How could it be? That someone who had been subject to all the evils of the world, cast aside by blood, reminded again and again that their existence meant the downfall of a people, rise to such a level of existence? Could it have been that the gods favored him? Or perhaps it was by the grace of Kings that they thrived, able to break curses and destroy barriers built to restrain their glory. As if his glory was threatening to their very existence. Perhaps they believed that by extending an offer of grace, they would be spared.

No, that didn't sound right.

That would be a contradiction to the nature of a survivor. It was by the grace of no-one but himself that he had become who he was today. The gods didn't exist here. Their mercy had been stripped away as quick as it had been given! In the blink of an eye! When only the darkness showered them to life, the gods had refused to show mercy. He had been abandoned long ago. Yet, while embracing the darkness was plausible, reasonable, perhaps even reliable, the survivor birthed a power that was their own. They had taken the mercy bestowed upon them, balled it up and threw it back. The Gods of Chaos had no hold on him. The Sun had no hold on him. Amun was not his king. This power was his, destiny was his own to create and fate could suck his dick. He was not Atenhotep, he was not Morningstar, he was Khalfani.

Just...Khalfani.

No longer would he be a pawn or a placeholder in some else's game. What Khalfani had become was necessary for the betterment of humanity. Even more so, what the Dragon Slayer would need to become in the future was for his own legacy. The rogue Prince of Desierto already created a safe haven for all common folk looking to be liberated from those who had never experienced the crushing wrath of poverty. It was an Oath that he had taken with blood. An Oath he intended on keeping. Mercenaries and Monster Hunters; Paradise Dawn was forged for the very reason of defending humanity. They don't bow to anyone just because they were a gold jeweled hat and a blanket. It was funny how it all worked out, Khalfani thought as he casually walked up to the guild hall of Sleeping Calamity.

It was hard to say what type of guild this was. Really, all of Azures reports and research pointed to them operating like a dark guild- with the exception of a woman named Jikan. She was different. Apparently, the people of Orchidia had grown to like her, some even admiring her. The same couldn't be said for the rest of Sleeping Calamity though because most of the members were simply too infamous for the masses to ever embrace or love. In fact, the folks of the North were more afraid of them than anything. So one little monkey would likely not be enough to establish the control for an entire guild and as far as the commander knew, they were a threat to the North's independence.

The ground beneath Khalfani's feet was soft and moist, like he had been walking on marshmallows. He would likely have left footprints behind him. Normally he would have moved a lot more discreetly, today though, he casually strolled towards the guild that'd been drenched in leaves and vines with his head held high. Two things could have happened today. 1, the spellsword could have had a polite and meaningful meeting with the Guild Master, discussing terms and agreements to finally settle with an alliance. As much as Khal wanted to puke at the thought of meeting with someone like Ariael, he wanted to at least taste his options, that way none of these motherfuckers could say he didn't try. The guild could just decline his offer and face his wrath. Not an ounce of empathy for a guild like this if they couldn't fall in line. At the very least he would eradicate the guild and offer an invitation to that one girl. Either way, Khalfani was going to get what he wanted because what he wanted is what was needed, no doubt about it. What he wanted was what the people of the North deserved. Sleeping Calamity was evidently a guild full of useless individuals, lacking any real tangible goals, but...

He just couldn't help giving people the benefit of the doubt.

"Wait." The commander said coldly to his comrades just as they stepped forward. Khalfani slowly approached the door with his cloak on, baring the Paradise Sigil on the back. Tapping his ear-wrap, his helmet wrapped itself around his head as he listened for any noise within the guild hall. It was silent that you could hear the chirping of the beetles on the ground. The rumors were true then, this guild was as barren as ever, no members, not even a bartender. The gods had abandoned this place too. Such a shame, it really was a beautiful building overall. Nonetheless, there wasn't a reason to wait, the Slayer thought as he pushed the door open. Admittedly, part of him had hoped to see somebody, anybody within the guild hall but not a single person had been here. Any dreams or aspirations that he may've had about building some sort of alliance with Sleeping Calamity went down the drain in a matter of moments.

Insects crawled across the wooden floors, scattering as the feet of Paradise Dawn members shuffled into the guild's hall. Khalfani could hear everything down to the generator powering the electricity in this building. Should anyone manage to crawl out of the crevasses of this abandoned guild building, he'd know long before they'd get close.  

"Search the building."

That one call prompted the entire team of scouts to slither through the halls. A man of respect, Khalfani made sure the the structure of the guild was not tampered with. Last he recalled, a woman named Jikan was still a proud member. Some even whispered that she was in charge. Obviously that couldn't be true if the guild was like this. It was way too easy to walk into her home. Of course Khnurn and the other Knights had been able to wipe the floor with them, it was a pity really. Even if Khalfani wanted to negotiate, there was nothing that Jikan or this guild could offer.

"All clear up here!"
"Yeah, over here too!"

"No sign of blood or bodies. The building is still intact. Abandoned then." Confirmed. With a sigh, Khal walked up to the bar before pouring himself a drink, then pouring the others a drink. "What a beautiful building, don't ya think, Yuurei?"

