Samuel Lionhart frowned deeply.

His instincts honed in years of warfare was blaring at him, telling him firmly that something bad was about to happen.

Striking blue hair hung down the side of his deceptively youthful looking face and down to his neck. His matching blue eyes were scrunched up in concentration.

"General. Why don't we take a rest soon? You must be tired." A gentle voice rang out from within the little carriage that Samuel Lionhart was driving..

"My Queen, I am fine." Samuel Lionhart said in a gruff but respectful voice. "We will proceed as planned and reach our resting place by dusk."

"Alright. Do not push yourself too hard." Her voice was fatigued after the long and dangerous journey for the past three months.

"My Queen." Samuel Lionhart turned and bowed deeply to her even though she could not see him..

Queen Lyra was nine months pregnant.

She would be giving birth very soon, within a day or two. 

Three days maximum.

After three long months of hard travel, Samuel Lionhart would be damned if he failed to bring Queen Lyra into the nearest town to give birth.

The little carriage moved along at a respectable clip along the muddy trail.

But they had barely covered a mile when the sky suddenly darkened.

The temperature dropped from thirty degrees celsius to zero in a blink of an eye.

"Mages!" Samuel Lionhart's eyes widened in shock and his heart dropped to the pits. 

Mages were the banes of powerful melee warriors like him.

General or not, godlike skills or not, he would be slaughtered like a pig if caught in an ambush by mages.

"Mage ambush!" He yelled out to warn his queen even as he leapt up from his seat.

Samuel Lionhart wanted to dive into the carriage to provide protection for his queen.

But he was far, far too slow.

His body barely straightened when…

Crack!!

The battered carriage broke apart at its joints.

Hundreds of frozen icicles appeared out of nowhere and smashed into Samuel Lionhart and the splintered carriage.

Crash!

The hundreds of icicles crashing onto him smashed against a glowing green energy barrier made out of pure energy and exploded harmlessly.

But even though Samuel Lionharted was not injured, his green-ranked energy barrier dimmed slightly.

Two loud thuds could be heard as Samuel Lionhart's and Queen Lyra's bodies hit the ground.

"My Queen!" Samuel Lionhart roared in panic as he instantly leapt off the ground and dashed to Queen Lyra's side.

"I'm fine." Queen Lyra said softly, her body surrounded by an energy barrier that glowed a magnificent blue.

Queen Lyra was a mage herself, and a blue-ranked one at that. Coupled with Samuel Lionhart's timely warning, she had no problems surviving the icicle barrage.

Samuel Lionhart simply nodded in relief and positioned himself in front of her.

Wordlessly, he unsheathed his Legendary Sword, Lion Heart, and injected his green-ranked energy into it, instantly causing it to glow a magnificent teal. 

The Lion Heart's Legendary Power was called the Lion Slash and it was offensive in nature. 

It was able to completely ignore his enemies' armor to deal direct damage to their bodies.

Against other melee enemies, it was completely peerless in destructive power. 

Alas, against the hidden mages, it was no different than a normal weapon!

Still, having it was better than not having it.

Samuel Lionhart prepared the Lion Slash and waited for an opportunity to use it.

And all the while, the icicles never stopped raining down and smashing onto their barriers.

Though the icicle barrage was completely harmless, it was not completely ineffective.

Each icicle impact drained both their energies a tiny bit, and brought them that much closer to their demise. 

And judging by the sheer amount of icicles that covered the sky, there were at least twenty mages that were ambushing them.

Their ranks were unknown, as summoning icicles was a lowly red-ranked spell, the first of seven ranks - Red. Orange. Yellow. Green. Blue. Indigo. Violet.

Any novice Red Mage worth their salt could cast multiple icicle spells with effort.

If it was a stronger and more complex spell, Samuel Lionhart could possibly hazard a guess at who his enemies were due to the low number of Mages in the higher ranks.

But with only an icicle barrage as the clue, there was no way to guess.

Their enemies were both cautious and ruthless in their method, and it did not bode well for them at all.

"At this rate, we'll die without even knowing who is attacking us." Samuel Lionhart thought grimly. 

His sharp eyes scanned their surroundings desperately, hoping to find a clue as to where their enemies were so that he could go over and hack them to bloody pieces.

