In the fifth continent lies a kingdom ruled by the honorable Von Clan members, a majestic place with the greatest sculptures and artifacts. Von Sozou is in charge of trading the ancient vessels with nearby allied kingdoms. There are five different kingdoms in the fifth continent, and by the observation of development analysis, Von Clan is ranked first. Von Clan, however, is not on good terms with Erestiva, a kingdom located near to the south. This is because Erestiva also have similar artifacts and other treasures like the ones in Von Clan. During a formal conference, the elder members of both sides were in conflict and decided to cut off their alliance for the good.
Von Sozou was confused after knowing the negative results of the conference. He wondered about the two kingdom's future as he walked past the crowded fangirls squealing his name. Von Sozou's charming looks catches the attention of nearly any young woman that gazes him.
"What will happen to Von Clan and Erestiva after this? I must do something to regain our alliance. This is not good. What if the two kingdom start a war in the future?''
Von Sozou faces down, gazing at the beautifully carved marble tiles as he walk along the Von Clan Castle's main corridor.
"Restia, I wonder if you are perturbed with the conference results too.''
Lady Restia is the empress of Erestiva. During the conference, Lady Restia discussed about how to cooperate and deal with the treasures issue in a peaceful way. The Von Clan members excluding Von Sozou bashed her ideas and claimed that the treasures are their belongings. Erestiva's high council members made a comeback with the same rough words and insults. The looks of Lady Restia's eyes as she gazed at Von Sozou is very sorrowful, but she knew Von Sozou is not against her because they were actually in love with each other, even though either one of them had yet to confess. Since the conference ended up in a disaster, they could not see each other.
Von Sozou sits on his fancy office chair. His beautiful maids greet him and do their jobs to serve him. One of the maids brings him a cup of hot coffee.
"We heard about what happened, Master. Are we really not an ally to Erestiva anymore? What about Lady Restia, Master?''
The maids are concerned about Von Sozou's personal problems. Von Sozou does not mind letting his pretty maids know about his thoughts since he was the one who took them in his office when they were found abandoned and starving in a dark alley.
"What do you girls think I should do? Meeting Restia directly through Erestiva's front gate is not a good idea. Should I contact her? I'm afraid someone else will answer and if he or she will find out it's from Von Clan, I'll be dead. I used to meet her every three months at our usual rendezvous, but now that their security is tightened, it will be very hard.''
One of the maids massages his shoulders. Her soft skin and sensational grip never failed to relieve Von Sozou's puzzled mind.
"Then how about one of us maids go to Erestiva and tells Lady Restia that you want to meet her secretly, Master? Don't worry about going through the security patrols. I have friends from Erestiva who I can trust. Does that sounds good to you, Master?''
Her words manage to make Von Sozou smile widely.
"Really? That's great! I know I can count on you. Bring back good news for me, okay? I pray for your success and safety."
Von Sozou pats the maid's head gently. She blushes and smiles as she enjoys the warm touch of her beloved master. The other maids let out a jealousy aura at her. Von Sozou looks at them.
"Now that I'm in a good mood, I will prepare a vacation for you ladies. A trip to Oceanis in the second continent sounds good to all of you? Don't turn me down now, I know you all want to serve me, but I can take care of myself for a while. I am concerned about all of your happiness too. My pilot will bring you to the airship tomorrow, so have as much fun as you want, okay ladies?''
The maids are very entranced by Von Sozou's sudden plan for them. It seems like they are at a loss for words too. They are truly grateful to serve under Von Sozou. All of them bow and quickly go to their rooms to pack their stuffs. Von Sozou goes to the castle hall with the maid who promised to help him meet Lady Restia.
"Master, use your disguise magic on me.''
''Yeah, just let me think of a suitable makeover for you.''
''My, my. Master is such a womanizer."
Von Sozou begins his magic stance. His presence brightens the hall as he is surrounded with golden magic circles.
''Oh greatest camouflage that blinds enemies with charismatic beauty and temptation...Alluring Disguise!''
