Before the Escape
Alex returned to the evacuation point to inform his family, while the others waited in the forest.
Alex saw many tents filled with wounded people; some were even outside because the tents were full. But Alex's purpose wasn't to watch. He moved on, heading to the tent where his parents were.
Tap. Tap.
When he arrived, Alex saw his mother lying down, injured, but she was not alone—her husband was accompanying her.
"Mother, Father," Alex called out in a hurry.
"Shhh. Don't be noisy, your mother is resting," Alex's father warned in a whisper.
"I'm sorry."
"What is it? Is it safe outside yet?"
"No... In fact, I came here to tell you that it's getting more dangerous."
"I see," his father replied calmly, without a hint of worry.
"Father, run with me. I'll carry Mother."
Hearing this, Alex's father showed a faint smile. "What is it? Something must have happened before this."
Alex's father knew his son well. His son never asked for anything. Even as a child, if asked what he wanted, Alex would just shake his head no. Alex was not a demanding child; he was always grateful, even when their finances were tight.
Alex whispered in his father's ear, "Actually... the Emperor has a child, and he gave Althair a mission to take the child as far away as possible..."
"Then go with them. Leave us. We would only be a burden if we came," Alex's father said, cutting his son off.
"But I can't. If Father and Mother stay here, then I will stay here too," Alex decided.
"Don't waste your life on something futile. Your mother and I have lived long lives; many of our wishes have already come true. Alex, live and achieve your dreams. Live for us."
Hearing this, Alex shed tears, his body trembling. He knelt before his father and beside his mother.
"Alex... come here. Where's my good boy," his mother's voice sounded in his ear.
Alex turned to his left and saw his mother lying weakly, both of her legs gone due to an enemy attack. Alex went to her and held her weak hand. His mother said, "Go with your friends. Protect the prince. He is our hope—no, the hope of all our people for justice."
"Don't forget to eat, don't stay up late, and don't train your muscles too hard."
Hearing this, Alex's hand trembled.
"Eat healthy food. Drink water, don't let your throat get dry."
Alex's entire body shook violently, moved that even as her son was about to leave her, his mother was still reminding him of these things.
"Be a good boy, Alex, even if your good deeds are not repaid with kindness."
"Even though we will die, always remember, Alex... we will not leave you alone. We will become energy, spirits, or whatever. We will watch over your life's journey."
"Want to know a secret, Alex? Your father loves you more than you know, he's just too shy to say it," Alex's mother said with a small smile.
Alex could only let out a small laugh through his tears. Suddenly, he felt a touch on his shoulder and...
"Know that we have always been proud of you," said his father. "Now go, my son. Remember that we will always be by your side, even in a form you cannot see."
If you're wondering why only Alex did this, the reason is that Clara lives in the Moonstone Empire. Rio, Alicia, and Althair are nobles. The territories of their three families are far from the capital.
Althair's Point of View
While we waited for Alex, we began to draw a complex pattern that you wouldn't understand. This is for summoning a familiar. My familiar is an adult eagle, Alex's is a lion, Rio's is a wolf, Alicia's is a tiger, and Clara's is a frog.
However, I stopped Clara during the process. I invited her to fly with me instead. Just imagine you're in a race to see who's the fastest. Your opponents are ferocious beasts with high hunting speeds, while you can only hop around. It's clearly bad. Without much thought, you would surely agree that the frog would come in last.
We mounted our respective familiars. Clara sat in front of me, holding Carsel in her arms, and I sat behind her. It's not that I'm being a pervert, but I was afraid she might fall off. It's better to be safe than sorry, right?
I flew above, while Alex, Rio, and Alicia were below. I was further ahead, acting as the guide. After we passed through the forest, we arrived in an open clearing, with no trees or rocks, only grass. Rain began to fall from the sky, as if the sky itself was weeping for the innocent people who had died.
I immediately cast a protection spell to shield Carsel from the cold and the raindrops.
I thought the journey around here would be fine, but Alex shouted from below.
"Althair!" shouted Alex, his body completely soaked from the rain. "Even if we don't see any enemies yet, they will definitely appear! Our empire is being attacked in a circle, after all!"
I understood now.
I didn't answer. I immediately began preparing a spell. The moment an enemy appeared, I would release it. But from behind, I sensed a fight. I turned and saw smoke rising from the evacuation point. Despite the rain, the smoke somehow remained, standing firm. I looked at Alex from a distance and saw the veins bulging on his hands. But I also saw Rio and Alicia motivating him, so I just stayed quiet.
But my senses screamed at me that there was an attack from behind. I reflexively turned and saw thousands—no, tens of thousands—of arrows being fired at us.
I unleashed a whirlwind spell behind us. Clara also gave me a 'magic strengthening' buff, and it was as if the angry sky helped make the whirlwind even bigger. As a result, the arrows spun around, following the current of my whirlwind.
But I heard the sound of fighting below. I looked down and saw Rio, Alex, and Alicia fighting knights with a sun crest on their chest armor.
Third-Person Point of View
On the ground, Alex and his lion led the charge, flanked by a wolf on the right and a tiger on the left. The tiger was massive, its paws leaving scorched marks on the grass. Its body had a flaming effect that blazed on, even in the rain. Alex's lion, Leon, didn't have a flaming effect. His body was larger than Alicia's tiger, muscles trembling with every stride. The lion reflected Alex's own earth affinity. Rio's familiar was a wolf, Reo. It wasn't as broad or muscular as the other two mystical beasts. The wolf had a lightning effect all over its body, but Rio, who was riding it, was not electrocuted. It looked more agile than the other two animals.