But it was hopeless.

Even if he could discover one, he would never be able to discover all of them who would most definitely be dispersed everywhere.

"Samuel." Queen Lyra's soft voice sounded from behind him.

Samuel Lionhart was shocked.

The last time Queen Lyra called him by his name was before his appointment as General, when he was still a rising star serving her as her personal guard.

Fifteen long years ago.

"My Queen." Samuel Lionhart immediately replied, his heart trembling lightly.

"Thank you." Queen Lyra said very simply.

Even though it was just two words, they struck at Samuel Lionhart's heart like a sledgehammer. 

The two simple words meant that Queen Lyra had accepted her impending death. 

Samuel Lionhart spun to look at her fatigued yet still beautiful face. 

Her silver hair flowed down behind her like a waterfall, her pale lips slightly curved in a gentle smile. 

However, crystal clear tears trailed down her cheeks and her perfect round eyes were clouded with deep sorrow.

Sorrow at being unable to see her beloved husband once more.

Sorrow at failing to live for her unborn child.

Sorrow at failing to bring her little boy out into the world.

And yet despite all that, she was still grateful.

Grateful that she had loved and was loved so spectacularly.

Grateful that she was able to at least spend 9 long months with her unborn baby.

Grateful that Samuel Lionhart had remained loyal to her.

"My Queen! Do not give up! I will immediately carry you away, back to where we came from. They are definitely not ther-"

"Look. Our murderer reveals himself." Queen Lyra said softly and raised her chin to look at the grove of trees to their right.

Her lips trembled then, her gentle smile slowly disappearing.

Samuel Lionhart turned his head to look.

"12th… Elder Prince?" Samuel Lionhart was stunned. 

But a split second later, as his eyes focused on the 12th Elder Prince's attire, his shock turned into horror.

In the distance, the 12th Elder Prince was standing upon a large rock.

He was garbed in a striking black robe with a massive golden phoenix etched on the front.

"Black Phoenix Apostle!" Samuel Lionhart shouted in a voice filled with hatred. "He is actually one of the Twelve Traitors of Humanity!"

The Twelve Traitors of Humanity referred to twelve powerful human beings who had defected to the demon horde in exchange for immense power.

Each Traitor received a unique power corresponding to one animal of the National Zodiac.

Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig.

The Black Phoenix Apostle was the incarnation of the Demonic Rooster.

"If the 12th Elder Prince, the King's Royal Uncle, most trusted advisor and most powerful supporter, has betrayed us… then…"

Samuel Lionhart despaired.

The Kingdom of Ichtus was definitely doomed.

The mysterious and inexplicable disasters that plagued them in their long years of bitter defense against the demons were suddenly made clear.

At that moment, the 12th Elder Prince raised his hand and pointed at the Queen.

His eyes turned completely black and a streak of black lightning burst out of his finger tips at incredible speed - far faster than Samuel Lionhart could ever hope to react to.

Kacha-schleb!

The black lightning tore Queen Lyra's blue energy shield apart like paper and struck her bulging belly.

Thud. 

Queen Lyra was flung a short distance away and hit the ground.

Dead.

Samuel Lionhart was instantly driven to near insanity at the sight of his dead Queen.

Kablam!

His crazed fury triggered all of his potential at that moment, and his energy ranked up.

The green glow around his body turned blue.

"Horyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!" An utterly anguished shriek escaped from his lips.

My Queen… I have failed you!

I am sorry…

My King… You have entrusted your beloved to me… But now she is dead!

It is my fault! I am sorry…

Little Prince Elron… Your useless uncle general has failed you! I am sorry…

I will die today and return to serve you in the afterlife! 

Samuel Lionhart charged towards the 12th Elder Prince like an enraged bull.

"Lion! Slash!" He roared and swung the Lion Heart in a horizontal arc.

His fury and anguish were so great that he was temporarily able to cast the second level of his Legendary Sword's Skill - Lion Slash Energy Beam.

A crescent shaped sword energy burst out in the direction of the 12th Elder Prince.

However, he was too slow. 

The 12th Elder Prince merely shifted his outstretched hand and pointed at him.

The last thing Samuel Lionhart saw was the mysterious black lightning glowing on the 12th Elder Prince's finger tips.