The bar was under the reign of twilight, shrouded in smoke from the incense burners and cigarettes of the regulars. This bar was no longer young. It looked worn and battered, but like most of its patrons, it was still sturdy and well patched. In addition to the twilight, an atmosphere of timelessness and semi-dormancy vied for power here. However, this attempt at conquest was rudely disrupted by Hero, who burst into the bar.

  He quickly wiped the astral slime from his boots, which turned to crimson smoke, and after a while the dust settled on the entrance rag.

  "Demonic invasion!" Hero shouted as he raised the legendary sword above his head.

  The crowd raised their mugs in response, thundering "CHEERS!" and immediately followed own instruction after the contents of the mugs ended up in the throats.

  Walking to the bar, the saviour of the world handed the sword and other artefacts to Bartender, who carried them to the others. Then Hero sat down blissfully on the world saviour's cushioned seat, legs spread and hands clasped behind his head.

  "What were the portals like?" Engineer asked him.

  "There was one. Well, like one of these, with a beam to the sky," Hero replied, closing his eyes.

  "Ahhhh..." Engineer sighed in disappointment and lit another cigarette.

  "Why are they bothering us? To do what exactly?" Farmer asked.

  "Maybe they're the most demonic dupes," Blacksmith suggested. "Or maybe they're just training to take over normal worlds."

  "And I heard from Astronomer that a whole fleet passed through our system. A real mature invasion force, not like ours. I don't envy the world they're going to."

  Everyone appreciated the joke and burst out laughing.

  Another Hero burst into the bar, but forgot to wipe his feet, which Bartender reminded him of by shouting: "FEET!".

  "Metaphysical salvation!" exclaimed new Hero, wiping his feet too thoroughly.

  The crowd cheered.

  "I have placed Velan's Seals upon all the Pillars of Oarva. The reality structure is safe now, but don't let them be erased. Is that clear?" Hero sat down at the counter, since the saviour of the world's seat was temporarily occupied, and handed the grimoire to Bartender, who took it to the bookshelves.

  Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

  "It took you a long time to get around the Oarva Columns," Engineer scolded him.

  "The bridge between Islands 13 and 14 was destroyed. I had to go all the way through 51-52," the Hero explained, greedily grabbing the mug that slid towards him.

  "Infernal attack!" Farmer jumped up. "There are my farms!"

  With that, he ran out the door.

  Bartender went to a chalk map of the world, drawn on a large slate on the wall behind the counter and erased the bridge between the 13th and 14th islands.

  "At least it's not an island..." he muttered to himself.

  The first Hero also got up and walked towards the legendary sword rack. Another Hero immediately took his place.

  "Get some rest," Old-Timer tried to reason with him. "If you go on patrol five minutes late, the world will definitely not collapse in that time."

  "There aren't many of us demon experts left after last week. Now I have to work for a baker's dozen instead of a dozen," Hero said wearily, picking up the sword he liked.

  "At least have a free mug for saving the world," Bartender said, handing him a well-deserved mug and some artefacts.

  Hero drank gratefully, wiped his mouth on his sleeve, stuffed the artefacts into his pockets and left the bar.

  Then Newcomer ran into the bar. The patrons, who had already prepared their mugs dropped their hands in frustration.

  "Friends! Great news!" shouted Newcomer, causing some of the people present to have a comical, but not quite decent air escape through their lips.

  "FEET!" Bartender shouted.

  Newcomer carefully wiped his feet, then tossed the parchments he was clutching to his chest onto the nearest table. A few papers fell to the floor.

  "According to my calculations, another world is approaching," Newcomer said, barely hiding his excitement.

  "Another invasion? You have just missed the experts on the subject," Engineer told him.

  "No. Or rather, yes. I mean, it's an invasion, but it's ours. We can activate the stone portals that were left behind after the wild elf invasion. Or we can use the swords of Truth to cut through to that reality," Newcomer looked around the crowd with delight, waiting for a standing ovation.

  "It's not right, it's not heroic," Old-Timer said thoughtfully. "Not to stop the invasion, but to organise it..."

  "This is not an invasion, I just said that, it came up organically. Rather, it will be an exodus of refugees," Newcomer looked around the crowd once more, as if he couldn't believe he hadn't heard cheers and seen faces contorted with joy yet."Do you want to continue living in this? In the tainted world?" understanding and longing slowly crossed his face. "It's practically destroyed. A few more failures, and that's it. That's it. It won't be there."

  Everyone else looked at each other in confusion, not knowing how to explain it to him. Only Bartender grimaced and said to himself: "Nah..."

  "We're staying," Old-Timer took upon himself the explanation.

  The regulars nodded gratefully at him.

  "Why?" the longing captured Newcomer completely.

  "You have kittens. One of them is weak, ugly, and its life depends entirely on you," Old-timer said, as if to a child. "Which kitten will you love more? Don't be upset. Write and give a notification to Bartender, and we'll tell everyone of your plan, too. But I don't think anyone will leave. You go. You're not happy here, we can see that. And all my generations of ancestors, as well as everyone else's except you - we're talking about the world, not a house or even a town - lived here. So we should be here too!