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In hindsight, this may have been a harsh call. Although the people of the North would be fine with such a useless guild being eradicated, Khalfani felt only a little empathetic, especially when Yuurei brought up the nature around the guild. "Right. By now this building is a symbol of nothing. If anything, it's a symbol of failure. When the building is gone we can turn this area into something else. Maybe a headquarters for the scouts, Hm?" The commander said to the Scout captain. In the end, the flowers and the trees would grow back. Sleeping Calamity, however, would not.

It wasn't hard to understand this situation if you took the time to consider all the variables. Sleeping Calamity was a reason for the government to march into the North and the people of the North yearned for independence. How could they ever achieve that independence if the Crown wouldn't mind their business. There were more important things to do, like Yuurei said. This was but a side quest- Sunday cleaning, if you will. There were literal monsters ravaging through villages in the North. Sleeping Calamity was taking up space and resources. All this guild would do is put innocent lives at risk, dragging the Northerners into their nonsense. Khalfani knew all too well the frustrations of the people, as he once felt the same about the current government. Now his views were more structured, organized, and aligned but he still felt the same.

The Light Bringer's eyes shifted towards the Sun Eater, the words that followed were important. Khalfani faced forward, taking a swig of the drink before gently putting it back down. The brownish liquid swooshing against the walls of the glass cup. The the liquid settled Khalfani turned to face his comrade. "I'm hoping they move on but... if there's anything I've learned, it's that you always prepare for the worst." He said taking another swig. "If they do retaliate, we'll crush them but we'll also forfeit the option for diplomacy once we blow this shit up, so if you wanna talk me out of this, the best time to do it is now." He stood up and turned to face the entire hall, waiting for the Ace should he have anything to say.

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You know, in all honesty, Yuurei had surprised the commander of Paradise Dawn. Because of his time in Blue Pegasus Khalfani assumed he was a softie but seeing him now...it made him question why he was in Blue Pegasus anyway. They conformed after all. They all seemed to care about appearances more than anything, as such, doing what was necessary seemed to never strike the Dragon Slayer as one of Blue Pegasus' morals. Either way, a twisted smile appeared upon Khal's face. His second in command was truly formidable, that much was obvious as he punched the wall and shook the entire building. Yuurei made Khalfani reflect on his own strength, something only two people had ever been able to do. The Exceed watched as if this was normal for the duo. It prompted a chaotic energy to bubble up within the rogue prince of Desierto.

"Sturdy, but nothing we can't handle." He said before lifting his own hands. This would be fun nonetheless though, whether or not Khal should have been enjoying this was another question. "Alriiiiiiight. Comrades, do your worst to this place." Khal commanded coldly as he placed his hands in his pockets with a sigh. The rest of the members got to work. Khalfani slammed his foot on the ground, also causing the building to shake as the floor beneath him cracked. It caused a trickle effect, cracks spreading outwardly from the impact point. This would be a breeze, he thought as he walked towards the bar to take another sip of the brown liquid in the glass cup he had placed onto the counter.

Destruction, destruction everywhere.

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Easy, breezy, beautiful...covergirl. Khalfani smirked as he moved from the bar with a cup in his hand. Maybe it would just be easier if he stomped the place to hell. Yuurei seemed to be having fun too, that was always a good thing. All in all, this was a good time to blow steam. The Spellsword strolled to the middle of the hall whilst the other members, punched, blasted, sliced, kicked and did whatever else necessary to destroy the building. Granted they weren't very strong in comparison to the two leaders, their dedication was always appreciated. It was still a bit odd how Khal was able to rally people behind the mission of Paradise Dawn, but liberation for the North was an easy idea for them to stand behind. They wanted it perhaps even more than Khalfani himself. Khalfani stomped his foot again, this time the floor beneath them cracking even more. "Welcome to the city of gods, pop was the king of New York, now I'm the nigga in charge." He sung as he dealt damage to the building with ease. Where the hell had he heard that song? And what the hell was New York? For a moment the Dragon Slayer stopped, looking around as he tried to figure it out. After a moment of contemplating he simply shrugged. Whatever, he thought. "Hm hm, hm hm, please go easy on meeeee toniiiiight~" he continued to sing.

"Don't hurt yourself, my mans." he teased Yuurei.

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Things were going smooth for the most part, all things considered. The building was crumbling quite easily with Yuurei and the commander doing what needed to be done. The doors of the guild hall were broken, through the hole of an entrance Anga the Gryphon and Xena patiently waited outside. They seemed interested in the destruction taking place, probably because there was nothing else to do and they knew better than to leave Khalfani. Khalfani moonwalked towards the entrance, stopping as he stomped his foot again to damage the building with his back towards the doorway, frolicking as he sipped his cup of brown alcohol until he heard a gunshot go off. Immediately he stopped what he was doing, turning to see who the fuck had been dumb enough to step.

