If there was one thing Arthur learned quickly after meeting the Narians, it was that he could always count on Nadia to shatter any awkward or uncomfortable silence. Whether she did it on purpose or not, he had no idea, but he was grateful all the same. She had definitely saved him from having to come up with something smart to say after he blasted that poor, dead tree.

  And how did she do it?

  Easily. After her initial shock wore off, she turned to him with wide, pleading eyes and asked him to fire again. Or to at least show her another trick.

  He would have obliged, too, if Garth hadn’t stepped in yet again. While still trying to be overly respectful, the leader reminded them that they were deep in enemy territory, and maybe using attacks that loud wasn’t the smartest choice when they were supposed to be resting.

  Despite Nadia’s pout, Arthur agreed. If his plan worked, she would see him in action sooner or later anyway.

  Afterward, Garth invited him to join them at their temporary camp, where he got to officially meet the rest of the team. And by ‘meet’, he meant that all six Narians approached him and bowed to the “Great Spirit” sent by the Father.

  It was awkward, embarrassing, and Arthur never wanted to experience it again, even though he knew it was wishful thinking. They were already treating him like a major religious figure, and unless he somehow managed to disappoint them, he doubted anything would change once he encountered more of their people.

  All this, of course, only fueled Athena’s amusement, who, for some reason, decided to hide inside his hull. Betrayed by his drone once again.

  “…just returning from a two-week-long scouting operation, oh Great Spirit,” Garth explained once the excitement had settled enough for Arthur to finally ask some questions.

  This answer, however, made him wonder.

  “What are. You scouting?” he asked, nearly managing a full sentence without pauses.

  “The progression of the corruption, what else?” Nadia replied before anyone else could. “Isn’t that obvious?”

  Arthur would have rolled his eyes if he had any. “Not what I. Meant. What exactly are you. Searching for?”

  “Primarily enemy movement and new sources of Hell corruption, Great Spirit,” Asteria—if he remembered the name right—answered. “We also try to check on the fortifications the demons have established in the past, but approaching those is risky, even for us.”

  Arthur hummed to himself. The first two were obvious in hindsight. But fortifications? Did she mean places like those ruins he had once attacked, where demons set up?

  He decided to ask them to elaborate, explaining that they should treat him as if he knew nothing about this world. This earned him more than a few confused looks, but no one really dared to question the will of the “Great Spirit.”

  At least his new status had its advantages. He could handle some embarrassment if things kept being this easy.

  What followed was a quite lengthy discussion in which Garth and Asteria told him a lot about what they had to deal with in the corrupted wilds.

  For one, they mentioned that corruption sources could take a few forms. Usually, it was a tree like the one he had destroyed, but sometimes it manifested as a tower made of flesh, or some kind of strange gems. Roots of Corruption were everywhere, though.

  The next thing they explained was that the deeper one ventured into Hell’s territory, the stronger the corruption was. Which, truth to be told, was quite obvious. What wasn’t obvious, though, was that in those faraway lands, demons often began constructing small fortifications around the sources.

  And based on what Garth told him, those places were nothing like the lone Demonic Tree Arthur had destroyed. Fortifications usually had up to, or even over, a thousand demons in the area for protection.

  Definitely not a place he wanted to visit at his current strength. It also explained why Garth and his team preferred to avoid those areas. Narians were fast and sneaky, but even they could be overwhelmed by sheer numbers.

  From there, they moved on to another subject, and once Arthur heard the mention of zones and the Forest again, he latched onto it like a lifeline.

  “A map,” he interrupted them mid-explanation. “Do you have one? I would like to. See the layout of the. Land.”

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  Garth and Asteria exchanged a look, but before either could respond, Nadia stepped in.

  “Let me! Let me!” she exclaimed. “I can show him.”

  Garth looked like he wanted to scold the girl again, but in the end, he just sighed and nodded.

  “Yay!” Nadia grinned and grabbed a long stick lying nearby. “So listen, Great Spirit. As scouts, we don’t use normal maps.” She tapped the side of her head. “It’s all up here. But I can still show you!”

  “Go on,” Arthur said.

  Nadia nodded and began drawing in the dirt. First, she created two rough shapes, one much, much bigger than the other. They were separated by a small gap.

  “This,”—she pointed to the larger shape—“is Northion. And the other is Southion. The two continents on our planet. We’re currently on the latter.”

