Han enjoyed seeing the expression of utter surprise as Eli and her mother spun around. The guards that were surrounding them also looked surprised and quickly lifted up their weapons, to protect their charges against the unknown foe. Judging by how quickly the guards were in a position to defend against a sudden enemy, Han was impressed and assumed that they had gone through a lot of training.
"Yi?!" Eli asked, surprised by his sudden appearance inside of the throne room. "How did you get in here?"
"I just happen to be in the neighborhood," Han lied, trying to sound coy.
"So you are the one that I have heard a lot about?" Eli's mother asked him. After his sudden entrance, she appeared to recover and began to assess him.
Bowing to her, Han answered, "Your Highness, I am just a humble classmate of your wonderful daughter."
Eli groaned after hearing his words. "I see you still enjoy making an entrance."
"Your Highness! We must flee before the invading army arrives!" One of the guards near the Queen urged the two women.
Eli silenced the guard and looked his way. "I am assuming that you have some kind of plan, based on the way you sounded? I know that you are strong, considering our previous adventure, but this seems to be a lot more difficult considering this army has charged through our forces like they were children holding sticks."
"I was told that you finished creating some kind of technology that would help the Elven Kingdom defend themselves against the Overflow?" Han inquired, making it sound like it was something of common knowledge and not a heavily guarded secret.
"How did you know about this?!" Eli's mother asked in a raised voice. She was alarmed by this revelation and looked at him with suspicion.
"Mother! There is no need to be suspicious of Yi! Anyway, I doubt that we would be able to stand against him if he was an enemy." Eli tried to smooth things between the two of them.
"There is no need to fear about whether your secret is safe or not. Since it seems that I am in an unfair advantage, I should offer something to you to balance things out." He smiled at the Queen. "Though your technology is likely impressive, it is far less than what I would be able to do for my own city."
"Wait!? Your city?" The two of them asked him, picking up on the obvious information drop.
"I am confident that both of you are familiar with the city of Felicitas?" He waited until they nodded their heads. "I am the Master of that city, which has become famous as of late. I would assume that your people would have reported about the inner workings of the city?" Han let them know that he was aware that there were spies sent by the Elven Kingdom to look into the city.
"Y-Yes... I see why you would think that our technology would be less than yours." The Queen looked shaken by this reveal.
"There is no need to be alarmed, your Highness. My intention was not to unsettle you, but to merely assure you that we do not need the technology you created.
"Yi, why did you not tell me that you were in charge of Felicitas?" Eli looked accusingly at Han.
Han chuckled and raised his hands in self-defense. "I had my reasons, Eli. Let us say that I did not want to show my hand, while I was attending the Academy." Seeing Eli's pouting expression, Han gave up more information. "With my abilities, it would make it annoying to move around without attracting attention. I have been intentionally downplaying my powers. It would not be fun for me if people knew how strong I was because then they would not plot against me." He gave a vicious looking grin.
The guards around the three of them suddenly raised their weapons, after feeling a little of Han's bloodlust. When he cut it off, the guards sighed in relief, no longer having to feel the pressure placed on them.
Both the Queen and Eli were breathing a little heavily, after experiencing Han's intentional leak of power. "I-I-I c-can see that you were not everything you appeared like." Eli managed to say to him, still looking like she was recovering herself.
"Even though you are very capable, how are you going to handle the number of enemies heading towards here?" The Queen still looked a little wide eyed, not sure how to handle a person like Han.
Han casually shrugged his shoulders. "Though I could handle them on my own, I am going to let my subordinates deal with the army. They tend to get upset when I handle issues on my own, instead of letting deal with problems."
Eli looked questioning at Han but raised her eyebrows when it clicked in her mind. "Where are your servants?" She asked him, just noticing the absence of the servants that seemed to act as his shadow.
"I suggest that we move to another location where we can observe the direction the enemy is coming." He smiled mysteriously at them, making them look at one another trying to figure out what he was planning.
-------
"You seem to be in a pleasant mood," Brittany asked her, as she looked in the direction the demon army would be arriving from. From the tone Brittany was giving her, Queen understood that Brittany was not in a pleasant mood. She felt herself holding back and sigh and wishing that Helania was here, instead of on her mission that her Master had ordered. It was Helania's duty to organize each of the guardians and Brittany, not her.
