In Rome, The 3rd, 4th and 5th Vampiric Regiments of the Italian state could be seen hastily digging trenches in front of the city itself, fortifying their positions with everything they can, ranging from cars to even rubble.
The objective was simple. Slow down the advancing Aegis horde and stop them from gaining a foothold in Europe.
Currently, the 4th, 5th, 12th and 25th Infantry Divisions made up of Vampires and Daemons from all over the Dunkel Reich were trying their best to hold their position in Rome.
Using weapons ranging from conventional human weapons such as Electric powered rifles to some of the more bizarre ones such as whips, staves and even their own claws.
The addition of the disorganized 6th Artillery division stationed in the back lines also proved to be essential in defending the historical city.
Rome was one of the last major strongholds for the Dunkel Army and subsequently, the next major point for the Aegis army who just suddenly arrived in Italy mere hours after the monthly UN meeting.
From limited reports, the army consisted of 2 four winged Aegis acting as the field Marshals and many 2 winged Aegis. It was reported that the number of 2 winged Aegis reached up to five hundred thousand Aegis. All of them were reported to already be in Insernia which made the soldiers all the more anxious
Other than the difference in wing count, all of these Aegis's looked relatively the same. They had flowing white hair, eyes with dull yellow pupils and wings that looked more heroic than their current intentions.
One soldier in particular was sweating bullets, the smell of diesel overlapping any other smell; “Why is it so damn quiet ?”
One of the nearby soldiers, a Vampire manning an electric LMG turned his head to face him; “Beats me. At Least we don’t have to fight Valk. Heard he tortured someone for arriving late.”
This silence however did not last long as the sounds of wings flapping and mechanical roars could be heard.
Over in the distance, a soldier was running for his life; “Run! Fall back to the trenches-”
The soldier’s screams was immediately cut off as he was utterly obliterated by a beam of light.This caused all the younger soldiers who haven't even encountered an Aegis to panic, ending the eternal silence.
Many of the Domain of Light’s repurposed Chinese tanks poured in and started blasting, causing debris to fly into the eternal night and obscuring the visions of both armies.
Behind the tanks were the many divisions of 2 winged Aegis, their voice roaring as they charged for the fortifications.
A division of Bomber Aegis tried to gain air superiority but luckily for the defenders, they had anti air guns in reserve; “Sir, what are we supposed to stop them?!”
The field Marshal, Viels Ratte who was a native of the Dunkel Reich before the Cascade, had a dull look in his eyes as the reality of the situation kicked in.
He had faced many battles before. First was the unification of The First Dunkel Reich but this? This was beyond hopeless ; “We don't. But regardless of what happens, we'll fight to the last man.”
The Field Marshal then seized a standard issue electric powered rifle, imported from the NAU before charging for the front lines as his voice boomed throughout the battlefield; “For the people, for the motherland!”
====
The night sky of the Dunkel Reich in the Northern parts of Sicily was calm as the clouds covered a large portion of it, combining itself with the everlasting darkness of the Dunkel Reich.
For most families oblivious to the battles happening, it was a rather peaceful night. No fights leveled a bar, no unnecessary rebellions trying to destabilize the country, it was…nice.
But that did not last long before the clouds in the sky parted. 2 objects or rather beings could be spotted zooming in the sky; “Leila, slow down! Let's at least strategize firs-”
Leila quickly cut Bruno off, her eyes wide with panic; “We don't have time Bruno! People are in danger! My people! I can't sit back and strategize!”
Before more could be said though, both of their eyes widened when the smell of gunpowder and blood hit their noses.
This immediately made Leila's eyes go wide as she flew faster to the battlefield and the sight of it left her speechless; “Leila, can't you slow down-Oh god.”
Bruno himself had the same reaction as he watched the carnage that was unfolding. Thousands already lay dead, the tents which housed the medics were reduced to nothing, the soldiers were getting lit ablaze and it did not stop at all; “Why … WHY DOES SHE NEED TO INVOLVE MY PEOPLE?! WHAT HAVE THEY EVER DONE TO HER?!”
