In a hidden office in the cold North sat a Lady with hair like crimson fme and her skin purer than the snow that covered the earth outside. Her hair draped down her forehead gently resting above her face, hiding the sinister thoughts behind an innocent facade with only an old gentleman beside her.

  A dy, taller than she, whose skin was dark bck and hair dyed green, ears pointed and eyes grayer than the storm clouds. Her form is different from the past ones she had taken before, yet even with this new look she still knelt before the master.

  The red haired dy turned her eyes and scoffed at the woman below her. “Katherine, it seems you've taken yet another new look, was the st one not satisfactory enough for you? It barely sted half a year.” The master and mistress raised her foot and shoved it to shapeshifter’s face, who gdly grabbed her feet and kissed the top of her toes, a sign of submission.

  Her skin color shifted, turning lighter, her hair grew longer and turned bright blue, her ears turned human, and her face resembled a woman in her 30s, eyes shining like golden sun. “Mistress,” Her lips parted from the grace of her master's feet, “It is as you said, nobles from the capital and all except the East have begun their move of power against the North.”

  “Oh?” Maddison's eyebrow raised. The situation turned to their favor faster than she expected.

  “With the ever dwindling supply of food and source of income, the North has been going through a famine,” Katherine, the Chameleon, kept her eyes down, “as you have predicted, witnessing this disaster, instead of helping, dozens of Nobles faked their ineptitude and refused to send aid to the Northern Duchy, hoping to weaken the power held by the Azaroln family.”

  “Fantastic!” Maddison cpped her hands and paced around the room, her eyes settled on the map located pristinely in the middle of the office, “withhold our resources for a few more days, we need the Duchess at her most vulnerable before we begin our aid. Isoted and alone with only the minimal help from the East coming to them, Duchess Amelia is forced to do anything to accommodate the hunger of her people.”

  “The interceptions of the Eastern aids have been going well as well, Madam.” The Old gentleman, Hesser, added, stroking his chin.

  “Perfect,” Maddison smiled and let her fingertips graze the nds of the North in the map, “with the looking threat of a Devil, a rising famine, ck of income, and refusal of aid across the Empire—the seconds are being counted until the Duchess falls right into my hands.”

  “The Merchant Guild from the Capital, headed by a man named Elrond Pulver has been quite a pain in the ass for the Ramirez House these past few weeks.” Hesser mentioned, “Through spies and dealing information, we've helped them interfere with the trades and any support the Grand Duchess and her husband could offer her unfortunate older sister.”

  “There is no supply of food for the people, Mistress,” Katherine still had her head down staring at the redhead’s feet, “it won't be long before riots and protests for food begin, the silos and food banks are out and hunters have been coming up short and are losing energy to even go out in the first pce.”

  “Wait until the first blood is drawn,” Maddison walked over to the window, “that is when we will share our spoils with the Duchy—and when that happens–” The Mistress of the Underworld eyes the Azaroln castle, “The North shall be ours.”

  There was a silence as the weight of what's to come settled in the room. The tension and the hunger within the North felt across the whole territory. This famine happened so quickly almost as if a force was behind it, pushing it to its extreme. Maddison was prepared to hold out for at least a couple more weeks but as, it progressed significantly quicker than she had pnned for.

  Nevertheless, this was good for her pns, a step to take for absolute power.

  “Good work, Katherine,” Maddison complimented, “you have proven yourself once more.” She gave the validation craving freak what it wanted and the woman couldn't help but shriek at the mere words of praise from her master. Maddison rolled her eyes and gred at the woman once more, “Now don't disappoint me halfway through—continue with your reports and meet me again soon.”

  “With my deepest pleasures, Mistress. I shall take my leave then.” The shapeshifter bowed, a creepy crooked smile pstered on her face, her skin returning to the form it was when she entered. Katherine stood up, gave one bow before leaving the room with a skip in her step.

  Hesser shrugged looking at the back of his leader, her small frame carrying the weight and ideals of the entire organization and all of its past leaders before her.

  “If only you could see how much she's grown, Hendrickson.” Heser whispered to himself before preparing the dy’s favorite drink by the seats.