"I am going to guess that something had happened to put you in another foul mood? It can not be that woman, Ha-Yoon. She is getting ready to return to Academic City, so she will no longer be near our Master." Queen tried to be understanding towards Brittany. Though Brittany had many faults, loving their Master was not one of them. "The issue is her loving Master too much," She mentally snickered to herself. Brittany was a fellow creation, so there would always be a bond between them, but sometimes her single mindedness was aggravating.
"It is nothing," Brittany pouted, though from the way she kept glancing at where the sisters were standing Queen could imagine who the source of Brittany childishness was stemming from.
"Do you want to talk about it?" She asked Brittany, a part of her honestly wanting to help her friend.
"Master has not let me sleep near him in a while. Anacolis has been hogging all the time to herself." Brittany complained.
Queen could understand that feeling, wanting to be near Him. Even now, she could feel a part of herself being pulled towards Him. This feeling was something they all likely shared, the desire and need to be with Him. Ever since the day they were created, she had noticed that each of them found their own way of expressing the feeling she was experiencing. Looking at how humanoids on this world lacked the feeling of purpose inside of them, Queen often felt a deep sense of pity. How could they live life without having the sense of belonging she and the others carried with them?
[M~~~mistress...] A soft voice whispered from within the void. [W~~~e feel the living...] It informed her. Queen could felt the light chill that danced over her body, letting her know her minions wishing to be released upon those who stood in her path.
The way they begged and pleaded in her mind gave her a sense of calm, reminding her of the gift given to her. Queen never revealed the thought she buried deep inside of herself, afraid of what the other would think. Even more, than the others, Queen worried what He would think of her thoughts. The connection she had with her minions felt akin to the way a mother would feel toward their children. Each one of them was precious, and when they accomplished the task she asked of them, Queen felt overwhelming pride. Just like her, each of her children can fulfill His wishes. Though she was pained if they perished, she knew that they would return to the void and be reborn from her.
"Queen, Aracia's webs have detected the enemy's approach. They will be here shortly." Anacolis informed her, as she slithered towards Queen.
"Yes. My minions feel them, too." Queen nodded her head in thanks.
Anacolis turned her body towards where the demons were approaching. "Our Master has appointed you as the leader of this assignment. What would you have my sister and I do?" There was a hint of defiance in her tone.
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"You and your sister will hide and watch for any weaknesses. There are no signs as to how many of those demons we fought against are present." Queen commanded Anacolis.
A small approving smile appeared on Anacolis's face. Queen ignored the reaction that Anacolis let slip, wanting to concentrate on the mission. Though failure was unlikely, Queen still remembered how those demons were able to catch her Master unaware. Even to this day, the image of her Master being flung into the wall flashed through her mind. Her fist clenched as she looked forward to punishing the people that attacked Him. There was an icy calm that spread throughout her mind, helping her remain focus and not become emotional. Queen glanced over to Brittany.
Queen turned her head and watched as Anacolis slithered away from them, with Aracia following behind her. The further away they went, the more difficult it was to sense their presence. Queen's ability was not in stealth, so it was only to her natural abilities that helped Queen to watch for as long as she did. As soon as she lost sight of them, Queen no longer could sense their presence. The two of them could be behind her, and she would not know it. Her Master had done an excellent job when he gave them their ability. Only He could sense their presence, giving additional meaning to their nickname, Jungle Sisters, because a person navigating a jungle could miss their target even if it were directly in front of them.
"Brittany, you will be in charge of facing the leader of the army. Though I would advise caution, I know that you will just go without thinking." Queen criticized her.
"Hmph! You would have me stay calm in front of the people who hurt Him!" Brittany snorted. "I am going to enjoy tearing them into pieces." As if thinking about something trivial, she said, "I may have one of the cooks prepare them into something presentable for my Master." Brittany giggled cutely, lost in her own world where likely their Master was praising her.
"Can you focus for a moment?" Queen tried to snap Brittany out of her own world. Brittany glared at Queen for bursting her fantasy. "I think it would be best for you to hold back and wait until the Sisters find out where the leader is." Seeing that she was going to be interrupted, she quickly said, "if you enter the battle too early, you may not hear where the leader is."
