Chapter 22

"I'm afraid that is the exact truth," Paxley responded to the comment of the Swan Princess. The Moniyan Princess could not help it but shakes her head in both disappointment and disbelief.

"I know there is no use in getting mad over something that had already happened but you should have summoned us earlier," Princess Silvanna stated with gritted teeth, suppressing the building up anger within her. Not only are they pressured but an important key, which is the prophecy, about the upcoming war has been hidden from them.

"Anyway, according to that augury you have just spoken of, is it wrong of me to think that the two lines, conquer with no fidelity and triumph through perfidy, somehow speaks of betrayal?" the princess added, her eyes wary at each and every person present in the courtroom.

Though she does not want it to happen but there is a possibility that one of them might be a traitor.

"No, you are right about it. Such betrayal is something we have to be aware of," head Paxley agreed. He walked across the small elevated podium with his hands behind him. He has an idea of the possible candidate for being a traitor but his speculation is not backed up with solid evidence.

"It may be a careless statement but if I may say so, the CEO, Mr. Nero Ton, is the possible traitor."

The statement from the head Paxley has raised suspicion from the two princesses but before they could announce their own opinion, Minsitthar had verbalized his.

"I could not disagree but that CEO must be the top person who wanted to end the war against the demons for they held his SABER squad as captives. Why would he go against us?" he asked, his finger tapping the wooden desk as his uneasy feeling keeps on bothering the hell out of him.

The Moniyan Princess stood up for she is needed back at the castle. Though the meeting is of importance, they have to make it brief so she could help the preparation of the Lightborn squad as well as the Oriental fighters especially that Zilong is absent until that very moment.

"I suggest that each of us has to do our roles in this war. For we hold and protect different empires, it is best not to divide the power," Silvanna announced. She walked towards the podium, taking over the role of the head Paxley. With a swift wave of her hand, the whole map of their empires appeared in midair, big enough for them to see.

"The mages shall be taking care of the defense," Princess Odette uttered. She raised her wand and  scarlet colors surrounded both Magical City and the Swan Castle. Another wave emerged golden colors that surrounded the scarlet ones.

"The fighters shall be on the frontlines," she added.

"My empire is surely be the target of Dyrroth, together with his team. I shall deploy two squads to both fight and assist your warriors," Princess Silvanna interjected. Minsitthar heaved out a sigh for he is getting tired with the heavy tension around the courtroom.

Such situation does not give him much room to rationally think and plan for their offense. So he speaks up to get this over with.

"The Warrior's Society shall be deployed into the frontlines," he volunteered for he have trust in the warriors who have trained under his organization.

"About Nero Ton, let us keep our eyes on him and whatever he has up in his sleeves, we, the leaders, must take action before he could worsen the situation," Princess Odette enunciated. With their bullet-planned tactic agreed upon by all, the Moniyan Princess struts her way out from the courtroom without saying another word. Both Minsitthar and head Paxley heaved a heavy sigh upon the exit of the princess.

The Swan princess simply smiled at them, hoping they would get to understand her.

"She is training the newly born squad, the pressure must be keeping her on the edge. Do understand," she said before taking her leave as well. Upon her exit at the room, she is greeted by Lancelot with a bow. He has been doing his duty but now that his family is also faced with the responsibility in taking part at the defense of their home, the princess felt low. She has to deploy him back to his household to at least stabilize the Baroques.

Back at the Moniyan castle, the training has become rigid as the time ticks.

"Alucard! Your left hand is wavering, don't slack off! Aim at the target with 95-100 percent of accuracy, Granger! One bullet matters!"

Princess Silvanna holds the bridge of her nose as she witnesses the chaotic teamwork of the Lightborn Squad. They have been training harder over time but the progress is a bit slow for she could still see some obvious weakness in them. During the first days of their training, they were improving at a faster rate but now that they're in the second week, they started to lose focus.  Her voice was heard throughout the field as she saw Fanny carrying Harith on her back while swinging in midair with her cables.

"Fanny, take Harith down to the ground! You two aren't a good duo!" she yells at them which they immediately followed obediently. Harith's face is still shining brightly after experiencing the flight that he had never expected to happen. Fanny curtsies at the princess while apologizing. Princess Silvanna wants to reserve her energy but disciplining the four warriors is somehow draining her.

Seeing the distress on the princess, Tigreal kneels on his knees with his sword laid on the ground, parallel with him.

"I apologize for their behavior," he says but the princess shakes her head as a sign of dismissal. She gives them an hour to take a break, hoping they'll get their focus back, before heading towards the throne room to check if Minsitthar had sent a reply to her Dawnian message. The general grabs his sword and calls out the others for a briefing. When they're gathered around the table outside the castle, Tigreal glares at each of them and none of the four dares to look at him in the eyes.

"What do you think you're doing?!" he bursts out his anger and struck the ground with his double-edged sword which caused a strong blow at them.

They flinch out of surprise but they immediately straightened their back and behaved properly, not wanting to put his anger at a higher level.

"Playing around is not required as of the moment, we are short in time and we must be ready at all times for the abyssal demons could attack at any time," he adds and with his authoritarian voice, the other four remain looking down on the ground, reflecting on what they did.

Harith slowly gets near Granger and whispers, "Why do I feel like we're 5 years old being scolded by our muscled mother?"

Granger breathes in and out to keep himself in control or else he'll be damned if he suddenly bursts out into laughter.