Leila's scream was drowned out by the sounds of the battlefield but to Bruno who was extremely close by, the tone was clear. Leila was furious; “Leila-”
Whatever Bruno was about to say was ignored by Leila as she screeched and dived straight for the horde.
Before they could even know what happened, Leila decapitated 4 Bomber Aegis, earning relieved gasps from all the soldiers but Leila was not done.
No.
She would make all of them pay. ALL OF THEM.
Behind her was Bruno who had his fangs tainted with Aegis Blood; “Leila, please just listen-”
Bruno let out a ‘Woah!’ as he barely dodges a tank shot. Turning his head to the side, he could see the culprit. Behind the thick layers of dust and smoke lay an old refurbished Chinese Tank who were quickly aiming their LMG at him; “Oh no you don't you shitheads!”
Following this, Bruno then pulled out a crossbow which was equipped with a magazine. The crossbow has an overall gothic theme to it.
He then fired a bolt in between the Gunner's eyes , instantly killing the Gunner. This caused the tank crew to panic and fire off another shot near another tank, causing chaos along with confusion in the tank division.
Bruno capitalized on this confusion by rapidly flying straight for the tank, dodging or parrying anything in his way before finally reaching the first tank.
He plunged his claws deep into the tank's insides, ripping through the thick armor and revealing the panicking tank crew. He then gave them a wide and sinister grin; “Hope you don't mind but I kinda need blood right now.”
Bruno then plunged his claws into one of the Aegis, shredding through his heart and casting a spell which caused the blood of the same Aegis to suddenly shoot out of his back and harden into spikes, hitting the other 2 Aegis in the tank.
While it barely hit the 2 other Aegis, it did achieve Bruno's main goal. It made them bleed. His smile widened and he casted yet another spell, causing them all to suddenly freeze; “Blood magic’s one hell of a thing isn't it?”
but the expression in their eyes made it clear.
They were in deep agony.
Not even ten seconds later, their body convulsed He then lunged for another Aegis as he used the blood of the first Aegis to craft himself a morningstar. The third Aegis could only watch in horror as his comrade’s chest was blown wide open by the morningstar.
Bruno’s irises then turned red as he grabbed the corpse and sunk his fangs into the neck, sucking it dry as if it was a box of juice; “Man, that really hit the spot.”
He then saw that the third Aegis was gone. Looking to his side lazily, he could see that the third Aegis was trying to flee. Not to the other tanks who were busy with getting blown to bits but to the forest.
This caused Bruno to roll his eyes and let out a groan of frustration; “Ugh, this dude's gonna be so annoying to catch.”
He then casted yet another spell, turning the morningstar into a spear, using his own blood to tether the spear to him before throwing it straight for the Aegis. It embedded itself into the Aegis’s abdomen, causing Bruno to blink as the spear started to retract back to him; “Not gonna lie, was surprised that it hit but since it did…”
He turned the blood whip into yet another weapon, this time being a blood saber and walked over to the crawling Aegis before stomping his foot on the Aegis’s back; “P-Please,spare me!”
His pleas for mercy only fueled Bruno’s anger, causing him to apply even more pressure on the Aegis’s back; “You got yourself involved in this war, killed many of our soldiers and NOW you’re asking for mercy?!”
Bruno spat on the ground next to the Aegis and with one smooth motion, severed the head; “Go to hell.”
======
Meanwhile, in the right flank :
What remained of the 3rd and half of the remaining 4th Vampiric Regiments charged for the retreating disorganized Aegis Army, the smell of blood lingering in the air.
The 2nd Domain of Light Infantry division was scrambling to follow the rest of the army in retreat, moving through the forests; “And were lost. Great. Just great! First I get drafted out of nowhere and now I'm gonna get eaten by some wild beast. Just great!”
Before anyone could even reply, the captain of the Regiment suddenly stopped dead in his tracks; “We have company.”
Following this, all of them went on full alert, aiming their rifles in every direction.
Then, out of the bushes came Leila Arcanna herself. Her hair looked unkempt, blood stained her hands and her eyes looked dull. Too dull for someone like Leila.