The golden magic circles surround the maid and transform her into a beautiful noble-looking woman. The maid is slightly shocked to see Erestiva's emblem at her disguise outfit.
"Wow, I look like an Erestiva's castle guest. All right, I will go now. I will inform you when I am done, Master.''
''Good luck.''
Von Sozou jumps on his giant bed. He stares at the window and wonders if everything will be fine.
''Restia...I hope I can see you soon.''
The next day, Von Sozou attends an urgent meeting in the Council Room. There had been news that several kingdom in the first continent got ambushed by seven invaders from unknown origin. The looks on every Von Clan member's face is frustrating. An image of a destroyed kingdom in the first continent is shown to them. Who in the world are so powerful to completely demolish an entire kingdom in a short time?
"We must be aware and prepare for the worst. When our kingdom meets the same fate as the ones in the image, we will do our best to defend our kingdom. Everyone needs to get involved in this no matter what." … said the Eldest member.
After the meeting ends, Von Sozou receives a call from the maid. She said that Lady Restia wants Von Sozou to come and meet her at the usual rendezvous at night. Von Sozou thanked her for her and insisted her to join the other maids at Oceanis, a neutral territory, since Astral World is currently in the first stage of crisis.
Von Sozou and everyone else in the castle spends their afternoon worrying and ordering the citizens to be cautious.
That night, Von Sozou runs off to Erestiva through a secret path. As he sees patrolling Erestiva guards blocking his way to reach Erestiva territory, he begins his magic stance.
"Hidden shadows cover my presence with unseen mists...Shadow Step!"
Von Sozou quickly run past the guards right after the golden magic circle turned him invisible.
He sneaks into Erestiva's castle through the back door. From his investigation, the back door leads to an empty storage room. Fortunately, Lady Restia is waiting for him there. Von Sozou does not intend to reveal himself yet. He looks around to avoid being suspected.
"No one else is in this room, Sozou." Lady Restia's sudden words slightly make Von Sozou shocked.
Von Sozou reveals himself and smirks.
"I'm impressed. No one else managed to suspect me in my shadow step spell just now. Not like this is the first time you got me though. So, you know why I'm here, Restia?"
Lady Restia smiles after gazing at charming Von Sozou.
"You often come to my place and sneak around the castle with your shadow step spell long ago. Besides, I am familiar with your perfume scent. You're here because of what happened between our kingdom, right? Or you're here to mess around with me?"
"Quite the seductive one, aren't you, Restia? I miss those memories of me sneaking around in your castle. On the serious topic, I tried to convince the other Von Clan members to regain our bond, but they didn't want to, so this is harder than I thought." said Von Sozou as he walks closer to Lady Restia.
"As the Empress I want to kindly settle this conflict in a peaceful way, but it seems like the high council members are not in my side. I don't get it, Sozou. Why must we fight just because of having similar treasures? Our kingdom will be in a good financial state if we cooperate and negotiate regarding treasure trading. More importantly, I'm afraid one side will eventually start a war if this negative status keeps up. I'm scared, Sozou."
Lady Restia throws herself into Von Sozou's chest, expecting him to give her a comforting hug. Von Sozou embraces her and pats her head.
"Pride, my dear. I can see that both kingdom are fighting for financial development state, and treasure trading is very profitable during this time of the year. Sure, working together brings good to both sides, but their hesitation and negative pride over who is superior destroys their tolerance. The only thing we can do now is pray. You're a good empress Restia. This isn't your fault. I should have worked hard in the past to get the supreme elder position, but my carefree attitude prevented me from doing so. I'm sorry." said Von Sozou with a sad expression on his face.
"Thanks for saying I'm a good empress, even though the only thing I can do is bring happiness to my people, not indulging with the high council members' complicated discussions. I don't know much about this pride thing, but it clearly puts both kingdom in a state of dispute. Not only that, I heard Geranda in the first continent was being swarmed by the seven invaders. Geranda is a good ally to Erestiva, so I'm afraid they will do something to my kingdom." Lady Restia starts crying in fear.
