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Desolate Mage: A Legend Reborn!
https://www.webnovel.com/book/12013957905760805/Desolate-Mage%3A-A-Legend-Reborn!
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[22 August 1802 - morning - the day of the audience with Queen Elisabeth]
Clip clop clip clip-clip -- clip clop clip clop.
The steady sound of 2 pairs of hooves striking the stone pavement rang out; accompanied by the grundling grind of the serviceable carriages wheels. At times the carriage driver would have to slow down to navigate the broken, damaged roads - part of the aftermath of the demonic invasion - lest the horses be rendered lame.
The carriage navigated through the sparse traffic in Paris; the bustle of activities not quite yet restored since the loss of countless lives in the recent demon attack. The journey was not long between their lodgings and the temporary centre of government. They had put up at one of the many manors with no lords but with still a number of servants remaining; many residences were repurposed for visiting guests during these trying times.
It was silent in the carriage meant for 5, but seating 7 - Princess Romilda, Caitlyn, Sebastian, Principal Snow, Sir Jacques, Paladin Roland and a steward from the new royal household to accompany them; Steward Louis. Though in the first place, Sir Jacques and Paladin Roland were acting in their duty more as prison wardens than company.
As the entourage crossed from the Gallian portion of the noble residential district to the Britannian quarters; they could sense an unseen tension in the air - remnants from those who felt that a British-born woman should not be the Queen of their great nation.
In addition, Britannia was also not part of the Uro empire; lending more support to Queen Elisabeth's detractors. Nevertheless; as the two charismatic figureheads of both the Loyalist and the Nobles factions had sworn their undying support to Her Majesty; her position was far more secured than it had been nary a week ago.
Regardless, there were still more than just small pockets of naysayers among the populace and nobles - most of all among the Uro-aligned Knight's Order and the Military Faction.
The carriage approached a tightly guarded area; though to their surprise, there were only 2 rounds of checks and less than 10 guardsmen at each checkpoint. The group had expected the grounds to be far more heavily protected than what they saw.
Their carriage came to a halt at the doorstep of the largest Britannian manor in the city, one that in truth rivaled the former palace grounds in size. Carefully and with utmost graciousness; they alighted from the carriage - as they were greeted by Duchess Corrine herself, leader of the Nobles faction.
"Greetings, Your Highness; General Snow; esteemed guests - please, follow after me." The cordial and expressionless Duchess invited them to follow after her then immediately turned and began walking up the staircase towards the first floor anteroom.
Slightly stunned by the unforeseen high rank of the receiving representative, the party failed to respond with their own prepared greetings; as the Duchess out-ranked all of them but the Princess. They were also equally shocked at the unexpected revelation of Principal Snow bring a general - causing Caitlyn, Romilda and Sebastian to raise their brows and glance at him askance.
The man just shrugged as they quickened their pace to keep up with the chivalrous Duchess' long strides.
Upon reaching the anteroom, they noticed that it was rather bare. 4 other groups were already there; waiting for their turn to see Her Majesty - they did not seem to recognise nor have any interest to be acquaintance with the new entrants; as they merely raised their heads to glance once at the newcomers before ignoring them.
The Duchess, as if already prepared to explain this point, stated that the Queen had willingly sold off almost all her non-necessities in order to be rationed to the poor and needy; especially farmers and traders whose livelihoods were nearly wiped out. At this time, the Duchess' erstwhile hard expressions were graced with a slight, gentle smile; as if moved by the memory of the Queen's actions.
"With the winter coming, many will be left without providence - however, I don't understand why those of my faction - bless their souls - do not understand that, without their people, their lands, territory, wealth... All these mean nothing without people to work, to build and to prosper together!"
Composing herself after that slight outburst; and realising that her diatribe was slightly counter to her factions stance, she resumed her stoic stance and waited with the party until it was their turn to enter the bare and meager throne room.
* * * * *
As their escorts Sir Jacques and Paladin Roland remained in the anteroom, Princess Romilda had led the way, followed by Caitlyn - an Earl in her own right based on the equivalent ranking from the east - and Sebastian, himself a Viscount; and finally Principal Snow who was not of the peerage. However, once the glitteringly beautiful Princess had given their groups heartfelt greetings; it was long decided for the Principal and Caitlyn to lead the conversation; being the most seasoned in the wiles and strategems of court and politics.
Now though, they were tense - the situation they had hoped to avoid had come to pass.
"A quasit corpse or two... My deepest apologies; I recognise and a ever-grateful for your former contributions to the country, General - ex-General Snow... But please excuse me if I may be blunt."
