"For the past while, members of Party 2 had been travelling inside the Exploration Dungeon to obtain materials and information. We were specifically deployed to the city of Seraphold in Damai region of Tsatu Empire."
Zecht stated to all the people in the grand dining hall of the Main Forces Accommodation.
All the raiders were gathered here.
Every member of the Raid Team, both the Main Forces and the Reserve Forces, from Party 1 to 11.
Each party was seated at one of the round tables scattered throughout the hall.
Trudy, the other supporter chiefs, and the depository managers were also called to this meeting.
They played vital roles in the climb effort and deserved to learn what would be revealed by Zecht and his exploration party.
Zecht had already presented to me his exploration report privately in my office earlier.
After what I heard from him, I determined it was best he also shared his discoveries to the rest of the Raid Team and key members of the lobby.
"During our exploration, we discovered that at least six months had passed since the event of the fifteenth floor trial."
Zecht said.
He continued.
"News of Tsuchi's destruction had spread all over the empire, including Seraphold in the Damai region. All that was left of the city was a giant crater with no survivor. People throughout the continent were plagued with worry because of this devastating event."
Just like Loro's survival, Tsuchi's destruction never happened in the original timeline that I knew.
That port city was supposed to last at least until the last few years of Dunia.
It did not fall this early in history.
We had only climbed to the fifteenth floor and already Dunia was in this state.
One city lost. One million people lost.
I understood we would need sacrifices to ultimately save our entire world.
But just how many more innocent lives would be required to pay the price for our great mission?
There were still 84 floors left for us to climb.
I dreaded how Dunia would turn out to be once we reached the top.
How much of our world would be left by then?
Would we still have enough to rebuild?
But that thought only mattered in the future.
There was still the issue of climbing the rest of the tower remaining.
All in all, our actions in the tower's Quintal Trials had certainly brought changes to the world that we knew.
Changes that were good and, unfortunately, terrible.
The loss of Tsuchi was only one of the terrible changes that happened so far.
And it was certainly not the worst.
"We also stumbled upon this paper while investigating in Seraphold."
Zecht said as he produced a poster with a sketch of a young man on it.
[Wanted]
[Dead or Alive]
[Radjah Tsang Manusha]
[For the crimes of mass murder, dark arts practice, rebellion, …]
[Last known whereabouts – Southern shores of Great Katcha Lake]
The sight of the wanted poster triggered bustling murmurs throughout the dining hall.
Most of the heroes summoned to the forged land were Tsatu imperials.
They never thought the face of a royalty would ever be portrayed like a criminal.
And it was more shocking that the seal of the Eternal Throne was stamped on the paper, signifying that the Emperor himself ordered the arrest.
I heard rumors that His Majesty loved his son despite the prince's low standing.
How did it come to this?
"From what we learned through the people in Seraphold,"
Zecht said as he gazed through the wanted poster.
"His Highness Radjah was mainly accused of being the perpetrator behind the destruction of the grand city of Tsuchi in the Khandera region. A calamity which claimed at least a million lives."
Several gasps resounded from among the raiders.
All members of Party 1 to 11 had known what actually happened on the fifteenth floor.
Some of us were there when it happened.
The rest had seen everything that transpired through Replay Stones.
"This wanted poster was not the only one that we found."
Zecht said.
He gestured to Tarran and Jordane beside him.
They stepped forward and presented two more stacks of the young prince's arrest order.
The two raiders proceeded to spread the posters among the meeting attendees so they could see them closely.
"We found the posters plastered at every street in Seraphold."
The party 2 leader stated.
He continued.
"In fact, according to the mercenary guild and other sources, Prince Radjah's arrest had been announced all over the empire, as well as in Tsahanam and in every Tchakran province."
Whether they came from the empire, or the sultanate, or from the Ptir Archipelago, the raiders knew what they saw.
The Circle of Kali and the Jherendal Household were the ones that spread the madness disease in Tsuchi and brought the city to ruination.
The Great Houses supported their scheme and even provided a divine artifact that literally wiped Tsuchi off the map.
The Serpent's Order and the Tower of Circle were also aiding those factions.
They were actually responsible for destroying Tsuchi and its people
And they all were aiming for just one thing:
Prince Radjah's death.
His Highness was hunted like a prized game by those factions.
Now they blamed the horrible impacts of their actions on the young prince.