Brittany looked a little frustrated, weighing what Queen had told her. "We will do things your way, but if I spot the leader before the Sisters do then all bets are off! I want to be the one that kills the one who hurt my poor Master." She grudgingly agreed to Queen's strategy.
Queen sighed, both in relief and in aggravation about how single minded she was. "I wish you acted the same when you are with Master when you are with us." She poked at Brittany.
"I do not know what you are talking about," Brittany waved away Queen's comments.
"We better start getting ready," Queen muttered, not wanting to argue any longer. Closing her eyes, Queen injected her mana into the void, like ghostly hands reaching into the depths of darkness. [Come to me, my children.] Queen spoke into the nothingness, pouring out her desires to lay waste to all things that stand in His way.
[W~~~e hear you, Mistress] A wall of voices answered her, responding to her command and emotions.
An eruption of energy poured out into the world, as the gateway opened. Feelings of purpose and happiness seemed to envelop her, as she felt her minions emerged from the darkness. [Come all, those who hear my plea. Emerge from the void and trample all who oppose my Master. Let us show the world His might and power. Allow them to know what will happen if they stand in his way. Show everyone my love and devotion for Him!] She cried out in the emptiness, hearing a cacophony of voices all demanding for payment that needed to be paid by those standing in the way of the one that summoned them.
"Remember not to call out too many. I want to have some for myself after I deal with the leader of these insects." Brittany's voice could be heard, sounding like it was coming from miles away.
The last time she was able to flex her powers was when they were in the past, and Queen felt like she wasn't able to show off what she was capable of. This time Queen wanted her Master to see how wonderful she was. Though she may not be as forward as the others, Queen did have feelings of wanting to be spoiled by Him. Since her Master had left her in charge of this task, Queen was planning on bringing out as much of her power as possible.
After what seemed like hours, Queen opened her eyes and saw a large army composed of various dead and undead creatures. All of them were grouped together based on what they were and organized into formations.
An undead knight approached Queen on a horse. When he was close enough, he unmounted the skeletal horror of a mount and kneeled in front of her. "W~~~we have answered your summons, M~~~istress." Its ethereal voice called out to her. Even kneeling in front of her, the sound of its voice seemed to call from beyond the void.
Approaching the knight, Queen slid her hand down the side of its helmet. The metal was arctic to the touch and would harm any, other than her and her Master, if it were touched. She admired how formidable this creature looked, as if it could withstand entire armies on its own. "There are those who have dared to defy my Master, even attempting to harm him." Hearing her words, the openings in the knight's helmet where eyes would be seen glowed with a deep blue light. Leaning her head forward, so her mouth was near its head she whispered, "They have come with an army behind them, to destroy the Elven Kingdom. My Master wishes to stop them, but I wish for them to be slaughtered. Will you do this for me?"
Behind the knight, her army of minions wailed in anger. Queen knew that they craved for the blood of her enemy and would accomplish it without fail. Mimicking their anger at the insolence of this foe, the temperature plunged and covered the area around them in frost. She imagined that a normal human or elf would have their soul sucked out of them if they were near, the power of the dead was that high.
Queen got up and walked away from the kneeling knight. When she turned towards it, the knight got back on its feet and mounted the horse. Pulling on the reins, the horse turned towards the army, who was still wailing. As one, the entire army of dead turned around in time to witness the demon army approaching.
The enemy army seemed to pause, surprised to see an army in front of them, let alone one entirely composed of the dead. Queen watched the two forces stare at one another, both refusing to back away from the other. She admitted that the demons were strong and would be undefeatable if they faced a regular military force. Grinning she thought, "let us see how they handle themselves at the big boy table."
From the rear of the demon army, a beam of energy came roaring out, with no warning. It tore through the air as it raced towards her minions.
"Do not underestimate me," Queen smirked at the powerful beam, and watched as it crashed into a barrier. The night was lit up with various bright colors, as the energy tried to penetrate the shield. It sounded like a long and continuous explosion, demonstrating the power of the individual who created the attack.
"Did they think you did not have any minions with magical abilities?" Brittany pondered, confused by the ignorance of the opponent.
"Maybe you can ask them?" Queen slyly asked.
Brittany looked at her and grinned viciously. "I think they will be too busy screaming."