With a low voice, she said; “Leave. And I'll pretend I didn't see you.”
The captain aimed his rifle at her shakily, his legs trembling in fear ; “And w-why should we?”
Leila threw the head of Valk one of the two 4 winged Aegis sent to command them before then looking at him with a tired look; “Is this enough ‘reason’? Please, just…leave. I've already seen enough suffering for today.”
Seeing the head of one of their most prestigious leaders on the floor, the soldiers immediately bolted to get the hell away from her.
Seeing that all of them were gone, Leila flew to the skies and tears started cascading from her eyes as she remembered the event she witnessed prior.
*****
“We need to move guys, come on!”
Leila was ordering a platoon of soldiers, most of them carrying injured comrades to get treatment.
The ground around her was scorched in multiple places, a result of the light beams shot by the Aegis army and corpses along with equipment from both sides littered the ground
She was trying her best to help her srmy, not exactly in the mood to kill. Leila flew high above the battlefields in order to confirm that not a single soldier needed help.
Eventually, she saw something that made her breath hitch. She landed gracefully on the ground once more; “Please be an illusion…”
She walked through the ruined town, heart filled with anger and sorrow.
The air was thick with dust and the smell of blood, a reminder of the gruesome event that had occurred here. After seeing so many charred and collapsed homes, she made a personal note to order the Firefighters to conduct a search and rescue to find any survivors and give the dead a proper burial.
After what felt like an eternity, she eventually reached what she saw while flying, a collapsed building with a teenage Daemon digging through the rubble desperately, ignoring his bloody hands and broken horn .
His eyes were filled with tears and despite the injuries he was sustaining, he kept digging ; “P-Please, don’t leave me…Please” He cried out, his voice cracking like glass; “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I promise to be better, just, don’t die!”
Each tear, each plea, each rubble thrown aside only served to pierce Leila’s heart even more. She felt tears leaking from her eyes as she held her mouth in shock.
She eventually shook herself free of tears and tried to calm herself down, clenching her fists and taking deep breaths.
Following this, she walked towards the teenager, lowering her wings in an attempt to make herself look less threatening.
She planned to walk slowly to him to not intimidate him but it seemed like fate had other plans as she spotted something worrying within the dust clouds; “Is that…? Wait, the kid!”
What made her worry was the 4 winged Aegis or more commonly known as a [4 WING]. These were more commonly known as the field marshals for the armies of the Aegis and the 3rd most powerful type of Aegis.
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Instead of actually commanding his army, this Aegis was strolling through the town, halberd stained with blood; “Ah~ Nothing like a little fun, eh Archimedes?”
The Valkyrie Aegis was known as Valk the Brutal, feared amongst Chinese and Japanese rebels alike for his brutal and downright sadistic actions against anyone he doesn't like, even his own comrades.
Perched on his shoulder was his beast, a large eagle-like bird with white feathers and iron-like talons.
Leila quickly spun a spell circle to sink into the shadows, quickly reappearing behind the boy who was just surprised to the queen herself in front of him; “Y-your majesty.”
Leila grabbed a handkerchief from her pockets and quickly wiped his tears; “Kiddo, I'm gonna need you to be strong okay? I need you to get as far away as you can. Got it?”
The teen quickly nodded before his eyes fell back towards the rubble that was once his home; “B-but Ma and Pa…”
Leila took a deep breath before looking back at the teen; “I promise I'll get them out of there okay?”
At that point the teen was still shaking but let out another nod; “P-please give them back to me.”
Leila gave him a soft smile, her eyes closed; “Of course lil guy. What's your name?”
The teen gave her a smile in return; “Adam. I'm Adam.” Leila was about to tell something else to Adam before being rudely interrupted by an arrow of light hitting her midsection; “Shit. Kid, get out of here, now!”
The kid's hands trembled but he shook it off and sprinted away towards the outskirts of the town.
Valk took his time walking over to Leila whilst also dragging his Halberd on the ground, clearly excited about a fight; “Ah! Queen Leila Arcanna herself! It's an honor, your majesty !”
