Early Afternoon - Late Summer : Arlington, Virginia | United States

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  - Kazzaer Aldinn ~

  ""Breaking news! As global tensions rise, the rumored treaty between the United States and Russia has been officially confirmed." Setting a neat stack of papers on the desk, the news reporter's exhausted gaze fell on the camera. "Although the details of the agreement are still unknown, it appears that Congress will be holding a public stream tonight to discuss the details. The only thing we currently know is that it involves a deal between them and Leyfa Askr to purchase vast volumes of mana cores."

  Flipping the screen to the view of a young elven boy standing with his back to the runway of an airport, he was quick to continue. "Starting about a week ago, there has been a complete exodus of mana cores from both the United States and Russia respectively. Totaling about eight hundred thousand tons, it appears that both the United States and Russia are emptying their stockpiles, sending nearly everything they had in reserves to Leyfa Askr. Many have suspected this would affect the market, however, as of now, the only abnormal movement in prices is from speculation."

  Flipping back to the exhausted man at the desk, he gently motioned to the screen behind him. "In other news, yet another major city has fallen. This time, B+ Rank City, Omaha, Nebraska. As of this morning at 09:12, all communication with the city has ceased, and by the looks of things from the air..." Looking back at the screen, showing a massive, slender creature walking along the wall of the burning city, his expression further stiffened. "Thankfully, the civilian population had already been evacuated to Kansas City prior to the attack, but the losses cannot be properly gauged yet. Mercenaries have been dispatched to investigate further, and we will keep everyone updated when we get more information. Now to Theron who is on-site in Brazil for international news."

  Swapping one more time to an older, more grizzled demihuman man sitting in a forest with a sword laid over his legs, the camera shook slightly, as if hand-held. "Thanks." Speaking through lethargy, the man continued with a rasp. "For international news, it's.. not any better than yesterday... Overnight, two more countries have fallen, this time Paraguay and Rajasthan. Although not as bad as the collapse of Sudan the other day, both countries have officially dissolved and become part of their neighbors. This now makes the total collapsed nations five in the last two weeks..."

  Falling silent for a moment, you could hear murmurs behind the camera before the grizzled man eventually continued.

  "In any case, the rank-up seems to only be getting worse, and just like the past several days, there was not a single foreign system mercenary reported to appear on Earth today. We currently don't know why. The church has been rather quiet over recent weeks, but as of the appearance of the infamous 'destroyer' that appeared in Arlington, there hasn't been a single documented foreign system mercenary to arrive here. As of now, experts believe it has to do with a system error..." Looking down at his still-bloody blade, he grimaced. "Regardless, the reason no longer matters. Until it's shown otherwise no one is going to save us." Looking up at the camera as he stabbed his sword in the ground next to him, his eyes sharpened with a blaze. "So it's time we save ourselves for once.""

  *Flicker* Turning off the television with a motion of my hand, I looked over the meeting room, filled with the gloomy faces of congressmen and guild leaders before pressing a button on the top of the table. -Looks like everyone is here...- *Woop* Almost immediately, a holographic globe appeared before everyone, color-coded with a spectrum from green to red.

  But at first glance, it didn't even look like Earth.

  It was a risk map of the world, and while it was something people in our positions would look at commonly.. the sea of red shades that greeted us was something we weren't used to...

  "We have much to discuss, so let us begin." Bringing everyone's attention back to me, I spoke as firmly as my sleepless mind would let me. "Over the last week, global casualties have pushed over eight million, and nearly thirty percent of our developable land has been occupied by monsters exceeding a level at which we can handle with just the military. As such, I have received an ultimatum from the military. Starting today, we will designate overly dangerous areas as 'lost land' and give them up until further notice. From now on, we will turtle up in our cities and focus completely on the growth of infrastructure and the defense of important POIs. Are there any objections?"

  Raising her hand, a brown-feathered avian woman scooted forward and laid her elbows on the table. "What about dungeon raiding?"

  She was the guild master of a rather fast-growing guild called 'The Hawks', a group of elites that would raid and clear dungeons at record speeds. "We can discuss it today, however, I expect dungeon raiding to cease from today onwards. If accessible, they can be used, but 'hunting' will likely become the dominant form of harvesting monsters during the rank-up. Any other questions?" Watching her lean back I looked over the others in silence before eventually turning to move on.