The flashes of light died down as the attack ended. There was a stillness to the surrounding area. In the middle of her forces, the knight raised up his sword and pointed it towards the sky. Bringing the blade down, it stopped, pointing towards the enemy.
Shrieks and moans were barely drowned out by the thunderous sound of undead running towards its prey. The first to reach the enemy were large skeletal dragons, flying down and breathing poisonous gas down upon them. wherever the toxic cloud landed, there were demons that were screaming in pain and curling up on the ground. With how potent the poison was, there were some who watched as their skin began to slough off in sheets.
A crashing noise could be heard as skeleton warriors rushed into the fray, hacking and slashing anything in front of them without any concern for themselves. Shaking away the initial shock of how ruthless the undead was, the demon soldiers began to fight back.
"What are those Sisters doing?!" Brittany growled, growing frustrated as she watched the demons slowly get overwhelmed by the undead army.
"They are doing their job. You just be ready to act when they accomplish their task." Queen answered without taking her eyes from the battle. She smiled as a cyclops crushed tens of demons with its club.
"You do not think they will try and kill the demon before telling us, right?" Brittany asked, suddenly remembering that the Sisters were created for assassination in addition to covert tasks.
"They are not like you, Brittany." Queen tried to reassure her. What Queen didn't tell Brittany was that she wasn't entirely sure if they would do the task assigned to them. With their power, handling a single demon wouldn't be much trouble. "Those Sisters are troublesome in different ways compared to you," Queen thought to herself.
-----
"Where did these undead come from?!" Melidoristria growled at her subordinate. They had been paving a path through the Elven Kingdom, destroying all their defenses. She enjoyed watching as they tried to stand up against her forces. Her generals were personally trained by her, making them the strongest military force of The Council of Ten.
The problem was stemming from how her army was being destroyed so easily. She watched as one of the dragons flew down and breathed a wave of toxic fumes, poisoning hundreds. This army was meant to announce their return and demonstrate their power, so she had made sure to gather a large response force to head towards the Elven Kingdom. With her strength, Melidoristria was going to make an example using the elves. Likely, the Queen had fled, and so she was anticipating the hunt and capture. Levistria was one who enjoyed breaking her toys, so Melidoristria was going to gift her with the Queen.
"My Lady! Our forces are being pushed back, and if this continues then we will lose all of them!" One of her generals advised her. Everyone was in disbelief of how the existence of such a strong military force.
"How can the elves have such an ally?!" Another general yelled out. "Mistress, we must call for reinforcements!"
"You would have our Mistress be shamed in front of the others?" The general grabbed the other. "I should kill you where you stand, you coward!"
"Have THEY betrayed us?!" A general slammed a fist on the table.
"What would you have us do, Mistress?" Her aide asked, sounding worried.
"We are the rulers of this world!! How are we losing?!" She screamed at the incompetence of her army. "I am going to be a laughing stock of everyone if I am defeated here!" Melidoristria cursed, thinking of facing Dominaster and being lectured by him for going out without consulting the Council.
"Found you!" A voice whispered into her ear in a cheerful voice.
Melidoristria leaped out of her chair, just in time to dodge a large dagger penetrated the back side of the seat. The force of the dagger was strong enough to have killed her in a single blow.
"Assassin!!" Everyone yelled out in alarm and went to protect Melidoristria.
As she was being surrounded, she could feel a sudden killing intent directed at her. Twisting her body to the side, she felt a whistling noise and sting on her cheek. There was a gurgling noise behind her, which turned out to be one of her personal guards with a massive arrow embedded in his throat.
"You have some quick reflexes." The voice teased her.
"Says more about your skills at trying to kill me!" She growled at the voice.
A throaty laugh could be heard as the voice answered, "do not misjudge your ability when I am intentionally leaking out my intent before the attack. After what you people had done, I thought it was appropriate to play with you before I let the others know where you were."
"What are you talking about?" Melidoristria was looking around trying to pinpoint the location of the voice. Every time she thought she nailed where the sound was coming from, it changed location. She felt like she was being played with by someone far stronger than her.
"You attacked my Master, and then sent us into that mana crystal." Though the voice sounded cheerful, there was a razor edge to it.
"YOU!!! YOU ARE WITH THAT BOY!!!!" She screamed at the voice, as it clicked inside her mind.