  “I have duties to attend to as well, Mistress.” Hesser poured a cup of tea, not forgetting to add two cubes of sugar as the mistress likes it, before leaving it sitting on the table, “I am at your beck and call shall you demand so—” He smiled and vanished into the shadows.

  Now it was only Maddison remaining in the office with the documents and their pns id out on her desk. She walks over to them, examining them one more time—she had found herself doing this frequently.

  She stares at the Duchess’s profile, and her eyes focus themselves on the close retives section of the report. Her name—Maddison’s eyes couldn't help but stare at her name—that damn Alejandra Ramirez.

  The queen of the Underworld Organization let out one irritated and stifled groan before stuffing the piece of parchment inside a drawer, together with its fellowmen.

  “I have to do this—-to ensure my family's safety.” Maddison resolved her will, there was no pce for hesitation in her line of work, no pce for emotions—despite everything being driven by it. Her eyes stare daggers at the Kingdom territories in the map.

  “I will succeed. Not for the Empire—Not for Justice—Not for anyone but myself—You will pay for ruining my life and threatening my family.” The office began to shake, “There is much to burn in hell, after all.”

  The office shook for a few more seconds before her gaze softened. Maddison exhaled all her pent up frustration for the moment. Her eyes found themselves wandering outside to watch the snow.

  “Brother—” She gnced outside the window, watching a snowfke fall, “may your life be easy always—”

  …

  “TO YOUR LEFT, JULIAN!” Ben waved his hand to cast his order.

  “GOT IT!” Julian raised his shield and blocked a rge sweeping attack from a normal Kingdom Knight. The young man then twisted his body and pushed the enemy away with his rge shield before following up with a ssh that tore through armor.

  “THOMAS!” Ben yelled as he sshed down a knight with his blood spear, “provide cover fire! Vander, on me!” He charged forward as beams of light shot through from behind him blinding the enemies and leaving them disgruntled.

  From above him chains rushed down and attached to the ground before a blue haired hunk plummeted down with his feet and sending the skulls of one of the enemy soldiers piledrived into the snow.

  “Where next, Your Highness?” Vander gave him a smirk as Ben looked onward, dozens more kingdom knights hindered their way towards the mouth of the cavern, from a distance Ben could see a few or so Barbarians holding their ground against more intimidating looking knights.

  “We attack them from both sides and funnel them in the middle,” Ben expined as the two continued to run forward together, “then with your sister’s help, clean up from there.”

  “Simple but effective.” Vander face formed into a massive grin, “Not fshy enough for my taste but what works works!” He sprinted to the left and Ben went the opposite direction.

  “SCARLET! STRIKE THE CENTER!” Ben yelled his pn to her and she followed suit, sliding down the icy snow as her spirit coated her body and the small shield on her arm.

  Thomas assessed the action and raised his wand, he bared his canine fangs and used his replenished mana to cast a spell, “Bright light’s shine through the night, end the suffering and end this blight!” A fsh of concentrated light beamed through the center blinding any soldier that found themselves unfortunate enough to be on the receiving end.

  Scarlet focused all the spirit in her body on her shield and threw it as hard as she could smming its edge on the first head of the first soldier, before bouncing back to her, and repeating this cycle for each one in phenomenal speed.

  “RAAAAGH!” Ben screamed as he spun his double ended spear like a hurricane pushing back more and more soldiers to the middle as they struggled to fight back against the flurry of the strikes and the blood sshes that leaked from it. On the other end was Vander whose heavy sms made every soldier step back as a single hit would make them lose formation and send a couple of them flying.

  As the two boys met in the middle, Scarlet struck down the final soldier who didn't provide much resistance as the snow haired dy dug the metal pte she wielded deep into her opponent’s cranium. Blood spttering the cold ground and sullying her cheeks with a spsh of color over her clear white skin.

  A man walked up behind her, “You kinda scare me a lot, Miss Scarlet,” Julian offered to help her up as she sat over the body of the soldier she had sin, “You alright?”