  But just as I turned away from the table, I heard the clank of armor moving. "What about the Elven Kingdom? Is the manpower they are supplying us too little to prevent the loss of land? As far as I'm aware, they have sent enough to-"

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  "Arthur," my gaze turned heavy in an instant. "If you wish to send yourself or your guildmates to fight to protect uninhabited land, then be my guest, but if not, then why should we send them over? Just because they are soldiers of another nation doesn't mean we should treat them like meat shields..." -For all we know, the Queen doesn't want them back... They very well might become citizens here eventually...- "But you aren't wrong in that you should all know how Leyfa Askr's users are being utilized, so allow me to move on to that." Finally hushing him, I waved my hand to update the screen with an extensive list of names, numbers, and locations.

  Up until that point, we had received just shy of two hundred thousand users from Leyfa Askr, all exceeding the level of general military members, and with them, our usable military force in many cities was directly multiplied. However, even with them, protecting anything beyond the walls was a fruitless effort.

  So, we used their skills and strengths elsewhere.

  "Currently, around 85% of the foreign forces have been dedicated to civil development or construction efforts, with the remaining 15% stationed in more dangerous cities to assist with evacuation efforts. Since the United States is investing billions of gold into the defense industry, massive construction projects have been started all around the country, and as such, while the monster wave is still ramping up, we need all hands on deck to ensure the new weapons being developed are installed before things get bad, any questions there?"

  Watching the room fall silent for a moment, I changed the screen again, this time displaying a name of thirty high-profile individuals, all of which around level 600.

  "Now, for our agreements with Russia. Three days ago, they sent two elite squadrons here to help us with the dirty work, they are called 'The Snake' and 'The Lion', with the Snake squad specializing in dungeons, assassinations, or killing fast targets, while the Lion squadron specializes in more heavy-footed monsters." Seeing their unease, I was quick to continue. "I know our relations with Russia haven't been the greatest over recent years, but it is time we set petty disputes behind us. For the survival of our world, we have to work together. I hope you all can understand that."

  Quickly raising his hand, a young, robed elven boy was quick to interject. "For them to send over two of their top three squadrons.. we must have paid quite a price."

  Nodding, I updated their screens with images of a contract. "That is correct. The Eversor Company, as well as many other top defense companies will be expanding to Russia."

  Almost immediately, several congressmen flinched.

  "Before you get ahead of yourself, Lockheed and Aerojet Rocketdyne refused the deal, and will be remaining US-exclusive."

  ""Phew..."" Several people instantly let out breaths of relief.

  But I understood why. While the current minister of Russia was quite well-liked by people globally, their previous one was akin to Rubichev, a minister who, during the early days of the Great Split, killed tens of millions of his own people, and fired several nuclear armaments at the US before being assassinated by a 'third-party'.

  But we no longer had a choice but to associate with powerful allies.

  And so, without objection, the meeting continued.

  Overviewing the many specifics of the Russian alliance, we discussed our plans moving forward, the use of the new, nigh-endless defense budget, the initiation of new projects such as public academies aimed at ensuring everyone who can awaken, does, and the proposal of a draft for non-combat military positions.

  All-in-all, things were looking pretty good.

  But one thing we needed to keep in mind was that time wasn't our friend.

  With the rank-up only getting worse with each and every day, and no mercenaries coming to Earth through the system, we were gambling against the house. One day, the dice wouldn't roll in our favor, and we would lose the high ground... One day we would be forced to go into hiding.. and our world would regress to the days of old...

  It was just a matter of time.

  But as I walked out of the meeting room that evening with a dark, thought-drowned expression, my mind was frozen on the image of dozens of monsters getting misted in the upper atmosphere barely a second after they dropped out of their gates.

  It was a display of power that took the voice of those who saw it away as if they saw the hand of god descend.

  A hand that I shook...

  Thinking back on it, my stomach twisted. When I first met her, I was certain she was simply a strong mercenary, after all she knew the tradition of dwarves, and acted the part...

  But the moment we touched hands, that view changed entirely. "Hooh..." Letting out a nervous breath, I looked down at my shaky, sweaty palm before closing my eyes and clenching a fist.

  The moment I shook hands with her, I felt as if I had teleported. As if revealing her true self to me, the moment we touched hands, space bent around us, all light ceased, and the crushing weight of infinity squeezed on me.

  Back then, it almost felt inspiring. Being able to greet such an unfathomably powerful being was the pleasure of all dwarves, throughout our history, our greatest power was connections to the powerful, whether through crafting them armor or weapons, or brewing them alcohol.

  But as time passed, that interaction sat heavier and heavier on my mind.. brewing a mix of anxiety and doubt that I did something wrong.

  Even though there was nothing I could do but hope that my impression was enough.

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