Desmond followed as Garrick entered a large well well-lit meeting room. In the center of the room was a large circular table with five people seated around it. Another ten people were standing, two behind each seated figure. The room had a beautiful ceiling window that cinematically lit up the center of the table.

All Desmond could think about as he entered the room was that this window must be the reason they had the meeting at high noon.

“What are you doing here?” Came a gruff voice from one of the seated figures. “This is a closed-door meeting.”

“He is with me.” Followed a much softer but authoritative voice from another seated figure that instantly shut down the first man's inquiry.

Garrick quickly walked over to the second figure, followed closely by Desmond. At this point, two of the seated figures went back to arguing.

“I told you, the Morgans don’t have enough soldiers to just send them into the Expanse with no plan,” yelled a woman with a fiery attitude.

“I’m not asking you to muster an army,” said another woman who seemed right on the edge of yelling herself. “I’m just asking to use some of your support staff.”

Desmond recognized this second woman. This was Zara, but most hunters just called her The Storm. She was a tall well well-built woman with short dark orange hair that covered her right eye. From where her right eye should be Desmond could see a long scar that reached down and across her cheek. This left the impression that her right eye was damaged.

Zara was the leader of the second calamity class Lodge facility that was under the control of the Empire. She was an apocalypse class hunter and given that Richard was standing behind her, she clearly held a higher position in the Lodge than he did.

“Good morning Headmistress,” Garrick whispered to the authoritative woman, as Zara continued to argue with the other woman in the background.

Headmistress? So she was Amelia Graceson then? She was the current leader of the Academia faction within the Empire.

Amelia looked like a scholarly woman in her mid-forties. She had blue hair that was tied back in a bun and had on a pair of glasses, that from the runes on them were clearly for more than just seeing. She stared at Desmond for a moment before turning her attention back to Garrick.

“It sounds weird when you call me that, Dick,” replied Amelia as she emphasized the last word. “Now why are you here? This was your duty that you irresponsibly pushed onto me, and now you’re showing up like you actually mean to take your job seriously.”

“Ouch, you wound me,” Garrick joked. But his joke wasn’t well received, as the only thing he got back was a pointed stare. “OK fine, to be honest, something has come to my attention that requires the immediate action of those here.”

“Ohhhh, does it now,” Amelia said while seeming very unconvinced.

Garrick leaned over and started to whisper into her ear. Desmond used this opportunity to look at the other seated figures.

The gruff man who first addressed them when they walked in was wearing the imperial family’s armor. That should make him General Amos. The Empire didn’t directly rule this city but they kept a military presence here due to the city’s importance, and General Amos has been stationed here since before Desmond was even born. He had short salt and pepper hair and was wearing the iconic silver and red full-plate armor of the imperial family.

If rumors were to be believed, Amos had been stuck at peak calamity class for a hundred years now. The General was currently very focused on the argument that was going on between Zara and the fiery attitude woman.

To Amos’s right around the table was the representative of the Church, who was currently sitting quietly in her chair with her eyes closed. Desmond didn’t recognize this woman. When he thought of a higher up in the Church he pictured the absolutely stunning woman standing to her right.

That was Eleanor, an apocalypse class priest with the Church and one of the sexiest women he had ever laid eyes on. Eleanor had long straight silver hair that went down her back to her hips. She had an extraordinary hourglass figure with some of the biggest tits he had ever seen in either of his lives. She carried just that little bit of extra weight that gave her a thick impression without detracting from her beauty at all. She wore a tight silver robe that hid everything but put her figure on full display. The robe looked like it was two sizes too small, and Desmond fully appreciated it. To top everything off, she had a simple smile on her face that gave her a holy and caring aura.

Desmond pulled his attention away from Eleanor’s massive tits to look at the woman sitting in the chair in front of her.

Since she was the one sitting down, then she must have a higher position in the church than Eleanor. She seemed to be of an average height for a woman but it was hard to tell with her sitting across the table. She had long wavy silver hair that went down her back with a few light blue streaks. She also had a front braid that rested over her petite chest, but Desmond might just be a little biased in that area after staring at Eleanor. She currently had her eyes closed and there was a peaceful if not holy aura that seemed to emanate from her.

Desmond could tell with a simple glance that this woman was strong. Not in the sense that she was a high tier, though she definitely was, but in the sense that this woman stacked Strength like he did. He didn’t know how he could tell, it was just a feeling he got when he looked at her.

She was formidable, and if he had to guess, she was the strongest person in this room. Desmond found himself unconsciously staring at her.

Slowly, she opened her silver eyes in an almost sleepy fashion, before she looked directly at him. Their eyes met across the table as the argument still raged in the background. Then like a blooming flower, she smiled at him. It was beautiful, maybe even captivating.

“Hey Dez,” Garrick whispered beside him.

Desmond drew his focus away from the smiling woman to look back at Garrick beside him. It looked like he had just finished his explanation to Amelia, who now had a much more serious expression on her face.

