The Beacon of Substitution was a conference in which all four Guardians of Avancia participate in Solaguer. They will leave their region to their substitutes until further notice.

All Guardians must report immediately. The Beacon only happened two times in Avancia's history and was almost never used to the fact that a region might be in danger when the Guarian is not stationed.

A couple of minutes was all it took for all Guardians to assemble in the conference room of the palace. Zeus arrived first, followed by Gasha, Johnson, and then James.

"It's been a while," James bowed to the other three when he arrived. "I just heard about Lilith and her betrayal."

"Let's not talk about that right now," Zeus spoke softly. "We are needed by the king, and we shall listen to what he wants us to do."

"Of course," James said and bowed once more.

A few more minutes later and the Trinity of Power arrived at the conference hall. They sat in front of a long rectangular table where their chairs were elevated, looking like a throne.

Along their conference were the Top 20 Adventurers in Avancia. The first two seats in each of the longer sides of the table were reserved for the Guardians, the ten seats on the left were for the first top ten Adventurers, and the one on right was for the top eleven to twenty.

In the shorter part of the table, the opposite of the Trinity of Power was a seat reserved for the prime minister and the vice commanders of the Holy Crow and Raven Justice.

Almost all the members of the conference had taken their seat, except for two seats on the vice commanders' end of the table. The Adventurers started whispering amongst themselves, counting on how many there are at the moment.

Not a second later, the door opened and four people walked inside. Frederick, Luck, Midnight, and a young Eastern boy that weren't familiar with any of the ones inside.

"Freddie, my man!" Zeus greeted with a loud laugh. "You motherf*cker, sneaking inside this conference."

"I am only here because all the ones that are in the East are under my care," Frederick said.

"But do you have to bring so much people with you?" a woman from the left side spoke.

She stood and crossed her arms while looking at Frederick and the others with ill intentions. "One or two should've sufficed, but you chose to bring three. Isn't that stepping out of line, Guild Master Frederick?"

"Not at all, Guild Master Yvonne," Frederick replied with a chuckle. "It was the Trinity of Power who invited the four of us in this conference. I do not know the reason for it."

Yvonne scoffed. "And how bold of you to claim that all the delegates sent to the East are yours when two of them are from us, the League."

"But the League had lacked proper care for both of them, madam," Frederick said. "They chose our guild over yours fully knowing that we're an all male guild. Maybe you lacked something in one department. Maybe all departments?"

Yvonne slammed her hands on the wooden table. The people around them gasped at her actions. They watched the woman grit her teeth in anger, her face looking red and smoke seemed to come out of her ear.

"How dare you?!" Yvonne seethed.

When a fight looked like it was about to start, the king stood and cleared his throat, "Good morning to everyone. I will keep this meeting short for we need to be on our way."

Luck instantly pulled Frederick down to sit while Yvonne sat on her own, feeling ashamed on lashing out in the middle of the Beacon.

"What was that for?" Luck smirked. "Was that really necessary?"

"Why, yes of course," Frederick grinned. "See? She's very pissed. I like people getting pissed over nothing. It shows their true colors."

Luck only smirked and shifted his attention to King Leopold clapped who his hands once.

A screen that was shaped like a cube but displayed the same panel on all sides appeared. It was seated in the middle of the table, and on it was a picture of the world map.

"As you all know, we have sent eight delegates to the East for a diplomatic assignment," King Leopold continued. "And they too sent us eight diplomats. However, due to recent events, we have found that the East has been taken over by Malice."

A collective gasp of shock filled the room. When the Adventurers wanted to speak, the king raised his hands to stop them.

"The ones they sent, the envoys, turned into monsters that attacked the castle, killing servants, guards, and Adventurers in their wake. This raised a huge question in all of our heads until today when four of the envoys we sent to the East reported that Malice had taken over that part of the world."

"Impossible," Zeus said. "The East was in isolation. They practice cultivation and strong magic. How could Malice take over them just like that?"

"For now, we have no answer," King Leopold said honestly. "That is why we need everyone in here to cooperate. We will send an army to save the East, and our envoys there."

"And why?" Yvonne raised her hand. "You know, your majesty, the East had been silent for all these years. How come they'll attack us now? Or soon? What I think is that the ones who reported this was just exaggerating it."

None of the people in the room looked like they agreed on Yvonne. They all looked at her in pure confusion, baffled by her logic. This made the woman scoff and roll her eyes, "Whatever."

"We cannot question the reports, Miss Yvonne," the Raven Justice spoke this time. "If Hope and the three children were the only proof we had, we could say so. But the attack on the castle was an evidence too big to be ignored."

Yvonne pursed her lips and shrugged, "Well, what I'm saying is that I don't think they'll actually attack us again. If they actually wanted to wage a war against us, they would've done so long ago."

"We cannot be too sure, miss," the Raven Justice said. "But we will make sure they won't act up, that is why we need to go there as a team and eradicate the evil."

Yvonne pursed her lips and shook her head, "No. I don't think we should do that. What we need to do is stay here and defend ourselves. Prepare for any attack which I doubt that will happen."

"But we have envoys there," Galaxia pointed out. "We can't just ignore the fact that four of the heroes that saved us are sent to the East."

"That's why they're heroes," Yvonne scoffed. "They are here not to just protect us, but to bring legacy. Basically, they needed to die so we can indoctrine them. If they do–"

"What do you actually want to say here, Miss Yvonne?" Alice narrowed her eyes while looking at the woman. "They saved us, but we want to immortalize them, so we let them die on foreign land?"

"Yes," Yvonne nodded slowly. "We have more Adventurers here right now. Losing four won't hurt, right?"

"Get out."

Everyone's eyes widened after hearing the Holy Crow spoke. His voice was croaked, but it was stern. The man in white cloak stood and glared at Yvonne, pointing his staff at her.

"Get out!"