Von Sozou's eyes widen. A strange delusion is currently bugging him, as if he knows something will happen to Erestiva. He puts on a facade and hold Lady Restia's shoulders.
"It will be fine, Restia. I'm sure your defense forces will be able to wipe them off if they try to invade Erestiva. Besides, they were only swarming in the first continent, so they should have been defeated by the other kingdoms there." said Von Sozou as he put on a fake smile.
"I hope you're right, Sozou. It's getting pretty late now. I must head back to my room or the guards will be suspicious. I really appreciate our time tonight...''
Von Sozou quickly lets go of Lady Restia who is still embraced in his arms.
"Hey, Restia..."
"Yes, Sozou?"
"Are we going to meet again? This isn't the last time we meet each other, right?"
Lady Restia feels sorrowed after looking at Von Sozou's saddened face. She holds his hands and lifts it to her chest.
"Sozou, come again tomorrow. I have something to tell you. This is not about kingdom matters. It is my personal matter that I have been holding in my heart ever since the first time I saw you in the castle years ago. This dusty place isn't suited for that, so meet me in my room. You have no trouble running past the guards, right?"
"Of course, Restia. I have something important to tell you too. I can't wait for tomorrow. I will come in early morning since most of the guards are not in a good shape due to not having breakfast yet." said Von Sozou with excitement.
Lady Restia blushed after hearing that Von Sozou also have something important to tell her. Is it the same like what she have in mind? She lets herself filled with hope and passion.
"Well then, see you tomorrow, Sozou."
"See you tomorrow, Restia."
Von Sozou runs off to where he started while in his shadow step form he had casted after parting with Lady Restia. Somehow, he feels something strange in his heart. What could this sudden frustration be? Should he just tell Restia about his feelings during that time before? Wild thoughts are running in his mind as he returns to home safely.
Von Sozou's sleep is interrupted by a huge crashing sound. He quickly takes a look at the window. Von Clan Kingdom is under attack!
The citizens are running for their lives. Von Sozou and all the other Von Clan members gather outside with their war outfit.
"How the hell can they attack us if our steel gates, iron walls, and point defenses are unaffected? The explosions fired just now landed in our inner territory. I ordered our troops to check the outside area, but there seems to be no sign of enemy troops, mortars, or catapults." said the Von Clan's Army Commander.
Von Clan's weapon researcher runs to them from the explosion area.
"Sir, we checked the explosion area, but no siege ammo was found. Only large flaming rocks were found scattered. This is the work of a Fire Wizard, but as far as I know current Fire Wizards don't create flaming rocks that huge."
One of the elder members fall into his knees due to fear.
"It's Solaris."
Every one looks at him in confusion.
"Who is Solaris?" Von Sozou asked him.
"Solaris is the fifth invader. She is a supreme Fire Wizard that can mow down an entire army with her flames and meteors single-handedly. We manage to build a fire-resistant armor for the elite soldiers but the biggest problem is that she can fly. From what I have been investigating, she is the strongest Fire Wizard. Now that she targets our kingdom, we're doomed."
Silence covers the atmosphere, until they hear another fireball passing through the main gate and crashes into their exact place. Screams of every Von Clan members echo throughout the area. Von Sozou gets up, with ashes covering his suit. Luckily, he was standing a little too far from the target area.
"Everyone, where are you? Are you guys all right?" screamed Von Sozou. Huge black smoke limits his vision. After the smoke faded away, Von Sozou sees his fellow Von Clan members' dead bodies. He is very shocked to see the burned corpses. They were just talking a minute ago. Now...everything is destroyed.
"Seems like I hit the jackpot, eh?" unknown female voice pierced Von Sozou's ears.
She comes down slowly from the air. After seeing Von Sozou, she smirks.
"I heard about you, handsome. They say you capture ladies' hearts and do a good job as an ancient vessel keeper. Not so charming now with ashes covering you, eh? I love burning things up. It would be a waste to burn that handsome face of yours."
