How To Heal A Broken World?

Liam once again found himself standing in the presence of the most powerful people in the entire world.

Unlike the previous time, however, all seven had been gathered now. Their crushing gazes were all trained at him as they waited for him to deliver his report on the entire situation.

And that wasn't even the worst of things. Along with the literal 7 people with the highest status in their respective continents being gathered in this room, there were also the 7 most feared people of each continent.

The 7 world enders were standing behind the headmaster of the continent in which they originated.

Julius, the Greatest Knight. Belonging to the continent of Europe.

Kaguya, the Demon Slayer. Belonging to the continent of Asia.

Joan, the Saint. A tall woman with dark skin and an Afro. Her outfit was reminiscent of one you'd imagine an African goddess wearing. Belonging to the continent of Africa.

Arjuna, the Admiral of the Caribbean. He was a tall, muscular man who had large facial hair and was dressed in a blue fleet admiral coat, adorned with gold badges, buttons, and chains. He belonged to the continent of South America.

Asteria, the Star Knight of Heaven. She was tall, with long black hair. She had slightly Asian features. She also had black eyes with gold specks within her irises. She belonged to the artificially created false continent, Faux. Erected as the replacement for the lost 7th continent, Antarctica.

Arthur. The Dragon King. He was a fair height, with brown hair, and dressed in heavy knight's armor. There was a massive greatsword leaning against the wall next to him. Belonging to Australia.

And finally, there was Ezekiel. The Knight of Freedom. He was shorter compared to the other world enders but had an imposing aura. He was dark-skinned with short hair and pierced ears.

That was the array of people that Liam found himself standing in front of. The 14 most powerful people in the world, all gathered in one room.

There was a dark silence that fell over the room as the 14 people all exchanged dark, mysterious, and heated glances with one another.

Liam's entire body was trembling.

His situation wasn't helped by the fact that these 14 people were all enemies. While technically they had been forced into an alliance via the covenant that bound them all, that alliance would not last long. In fact, it would probably be broken by the end of this meeting.

The idea that the 7 continents were "allie's" was just the façade that was kept up to placate the public.

The same way the conflict between mages and non-mages was covered up, so was this.

In truth, a cold war was brewing underneath the façade of peace.

"CAWWW!"

The silence was broken by the loud and screechy caw! of a crow.

The black bird with eyes that resembled the void of space was seated atop Mira's shoulder. The headmaster of Europe's magic academy, as well as the secret head of the Church.

What the Church was, or its goal as an organization, was something that no one besides the very highest in power in Europe knew. In fact, the imperial family of the Holy European Empire was in the dark as to the true goals and actions of the Church.

That made Mia an enigmatic and powerful figure.

After her crow broke the silence, Mia cleared her throat and began to speak. "Well then. There's no need to be shy. All of us are familiar with each other."

"Now's not the time for jokes in such bad taste." Snapped at the man with red hair, who sat across from her. His name was Odin. He was the headmaster of Australia's Magic Academy, known for his flaring hot temper. The situation that had just transpired over the course of this singular day was enough to keep that temper flared for ages.

"For once I agree with the damned bonehead." The Asian man—Milo—said, leaning forward in his seat and glancing at everyone sitting at the table around him.

"Bonehead? Just what the hell—" Just as Odin was about

"I get that your entire continent took a major blow from this attack, but that's no reason to snap at everyone around here." Constantly being provoked, Odin snapped his head around to stare at Mira this time, a fire behind them.

"Just what the fuck do you know?"

Mia smiled. "Your capital, Sydney, was brought to its knees. The 'Fangless Python' attack not only managed to nearly overcome your forces, but their propaganda campaign managed to sway the minds of a majority of your population. You're currently under a scramble to prevent more rebellions from throwing your continent into anarchy."

Mia ruthlessly laid out all of the weaknesses of Odin's continent and the true precariousness of his situation bare for everyone to see.

Odin's eye twitched. A blazing hot aura descended over the room in an instant, as his expression darkened.

Julius's hands fell to his blade.

Arthur gripped his great sword.

"And with all that going on, I still spared the time to come meet here with you all." Contrary to how angry he looked, he spoke calmly. "And you act as if the situation within your own continent is any better."

However, he knew that the restraint he showed was just the calm before the storm.

