"Mrs. Athens." The blonde-haired woman, one of the Seven Heads, who looked out the floor-to-ceiling glass wall with her hands folded, turned to the door where the voice came from.
She wore an executive suit with a form-fitting skirt and black heels while standing behind her desk.
"Come in."
The moment she said that, the door opened and a woman, her personal assistant, walked in with a phone.
"The proximity of both gates has gathered a great amount of mana in that vicinity, that itâs like a bubble. Normal people canât leave without a summoner aiding them with his own mana." The P.A. said solemnly.
"This is the first time Iâm hearing of this." Mrs. Athens frowned as she sat down.
"This is the first time two massive red gates have appeared so close together. It has drawn so much mana into that place that summoners can basically feel it as they move." The P.A. responded.
"What about Team A and our military?"
"Team A has retreated. Two Throne Tiers are dead, six are heavily injured. Iâm afraid we donât have a healer who can save them on time. Our Saint Tier captain is still alive, just slightly injured."
"Itâs obvious. Since Iâm the only Divine Tier in this country and with weak combat skills, our weakness is now bare before the world." Mrs. Athens sighed heavily.
The P.A. clenched her fist but continued. "They found a horde of Kobolds, thousands upon thousands of them, and their leader has the ability to ignite whatever he wants on a whim. But we donât know whatâs in the other dungeon Team B entered. However..."
"What is it?"
"The captain of Team A wants to enter the second dungeon. Itâs his wife who led Team B." The P.A.âs statement made Mrs. Athens frown.
"Let him go. If we restrain him, he wonât actually be useful anymore."
"We will be losing a rare asset. That man is a Saint Tier and the strongest in Greece. If he dies, we mightâ!"
"So you suggest you stop him from going to search for his wife and then what? Heâll fight to save other people, other men and their wives? Weâre not in a state where we can control him. Itâs best we let him go with his loyalty than watch it die out, as he will still go but will not come back loyal to his nation." Mrs. Athens interjected with a soft yet stern tone.
"But weâ!"
"Thatâs enough!" Mrs. Athens said with a cold tone.
She was certain other Heads would want to rally Divine Tiers from all over the world to help her, but that would mean they would encroach her space.
If it was before, she would have gladly called for their help, but now, after her twelve-year-old daughter had awakened a humanoid summon, an elf, to be exact, she realized the fate other humanoid summoners went through and that she voted for wasnât the kind of life her daughter should live.
For that reason, her daughterâs summon had been kept hidden from the rest of the world. Powerful summoners coming here might expose this secret, but would she protect her daughter at the cost of millions?
If Athens was lost, her position and power as a Head would fortunately still remain because Heads were usually chosen mostly because of what their summon could offer.
Or in very rare cases because of their political might, but their summon would still need a use, even if it wouldnât be as powerful as the other Heads. Fortunately, she was the former.
However, protecting her secret would mean allowing thousands or even millions to die. Once that happened, Greece would be off the map like some other countries before it.
Suddenly, alarms began to ring. It was a citywide alarm. Mrs. Athens rose to her feet and turned to the glass wall.
"Has it turned black?!"
"Yes. We have a dungeon outbreak." The P.A. responded. "We need to get you to the safe house."
As she was speaking, the door opened and two Throne Tier summoners in black suits barged in. They were far away from the dungeon, so far that they couldnât even see or feel the mana fluctuations, but once there was a dungeon break, especially a red gate dungeon break, distance wasnât enough to keep you safe.
The monsters could spread out like a tide, and it would be worse if there were airborne monsters.
***
"Youâre kidding." Godfrey said with a shocked face when he saw his mother in Arianâs office. It was a Spartan office with nothing except for concrete walls and a metal table. Paradise wasnât this lackluster, but for some reason the cohortâs camp was.
"Sheâs not actually. Your motherâs power is growing, and right now she can easily regrow limbs by breaking a sweat. Her summon can heal and keep the main team intact while we handle the tougher monsters." Arian explained while leaning on his chair.
"You know that she has 1.5 billion on her head and you want her on open missions? Whose idea was this?!"
Seeing Godfrey was slowly losing his grip, his mother quickly replied.
"Mine." Valentina said.
Godfrey froze. "W-What?"
"You think itâs easy for a mother to watch her son face risk every time? What brought peace to my heart was that I knew thatâs your place, thatâs where you belong, just like your father, so you have to accept that I also belong somewhere. I wonât be fighting, just helping."
Valentina smiled softly. "And if thereâs a risk of death, Iâm sure youâll come running. Just like your father. But I canât let these people face off against two red gates without a healer as capable as me."
Godfrey became silent, even his intense emotions calmed.
"Donât forget what Gabriel said. It also includes your mother. People would see who their government wants to kill. It might not work, but whatâs a revolution if we only cower thinking of the risks?" Arian replied.
Godfrey couldnât speak back. This manâs fiancĂ©e literally faced an entity higher than the Origin Tier. He had seen the risk and yet allowed Kira to follow that desire to continue her service in the cohort.
Godfrey exhaled heavily. "Alright... Letâs go."