7TH DIVISION

Following the conclusion of the briefing, the seven Little Suns and their aides dispersed from the meeting hall and made their way to the Dracon Fort's courtyard in order to depart for Grimcloud. As soon as they arrived there, each of the Little Sun's party gathered up together and the mage accompanying each royalty began to prepare to cast a spell.

Aristo, who did not have a mage with him, could only watch his siblings from the sideline.

A golden magic circle appeared under each party and the people inside it were then engulfed in bright radiance. Six of the seven Little Suns and their aides immediately disappeared from Dracon Fort, teleported themselves away to begin their journey to Grimcloud Forest.

Aristo and his guardian, Lance, then went for the stables and fetch their horses. Unlike his siblings' flashy departure, the Doomed Prince departed for Grimcloud with the trotting of his mount's hooves on the muddy dirt road trailing out to the distance from the fort's gate.

It took Aristo and Lance exactly a day on horseback to reach the southeastern border of Grimcloud from the Dracon Fort. There, the two found themselves in a vast military camp which served as part of the barricade that surrounded Grimcloud.

"Your Highness!" greeted a knight whose armor looked grander and fancier than the common soldier.

"Lieutenant Hobbs!" greeted Aristo back. "I see you're in charge of this side of the forest."

"Indeed, Your Highness. The entire Third Division of the Imperial Army are tasked to secure Grimcloud's border." explained the soldier. "And as I'm the least experienced lieutenant of all in the division, I was tasked to guard the smallest section of the barricade."

"Well, it's nice to see a familiar face." said Aristo. He then threw his gaze around. "By the way, have they arrived?"

Lieutenant Hobbs quickly nodded to the Second Prince's question. It was apparent that this soldier immediately knew the people Aristo was referring to, as if this wasn't the first time they had this kind of conversation.

"As decreed by the Emperor years ago, the 7th Division of the Imperial Army is granted to the Second Prince for him to command, for he did not possess any military might due to his mother's background." said the lieutenant in quotation tone. "And as Your Highness has ordered, the 7th Division has been brought to accompany you on your quest to Grimcloud."

Hobbs then guided Aristo and Lance to the front of the barricade where dozens of odd-looking men in tattered clothes and worn armors were standing around.

Most of them were out of shape, either too skinny or too fat, none were fitting for the look of a capable warrior. Those whose body looked the part, had this grim look on their face which painted themselves as one not to be trusted.

All in all, if there was the worst kind of soldiers a commander could possibly receive, these lot would be among the top nominations.

The pathetic looking group in front of Aristo was indeed the 7th Division of Terraluna Imperial Army, the smallest and the worst army division there was in the Empire. A division where Terraluna casted away criminals in order for them to serve their sentence through public service.

The 7th Division had been known to be thrown to the worst battlefields there were, causing the entire division almost being wiped out each time. But since there was no end of supply for criminals in the Empire, that fact of life of the 7th Division was not a great matter for the lost lives could be easily replaced at any moment.

The 7th Division was indeed the worst division there was in the Imperial Army. For the order was consisted of lowlifes who had distorted morals. Even its members could not trust each other. Let alone their varying fighting skills. From petty thieves, murderers, smugglers, to swindlers, none could be compared to a standard knight in the other divisions.

For these facts that the 7th Division was called the Dumpster Division. A place where the Empire threw its trashes in so they could be exterminated. And the poor soul given charge of this division was none other than the Doomed Prince, Aristo Doulosaima.

It just so happened that during their last expedition, the entirety of the 7th Division was wiped out, spare Aristo and Lance who accompanied them at the time. As such, the people who were gathered today were new ones who had never seen the prince before nor he them.

"Greetings, gentlemen!" spoke Aristo to the odd-looking crowd in front of him. "I am Prince Aristo Doulosaima and I'll be the commander of this division. I hope we can work well together for the quest we're about to embark on together."

"What are we supposed to do out here?!" shouted one of the criminals from the back of the group. "The warden said they'll reduce my sentence if I do as you say!"

"Indeed, if we succeed in our mission in Grimcloud, a proportionate amount of duration will be taken from the sentence given to you." explained Aristo. "And the mission for us today is to enter Grimcloud Forest and eradicate the monsters within. Specifically those in the southwestern region of the forest, inside the glade bordered by the tall mountains."

"What kind of monsters will we be facing?" asked another criminal.

"Currently the forest is covered in white fog and that fog is making the monsters invisible. I myself don't know what kind of creature are they except for that piece of information." answered Aristo.

"Then how do we make them visible?" asked another.

"We'd require a mage to perform a spell that could make them visible." said Aristo. "Unfortunately, I could not get a mage to accompany us on this mission."

"Then, how are we supposed to fight them if we can't see them?" asked another criminal. The group started to become uneasy with the way the conversations going.

Aristo hesitated a bit before answering them, but he braved himself to utter the words.

"We'll just have to make do with our senses." proposed the Doomed Prince. "Though they are invisible, I'm sure we'll still be able to hit them with our swords as long as we pay attention to our surroundings."

The 7th Division was thrown into an uproar. They all thought what Aristo just said was ridiculous.

"WAVING OUR WEAPONS BLINDLY AND HOPING THE MONSTERS WOULD GET CAUGHT ON THE BLADES? THAT'S SUICIDE!"

"ARE YOU ASKING US TO WALK INTO OUR OWN DEATH?!"

"THIS IS MADNESS!"

The criminals glared at Aristo in disgust and hatred. It was clear they did not like his idea of charging to the monster-invested forest without a mage that could significantly help them defeat the dangerous creatures and increase their rate of survival.

Aristo was now left with a group of followers who did not trust him. In fact, they loathed him for being their commander.

And unfortunately for the Doomed Prince, they were all he got. Or so he thought…