Chapter 134: Morning Recovery and Thetor’s Crisis

"Ugh." Moments later, Luna fluttered her eyes open in a daze. She sat upright, rubbing the sleep from her eyes before turning to look at Dion, who sat slumped over in his desk chair with an expression so dead it looked like his soul had vacated his body. Stretching her limbs, Luna crawled over to him.

"What’s wrong? Did you not sleep at all last night?" Luna asked, crouching down before him and placing a hand on his thigh.

"It’s nothing... This palace is just a nightmare," Dion replied weakly.

"Hah... Why? Are there still lingering enemies around?" Luna asked, growing increasingly anxious.

"No, there’s nothing... Let’s drop it. Look, the others are waking up anyway, and the sun’s already high," Dion answered, gesturing to the side.

"Kyuuu!"

Gina suddenly materialized atop Dion’s head, peering down into his face upside down with blinking eyes.

"Yeah... I’m fine, everything’s safe," Dion muttered, catching the baby dragon and pulling her onto his lap.

"Uuh... My whole body is stiff. Sleeping in a desk chair like this is the absolute worst," Aria complained, stretching her arms right beside Dion.

Aria then glanced over to see Dion limply cradling Gina while Luna sat perched atop one of his legs.

"Hey! What the hell do you think you’re doing, you airhead princess? Why are you sitting on him?!" Aria snapped, pointing accusingly at Luna.

"Hah? What do you mean ’what am I doing’? First come, first served! That’s what you get for sleeping like a log, you spoiled princess!" Luna fired back loudly.

The two immediately plunged into a petty squabble. Aria shoved her way in to sit on Dion’s other leg, while Luna pressed down harder on his lap. Dion could only let out a heavy sigh and wince, completely trapped and unable to stand up. Meanwhile, Gina clamped her tiny hands over her ears to block out the noise. Across the room on the sofas, Cleo, Sheila, Mei, Harumi, and Nala began stirring awake.

"Ugh... Would you two quit it already?! What’s wrong with you? It’s the morning and you’re already screaming your heads off!" Cleo yelled from across the room.

"Fighting is fine, but keep it down!" Sheila chimed in, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"Hmm... Waking up to a shouting match is a great way to wreck your body," Mei grumbled in annoyance.

"Uuuh... So sleepy..." Harumi mumbled.

Nala said nothing at all. She simply scanned her surroundings for a moment before leaning back against the cushions and closing her eyes again. Dion finally pried Aria and Luna apart, then turned his gaze to Aria.

"Aria, you can still produce a massive amount of iron and steel, right?" Dion asked.

"Yeah... Why?" Aria asked back.

"Conjure a huge batch of it, along with magic crystals. I want to build a workforce of golems to jump-start the reconstruction of the palace and the city," Dion replied, seemingly snapping back to his usual self.

"Oh... Right! We can get started before the relief convoy even arrives," Aria said, suddenly energized.

Aria stood up and strode to the front of the desk. Clang... clang... clang! She pulled a massive heap of assorted crystals, iron bars, and steel plates from her dimensional storage, piling them high until the metal mountain nearly touched the ruined ceiling. Dion gripped the waists of Luna, who was still holding Gina and shoved her aside. He stood up, activated his Mechanical Crafter and Gunner persona, and swept his arms outward. Two glowing magic circles materialized at the base of the twin metal piles.

As the towering mounds slowly sank downward, glowing light pods began to form inside the magic circles. When the process finished, a hundred worker golems bearing identification numbers from 301 to 400 stood in formation, snapping to attention and saluting. In the adjacent magic circle, twenty combat-ready soldier golems numbered 51 to 70 materialized, fully armed and standing rigidly at attention to offer a crisp salute.

"Alright, listen up. First priority for the workers is to rebuild this palace. Soldiers, secure the perimeter of the palace and the surrounding grounds. Once the palace reconstruction hits fifty percent progress, relocate to the upper tribal and noble districts to clear the rubble. Understood?" Dion commanded.

All the golems saluted in unison and marched out of the study in an orderly single file to begin their respective duties. With the golems gone, Dion turned back to the group.

"Shall we head out and check the situation in the city?" Dion asked.

"Hell yeah! Finally, we get to take Gina sightseeing!" Luna cheered happily, hoisting the baby dragon into the air.

"Kyuuuuuu!" Gina chirped, beaming so widely her tiny arms shot straight up in victory.

"Grr... We’re heading into the city to work and help the citizens, you idiot princess," Aria muttered under her breath.

"Right. We need to assess the extent of the damage down there," Sheila agreed.

"Once we reach the lower district across the gorge, I’ll set up a perimeter barrier to safeguard the remaining townspeople," Cleo added.

