Two fairies were flying behind an army of thousand fairies.

The sound of their footsteps echoed throughout the surrounding lands, surprising the critters populating the forests and grass.

Armed with rudimentary equipment, mainly swords and spears, the fairies glared in the distance with the desire to protect their new home.

Far back, the buzzing sound of wings, coming from the twins, constantly ringed in their ears.

"Sis, are you alright?"

Concerned for her sister, Drania asked.

"I'm fine. It's just... I have a bad feeling about this."

They both knew nothing was certain, especially when it concerned Miasma. They remembered how treacherous this monster was against Noah.

At the end, he threw everything he had to stop the Hero, yet, his efforts were in vain. The pure strength and control Noah had surpassed anything that stood in front of him.

If not for the shrewd attempt to corrupt the man, Miasma would have died without having any hope of accomplishing his goal.

So, they knew the invading force wasn't just mere corrupted beasts. They were expecting a few Corrupted Lords, and a powerful individual.

But, the twins weren't going to close their eyes and ignore the situation. Not only would they be failing their duties as Queens, but they would also betray Orion's expectations.

For that reason, after falling in love with the man, they secretly trained with the help of their friend, the Tree of Life and Remnant of Life, Tiohr-nam.

-

The two were already strong enough to deal with corrupted beasts. The invasion of Albriar proved it, as they helped the city's armies to deal with the corrupted beasts.

Yet, they were incredibly rusty. The last time they had really fought was when Noah was alive, which was three thousand years.

After his death, they were forced to hibernate for two thousand years to assimilate the fairy genes Tiohr-nam implanted in them so they might survive.

Once they awakened, they were asked to become the Queens of the fairies, away from danger, as asked by Tetra, called Tia-Norun at the time.

With Karteira and the fairy army created to defend against the corrupted trying to break free from the underground tunnels under the Tree of Life, they never had to exercise.

Only after leaving the realm, have they understood how powerless they were.

While Karteira was fighting alongside Orion, they were only able to fight weak creatures.

Again and again, they were forced to compare themselves with Orion, who dealt with powerful individuals and monsters, while they were unable to do even the simplest of tasks with their magic.

At that point, they finally realized that this couldn't continue. This sentiment only grew in intensity after becoming part of Orion's family.

They were weak. Too weak to have any say in a conversation. Too frail to be asked to train with the rest of the group.

The rivalry between them and others grew stronger, while the need to get stronger only grew exponentially.

But, this wasn't easy.

Dramia was a wind magic user. After losing Noah, she barely used her magic anymore, with a few exceptions.

Her gentle wind wasn't made for battle anymore, compared to her past self that fought alongside the Hero.

Something had to change for her to take it seriously.

Drania, on the other hand, was more active in trying to improve her magic. It wasn't because it was useful to her, but simply because she was easily bored.

Boredom made her constantly seek improvement in her magic, which led to an incredible improvement in water and earth magic.

Yet, after the battle around Albriar, she was brought back to reality.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Her water magic was useless.

It was after their date with Orion.

The two stood in front of Tiohr-nam with the wish to improve, to change themselves, which the tree gladly agreed to.

-

They appeared unchanged, until they noticed a frightening aura coming toward them.

"Stop!"

Dramia's voice echoed far in front of her. Her wind magic carried her voice all around for the fairies to hear.

The whole army instantly stopped, and armed themselves.

Sounds of wings buzzing echoed from many fairies, while others stayed on the ground.

"Everyone, stay in formation as instructed!"

"Those who can fly, strike from above. Carefully observe the battlefield, and avoid getting caught."

"You have a thirty-second window to do a hit-and-run tactic, before the fairies in the back launch their assault."

Dramia stopped talking, watching the flying fairies take off.

Then, Drania's voice replaced her sisters.

"Back row, are you ready?"

Using her sister's magic to carry her voice, she observed the insect-looking individual lifting their right arm in the air as an answer.

They had basic bows in their hands, with quivers full of deadly arrows.

"The formation is as instructed. Fire the first volley after the flying units have reduced their numbers. Then, wait another thirty seconds."

"Rinse and repeat, unless the whole aerial formation has been destroyed."

