I entered the throne room where I found my Queens engaged in a discussion with, according to the note left by Amber in Wolf Manor, Queen Mia Francesca. She and her sister were wearing ornate dresses made by Wendy. They were sitting at the large table on which was an abundance of snacks and fruit drinks. The five knights attending the Queen of Hilgvar were trying to at least act confident, but I felt their fear. Five Praetorians were standing behind my Queens and the long gazes the Hilgvarians gave their equipment told me enough. But the Queens and Princess were laughing and joking while indulging themselves in conversation and paid no attention to the worries of their guardians.
"Excuse my late appearance, my Ladies. There were some issues I had to see through." I smiled at Amber, who nodded back.
"Hello, my King. I escorted our esteemed guests here since they mistakenly took the Dungeon City of Wolf Manor for Avalon." Amber smiled, provoking sincere laughter from Queen Mia and Princess Tia, who stood up to greet me. "Allow me to introduce you to our esteemed guests. Queen Mia of Hilgvar and her sister, Princess Tia."
"All the pleasure is mine, then. I am Theon Avalon. Welcome to my humble abode." I bowed politely to our guests and prepared to sit in my usual position between my Queens. The baffled gazes and rolled eyes upon hearing my last remark additionally relaxed the atmosphere.
"I am afraid that I must rob you of some of that pleasing conceit, King Theon." Queen Mia smiled charmingly, curtsying with elegance. "I am Mia Francesca of Hilgvar. Your humble abode is probably the most impressive city in the world, King Theon."
"My name is Tia Francesca." The almost identical twin bowed to me. The traces of the illness that had left her previously bedridden were still visible on her. "Allow me to thank you personally for saving my life, King Theon."
"I am glad that the Elixir worked, Princess Tia." I smiled, and we all took our seats. "It's also my pleasure to see you both safe in Avalon. The travel must have been hard."
"The letter you sent me and the gifts you gave proved crucial in our travel. It was fun, however, my guards might hate me for it. Fortunately, there were no victims." She sipped her tea and smirked. "For sure, Gilmour is furious right now."
"Oh?" I looked at Luna. I was too busy to update myself with the newest foreign affairs report.
"Allow Queen Mia to tell you the story," Luna replied with a chuckle and judging by her tail, she was extremely amused.
"Oh, that wouldn't be possible without your intel. We left Hilgvar in secret, but before that, I ordered my army to vanish and prepare for Verksa's invasion. My people were already alerted, so most of the population scattered to secret hideouts while the rest decided to hit Verksan in ambushes. At the same time, when Gilmour covertly entered my Kingdom, I proclaimed my official diplomatic mission to Cridia," she summarised, making me cover my mouth and chuckle.
"Oh, I believe that he is far more than just furious." I finally gave up all the pretence and laughed. After a moment, I looked at her with a soft smile. "I lost all hope we could talk."
"I told you, King Theon, that I was looking forward to our meeting." She grinned.
"Indeed." I allowed myself for a moment to smile, but after a few more seconds, I turned serious. "I am sorry we weren't able to help you, Queen Mia. You can stay in Avalon as our guest and..."
Her warm smile changed slightly, and she slowly raised her hand to interrupt me. "King Theon, your assessment was correct. If your forces had entered Hilgvar under such circumstances, Gilmour could have convinced enough of the nearby countries that you were interfering with the affairs of Hilgvar and Verksa. I wouldn't have been able to do much, but now..." She flashed her cat fangs viciously, which looked strangely appealing on her noble, human-like face. "I am here to officially ask for your aid, King Theon. Gilmour of Verksa attacked my lands unprovoked, under my absence, and now I call for diplomatic condemnation. Furthermore, I ask you to lend me three thousand of your soldiers to aid my army for the time of two months. With that, I am confident I will repel all attackers from my kingdom. I will pay for your help accordingly, providing gold, rare items, and the promises of a permanent alliance between our nations. I will recognize the Kingdom of Avalon internationally, and despite Hilgvar being small, we are a well-established kingdom, so my voice matters."
"You want to use my soldiers to try to fight back for your country?" I asked with mild surprise.
"Oh, no. I want to use them to win," she replied with an unshaken conviction. Mia snapped her fingers and her guards produced four large coffers and opened them.
I went closer and looked inside the chests. But just a single glance into the first one was enough for me to know I was going to agree to that deal. In the meantime, Queen Mia continued. "In case I would need the lent forces longer than stated, I will pay you additional compensation, King Theon."