  “Never better,” Scarlet took his gloved hand and gnced up at him, Julian was as old as they were, the closest aide to Prince, his bck skin had aged with scratches, marks, bruises, all likely gained from his time in war. His rge frame and toned body was built like bricks which made sense with how he casually carries a shield almost the same size as him everywhere.

  She gnced at her own shield, the size of a food pte, strapped back into her arm.

  “We should move further soon,” Vander caught up to them, “The mouth of the cavern is close.”

  “you all alright!?” Autumn, who was watching from safety next to Thomas, ran to them and beside Julian, “Many enemies…”

  “Haven't I told you before, Miss Autumn,” Ben sneaked behind her and ruffled her brown hair, “this isn't the least bit difficult at all.”

  “Mr. Prince…” Autumn gnced up at the boy taller than she was, “Amazing…”

  “Why are you only praising him, I did stuff too you know, Barbarian Girl?” Julian nudged her shoulder and the young girl simply scoffed at him.

  “Bah! Enough!” Thomas strutted away from the group, “We don't have time to waste!”

  “He’s right.” Scarlet mumbled. As usual, she had a very robotic demeanor and as talkative as she always was.

  “Alright,” Ben stepped ahead of everyone else, “Vander, Jule, and I will lead the group and keep an eye on the front. Scarlet will take the rear and Thomas—” Ben gnced and the beastman was already well on his way ahead, “Well…I guess he can go with us in the front, Vander you go with your sister.”

  “As you wish, My Lord.” The heir of Bay smirked and fell back from the group and next to his sister as they began their march towards the Cavern’s Mouth, with the other two guys running after the dogman, whose tail wagged furiously behind him.

  As they headed their way and found themselves on top of a small hill without any more push back (strangely enough), they figured themselves to watch from above and see what's going on first.

  Ben’s eyes darted immediately to a woman shrouded in a long bck cloak surrounded by three rge knights and one normal one that wielded a staff. And all around them were Demonic Brutes, savages that resembled orcs but cked their rational intellect and sentience; they also carried a deep blue skin compared to an orc’s usual green and intense red eyes that seemed to only thirst for blood.

  Between the woman’s army and the Cavern's Mouth stood 7 barbarians of various genders, ages, and weaponry yet all were rge and carried some big muscle.

  The barbarian fighters were out of breath and struggling to maintain a foothold as they got thinned down more and more by the constant attacks of the brutes, slowly but surely they were soon to fall. Ben noticed a few bodies scattered about, bodies of the other fighters that were sin trying to defend the seal of Favaros.

  “We should go in now,” Vander took a step forward but Ben pced his hand on the brash man’s chest and pushed him back, “Your Highness?”

  Ben inspected the center of all the commotion, the woman draped in dark cloak, there was a feeling he got from her, a tug of sorts that is making his chest uncomfortable. He watched her every move, as her hands raised up and the knights around her tightened their stances—

  “Your Highness,” Vander called armed at what's happening in the battle, he's itching to step in already but Ben is still holding up a hand to stop him.

  The young red prince watched carefully as the cold wind blew on the woman's hood—he remembered that one vilgeman’s words about someone who looked a little like him—he watched her point her finger towards the barbarians as the knights next to her, armed themselves and positioned to attack.

  “YOUR HIGHNESS!” Vander was getting ready to disobey the Prince’s orders and step in between the battle, hoping to save the lives of the valiant fighters.

  Ben still held his stance a little longer as the wind continued to blow on the Lady’s hood a little bit more before revealing her hair color, a tuft of bright crimson red hair—before Vander could compin another time, Ben’s weight shifted upright, a spear of blood formed in his hands as in a small time frame, his body arched backwards before unching the hardened bloodspear from his palms and towards the red haired woman.

  The spear plummeted towards her and seemingly looking like it was about hit until—

  “What do we have here?” Her voice was a haunting song that sent chills and dread to all those that heard it. She had grabbed the spear inches away from her face without flinching. The hood fully removed from her face revealing a beautiful pure skin with freckles by her nose, small lips that fshed him a smile as she stared directly up at him, and her green gsslike eyes that had a hollow empty look within them, “You showed up faster than anticipated…Ben.”

