"Old man?!" Aeon yelled at the person in front of him.
At the man who ran the entire empire.
The person they call Emperor.
Lucian Granford Meredith III!
….
People started gathering around the area, though they maintained some distance from the people at the center.
The community there wasn't necessarily fond of Meredith's emperor. In fact, most of them hated him. They were there during the dark times of the Florentine Empire. And what did Meredith do to them? He played them for fools.
The people crowded because they thought something bad might happen.
That Meredith was out to kill someone!
Why else would the Emperor personally come, fully equipped with armor and his scythe?
Everyone tensed up. Even those who did not receive formal magic training prepared themselves for battle, their teeth grinding against each other. Those scant few who loved chaos burned with anticipation.
Right now, they weren't refugees.
They were citizens of Florentine Empire, ready to face an enemy!
Fight!
They were ready, physically and mentally. However what they saw next still left them speechless.
They saw the Emperor strangling Aeon Morgan and rocking him furiously back and forth.
The people there started mumbling, trying to ask those at the front what was actually happening. But none were able to answer their question. How were they supposed to know? They didn't hear the conversation of the ones they were surrounding. The footsteps of hundreds of people charging deafened them.
They didn't know what to do or how to respond. They could only stare. Stare at Aeon with weird expressions.
Aeon Morgan's mouth started foaming as his body was being shaken violently.
Suri, Korona, and even Solare subconsciously moved back. They had their eyebrows raised in confusion. They all heard Aeon insult the emperor in front of his face. Wasn't that a crime?
Emperor Meredith casually tossed Aeon aside and moved towards General Samo. It seemed as if nothing happened.
"It's been quite a while, General," Lucian greeted.
Suri, surprised, immediately bent his knees to kneel down when his father stopped him and pushed him backward. Suri was confused, but Solare did not bother with him.
"Greetings, Emperor," Solare returned the courtesy. Then, he turned towards the crowd and yelled, "please return to your tents. There's nothing to see here"
Hearing this, the people were obviously displeased. There was obviously something to see. And to hear too! But it was the general who commanded them, so they could only follow. The people began to disperse.
Except for the people who were there from the beginning, everyone else left, leaving a big open space.
Solare's tent was fairly isolated from the others so he spoke without the worry of being eavesdropped. "Emperor, you know I'm not the real person in charge here. I was merely the representative sent a few months ago."
"No. I came here to speak to you," Lucian responded.
Two horsemen riding atop two black horses entered the area, one of them holding onto the reigns of a beautiful and elegant white horse.
The emperor paid them no attention and continued with what he was trying to say. "Long story short, I have several men positioned near the border between the Florentine and Meredith Empire, and their reports say that the enemy numbers are quite concentrated in Sera City."
"This is natural. As I have told you, we suspect that they sailed from the waters behind Mt. Eirene, that's why their first target was Sera City," Solare Samo calmly explained.
"That's right. You did tell me that," Lucian shifted his weight on one leg, "we have also come to this conclusion for ourselves as well. But because I had my doubts, I sent a person to go all the way around Mt. Eirene to check if you were right."
Solare's eyebrows furrowed. Meredith sent one person to infiltrate Mt. Eirene and the person was able to come back to report? This feat could not be imagined. Unless there was nobody there.
"Don't get the wrong idea," Lucian said. "He went back a month ago, badly wounded. He couldn't speak until last week, and even then, we couldn't understand what he was sayi—"
"So they really did come from the waters? How were they able to travel through it?" Solare was caught up in the moment and interrupted the emperor. When he realized that he had been rude, he bowed his head in apology.
"The answer to both your question is: we don't know," Lucian answered, his gaze wandering afar. "According to the person I sent, after he fully recovered, there were people there, yes. But there were no boats found."
Shock was painted all over Solare's face. Even Suri and Korona who only had a vague understanding of the situation was taken aback.
"This shouldn't be possible because the only place where they could sneak into the Florentine Empire is from behind the mountain. Anywhere else, they would get detected right away," Solare gave his insights.
The edges of the Florentine Empire adjacent to the waters were all beaches except for a single mountain, Mt. Eirene. The only area their security was quite lax was the waters behind that mountain.
Because that was an extremely dangerous area that housed demonic beasts.
"Did they take their boats somewhere else?" Solare asked.
"Even if they did, it wouldn't have been all of them," Lucian remarked, his eyes refocusing on Solare.