"I am afraid that I can't agree on your terms, Queen Mia." I smiled after I picked up one of the items she brought and saw her pursed lips. She was close to tears.
"I think that it's a fair price for your support, King Theon." She lowered her head sadly.
"Queen Mia, you misunderstand me. Three thousand soldiers for all of this? It's wouldn't be fair."
"I am afraid I can't give you anything more..."
"Wrong again. That's too much for just three thousand soldiers!" I grinned at her and she regained hope.
"In that case, how many soldiers could I borrow with all this?" she asked, looking deep into my eyes.
"A Legion." I smiled and looked at her puzzled face.
"I am afraid I don't know how many soldiers compose a legion..."
"Ten thousand soldiers, Queen Mia." She paled, but her golden cat eyes shined with regained confidence. "I, King Theon Avalon, The Righteous Dungeon, The Champion of Eriar, The Chosen of Archangel, The Bringer of Equilibrium, The Friend of the Eternals, and The Protector of the Weak accept your offer, Queen Mia Francesca of Hilgvar."
"I, Queen Mia Francesca of Hilgvar, confirm the deal." She smiled and her eyes shined with a multitude of feelings. The World System interface flashed in front of our eyes, sealing the deal far better than any paper could.
"I hereby declare that from now on, Queen Mia Francesca is a temporary commander of Legio VI Vermiculus Venatores. The Sixth Immortal Legion will be operating under her orders until she sees fit to relieve it from duty." I summoned the decorated mace that bore the Roman numerical symbols of the Sixth Legion.
"Thank you, King Theon... Thank you for this chance." She took the mace with affection and hugged it as if it were her greatest treasure.
•••
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We were standing on the observation tower in the underground training grounds, exactly where my Queens had previously encountered my Legions the first time. The Sixth Legion was standing in silence, and everyone was watching them in awe. Even I rarely had the time to admire the beauty of the entire Legion assembled. The shining armours and large tower scutum-type shields dominated the landscape.
"They look far more impressive than I imagined," Mia quietly admitted and looked at me in fear, though her eyes had playful sparks in them. "The sixth legion? Just how powerful are you..."
"Fairly..." I smiled and pointed at her mace. "Order them to parade."
"Parade!" She raised the mace and almost jumped, startled, when thousands of shields smashed to the ground as the Legion broke into parade formation.
Using the speaker system, I blasted Two Steps From Hell- Never Back Down, a very fitting song for this very moment. Thousand upon thousand of Legionnaires marched in front of us, while my Queens, Queen Mia, Princess Tia, and their retinues watched in silence, smiling with awe. faces.
"Vermiculus Venatores, what does that mean?" Queen Mia asked me.
"Crimson Hunters," I replied quietly.
"What a wonderful and fitting name." She smiled and, looking around, she asked, "What about the music?"
"It's called 'Never Back Down'. I find it fitting."
"I will never again back down..." Queen Mia agreed quietly and after a while, she looked at me with a guilty face. "Some of your men will not return home, King Theon."
"I beg your pardon, but I don't understand..." I blinked a few times and looked at her, surprised.
"Some of them will die..." she replied sadly, and I laughed.
"You should pay a bit more attention to my titles, Queen Mia." I pointed at the marching legion. "Not a single one of them is a Mortal. They are Immortal Warriors serving the Immortal King." She looked at me as if I lost my mind, so I continued, amused. "I am a dungeon core, Queen Mia, and these are my warriors. If you are not willing to give this much credit to them, however, they are the monsters of the Righteous Dungeon. You can think of me as the dungeon itself, or the most powerful boss monster of my dungeon."
She looked at me surprised and her eyes shined with the mana she tried to appraise me with, which I allowed. When her eyes went wide, I realised she was not aware of everything.
"You are full of mysteries, King Theon. You claim to be a monster, but Queen Amber is a Half-Elf, Queen Irene is an Elf, and Queen Luna is.. Is... She is?" Mia tilted her head.
"Luna is a Kitsune, Hestia is a Goddess, and Aoi is a Dragonkin," I helped her with an amused smile.
"Full of surprises..." She smiled mysteriously, and I saw by the movement of her tail that she was excited.
