Prepare for the Worst Possibility

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[Twinster]

Quality: Very High

Rarity: Rare

Skills: Black Wind, Mist Body, Thousand Knives, Switch.

Death Hawk Soul: Fly, Storm.

Two knives made from Death Eagle bone, Mythril, and Iron. Combined with Monster Cores from Wind Fairy and Elder Treant. Equipped with Mana Cores, allowing the user to utilize skills without depleting their own mana.

Twinster can levitate and be manipulated by the user's thoughts.

Created by Cien Millard.

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Cien handed Twinster to Ariyu and proceeded to explain each of the new weapon's abilities in detail.

Twinster possessed four skills along with two bonus skills from the Death Hawk's soul.

For the first skill, Black Wind. This skill allowed the user to create a dark wind, an wind imbued with elements of death and darkness. 

This black wind could be used for both offense and defense.

The advantage of Black Wind over regular wind is that it has a small chance of cursing the opponent when it inflicts wounds. 

The curse it bestows is called the Weakening Curse, which can reduce the opponent's strength by up to fifty percent. 

Additionally, with the element of death, this wind can be used to directly target and extinguish the souls of enemies or creatures.

The second skill, Mist Body, allows the user to transform their body into mist. 

This renders them impervious to physical attacks from enemies. Moreover, Mist Body also grants the user the ability to become invisible.

Next is Thousand Knives. This skill can duplicate Twinster to an unlimited number of copies, with the quantity of duplications determined by the amount of mana supplied by the user. 

The duration of the duplications also depends on the continuous mana supply from the user.

The fourth skill is called Switch. As the name implies, this power enables the user to switch positions with Twinster. When used effectively, this skill can be quite formidable.

Moving on to the two bonus skills from the soul that Cien implanted. 

Honestly, the creation of this weapon was somewhat rushed for Cien. So, even though the results are astonishing, Cien believes he could have made Twinster even better.

Considering Ariyu was heading into the battlefield, Cien believed that the four main skills of Twinster might not be sufficient. Thus, he decided to infuse a soul into it.

Cien didn't want to infuse just any soul; he wanted to use a stronger one. Unfortunately, time was not on his side. 

Among all the souls he currently had access to (the ones in the backyard), Cien chose the Death Hawk. The spirit of a Rank 6 monster.

The two skills obtained through the assimilation of the Death Hawk's soul were Fly, which allowed the Twinster user to fly. 

As for the second skill, Storm, it enabled the user to summon a storm to the battlefield. 

The size and scope of the storm depended on the amount of mana supplied by the user. 

Regarding the type of storm, the user could create various types, from a regular windstorm to a sandstorm or even a thunderstorm. The Storm skill could only be used once every ten days.

To be honest, Cien was less impressed with the two skills derived from the Death Hawk's soul. 

He felt that these two skills were a level below the skills obtained by the other two weapons, Moonice and Crimsonagin. Both of those weapons had skills that could significantly amplify the user's strength.

However, Cien also couldn't deny that his perspective might be wrong. 

A skill, even if it seemed ordinary, could become deadly when wielded by the right person. 

That's why Cien hoped that Ariyu would be able to use Twinster effectively. For him personally, Twinster was a lethal weapon because unlike the other weapons he had created, only Twinster could directly attack the souls of the enemies.

Listening to Cien's explanation, Ariyu was stunned. Now he understood why the other Squad Captains, despite not having high levels of power, still exuded confidence. 

They weren't afraid even when facing demons and Demon Generals. Not only did they believe in their techniques and skills, but the weapons Cien had provided also placed their strength at the top tier.

Ariyu then saluted and bowed in gratitude to Cien, who had entrusted Twinster to him.

After explaining the powers of Twinster, the two Captains immediately prepared for their departure. Just a few hours later, they were ready to leave.

Cien, Ethel, and Reiss accompanied them to see them off. Cien could see the inner conflict within both Captains as they were about to head to the battlefield.

Cien hoped that both Captains, along with their entire squads, would return safely. 

However, he knew that this hope was nearly impossible to fulfill. In the battlefield, there were always lives sacrificed, and the soldiers on the front lines were the most prepared to make that sacrifice.

Finally, the third group departed. 

Ethel sighed deeply, "Sigh... just as we had a full house, it's quiet again."

"What are you saying? There are still three thousand people here."

