Chapter Twenty-three

INTERCEPTED

Two days before the operation commenced, many powerful figures were seated at an ovular table, with one majestic figure all the way at the end.

This figure was the king himself.

"So, let's get this straight. The Bloody Droplets we've heard of are planning to raid us in two days?"

Cerberus piped up, intrigue claiming his voice. He, too, had been a part of the meeting in which they talked with the whistleblower.

Just today, someone had arrived at the entrance of the palace. The man had been absentmindedly staring at the drawbridge that was down before he entered the palace, and it was as if none of the guards on the wall saw him, as he walked right into the palace. Later on, when he entered the throne room, only then did people notice him.

After being noticed by a butler, he walked up to the king who was sitting on the throne, and right in front of the king, revealed himself. The king had also apparently not witnessed him at all right until that very moment, as he had a look of shock on his face.

One way or another, he somehow wriggled his way out of the situation, and informed everyone that he had something to say. At first, he was going to be executed on the spot by Cerberus himself, but the king stopped them.

Now, they were in a meeting with the man, deep within the palace. They were in a humongous chamber that had many, many magnificent pillars and torches all over the place. At the center of that room was the oval table that they were currently seated at.

Cerberus had come to the conclusion that there was an ability at play, as there was no way that the man hadn't been detected up until the throne room. However, as of right now, he wasn't in any position to just jump the man and interrogate him, as the king had ordered Cerberus to stay down.

"Yes, they plan to invade you. I'd suggest that you fortify the palace and stay on guard during that day, from morning to night."

"How do we know you're not lying?"

This time, the arch-general questioned him. It seemed that Cerberus wasn't the only one suspicious of the whistleblower that had walked in out of nowhere. Cerberus was glad that someone had finally taken his side in this ordeal.

"I've got no evidence, I just want to see what type of fools you are."

The man wasn't sitting at the oval table like the others, but was instead leaning against one of the many pillars in the chamber. Almost everyone here took it offensively, to stand in such a position before the king. However, the king himself didn't seem to mind it, so they didn't act upon their feelings.

"What types of fools we are . . . indeed, the human mind can be foolish at times, even if one is the wisest in existence."

The king said all this while rubbing his chin and looking down at the table, seemingly lost within his thoughts. The arch-general and Cerberus both had a somewhat shocked face on them, as if they couldn't believe it.

"My liege, you don't actually believe a single word coming out of this filth's mouth, do you?"

Cerberus was the one who took the first step. While the arch-general wanted to punch Cerberus in the face right now for such terrible wording, the main point of the statement was still conveyed.

"Hmm? Why wouldn't I believe it? Can it hurt us?"

The king was currently staring right at Cerberus, who was basically all the way at the opposite end of the ovular table. The palpable tension forced Cerberus to swallow his saliva once before beginning to think about how he could change the king's mindset.

'Actually, wait . . . is there anything wrong with the king's thoughts?'

As Cerberus began to think about things in a more clear mind, he found the same wisdom that the king had stated to be true. Indeed, there wasn't much to lose by raising their defenses on that singular day alone.

"Hey, whistleblow- . . ."

The arch-general attempted to start up a conversation with the suspicious man who gave them all this information, but when he turned to look at him, there was nobody there. In fact, not only was he not leaning against the pillar, he was nowhere to be seen.

"W-Wait, who were we talking to again . . .?"

One of the squad captains put out a question that everyone wanted to scoff at.

"Are you a fool? We were talking to . . . to . . . actually, who were we talking with?"

Another squad captain piped up to try and answer the other's question, but when he himself tried to do so, he realized that he also couldn't quite put a finger on who they were talking to in the first place.

"I don't think there ever was a person . . . was there?"

One by one, these types of comments were beginning to spread throughout the table. Even Cerberus, who was generally a confident man, couldn't tell what was going on.

"Who we were talking to doesn't matter. What does matter, however, is the fact that in two days, we might get invaded. Discuss a plan as to how to defend against such a thing. That's all for today, you're dismissed."

The one to pull all the attention and confusion was the king, who didn't seem nearly as confused as the others. This only served to further the confusion, however, as once everyone saw that the king seemed to be so confident, the feeling that they had forgotten everything grew stronger.

The only person in this situation who was worried about it in a different way was Cerberus.

'Did it just happen again . . .?'

Whatever the case, this was the meeting that would later allow them to successfully anticipate a raid. As to whether or not it will allow them to succeed though, is still unknown.

--- SEQUENCE 2 ---

"Daphne, unit one got intercepted by Cerberus."