His voice was filled with a mocking tone and sarcasm but Leila ignored that for the time being; “Yeah yeah, cut the chit chat. Let's get to fighting.”
Valk flew straight for Leila, his halberd outstretched to try and get a stab in. Leila, seeing the obvious attack, pulled out her sickles and caught the tip of the halberd between the two of her sickles. Valk just continued grinning with his grin looking like it’d reach both his ears; “Ah but of course a simple attack such as that would not work. You are a Hyferion after all!”
Leila swiftly moved her sickles downwards, causing Valk to stumble forwards and giving Leila the opportunity to do a backflip which also made her kick Valk in the jaw.
After landing, Leila casted a spell, summoning a spirit which repeated her earlier actions and kicking Valk in the jaw once more.
Leila tried to move in for another swipe only for Valk to catch her by the wrist and force her to discard one of her sickles. Valk tried to stab Leila with his spear but Leila managed to kick Valk in the chest, creating some distance between the two.
Valk then threw his spear at Leila, aiming to impale her but Leila quickly dodged, letting it fly into the distance.
She ran towards Valk, aiming to end this as quickly as possible before gritting her teeth as she felt a sharp pain in her right arm.
Looking towards it, she was shocked to find the same spear has now pierced her arm. She immediately threw the spear away and downed a vial of blood.
Leila took a glance behind her and a deadpan expression fell on her face; “Of course I forgot about his bird…”
Her gaze fell on Archimedes who was perched on a nearby post before her eyes widened when she saw Adam hiding behind some rubble to watch the action in real time.
Unfortunately for him, Valk saw him and a wicked grin grew on his face as he rushed straight to where Adam was.
This caused Adam to run as quickly as he could before tripping down. Leila, seeing that one of her subjects was in danger, ran to stop Valk.
She spun a dark purple spell circle that extended and went through her, manifesting on her back.
This spell circle then broke off and expanded into 4 shadow tendrils attached behind her that she used to grab Valk by the foot.
Leila let out a sigh of relief but to her confusion, the grin on Valk’s face did not disappear, it widened even further.
Then she remembered about Archimedes and immediately moved her head to where Adam was and by the Void, she wished she hadn't.
The poor teen's entire body was covered in cuts, his left arm looked like it went through a blender and his face, oh Void his face…
Seeing that Leila was frozen from both shock and horror, Valk seized the opportunity and spun a light blue spell circle, applying it to himself. He pulled out a dagger and stabbed it through her chest, using the earlier spell, [Organ Targeting spell] to lock onto her heart and kill her.
And for a moment, it seemed like it genuinely worked. The dagger was going through her flesh but much to his shock and annoyance, it couldn't even scratch her heart.
He immediately jumped away from her, danger still in hand. He had a slightly irritated and annoyed face; “Of course. Why wouldn't your heart be impenetrable? Oh well, I suppose I'll have to do this the hard way then-”
Valk was quickly cut off by Leila. She had a furious look in her eyes and was glaring straight into his soul; “...Why?”
Valk quickly let out a chuckle; “Isn't it obvious already Queen Leila? We want the dark singularity.”
Leila's glare hardened even further before pointing towards the mangled corpse of Adam; “No. I meant, why did you have to involve him? What did he do to you?”
Valk moved his head slightly to take a look at the corpse before a look of understanding came to his face; “Ah, this peasant you mean? It's simple really. We were told to go on a mission of extermination. To wipe out as many Daemons and Vampires as we can. I am simply just doing my job.”
Right as Leila heard this, the entirety of the town suddenly became darker than before, startling Valk quite a bit.
His eyes widened slightly before catching an object thrown at him by Leila. His face immediately turned smug at this; “But what is this? A queen resorting to the primitive tactic of throwing an object at me? How pitiful-”
Valk immediately stopped when he felt liquid escaping the object he was holding and immediately turned his head downwards to look at it and his face morphed into a horrified expression; “Archimedes?!”
In his hands was the lifeless body of his pet, Archimedes with a gigantic portion of it being devoured.
