Amiya launched into an explanation of their entry into town, the Phantasm Beast attack, the destruction of buildings, and other beasts rushing toward the east gate. Her words came quickly, efficiently summarizing the chaos.

Mayor Nigen trembled slightly as he processed this, and then he sighed deeply. "Thank you for helping take the beasts down. You didn't have to help, but you-"

Marie smiled as she cut him off gently. "Janus and Amiya are our friends, and their home is important to us. Of course, we'll stand up to protect them, and besides, this is what an Inquisitor should do."

Joseph nodded. "We couldn't ignore what was happening."

Nigen blinked in surprise, his gaze shifting to Amiya. She was blushing, looking down at her feet, while he sighed again, but this time a smile tugged at his lips. "I'm glad Janus met such wonderful friends."

A woman called out thanks as she passed, carrying an armful of salvaged belongings from a damaged home. Three children followed her, their eyes wide as they stared at Reinhard's group.

Marie looked around. "Speaking of him, where is Janus? Did you send him to do something?"

Nigen furrowed his brows. "Didn't he come here to you? He said he was going to check out the noise before running off."

"He did come." Joseph nodded. "But he said he was going to get you, and we thought he did after seeing you."

"Then we probably missed each other," Nigen said with resignation, but his eyes displayed a hint of worry.

Amiya straightened. "With the appearance of this new Phantasm Beast, I should inform master-"

"Don't, Amiya." Nigen as he shook his head firmly. "If you relay this to the Seekers, it will give them cause to become more agitated and initiate another crusade."

Amiya's eyes widened. "N-Nigen, don't you think you're exaggerating? The Seekers wouldn't do that. They would-"

"They would." Nigen interjected with a frown. "Because things have been tense for them for the past few months, ever since some of their members went missing. The appearance of a new Phantasm Beast that might not be normal will lead them to see it as their first clue. And then they'll decide to take over the town to investigate, leading to a clash between the townspeople who dislike them and the Seekers who don't trust the people."

Amiya frowned, but she didn't say anything and simply looked down.

Marie furrowed her brows. "But this beast was dangerous. Are you sure it's fine?"

Nigen frowned deeply. "Even without the Seekers, we have other help."

"The Luminous Knights?" Amiya asked. "But they won't stay for long."

Reinhard blinked in surprise.

The Luminous Knights, he'd heard of the things they did, but always assumed most of it was mostly folklore.

One of the Luminous Knights was a Headless knight rushing through the continent, chasing evil people and taking their heads as punishment.

Nigen nodded. "Which is why I want you to tell them the Phantasm Beasts attacked near the center. Nothing good will come of the Seekers and Naraku people meeting again... The distrust and hatred can't be bridged anymore."

Amiya bit her lips as she looked unconvinced, while Nigen just sighed.

Reinhard wondered what had happened between Naraku and the Seekers that even the threat of new beasts wouldn't budge them. Especially when they should be relying on each other to survive in Eastern Hesod. But the way it looks currently, they are just tolerating each other until something sets them both off.

Nigen turned to Reinhard and the others. "I'm thankful for you defending the town and helping Janus come back. So my advice is to leave the Eastern Area. Things are going to get difficult." His expression softened slightly. "All of you are good people, but you just came at the wrong time."

He looked at the cluster of Phantasm Beast corpses. "And can you get rid of those bodies? Amiya knows what to do. We can't have them around when night comes."

Nigen then quickly left, heading toward groups of townspeople to help calm them, to organize the rebuilding.

Once he was far away, Amiya sighed heavily. "Nigen is scared and worried."

"Because of the appearance of a new Phantasm Beast?" Joseph asked.

Amiya nodded slowly. "I just realized that the appearance of this type of beast might mean the arrival of a new disaster."

Marie blinked before furrowing her brows. "What do you mean?"

"Every time something new appears in the forest that hasn't shown up before, a terrible disaster follows." Amiya's voice dropped lower. "When the grey river appeared, it led to the end of any natural lakes and rivers that could still be found in the forest. Even the wells were finished and were just contaminated by the roots."

Reinhard's eyes widened. "So what you're saying is every new and odd sign brings forth a new terrible disaster?"

"That seems to be the trend." Amiya confirmed. "But it's been decades since a new disaster appeared, so the mayor worries this one might be even more terrifying than the Night Terrors."

Everyone fell silent while Reinhard sighed, but then recalled that people from the Aya continent were mentioned to be here.

"Do you know why the Luminous Knights are here?" Reinhard asked.

Amiya furrowed her brows, curly black hair shifting as she tilted her head. "They've been searching for something. I'm not sure what, though." She gestured vaguely toward the town center. "All I know is they've been staying in the library and then coming out to help when we call for them as payment for letting them look through our records."

Reinhard hummed thoughtfully. "Did they not hear the people screaming?"

Amiya's frown deepened. "I'm curious about that as well... They usually come over immediately, but why not now..."

"Why don't we go find out?" Reinhard suggested. "Besides, maybe we can see if they've ever encountered creatures like this. It appeared in Western Hesod and now Eastern Hesod. What are the odds it's appeared somewhere else?"

Marie's eyes lit up, her entire face brightening as she clapped her hands together once. "Let's go! But first, we should find Janus. Oddly, he isn't back now."

Everyone nodded in agreement. The concern for their friend was shared, visible in how Amiya glanced toward where Janus had disappeared.

"You guys should take time to devour these souls now." Brunhilde said, her light blue eyes sweeping across the group. "From what I can sense, Joseph and Marie, you two should be extremely close to a thousand souls?"

Marie nodded with a grin. "Yeah, right now I'm at 960 souls."

"While I'm at 980 right now." Joseph added.

Reinhard raised a brow. "I know you guys told me you were in the 900s, but how did Joseph pass you, Marie?"

Marie giggled before looking away while Joseph chuckled. "She was too busy playing with Anasha, Anna, and Klein. So I went on multiple missions to the Monster Zone by myself."

Reinhard's lips twitched, and then he sighed. "Thank you for playing with them, but you-"

"I know, I know!" Marie cut him off, waving her hand dismissively. "I should still focus on my strength, but it's fine. I'll catch up and surpass Joseph easily!"

Joseph's lips twitched now, clearly wanting to argue.

Amiya giggled at their exchange. "I'm still impressed you're both close to 1000 souls. Master said it took years before a Third Class Beast Master could reach that many."

Brunhilde nodded as she crossed her arms. "That's the normal speed, but you can accelerate it by being in a very good environment filled with soul and the willpower to continue growing."

Amiya blinked before she snapped her finger. "Is that why master constantly motivated me by having me learn about the Forerunners' past and making me want to grow stronger to help?"

"Exactly," Brunhilde said with a faint smile. "A big roadblock when it comes to devouring souls is the dislike of experiencing the pain and images every time. Only with strong willpower and motivation can you push through these." She paused, something gentler entering her features. "But even with that, it still requires a good support system to help you and others to care for you."

Reinhard nodded as he recalled those three days of constant soul devouring. He'd relied heavily on memories of his friends and family to anchor him.

Using his desire to complete missions, to heal Klein, and to help Joseph. As motivation to help pushed him through his body and soul's natural dislike of consuming so much so quickly.

"Alright, let's do this and quickly find Janus." Joseph said, moving toward the cluster of Phantasm Beast corpses.

Brunhilde gestured to Amiya. "You can join in too, Amiya. These three won't be able to finish it all."

Amiya's eyes lit up with surprised delight before she moved forward eagerly, taking position beside the others.

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