Corona Castle

Lightning and Chanarong (with Chayton) arrived to the hall of thrones, where Damian and Lucas were waiting.

"Hey guys," Lucas said. "How'd things g - ?"

Suddenly, Lightning aimed her gunblade right at Lucas's throat.

"!!!"

"How did I become a l'Cie?!" Lightning interrogated.

"Y-You picked a fight with the fal'Cie beneath Haven...!" Lucas stammered.

"...Okay, you pass," she responded, putting away her weapon.

"Seriously, what was that for...?"

"We have a situation," Chanarong explained. "Our prisoner has been assassinated behind our backs."

"Wha - ?" Damian reacted, taking his glance away from the mirror for this moment.

Pfft, it's not like they cared about him anyway. He was just a stupid Haven grunt.

"You don't think someone in the castle had a bigger beef with the thug, do you...?" Damian asked.

"That...or someone else in his organization wanted to silence him as soon as possible," Lightning pondered.

"To prevent the possibility of him telling us anything," Chanarong responded, catching on, "or just to get rid of him for failing them?"

"{gulp} No one told me there was an organization THAT hardcore about punishing...!" Chayton reacted nervously.

"Alright, Lightning, help me gather all the staff," Lucas said. "We've got to find out who this mole is!"

"Roger that!" Lightning said, heading to the halls to find the castle staff as Lucas did.

"Hey, what about the rest of us?" Chayton asked.

"Unfortunately, we'll have to leave the medical wing alone for a while," Chanarong said. "It'll take longer, but I'll treat your wounds."

"And I still need to talk with Uldritch about the trouble he's caused..." Damian grumbled.

ALL the staff? That's going to take a while.

Indeed! Any chance Damian can finally get in contact with Uldritch to pass the time?

Sure, why not?

"Have I not said enough to Coronach's government?" snarls Uldrich as he appears in the mirror.

"...Well, WE haven't said enough to you, clearly!" Damian shouted. "Thanks to your attack, one of the keys sealing Nil is destroyed, and its spawn are making every attempt to kill us off! You know, I could tell the moment we met you that you were starving for conflict...!"

"What nonsense are you blabbering about now?"

"Are you really saying that you weren't informed?!" Damian retorted. "I don't buy that. As one of the world leaders, you would have been told about the keys that bind Nil, and to that extension the mystery incident that claimed Hierophant! Are you really saying that you didn't KNOW any of this, Senator?!"

"I wasn't!" Chayton said.

"You're not at that rank yet, boy..." Chanarong pointed out.

"Oh, I know of Nil." says Uldrich. "And I also know that he isn't real. Truly despicable of Coronach to use one of our nuclear strikes as an excuse to unleash these monsters you've created, and accuse of us of causing it!"

"Pardon - ?!" Damian growled.

"May I?" Chanarong spoke up, coming in view of the mirror. "If it is what we fear it is, then those monsters are also coming from Arsenal Cove. That's where another of the binding keys was, wasn't it? But, I understand if you'd rather disillusion everyone over there..."

It's then that Camilia ran in, sweat glazing her forehead.

"D-Damian! Chan! We got trouble!"

"Yeah, I know," Damian muttered, having calmed down a bit. "This man won't listen to a lick of reas - "

"Those monsters destroyed Rarofiore!" Camilia said urgently.

"(!) ... {to Uldritch} You hear that? Those monsters destroyed one of our own cities! {to Camilia} What are the casualties...?"

"Well..." Camilia couldn't finish that sentence. The other three dragons present could tell that this meant the casualties were too high to bear.

"Try to process this, Senator - why would we unleash monsters poised to kill as many of our people as possible?" Chanarong asked. "That hardly makes sense, if you ask me."

"Senator..." Camilia said to Uldritch, "at the rate these creatures are spawning, all of Coronach will be devastated in a matter of weeks! Do you really think we'd destroy our own nation? Even to throw a false blame?!"

"I think...we'll continue this at the meeting of world leaders tomorrow," Damian said, leering a bit to Uldritch's side. "You WILL be there, right? Taiyomashi Temple? Because we all will be there."

"..." Chayton felt a bit left out in this conversation.

"Urgh... yes, I will be there." says Uldrich. "And I'll put the final nail in Coronach's coffin!"