The next day, David returned to duty at the Space Force. Before leaving, he was caught up by the latest news on TV. Dianne and Darla were also watching it together. There was a press conference involving the Department of Defense and the National Space Agency. A woman with shoulder-length wavy auburn hair could be seen among the line of officials, and she was the Minister of Defense named Imelda.
She gave a statement that an unusual aurora had been discovered in the northern region. It had appeared at exactly 6 a.m. and was still present until now. The aurora was pitch black accompanied by blood red. Previously, the National Space Agency had already known about a similar phenomenon the previous night, and the investigation was still continuing to determine whether there was a connection between the two. Imelda stated that because the form of this aurora was mysterious and there was a potential threat to the nation's defense in outer space, she would immediately coordinate with the Space Force.
"That aurora looks frightening, mommy, daddy..." Darla worried.
"My dear, I hope you'll be alright with this assignment later..." his wife rubbed her stomach, which was beginning to grow larger.
"Don't worry, my love..." David also rubbed Dianne's stomach and kissed her.
After arriving at the office, Murphy immediately approached him with a rather tense expression.
"Sir, did you see the important news this morning? Minister of Defense Imelda has just arrived here! Let's go to the hall now!"
As they arrived, the place was already crowded with officials, including Imelda. The meeting began with roughly the same explanation as the one on the news earlier, but in greater detail. The aurora was located in the exosphere, where it was uncommon because most auroras were found in the lower layer.
"The main investigation will be carried out by the National Space Agency. However, we from the Department of Defense will assign the Space Force to continuously monitor the possible threat potential of this aurora on our nation's digital communication systems." Imelda explained.
After the meeting ended, David returned to his office and studied auroras again in general and their relation to the ones from last night and this morning. Suddenly, he remembered the colors of those auroras. David felt that he had seen them somewhere before he parted ways with Johann.
"Was it you who sent this message to me, Johann?" he murmured.
During lunch break, David got some coffee in the shared break room. Murphy approached him again while carrying his tablet.
"Sir, are you worried about this phenomenon right now? I once said that we never know what kind of threat we would face while serving here, and only today do I feel that there might be a danger from that aurora..."
"There's no need to worry, Murphy. We and everyone involved will find out soon." David sipped the coffee.
"Sir, do you remember the incident a week ago when an asteroid fell in the national park? When it was investigated, it turned out that the asteroid most likely came from Planet Venus. Researchers from the National Space Agency found a red crystal inside it, and after examining it, that crystal had the highest level of radioactivity ever. They speculate that Planet Venus holds a huge potential for this energy, and one of the largest energy companies in this country plans to build a spacecraft to mine that stone..." Murphy explained through his tablet.
David put down his coffee, borrowed the tablet for a moment, and looked more closely at the shape of the stone. Instantly, he remembered Johann's story about his own background in the past reality.
"I-Is something wrong, sir?"
"Nothing. Let's focus on this aurora issue first, Murphy..." David gave the tablet back.
That night after having dinner together, David returned to his study to learn more about the venusian stone through his computer. While leaning back and stretching his body, he suddenly noticed the The Mayhem magazine beside his computer that he had brought from the event at the convention building before. He picked it up and read it page by page.
David increasingly unabled to believe that most of what was in the magazine had happened in his previous life as Hellraider. The world of Hell, Grivendal, and High Heaven were exactly the same as what he had gone through together with Johann. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door, and Dianne opened it.
"My dear, would you like to sleep with me?"
"You go to sleep first, Dianne. I still have some work to finish..." David hid back the magazine.
"Alright. Don't stay up until morning, dear." Dianne walked back.
David continued reading it until finished. Then he returned to his computer to dig deeper into The Mayhem, starting from its story from the very beginning, the studio that made it, and who the developers behind it were. Until late at night, David kept digging through that information. Suddenly, he was startled by a noisy sound coming from behind the backyard.
