Ethan stood between the three of them, observing their satisfied faces, smiling as he wondered whether or not he should repeat what had just happened, when a violent, piercing sound shattered his reverie.
[Master, it's an emergency! We're under full attack! We need to move immediately!]
The situation was too serious to explain, so without hesitation, Ethan ran out to grab his things from the floor.
At Royal HQ, the atmosphere shifted from triumphant to apocalyptic in a single second. The Matriarch, who had only just regained consciousness, clutched her head in agony as the alarm vibrated through the floorboards. "Jason" looked up at the red emergency light. He prayed for a long, slow pulse—the signal for a high-level crisis, like the mercenary attack.
His prayer was ignored.