  Julian’s eyes turned towards his captain and friend, “You know her?”

  Ben remained silent, he watched her hold the hardened blood spear in her hand and slowly it melted back into liquid in her hands as she let it drip down her arm.

  “Mr. Prince?” Autumn clutched his shirt, pulling neatly.

  “On my signal,” Ben grit his teeth, a new double ended spear of blood forming in his hand, “GO!”

  The group leaped downwards as the rge knights turned their eyes over to them, but before they could make way the woman in the cloak commanded them to stop.

  “I assume you're here for the seal,” The dy shrugged, “I thought you’d take longer—pity you had to see me so early.”

  “What are you doing here!?” Ben’s eyes bzed as he marched forward, his friends behind him, “you should be dead!”

  “My passing was simply exaggerated!” She boasted manically, “You seem angry? I thought you'd be happy to see me?”

  Ben’s spear grew longer and longer, almost three times the size of what it normally was, “In other circumstances,I would have loved to hug you—but no—you are not her!” His voice was soft at first before turning to a furious growl. He flicked his spear around and charged ahead much more so than the rest of his team behind him, “RAAAAAHH!” He wielded the spear and prepared to stab through her but the giant knight blocked it with a shield and threw a fist in his way sending the young prince staggering backwards.

  “Your Highness!” Julian ran beside him as Ben gred at the woman and her ckeys, his eyes burning with hate and disappointment, and his cheek bruised from the strength of the punch.

  “Those bastards!” Vander caught up to them, followed by the other three, “You good?”

  “Yeah,” The Prince stood up, spear in hand, his eyes set on the woman who had a smile on her face.

  She snapped her fingers and many of the brutes around them pivoted their anger towards the red prince’s party. The barbarian fighters fell to their knees from exhaustion as they had finally been given amnesty to rest. Too bad for Ben’s group however, as they now found themselves in the predicament the fighters were in.

  “Damnit, what do we do!?” Thomas cursed as he aimed his wand at any demonic brute that dared come close.

  “Easy,” Ben wiped the blood from his mouth, “we kill them.”

  Vander summoned his chains and then wrapped it around his hands like gauntlets, turning his fists into macelikes weapons that can shred skin. Julian drew his longsword and brandished the shield the size of his body. Thomas raised his wand and was ready to cast spells, though his ears and tails wiggle nervously.

  Beside the three men was Scarlet whose body radiated Spirit, and next to her Autumn who had a rock in between her small hands. So, she wasn't a fighter okay? She's a guide. The poor girl was quite literally not made for this.

  “Ready?” Ben closed his eyes and breathed in.

  “On your count.” They said unanimously.

  The prince's eyes snapped open and he dealt the first blow decapitating the brute in front of him, “NOW!”

  The chaos ensued and the onsught began.

  One of the brutes smashed its rge club down towards the women but Scarlet deflected it with her Spirit and shield. She then dashed to the side and immediately threw her implement and struck the temple of the brute turning its bright lights into lights out.

  Thomas stayed in the center, protected by everyone as he casted spell after spell supporting the rest.

  Vander used his chains to yank himself towards a brute as he unched into the air and put his hands together, both enveloped in chains, and smmed them down harshly at the skull of the brute, the crack being audible for everyone else to hear. “HELL YEAH!”

  A brute snuck behind and swung a club but Julian smmed his shield down and tanked the strike. The brute was then blinded by the beastman’s spells as the Prince from behind stabbed a spear through its throat.

  Autumn shrieked as a dead brute’s body dropped right next to her and as another creeped itself close behind, she responded by yelling defiantly and throwing her rock, striking it right in between its eyes. Julian took this opportunity to step in between and slice a good one right on its chest.

  “Nice shot, B-girl.” The young Knight complimented.

  “Good ssh, Noisy Man.” The young girl smiled back.

  Ben turned into a flurry of spear strikes as he took down brute after brute with quick efficient attacks that eliminated each one in a single strike. A stab in the eye. A stab in the heart. A stab in the head. Decapitation.

  Nothing was safe when it got close to him.

  “You're going wild, aren't you?” Vander grinned as he found his footwork leading him next to the prince.