"Me and the Shadow Hand operatives will sweep the city perimeter and keep watch. If any threats or anomalies pop up, we’ll notify you right away... Except for you, Harumi. You’re staying out of this," Mei instructed, glancing sideways at her younger sister.

"Yay! I’ll just tag along on Brother-in-law’s sightseeing tour and help protect him... even if he’s way stronger than me," Harumi chirped cheerfully.

"Um..."

Everyone turned to look at Nala, who stood awkwardly with her head bowed, clutching her staff tightly.

"What is it, Nala?" Dion asked.

"Um... Would it be alright if I head back home to check on things there...?" Nala asked hesitantly.

"Of course it’s alright. Why are you even asking?" Dion replied.

"Yeah... That’s the exact right thing to do. Go ahead, don’t worry about us," Sheila added reassuringly.

Nala lifted her gaze to look at Dion, Sheila, Luna, Aria, Mei, and Cleo. They were all smiling warmly, treating her as a genuine friend rather than a political hostage or a royal asset. Nala’s face broke into a soft, grateful smile.

"Thank you, everyone," Nala said softly.

"Don’t mention it. Let’s head out to the city," Dion invited.

"Right!" everyone chorused.

They marched out of the study and headed toward the palace exit. Along the way, the newly built worker golems stopped to salute them as they passed. Once outside the palace ruins, Mei and her Shadow Hand unit vanished into the shadows. Dion walked alongside Sheila and Aria toward the upper noble and tribal districts, with Harumi tagging along behind them, while Cleo, Luna, Gina, and Nala took a separate staircase heading down toward the lower levels to cross the gorge bridge into the main city.

***

Meanwhile, in the capital of Thetor, inside the grand cathedral grounds,

"Groooo!"

"Hold the line! Don’t let a single one of them break out of the cathedral compound!"

Evelyn screamed orders at the top of her lungs, directing her holy knights. Directly before them, dozens of zombified priests and cathedral guards slammed against the heavy magic seals sealing off the massive cathedral complex in the heart of the capital.

The holy knights formed a tight, overlapping barricade right behind the barrier so that if the seal shattered, they could immediately contain the undead before they spilled out into the streets. A knight rushed over to brief Evelyn.

"Reporting, Your Majesty! It’s been confirmed, the high priest who was killed yesterday rose as a ghoul and infected every single priest, guard, and visitor trapped inside the cathedral," the knight reported grimly.

"Dammit... We should have incinerated his remains the moment he died. If only I had been in the capital at the time... Mobilize every knight we have! And what about the convoy I dispatched to retrieve Olivia from Millfrost? Any word from them?" Evelyn pressed.

"We haven’t received any transmissions from them yet, Your Majesty," the knight answered.

Evelyn clenched her jaw tight, standing in silence as she stared daggers at the sealed cathedral. She snapped her head back to the knight.

"Send a runner to the edge of the dark forest. Find Lord Dion and request his immediate assistance to travel to Millfrost and escort Olivia safely back to her territory. Move, now!" Evelyn ordered.

"At once, Your Majesty. I’ll see to it immediately," the knight bowed and sprinted toward the main gate guard post.

Evelyn glared back at the cathedral, then glanced in the direction of the distant royal palace before returning her focus to the sealed gates. Her jaw tightened so hard her teeth ground audibly against one another.

"Damn it... This is all because of that Northgard raid. If they hadn’t attacked Dion’s territory, none of this would have happened because I would have been right here in the capital... Gods above, I pray Dion can bail the Thetor kingdom out of this," Evelyn muttered under her breath.

She looked over at the circle of holy mages chanting desperately to reinforce the barrier. Their faces were pale, drenched in sweat, gasping for breath as they poured their remaining mana into the seal. Evelyn stared at the shimmering crystal barrier, watching fresh spiderweb cracks branch out across the surface. She turned back to the knight beside her.

"Head to the city square. Gather all blacksmiths, craftsmen, and anyone else who can help. Have them bring carriages, carts, and anything heavy and impenetrable... If we want to survive this, we have to work together. Go, quickly!" she ordered.

"At once, Your Majesty," the knight replied, bowing before turning away.

The knight sprinted off toward the city’s commercial district, which currently sat deserted as the knights had instructed all residents to lock themselves indoors. Crack. Evelyn turned her gaze back to the seal as another jagged fracture split across the glass-like light barrier enclosing the cathedral like a glowing crystal sphere. An expression of deep anxiety and dread washed over Evelyn’s face.

"Dion... This time, I’m the one who truly needs you," she thought to herself, a rare note of vulnerability slipping into her mind.