"It will always be better than the second-rate excuse of a "continent" that you run—"

Odin lunged forward.

And within the span of a singular second, chaos ensued.

Odin lunged forward; however, Mia did not move from her seat. In fact, she just stared at him with the same smile plastered on her face.

Just before Odin could get close, he was intercepted by Julius, who drew his blade with a cold expression on his face.

At the same time, Arthur appeared between Julius and Odin, moving inhumanly fast for someone within so much armor.

At the same time that Julius drew his blade, Arthur pulled his great sword out of his sheath.

CLANG!!

SCREECH!

The sound of metal-on-metal contact filled the room as sparks flew from the contact of blades. Auras clashed and created a windstorm.

In a single second, the room, which had been in a calm state before, was now on the verge of descending into pure chaos.

Of course, it didn't seem that way. It would take someone with insane perception and observation skills to actually notice the precarious state of the room.

The World Enders, who had all ever so slightly switched to stand in positions that would allow them to enter battle more swiftly.

The slight rise in pressure inside of the room as everybody began to flex their mana as a sort of intimidation tactic.

Or the fact that the rest of the headmasters who seemed to remain calm and not react to the situation had shifted and began to give out secret orders to their respective World Enders.

It would take someone with eyes that saw everything and a brain that processed things at the speed of light to see every last sign.

That person would have to be beyond a regular mage. Nearing the level of being all-seeing, to have picked up on all of the signs.

Or their name had to have been Liam.

Liam's eyes glowed a faint purple as he analyzed the situation inside of the room. His glowing eyes did not miss a single detail. They didn't miss the single shifting of a molecule as someone moved.

His ears didn't miss a single vibration as sound waves passed through the air.

And his senses didn't miss the shift in the air as the headmasters and World Enders began to flex their own aura.

He saw it all.

If I don't do something, a battle might break out. Liam thought to himself as he tried to quell the shaking of his body.

And I might actually die.

A cold chill traveled throughout his body as he imagined the consequences of a battle between the 14 strongest people in the entire world.

If they did start fighting, you wouldn't be alive to see it. A voice in his head snapped him back to reality. So preferably, get a move on and stop said battle.

Liam's eyes returned to analyzing the situation in the room.

Julius and Arthur were standing in the center of the room, blades locked with one another.

"I have a lot of respect for you, Greatest Knight. Even despite your failure to apprehend that fiend Wrath. However, my respect for you will not excuse any attempts to disrespect the headmaster of Australia. Drop your weapon." His words dripped with unspoken threats.

"I admit that my failure to catch Wrath is truly something shameful. However, I am known as the Greatest Knight for a reason. As long as you are a knight, you will always be seen as second-rate to me." Julius's voice echoed with the same unspoken threats. "And as the Greatest Knight, I will not tolerate any attempted attacks on the one I serve. Drop your weapon."

Arthur's expression didn't change one bit; however, Liam's eyes could read the smile that he was giving internally. "Thankfully, I am a king, not a knight."

The tension between those two was rising quickly.

Meanwhile, Jayden, the headmaster of Faux, who was sitting at the table with his legs kicked up, turned around to talk to the headmaster of North America.

"Can you believe these guys?" He pointed his thumb towards the steaming Odin and the smiling Mira in a "get a load of this guy manner.

However, Francis wasn't having any of it. "Don't get so high and over your head, young man." His tone was cold and detached. "Do you think that just because you rose to power through an illegitimate continent, it gives you the right to stand with any of us?"

Jayden laughed; however, behind him, Asteria's eyes flashed dangerously.

At the same time, Ezekiel took a step off of the wall he had been leaning on.

The two stared at each other dangerously, their eyes both conveying the exact same message.

Don't get involved in this if you know what's good for you.

And on the other side of the room, Cato was staring into a wall, silently. The headmaster of Japan's Theta Magic Academy, who had been missing for the entire time the rest of the headmasters were inside of this room, making plans and reacting to the attacks all around the world.

The only reason he hadn't been lynched upon his arrival was a mix between the fact that the covenant not being broken suggested Cato not appearing was actually out of his control and the fact that Kaguya had explained the situation at Theta.

The headmasters of South America and Africa were the only two that still had their heads somewhat in the game. Although they were sharing hushed words every now and then.