To his surprise it was someone who didn't like what he saw. The people of Orchidia weren't all fond of Sleeping Calamity from what he had learned, most were afraid of the guild members, but there were some who did actually appreciate them. Specifically Jikan, so could this have been her? Nah, rumors had it that she was a hottie or somethin'. Khalfani glared coldly at the person just steps into the door way. His bullet hit the ceiling causing some of the roofs structure to fall onto the floor. It started with a question, which of course Khalfani was willing to answer because he was literally holding onto a comrade. Khalfani glared. "I wouldn't do that if I were you." Khalfani said dourly.

"That's my comrade, his name is Hector. He has a family. Wife, kids, you know...people that care about em." The commander glanced over into Hectors eyes, the rest of the guild hall quiet as he spoke, waiting for a command. Khalfani spoke without emotion, almost as if he was completely unbothered but really he was simply trying to avoid demise on the strangers end. "He's a good dude. He helps the people here often and really, he has more to lose than most of us." Khalfani stepped forward. "If you kill em I'll have no choice but to remove your kidneys, and I hate killin people, ya know? So let's just sit and talk it out."

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"Commander Khal of Paradise Dawn and this is Captain Yuurei." Khalfani said quickly, wanting to skip any banter or introductions. This was all growing so boring so fast and he almost couldn't take it. Celes, the half elf, was talking too much for someone holding a gun to a comrades head. Funnily enough he thought he was in a position to negotiate. Yuurei was clearly also ready to rumble. From behind Khal he casually made his way forward to warn Celes as well. Two half elves in one place could mean something good for deescalating the situation. The spellsword would rather not have seen bloodshed. His long years at war, his experience with his own vampirism and because of his entire life in general, the young leader had grown to hate the sight of blood.

Celes was convinced that sleeping calamity wasn't a bad guild, in his eyes he had been accepted and given a place that he could call home. So he was a member. Khalfani had already assumed so, but he never did anything without confirmation. Such is the burden of being a borderline perfectionist. "Look, Celes right? Even though your guild master is a known pervert, all of your guildmembers are infamous, the hall is entirely empty, and the guild in general does nothing for the North, it's nothing personal. This is about keeping the people safe. If you knew anything about the North you'd know that a Dark guild would only make things harder up here."

The Dragon Slayer couldn't take that look in Hectors eyes. He was depending on Khalfani to get him out of this situation. Khal sighed, stepping forward with a mighty stomp as the guild hall shook again, the stone ceiling breaking off and more pieces of rubble raining down. "You're in no position to give demands, Celes. I'm growing impatient so here's the deal; you let my comrade go and we can continue this conversation. Regardless the guild is coming down and if you pull that trigger my friend here is gonna have to eat your testicles, so let's just...not." he scratched his head awkwardly. "Hell, I'll even invite you to our home."

"So are we fighting or what, you've rudely interrupted and we have things to do."

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Khalfani listened as the man before him spoke. Of course he gave the usual run down all people in his position would give. It was so typical that he sounded like a younger Khalfani. It would be different if the guild known as Sleeping Calamity actually had a goal, but as it stood they were just focused on strength for no good reason. Khalfani stomped his foot with all his might again, causing the guild to shake so much that now it was finally crumbling altogether. It was clear to the commander that this guild was absorbing space, allowing any member to join regardless of views. Villains, heroes, people outside of that alignment. It was an anarchical that virtually had no structure.  So, the Light Dragon Slayer kept quiet. Celes raised his hands off of Hector.

Once his hands let loose and just as he took the first step back, Khalfani darted forward, closing the distance of 11 meters with a single step in less than a second, lifting his knee as he kicked off so that it slammed easily into Celes upon contact. With his strength and speed there was no way Celes could react in time to dodge, even if he did, he'd move accordingly. When the hit connected it would knock him out immediately. He'd then turn to Yuurei after that point with a sigh. "Alright let's finish this off and get outta here. Comrades, let's go home."

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Khalfani picked up the falling half elf as his comrades began pouring out of the building, and threw him over his shoulder as he himself was the last to leave. Celes would visit Paradise Dawn for sure, but the commander knew better than to trust someone who had put a gun to his comrades head. It was better that Celes didn't see the path towards Paradise's guild hall. After Khalfani exited the building he walked over to Anga the Gryphon and threw the unconscious body on top of him. "Meet us at the hall." He'd tell his Gryphon before lightly slapping his hip. The steed flapped its wings with Xena the Leggro on his back before taking off into the skies. Then the Dragon Slayer heard a loud boom. When he turned around he noticed Yuurei had finally finished the building off.

The hall crumbled easily and quickly into the earth. Every part of it had been destroyed. Before Khal left, he simply gazed upon its new form. Oddly satisfying, but was it the right call? Only time would tell. If it wasn't then all of this would backfire on not only himself but his entire guild. Such is the burden of leadership. However, he was confident in his reasoning. This had to be done, no doubt about it. Perhaps he had just started a war, perhaps war was necessary. With a sigh he turned around, hopped on one of the horses and began galloping towards the guild with Yuurei beside him and their comrades too. Maybe Celes could prove worth something should whatever members left of Sleeping Calamity retaliate. Another thing that only time could tell.

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