  “You're telling me that?” Ben scoffed, “you're the one who’s having way too much fun in a battle right now.”

  “Touché.”

  The Demons came charging towards them as Vander chained and locked into one of them and pulled it into Ben’s line of sight allowing him to easily stab a spear through its mouth, and whilst Ben id a wide opening for a Brute to walk in and ambush him, Vander took his chance and threw a strong right that made the brute’s head check the south.

  Vander then punched another one of the demons that drew closer and Ben followed up with a ssh that split its face in two.And as Ben stabbed a demon through its chest Vander punched that bastard down deeper into the bde of the spear.

  The two nded back to back as multiple thick muscled demonic brutes surrounded them.

  “Ready?” Vander nudged the Prince behind him.

  “Right,” Ben shifted the spear into a montante, a rge greatsword usually wielded with two hands.

  As the brutes charged and the two prepared to intercept a bright fshing light descended down on them like lightning and blinded everything including the two. “Gack!”

  Then following the now dazed brutes, a shield came flying from the side and striking down all of them by bouncing from one enemy to the other knocking all of the demons down to the ground before returning back to Scarlet’s hands.

  “Don't leave us out of it,” She stared bnkly at the two as she twisted her body and jumped up nding a roundhouse kick to a demonic brute walking up behind her. Then from behind a sword burst through its chest before being tossed aside, revealing the man behind the sneak attack, his dark bck skin covered in grime and blood of all the brutes, “Great work.” Scarlet motioned to the Knight.

  “You’ve uh—” Julian pointed to her cheek with a blood spill on it, “got something on your face.”

  Scarlet used her thumb to wipe the blood off her cheek. “Thanks, you too.”

  Julian exhaled from all the work he's been putting off tanking the strikes and blocking the clubs from getting too close, “Y-yeah,” Julian stared at his own body practically drenched in blood, “I noticed.”

  “Bright light’s shine through the night, end the suffering and end this blight!” On the side, Thomas casted another gigantic spell as the endless flurry of brutes marched closer and closer. Ben and Vander led the front as Julian and Scarlet stayed by their rear. “ARE YOU READY!?” Thomas asked clenching his wand as he was about to set a massive fshbang off.

  “Go!” Ben yelled as everyone turned their eyes away from the scene and looked away. A massive ball of light sparked above them and erupted into what could only be described as a Supernova, with light so sharp it temporarily made the cold snowy mountains feel warm.

  The brutes screamed from their eyes being burned as Ben took a step forward. “Looks like we’ve killed enough.”

  Julian felt his stomach shrink, he knew what the Prince was about to do and this move had always terrified him. “Everyone take a step back.”

  The others followed his suggestion as blood began to rise up from the ground, those that seeped, and those that sank. As long as it was spilled it began to rise up as small droplets—The wet blood stains on everyone's clothing also leaked out and hung in the air, floating so hauntingly and eerily. “Bloodrise.” He muttered under his breath, the battlefield now looking as if a rain of blood had stopped mid air and was frozen in time. With his hand raised in the air a horrorshow was about to begin.

  Ben’s focus gnced towards the woman he was pissed off against. The Lady had turned her eyes away from them as she set her sights on the tired Barbarians still alive before her, she was whispering words over to them, words he couldn't hear or understand from this distance. He took a deep breath as his eyes gzed over. “Bloodfall.” He dropped his hand like it carried the weight of a thousand tons.

  The tiny blood droplets shot around the entire battle field and struck through every single brute in less than a second like small hardened bullets that took only one strike through the skull of the enemy, discreetly killing them in an instant.

  One by one, brute after brute dropped to their knees as dozens of them were wiped out in one single attack.

  Some blood pellets darted through the snowfkes and shot towards the woman but they were blocked by the rge soldiers that served as her guard, with strong enough armor for the blood pellets to be unable to pierce.

  The others behind Ben stared in awe as he single handedly wiped out decently sized infantry all on his own.

  “Amazing,” Vander covered his mouth, trying to hide his wide toothed grin, “bloody fucking hell.”

  Scarlet cracked a smile and crossed her arms, “Impressive.”