"Shut it, just listen to him," he whispers back.

Just then, Harith lifts his head and raises his hand with an expectant look on his face.

"Are we going against dead people?" he asks and his next question somehow made Tigreal quiet. "Will we ever make it out alive?"

The general also has no idea about the answer to that question for they hold no power to foresee the future. All they could do is try their hardest to win the war and stay alive to witness the hope of saving their home.

Before he could even speak another word, their meeting is interrupted by a soldier who runs towards the castle with haste. Though it seems just one of the ordinary things that a soldier would do, the atmosphere turns heavy and danger somehow lurks around like tricky magic.

They all get up to their feet when the soldiers at the castle gates are waving red flags.

"I'll check the situation," Fanny volunteers as she activates her cables and swings towards the castle towers where the other soldiers are receiving smoke signals from the outer walls of the whole empire. She can see the red flags from afar being waved as well and from the far horizon, the darkness starts to cover the skies.

"They're here," she mumbles to herself before returning to their leader and upon her return, the princess is running towards them wearing her full armor.

"The abyssal demons have entered the borders. The five of you help the people evacuate, I shall send out commands to the army. Go!" Princess Silvanna demands before leaving.

With the Oriental Fighters behind her, she stands at the podium where she can overlook the royal army. Her heart beats faster as the clock ticks, her hand trembles in anxiousness but she must not waver for she is the leader of the empire. If she shows her fear, the royal army would break and their defense would end in shambles and the empire's fall would be right before them. 

"Unsheath your swords and put your lives on the line to protect the empire!" she claimed and when she raises her sword, the royal army falls out and heads to the borders of the kingdom. Silvanna gets on her horse and takes the lead, leaving the castle on the hands and protection of the Oriental fighters.

She grips the reins tighter for Zilong has not yet arrived from his errand of finding Chang'e, without his presence affects the offensive combat of their side. As her horse gallops towards the main entrance to their kingdom, she tries her hardest not to shed tears while passing by her startled and confused people while they walk towards the direction of the castle where they could be safe. Dark clouds have conquered the skies, flashes of lightning and thunders shoot across, the wind blows harshly as if screaming with despair.

On the other hand, magicians from the Paxley household and Baroque family stand on the frontlines as their city awaits the arrival of countless abyssal demons. The barrier they have built around Magical City is strong enough to withstand powerful attacks, though it may not last long due to lack of preparedness.

Minsitthar stands upfront with his golden armor that glimmers under the diminishing light of the sun. He tightens his grip on his spear, hoping that Princess Silvanna received his letter on time about the arrival of the demons.

"There were countless portals that the vampire couple had opened outside the borders of the city. It was too late when we had found them. We could not even get close to them due to the toxic atmosphere around."

Bruno's report echoes inside Minsitthar's mind, he could not help it but blame himself for being an incompetent leader. If he could have done better, their situation would not be as worse as of the moment. But Lolita, who has fully recovered, steps up with her magic hammer and says,

"This is not the time for regrets. We must fight to the best of our abilities."

A simple nod is the response of their leader.

With Lesley leading the sniper team to be lookouts, she could see an endless army of demons flying, crawling and walking towards the city. And on the lead of their enemy, Lesley recognizes a demon holding two scythes and on every step he makes, molten rocks are left behind. She shifts her position and targets the bell right above the gates of Magical City. With just one bullet, the bell rings which signals everyone that the enemies are near. The ground starts to shake, the darkness covers the blue sky and the lights of magic glow from every mage.

Loud howls and screeching sounds resounded in the air, even a disturbing and deafening cry makes everyone cringe in fear but they have to bury it at the back of their minds. Protecting their land is what matters most. But their fright heightened as they hear a familiar sound of something revving closer to the city. It is of the same sound that the legendary mustang that had saved countless lives and accomplished missions both for the sake of Magical City and Land of Dawn.

"No doubt," Lesley whispers to herself, not feeling shocked at all for she has expected this to happen when she has heard that the SABER Squad had gone missing. "The SABER Squad is on the side of the abyss."

"Fear not, my people! We'll protect what is ours and drive anyone out who dares take it away!" Princess Odette claims as she raises her staff in midair. Its blinding blaze lights up the darkness as the wind gathers around it like an unstoppable hurricane. As another layer of a barrier is created, Johnson comes with full speed aiming at the princess.

"Perish!" Alice's evil laugh storms in like thunder as she flies above Johnson, keeping up with his speed. "Your barrier has no use, princess!"

Thinking that the mustang could successfully crash into the princess, Johnson keeps his speed at its fastest. But then, the ground quakes uncontrollably as if it would break into pieces and surprises everybody when a huge block of wall divided the land, keeping the princess safe from the impact. The Monitor Lizard stands before the frontline warriors while holding his extraordinary weapon that looks like a tank of gas. His purple tongue slithers in and out from his mouth as if he asks for more thrilling battles.

"Job well done, Monitor Lizard," Mr. Ton says proudly as he claps his hands while walking towards the frontline of the battlefield. "Such grand entrance is what you truly deserve. Now, VENOM Squad, show me what you've got."

Everyone is in awe as another four warriors that are armored in black comes into sight. Their presence is somehow intimidating and villain-like, the aura around them is as dangerous as they look. Though, the question still remains, are they real allies or masked enemies?

"Let the party begin!" The arrogant CEO announced.