The look on his eyes was cold. Chilling, even.
Everyone fell silent.
Does the Emperor think I'm lying? Solare Samo thought to himself.
"Going back to the reason why I came here," the Emperor pulled out the scythe from his back and pointed it at Solare, "I actually came here to see a liar. It seems as if the very first information you fed us is already a lie. Wouldn't that mean that I shouldn't believe those that came afterward?"
The two horsemen pulled out their weapons as well.
Solare Samo was being threatened, but he didn't react. He simply sighed. "I already told you everything that's significant, Emperor."
Lucian nodded, but it didn't look like he was buying what Solare was saying. He presented his own argument to clarify his doubt. "Before all that, magical beasts in your empire started demonstrating weird behavior. Then a few months later, they start fighting alongside people. Do you think this is unrelated?"
Solare was taken aback by this question.
It was actually true that Solare did hide some information. It was supposed to be their bargaining chip so that they could leave Ferlin Town once the principal recovers.
Solare hid the fact that they encountered a person who was capable of using magic foreign to the continent.
He did so because, when he saw the mysterious man's henchmen in Cora City, he realized that their abilities were just like anyone else's. They were just common mages. Only that white-haired man was an abnormality.
They didn't see any more of those disgusting looking magical beasts that are able to use magic as well. The ones that they brought afterward were normal magical beasts that could be found in Florentine Empire.
However, that was it. Everything else held true. They were attacked by foreign invaders and are forced to retreat all the way to another empire.
Was the emperor trying to say that we are merely faking the attacks and are now in control of magical beasts?
Solare remained silent. It was not that he fell speechless, but because he was afraid that what he would say next would vex the Emperor.
Seeing Solare's behavior, Lucian harrumphed. "I guess I'll just have to wipe out this entire camp, just to make sure."
Surprised by the Emperor's words, Solare yelled, "Make sure about what?!"
His eyes burned with rage. He didn't care anymore that he was talking to the emperor. The man could threaten him, but not his people!
Being yelled at, Lucian's eyes formed two slits. Then he moved…
There was practically no distance between the two so the Emperor's attack immediately arrived.
Solare saw the leg that was crashing down towards his face, but it was too fast! Moving a bit would expose more openings. He could only block! Without a weapon, he crossed both of his hands above his head to defend.
The leg fell…
Whoosh…
Boom!
Dust billowed…
Suri and Korona jumped back.
People began to exit their tents to see what was happening.
When they saw General Samo kneeling on the ground with the Emperor's leg pushing down on him, they felt rage burn inside them.
Attacking back was their first reaction! People started casting spells, but…
"Stand down!" General Samo commanded.
The people froze...
"Why are you really here?" the Emperor asked coldly. He did not retract his leg.
"We're here as refugees! We have nowhere to go!" Solare justified. He was forcing himself to stand up, but he couldn't. The leg bearing down on him had the weight of a mountain!
"I'll ask you one more time. Why are you here in my empire?"
"I told you, we have nowhere else to go! Where am I supposed to bring my people when we're being slaughtered?"
Solare who was kneeling unexpectedly heard laughter. The Emperor was laughing at his words. He didn't believe him? Still?
Lucian pushed harder on Solare making him sink an inch deeper into the ground. "You're infiltrating my empire as your 'people' back in the Florentine are putting on a good performance of 'dying.' You, the people of Sera City, discovered how to control magical beasts and are leading your invasion in the guise of being refugees. Tell me this is what you are doing!"
Solare gritted his teeth. He had already guessed that the Emperor had come to this conclusion. However, wasn't this too extreme? Discovering how to control magical beasts? It may not be impossible, but they weren't even researching that at all!
With a grunt, Solare used all his strength to push back the Emperor, and he was actually able to do so. The latter jumped back and repositioned himself.
Solare stared at the Emperor as he caught his breath. Then, he replied."This is nonsense!"
"Tell that to the magical beasts fighting alongside your people. Don't worry. I'll clean up the mess that I myself started." Lucian approached Solare once more, brandishing his scythe.
This time, the people watching wouldn't remain calm. It was obvious that the Emperor was moving to kill.
….
No one had a clear understanding of what was happening, but they would stand up for their own people.
They started casting their spells.
Discreetly, the two horsemen behind the emperor did too. Actually, they had been casting since earlier and were about to finish their spells.
"Attack!" someone from the crowd yelled. At the same time, they released their spells.