  For a brief moment, Arthur just stared blankly at the girl. Northion and Southion? Did they really name their continents based on where they were located?

  Very creative, this lot.

  He didn’t have time to dwell on it, though. Nadia was already speaking again, after all.

  “Northion, I can’t tell you much about,” she admitted with a shrug. “It was lost to Hell long before I was even born. But Southion? Watch this.”

  And so she began to draw again. First, she added two rings inside the smaller continent, then marked a decent stretch of land along its eastern edge. Once done, she nodded to herself and looked up at his vessel.

  “The rings are the zones Garth mentioned,” she explained. “We barely ever go into the outermost one anymore. It’s too dangerous. The middle one?” She shrugged. “Not terrible, but not somewhere you want to be either. Too many fortifications by now.”

  Makes sense, I guess, Arthur mused. It should also mean that Hell can’t just pop up anywhere it wants, at least not anymore. It has to slowly expand its corruption.

  “The inner ring is where we are right now,” Nadia continued, frowning. “Most of the fighting happens here. Corruption is slower thanks to the Mother’s influence too, but we are still losing ground. Destroying a source takes a few squads, while Hell only needs a few days to replace it.”

  So that’s why this planet is on the brink of extinction. Damn… And some people thought we had it bad on Earth. Guess it’s true that things can always get worse.

  Arthur didn’t let that thought consume him, though. His attention returned to the crude map, and when Nadia didn’t speak again, he asked his final question.

  “And that area to the east?”

  Just like that, Nadia’s frown vanished, replaced by the largest of smiles. “That’s the Kingdom of Alinos. The last safe haven on Taran. My home!”

  And there’s the name, Arthur thought, his gaze still on the rough drawing. If Nadia got the scale right, then the Kingdom couldn’t be too large. Not that it really mattered now. No, something else caught his attention.

  “Your Kingdom…” he began, choosing his words carefully. “Corruption has never breached its border?”

  Nadia shook her head. “Nuh-uh. It can’t! The Mother protects us. See here?” She pointed to the southern edge of the kingdom. “That’s where her Forest of Spirits lies.” Then she traced the western and northern borders. “Those are the Alin Mountains. They’re blessed by the Mother, too. Corruption can touch them, but it barely makes any progress there.”

  “And the east?” he asked. “Nothing there?”

  She shrugged. “Just water. Honestly, no one knows why Hell never used it as a landing point. Must be the Mother’s work too!”

  A quick look at the others confirmed that they agreed with the girl. Yet another proof that faith meant a great deal to the Narians. Though if this Mother really was responsible for protecting their last safe haven, he couldn’t fault them.

  Yet, they were still losing the war for survival.

  Nadia herself had said as much. The Mother didn’t stop the corruption—she only slowed it. Meaning, sooner or later, Taran would fall entirely to the forces of Hell, just like his Vanguard report had warned.

  So I really was sent here to save an entire world.

  If Arthur had had any doubts before, they were gone now. He still couldn’t understand why a random dead guy from Earth was chosen to become some kind of secret agent slash savior, but did it really matter now?

  No. It didn’t.

  He was here now, and his mission was as clear as the sky above. To do everything he could to save this dying planet. Could he succeed? He had no idea. But he was going to try anyway.

  After all, even if he didn’t think of himself as a savior, this was his chance at a second life. A chance to maybe one day return to Earth and find out what had happened to the few faces he could still remember.

  Failure here might mean losing this chance. He wouldn’t let that happen. Couldn’t let that happen.

  Well Athena… If we didn’t have a goal before, we definitely have one now. What do you say?

  A loud caw in his head answered him. He would have smiled if he could.

  That’s what I wanted to hear.

  With high spirits, Arthur turned his attention back to the Narians. He had one more important question he needed answered. It would pretty much decide how he moved forward.

  “What is your Kingdom’s current tactic. To retake your world?”

  When he voiced this question, Arthur hadn’t expected much. Those people had been losing ground for decades, if not longer. Still, given that they were doing missions like this, there had to be something they were trying to accomplish.

  And yet, as he looked at all the faces of the gathered Narians—even Nadia’s—he felt his nonexistent stomach drop. Heads bowed. Eyes averted. Not a single glance in his direction.

  Oh… Arthur muttered to himself. So there is no plan.

  That’s not good.

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