VALLEY OF DEATH

With great terror in their eyes, Aristo and his men watched their comrade claimed by the invisible monsters.

Seeing the enemies were upon them, the Doomed Prince raised his sword and tried to rally his troop to prepare for battle.

"All men! Prepare to fi--"

"THE MONSTERS ARE HERE! RUN FOR YOU LIVES!"

Before Aristo's words could reach his army. One of the terrified criminals cried their fear. His horrified expression immediately infected the rest of the 7th Division members.

"SCREW THE PENAL SERVICE! I'M OUT!"

"WHICH WAY IS THE WAY OUT AGAIN?!"

"EACH MAN FOR THEMSELVES!!!"

The entire 7th Division completely went into disarray. They broke formation and began running with their horses around the valley.

The invisible monsters took advantage of this chaos and began to kill them all one by one.

"ARRGGHHH!!!"

"EEEKKK!!! PLEASE, SAVE ME!"

"MOTHER!!!!"

Aristo looked at his men being slaughtered in great horror. Even so, he still tried to return some order back to their group.

"EVERYONE! COME TOGETHER! DON'T RUSH OFF ON YOUR OWN!"

Ignoring the Doomed Prince's order, the criminals kept on running around the valley with their mounts. In the process, they were beheaded, got their limbs torn, and had their corpse feasted upon by invisible devourers.

The braver ones tried to wave their swords around, but to no avail. They got themselves beheaded and mauled just like the rest of criminals.

Seeing the 7th Division being eradicated by the invisible monsters, Lance quickly went to his master's side.

"YOUR HIGHNESS! STAY CLOSE TO ME!"

"Lance, we need to round the remaining men up and regroup!"

"Forget about them! Worry about your own safety!"

Suddenly, Aristo and Lance could feel quick footsteps charging toward them. They knew it was now their turn to be preyed on by the invisible monsters.

"Your Highness!" warned Lance.

"Ready for battle, my friend!" urged Aristo raising his sword.

The Doomed Prince and his guardian braced themselves to face their invisible adversaries. Though they knew it was useless, they heightened their senses and tried to predict where and when the monsters might be coming from.

The footsteps turned louder and louder. The monsters were fast approaching. Aristo and Lance tightened their grip on the hilt of their swords.

"Forgive me for being weak, Lance." spoke the Doomed Prince to his guardian, thinking it might be the last chance he had to do so. "I'm really sorry that you ended up serving an insignificant prince like myself."

"No, Your Highness." replied Lance, shaking his head. "You're not insignificant. To us, you are enough. Just the way you are!"

Aristo sighed at his comrade's words. There was still a little time before the monsters reached them.

"Unfortunately my humble way of being had brought us here. The end of the line." said the Doomed Prince. "If I were truly enough, then surely we won't face our deaths here…"

As if the goddesses heard Aristo's words, a strong gale suddenly shot down from above and pushed out the white mist covering that portion of the valley where Aristo and his men were ambushed.

The clearing of the white mist revealed dozens of small crimson humanoid horned creatures running around Aristo and his men. Those were none other than the invisible monsters that had been attacking the Doomed Prince's army.

The creatures each brandished some makeshift dagger in their hands and sharp fangs and claws on their mouth and fingers, which would explain how the men were being killed earlier.

"Your Highness, look! The mist has cleared up and the monsters are now visible!" shouted Lance. "They looked like red goblins!"

"Stay on your guard, Lance! Just because we can see them, doesn't mean we're safe!" urged Aristo raising his sword. "Look out! They're coming!"

Dozens of the small crimson monsters began making their way toward Aristo and Lance. Though they could see the creatures, the two knew they only had a very slim chance of surviving the horde. Even so, the two braced themselves to face the monsters anyway.

But their effort was in vain for a shining orb of light suddenly appeared above Aristo and Lance. The radiance the orb was emitting caused the crimson monsters to be agitated and stopped the creatures on their tracks. The monsters could not approach the Doomed Prince any closer because of this light.

This bizarre sight threw Aristo and Lance into confusion.

"They're not coming to us?" wondered Lance. "The light from the orb is stopping them?"

"How could this be? The sudden wind that clears the mist, the blinding orb that stops the monsters…" wondered Aristo, eyeing the odd phenomena. "Where did they come from?"

"Dear Eirene! That was really cutting it close, wasn't it?"

An angelic female voice was suddenly heard coming from above, surprising both Aristo and Lance. The Doomed Prince immediately lifted his gaze to the sky to see who was sounding it.

Descending from the clouds and through the blinding light of the shining orb was a woman cladded in hooded dark robe. She flew down from above and landed right in front of the Doomed Prince.

Aristo was bewildered by the sight in front of him. A person just came down from the sky to his aid. He was even more bewildered by what happened next.

The woman threw the hood of her robe back and unleashed from under it a flowing beautiful silver hair. She lifted her head and casted her golden eyes toward Aristo's purple irises.

Her visage was enchanting and captivating. The Doomed Prince's attention was immediately fixated on the woman.

"Greetings, Your Highness!" spoke the mysterious beautiful woman while performing an elegant curtsey with her dark robe. "My name is Luciana Edelweiss!"

"Luciana…Edelweiss…?" repeated Aristo slowly, still could not entirely grasp what was actually happening.

Luciana then flicked her finger and summoned the Eirene Grimoire to her hand. The stunt shocked both Aristo and Lance.

"A mage!" shouted the guardian.

"Indeed! I am a mage who bears the title the Witch of Eirene!" continued Luciana.

She extended her hand toward Aristo and gave him the most charming smile he had ever seen.

"And I have come to turn you into the most glorious sun of all, my prince!"