Morio breathed out. "Then, I want to find Jyuzou first, and apologise for everything I said."

"I didn't expect you to leave without taking your backpack, that's what surprised me!" Atomu chuckled. "Then, let's head back to Midcity, shall we?"

Morio nodded and followed right after the Paladian, before slowing and eventually coming to a halt. He looked down at the snow, putting his hand below his vest and playing around with the emblem.

A similar feeling soon overcame him. His heart skipped a beat, and a sharp pain struck his forehead. Atomu turned, and, their eyes met.

Morio gulped, shaking his head, and Atomu breathed in, glancing to the side.

"They're...!" he gulped. "They're coming. The demons are coming!" Morio yelled out in a panic."

Atomu furrowed his brows, before haphazardly taking a stance in front of Morio, grabbing onto his sword's grip, and lifting it out of the giant sheath on his back.

Morio turned to his weapon, Gloria, as it gleamed, reflecting his glance. He gulped, before moving back towards a tree. Atomu stepped back, squinting his eyes, before hearing a plethora of noises, coming from the treaded path next to them, which eventually led to the Aria River.

"Uuk. Ham. Du," chants could be heard, echoing and joining in reversed rhythm to the synchronised march of the goblins. Small, big, thick or thin demons were on their left and right, following and tracing their footsteps. Some flew, ran, some ran, and a few goblins shook their pouches, with a devilish groan.

"There's too many of them," Atomu whispered.

"They're... they're heading right towards Magna." Morio's eyes shrank, and Atomu immediately turned to him.

"But it's guarded. They won't let anyone through." Atomu shook his head.

"We..." he gasped. "We need to save it!" Morio jumped out from behind Atomu and started running, carrying his weapon in one hand.

"Morio!" Atomu put Knrhum's Blade on his shoulder and followed.

An end of the line could be seen, and the lights from the torches or the small lamps hung atop the weapons the goblins held faded into the darkness.

***

The sounds of the Midcity Bar echoed around town, and some of its whispers carried over to the wooden outposts which rested upon the many rivers, crossing one another. Each port extended from the side of the buildings.

On one of these ports, stood a Tributal, carrying a round lamp filled with see-through paper and a long spear, as well as a rope attached to a horse's mouth. They looked forward, hearing something in the waters, and put the light in the front, as it illuminated the area around them. A pair of yellow eyes stared from beneath the liquids, as the Tributal moved back in shock. The wooden planks beneath shook a bit.

"What is that?" they uttered, pointing the spear and squinting their eyes, carefully throwing it forward. It pierced through its head, and the creature's body quickly sank beneath the water. They breathed out.

All of a sudden, seven goblins revealed themselves from the black surface and zoomed towards the surprised Tributal, who desperately tried turning around, but the spear he used to kill the goblin was launched back and struck the horse's body, piercing through its skin, as well as the Tributal's hand, locking both together. With one more push from the other monster at the side, the two tumbled to the side. A whisper here and there, and a groan, followed by laughter sounded.

The Tributal crawled towards the building, and with their fingers, reached for a rope tied to a silver bell, hanging from the outpost. They squeezed tightly and started moving their hand back and forth, as sound filled the area, and with thin lines carried across the walls, more bells were moved.

Sych were a sign of one thing, which the people of Magna hoped would never have happened again. Most of its residents immediately froze, praying that it was nothing but a hoax or some kind of mistake. But, after hearing sudden horse stampede through Handulia, Homeo, Kyrkogarde, Swania and Midcity, they were sure.

Afterwards, the life of the animal and the Tributal were cut short, as more and more stepped onto land.

Tributals yelled out as loud as they could, telling the residents to find shelter or prepare to put everything on the line and defend themselves from the goblins, and by that rule, the demons. Everyone rushed to the inns of the Midcity Bar, and Eryk, with Lamon's help, crawled under a hatch beneath a table.

Ella and Elton hid in the basement department, Jeffy immediately woke up, alerted by the screams and Chyuuichi looked around, confused.

"Why is everybody screaming?!" Chyuuichi yelled out, putting the cup into his hands. "Hey, hey! My drink! Ugh!" he stood up, angrily.