Von Sozou walks closer to her. He knows it is Solaris. She has chromatic eyes. Her left eye is vermilion and her right eye is blue in colour. An unknown tattoo covers her left cheek. She wears a long black robe with beautiful flame design. Von Sozou never actually fights a supreme Fire Wizard, but he has some reliable combat moves and spells.
"Are you blinded by my beauty or something?" said Solaris.
"All I can say is that you're heating me up, Miss Solaris." Von Sozou flirts with her and charges forward in extreme speed to give her some beating.
As Von Sozou gets close to her, she casts a spell.
"Guardians of fire gather around me and protect me with engulfing flames, Flame Barrier!"
Von Sozou is thrown away right after he thought he had her. He barely manage to stand up on his feet after that sudden defensive blow.
"Fall upon the unfortunate beings and burn them away, Fire Rain!" Solaris casts another spell into Von Sozou.
"Damn, you're serious about burning the hell out of me." Von Sozou runs for his life as a number of small fireballs are storming at him from above.
"I must eliminate you and invade this kingdom. I destroyed Erestiva before, now it's your kingdom's turn." said Solaris.
Von Sozou halts after the Fire Rain spell ended. An image of Lady Restia fills his mind. So this is the uneasy thought he had last night? He realised that Erestiva's defenses aren't that strong compared to Von Clan's, but he honestly thought that things will be fine. Now that Erestiva is destroyed by Solaris, an urge to go there and meet Lady Restia is inevitable. But first, he needs to get past Solaris, who is floating in the air not too far from him.
Suddenly, screams of Von Clan soldiers fill the atmosphere. The delay of their arrival must be because of the Army Commander's death. Front soldiers are charging towards Solaris whereas the ranged troops prepare to shoot arrows if Solaris tries to fly. It seems like things are going well that it has made Von Sozou smile, but...
"Flame Wall!"
Enermous flaming walls surround Solaris and fries the unlucky front soldiers who got caught in it. The ranged troops are forced to shoot their arrows but it do not have the slightest effect as the arrows are completely burned when they hit the flames.
"Burning Missiles!"
A vermilion magic circle is formed above Solaris. Then, small fireballs come out from it. Each fireball targets one ranged soldier and blows them up. Solaris casts another spell, and this one seems like a big spell.
"Infernal Circle!"
Vermilion lights cover a large area. It does not have an effect at the moment, but Von Sozou does not feel good about it. He casts a spell on himself for safety.
"Oh golden ring of strength, bless me with great defense, Life Shield!"
Von Sozou is protected by Life Shield, his ultimate defense spell. If this fails to block Solaris's big spell, then it is all over for Von Clan Kingdom. He is rather confused right now. How did Solaris cast her spell without channeling an incantation? Spells will not work without it. Solaris just spout the spell name and bam! Fire everywhere! Von Sozou prays for his safety as the vermilion lights from below becomes brighter and hotter.
Fire is scorching everywhere on the ground. The poor soldiers are all burned by the intense heat. Von Sozou is fortunate to have his Life Shield protects him from harm. His eyes widened in terror as he looks at the dead soldiers. How can he defeat this overpowered Fire Wizard? He have no winning chance against Solaris.
After all of Solaris's destructive spells ended, she stares at Von Sozou with an evil smile on her face.
"Funny how it only took me a few minutes to roast all your reinforcements. Was that a Life Shield you cast? You really are interesting, Von Sozou."
"How do you know my name?" Von Sozou yelled at Solaris.
"I did not come here unprepared. I'm not that stupid, you know. I know all the important people of all kingdoms in the fifth continent. Now that Erestiva and a few other nearby kingdom are demolished, it's obviously your kingdom's turn. Why do I come alone? My soldiers are running down the other kingdom since their defense are weak. I just came here alone to see how great the Von Clan's so called top defense are, but it seems like I am disappointed."
"You will pay for this, Solaris." said Von Sozou as he gives off a killer aura.
"Oh, I would like to see you try." Solaris threatens him.
"Hidden shadows cover my presence with unseen mists...Shadow Step!"
