Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

---Sigma---

The armored school bus weaved through the empty skyscrapers of the abandoned city. They had to fly low to see the streets as the city was immersed in darkness.

From their flying vehicle, they were able to see many kinds of roughly human-sized monsters on the streets, though their silhouettes were hard to make out in the darkness when the sunlight didn't reach. The few of them that had <Nightvision> or an item with the effect were not much better off. Something was actively obstructing their range of view. Almost like a dark fog.

Yvette felt like they were in a submarine, exploring the ruins of a lost civilization on the bottom of the ocean. These varied and alien beasts they could see roaming the streets reminded her of those macabre deep-sea creatures she heard about.

"My Lady, I can see signs of magic wards," the hooded figure suddenly announced.

Lixiss squinted her eyes and stared at the place the hooded figure was pointing at.

"Right, I can also feel traces of elaborate magic on the walls of this building," she concluded after a moment.

Whatever kinds of skills the hooded man had, they were better than those of Lixiss. Although she had a high level, she realized that she would have to put more emphasis on honing her own skills in the future.

From then on the magic-savvy members knew what to look out for and they found a few more traces of broken spells and wards. They gave them a rough direction to follow, which coincided with the directions of Leana's skill to locate a subordinate.

Everything led them towards the center of Sigma. As they got closer something big came into view.

"Could Cade be in there?" Mike asked Leana, nodding ahead of them.

"Yes, the direction is right. Cade has to be here." the princess answered with a nod.

Ahead of them, they saw a luminous dome of light from afar. A product of a high level of magic knowledge none of them would have expected to find on Urth, in a place outside of the influence of Chrona. It was a mighty shield protecting the very center of the district. However, it was flickering.

"They are under attack." the hood concluded certain of his presumption..

As they got closer, the others realized why he said that. There were flashes of magic and sparks of weapons clashing against each other and armor, at the foot of the glowing hemisphere.

"It is a crowd of beasts ranging between lv. 60 and lv.80 besieging a small group of strong warriors." the hood updated them.

Of the current members, he could see the furthest. At this point, he just informed all of them, instead of speaking to Leana first.

"Your highness, there are two existences at the zenith fighting each other." he directed at the princess. The other team members didn't understand what he meant by the zenith. But they didn't need to know, to soon see who he meant. There were two people on the ground fighting an especially flashy and devastating battle.

A man with a silver aura, wielding a long slender sword, and a woman with a crimson aura holding an imposing glaive were clashing amidst the monsters. The pure shock waves when their weapons clashed against each other turned the surrounding beasts to mush and peeled the siding off the nearby buildings, exposing the steel reinforcements below.

"Should I interfere?" the hood asked his mistress.

"No, we don't know who belongs to which side. Mike, do you think you can fly us into the bubble? Cade is somewhere in there, I am sure."

"What about this fight? Are you sure we shouldn't help? Wasn't your goal to get in contact with the people of Sigma?" the catman asked to Make sure.

If she demanded them to throw themselves into this kind of battle, he would have to refuse her. Seth had rubbed off on the team leader, who now thought of the lives of his people first, not minding any missions or duties.

"No, we don't know enough. If we just interfere, we might cause more harm than good. Let's try to get in there first, find Cade, and try to collect some information."

Hearing her thoughtful answer, Mike nodded. He could agree with this plan. Especially since the sun was already sinking. It would be safer to spend the night in a faltering defensive barrier than defenseless in this city.

As he steered the shuttle toward the glowing border of the dome, he throttled their speed in case the dome was a solid obstacle. Although he didn't know a lot about all kinds of barriers, but it was enough to not risk smashing their vehicle on one.

They gently bumped into the membrane at first, but before they could start their next try a hole just the size of the bus opened before them and they could slip into the safety of the dome. Someone had opened a door for them.

Hidden by the light of the barrier before, they found the streets below filled with people. Not just the streets, but also the windows and roofs of the buildings to the side were bustling with people looking up to the flying school bus turned armored shuttle.

Not even the hood was able to say that this didn't feel awkward. Tens of thousands, maybe even millions of eyes were following them. And they were following Leana's directions. The closer she was to Cade, the clearer she was about her location.

Followed by the innumerable eyes of the crowd, the shuttle took course towards a big building close to the center of the dome.

"That's the police headquarters," Yvette exclaimed, recognizing the building at first glance. It wasn't just the sign that said "Police of Sigma" in big fat letters, but the fact that all of these were built the same, so people could easily recognize them in any district.

"Do you think she was arrested?" Bulko asked innocently.

"In this situation? I bet they are using it as an organizational base." Leana answered the question.

She had been the governor of Delta long enough to know one or two things about the way districts were built and planned out. She would have also chosen this location in this kind of situation.

Mike slowly decreased their height and followed Yvette's instructions to land at the heliport on the roof of the building. They had just landed when the door to the roof opened and a group of people assembled beside the heliport.

"What do you think?" Mike asked the princess.

"I think Yvette, Hood, and I should go and speak with them. You guys should stay here and protect the shuttle."

Mike thought a moment about her suggestion before he agreed. Her guard seemed strong enough to protect them and Yvette was from Urth, She knew their culture best.

While Yulecat's Fur waited in the shuttle, the group around Leana exited the bus and approached the group of warriors that had assembled on the roof.

"Greeting, I am Leana of Chrona. A representative of the Chrona Empire in Delta."

She was oozing with dignity as she introduced herself. It was enough to make the other people speechless. The man at their front needed a moment and cleared his throat before he answered.

"My name is Silas Hesing, Captain of Sigma's Defense Force. If you allow me the question, are you the lady that Ms. Albright told us about?" he followed up his introduction with a question.

"Is she okay?"

Hearing Cade's name, Leana immediately had to ask how she was doing.

"Yes, Ms. Albright is doing fine. After she introduced herself as a messenger from Delta, we welcomed her as a guest," Hesing explained with a kind smile. It seem Leana's worry had gotten her some point with him.

The princess sighed in relief as a felt a heavy weight lift from her heart. Cade was here and she was okay. At least someone had survived.

"Would you like to come in and meet her? Although is not the best situation for Sigma, I believe there is a lot to talk about. Maybe over a cup of tea?" Hesing invited her.

Before they entered the door, Hesing turned back and looked at the bus.

"is it okay to leave your vehicle here?" he asked the princess.

"Oh, yes. Don't worry. It can protect itself, " she answered with a smile before urging the men to lead the way.