Isekai: The Eight Soul Fragments

In the middle of the night, almost everyone in Preeliance had already been asleep, the natives were already used to the sleep schedule of sleeping before midnight strikes... But those who were born from Earth, were not as affected on sleep schedules.

"Drax?" One figure emerges from Draxus' room to his balcony, as she was accustomed to waiting until midnight before sleeping, she wasn't in much trouble from any insomnia.

"Wendy? Is something the matter?" Wendy walked to the veranda, sitting down in front of Draxus at the table as he brought out a teacup from an interdimensional storage and poured just enough for her.

"You looked... Stressed these days..." "I see..." With such a stale response by Draxus, Wendy's eyes showed a growing concern. "We know that you're doing everything to get some time for us... But are you thinking about something else...?" "I suppose so... I'm thinking about Aquila you see?" Draxus outright admits, as he doesn't really see himself lying to her...

"Aquila? Lily and Julie's home?" "To be fair, I doubt they would see it as their home still but... I do intend to convince their king... But it seems like they're under control by the enemy now..." "Ahh..." Wendy instantly understood... Draxus was concerned as he may be placed in a position to kill family members of his fiancés...

She understood, the world they're in isn't Earth, where there are laws against murder and war isn't as prevalent... They're in a different world where war was commonplace, where they were summoned... Memory fragments of their existences of Draxus and the other Archons and the Emperor were gradually returning, and showing that their true identity is much more than simple humans that were coincidentally summoned from Earth...

"Was it all Serkyrio's setup?" Those thoughts crossed Wendy's mind, as if everything that had happened so far was prepared by Serkyrio, from the first summoning, to Earth gaining the element of magic, all the way to the the invasions and attacks by the enemy? It was never clear what Serkyrio had in mind. But it somehow felt like it was always meant to be...

"I wonder what Serkyrio had planned for me after all... I could tell that he wants me to develop much more, before I could fully return to what I am..." Draxus muttered, sipping his tea afterward. He was struggling to think about his choices in the scenario, because it was clear...

He could choose to persuade the ruler of Aquila, brainwash, or murder him...

The Hero of the country is already an enemy, the country it is allied to, is already an enemy... But he cannot change the fact that it was Lilianna and Julianna's father... "Drax..." Wendy could only mutter in response on his dilemma... Which he soon noticed and brushed her head gently with his hand with a smile.

"I guess I have to ask them sooner or later anyway, but I'm glad you're here to show concern Wendy..." "N-No, I didn't even..." Looking at Draxus's smile, of having found the answer she was somewhat glad, but her worries remained, since she could see that Draxus was still pushing himself over his own limits.

.

.

.

The next day, Draxus decided to call for a mission briefing, summoning the vice chiefs of the Sentinels Order into the Hall of Sentinels briefing room.

"Alright everyone, we're here today because we want to finally make our move on Aquila..." "Oh? Will Draxus blow up the country or be merciful?" Jevil raised the question immediately, not directed to Draxus, but more like he was anticipating something, as if a bet was made. Draxus smiled in response to this, Olivia chuckled as it flashed some memories of Draxus mentioning it one time back in Quisterion. "Unfortunately, the [People of Earth] are there, so blowing it up is quite impossible." Jevil snickered and looked at Audrey, who seemed adamant on destroying Aquila after what they had been doing. She shrugged her shoulders and brought out a gold coin and handed it to Jevil, admitting defeat on the bet.

"Anyways, we're here to finally clean up the problems in Aquila, this includes getting rid of the [People of Earth] there, the Hero, and possibly an attack from one of the apostles. As you heard from the recent reports, the third apostle has finally appeared, and he is quite a troublesome one." "The ability to nullify, absorb, and edit... He can practically erase a realm that exists... He may have been the culprit which sent Audrey's opponent back in the Fae Realm..." Audrey twitched, as Wesley had already figured out about her vacation spot, even after not telling him about the details. She prompted him about how he knew, and his response was to point at Draxus. "Serkyrio told me the gist of your growth, but the location is safe for now, he seemed to have moved the entrace for the time being..."

"He moved the entrance?" Audrey was confused, as moving an entrace or even the whole realm is an absolutely impossible task. "I don't know how that man does things, but considering how high his authority is as a God from Infinite Space, just think of it as a Serkyrio thing." An explanation that seemed to have given up on dwelling further into it was something Audrey accepted. They knew not to challenge the capabilities of their Emperor or the Sage, which is Harold...

Audrey herself understood, she has the desire to be the strongest magician possible, but upon seeing how Harold was able to make her face unfathomable opponents trapped in a simulated universe while he remained completely safe outside of his simulation, and how he was able to place anybody he wanted in one such universe that he created from zero is something she was never able to recover from... Mentally.

She shook her head in both understanding and wanting to erase her memory of her experience. "But anyways, we're getting quite off-track here, I have already said what the initial goal. A clean up operation in Aquila, the targets are the Hero, [People of Earth], and potential threats from the Council, Farlands, and Depths... Everyone will be participating, but roles are absolutely divided." Draxus began to briefly explain the roles for the operation.

"The first group will be the [Hunt], this group will constantly travel between the cities of Aquila, so it's going to be taxing as hell. Wesley, have a shadow for each town, you are joined with Jevil, and the task is search and destroy, your targets are the [People of Earth]. You may bring another member that is not from the meeting here." Jevil was hyped, since he gets to wake up and choose violence immediately. Wesley understood as he was the only one that has fast travel among the group without using portals or boundaries.

"The next group will be the [Trap], Keith, this is where you come in, you can choose your members that will operate with you, help the recruits shine since your task will be to prevent the guilty from escaping, all of you are stationed outside the capital town walls, do not get detected, unless you're attacking. Also, the members of your team have to act in pairs." Keith understood about the threats that may come when going up against a country with dangerous individuals dwelling within. Acting in pairs will mitigate various weaknesses while minimizing required teamwork and coordination.

"The last group will be the [Core], we will be at the center of this battle and will face any retaliation head on. The group will consist of me, Audrey, Pauleen, Juniper, Lilianna, and Julianna. The purpose of having an all girls with me as the sole male is to fool them a bit. Pauleen and Juniper were deemed weak after the altercation, Lily and Julie are their royal princesses, and Audrey is capable of putting them off guard." "Off-guard? Because I can unleash overwhelming magic at once?" "No, because they will never expect a magician to have brutal melee combat style. Not gonna lie I didn't expect it either in our duel." Audrey smiled, as she was starting to get acknowledged more.

"Anyways, that is all for the briefing, everyone is to prepare by the end of the month, so you all have ample time. Just tell those who join for this operation that they will be monetarily rewarded both for this world, and on Earth." The vice chiefs cheered loudly, while Olivia smiled and continued to write down the contents of the meeting to the journal.