However, just as they did, the air surrounding the open area froze. The crisp sound of ice crackling as they grew bigger echoed in the ears of the people.
The spells collided with the Ice barrier chipping pieces from it, but they found out that it wouldn't break! There were a few high-level spells added into the mix too, probably from those who were part of the military and the academy, but they couldn't do much either. The damage they did was quickly reinforced with more ice!
The Ice Dome gradually formed.
The people began to panic. Their General and a few kids were locked inside!
They didn't notice that someone was able to sneak in just before the dome completed…
….
Suri and Korona were huddled up near the edge of the dome. They were trying to look for Aeon who had been lying on the ground earlier, but because of the explosions and the dust clouds, they couldn't pinpoint his exact location.
Suddenly, they saw a shadow enter the dome while it was still closing. The person fell from above and headed straight towards the ongoing battle.
The Emperor and Solare were in the middle of exchanging attacks when someone suddenly joined in.
The man was extremely fast! Maybe even faster than the Emperor himself.
But what was surprising was that the Emperor didn't even seem to care! One more opponent? It didn't seem like that was the case. He was attacking just as swiftly as he had been doing so earlier. He was clearly not bothered by the additional enemy despite the man's speed.
Strangely though… the three didn't use magic.
Lucian continued moving and attacking. The battle did not stop!
The fact is, he wasn't really there to kill people. He was there to test how genuine Solare's words were. And he was passing the test by holding back against someone like the Emperor. If he really did have the intention of leading an invasion, then he could've taken the opportunity of killing the Emperor already while he was still alone and surrounded by thousands of mages.
He was still wondering about something though.
Before, they didn't have enough reason to show some doubt because they clearly saw people dying in the Florentine. They couldn't act aggressively even if they wanted to. Again, they didn't have a reason to.
But now, after his spy returned with a piece of weird information, some doubt started growing in the hearts of the councilmen.
So they had to confirm Solare's words. So, the emperor decided to put on an act.
And what act would be better if it were performed personally by him?
Fun! Fun!
Lucian swung his scythe with the intent to kill. Then, when it missed, he asked, "If foreign people are truly trying to invade your Empire, and possibly the continent, then can you explain where they came from?"
Solare grunted. "I told you, the only way is from behind Mt. Eirene!"
"Then where are their ships?"
"I don't know!"
"It would've been convenient if they popped out of thin air, right?"
Solare didn't respond to the Emperor's mockery. He just continued fighting back. He didn't know what the man was doing, but he at least needed to do something? To at least not die!
He was extremely concentrated. He paid close attention to each and every single one of the Emperor's attack. How could he not? Every swing felt like that of the reaper! The killing intent was not shrouded one bit.
And he was sure that Montis, the person who joined in earlier, was doing so too.
However, it was quite strange. The Emperor wasn't using his magic. Wasn't he a wind mage?
Solare was thinking amidst the battle when another person suddenly joined in!
Surprised, he stumbled and his attack stuttered. Because of this, the Emperor's scythe almost cleaved him in two. Thankfully, Montis was there to cover for his opening, and he was able to dodge.
But what was another person doing in this kind of batt…
!!
Aeon Morgan?!
Nobody knew what happened to Aeon Morgan after the Emperor and the General started talking. But now, he was clearly jumping around, fighting as well!
And not only that, his target…
His target was also the Emperor!
Lucian was clearly shocked about Aeon joining in and attacking him. But what surprised him, even more, was the fact that he was able to keep up with the three of them. Naturally, Aeon was still behind his two other opponents and failed to synchronize, but his attacks were still quite fierce.
As expected, something happened to him.
One versus three!
But even with the numbers advantage, the three didn't seem to be winning.
The metallic sounds of Aeon's swords and Montis' daggers striking against the Emperor's scythe reverberated through the air. And they sounded especially distinct in the closed dome.
One could even say that it was pleasing to the ears.
Suddenly, out of the blue, Aeon chuckled. Then, he appeared to be enlightened. "Oh, I just remembered."
The three others glanced towards Aeon at the same time.
"I know someone who popped out of thin air," Aeon said as he swung Verdure to defend.
Then, he continued.
"The white-haired monk!"
The eyes of both Solare and Montis shot wide opened.
The two jumped back, parting from the battle.
The Emperor disengaged as well.
Confused, Aeon followed.
The four of them stared at each other in silence…
….