After Leaving the great hall for the night, promising to come vote tomorrow, a servant guided them to their room.

On their way, the Beast Emperor intercepted them, his squinted eyes sparkling with menace.

"You know why I'm here. Leave the rude woman behind if you want me to forget what happened today."

Stunned, Alice looked at him, her puppy eyes softening his heart.

Even if she couldn't expect the situation's development, he did. Yet, he had to protect her, like he wanted to protect every citizen in his kingdom.

"No."

His firm voice blew air as invisible sparks clashed between the two rulers' eyes.

After a tense silence, the Emperor's fists tightened. He could have forgiven her in private. But in a hall filled with royals? No way. His image would crumble in their hearts.

"I won't let her disrespect and lack of decorum slide!"

Yet, Leon begged to differ. Instead, he came up with a peaceful method to resolve the situation.

"How about a match to decide? She'll fight one of your councillors. If she loses, you can discipline her."

"Let's do it."

The Emperor's lips curled into a vicious smile, letting them imagine what he would do to her if she lost.

"Servant, bring us to an open area."

Other royals joined them on the way, intrigued by the situation.

Standing in the arena, the Emperor gazed at his trusted priest for a second before shaking his head.

Then, he met the eyes of his second councillor.

"Mara, you go."

The two-meter-tall, tanned giant nodded. His muscles, so tensed they seemed to want to burst from his skin, throbbed with his movements.

On the arena's other side, Leon's scolds reverberated.

Meanwhile, Mathias' gloating smile registered in her eyes, its meaning crystal clear: 'Serve you right, I hope you lose.'

Gritting her teeth, she hissed.

"You want a fight? I will give you an execution."

Her determined steps reverberated under the moonlight.

Yet, she frowned as Mara hyped the public with a dramatic voice,

"Your Highnesses, ladies and gentlemen, let me show you today why our country is called the Beast Empire. Behold our empire's unique magic."

As his declaration lingered, she saw his body swell, growing from two meters to four.

His tanned skin became black. Brown fur grew from his torso and arms as his teeth became razor sharp, and his nose transformed into a snout.

A loud roar reverberated. Then, the slabs cracked under Mara's furious charge.

Despite the colossal bear-like magical creature closing in, she smirked.

However, her lips twitched when she heard the royals' comments.

"So that's the empire's unique transformation magic, impressive".

"From what I've heard, transforming into an animal is only the basics of their magic."

"Is that little girl seriously supposed to fight that four-meter-tall abomination ?"

Eyes flashing violence, she drew her intricate wand.

"Are you done transforming into a giant teddy bear? Can we start?"

She yawned in provocation, then added a layer of mockery to it.

"BeHolD mY MaGicC Verdant Ensnarement."

Thick vines grew from the arena's rocky ground, answering her call. They entangled Mara's powerful legs in a second, halting his charge.

"Mere vines can't hold me back!"

Mara's bestial roar filled the arena, sending an icy shiver down the spectator's spine.

She saw his formidable jaw rip her spell, allowing his paws to shatter the ground and close the last few meters separating them.

"Stop you? No. Buy me enough time for my next spell? Certainly."

Her lips twisted into a vicious smile.

"Well of corruption."

A magic circle pulsing with dark symbols appeared a meter before her, right at the feet of Mara's charging figure.

Like a land mine, the moment he stepped on it, an explosion of corrupted energy engulfed him.

They blinded and attempted to devour him, causing his mighty muscles to wither in a blood-chilling show.

She noticed the terror dancing in his bestial eyes as he gave up on his advance, jumping back to escape her spell's effect.

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Then, she gloated at his strategy.

By breaking a part of the ground and throwing stones first, he ensured she hadn't placed another well.

But would she give him time to approach her with such a slow method? After all, the pulsing symbols on her cape reflected her rank. The one of a tier-four royal mage's captain!

"Ice coffin."

Her voice resonated as mana flooded her vigorous circuits.

A giant ice coffin condensed from the air, engulfing Mara's body in its freezing embrace.

Then, she continued.

"Curse of dusk... And the final touch, draining roses."

The image of a setting sun hung above the bear, announcing its descent would mark his life's end.

Simultaneously, white roses sprouted from his body, turning redder with each passing second.

The ice coffin drained his vitality. The curse attacked his soul, and the roses drained his blood, causing his eyes to dim before turning glassy.

He died peacefully in his sleep. More or less...

Without casting him another glance, she turned to face the crowd, returning her wand to her belt.

"Combination spell, dusk burial."

Her solemn voice sent a wave of terror to assault her peers as the royals' eyes sparkled with desire.

Yet, it vanished with her next words.

"So much for that mighty empire's magic. What's next? Are you going to make me fight a kitty? Hahahahaha."

Leon watched her laugh like some demented psycho, facepalming in disbelief.

"How did I wake up one day and decide to make her the captain of the royal mages?"

