Chaos.

That was the state that was bestowed upon the Capital that fateful day.

The City was in flames and echoes of anguish echoed from within it. The residents fled for their dear lives as destruction spread throughout—rapidly consuming everything in its path.

As buildings crumbled, lives were snuffed out in an instant. Men, women, children; the devastation everywhere did not discriminate. It took the lives and future of all of them without making any exception.

Monsters emerged from nothingness—as if appearing from thin air—to attack the City in an overwhelming horde. They broke down all that stood in their way, not intelligent enough to organize any sort of direction.

Their only purpose was chaos, and they performed it well.

If it had only been Monsters that attacked, perhaps there could be some semblance of hope for these people—these helpless people of the Capital.

But… there was more.

Dragons—two of them—hovered above the great city, partaking in the banquet of chaos that was being held. A single breath of theirs was able to destroy buildings, and their control over the aerial landscape made them invincible. Nothing could stop them… and so they continued.

On and on.

Amidst all of this chaos, a certain group of five watched from a rather tall building. They took in the tragedy that they were privy to—the fall of the precious haven for humanity in the harsh world of H'Trae. But these people couldn't care less. After all, they were strangers.

"The damage is a lot more than I expected. This is… damn…" One of the deserters whispered as he stared at the burning buildings that were closest to his position.

He could hear wailings and tons of cries from beneath him, and it only grew worse.

The sickening effect of the City's destruction was the cry of so many innocents. Their death was towards a good cause, and not all of them would perish, but still… it was very hard to watch and listen to their screams.

"When are we going to assist them? I think we should go no—"

"Wait a few moments more…" Felicia muttered, her eyes fixed on the magnificent sight of devastation that was spread out before her.

It wasn't that she enjoyed the destruction of lives and properties so much, but her plan was simply a pragmatic one.

'We need to make them desperate enough. A few more seconds, and we'll swoop in…'

She and her allies would be the heroes, and by the time they were done dispatching all of the creatures, they would all be recognized by the people of the City.

It was perfect in every sense of the word.

'Justin, Clark, Trisha, and Belle agreed to be on our side, so they are also on standby. We're the ones who get to shine during this period, but they'll serve as help to rescue and mitigate the damage done.'

Everything had been planned already, and Felicia was glad to see everything going exactly according to her masterplan.

"Okay, everyone…" She turned to all of her allies.

Like the obedient dogs that they were, all of them waited for their orders, their faith completely placed in her. It made Felicia happier than ever.

"... Let's go!"

**************

The plan was simple, and it was executed that way as well.

Felicia and her team would be scattered to various parts of the City, aiding people and defeating powerful Monsters in order to be recognized by the people as the Heroes who stopped such a great tragedy.

They would be heroes in all senses of the word.

And so, as Felicia raced throughout the City, she spotted people who required help, and also the Monsters who desired to do them harm.

Smiling to herself, she dashed forward and prepared her twin stilettos—her preferred choice of weapons.

She was also donning light armor—all of them provided for by the Reaper Group.

Right now, she was overflowing with so much power that it felt too unreal. Still, she wondered how she would fare against a Monster.

Her opponents were a pair of Orcs—massive, brutish, tough, and immensely strong.

Felicia wondered how the Reaper Group got their hands on so many Monsters and transported them to the Capital without notice, but chose not to think too deeply about the matter.

Anything was possible through Magic, after all.

~SWUUSH!~

In quick movements, she was able to dispatch such hulking entities with relative ease. 'Ah… that easy?'

It wasn't that they were weak… she was just strong.

She was getting a lot of assistance from her equipment, but her physical abilities weren't particularly lacking either.

'At this rate, we should be done faster than I calculated. That's good…' Scouring for her next destination, Felicia looked around while her thoughts were still mulling over the possibility of such an organized tragedy like this.

She already knew there was a Black Market and Criminal Underbelly in this world. Yes, it was taken down, but there was always a good chance that they weren't fully gone. If she had to guess, the Reaper Group was the one running it now.

'If that's the case, they could use some unknown transportation network, forbidden Magic, or any other means, to achieve this grand scheme of theirs.'

According to the Reaper Group's supposed leader—Rebal—this plan had been in the works for a very long time, so it only made sense that the Monsters and all the other resources necessary for such a large scale attack had been gathered over the years.

'Even the Dragons…' Felicia looked up and saw the two creatures circling the City, creating artificial destruction to further increase the fear of the people.

'I can't kill even one of those things, but… thankfully we don't have to fight them.'

The Dragons were slaves of the Reaper Group. All they had to do was pretend as if they used some Skill or Spell on them so they fought themselves and vanished in one huge explosion.

That way, they would still be recognized as the heroes of the Capital.

'Yes, this whole thing does seem a little excessive. A lot of people will die, but at the very least, they're already being evacuated.' Felicia thought to herself, trying to sate whatever was left of her conscience.

In her eyes, the Reaper Group was the real villain here. She and her allies were simply the heroes doing their best to mitigate losses and to ensure as many people as possible survived.

'And once we're done… we'll be recognized as the Heroes!'

**********

[Meanwhile…]

"Look at those fools… hahaha!" "Indeed! Such fools!"

Kat'erin and Shai'ya stood and watched from the outskirts of the Capital, witnessing as the great city was now in flames thanks to the excessiveness of the humans who had their own nefarious intentions in mind.

It was very easy to manipulate gullible humans—especially those that showed conceit.

"Ah, it seems it's about time for the evacuation…" Kat'erin said with a wide grin, glancing at Shai'ya, who seemed overly excited for what would come next.

The two then proceeded to glance at Reta, who was standing behind them, smiling lovingly at the two of them.

She was completely under their control.

"Now, then…" Kat'erin grinned devilishly. "... Shall we begin our task?"