"Chyuuichi!" Jeffy ran to him, taking his weapon out. "The bells have sounded, the darn bells!"

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"M-Magna is under attack!" Jeffy shouted, grabbing his hand and running down the stairs.

When the two made it out of the bar, the goblins started coming from in between all the buildings which surrounded the main square, and among them, stood the demons, crawling through from the Tukman Woods or pouring in from the port connecting to the bore trees. Several people who stood as an iron defence at the sides were either pushed off into the water or killed at the sight, and even one of the braver guards haphazardly ran in front of them, striking a demon, only for his head to be sliced off.

Jeffy screamed in fear, and Chyuuichi gulped, putting his scythe to the side. What once was a city engulfed in darkness, turned into a bright orange, spawned by the fires which crawled out of the buildings and onto the main streets, followed by shouts, screams, yells, cries and everything worst that was imaginable.

Horses neighed in the distance, then they came running from in between the creatures, pushing them to the ground. It stopped right in front of the two, with a stampede. Chyuuichi covered his face.

"Demonears, defend Homieo! There's another wave of attacks coming from the district bridges!" Rowan announced, stepping off the horse and pushing them forward. "Run when you still have time, idiots!" their eyes gleamed, and their voice was rather sharp.

Both hesitated for a bit before Jeffy's glance met the unsure and confused eyes of Chyuuichi.

"GO!" Rowan yelled, and almost instantly, the Morian started running, with the Mirillian following suit. In minutes, they crossed the bridges between the districts, stepped over shallow waters and stood in the middle of the seven inns.

Rowan jumped onto a small wooden roof and climbed up onto a chimney of a nearby building. They stood atop the bricks and took out a massive bow from behind, shooting down an arrow, which pierced through three heads of goblins and two demons, before lighting itself on fire and creating a big blast.

The goblins screamed out, and Rowan began jumping around, as the horde traced their movements, rushing.

As they made it to the pointy towers of Swania in a long dash, they saw a familiar figure below, circling the tight corners and using their weapon to fend off the horde that seemed to keep coming and coming. "A-AMBROSIA, GET UP HERE!"

"I'm fighting alongside, Rowan. There's too many!" Ambrosia announced. "W-we can't hold them off for long."

"Tsk." The Tributal bit the arrow's tip, as a small black flame flashed from underneath their glasses. "Not again." Rowan put one arrow into their mouth and then drew their bow, shooting three at once, which cleared the path in a thick line of fire.

At moments, Ambrosia halted their movements, turning to the sight of the various Tributals pushed out of the windows of the towers and tumbling into the sea of flame below. Rowan hesitated, drawing each new shot, and the Tributal standing at the bottom trembled.

This must've been a bad dream. All such occurrences happened in the span of a few seconds. Yet, the fire felt real, and the screams of terror only grew louder.

It all came crashing down, however, when the tower in front of Ambrosia plummeted to the ground, with one of the bricks hitting their body.

Rowan kept looking out, grinding their teeth. They stuck their hand out, and the arrows flew back to their palm with a scream. The structure behind Rowan was engulfed as well, with a separate, darker fire climbing towards the panicking Tributal.

The dust cleared, and out from beneath the tower debris, appeared a massive goblin, with chains wrapped around its shoulders and two long fangs sticking out of its mouth. As if agitated, Ambrosia suddenly threw their weapon, hoping it'd harm the monstrosity that appeared, but it only bounced back and crashed into the wall behind them. They screamed and leapt to the garden, as the creature chased them, smashing its head through the surrounding masonry.

Its massive stomp caused Ambrosia to trip, and the goblin suddenly changed its course, climbing the tower that Rowan stood on.

"ROWAN!" Ambrosia yelled out, in desperation.

But... it seemed as if their words hadn't reached their Chicho. Rowan stared forward hopelessly. Above what once were the tallest peaks of Magna, stretched the Midcity, engulfed in thousands of flames, blood on the ground, and people running in fear. They could make out the goblins in the windows, storming the inns and threatening the people, tying them up or stabbing their vitals.

