Noting the presence of the Hyena, Ulysses turned his attention to the man with the most presence in the room who bead at his arrival.
"If it isn’t the pride of our Nester family." The man remarked as he arose and beckoned for Ulysses to approach.
Feeling embarrassed, Ulysses did co closer before suffering an incredibly tight embrace from the older man.
"I can hardly breathe, Father." Ulysses strained a few seconds later causing the man to begrudgingly let go.
"Tell , how was your supplication?... Any revelations from the ancestor?"
"None at all, but fate is in our favor so all is well."
"That is good news as I wish for us to head out as soon as possible, we cannot afford to waste any more ti, especially with the situation on the continent."
"Is the Hyena to be our guide, Father?" Ulysses inquired with the man nodding.
"Indeed, Queen Liliana accepted our request and sent a trusted aide to guide our path. He calls himself Deegon and has promised to lead us to the World’s End while ensuring we avoid the dastardly creatures prowling about in the Nightingale Forest."
"That’s great news. Can we get going now?"
"Of course, but first, we must discuss an important matter."
Before Ulysses could inquire about the matter to be discussed, his father turned to the Hyena, Deegon.
"Excuse us for a mont."
Deegon grunted before making an exit, leaving the humans to converse.
"Is sothing wrong, father?"
"Not at all. However, it is about your position in the group, Ulysses."
Seemingly realizing sothing, Ulysses hurriedly spoke up. "I am ready, father. I have watched you explore ever since I could walk. Please, Father, this discovery is unlike anything, let be a part of it."
Silence followed for a mont before Ulysses noticed that sothing was wrong. "... Father?"
The man’s impassive expression shifted before he broke into a hearty laughter, causing Ulysses to grow even more confused.
"You truly are just like . You know, when I was your age, I was also quite enthusiastic about exploring the unknown."
"It is not only you, Anthony, it is inherent to our family, so stop trying to gloat and tell the poor boy what we decided before he goes crazy." One of the two won in the room spoke up, earning a snort from Ulysses’ father.
Anthony rolled his eyes. "Hah, fine. Alright, Ulysses, what do you think about spearheading the expedition?"
"What?" Ulysses’ eyes went wide with shock at the unexpected question.
Silence followed for a mont before he inquired. "Are you serious?"
"Of course!... Not only have you proven yourself a man worthy of it, you are the one that truly embodies the spirit of our Nester family to explore the unknown, and most importantly, you are the next high priest of our ancestor."
"But... you are here, father. You are the leader of this expedition. I can’t take that from you."
"Well, as the leader, I pass on the baton to you, my boy. Make proud."
Ulysses’ lips quivered as he found himself torn between joy at the unexpected news and worry at ssing up should he accept to lead the expedition.
Just then, his uncle Timon stepped in. "Don’t you think it’s too much for the young man, Anthony?... He seems quite nervous."
"Nonsense, who isn’t nervous when leading their first expedition?... Has it ever stopped our Nester family in its quest to map out the world?... So there’s no way it would stop my boy, isn’t that right, Ulysses?" Anthony inquired, reaching out to grab Ulysses’ shoulders.
"Are you ready?"
Ulysses closed his eyes and took a deep breath before ultimately letting it out.
Then he spoke up. "Yes."
A proud smile suffused Anthony’s lips at that mont as he remarked. "That’s my boy."
***
"How is the situation on your end?" Lionel inquired over the radio as he sat in the communications center of his camp.
Having been assigned to guard the Southeast of the Empire, he found himself struggling to hold down the defense of 12 cities, 5 of which had already suffered catastrophic losses at the hands of the Vampires who took full advantage of the Crimson Night and the Month of Astra to deal maximum damage.
"It isn’t too good on my end, an entire city got wiped out yesterday. Aiden’s daughter managed to prevent the worst from happening by averting the birth of an evil god but there’s not much else to say there." Maximilian replied, his tone suffused with a deep sense of lancholy.
"Who else is available?"
"I’m here," Godric replied with Conrad replying a mont later as well.
"It seems the others are still quite busy," Lionel remarked while letting out a breath of cold air with the trio on air replying.
"Indeed."
"As it is, we can only expect more losses. Zion is too big and it’s difficult to keep it all secure." Lionel confessed.
Letting out a sigh, Conrad remarked from his end. "The Supre Order has deployed its forces to ensure the cities leading to the capital are safe but we all know those Cryptid bastards won’t attack those places as long as they fear the Emperor’s might."
"Ana seems to be doing her part. I hear she managed to stop the destruction of quite a few cities up north." Godric added.
"Regardless, this is rely the 9th Night and we have already lost 13 cities and 10 more are on the brink of collapse, let’s not even ntion the towns and villages on the periphery. We need a new plan and fast else we might as well prepare for Zion’s collapse before the end of the month." Maximilian remarked, causing the Family Heads to go silent.
The situation was worse than they expected it to be and with ti, it was only going to worsen.
"If only we could get to the man parading as the Dark Lord." Conrad intoned at that mont earning the attention of the other three.
"What for?" Godric questioned.
"Perhaps we could make an agreent with him, get him to call off the attacks of the Vampires."
Pursing his lips, Lionel inquired. "Do you think he’d be open to discussion and most importantly, even if he does accept, would the vampires be willing to obey?... They might as well kill him and take his power as their own which would be the sa as us giving them even more power to use against us."
"Still..." Conrad muttered. "It’s worth a shot."
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