Rio looked back and noticed a huge number of magic-coated arrows heading toward them, but he didn't panic, trusting that Althair would take care of it. His focus was on what was in front: 12 knights were blocking their path. The knights held swords in their right hands and shields in their left, with the sun crest of the Sunstone Empire on their chests.
Alicia's familiar, Silis, immediately formed a fireball in its mouth and shot it at them.
BOOM!
Smoke billowed from the clash of magic and shield. Alex's lion, Leon, immediately charged toward the knights. This wasn't an impulsive act but a calculated one; the smoke caused by Silis was obscuring the knights' vision. Leon rampaged among them, clawing and ramming the knights with his incredibly hard shoulder.
Alex, Alicia, and Rio dismounted so their familiars could fight freely. Rio immediately drew a katana-style sword and used a flash step to get to one knight, slashing with the technique {Chain Lightning Strike}. Electricity immediately arced to the other soldiers, stunning four of them. Rio's familiar, Reo, then executed the stunned soldiers with lightning-empowered claws.
SCRATCH
But for some reason, it had no effect. Rio realized the armor they were wearing was made by dwarves.
"Alex! Alicia!" Rio shouted through the rain. "They won't be easy to defeat! Their armor was made by dwarves!"
The dwarves are famous for making great combat gear. That means the dwarves are also part of the alliance, Alicia monologued.
This will be difficult, but not impossible, Silis's voice appeared in her head; it was telepathy.
The battle split into three. Alicia and Silis faced three knights with fire, water, and earth affinities. Alex and Leon fought four knights with lightning, ice, fire, and earth affinities. Rio and Reo fought three knights with earth affinities and two with fire.
Alicia's Fight
Alicia drew her sword from its sheath, the blade enveloped in sword aura combined with her fire. She and Silis advanced in a zigzag pattern. Alicia fought one soldier, and Silis fought two.
Alicia immediately slashed vertically at the soldier, but he managed to block it with the shield in his left hand. Just as the knight was about to counterattack, Alicia's sword, which was pressed against his shield, exploded. This sent the knight falling backward. Alicia gave him no time to breathe; she immediately unleashed her ultimate technique.
"Solar Cataclysm!"
A massive amount of fire gathered on Alicia's blade, glowing in the night. She then slashed vertically, releasing the stored fire energy at the knight.
BOOM!
The knight was incinerated along with the wet grass.
But Silis was having a harder time, facing two knights at once. The knights attacked her from two directions, slightly disrupting her concentration. Silis created a heat barrier that burned anything that got close. The two knights, seeing this, retreated. They used aura projection, a long-range slash derived from sword aura.
Silis transformed into a streak of fire and shot forward at a speed of 200 km/h, automatically dodging the knights' aura projections. She went to the water knight's blind spot and bit the back of his knee, which was not covered by armor—a bite with a temperature of 1500°C.
"Aaaaaa!"
The knight screamed. His knee melted, and the rest of his limbs melted as well, leaving only an empty suit of armor.
The fire knight, seeing his comrade die, burned with rage. With a determination for revenge and the intent to kill, his Aura Force increased drastically, and his sword aura glowed brighter, indicating a buff. But Silis immediately created a ring of fire that restrained the knight's body.
"Hurry up, Althair!" Silis shouted upwards.
"Right," Althair replied. He manipulated the surrounding wind, making the knight float into the air, and then threw him as far back as possible. That wouldn't kill the knight, but that was the point. Althair and his friends' goal was to escape, so fighting the knights for too long was ineffective.
Leon and Alex were fighting four knights, as were Rio and Reo. Their battles were fierce, but Alex, Leon, Rio, and Reo were suddenly lifted into the air and pushed forward by the force of the wind. Without looking, they knew it was Althair's doing.
"Hurry up, don't waste time here!" shouted Alicia, who was riding Silis.
Alex mounted Leon, and Rio did the same. They ignored the seven remaining knights and focused on moving forward. Althair wasn't worried they would be pursued because he saw dark creatures that would protect him.
The seven knights tried to give chase, but it was impossible to catch them now that they were on their familiars. The seven knights decided to summon their own familiars. But from the ground, horrifying creatures emerged—horrifying because they had no faces. The Obbsurian race immediately stabbed the knights in the chest with their sharp claws. The knights were shocked, vomiting blood. They wondered if their armor was weak, or if the creature's attack was just too strong.
Clara's Point of View - a short while later
The rain had stopped - in the sky.
I was holding Carsel on the eagle, with Althair sitting behind me. Reo, Silis, and Leon were below us, inside the forest. Yes, we had entered a forested area. Our journey was safe, but suddenly, something flew towards us in the sky.
It was a crow. I turned back to look at Althair, wanting to ask him about the bird. But my face froze like a statue, because what I saw was a blank expression on Althair's face. It was very unusual to see him like that. Usually, Althair had a serious or indifferent expression, but this was empty, as if his soul had left his body.
The crow landed on Althair's shoulder and said, "The Northern Territory has been destroyed."
Thump
My heart beat rapidly, knowing the seriousness of this situation. So this was the reason Althair was like that? He already knew his family's territory had been destroyed the moment the crow started flying toward us.
"Who... was the opponent?" Althair asked in a hoarse voice.
"Archduke Silverlake, Duke Huxley, and the Vampire Queen with her army. But the fight was not too one-sided, because your father managed to sever the heads of Archduke Silverlake and Duke Huxley."
"So my father... no, my family and my people in the north were annihilated by Lilith?"
"Yes. If it weren't for Lilith and her army, the Northern Territory might still be standing."
"'If, if, if,'" Althair said, gritting his teeth. "I hate hearing that word! It's a useless word, a hollow hope."
"In this world, what matters is action."
Althair's eyes were filled with hatred, his gray irises glowing.
"Why?"
"Why did I have to experience this tragedy?"