'They may be able to handle him, but I should give up on them and use them as fodder.'

Daphne, although not very familiar with the person called Cerberus, knew that he was powerful, as rumors and stories relating to him were constantly told. The most surprising part of it all was that he was of common birth, picked up by the emperor himself.

"How are the second and third units?"

Daphne turned to Leonardo, the one who had informed her that the first unit was intercepted. Somehow, she had ended up as the tactician of the whole operation, meaning a lot of things rode on her back. If things went right, she would gain a lot of power and fame.

Of course, if things went wrong, her life would be vanquished.

"The second and third are rushing in from the side just like planned, but they all have the same issue as unit one, which is that there is absolutely no organization. We got a bunch of brain-dead monkeys to join us."

A side of Leonardo that Daphne really didn't want to see was popping up, and it was the side that revealed just how desperate the old man really was. She knew it the best, as she was the one who had been with him from the start. She'd seen him sit behind that wooden desk for hours on end going through papers, talking with others, talking with her, and so on.

In her eyes, although the Bloody Droplets had no true leader according to the code, he really was the one in charge.

"It's ok if they continue on like that, telling them to get into formation now would only slow them down. This is a matter of rushing the royal family before more people like Cerberus show up."

She had nearly no faith that they'd be able to beat the royal family once the figures that were physically powerful, not influentially or politically, showed up.

'Actually, no. If someone that was influential showed up, he might be able to rally the palace defense, slowing us down by quite a bit.'

One of the things that she had learned over time was that standing at the back hurt. If a person were to look at their situation from the outside, a lot of people would think that Daphne was the one that had it the easiest.

Daphne didn't accept that as reality, but instead thought the opposite.

'Having to just wait, only laying out the plans, and knowing that the fate of this operation is left up to people besides me is terrifying.'

It was human nature to believe in oneself before others, and Daphne couldn't conquer it. No matter how she tried, she couldn't muster up the courage to fully believe in the people who also shared her goals and beliefs.

'It's all I can do, but I won't.'

She tried to convince herself that to fully believe in them would be naive, as there was a chance of them losing. However, her unconfident lip biting wasn't showing it at all.

--- SEQUENCE 2 ---

"GET THEM!"

"FOR THE PEOPLE!"

Unit two, the one entering from the left side, was currently running without any obstacles.

The reason that there were three units would be because to actually enter the palace, there is a courtyard through which one must go through first. It's rectangular in shape, and has three entrances. One of them is from the front, with the other two to the side. Opposite from the front entrance is a staircase that leads up into the palace itself.

The reason that the people on the side of the emperor weren't just guarding the actual entrance to the palace but instead the three entrances was because of one thing. While there was only one official entrance into the palace from the courtyard, which would be the stairs, there were multiple windows that one could climb through to get into the palace.

Basically, if any unit were to get into the courtyard, they could possibly split in half, with one half distracting the opposition on the stairs, while the other broke the windows and climbed in. For that reason, the three entrances to the courtyard itself was likely where everything would be decided.

"Commander, there's someone up ahead!"

Just as the unit was approaching the entrance to the courtyard from their side, they found someone standing within the entrance. She stood right underneath the archway, her white hair shining brilliantly under the illumination that was the sun.

"Oh, my, what an antsy little mob of people."

One of her cheeks lied in her right hand, her head slightly tilted to the side to do so. Her emerald green eyes were as dark as the abyss itself. Concerning her figure, it definitely was very slim.

The unit that was referred to as a mob was angry at being called so, which fueled their charge. Their formation got even more messy, with openings in-between the people at multiple locations. Her eyes could see them all, and a small giggle slipped from her mouth.

"GET HER!"

The commander of this unit, a man who went by the name of Abraham and wielded a lengthy beard, took the lead. He wore full knights armor, a shield and sword in each hand. He held his kite shield in front of him, clearly representing his will to take anything that was coming at the mob.

"Silly boy, why would I do such a thing?"

A slight tinge of amusement slided on her tongue as she said so, but Abraham didn't let his emotions get the best of him. He rushed at her shield first, ready to take the blow so that his unit could progress.

SHING

The woman pulled out two curved swords from their sheaths, both of which lied at her waist. She held them up against the sun, the glittering light intense. Seeing that Abraham and his unit were only around two meters away from her by now, her focus went from her two swords to the unit.

Then, in a movement that was in sync with the rest of her beauty, her body moved like water. She easily slipped past Abraham, and before he could even turn around to try and drag her attention onto him.

SLISH

SLASH

SLISH

SLASH

GUSH

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