He felt a presence behind him and immediately turned around to stop Leila but he made the wrong decision as his left hand was quickly cut off, courtesy of Leila's shadow tendril which she had sharpened using her innate connection to it.
Following this, he tried to punch her but Leila simply caught his fist and crushed it, making him scream out in agony.
Leila had an emotionless yet furious look on her face as she watched the sadistic man scream out in agony; “Not as fun when you're on the receiving end is it now?”
She then dipped her arm into a nearby shadow and pulled out a mallet which she slammed into Valk's knee, letting out a cracking sound as forced Valk onto his knee.
At this point, Valk's face was filled with tears of pain yet filled with malice as he looked up to Leila.
Leila in return lifted him up by his cuffs; “Don't worry. I am not going to kill you…yet. We still have questions for you.”
Valk let out a bloody chuckle before screaming as he spun a spell circle using his broken hand to fix his missing one and pull out a dagger from his waist belt.
Leila quickly dropped him, not wanting to get stabbed again and waste another perfectly fine vial of blood.
That was before her eyes widened as Valk plunged the dagger deep into his chest. Valk then let out another bloody chuckle, his voice raspy.
Leila immediately rushed to pull the dagger out, not wanting Valk to die just yet. She tried to close the chest wound but it kept opening back up.
Valk opened his mouth for the final time, his mouth filled with the yellow liquid that is Aegis Blood; “Death…before dishonor.”
Valk’s body finally went limp, a smile on his face. Not long after this, Leila let out a scream of frustration and grief that echoed throughout Rome itself.
Leila, in a show of anger and fury manifested shadows around her claws and decapitated Valk's corpse.
She then clenched her claws so hard, cyan blood started leaking out of her palm. With shaky breaths, she tried to compose herself; “It's not your fault, it's not your fault it's not your fault…”
She then took off into the skies, flapping her wings so hard she could not hear the sound of a large aircraft looming in the distance, the logo of the Slavic Socialist Empire briefly visible behind the clouds.
*****
Back with Bruno :
Screams, gunfires, and the sounds of tanks filled the air as the forces of The Dunkel Reich and Domain of Light clashed.
Bodies littered the ground, weapons thrown aside, tanks abandoned, blood both purple and gold accumulating into puddles on the ground, it was chaos.
Bruno slowly moved throughout the battlefield, using abandoned tanks for cover while occasionally taking shots with his crossbow.
After landing behind yet another tank, this time with a small gash on his shoulder, a result of a stray bullet, he lifted his arm to take a look at his watch and let out a ‘tch’ of annoyance; “Come on Leila…where are you…”
Bruno then looked over to his wound and shook his head. He clenched his fists, taking a deep breath before ripping the side open, revealing slightly charred corpses inside; “Thank god there's some corpses in here.”
Bruno went into the tank, putting his crossbow onto a nearby elevated surface before a body suddenly fell to his side, a result of another artillery barrage from the enemy. Bruno grunted before putting the corpse down near the entrance he made.
Looking at the state of the corpse, he frowned; “He'd taste like an overcooked steak. That's one less corpse for me I guess.”
He went deeper into the tank, throwing aside some of the equipment before his eyes landed on a corpse that was mostly intact; “It's not a 5 star meal but…bon appetit I guess.”
His eyes shone a brilliant crimson as he pushed his fangs deep into the corpse's neck, draining it of any remaining blood.
He just about finished before hearing his own crossbow load. He quickly touched every inch of his waist to try and find it before his face paled when he remembered where he left it.
Turning around, he saw an Aegis holding his crossbow, hands shaking from fear when he saw Bruno's bloodstained hands.
Seeing that this soldier was clearly not meant for the front lines from how skinny and scared he looked, Bruno took a deep breath, mostly from annoyance; “Look. I'm not in the mood to kill anyone so if you put this crossbow down and follow me, I'll personally promise you won't be killed-”
Bruno could not finish his sentence before the arrow was fired and lodged straight into his shoulder, making him let out a grunt of pain.
