The paved roads of Vider was immediately filled with soldiers, releasing killing intent to make the people carve a path for them.
The stench of rotting blood and pus covered the Empire's soldiers, but the smell was nothing to them. They've been continuously killing for over five months, being full of rotting stench was their everyday life now.
Vider's capital was a crowded city, never losing travelling merchants and vagabonds roaming around. There were also the people living in there.
They were all both terrified and also nauseous as they watched the frontline soldiers of the Empire. Their rugged hair and bloody armors clank as they marched towards the Monastery on the hill.
"Make way!!", the leading soldier marching on the front shouted repeatedly to scare the citizens. His voice was as agitated as his mind, baring to keep himself to not attack the citizens who were looking at him with disgust and contempt.
"Why are the Empire's Army here? Are we being sieged?!"
"How can they just enter the home of the Gods?!"
"Some of them are injured! We can kill a few if they were to attack us."
The soldiers heard the troubled words of the citizens as they go straight up the hill towards the Monastery. They couldn't help but keep their emotions run rampant as they were being watched by the Paladins intently on the way there.
"March, halt!", the soldier in front heard a familiar voice behind him and felt tensed.
A man with fierce eyes and domineering presence make his way to the front to converse with the Paladins that guards the gates of the Monastery. He wore a heavy armor that seemed light for him and the Empire's insignia was branded on the armor's chest.
"I would like to speak to your Commander!", he said.
The leading soldier gulped his saliva in awe as he watched how one of the Zodiacs called out for the Paladin's Commander without fear.
"Who are you to order us what to do?! Identify yourself!", the Paladin said, while being completely cleared of the situation that was going on. He just had to do his job and ask the necessary questions recorded on the protocol.
"I am Andres Bonifacio, one of the Zodiacs and entitled as 'Vanguard of the Empire'. I like to speak with your Commander.", he said, as he summoned his weapon soul after to further verify his identity.
The Paladin that conversed with Andres stared at him for a moment, then gestured to the Paladins behind the gates. "I will let you in, but I can't guarantee that you can meet our Commander even if you come to represent the Empire."
"I know that, so just let me in.", Andres said with a smile.
The Paladins opened the gates, but only for Andres to get in. They were thrilled to see the Empire's soldiers waiting outside clicked their tongues in dissatisfaction.
'You think your welcome here?', one of the Paladin on the gate thought while he glared at Andres, entering the Monastery.
Andres glanced at the Paladins that were looking at him with disdain. Him being prejudiced as a savage and merciless person has been a natural occurrence to him.
He just sighed and continue to make his way to the altar of the God of Truth. His expression never changed, always greeting the nuns and Paladins he met on the way there despite them giving him a disgusted look.
Andres kneeled and said his prayers solemnly. He always felt that something changed about him and there were things that he forgot that left him in regret what he was doing up until now.
He hoped that the God of Truth will answer his prayers and guide him to a knew path again.
'Give me a sign... anything that might help me remember something, please!', Andres prayed.
He knew that there's a small chance that his prayers will reach the God, but he still stayed there and prayed for a quarter of an hour, repeating his prayers, over and over again, until a Paladin with a big stature and a goatee interrupted his prayers.
"Seeing that you came in here to pray and say your troubles with the Gods, your sincerity to the Holy See piqued my interest.", Alphonse said while shaking Andres' right arm.
"I'm actually thinking of making my way back and come again another day if nobody will come to greet me for another ten minutes.", Andres said while smiling.
Alphonse laughed, and then turned around as he gestured for Andres to come. "I sincerely apologize for the blunder that I made. Tell you the truth, I was training with the Saintess when the news of the Empire's Army coming in from the gates of the city."
"Ohh... How amazing it is to train the Saintess yourself, Vice Commander. It must be the greatest honor.", Andres laughed with Alphonse as he keeps up with the long strides the man beside him makes.
"... I'm quite surprised that you know me, Lord Andres. I'm planning to introduce myself to you after you meet the Saintess...", Alphonse said with a surprised expression.
Alphonse looked at Andres for real this time and glanced at him.
Andres has black hair and brown skin that was common skin for a commoner in Regulus. He has a dignified look in his eyes, matching the gallant aura around him.
Alphonse wondered why this type of man bothered to work with such greedy and merciless Emperor. He might as well be a Paladin with such demeanor around him.
" And it is my duty as the Paladin's Vice Commander to teach the Saintess the knowledge she needed and the strength that can help her. Serving the Church has been an honor for me since the day I've been here, much more for guiding the Saintess", Alphonse continued.
Andres nodded while keeping his smiling face. He had to be his real self in the best way in front of Alphonse. It was said that Paladins can sense hostile intentions that were aimed towards them.
The two conversed as they walk towards the reception room where the Saintess was waiting for the expected visitors to come.
"We're here...", Alphonse said, standing in front of a white door, with the Holy See's insignia carved onto it.
Andres readied himself as Alphonse opened the door. 'Inside, the Saintess who is still over five years of age is waiting for us to come.'
Andres stepped inside as soon as it opened and in there, saw Freya staring at him with her pretty little eyes. Andres was baffled when he saw Freya was staring at him.
'Could this be her?! The blessed child... next to the Empress. She looks like a little angel!', Andres thought while he smiled and kneeled in front of Freya.
