Death Angels. The sudden appearance of these angelic monstrosities were once attributed to the gods’ doings, their fury transcending the divine realms towards unwilling mortals, it wasn’t a wrong interpretation in a sense. However, as a goddess of life and death, the creation of new life forms was but just another breath for Eleonora, the anger towards her subjects led the creation of the first death angel, which back then was just a simple life form that sought mana from other organisms, killing anything they could get a hand of in the process. Though it didn’t pass for more than a simple beast easily taken down by an armed person.

She knew it was a weak creation and it was just a matter of time before it could be enhanced further as a nigh unstoppable killing machine.

“The Arc family holds much knowledge of mana and machinery, though not much about life itself so it was simple to devise they would do anything to learn how to manipulate it. My father knew of the dangers of fiddling with beings made of flesh, but my grandfather’s ambitions were greater than anything, not even the death of my parents stopped him from going beyond to create the ultimate being.”

Frey had a sad look in her eyes, her hands gripped the mug tightly. She was clearly bothered by the topic of the current conversation but it was only fair she’d speak clearly with Leona since she showed everyone else that her invention wasn’t for nothing.

“Then… he’d speak about a goddess showing him the truth of life and how he could change it. It was then when me and my brother decided to leave Londria for good, we were just two kids with no name or coin on our backs, but my smarts and my brother’s marksmanship got us work and a place to live here under the Loraexion family.”

Frey chuckled sourly.

“Sorry I’m getting off tracked. Anyway the point is, my grandfather is still working as lead engineer of the Londrian Empire and as far as I know, most of the royalty and influential folk know about the Arc incident. They just prefer not to disclose to anyone that the death angels are a Londrian creation for their own sake since it is widely known those beasts don’t fare well in the cold climates of the northern region.”

“I see… and that could cause a war to break out should the other kingdoms see them as a threat. But wait, doesn’t that mean that both of you are in danger?”

“As expected of a tactician. I don’t expect them to silence us either since most of the production of wood and metalwork comes from here and as members of the army, I believe there is little to worry about our safety.”

Leona nodded a few times before slowly taking a sip from her mug. Her mind was racing while trying to put together why would anyone other than the true god warn her of something.

‘There has to be a reason. So far the only person, if I can even call it a person, who warned me about things that were clearly outside of my control was Lastraeous. But then who would this person be?’

Leona had a puzzled expression on her face prompting Frey to ask out of worry. Her heterochromic eyes dazzled Leona for a brief moment.

“Is everything ok Princess?”

“Huh? Ah sorry, I didn’t mean to make you worry. I’m just pondering over everything that happened so far. I’m thankful I was rescued by you and your brother, you two bringing me here has given me much to think about. Both about my situation and the kingdom’s.”

“I see, I’m glad you feel that way. If I’m allowed to be honest, I was worried at first, the Loraexion’s household rule is to aid anyone if possible, but we don’t really know what kind of person we are saving. There were instances where we were shunned by the people who we saved.”

“Must be rough. Back in the kingdom my family would often be seen as exploiters, taking advantage of the demonkind minority present in Arcadia in order to gain servants who’d work for free. Though, we actually helped them find a job which suited them in order to nurture each one’s potential. After all, anyone could be a diamond in the rough.”

“Indeed. At first I didn’t expect Akrapocalis to house so many different races, but after living here for almost ten years I’ve come to realize how close minded is to shun out others just because of their place of birth, though I must say I still can’t bring myself to involve with high elves.”

Leona slowly nodded as she confirmed it was indeed because of Phoebe that Frey was on the edge. Elves and high elves were once seen as common folk and nobility from a religious standpoint, it was said that the goddess Eleonora gave high elves the ability to manipulate magic with more ease and a sign of it was their longer ears. But that was before the Great Human Demon War, after most humans fled the west towards the east borders, both elves and high elves were just as weakened, it was then when they were questioned if the longer ears were a curse or a blessing.

Leona couldn’t help but just chuckle nervously. After all, she didn’t know much about it, only rumors.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to make you distressed, but Phoebe has been a valuable ally to me and Krieg so I couldn’t just leave her behind.”

“Ah no, no. I’m the one who should be sorry, my brother often says that I need to open my mind towards this matter and look from another perspective, it’s just-”

Before she could finish her sentence, there was a knock on the door accompanied by a loud female voice calling out for Frey.

“Captain! The preparations are ready!”

“Loud and clear, we’ll be joining everyone soon.”

Frey responded in kind and stood up. Leona drank the last sip of the hot cocoa before doing the same. The elf took her cap from the hanger and wore it tightly on her head, she looked at Leona as she opened the door which let a cold breeze come through.

“Alright then, shall we Princess?”

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“Right behind you.”

They headed outside the room when a chilly breeze brushed against Leona’s cheeks, sending a chill down her body. Walking along the crates on her way back she noticed Phoebe talking to one of the engineers near the motorized snow sledge. Meanwhile Krieg walked up to Leona to check how she was, both of them moved to the side of the elevated platform to give space for those who were working on the last touches before they’d head off.

“Are you alright Princess?”

“I’m fine Krieg, I was just having a private conversation with Captain Frey. Apparently we should be wary of the lead engineer of the Londrian empire, he’s a dangerous man.”

“In which sense?”

“I’ll tell you the details later, but to sum it up. He does not care about the lives of others.”