David walked out of the room where the lights had already been turned off by his wife. He summoned his magnum pistol and then slowly walked toward the back.
"Who's there?!?! Try to break into this house and you'll die!"
As he turned into the kitchen, David immediately pointed his pistol with an angry expression toward a person who had indeed opened the back door.
"W-Waittt L-Lord D-Daviddd...!!! I-It's us from Grivendaaalll...!!!" said someone whose silhouette had a tall, large build similar to David.
David, who recognized the voice, turned on the kitchen light, and it turned out to be Gruzhnil, whom he knew before. He was still wearing the same armor. Several more people then appeared through the doorway, and they turned out to be Glynpatra, Mendicore, and Sherubiel.
"I'm very happy to meet you again, Lord David..." Glynpatra smiled.
David brought them to the basement because he did not want his wife to wake up and be startled by unfamiliar people visiting him. They all sat around one table.
"How did you all get here?" David opened the conversation with his old companions. Mendicore then floated closer to him.
"It all began when Sherubiel and I were immediately expelled from High Heaven by the other angels under Geriel's orders, My Lord. The two of us returned to Grivendal and waited together for You and Johann to return. However, after more than a month, there was still no sign of either of you returning. I formed the hypothesis that perhaps either you or Johann had been returned to home planet. We only knew that Johann came from Planet Earth. Because the situation was urgent, with the help of the Grivendal Space Agency, we worked hard to search for Earth and finally found it. But it turned out to be very, very far away. My portal could not reach it. However, for some reason, Sherubiel used a strand of Johann's hair found on his bed in our old house to guide my portal toward Earth. Long story short, we successfully arrived here, My Lord." Mendicore explained. David only nodded.
"D-Do you know what happened to Johann, My Lord?" Sherubiel's eyes became gloomy.
David remained silent for a moment while letting out a long sigh and began telling them what had happened after High Heaven and how he had been thrown here. They all stared in astonishment and tried hard to believe David's story.
"S-So... Johann is still stranded in that place called the Primordial Plane? H-How can we get there to save him?" Mendicore asked. Everyone fell silent, including David.
"Great Lord David... We beg you! Please help us in Grivendal! The situation there is not getting any better. My people have lost their greatest protector figure. The Graendall can no longer fulfill that hope anymore, My Lord!" Glynpatra began to sob.
"T-That's true, My Lord... I-I understand that you are now happy with your family here... B-But, we desperately need your guidance! The other planets have separated themselves from our planet ever since the tragedy of the emperor's betrayal. I cannot simply force them to submit to our planet again. If your power can restore everything, we will help you search for Johann again, Lord David..." Gruzhnil pleaded.
"I will not simply go there immediately if I want to save everyone..." David said firmly.
They all looked confused by his statement. David then took out The Mayhem magazine and placed it on the table. Gruzhnil immediately began reading it, followed by Glynpatra and the others. Once again, they could hardly believe what they were seeing on every page of the magazine.
"W-What does this mean??? W-Why are all of us inside this book??? Please explain this to all of us, My Lord!" Gruzhnil asked.
"All of you, including me, are characters in this game. Johann was previously a player of that game. He was the one who knew everything about what was inside it..."
"W-Wait a moment, Lord David! If that's true, why did Johann tell very differently to us??? Why would Johann hide the truth from all of us except You???" Glynpatra cried again. Gruzhnil tried to comfort his adopted niece.
"Please forgive me beforehand, but I would like to express my opinion. I think what Johann did was the right thing. If he had told all of us back then, we most likely would not have believed him at all and would have thought he was just making things up. I think he was trying to build a genuine relationship with all of us even though he already knew that we were merely characters in that game." Mendicore explained. David nodded in agreement.
"T-Then how can we return there and save Johann, My Lord?" Sherubiel asked.
"We have to follow the storyline inside this game..." he said.
David then stood up and looked at all of them.
"I've been secretly plotting it."