Once again, his eyes lit up with a crimson glow, irritated at the soldier. That was before the soldier was hit in the back of the head by Leila, knocking him unconscious.
Leila's hair looked messy, hints of bags forming under her eyes and a few holes in her dress but on her face was that usual smile filled with the same enthusiasm she always carried; “Miss me?”
After forcefully removing the arrow and biting his lips from the pain of his body regenerating the wound, Bruno let out a short laugh; “Never in a million years.”
The calm and peaceful moment did not last long however as the sound of too many wings flapping without any coherence made its way into their ears.
As quickly as they could, the two rushed outside the tank and their eyes widened at the terrifying sight. In the sky were thousands of not more Aegis, equipped with swords, spears and even guns from the World War 2 era.
Bruno's mouth hung open from terror as he gripped his crossbow tighter; “Leila. How much longer until the backup arrives?”
Leila's grip on her sickles became fimer as her eyes burned with rage, the memory of Adam still fresh on her mind; “Two hours. But let's make sure we end this in less than one.”
Bruno, who was already getting ready to hold their ground, froze. He quickly turned back to look at Leila before seeing her barely contained tears from eyes filled with anger, trembling hands and wings spread out in a show of intimidation to the Aegis who dared to trespass into her kingdom.
The soldiers who were left, battered from the fight, quickly flanked them, wanting to not abandon their Queen. Leila, despite her fists clenching and unclenching rapidly pointed her sickles at the horde; “CHARGE!”
Without a word, the two flew straight for the horde of Aegis, light shining from behind the Aegis and darkness trailing Leila, making the whole scene look like the start of a legendary battle.
But that all changed when a small number of Aegis's were shot down by energy projectiles, causing the whole horde to look around in confusion.
The culprit quickly revealed itself in the form of a standard S.S.E Frost-06 Jet fighter, the insignia of the Slavic Socialist Empire royal air force proudly emblazoned on it.
This was followed by more jets coming from within the clouds before a large spotlight suddenly shone from it and the clouds dispersed, making everyone's breath hitch at what they saw.
It was an airship, not just any airship, it was the pride of the S.S.E, the Royal Fortress. It had a metal frame and four gyro stabilizers on it.
On the top was a runway for jet fighters to take off from while on the sides, dozens of cannons both human and magical were present.
Small pods quickly dropped from the bottom of it and out came thousands of S.S.E Witch Soldiers, engaging with the shocked Aegis horde as soon as they could.
While all of this was happening, the duo was still busy defending themselves from Aegis from all directions.
Bruno was spinning magic circles left and right, making spikes, hammers and everything in between. Despite this, he knew it was not long before he ran out of mana, his regeneration relied on the healing aspect of Magic and he had taken one too many direct hits.
Bruno was contemplating getting Leila and finding retreating. Then, the air itself suddenly became cold before a gunshot rang out across the battlefield. Immediately after this, an Aegis flopped over as a hole opened in his head.
After the body fell, the culprit was then revealed to be Ice King, holding his custom made revolver, made to fire bullets made from Dry Ice, the Cold Retribution.
The remaining 4 Aegis tried to flee, the battle being obviously lost. But their hope was quickly shattered as Ice King wordlessly holstered his revolver and started whistling.
Not long after this, all four Aegis were impaled by a large Ice Spike, splattering golden blood onto his clothing. This made Ice King frown slightly before letting out a sigh; “I suppose I will need to pay the laundromat a visit soon…”
Ice King turned around to face Bruno and Leila, making sure his face was as neutral as possible.
After seeing the duo's state, his face morphed into that of concern; “Do you require assistance?.”
And that was an understatement. Bruno had puncture wounds that were closing up all over his body, eyes heavy from exhaustion; “Don't worry about me too much. Go check up on Leila. I don't think she's…okay right now.”
At the mention of Leila's name, Ice King quickly snapped his head to the side, looking at Leila who had her bangs covering the top half of her face, her fist clenching and unclenching at an alarming rate and her chest rising and falling way too fast.
Seeing this, he quickly rushed to Leila's side, pushing the bangs aside to see her face along with hints of tears in her eyes; “Leila. Calm down, okay? It's over. My Air Force will push them back.”
