CHAPTER 20:
They all joined arms again, this time with no questions asked
As Sylvia had said, they teleported back to base
The interior of the base being revamped
It was more spacious, and it was much more clean, tidy, and neat all around
The furniture had changed too. The colors were now much more vibrant than before
The black, flat screen TV had not changed, a bummer, but one could only wish for more
Sylvia happily plopped herself on the main couch, which was across the TV, with a small wooden table in front of it
She nestled into the soft cushions, moving her arms to grab the pillows, putting them below her head
“This feels like heaven, I can't believe that they've done it in a few hours”
It was obvious that charging ports were also placed, so Haru took off his smartwatch and let it charge
Using Sylvia's charger, nonetheless
“Hey! Why mine?”
“I don't even have a charger…”
Sylvia flared her nostrils
“Fair enough”
Zoe moved in on the small couch, giggling out loud and messing around with the pillows
“Damn It!”
Sasha inadvertently let that out
“Don't ruin the house as soon as you step foot into it!”
“But the pillows, they're better than any that I had!”
While on the couch, Sylvia suddenly remembered something
(Right, I haven't told them about the war yet)
She stood up from the new couch
“Listen all, we need to have an urgent meeting”
All of them stilled in their tracks, they didn't even get to experience the new renovations
“Are you serious? About what?”
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Spoke first, Garcia
“It's something really important, I guess you all got the notion from earlier”
“From the church? Couldn't you have just explained it to us then”
“I didn't have the time then, or the proper place”
She swayed her head, pointing towards the table of the living room
Where they all gathered around
Haru was safe opposite Sylvia, the table being long and high
Unlike the one in the underground room of that church
“So, what is the meaning of this?”
Matthew asked
“Yiu all are not aware of the prophecy, that's not the point though, point is that a war is coming”
“To put it more bluntly, the armies of hell will invade the earth”
Everyone shuddered simultaneously, except Haru
“In a time of war, the people need to prepare, if they wanted to or not”
“So I'm going to have you all prepared mentally, little to no time is left until the war will begin, so we do not have the time to prepare physically”
“Does that include strategy? Without strategy, you can't win a war”
Scylla interrupted. This time, it was not a question, but a statement rare for her
“...”
“I admit, that's also an important aspect. As you all know, we have to negotiate with the church first in order to get any sort of help”
“Wait, wait, wait, negotiate with the church? Are you crazy? They are not trustworthy”
Garcia put his hands on the table, not too roughly, as he spoke
“If they are untrustworthy or not, is an entirely different subject, a subject that does not concern us”
Lana said, arms crossed below her chest, no emotion in her voice
“Before all that, don't you think it is wise to explain the war in more detail?”
Sylvia nodded at Haru's words
“While I don't know the exact details, everyone in my tribe, and at the courthouses of the elves have grown weary, this time they are 100 percent certain that hell is gonna invade earth”
“Although they never said to the reason to me, I can logically conclude that their main interest is health resources, they have been starving off mana for centuries now”
“So that's why we have to side with the church! But that's weak! Why can't we just take them on all on our own”
Hearing Charybdi’s anger, Matthew responded
“They are simply too many, we can't take them all at once, we need outside help, specifically additional combatants”
“We're supposed to be the 9 strongest beings in the world, right? Just how powerful can these demons really be?”
Annabelle's inquiry caused Sylvia's ears to perk up
That is an excellent question
“Indeed, but since demons are higher on the god scale than humans, they are naturally more powerful than humans. However, they need mana, that's they gather in groups”
“Even if, how are we supposed to? We are technically under their control”
“You got it backward. Yes, we do need the church's help to balance out the numbers. Only rhetoric archbishops can even rival you guys”
Of course, it was much easier for Sylvia to brag, but she was saying the truth
The atmosphere became stale, and no one spoke for a good minute…
“Hey, speaking of us, I've got a question, Garcia. Where do you actually keep your holy relic? Since you don't have to use it in battle”
“Well, it's in my house now, in Spain. Why do you ask Scylla?”
Scylla's face changed. It morphed from curiosity to validity
“We usually keep ours at the base”
“Yeah! We snuck them 2 days ago. No one has noticed yet”
“...”
“You what?!”
Sylvia said, slamming her hands on the wooden table, both in shock and rage
“Don't worry, we keep them at our room, hidden, only we know their place”
“You know, now that I think about it, Haru, no one has ever seen, your holy relic, where do you keep it?”
“.....”
Everyone looked at Haru expectantly. Sylvia, on the other hand, was half smirking and half serious
Haru looked down at his chest, specifically the golden cross, hanging from his neck
It had orthodox style carvings on it, the secondary wood on it below the feet of Christ, which pointed to heaven and hell was visible
“It's right here. It always has been”
Everyone followed his gaze, unmistakably. It was the imaginary codex itself
“.....”
“No way, you're telling us you kept it with you all along!”
Charybdi was the first to break the long silence
Followed by Matthew
“Remarkable, and we had no idea, Garcia, not even you? I thought you had the knowledge of this stuff”
Garcia moved his right hand to rib the back of his head, sheepishly
“I do, I really do, but, as I have said before, there were no records of Haru, this is a form of the imaginary codex that I have never seen before”
“It doesn't matter now, at all”
He clutched the cross between his fingers
“I can't use it offensively. My only purpose is defense”
Sylvia cleared her throat loudly, intending to change the subject
“Ok, now that everything has been settled, are we all on the same page?”
“Yes!”
“Yeah…”
“Read that before”
“And I knew it beforehand”
“Whatever”
“I suppose”
“As long I can stab them”
“I guess”
“Yay!”
“Do I even have to say yes?”
Sylvia let out a sigh of relief
“Good, now that's settled, we can focus on relaxing for now. If anyone has any ideas of spending our time, better speak up now”
“.....”
None of them could come up with a concise answer
Except for Zoe
“We can go shopping!”
“That, actually doesn't sound bad. That's a good idea”
Charybdi was basically jumping up and down
“Yes, oh man, I can't wait to get new shoes!”
“Ohhh, I think a new hat would be nice”
Scylla noted, patting her own head
“Actually, some new lipstick and makeup would be nice”
“Yeah talk about a change! I could get a new handbag”
“Calm down sasha”
Sasha grabbed her by the wrist before she hit her head against the wall
“But, who will pay?”
Those words made Sylvia shiver
She took a moment to recount her bank account, or rather, its state
“Thift stores anyone?”...