They all hoped that such a thing would not happen, but against Corrupted Lords, which could use magic, nothing was certain.

"Front row, are you ready to support the flying squadron?"

Swords were lifted in the air without a sound. The fairies were ready to defend the plane, even if this had to be their last battle.

The two sisters stared at each others, before looking at one row of fairy soldiers that hadn't moved yet.

This row stood between the swordsmen, and the archers. They had unusual weapons in their hands.

"Musket squad, do you remember how to use your weapon?"

Their Queens asked at the same time. The soldiers with guns in their hands lifted them vertically in the air, signifying to their leader that they remembered.

"Good."

These guns came directly from Kamala, the Lord of Hocride. Through trading, they obtained these weapons before the war broke out.

With her help, they formed a special unit dedicated to this weaponry, which was perfect for such a situation.

"You are to support the front row, and kill anything that breaks through their line. If you fire your musket, immediately fall back and swap with the one behind you and reload."

"Never let a hole in the formation, or you and the archers will pay the price with your life."

This was a formation they had learned from Orion, who himself learned it from a book written by his favorite author, N.

The fairies' eyes fell on the approaching beasts, leaving clouds of dust as they approached. Destroying trees on their path, they were eager to start their carnage on the fairy army.

One of the fairies on the gun squad lifted a small pistol above his head, and fired it.

Releasing an ear-splitting noise, the aura around the fairies changed into complete focus.

The front row kneeled, while the flying fairy clenched their spears. Archers drew their bows, aimed in a way that would make their arrows fly in an arching trajectory.

Aiming straight in front of them, the musketeers prepared their first volley while the beasts approached.

The beasts drew closer, while the tension around the army felt almost tangible.

Dramia suddenly took a deep breath, and used the air in her lungs to shout with all her strength.

"Fire!"

*Bang* *Bang*

A continuous barrage of bullets traveled past the crouching fairies, and flew straight to the incoming corrupted beasts.

Grey horses, boars, giant rabbits, everything that could be corrupted on land fell under the relentless piercing stream of bullets.

Hundreds of beasts dropped instantly, trampled by the ones behind them. Still, some far behind stopped to devour the cores of those that failed to continue.

Luckily for the twins, they weren't stupid enough to make the same mistake twice.

They were there when Amelia fought the Corrupted Lord in the shape of a deer during Albriar's attack. The idea that their creation happened because of the dark cores was known.

That was why the muskets were great. Their bullets were great in destroying the cores.

Few of the beasts managed to survive, which meant the others had their core shattered. Those that had their core devoured turned into dust, as they joined strength as one.

With the two armies facing each other at last, the war inside Horizon began.

The fairies in the front row approached the beasts alongside the airborne units, while the archers stayed in position.

Both sides crashed against the other. The twins observed with confidence as the fairies overwhelmed the beasts with their ingenuity and prowess in battle.

They hadn't survived the invading forces back in their former realm for nothing. The battles forged them.

Though, Karteira wasn't here to help them this time around. Nonetheless, they fought to the bitter end, in hope of protecting the ones who couldn't fight behind them.

Some unlucky fairies were crushed under the stampede, but their exoskeleton protected them from untimely death.

Those in front were either swift individuals, like praying mantises, earwigs, and other land insects, acting as the sword of the formation.

While the others were the shields of the army. Those related to roaches, beetles, and with heavy exoskeletons were all the way in front.

With the shields stopping the advancement of the beasts, the swords slashed at their sides, before the spears came from above, to reduce the number of corrupted.

Then, the flying units escaped higher, signaling to the frontline that the volley of arrows was upon them.

Kicking and slashing away, they hurriedly created some distance between them, helping whoever was stuck, while disregarding with bitterness those who fell during the first assault.

The death of their comrades only fueled the rage the fairies had for the corrupted. Now that they had obtained the notion of 'family', they had more to lose than their enemies.

As the frontline moved away, some beasts took the chance to rapidly close in on the musket team.

Sadly for them, they were immediately shot down by them, before the thousands of arrows rained on the ones behind.

"Everything's seems to be going well."

Drania said with an uncharacteristic seriousness.

"For now..."

With a frown and a glare, Dramia answered her, eyes set on a cloaked figure observing the battle from afar.