Saizō, out of breath, burst into the throne room of Rose's castle.
The stone pillars of the grand hall radiated authority, and King Regalo fixed him with a calm gaze.
"Your Majesty! This is terrible!"
"So noisy. What has happened?"
"Endi and Prince Rose have begun moving to launch an attack on Indra!"
"What did you say??"
Regalo's brow twitched, irritation flickering across his face.
"Whoa! Ponaparto and Valentino are going wild out there!"
Moschino peeked out the window, shouting in a voice as cheerful as if he were watching a festival.
"Each and every one of them acts on their own whims…"
Regalo clenched his fist, lowering his voice.
"Prince Rose has gone to the battlefield! It's a little early, but we'll follow him too!!"
"Heh heh heh… things are getting fun."
Ponaparto and Valentino led their soldiers into the forest.
In an instant, the trees writhed, countless branches lashing out like blades.
The soldiers trembled, some even with tears in their eyes.
But Ponaparto swung his fist, and Valentino slashed his sword.
Amazingly, countless towering trees before them shattered into fragments in an instant.
The pressure of their fists and blades carried a destructive power rivaling a natural disaster.
Moreover, their might extended over a wide area, carving a straight road through the forest.
The soldiers gaped, eyes bulging, frozen in astonishment.
"We're with you! There's nothing to fear!"
"Heh heh heh… let's hurry up and take the heads of Azbal and the Guild."
At Ponaparto's booming voice and Valentino's lighthearted smile, the soldiers' morale ignited at once.
"With these two, nothing can stop us!!"
"No matter who we face, there's no way we'll lose!"
The soldiers charged forward like an invincible army.
Meanwhile, Endi and the others had drawn close to Indra.
"I thought I just heard some huge sound…"
"Did you? Must've been your imagination."
As Endi and Rose spoke, Esta noticed a figure collapsed in the distance.
"Hey, isn't that Alpha, the waiter?"
"Alpha!!?"
Endi rushed over to find Alpha lying on the ground, covered in blood.
"What happened to you, Alpha!"
"Everyone… I'm sorry…! Lady Lamia… I couldn't bring her back. I'm sorry…!"
Tears streamed down Alpha's face as he spoke in frustration.
A silence fell, but Endi smiled gently.
"You fought your heart out, didn't you? You knew you couldn't win, but you still stood up to them. That's awesome! There aren't many like you! We'll be the ones to save Lamia, so don't worry!"
At Endi's kindness, a faint smile appeared on Alpha's face.
Endi started running again.
"Alpha, can you walk?"
"Yes… somehow."
"Go back to the palace and get treated. We've got to move on ahead."
Rose checked Alpha's wounds and gave calm instructions.
Staggering, Alpha made his way toward the palace, while Rose and the others followed after Endi.
At the same time, Darmaine had arrived before Indra, dragging Lamia with him.
Around Indra, soldiers of the Old Doal Army were standing guard.
"Ah! Damn you, Darmaine!"
"You're still alive, you traitor!?"
"Wait, look! He's got Lamia with him!?"
The soldiers stirred, glaring furiously.
"I brought Lamia! That clears my name, right!?"
Darmaine said smugly, but his words only poured fuel on the fire.
"As if, you bastard!"
"Do you even understand what you've done!?"
The enraged soldiers pinned Darmaine down and bound him with ropes.
"I came here of my own will. Take me to the Guild Master!"
Lamia declared firmly.
The soldiers respectfully escorted her into Indra.
Darmaine, making a noisy fuss, had his wrists tied with restraints and was dragged into a prison cell inside Indra.
At that moment, Indra suddenly roared to life with a "whirrr" and began to take off.
Why now?
The Old Doal soldiers, Ponaparto and Valentino who had reached the training grounds—none of them could hide their shock.
Azbal and Jackson, who had been heading toward Indra, looked up with puzzled faces at the fortress lifting off without them.
"W-why at this timing!?"
"Keh keh keh… The Guild, that crafty bastard… Could he be planning to burn Baleralc to the ground along with us? Surely not…"
Azbal glared suspiciously at the sky.
"Uoooooohhh!!"
Endi shouted, kicking off the ground.
He clung onto Indra's hull, already soaring nearly fifty meters above the earth.
It was as if a mighty gust had lifted him skyward from the ground.
Why do I have this kind of jumping power?
Even Endi himself didn't know. But with only Lamia's rescue on his mind, he thought nothing of it and clung tightly to the machine.
To avoid being shaken off, he climbed cautiously yet steadily, like a monkey scaling a tree. Eventually he found a small hole.
Curling up, he squeezed through the opening, crawling like a mole through the cramped ducts until at last he made it inside Indra.
He had entered the fuel chamber. In the cramped space, tangled with countless cables, Rabesta stood blank-faced, poker-faced as ever.
"Rabesta!? What the hell are you doing here!?"
"Huh? What about you—what are you doing?"
Rabesta answered in his usual absentminded tone.
Down below, Rose and the others were in turmoil.
"What the hell is happening? Indra's taken off, and Endi's nowhere to be seen…"
Rose could not hide his agitation.
"To kidnap Lamia and retreat right away, huh…"
"There's no way they'd just retreat quietly. They'll fire that so-called beam weapon at us…"
Jessica and Moene turned pale.
"Hey, someone's coming!"
Esta drew his sword, bracing himself.
Then Jackson appeared.
"Sorry for the suddenness, but you're all going to die now."
Jackson drew his blade, advancing with a terrifying expression.
"Oh, if it isn't Jackson the Headsman."
Rose smirked, immediately shifting into battle stance.
Meanwhile, in Indra's cockpit, the Guild and several subordinates lay defeated by Nova.
Seated at the controls, it was Nova who piloted the machine.
"When I sent my men to Mildonia, I had them make a copy of Indra's blueprints. Glad I did."
Nova grinned, but soon his eyes grew distant as he muttered.
"All that's left is to crash it somewhere deserted… A deep-sea voyage doesn't sound too bad. This'll be my one small act of atonement."