"I'm asking myself the same question..."

Mathias' cheeks burned at the shameful display.

Without wasting a second, Leon turned to the Emperor.

"I'm sorry for your councillor's death. The matter should be resolved, though."

The Beast Emperor clenched his fists and ground his teeth hard enough for him to almost hear them crack.

Yet, he pushed himself off his seat, knowing he would only humiliate himself further.

With swift and decisive steps, he left, imagining Zane's face after confronting him about Mara's lacking training and the pathetic ranking his territory's academy got in the last tournament.

Meanwhile, the other royals commented on the battle.

"That was a nice fight. We don't see a triple affinity mage often."

"Right! It's even more surprising to see one with three rare elements."

"Indeed, her skills are commendable. Mastery over three schools of magic is a rare achievement. She looks a bit deranged, though..."

Leon's frown deepened.

"Call her back! Gag her if you must, but make her stop that stupid laughter!"

With this command, he slithered out of the venue like a shadow, too ashamed to stay.

A strange idea bloomed in his mind as he reached his room. Maybe the Beast Emperor was correct...

The rest of the night went by uneventfully, except for a particular emperor's room, found in shambles the following day.

****

"I hope you had a good night's rest. Let's begin with the votes. If you agree to my proposal, please raise your hand."

Clutching her chest and a hopeful light flashing in her eyes, she addressed the crowd.

Slowly, one by one, hands rose, making her smile enlarge.

After two minutes, she counted twenty-two raised hands.

Her heart boomed in her chest. She only needed two more to have the majority.

"Please don't doom our world because of your mistrust or pride. It's our only path to salvation."

After a few moments, another ruler raised his hand.

One more. That's all she needed to save the world.

Meanwhile, Mathias glanced at his frowning king.

"My king, won't you vote in favor?"

Leon grimaced in response, feeling thrown between a hammer and an anvil.

"If I agree but the plan fails, we would have lost half our world's life force and have no guarantee it would recover before the war starts. On the other hand, if the plan succeeds, we'll have powerful warriors to compensate for the loss..."

He tucked his finger around his chin, his voice trailing off.

"Honestly, I don't know. I feel like we are gambling our fate on unknown odds."

Mathias looked straight into his king's eyes, the firm yet gentle gaze reassuring him.

"But do we have a better choice? Between gambling on unknown odds or losing by default, I would rather gamble."

"That's also true."

His eyes brightened, green almost overpowering their gray color for a second as he raised his hand.

"For better or worse, let's agree to that crazy plan."

Then, he added.

"Oh, you can fetch Alice now that we are done with the serious thinking."

Before his words could dissipate, Elisabeth's excited voice resounded.

"The world's majority approved the summoning. We'll proceed with it without delay!"

Drawn by her voice, he noticed how prepared she had been.

A servant swiftly approached, offering her a golden engraved magic staff adorned with a floating sky-blue gem the size of a fist.

Eyes burning, she seized it, her slender fingers clenched until they turned white.

She struck the ground twice with its shaft, revealing a massive magic circle, its millions of mysterious symbols pulsing with ferocious energy.

Subsequently, she spun her staff in the air, causing mana to tremble with its movements as she recited an incantation in a long-forgotten language... or English?

At that moment, Mathias and Alice returned.

Filled with doubts, she gazed at the spectacle before failing to control her tongue.

"What did I miss? Don't tell me she got scammed, and instead of summing warriors, she is summoning a dark entity that will burn our world to the ground."

Upon hearing her, icy sweat stuck the nearby noble's clothes as dread's finger encroached on their hearts.

Leon facepalmed for the umpteenth time since the start of this meeting.

"Get her out of here before her tongue curses us all to death."

Mathias' shoulders slumped in depression.

"I'm missing the whole ritual because of her..."

Then, he turned, grabbed her and walked away, his brows twitching.

"How do you even do that without it being intentional?"

A playful smirk graced her lips as she pulled her tongue at him.

"I don't know. It's a talent of mine. Want me to teach you?"

Meanwhile, Elisabeth muttered, the ritual almost complete.

"I call upon you, the souls of a dying world, to rescue our own from becoming like yours."

With those words, the circle glowed a bright red light, blinding everyone in the hall as it gulped the world's life force like a whale to fuel its magic.

Once the light receded, the royals' eyes darted left and right, sparkling.

"Did it work ?"

"How come we feel no difference except the decrease in the world's life force?"

"At least we didn't summon a dark entity..."

The last one heaved a sigh of relief and slumped in his chair, cursing Alice for scaring him.

The room exploded into loud chatters, for a moment before Elisabeth's feeble voice resounded again despite the sweat dripping from her forehead.

"It worked. Find and nurture the summoned before they turn thirteen."

Instantly, the rulers excused themselves and hurried to the Gate. After all, who wouldn't want to recruit an army of talented and fast-progressing aliens?