The fall of Magna was imminent, and soon, the tower they stood atop crashed down as well. Grey dust filled the area.

Despite Kashmir's best efforts, he had trouble defending the entrance to the Midcity Bar, so the guards ran all around, striking the goblins, sometimes sacrificing themselves, while he focused on the demons. They were quickly overwhelmed, with some of them heading inside. Blood-curdling screams echoed and bounced right into their ears.

Some people stepped out of their homes and tried their best to fight the onslaught. Most were unsuccessful, some managed to kill a few. Soon enough, though, more appeared, running out from the buildings and jumping out of the waters. Most people who found themselves outside either met their demise at the hands of demons or were stripped of what they had, and dragged elsewhere.

It was too much, and there were too few to help. Swania's defences had fallen and Midcity was on the brink of such.

***

The streets of Homieo were oddly quiet. Here and there, you could hear the worried words of the people peeking out of the windows.

Chyuuichi and Jeffy stood back to back, in the middle of the seven inns, and observed. Their ears immediately caught each noise that appeared, and then their eyes turned to the source. They didn't have to wait long, however. From a distance, a rhythmic pattern that could be heard all over Magna grew louder: a march, heading through the open street to their left.

The chants echoed. "Uuk ham du. Uuk ham du."

"There they are, the bastards!" Chyuuichi uttered. "Come on, Jebby! Run when ya still have the chance!" he uttered, and essentially, without waiting for the Morian's word, started sprinting forth.

Jeffy hesitated for a moment, but when another noise sounded, his eyes widened. "CHYUUI-"

"Eh?" The Mirillian turned, with one raised brow, only to be met with a shocking sight. A hand covered Jeffy's mouth, while the other pushed a knife to his neck. The Morian tried screaming, punching through or kicking to escape, yet, the demon only seemed to giggle without making any noises.

Chyuuichi ground his teeth, turning back to the horde, which advanced further, and back to Jeffy. "L-Let him go, ya filthy devil!" he pointed the scythe, furrowing his eyebrows. His heart started beating faster.

Leopold didn't budge, and instead, pushed the knife into Jeffy's skin.

"YA BASTARD!" Chyuuichi dashed, in a fit of blind anger, before swinging his scythe forward, even though he didn't know what it was capable of.

In a flash, both disappeared, and Chyuuichi almost tumbled. He gazed up, seeing Leopold jumping to the top of the inn and onto the red, slanted roofs above the wooden buildings. Then, as if to add insult to injury, the army from behind reached the streets, with a yell announcing another attack.

In a fearful turn, he gulped, unsure how to properly hold his weapon. Chyuuichi quickly ground his teeth and yelled out, frustrated. "Screw that! Jebby!" he swang the rope in his hands, as it wrapped around a wooden plank which extended from the top of the inn and leapt, carried upwards. He landed on the red bricks above, and Leopold kept running.

Jeffy kept mumbling, and the demon's grip tightened.

"GWWAAAH!" Chyuuichi screamed in vigour before his scythe's blade made contact with Leopold's hand. Suddenly, he let go of Jeffy, who fell, almost off the sloped roof. He plummeted downwards, before grabbing the rope which hung off Chyuuichi's belt.

The demon stood still, slowly analyzing the wound on his arm. "Got ya now demon, fight me or run!"

Leopold's eyes slowly made contact with Chyuuichi's, and the Mirillian took one step, trying to strike again with a determined shout. One swing of the rope however, he got distracted, and Leopold kicked him in the stomach, sending him, and Jeffy flying back to the inns.

"CHYUUICHI!!" Jeffy reached his hand out, before hitting a roof below and letting go of the rope.

Leopold dashed forth, using the same ropes to fling himself towards the Morian and throw him upwards again. Jeffy turned, and with closed eyes and a yell, struck with his elshuim, leaving a big wound on the demon's forearm.

Jeffy landed, sliding through the bricks and almost falling off at the end. He breathed in, before pointing the sharp end at the demon. "Leave darn us alone!" Jeffy raised his voice, as he kept moving forward, and Leopold stepped back. "Leave Magna, or we'll kill you!"