  Ben staggered in his steps but Julian rushed forward and caught him as he fell on his back, “That was a lot more blood than you're used to controlling,” The aide scolded, “What if you passed out?”

  Ben chuckled and punched the man’s shoulder weakly, “You worry too much.”

  Thomas stepped ahead of them and stared at the massacre that had occurred right in front of his eyes. It was a dispy of magic he had yet to see before, there were almost half a hundred brutes dead in a minute, brutes that were as strong and durable as experienced beastmen or seasoned veterans in human armies. He gnced at the boy prince who was being held by his Knight.

  That young man has gotten an incredible control over his own magic that it seems impossible. Thomas couldn't see himself achieving this level of control in at least half a dozen more years yet this kid 3 years younger than him has already surpassed even some of his professors at the Magic Academy in the Coalition.

  The prince was a dangerous foe he wouldn't hope to face against.

  “PRINCE!” Autumn ran beside Julian as she cupped the boy’s cheeks, his face looking pale from the overexhaustion he’s been doing as gauntlet for the past few hours. “Hvordan har du det!” She screamed in worry in her own tongue, this was her first time seeing him so weak.

  Ben stifled a ugh as he cleaned her face up from her messy hair, “I’ll assume you asked if I’m okay?” He raised an eyebrow and the girl nodded as Julian handed him off for her to hold, “I’m quite alright, I just need a bit of a rest.”

  “Looks like you're not going to be able to,” Julian stood up as the Giant bckened Knights that guarded the woman had now begun their march towards them.

  The three knights were massive, almost 8 feet tall for each of them, all carrying gigantic thick bded cymores too heavy for any normal man to hold. Their armors were sharp edged and bck like coal, as if all the light was stripped away from its forgery and resembled but the harshest and coldest of nights.

  Vander cracked his neck and knuckles as chains burst out of his skin and hung loose behind him, “No, let him get some rest,” He ordered, “I’ll take charge from here. Miss Autumn—”

  “Yes?”

  “Watch over our lovely lord for us please?”

  “No, Vander, I can still—” He eyes rolled over and his breath left him as dropped to the young girl's arms, losing consciousness.

  The barbarian nodded as the four of them stood in between the three kingdom knights and the imperial crown prince.

  “So?” The woman turned to face them clearly this time, her face was beautiful, unlike anyone they've seen before—her short red curls and the freckles on her face made her seemingly appear as nothing more than a sweet young dy but inside her hollow green eyes was a horrific horror that they couldn't expin. Vander shuddered as the two of them made eye contact, “the gilded and talented son of the Duke of Bay, child of the strongest man,” She crossed her arms, her slender fingers ending with long sharp blue nails, “your arrogance and warmongering thirst astonishes me.”

  “Shut up, Witch!” Vander raised his middle finger, “Get away from those people!” He gnced towards the barbarian fighters all clutching their chest trying hard to breathe and struggling to stand up from all their injuries.

  “Not until they allow me to enter the Cavern's Mouth,” She shrugged, “this enchantment is too much of a pain to dispel.”

  “What?”

  “I need a barbarian's words to allow me to enter the Cavern, yet they won't give it to me.” The woman shrugged.

  “Then it's settled then,” Vander took a foot back and started swirling his chains, “I just gotta stop you before it happens!”

  The woman frowned, yet even her foul expression was tantalizing, “How obtuse.” She insulted as she waved her hands and the three knights charged towards them.

  Vander ran forward, spinning his chains like a whirlwind before jumping up and nding an uppercut like strike with the end of his chain at the chin of one of the knights, making it stagger in its steps.

  “RAAAGH!” Julian from behind his shield ran a reckless crash ahead of him and smmed directly into one of the giant bckened knights, yet with all his weight and strength, he could only push it away and not knock it down.

  Scarlet took her shot on the third one by attacking with a flurry of throws from her shield and smming into the kingdom scum with her hand to hand skills.

  Vander swung his chains like heavy whips and smmed into the armor of the bckened knight, when it tried to swing its bde, Vander had his chain wrap around its arm and pull it closer so that this giant inhuman would stumble, to which he would it as his chance to kick it hard in the chest.