Andres was so focused on Freya, he felt like there were only two of them in the room. It was a soothing feeling, staring at her. Then something came up of his mind, and his head hurt a bit.
Andres stumbled a little, closing his eyes while using his left arm to lean on the floor. 'What was that?', he thought, confused. His mind was still baffled by the sudden images he saw.
"Hey...", Andres heard a voice coming up from behind Freya and he straightened up to see who it was. He could not tell who it was, but it was a woman's voice that called him.
"Say your greetings, Lord Andres.", the same woman's voice sounded as Andres' and her eyes met.
Liza's purple eyes glared at Andres just like the other Paladin Division Captains in the room. Then suddenly, they released their auras to tell him that they can take him on, whenever he disrespects the Saintess.
"Hey, easy guys! I think something happened to the poor guy that's why he delayed the greetings.", Alphonse waved his hands to calm his subordinates and not make the situation more intense.
Despite being threatened by the auras around him, Andres was unfazed and calmly assessed his position. 'The four people in front are on par with me. They must be at least Division Captains. But, Sir Alphonse behind me didn't even let out his aura and I felt wary of him since I met him. This man is dangerous!', he thought as he looked around, feeling better now. Andres looked at Alphonse who nodded in response, seeing that he is alright.
Andres lowered his head, "I greet the Saintess of the Holy See, Lady Freya. This lowly man in front of you go by the name Andres Bonifacio. I was named as the 'Vanguard of the Empire', with my weapon soul as the destined armaments for the Zodiacs."
"... No need to humble yourself, Lord Andres. You're one of the heroes that saved our continent, and I give you my people's gratitude as their Saintess.", Freya giggled first before talking.
She smiled at Andres without any hesitation in her mind. Seeing important people and greeting them had been Freya's job ever since she was crowned as the Saintess. Who would have expected that a farmer's daughter will be blessed by a god and become the most important person, on par with the Holy Pope, overnight?
Freya's attitude towards Andres immediately calmed the Paladins inside the room, seeing that she was fine conversing with someone that was filled with stench of blood and killing intent, even if he was suppressing it.
"But, I am quite confused right now, by Lord Andres visiting here alone. The high priests said that more than three heroes will be coming here to greet me and give me a gift, and yet here you are in front of me, alone, and was looking for the Commander of the Paladins.", Freya lifted a finger to her lips while tilting her head.
Andres took a deep breath and took a glance at the Paladins behind Freya, letting out their killing intent a little, then sighed, " I'll admit that I came here alone and wanted to see the Paladin's Commander first, but it was because I wanted to surprise Lady Freya by my gift for you. And in the end, my plan didn't work and I have improvise now."
Andres took out a metal ball the size of his palm and gently put it down to not alert the Paladins. "It's alright... please calm down! This is my gift for the Saintess", Andres said.
He then stood up and get away from the metal ball on the floor, looking at it while he moved away. " This metal ball was made from accumulated research and effort of Mikhel Nostrad, the Zodiac of 'Capricorn', together with the dwarven race under him. Watch and be amazed by the thing that will revolutionize the era of war and technology!"
The metal ball then started to glow brightly and break apart, forming a blue transparent portal in the form of a door. The Paladins were shocked by the sudden change of the amount of gracia being sucked into the blue portal door. They stood still while holding the hilts of their swords as they saw someone come out from the portal door, followed by another two people before it closed and turned back to it's previous metal door form.
'What is that?!'
'Three people on par with us came out from that strange blue door! This is gonna be fun!'
'I will protect Lady Freya no matter who they are. I will not let anyone hurt a strand of her hair!'
'A woman... came out. She's beautiful!'
The Paladin Division Captains were all surprised and had strange look and thoughts. Three people just teleported in front of them and caught them by surprise.
"Teleportation... I never thought that someone will artificially make a phenomenon so complicated, they became the dream star cores that every star warriors wanted. So, that's the thing that helped you conquer the nations around Regulus, huh.", Alphonse said with a serious face.
All of the Paladins protecting the Saintess were ready to draw their swords anytime the three people move, together with Alphonse who was facing the unexpected visitors with Freya behind him.
"You praise me too much, Vice Commander of the Paladins. This is just... me doing something I wanted to achieve. Others call it a masterpiece of mine, but this thing is just an idea that came out of my mind and made it as a hobby, that's all.", one of the three people who came out of the portal picked up the metal ball while he was talking.
He was wearing a white robe with golden lines in every limbs, those said golden lines felt like they were alive and moving all around his robe. Looking closely, those lines were all protection and offensive runes enchanted in the robe.
"You humble yourself too much, Lord Mikhel, the brightest of the Zodiacs and the 'Mind of the Empire'.", Alphonse said while smiling.
Reading the mood in the room, Mikhel looked at the other two behind him and together, they kneeled in one knee with their heads facing down, " We greet the Saintess of the Holy See, the brightest star of them all and the future Crown Princess of the Regulus Empire, Lady Freya.", Mikhel said while hiding his grimace under the shade of his hair.
Together with the provocative greeting, Mikhel Nostrad introduced an item that will change the whole concept of war that the humans has been doing since the start of civilizations. The Renald continent will see a new dawn for the humans and despair for what their enemies were.