As the emergency meeting began, two glowing communication orbs sat beside the throne—one linked to the Elven Council, the other to the Dwarven High Seat.
King Leontius stood solemnly before us all.
"Miss Seraphina, Miss Kaelyn—report the current situation," he said.
Miss Sera stepped forward. "Your Majesty, at the center of the Central Street Market lies an enormous spherical crystal. It's acting as a dungeon core—unlike anything we've seen before. The mana it's releasing is so dense, it's blanketing the city in thick fog and spawning monsters nonstop."
"A dungeon core that large?" King Leontius furrowed his brow, clearly troubled by the implications.
One of the nobles stood up abruptly. "Then we must destroy it at once!"
Miss Kaelyn shook her head firmly. "With respect, that's impossible. A dungeon core of that magnitude cannot be destroyed by conventional weapons. This isn't the same kind of crystal the Hero Party brought back during their last expedition. It's much denser... far more dangerous."
"Then what do you suggest, Miss Kaelyn?" another noble snapped, the room quickly growing tense.
Suddenly, the voice of an elf echoed from one of the orbs. "Where is the Hero Party?"
King Leontius answered with calm resolve. "I ordered them to stay where they are. They're deep within the demon realm. Even if they began their return now, they wouldn't arrive in time."
"Is this some kind of joke?" the elf barked. "Without them, how do you propose to defend the capital, King Leontius?"
The dwarves joined in, their tone more measured but just as concerned. "Your Majesty, do you have any kind of plan?"
A long silence followed. Then, King Leontius spoke.
"We will begin evacuating the capital."
The chamber erupted in protest.
"Evacuate? Are we to abandon everything—our homes, our history, our people's pride?!"
King Leontius raised a hand, silencing the voices.
"This city... it's already becoming an artificial dungeon. If we can't destroy the core soon, the fog will grow thicker. Mana will become uncontrollable, and more powerful monsters will spawn. Eventually, not even the palace will be safe."
The dwarven representative spoke again. "We will do what we can. Our lands will take in as many refugees as possible."
The elf replied bitterly, "So this is how it ends? We simply wait for the Hero Party to defeat the Demon Lord and return to reclaim the capital?"
"At worst... yes, Lord Eril," the King admitted. "Unless we can find another way—somewhere to hold out while we work on destroying the core."
Amidst the uncertainty, I stepped forward.
"If I may speak, Your Majesty..."
All eyes turned toward me.
"I suggest postponing the evacuation... at least for a few days. During that time, we rally the Adventurers Guild, the Royal Magicians, Miss Sera, and Miss Kaelyn. We launch an all-out effort to destroy the core."
King Leontius narrowed his gaze. "What exactly do you mean, Alve?"
I took a deep breath. "If we begin evacuating now, we'll suffer massive casualties. The fog is thick, and high-ranking monsters are already appearing. Even without a boss monster emerging, we risk losing half the city's population just trying to flee."
The hall fell silent. The weight of my words hung heavy in the air.