The Queen slowly batted her eyelids, looking fatigued from managing the endless flow of documents and petitioners from before dawn to the late hours of the night.
"Would you, in my place, believe...? Believe; and believe it strongly enough based on the scant evidence - enough to mobilise a force led by a divine-level[1] powerhouse, just based on a corpse of the lowest of lesser demons...?"
Despite their numerous discussions; there was almost nothing they could say in response - it was true that they had scant evidence of their shocking claims; claims that needed robust evidence as backing.
"I--" The bald man tried to speak, trying to wipe away the sweat pouring down his pate surreptitiously (very obviously); but he was cut off by a wave of Her Majesty's hand - she could not spend more than 2 minutes on a flimsy case such as theirs.
"Thank you, my dear subject. I am pleased and grateful for your utmost loyalty to the crown and kingdom." She glanced to Vivian at her side. "Please, ensure our guests are comfortable and treated well." Then she waved her hand once again; a sign of dismissal.
* * * * *
The group was quiet as they returned to their dwelling place - contemplating their strange situation.
Called urgently with no room for questions.
Dismissed perfunctorily in less than 5 minutes.
Now left with no clear instructions; unable to make a decision on what was to be their next step.
And still under "house-arrest" by their sickening "host" Sir Jacques; obviously trying to get into the Princess' pants.
The Principal sighed - they could only wait until word came from Rome; when the Princess' report to the royal family was received and a diplomatic missive delivered to the Gallic government.
He hoped the Roman emperor would be more receptive to their claims.
* * * * *
[22 August noon; along the train tracks from Lyon to Turin - about 10km from the mountain pass of Saint-Jeoire-Prieuré]
BOOOOOOOOOMMMMM!!!
A thunderous impact and explosion jolted the train as it came to a swift halt - heavily; in fact, heavily enough that an unsecured passenger could be thrown to slam against the seat before them, or even smashed against the ceiling - enough impact to potentially kill a level 1 passenger!
To Sam, though, this snapped her out of the trance.
Due to her exceedingly great weight (now breaching 400kg...) her inertia was great - far greater than that of the little girl beside her. This was in addition to her already dazed state; just roused from her stupor.
As such; while Celica flew out of her seat, hit the ceiling and fell back down two seats further to the front; Sam hurtled all the way forward; pinballing off seats in the left and right aisle before crashing into door to the next carriage.
She rubbed her head and eyes; trying to regain clarity. She looked around - all the windows were deformed; shattering every single glass panel. Smoke was rising from further front; and she could feel heat and vibrations constantly rocking them.
Even worse were the clear sounds of magical battle, with the occasional explosion, fireball or swooshing sound of a large monster heard overhead. At least this meant that the battle was not over yet; the trains defenders were still valiantly holding their ground.
Then she noticed the imprint of her body on the heavy metal door; and the cracked, broken seats that had helped her reduce her momentum.
(I've gotta lose some weight...) She felt quite down about her ever-rising body weight as she surveyed her surroundings.
(!!! Weakling Albert! Is he safe??) Not having a clue as to why she was here; and not aware of the brush she had just had with near-death, Sam jumped out of a broken window - as a shortcut to the economy-class carriages and to take stock of her surroundings.
Amazingly, the train carriage she was in was still properly aligned and upright - the same could not be said for the other carriages further back and in front however, many of which were upended and lying on their sides; curled round the middle carriages in an C-shape, like the tail of a scorpion.
It was doubtful for any normal passengers had survived; though she could see quite a number of low to mid leveled passengers bloody and battered, struggling to get out of the trains wreckage.
That was not what truly caught her attention - the highlight of her situation was up front; where the front car responsible for propulsion was surrounded by a solid blue barrier; and besieged by multiple green and white dragons!
The defenders were mostly focused on survival - yet every now and then two of the mages in the mid 20th levels would return fire with a raging fireball; exploding on the chest of the winter and earth dragons; drawing roars of rage from them.
The 2nd to 5th carriages were entirely torched; resting as rubble on the ground - it was a good thing that there were few or no passengers present on this trip!
Regardless, that was not Sam's battle; she needed to make sure her buddy was well and alive!
And so she ran back to the 2nd last car, where Albert was currently stuck; pressed under the sweaty and smelly bodies of nearly 10 other passengers - most of them groaning in pain; some of them no longer alive.
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[1] Concepts such as power levels, ranks and adventurer ranks have been posted! Please see auxiliary chapter: Strength, Ranks & Levels System!
[Author's Notes - not enough space in the Author's Note Section T_T]
Experimenting with different titles - please bear with me!
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