The knight slowly nodded whilst tightening his grip around the leather sling of the scabbard. After waiting a few more minutes, the crew of workers had assembled the last parts of the vehicle, being the rudimentary back axle that gave extra support for the spiked wheels and a metal chest in the front compartiment that was secured with metal latches against the sledge itself.

“All set!”

An engineer who reviewed the installation gave a thumbs up to Frey who stood on the opposite side of the platform, she took a deep breath before turning around to face Leona waiting patiently at the side of the workspace. The captain stepped down and motioned with her open hand towards the vehicle now ready to depart.

“Everything is ready, the blueprints lady Fye requested to be delivered to Londria can be found in the safe metal chest we provided. We also had extra rations and firewood to be placed in the front compartment of the sledge for your travel, though it’ll only last for about two weeks at max so I advise careful planning of said reserves.”

Leona nodded before saying with a smile on her face.

“Thank you for everything Captain Frey. We’ll return once everything is settled.”

The elf bowed courteously before turning around and ordering the other workers.

“Rise the chains! Manafront will depart soon!”

“Aye captain!”

With a simple command everyone scattered from the main floor and shortly after a siren started to go off, alerting anyone on the ground floor to leave. All the wooden boxes of materials that were on the way from where they came started to be lifted, Leona at first didn’t notice but once it started to move she realized all of them were standing on a very thick metal plate that was being lifted off the ground by chains on each corner of the square shape platform. Once all that weight was lifted, it revealed a tunnel like entrance dug in the ground.

Frey approached Leona and pointed to the tunnel.

“To leave the citadel and go straight towards Londria, we dug out this tunnel a few years ago. After the many failures in starting to make this vehicle work I thought I’ve made a grave mistake but thankfully you proved my fears wrong. Thank you again Princess Leona.”

“It’s me who has to thank you for letting me make use of your incredible creation.”

Frey bowed again before heading off to the side of the platform in order to see them off. Leona nervously sat on the leather cushion and before she could do anything a female worker brought her a pair of goggles while also explaining.

“While you are in the vehicle it’s advised to wear these to protect your eyes.”

“Ah I see, thank you.”

Krieg took the seat behind Leona and Phoebe sat in front of the steering handlebar. They both also got the same protective gear.

“Phoebe do you know how this thing works?”

The knight asked while putting his goggles on.

“I’ve been learning for the past thirty minutes. Shouldn’t be too hard.”

She set down the protective eyewear and took a deep breath. Her fingers slowly gripped around the handlebar as the captain shouted over from the side platform.

“You can start the engine!”

Leona nodded and upon clasping her hands together she formed a blue sphere of fire which she proceeded to gently tuck it inside the engine chamber. With a strong rumble, the vehicle started to work, all the six spiked wheels started to spin continuously speeding up until Frey signaled the release of the platforms suspending the sledge above the platform.

“Ah!”

With a loud thud the whole machine dropped towards the ground and without giving a chance to Leona say her last goodbyes, the vehicle started to speed up with each of the wheels sending sparks to all directions as the spikes frictioned against the metal floor. The violent start almost sent the Princess backwards face first against the engine, but thankfully her feet held her body firmly on the leather cushioned seat.

Phoebe struggled to get the whole thing to enter the tunnel but once they were inside she noticed it was considerably easier to maneuver since the tunnel floor was made mostly of sleet.

“No one told me this thing was this fast!”

The high elf screamed as they started to speed through the underground passage, at that point she remembered what one of the engineers told her to do.

“When you head inside of the tunnel, do not steer the vehicle, otherwise you risk crashing the whole thing underground and considering how fast you’ll be going, it’ll be a one way ticket to heaven if you so much change the direction you’re going.”

Her sweaty hands gripped the handlebar even tighter in order to keep it straight but the rush of air around her face was not helping her stay any calmer.

“Are you sure this wretched thing works?!”

Krieg screamed out of his lungs, but none of the other two heard any of his protests. Leona was struggling to keep herself straight since the vehicle was going too fast and Phoebe kept straining her muscles in order to keep the handlebar straight.

‘I can’t see a damn thing! How am I supposed to know if we are getting closer to the exit or not?!’

The high elf squinted her eyes but no matter how much she did so it didn’t seem to be an end to the tunnel, until her body slowly started to shift leftwards by a strange force. Krieg and Leona felt like they were going to get launched off the vehicle. It was at that point when Phoebe thought of pulling the break but after it started to suddenly get brighter as a light approached.

With a loud skid through the sleet and the sound of the metal spikes carving into the mud, they were greeted by an unusual straight clearing through the forest outside of the citadel walls. Dazzled by the bright sun to her left, Leona reached her hand to the left side of the temple in order to shield her eyes from the sunlight. She turned around to see where they were heading and the man-made corridor between the forest seemed all too surreal.

“So this is what they had in mind… I see, at least we’ll be going fast.”

Leona muttered before noticing the high elf quickly turn around.

“We might want some more power!”

Her yell caught the Princess' attention before her eyes glanced up towards the path they were taking, not too far from them, there was an incline that led through the middle of a deforested hill.

“On it!”

Leona rushed back on her seat before conjuring another fire sphere, this time a much bigger one the size of an orange. The moment she tossed it inside of the engine chamber if it wasn’t for Krieg holding her across the stomach she would have been tossed over the vehicle. Phoebe clenched her teeth as the propulsion shook her head back before yelling again.

“IT'S GOING TOO FAST!”