“Careful of that one,” Garrick continued to whisper to him. “You’re in way over your head there, Dez.”

At this point, Amelia stood up to address the room.

“Everyone, quiet down for a moment,” Amelia said in a soft but firm voice, which quickly brought silence to the room. “Some new information has just been brought to my attention. As you all know, our preliminary scouting party has not yet returned. But Desmond here has just come from the Expanse and has brought some new information that we should address. Desmond, if you would.” Amelia then sat back down, indicating that Desmond should take over from here.

Wait, why did he have to talk in front of all these powerful people? Wasn’t he just supposed to be here as a witness?

Desmond could hear Garrick softly chuckle from beside him. He was going to have to get that bastard back for this at some point.

Desmond couched lightly to clear his throat. “Me and my companion Riki were outside the Lodge at the time of the attack. When we returned and figured out what happened, we did a little scouting. We found the rell encampment about 10 kilometers northeast of the Lodge. There were around 300 awakened and they had several magic artillery pieces with them. But there was also a second encampment near the first.”

“Why would they make two bases?” said the fiery attitude woman while she stood up and cut Desmond off. “He shouldn’t even be here. We could have gotten all that from a written report.”

“Let him finish,” Amelia said with a hint of anger leaking into her voice.

“Fine, I was just saying,” the woman mumbled as she sat back down.

Desmond cleared his throat again. “This second camp had a large portal in the middle of it. From which came a continuous steam of goat-like men, which Garrick has informed me are called aries.”

“Aries are not of our world,” Zara stated plainly.

Desmond nodded to this. “I brought back a replica of several of the runes used on the portal, and Garrick has informed me that they are void runes.”

“What,” exclaimed General Amos. “How many of these aries were there? How big was this portal?”

“Calm down Amos,” Amelia said. “We are all here to address this exact matter.” She then nodded to Desmond to continue.

“There were about four thousand or so aries already in the encampment,” continued Desmond. “I would say about 10 were coming through the portal a minute. I didn’t get to stay long enough to know if the portal was continuously open or not.”

“This is a very serious matter,” General Amos stated in a much calmer tone than his earlier outburst. “If this is true, then we must move to close this portal immediately. This could be the start of an invasion from another plane!”

“Wait, where is the evidence that this is an attack from another world?” Asked the fiery-tempered woman. “There are many powers on this continent and others that could be responsible for this.”

“Viscount Linwood,” continued Amos. “Everyone here has been made aware of the simple fact that the barrier around our world is weakening. It is not a matter of if we will be attacked from outside our plane, but when.”

It would seem the fiery-tempered woman is a viscount under the Morgan family. The Tarco Empire took a hands-off approach to managing its subjects, as long as they weren’t causing problems that is.

When Desmond considered the larger power players within the Empire what came to mind were the 10 family clans and the three factions. The 10 families were broken up into the Tarco imperial family, the three kingdom families, of which the Morgans were one, and the six duchy families. Each family was a subject of the Empire but
also had vassals of their own.

Around this table, all three major factions were represented. The imperial family was also represented through General Amos since they always kept a military presence in Gateway City due to its sheer importance to the Empire as a whole. That left Viscount Linwood to represent Queen Morgan and her family’s interests since Gateway City was their fief and the center of their power.

The Viscount looked like a young battle-hardened woman. She had a powerful physique with short black hair which was cut in the hunter’s style. She had a small scar across her chin and what looked like a permanent scowl on her face.

“I will support the move for action,” Richard said as he spoke up for the first time from behind Zara. “Both Desmond and Riki are respected members of the Lodge. Their information can be trusted.”

Desmond felt the undercurrents of some kind of power play going on here, and he wanted nothing to do with it.

“This endeavor shall also have the Church's support,” spoke the silver-haired woman. “Pending that our scouts report the same information as we have heard here, of course. I trust General Amos to lead this expedition.” The silver-haired woman then looked over at the General.

“It would be my honor, Cardinal Noel,” Amos said in a formal voice along with a small bow in Noel’s direction.

A human cardinal? This was the first Desmond had heard of this. Not that he really kept up to date on the ongoing of the Church. The cardinals were some of the strongest people on the continent much less within the Empire.

“Naturally the Academia will also provide support as this is something that concerns us all,” Amelia stated. “What of the Morgans?”

The whole room turned their attention to Viscount Linwood.

“That is,” Linwood said as she seemed at a loss for words. “The Morgans will provide what support we can to this cause.” This response was not particularly well received by the room.

“Fine then,” Amos said as he stood up with a renewed purpose. “We are all in agreement for once! We go to war!” Amos stopped for a moment to let his words sink in. “If the report is to be believed, then this is a time-sensitive operation. We must assume that the enemy has no limit to the forces they can send through. We will muster our forces outside the north gate, and in one week's time, we march on this portal!”