  The three kingdom soldiers roared—they didn't sound like humans—they sounded warped and guttural, more akin to an animal than sentient human beings. Their auras changed, becoming a lot more menacing and monstrous.

  Thomas shined a bright light in the enemies direction but it seemed to have no effect at all as they simply continued their stomp forward and ssh their cymore with terrifying strength and precision.

  “Everyone, watch out!” Vander managed to dodge out of the way but Scarlet was another thing, she was only fast enough to raise her shield in time to not be sliced in half but receive the full blow of the swing with her arms. That strike sent her flying and skittering down the snow before she smmed into a boulder with enough force to crack it, passing out in the process.

  “SCARLET!” Thomas yelled but just like that in quick fashion a bckened Knight loomed over him and was ready to swing down its own bde, with power strong enough to split him in two. The beastman mage felt dread creep up his throat as the bde descended but thankfully a shield managed to block the strike as he shoved under it.

  “Gragh!” Julian grit his teeth, the strike of that one attack proving to be quite devastating. He had his arm around Thomas as he pushed his shield up and deflected the strike of the cymore for a second, “Get away!” He yelled to the mage, who didn't need another word for him to follow suit as another ssh smmed into Julian shield making a loud metallic cng. The young Knight's arm felt numb as the bckened knight released a furious flurry of swings at his defense leading to him finally succumbing and dropping to his knees. It took another swing for his shield to be Julian’s own downfall as the strength of the strike caused it to bounce back and hit the young man in the head knocking him out.

  “EVERYONE!” Autumn yelled from the back.

  One of the bckened Knights then locked onto her, wiping its cymore on its sleeves as an intimidation tactic—it began to make its way towards her and the unconscious prince.

  “You've gotta be kidding me—” Thomas, seeing what's happening, realizes that he had no choice but to do something. He picked up his wand and casted a spell, “Beam of light!” A lone beam of light burst from the tip of his wand and struck the kingdom soldier's visor—turning its attention towards him.

  “Come and get me, big boy.” He whispers to the snow as he shuffles his knees and starts scurrying away all with the hulking behemoth of a monster running after him.

  Thomas was sucking out all the air in the surroundings trying to maintain his breath and pace, nothing has more endurance than a dog, after all. He opened his mouth and kept running and running and running—hoping to outst the bckened knight in this chase.

  “C’mon Tommy,” He gave a pep talk to himself, “You can do better than this! You're definitely a’okay…cool. Cool. Cool. Cool. Cool. Cool.”

  The dog beastman ran around the battlefield casting beam after beam of light to support Vander who was currently taking on two of the knights at the same time.

  He wrapped one with his chains, using its body as leverage to unch himself in the air, swinging on the knight as a pole and tossing his entire body weight for a kick towards the second one on the side. Now that the first one is wrapped in his chains, he started whacking it with whip-like movements. The second one got up immediately and tried to strike Vander with his hand but Thomas managed to blind it for a second allowing Vander to turn around, wrapped its neck in chains and pulled it to smack the first knight with the body of his friend, knocking off the helmets of the two.

  Inside revealed the faces of these soldiers. A thin malnourished face, with chapped lips, and sunken eyes. When the bckened knight growled it revealed its gums and teeth covered in an icky bck gooey ooze that drizzled from its lips. The eyes were bloodshot red and veins stuck from the malnourished man’s forehead and neck.

  “What happened to them?” Thomas was dumbfounded at the sight of the soldiers and failed to notice that the Knight behind had managed to catch up. The enemy grabbed his colr and yanked him back, and threw him to the air before sending a powerful punch that crackled the air and sent the mage skipping through the dirt like stone in water.

  Vander was surrounded, all alone, and all of his comrades knocked out. The kingdom scum had bested them in a few moments. How did it turn out this way?

  “RAAAAGH!” He screamed defiantly and chained into the ground and with as much strength as he could muster broke a chunk of the earth and used to smack into the two knights he had knocked down earlier.