Von Sozou becomes invisible right after he cast Shadow Step. Solaris is unable to see him. Von Sozou runs past her and prepares a stealth attack from behind. Incantations cannot be heard by enemies while the caster is in Shadow Step spell, so this is a great benefit to Von Sozou.
"Oh golden sword of faith, fall to the ground and purify all my enemies, Luminiscent Blade!"
Large golden magic circle is formed far above the sky. Huge light blade comes out from it and falls to the ground where Solaris is floating at. She notices the falling light blade but do not have enough time to evade it. As the light blade thrusts the ground, a loud scream of pain can be heard.
Von Sozou is satisfied with the successful spell. It looks like he defeated Solaris, but no, it should not be too easy. Solaris stands up after getting knocked down by the light blade's crash impact. Her eyes are shining now. The look on her face is very angry.
"I am never humiliated like this. So, you're a Stealth Paladin, eh? It's time I show you one of my mid-level spells! Prepare yourself!"
"Mid-level spells? You mean, all those spells before were just beginner spells?" said Von Sozou while in shock.
Solaris ignores Von Sozou's question and quickly flies above. Her left vermilion eye shines bright. It looks like she is dead serious about killing him.
"Fire Essence!"
A red flame orb appears beside Solaris. Fire Essence is a trademark spell for Fire Wizards. It increases their magic attacks, reduces spell cast time, and ignites enemies for a certain amount of time when a spell hits them. Von Sozou looks around to locate any hidden path that he can use to flee from Solaris. Finding Lady Restia is his concern now since he have no chance winning against Solaris.
"Gathering flames of destruction, be my guest and burn all that stands before me, Blazing Howl!"
Von Sozou runs towards the front gate right after Blazing Howl is cast. Blazing Howl has deadly precision, so it only goes in a straight line. However, anything that got caught in the line will be burned to ashes. Von Sozou runs in full speed to reach the front gate. The large fireball with a howling sound is barely a few meters behind him. Will he be okay? Or will he end up like the other Von Clan members? Blazing Howl finally explodes after crashing at the front gate.
Destroyed buildings can be seen right after Von Sozou opens his eyes. His body is slightly paralyzed due to the crash. It is a good thing he survived it. Solaris must think that Von Sozou is dead now. It does not matter, because Von Sozou is now outside his kingdom and he should be running off to Erestiva now.
Panting and sweating, he walks through the usual secret path that leads to Erestiva Castle's back door. The guards are all dead, so there is no need for him to waste his energy to cast Shadow Step.
Von Sozou opens the back door. No one is in the storage room. Not wanting to waste time, he rushes towards the Empress Room. He hopes and prays that he will see Lady Restia in her room. He opens the door.
Fortunately, Lady Restia and a few high council members are found lying on the ground. Von Sozou walks slowly towards Lady Restia. Frustration covers his face as he sees her pale body.
"Restia! Restia!"
One of the high council members barely moves his hand. He then looks at Von Sozou, but it seems like he is not going to last long due to the his serious injuries.
"Von...Sozou...we were...too late...Solaris's soldiers...attacked us..."said the poor high council member.
"No..." Von Sozou stares at Lady Restia. Sadness overwhelm him after he finally realised that his loved one has been killed. He falls into his feet, slamming the ground with his left palm.
"Von...Sozou...you must go to Sun Empire in the sixth continent...Lord Weigner made a call for those who survived the menace in the fifth continent...go...now..." he stopped and passed away.
"I'm sorry...head council...for the delay. I should have come here sooner...Restia...Restia..." tears run Von Sozou's cheeks as he holds Lady Restia's lifeless body.
Footsteps can be heard from behind the door. It must be Solaris's soldiers. Von Sozou stands up and runs off to the balcony. He takes one last look at Lady Restia before leaving the place.
"I will have my revenge."
He jumps off from the balcony and quickly leaves Erestiva. Von Sozou will follow what the head council said before, which is heading his way off to Sun Empire.
End of Chapter 10