungeons was known to bring great prosperity, it was also terrible omen… a harbinger for the great tragedy to come.
And this particular Dungeon was no exception.
For within ten days after its emergence, a great evil would befall the United Human Alliance.
It would be forever known as the Grand Calamity Dungeon.
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[End Of Arc 3: The Dark Undertaking Arc]
~Prepare yourselves for Arc 4!~
[The time has come for The Grand Calamity Arc]
PS: Hope you enjoyed the Mass Release…