After a few more seconds, they turned their gazes to Liam, as if they were expecting something.

Flinching slightly before taking a deep breath and swallowing, Liam opened his mouth and began to speak.

He wasn't sure if they would listen; however, it was his best chance at controlling the situation before things got out of hand.

"T-The total report of the entire situation. Beginning at around 8 A.M. in the morning, simultaneous attacks were launched on all 7 continents. The attackers were a rebel force that called themselves the Fangless Python. A bit redundant, considering pythons don't kill their prey through fangs." As Liam spoke in a shaky voice, stuttering and having voice cracks during his speech, all of the headmasters and World Enders who had been on the brink of conflict a moment before turned their attention to Liam.

Having all the attention suddenly directed back towards him nearly made him freeze; however, he somehow managed to get his words out.

"They launched attacks on residential areas, major capitals, and many other places throughout the seven continents. Every single attack that they launched was framed in a way that made it look like it was done by mages." Liam's eyes darted to his tablet, which he was frantically swiping through.

"They also launched simultaneous propaganda campaigns against mages. These campaigns were extremely successful and have now caused a major divide in the public. As Mira stated, many areas are on the brink of rebellion. If not quelled swiftly, the momentum from this attack will carry over into a problem that will explode all around the world.

Liam flipped his tablet over to show everyone. It was filled with social media posts, forums, news articles, and discussions that were all detailing the horror of today's event.

The major consensus was that this came as a result of mages. Liam tapped the screen twice, and new information appeared.

"As for the total number of casualties, of the earth's 16 billion people, over 50 million casualties have been counted; however, the numbers are quickly rising."

Liam took a deep breath before moving on to the next part of his report.

"As for what these attacks were targeting, we don't yet have the full picture; however, it is safe to say that the Fangless Python's main goal with these attacks was to destabilize society. They launched these propaganda campaigns and attacks in order to cast doubt upon mages while cementing their ideologies a spot in the world to grow".

"They also launched many attacks specifically on the Magic Academies, completely ignoring royal families as if they knew the true power of a continent lay within its Magic Academy. They seemed to know that the royal family was just a figurehead." With every sentence, the expressions of the headmasters worsened as they lapsed into deep contemplation.

"This group is extremely mysterious. We have no idea as to their true scale, and the tech that they utilized is tech that has never been seen before. Including samples of a potentially new species said to have come from Antarctica." Liam flipped over his tablet once more and showed everyone a picture of a plant that took the shape of chains.

"It seems to have the ability to restrict mana, and it is still an autotroph, despite being able to pounce on anything with mana like a predator. It's been taken in to be studied by the Mages Association, who will give us their reports soon. As for their leader and army, we know that they are composed of a large force of non-magicians who used anti-mana tech. They also have multiple generals who are named after Greek and Roman heroes. According to Kaguya and Julius, who engaged with them in direct combat, they had the ability to give World Enders a challenge".

"Even though we were forced to fight conservatively, they were without a doubt formidable opponents." Julius added.

"Finally, their leader, Prometheus, left a letter for this meeting, which I will summarize now."

Many of the headmasters gasped in shock.

How did Prometheus know this meeting was being held?

They waited in tense silence as Liam cleared his throat and began to speak.

"These sparks will burst into flames. Flames that will never be quenched until they devour the entire world."

Silence descended in the room.

"In summary, the attacks launched by the Fangless Python have left the entire world in a precarious and near-broken state."

Liam finished his summary and took a step back, wanting to collapse.

After a long bit of silence, the headmaster of Africa, Myra, pushed her glasses back before asking,

"How do you heal a broken world?"

The person to respond was the headmaster of South America. He ran his hand through his slicked-back hair. "We display an image of strength and resilience in a time of weakness and doubt." He said it as if it was the simplest conclusion to come to ever.

"And how do we do that?" Mira asked, clutching the chain at her neck.

Her eyes were locked with that of her crows, as if they were having their own mini conversation.

"Simple. We stand tall amidst the rebuild and show the entire world that we won't be set back by the act of terrorists. While we set public opinion straight and rebuild, we fearlessly dive back into regularly scheduled programming. We need to hold a big event that attempts to distract as well as restore morale. Something that will help us win the favor of the public once more." He smiled. "And what's even better for that, then—"

"The Seven Star Magic Tournament."