•••
We spent a few hours talking with the Hilgvar delegation and before we noticed, we dropped all honorifics. We openly exchanged knowledge about our countries and it was Mia who always first offered information. The Queen of Hilgvar skillfully led a conversation where she wanted it, even though I was sure that all of my Queens had already seen her through. Despite that, her intentions were pure and the knowledge we exchanged wasn't particularly secrets. Or rather, they couldn't be kept as secrets in the long run. Among these rather meaningless secrets at this point, I told her that I was the Champion of Eriar. I also told her as much as I knew about my patron, which made her even more excited. Mia then asked Hestia about Inaru-ran'na, the goddess of Hilgvar, but unfortunately, she advised us she was killed by the Void God, who in turn was killed by Apollo and Perun.
"In that case, Goddess Hestia, may I officially ask you to become a deity of Hilgvar?" Mia asked with tension in her voice.
"You may, Mia... But people choose their deities on their own. I can bless those who follow me, but I can't force anyone to believe in me." Hestia smiled and took a sip of her wine.
"Convincing my people to believe in you wouldn't be problematic at all. We are a small country, so gaining the protection of a powerful Goddess will be morale-boosting for my people." She sighed heavily.
"I am not as powerful as I used to be," Hestia sighed. "But if you want, Eriar and I will respond to your people. Zeus, Hera, and Zephyr are most likely going to respond as well."
"That would be incredible!" Mia clapped her hands.
We fell silent for a moment, after which Amber looked calmly at our guests. "Would you like to open an embassy in Avalon, Mia?"
"As much as I would love to, the current state of affairs won't allow me to do so. There is no one I could entrust with such a mission, Amber. But maybe I could find someone to start the mission and send more people later?" She sighed, and after taking a look at the setting sun, she forcefully smiled. "It's getting late, my friends, and it's time we excuse ourselves for the time being."
"Of course. The Sixth Legion will be ready to march in four days. Demesne informed me that your knight, Rizk'a, took all the other soldiers and is currently on his way to Avalon. I sent a few eagles to monitor their progress, but rest assured that the roads between here and the Wolf Manor are relatively safe." I nodded. "If you wish, you can use our Eagles to send messages to your knight."
"Thank you, Theon." She beamed a smile and after a slight nod, the Hilgvarians left towards their guest quarters, leaving us behind.
When we teleported to our home, Aoi and Irene decided to take a soak in the hot spring I added to our bath area. Hestia lay down on the sofa near the fireplace and after the Slime Maid brought her mead she smiled brightly at us. She took a sip of the mead and raised her brow thoughtfully and looked at Amber.
"So what piqued your interest so much that you offered her an entire legion?" Amber asked in a gloomy voice. "While I like Mia, that legion was necessary for our campaign in the north. You told me that many times."
From one of the chests, I took out a beautifully crafted bracelet and gave it to Amber without a word, instead I just grinned. She looked at it in shock.
MYTHICAL grade Item
The magical shield of Valkyrie Randgrid is made from the light itself. It is said that no blade can slash it nor spear can pierce it.
This item grants the following effects:
Grants exceptional physical defence.
Grants exceptional magic defence.
Grants +30 HP per minute recovery.
Grants +30 MP per minute recovery.
Grants runic skill: Sentient Shield.
Mana storage item:
0/100000
Part of Heavenly Valkyrie Set
This item can be only gifted in good faith.
Sentient Shield- As long as the user or their items hold mana, Aegis will protect them from any attack.
Set part 3/8
10% shorter skill cooldown.
"I think I understand..." Amber was flustered when I slowly put the bracelet on her arm and kissed her.
"A mythril sword?" Luna pulled out a simple sword. Its silvery surface gave the characteristic blue and green glow; an unmistakable characteristic of the legendary metal.
"Still not enough to create a node, but three or four more and I will be able to create a low-yield node of mythril." I smiled and heard Hestia's chuckle from behind as she snuggled herself onto my back.
"Not to mention that Mia asked me to become a new deity. That will significantly boost my powers. I will have to send some of the priests to Hilgvar. Maybe they can even accompany Mia. Irene will also send some of her subordinates."
"It was a good day, my Darlings. How about we join Irene and Aoi and soak in the warm water?"
•••
"I am coming, my Queen! Just wait, we will save you!" Rizk'a shouted into the night.
His adjutant sighed. For the last twelve hours, they tried to explain to the general that the Queen had given them the order to join her in Avalon. Apparently, the city they mistakenly took for Avalon was the far smaller City of Wolf Manor. However, the general never listened to them...