"Boy?? I find it amusing to listen to such an insignificant creature call my Master, boy." The sound seemed to originate right behind her, causing Melidoristria to whirl around.
"ARGH!!' There was a pain in her shoulder. Looking down, she saw an arrow head had pierced through her shoulder.
"For calling my Master, boy. And what was that about my skills?" The voice giggled.
Melidoristria grabbed the arrow head and snapped off the tip. Grabbing the fletching, she pulled the long shaft ouf of her shoulder, grunting at the pain.
"Unfortunately, I think our time has come to an end. I get a feeling like someone is cursing my name, and complaining about how I am taking too long." It sighed sounding annoyed. "Have fun with her!" The voice called out to her.
"What are you talking about?" She yelled out at the voice, as one of her subordinates was using healing magic on her wound.
"Get off of me!!" She roared at the demon treating her. "Who allowed an assassin to infiltrate this location?!" She looked around.
"It is my fault, my Lady!" The head of her body guards admitted.
Without a word, Melidoristria pulled out a dagger and slashed at the neck of her guard, cutting his head clean off of his shoulders. The other demons casually looked at the head rolling on the ground, understanding that such a thing was expected and warranted.
"Considering the strength of the army, I am thinking we need to retreat. The others in the Council must know of this embarrassment, though I do not look forward to their mocking." She clenched her jaw in frustration.
A crashing noise caused everyone to turn around and see a hulking figure in heavy armor, holding a massive sword. "Took her long enough to find you!" The giant figure had a cute voice to it, which was very disarming.
Before Melidoristria could ask who this person was, the figure flew towards her in an instant. She was barely able to pull out her sword and block the attack, though the force pushed her back leaving a trail of dirt behind to where she was standing.
"Who are you?!" She screeched at the figure.
"Your executioner!" The voice snarled sounding crazed. With one hand still pushing the sword towards Melidoristria, the other hand transformed into a clawed hand and pierced towards her stomach.
Melidoristria jumped back and avoided her bowels being spilled out of her.
"It will be better if you stand still so that I CAN RIP YOU INTO PIECES!!" The voice screamed. There was only madness in that voice like nothing else mattered in the world.
Her subordinates rushed towards the enemy with their weapons drawn. Melidoristria grinned at how this enemy was going to be hacked down.
"Get out of my way pests!" The figure slashed one side with the claws and the other side with her sword.
Melidoristria had to watch as blood sprayed all over the place, as her loyal subordinates were carved up like meat. There were organs and limbs that flung all over the place, creating a blood bath.
"How are you this powerful?!" She cried out at the hulking death god. Placing one of her hands in front of her, she aimed it at the monster and fired her strongest attack while it was distracted. A thick beam of energy hit the figure dead center, though Melidoristria didn't take any chances and maintained the attack. With her other hand, she used another attack that complimented the first. "DIE, YOU MONSTER!!" She screamed at it.
It took her a couple of seconds to realize that she was being pushed back, even though she was the one attacking. "There is no way..." was all she could voice out, understanding that the thing was walking towards her. "Stay back." she whimpered, not knowing she could make such a pitiful sound.
Keeping up the attack was rapidly draining her of all her energy, and in moments she was forced to stop. In front of her was the armored figured, smoke rising off of its armor as it lay undamaged.
"I think I realized how I am going to have them serve you." The voice giggled, as it walked towards her.
Dropping both of her arms to her side, Melidoristria accepted her fate though she had a sense that it was going to be a painful one.
"FIRE!!!!!!" A shout could be heard above them, as several large attacks hit the figure.
Melidoristria blinked in confusion, not understanding what was happening. Those were attacks that only her generals and body guards could make, and they were scattered all around in pieces.
"What are you doing there, standing like an idiot!!" She heard a woman's voice yell out.
Turning her head, Melidoristria saw Levistria along with her own forces floating in the air. There were a group of Levistria's forces who were maintaining the attack on the figure. Livistria swooped down and princess carried Melidoristria, as she flew back into the air.
"We do not have much time before they run out of mana!" Levistria looked behind her and cried out, "All of my forces retreat!!" She yelled out at them, before escaping at full speed from where the nightmare was being held down.
As Melidoristria was being held in Levistria's arms, she looked back at where that thing was. She thought she could hear a scream of rage off in the distant as they continued to escape.