Ethel and Reiss glanced at Cien and let out long breaths. They turned and walked back to their offices.

"What do you think, if our assumptions turn out to be true, can they prevent the worst-case scenario?" Ethel asked Cien.

Cien shook his head. "If the worst-case scenario is the deaths of the kings, I will try to prevent it in Divinia later. But if the worst-case scenario is the downfall of a kingdom, to be honest, I'm about eighty percent certain it will happen. And we don't have the capability to stop it."

"Mandora, huh..." Ethel whispered.

"Hm."

Up to this point, Cien had been striving to avoid a situation where the kings would die and a kingdom would fall. 

However, despite all the efforts Cien had contemplated, he couldn't think of a way to save Mandora from disaster.

Mandora's position was too distant. Even though he had created tunnels as quickly as possible and sent Kirana's group, Cien wasn't sure if they would arrive in Mandora before the Abyss invasion began.

As for Mandora itself, they would lose Prince Hanibal, who was currently serving as the interim king after his father's death. 

The Prince was required to attend the Conference of Kings in Divinia. 

If Prince Hanibal refused the invitation, Mandora would no longer be recognized as a kingdom, and there was a possibility that the other kings would declare Mandora's land as neutral territory.

A territory without rulers. This could lead to other kingdoms, such as Westya or even Divinia, invading Mandora and claiming the neutral land as their own.

This was what made Prince Hanibal furious. He hadn't expected the Conference of Kings to be held at such a time when Mandora was still battling the Abyss. 

He couldn't leave, but if he didn't go, Mandora would no longer be recognized. 

Hanibal felt like he was on the edge of a cliff, with the looming shadow of Mandora's downfall in his mind.

This was what Cien sensed about Mandora's current fate – a critical situation that was difficult to resolve.

Therefore, Cien devised a contingency plan. A plan not to save Mandora, but to save the lives of its citizens.

After sending Kirana's group on their way, Cien immediately contacted Halima. He explained the possible situation and requested Halima to call Prince Hanibal.

Cien and Hanibal discussed various ways to avoid the destruction of Mandora. However, among the options they considered, the likelihood of saving the Land of Sand was very slim.

This is where Cien suggested another option.

"Hanibal, which do you choose, your kingdom or your people?"

"Listen..."

Cien then presented a new path. He wanted to save as many Mandora citizens as possible. Before the conference began, Cien proposed that Mandora start evacuating its people to the nearest region.

For this, Cien recommended a small kingdom called Yutopia. It was a kingdom inhabited by both elves and demons, located in the southern part of Westya or the northwest of Mandora.

It was an isolated kingdom that kept itself secluded from the world, but Cien had many friends there. 

He could send Kirana to Yutopia to request assistance and cooperation in accommodating the Mandora populace.

"Hm, this is the only solution I can think of to avoid excessive bloodshed. We're fighting a losing war situation. Instead of sacrificing many lives, I believe it's better to retreat and prepare for a future counterattack."

Prince Hanibal fell silent.

"A kingdom exists because of its people, not the other way around. Even if Mandora's land falls into the hands of the enemy, as long as its people survive, we can reclaim it and rebuild Mandora. Prince Hanibal, I hope you can make a wise decision in this matter."

Weeks had passed since that phone call, and Hanibal was now following Cien's advice, but he wasn't giving up the Land of Sand easily. 

Half of Mandora's military forces wanted to stand and fight against the Abyss, while allowing the evacuation of the rest of the population, including those still afflicted by Lusting.

Cien believed that this was due to the pride and nationalism of the military personnel as Mandora citizens. 

He had no intention of changing their mindset. He was just relieved that Prince Hanibal was willing to accept his advice to evacuate the ordinary citizens from Mandora's territory.

"Will Yutopia accept them?" Ethel asked, still uncertain.

Ethel, as Cien's wife, had only been to Yutopia once. It was a beautiful place, but the elves and demons within it were not particularly friendly toward humans. 

Even when Cien had been declared dead by Westya, and they had sensed a conspiracy behind his disappearance, Yutopia had immediately severed all ties with Westya. 

They had remained closed off from the world ever since.

Yutopia's territory was extremely hidden. Ethel didn't know the way there, and neither did anyone in Westya or perhaps even in Kastia. 

Only two people were known to Ethel who could go there: Cien Millard and Westya's Champion, Lindell Zephiras.