"Calm down Quideos, your predictions have never been so messy" the king rose one hand, this action doing little to appease the raving prophet, currently flailing his bloodied hands and staining the floor of the throne room.
"Sir, it is simply because that is a prediction that is nigh too much even for me to bear, and unlike others, it keeps coming back! Every night, every time I close my eyes, no matter for how long, it all flashes inside of my mind without end!
It is all that I can see, I am certain this fate is one that is nearly unshakable, if not actions are taken as soon as possible, it will all come true in the exact manner that I see!" Quideos Audit began walking in circles as he explained this.
"Your majesty! Have you heard of a young team of adventurers that go by the name of 'Ladies Of All Around'?" he suddenly spun on his heels, as though he had just remembered something important.
"Never heard of such a poorly named team" the king reached for a scepter and lightly tapped it on the ground prompting two armoured men to suddenly appear from pathways hidden from sight.
Quideos didn't react, but the servant still standing at attention near the entrance felt like the air had gotten heavier, he was seriously regretting going after the madman.
"You two have better knowledge of that sort of thing, ever heard of them?" the roitelet questioned the two men, the servant turned to look at them, the king was completely unbothered unlike him, the prophet probably wouldn't care even if a dragon suddenly crashed into the room anyways.
Agilulf Wanneck stroked his white beard, his fingers adorned with countless rings forged out of various precious metals, he was dressed mostly in bright red, the most eye-catching being the cloak, truly a piece of clothing only a king could wear.
The vast amount of layers gave him a larger presence, the servant could only admire this old king, especially more so when seeing his two closest guards, Shieldmaster Bough and Halbardier Pierre-Ornée.
The first was a real giant by human standards, looking about two and half meter tall, he carried a shield that was even more enormous than he was, and that was it, it was said that even the breath of a wind wyvern couldn't make him move at all.
Those who had never seen him and only heard of the shield-carrying man couldn't imagine just how awfully minuscule anyone else looked beside him.
The second wasn't small by any means, but much leaner-looking, carrying a halberd, all of the guards in this palace yearned to achieve even half of his skill, tending to literally remain his Bough's shadow, the servant knew little about Pierre-Ornée.
Both were garbed in the same copper-coloured armour as the guards outside, the halbardier was pretty much wearing the exact same suit same for some minor differences, Bough on the other hand, famed for his defences and unshakable nature, had been equipped with much more advanced armour, no weak points could be exploited, apart maybe from the slits of his helm, still, it was doubtful whether that would work.
The young man had only ever seen them from a distance, he had only ended up doing the presentations to the king because he had followed Quideos, he wasn't normally supposed to end up here.
He awaited the two greatest warriors of the court to start speaking, what sort of person were they? He couldn't conceal his curiosity.
An uncharacteristic, creepy chuckle came out of Bough as he nodded his head.
"They have been working themselves out, their leader has been given a key allowing to challenge the chromatic dungeon's boss, something of that sort if I remember correctly" he leaned up against his shield as he mimed the act of rubbing his chin with his helm on.
"That is a bit off, 'boss' could be a bastardisation, we have no clue what that key actually does, I have gotten multiple spies on that group actually, it is the team led by an unwanted" Pierre-Ornée corrected, his voice raspy and unpleasant to the ears.
"Oh, it's that one? I know what you are speaking of Quideos, yes, yes, two human girls, an elf, a dark elf and a red ogress, is that right?" the king leaned forward with a slight smile, he knew it well, he kept himself informed on unwanted presences in his country, and since that girl was the only one at the moment, it was well within his memory, although that team name was new information.
He repositioned his crown and gestured for Quideos to continue with what he was saying.
"My vision revealed to me that a king from long ago would soon awaken, this awakening is what would truly kickstart all of the other events leading to our end, what lays deep within this dungeon is in relation with this, you need to make sure they succeed in their endeavour" the prophet was sounding a whole lot more composed right now, he actually sounded calm and reasonable.
"Can we not simply stop them from using that key? Or take that key and send our own elite troops to deal with whatever is inside?" the roitelet asked despite knowing that it most likely wasn't possible.
Quideos Audit was rather unhinged, but he was definitely being awfully serious at the moment, he looked just like before he started spiralling into madness.
It was well known that his visions of the future were actually very clear, he simply wasn't allowed to be clear when communicating them, being forced to leave out details or be cryptic, only he was allowed to know the full truth of his revelations.
The fact that he was actually allowed to speak of someone's death, and even precise how it would happen, meant that the vision was so terrifyingly bad that even that wasn't considered as a big piece of information.
"No, doing so won't work, the only way is for them to succeed on their own, if they cannot, then… We better prepare for pandemonium!"
"Well then, perhaps it is time to pull out our summoning rituals out of the dust"
"Your majesty, the unwanteds summoned are rubbish nine times out of then" Pierre-Ornée reminded.
"They can't handle any crushing" agreed Bough.
"Manpower is manpower, let us prepare as though we were going to go to war! I will trust you Quideos, I will trust that you haven't lost all that once made you the man you once were"