Despite Ice King trying to reassure her, Leila was still hyperventilating as she turned her head towards him; “I-Icy?”
Ice King gave her a soft smile; “Yes Leila, it's me. Don't worry, you don't have to fight anymore.”
Leila's hands quickly latched onto Ice King's clothing, nuzzling her face deep into it as tears stained the fabric. Her voice then came out, shaky and hoarse; “I-I failed them. I–I-I couldn't protect them, Ice King! T-T-T-”
She was stuttering even more at this point and Ice King let out a quick sigh, face a bit flush from how close they currently were. He was trying to find a way to calm her down before remembering an activity that he read about recently.
He took a deep breath, steadying himself and making sure he wouldn't mess it up; “Leila, name me five things you can see.”
Leila, shaken and still having tears in her eyes, opened her mouth and out came a hoarse and shaky voice; “T-the sky…Your a-airship…You …Bruno and…the ground”
Ice King grabbed Leila's hand and squeezed it reassuringly; “That's good…Now, four things you can feel.”
Leila took a deep shaky breath; “Y-your hoodie, The ground…your feathers…M-My dress.”
Ice King gave Leila yet another reassuring smile; “That's it. Can you give me three things you can hear, Leila?”
Leila closed her eyes before her ears visibly twitched; “Your voice, gunshots and…the artilleries.”
“How about two things you can…uh…” Ice King's smile quickly faltered as he began trying to find what the next words were supposed to be.
Leila let out a chuckle before lightly tapping Ice King's nose; “It's smell, Icy…”
Ice King rubbed the back of his head awkwardly; “Pardon me. I can't remember everything I read.”
The two were in a sort of trance, looking at each other's eyes before a cough was heard.
Turning his head to the side, Ice King saw Bruno standing there, foot tapping the ground impatiently and on his face was a look of annoyance; “If you two are done staring at each other, we need to move. Reinforcement is already here and seeing as both their leaders are either missing or killed, their army is retreating back to Sicily.”
Following this, Ice King stood up, dusting himself off before then looking over to Leila; “Can you stand up?”
Leila tried to rise up to her feet but her feet quickly started wobbling. Before she could fully fall, Ice King caught her hand and gave her a smirk; “I'm guessing that's a no then.”
Leila gave Ice King a bashful and embarrassed smile; “Yep. Got a case of the good ol’ jelly legs…Hey, can you uhm…help me up…?”
The question caught Ice King seemingly off guard as a bright blush appeared on his face. Ice King blinked and quickly shook his head before closing his eyes with a thoughtful look.
He then shrugged before pulling out his scroll-a traditional communication device fitted to now work with smartphones and gave the commander of the air fleet currently in Italy a call; “Commander Praskovya. How is the offensive going so far?...That's good to hear. Of course, I am calling you for a reason. I will be leaving Italy for talks with the Dunkel Reich about the next course of actions but I want you and the fleet to support the Reich's ground forces. Ah, make sure the royal fortress heads back for the castle. It takes too much fuel. Understood?...Good.”
Right as Ice King finished his call, he stored the scroll back into his pockets and crouched down right in front of Leila, his back facing her; “Get on.”
Seeing that Leila was clueless as to what he's implying, he rolled his eyes; “I am carrying you to your castle. Get on quickly.”
Despite the small and unnoticeable blush, Leila obliged and wrapped her arms around Ice King's neck.
Seeing that Leila was secured on his back, Ice King was about to take off before looking back towards Bruno with an interested look; “And why are you not following us?”
Bruno shrugged before pointing towards the town ruins on the horizon; “Figured I might as well check them out. Plus, I need to stretch my wings for a bit.”
Ice King nodded in understanding before Leila lightly tapped Bruno's head and gave him a cheeky smile; “Don't get yourself killed, idiot.”
Bruno rolled his eyes with amusement present in them; “No promises, Leila. See you at the castle.”
After the two finished their conversation, Ice King's wings immediately flared out and he along with Leila took off for Germania.