  The third came to his side, it's cymore unsheathed. The heir of the west spun around his body like a top with chains extending from his hands. The first which entangled the bde and pulled it aside and the second smming right into the knight’s head ripping off its helmet with crunch.

  “Impressive.” The dy smiled from the back, “almost as good as the Prince, to st this long against three of my best guards—you’re quite the specimen, Young Lord.”

  “I’ve had enough of you!” Vander’s expression was horrific, his skin was bruised from all the chains that had been coming out of it back to back. His blue hair was messy and strewn around, and his clothes were torn beyond recognition. He looked around and saw his sister drooped at the side of a boulder, Julian id ft beneath his shield, and Thomas passed out at the ground in the distance after taking a powerful blow. Ben couldn't possibly help him since he was still asleep from defeating her entire army in one move.

  It was all on him.

  Vander wiped the blood that dripped down his nose, he whipped the chains to the ground and stretched his arm and neck, “I’ll kill all of you!”

  Before the fight could continue the air between him and the dy warped and shifted like water. For the first time, the young man witnessed the woman before him carry a confused look, as out of nowhere an existence came to be before him.

  A man with purple hair carrying a young woman in one of his arms and a bow on the other. A pissed off expression in their face and clothes dressed for stealth.

  “That fucking bitch—” He unfurled a scroll, a significant portion of it torn, “SHE RUINED THE SPELL!”

  “LEILO?!” The Lady's calm composure quickly turned angry, “WHY ARE YOU HERE? YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE WITH FREYA!?”

  The purple haired man upon hearing her voice immediately choked up and straightened, “Your Majesty!?”

  “Expin yourself!?”

  “U-Uhm—” He lifted up the torn magic scroll as if it was reason enough to expin himself.

  The woman whose scarlet red hair almost seemed to turn abze growled in anger, “You little—”

  “That voice?” The girl in his arms woke up, the voice of the Red Lady seemingly being the reason, “Maddison?” Her eyes snapped awake realizing what situation she’s in—she quickly used her knee to kick the man named Leilo in the back and free herself from his hold.

  Leilo dropped on the snow as the young girl rolled herself next to him. “Hey.” She said bluntly. She carried no weapon but she was dressed like an adventurer, her long bck hair loosely flowing behind her, and her brown skin beautifully shining with the reflections of the snow.

  “Hey.” Vander said back just as bluntly, as if this situation wasn't the weirdest thing they both experienced.

  “Hello, My Lady.” The redhead tried to hide her frustration with a smile to a fairly successful degree, though she wasn't able to hide the twitching irritation in her eyebrows.

  “Maddi—” The woman who appeared out of nowhere spoke, “Wait—no—you’re…different.”

  The red woman flicked her short red hair and crossed her arms. “You truly are as beautiful as the bright blue beaches of the East, My Lady.”

  “You flirt the same but you're a lot less of a pervert.” The adventurer dy shrugged, “What's going on here?” She looked around and saw chaos and bloodshed before her eyes turned to the back and saw an unconscious crowned prince, “BEN!?” She immediately tried to dart towards him but a bckened knight blocked her path.

  “W-wait—You know the prince?” Vander became even more confused, this girl seemed to be a major pyer in this war but he has yet to see her face or acknowledge her existence. “Who are you?”

  “Men truly are fools aren't they?” The red woman cackled, “Oh, My Fair Lady, won't you grace this poor plebeian with your wonderful name?”

  The adventurer beside him shuddered, “Okay so definitely not her, you flirt way too creepy,” She gagged.

  “Are you someone important?” Vander carefully brought his chains back and turned them into makeshift gauntlets once more.

  “Kinda, I guess,” She sighed, “They definitely were after me—” Her eyes focused on the purple haired man, “You—I’m not done with you!”

  Leilo smiled and gave her a theatrical bow. “You have such a way with words, Lady Alejandra Ramirez.”

  “RAMIREZ!?” Vander yelled in shock out loud.

  “Ugh, enough of the introductions!” Lady Alejandra angrily stomped before assuming a fighting stance, “I’m quite ready to get out of here!”

  The red woman smiled, raised her chin, snapped her fingers, and simply spoke, “Seize them!”

  And the battle began once more.