A local guard approached the group nervously, with a hand on his sword. One of the white-robed players turned to him and just waved cheerfully, still singing.

"Sir..." The guard started nervously. "What are you doing? We did not receive a notice of any public events to occur at this time."

"Oh..." That player stopped swinging, and thought for a moment. Unable to find a proper reply, they instead responded. "Don’t worry about it." He flashed a smile that was meant to be reassuring, but to the guard, looked menacing.

Now, this guard wasn’t one to act cowardly in the face of danger. But... There were a few hundred guys after all. Maybe it was all a misunderstanding? The guard backed away slowly.

The song was building to its finale now. The Church of Micheal members raised their voices, shouting the words out with glee.

"Only thing I want is for Dante to die, baby!"

"Only thing I want is for Dante to hang, baby!"

"Only thing I want is for Dante to burn, baby!"

"The only thing I ask is for Dante to die~"

They held the final note, harmonizing beautifully. Then there was silence.

The Church of Micheal members bowed in unison. Some players in the crowd actually applauded. The natives looked like a strange mix of nervously impressed and traumatized..

Lumi felt something break inside him.

"What." He said aloud.

"What." Lena echoed.

"What." Eden added.

Even Sol chirped in a confused way.

Lumi tried to process what he’d just witnessed. Yes, players were chaotic. Yes, they did insane things. He’d spent years with them in his past life. He knew what they were capable of.

But this was over the top. Suspiciously over the top. Players did not do this naturally.

Yes, in his past life, players who didn’t see the world as real had committed atrocities. They’d burnt villages. Some had done worse, much worse. Thing is, those things made a kind of sense for people who thought they were in a consequence-free game.

But what the hell was THIS?

Who told them to do this? There was no way they’d do this naturally. Someone had organized this Church of Micheal. Someone had written those lyrics. Someone had convinced dozens of players to dress in robes and perform a musical number in the middle of town.

Reminder, that this was supposed to be HIS raid. Every player, for the most part, was supposed to be trying to stay on their best behavior in front of the raid leader. So while things like cookouts or weird conversation topics made sense... burning an effigy while changing about killing Dante didn’t.

Micheal.

He kept seeing that name.

Not just in game. In his dreams. In random places. In his thoughts. Everywhere.

He was getting tired of it. He was almost certain it meant something, and it was disturbing. He couldn’t quite remember properly, but back when his soul was fractured... didn’t he hear that name, too? Was Micheal some powerful Masteria demon?

It would almost make sense, if it wasn’t for the fact he’s never heard of the name before in his past life. And wasn’t there a pizza place called something about Micheal? Or was he mixing things up now?

It was infuriating, but he had work to do.

Lumi shook his head, forcing himself to focus. He couldn’t get distracted by whatever insanity the Church of Micheal represented.

He had a raid to run.

Lumi looked down at the massive crowd of players. There were easily over a thousand people gathered. Maybe more.

He needed to get their attention and organize this chaos. Plus, he needed to get them out of Elenora city before they caused any more problems.

Lumi raised his wand high into the air. He channeled mana into it, preparing one of his most visually impressive spells.

"Void Sphere!" He called out.

A massive orb of pure darkness materialized above his airship. It was swirling with shadow and dark energy. The orb rotated slowly, drawing the eye of everyone below.

The plaza notably lowered in volume. Most of the players stopped what they were doing. The dancers froze mid-move. The statue builders looked up. The Church of Micheal turned their attention skyward.

Even the natives stopped panicking to stare at the display of magic.

Lumi controlled the Void Sphere with his focus, making it pulse and shift to capture attention.

"LISTEN UP!" Lumi’s voice boomed across the plaza. "I am Lumi! The raid leader! If you’re here for the demon raid, PAY ATTENTION!"

The crowd pressed closer, all eyes on him.

"First order of business!" Lumi continued, maintaining the Void Sphere. "Everyone needs to leave Elenora city right now!" 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Some confused murmurs rippled through the crowd.

Their confusion didn’t matter. You didn’t handle a raid by answering every insignificant person’s question. Lumi instead emphasized the orders. "You’ll all follow me out! I’ll path my way out, and you all follow me! Consider this setting out for the raid. Everyone move out! NOW!"

He dismissed the Void Sphere with a gesture. "If anyone is late to the assembly point, I’m not waiting around. Move!"

Lumi turned to his companions on the airship.

Lena grinned at him. "That was pretty cool."

Eden still looked overwhelmed. "There are so many of them..."

"There are." Lumi agreed. "And we’re about to lead them all into battle. Let’s get moving."

He turned the airship, pathing his way out of the city slowly but surely, making sure to interrupt the locals at least as possible. Only when they congregated outside the city lines would he be further explaining the rules to the crowd.

Lumi pathed out of the city, directing the large crowd down to a very familiar space, a bit south west. The shining forest path.

"Oh my god..." Lena slowly whispered out as she saw the place. She moved her legs together, fidgeting.

Eden looked over with a slightly confused look.

Lena saw the look, and immediately sighed loudly. "Hahh~ you wouldn’t get it. It’s love." She smirked. "This is where I met the love of my life. Lumi."