I doubted they cared about keeping their image.
Those factions just wanted His Highness captured.
By spreading these false and heavy accusations, everyone in Dunia that believed in the Eternal Throne would join the hunt for the prince's life.
And it was just the heroes of the forged land's luck that protecting His Highness was our duty.
I doubted us siding with Prince Radjah was just a one-time mission.
There was a reason the Quintal Trials were getting harder the higher we climb the tower.
I was fairly certain the missions' increasing difficulty was caused by our alliance with a losing faction.
How we would have to help Prince Radjah fight against his overwhelming opponents.
It was a reasonable assumption.
The heroes of the forged land were here to win a lost battle, after all.
Dunia was already lost when we were summoned here.
It was our duty to change that outcome.
We were here to save our world.
So then why were we fighting against our fellow humans?
If the tower's missions told us to protect Prince Radjah, then that meant His Highness was crucial in our mission to save the world.
But why would the Great Houses and those other large factions wanted to kill him?
Disregarding their reasons, just how many people were against Prince Radjah?
Was the entire empire and the entire world against the young prince?
Were the heroes of the forged land alone in this war?
"Our party had investigated how the general society perceived His Highness's arrest warrant."
Zecht said as he reached for a paper in his pocket.
I recognized it as a page from Jeanine's personal notebook.
What Zecht would tell next had come from that resourceful businesswoman.
I actually instructed him to ask Jeanine for this particular information.
The man went on as he looked through the list on that paper.
"The noble Houses loyal to the Great Houses strongly supported the arrest order and had been sending out forces to hunt down Prince Radjah.
"Other factions heavily tied to the Tower of Circle and the Serpent's Order were also doing the same.
"Most of the neutral Houses did not join the search. But they still allowed the prince's arrest order to be announced in their domain. Apparently they had no choice but to allow the announcement since it was also the Emperor's decree.
"Some of the neutral Houses had also been questioning the evidence behind the prince's accusations. They raised doubts that His Highness was capable to perform all the listed crimes. Though their arguments never made an impact in the imperial court.
"Nevertheless, the questioning caused the commoner folks to split into factions. Those who believed the prince to be innocent, those who believed the prince to be guilty, and those who were not sure.
"The imperial army was also fragmented by the arrest order.
"Soldiers that originated from Houses that were allied with the Great Houses would support the prince's arrest. Those that came from neutral Houses or those of commoner origin were hesitant to fully reinforce the Emperor's decree.
"There was not much word from beyond the empire yet. But Tsahanam's sultan had ordered his royal army to capture the prince and return him to the empire if found. A number of Tchakra's great sects followed the same gesture."
As expected from the result of my investigation inside the lobby.
It seemed like only factions from neutral Houses and the common folks were our allies in this great mission.
We also now confirmed that at least the major factions in Tsahanam and Tchakra were supporting our enemies.
I had to order the administrators to update our enemy list and monitor any heroes affiliated with the added hostiles.
Jasper was present in this meeting, so he should realize that duty already without me telling him. But I would remind him just in case.
"By the time we returned to the lobby, Prince Radjah was still at large. Nobody knew His Highness's whereabouts. The search was still ongoing."
Zecht concluded his report.
It was quite a relief that His Highness was not captured yet.
I wondered what he would do next?
The young prince mentioned about having dreams foretelling the disasters that were about to come.
The Manusha's descendant knew about the end of the world.
What would he do about it?
The young prince did say that something must be done.
Why would he be important in our mission to save Dunia?
What was his objective?
What was his purpose?
What could he actually do all by himself?
No.
That was not actually true.
If the fifteenth floor was any indication, then His Highness was not alone in his mission.
"Party 2's exploration has given us more insight to our obligations in the forged land."
I said to the hall, taking over the attention of all the heroes attending the meeting.
"It is now clear that we have basically all of Dunia to fight against."
My words caused nervous whispers echoing throughout the hall.
The raiders already understood that Prince Radjah was our ally.
And all of his enemies were ours too.
"All this information revealed many things to us. But our duties remain unchanged."
I sounded with a clear voice.
"We are here to save our world. To overcome every trial Master set us upon. To climb the tower higher and higher till we reach the top, which is our ultimate goal."
I declared firmly to the heroes of the forged land.
"We will do whatever it takes to reach the top of the tower and save our world, even if we have to face the entire Dunia to accomplish it."