"What have they done." These were the only words the King of Mages could manage as he stepped ashore, shocked to see firsthand the coastline of his old home. The Kingdom of Israel, back then, had encompassed much of what became known as Tobusekai. Back then, it was a relatively tranquil land; it had its share of flaws and tribulations, but nothing quite to the scale of this. "Defilers." Goetia whispered, venom dripping from his voice. He was much quicker to anger than Solomon was, a shorter temper no doubt created into the amalgam of Demon Gods for the sake of acting quickly to protect humanity against threats.
Their shock and anger was justified, however. What was once a lush land that Solomon recalled from his childhood, a place where he came to worship with his family frequently, was now a barren wasteland filled with corruption, pain, and death. Back then, the Sanctuary of the Sun was under the protection of his father, David. Many times a month, when he was only around ten years old, they would travel here to pray and worship. There were few animals, mostly horses, that grazed the delightful green grasslands that spread across the sacred haven. And it shocked him to see that, today, it was quite literally all gone. The endless fields of grass had been gripped by the cold chill of death, seemingly having the life sucked out of it. Beneath his feet the ground was simply brittle pieces of dead grass, withered away by magics that even he was not familiar with, and uprooted by the forces of nature: the weather. All that was left was endless plains of dirt and gravel. Perhaps the most striking feature, something that the Mage King had not recalled, was the the Sun Shrine was seemingly brighter than it had been before. A surprising fact that made him question what the Moon Shrine was like some distance away. Why were these two relics, which had been static for nearly their entire existence, brighter now?
It was then that Solomon could sense fluctuations of chakra in the scroll that Oui had given him, no doubt an indication that she had finally replied after a relatively long silence.
“Hey! Long-time no speak Romani! Or should I say Mr. King? Right now…is a bad time to speak as I’m currently on a mission. I’m in Tobusekai still, but some things happened…so we’ll talk once this is over. We can meet up once it’s over! Till then take care of yourself”
Solomon chose to not immediately reply, and instead looked toward the Demon God King. The two already knew what this meant; Solomon's Byakugan had already peered far off into the distance, two landmarks away, to see Oui and her squad battling against members of this "cult." A troubled expression glossed across the Mage King's face as he placed his palm against his head, and tilted downwards. "My King, we are running out of time." Goetia's face was equally torn, stricken with concern over the coming storm. His familiar was right, they were running out of time. For months now all the signs pointed toward the inevitable climax that was about to strike the world. The two had spent some time investigating, attempting to uncover the identity of this Voice. But it was all for naught; not only did he cover his tracks perfectly, residing somewhere in the far north at the Sunlit Forge, but even his followers were devout enough to not reveal anything they potentially knew of him. But something was stirring, that much the two were very much sure of. While the world of humans was at peace, by and large, that peace was going to be shattered by the crisis.
"We never had a chance to begin with." Solomon's voice was momentarily overtaken by a sense of defeat. There they were, in the heart of corruption in enemy territory, watching Oui and her friends engage with the enemies of humanity. They were brave, but it was futile. "Come now Goetia, we need to warn them." Goetia didn't speak, he too was frustrated by their current predicament. Solomon's philosophy was to not directly involve himself in the affairs of humanity, and so he resigned himself to simply investigating the disturbances that the two knew were occurring for months. Perhaps he had been too conservative, too silent. And now, that would change.
Taking the scroll in hand, he replied to Oui. "It's urgent. We need to speak now. Please come to the Sanctuary of the Sun" His voice was sober, but firm. Despite the tragedy that he suspected she had undergone, the pain she was feeling to fight the cultists in such a way, he needed to reach out to her. The fate of humanity would be decided in the coming weeks.
