Everyone in the throne room was practically perplexed at the news, some were showing their worries while some started to think about whether if this attack was a mistake or not, no matter what the actual truth is, the fact that Highlios Kingdom had launched a public attack to one of their town is unforgiveable.
"Your Majesty, if what Sir Alaric is saying was true, then this means Highlios Kingdom has made it public that they are starting a war against us." Said Edharn's right hand man that is standing beside him.
"Mmhh.. Lewin, is there not a possibility of it being a mistake?" Edharn replied, wanting to make sure for the last time.
"To be honest.." Lewin then looked up..
"Considering the fact that we're not exactly bordered with Highlios but rather Silverglen Kingdom, there is a slight possibility that the attack is a trap placed by either Silverglen or someone else, but that possibility is rather small since the Highlios Soldier can traverse through the Outer Part of Monoghriad Forest easily, passing Silverglen without entering their territory."
Edharn nodded, so does Alaric and the commanders.
"Hmm, if Highlios really want to wage war against us, then it could only mean two things.. One is that they have lost their mind and felt way too confident, or two– They have a secret manpower that we don't know of which could be the reason of their confidence."
'If a war really breaks out, the neighbouring kingdom wouldn't stay still, they will use this opportunity to attack aswell, leading to more wars and eventually, a whole continential bloodbath..' Edharn thought.
"Your Majesty, should we contact the king of Highlios for his confirmation?" Lewin suggested.
"Wait, by contacting them, do you mean..." Alaric felt a bit worried.
"Wait, we have that device right? I completely forgot about it, you're right.."
"Yes, it's still there in the basement."
"Alright, prepare that thing tomorrow, we have to hurry because this will decide our next move." Said Edharn.
"Understood."
***
Tomorrow..
Lewin, Alaric, and two commanders followed Edharn behind as they were walking at the huge and majestic hallways.
All of them explored the castle, meeting guards and nobles that is visiting occassionally, everyone immediately bowed as soon as they saw Edharn, they paid their respect and also greets him, however Edharn couldn't care less about it, he kept walking without exchanging the greetings that were thrown at him, eventually he and everyone else arrived at the basement entrance, it was just a simple wooden door, but once opened, a set of narrow staircase can be seen leading down to somewhere.
Step..
Step...
As they went down the stairs, Alaric wondered..
'What if– at this moment, we are currently heading towards another era of destruction after more than 200 years of peace..'
***
The Era of Destruction that Alaric mentioned, is an era that happened more than 200 years ago, back then, when Latricia was still a relatively small kingdom, there was a war being waged between the three big kingdoms at the time, Raidsin, Sunhaven, and Dracorior Kingdom, the war was caused by Dracorior's Princess assassination, since Dracorior is a kingdom that carries spirit of a warrior, they are known to be fearless.
When they found out that their princess was killed by an assassin from Sunhaven, the entire kingdom fell into deep rage and immediately went for a counter attack, at first, only Sunhaven and Dracorior battled, however that would soon change when Raidsin got caught trying to monopolize the continental trading route, they thought that since Dracorior and Sunhaven is having a war, they would use the opportunity to earn big profits, what they didn't expect is that, Raidsin will be forced to participate in the war because of the constant attack from both Sunhaven and Dracorior.
***
'The three kingdoms fought to death for more than a decade, many other smaller kingdoms like Latricia also got caught up, although some manages to hold on and even thrive, countless lives were lost and the entire continent turned to hell, many species went into hiding just to avoid being killed..' Alaric thought.
'In the end, the war resulted in the destruction of Raidsin, Sunhaven, and Dracorior, officially, it was Dracorior who won the war, but when the war is over, their kingdom had lost so much that they might just be wiped out from the map, now the three kingdoms have all turned into nothing but ruins...'
"We're here." Said Edharn, breaking Alaric's immersion to his mind.
"Yes, your majesty." Lewin replied.
They have all arrived at the bottom of the staircase, and what they saw there was another door, but there was something different with it, the door was significantly larger than a normal door, it is also made from a white thick metal, considering that their surrounding walls were made out of cobblestone, with hanging torch for light source, the door obviously stood out than everything else.
'Hm? There's many more doors? I never noticed that.. Where did they led to?' Alaric thought, seeing that there are a bunch of wooden doors at the side.
The main attraction remained at the metal door though, Edharn and everyone else walked closer to it and upon closer look, it was then revealed that the door had no handle or keylock whatsoever.
Edharn then took a step, he placed his palm onto the door, before closing his eyes to focus.
Clack!
Suddenly, a magic circle appeared on the door, once the magic circle glowed in bright colors, it was then the door unlocked itself and opened automatically.
'His Majesty shouldn't be mage, i remember he doesn't have a mana heart, so i always wondered how he can open this door, magic crystal are truly convenient..'
Alaric smiled.
Since the door have been opened, everyone now can see the inside of the room, behind that metal door, they saw a white room with magic lights, and in the middle of that room, a giant magic crystal floats steadily without any sign of falling or unbalance.
Edharn then enters the room, followed by everyone else, the room that they're in had nothing else beside that floating giant magic crystal, the magic crystal was being confined in a strange contraption, and from the looks of it, the confinement seems to only serve as a design aesthetic.
It would be rude to disrup Edharn at this point, so each of the commanders stood still behind the metal door, the door closes itself once everyone entered, and no one would be able to open it other than Edharn.
"Hm, Lewin, is the mana inside of this crystal still full?"
"Yes, you don't need to worry, the mages have all been constantly refilling the mana every week, even though you didn't use it until now."
"Alright."
With a confidence in his face, Edharn touched the magic crystal with his hand and began to focus once again, it took him more than 10 seconds, but eventually, the magic crystal was activated.
SWOOSH!
First, a strong wind gushes out from the magic crystal, after that, another silent went on for 5 seconds, everyone waited patiently and once that 5 seconds pass, the crystal then glowed and releases a screen like projector ontop of it.
It turns out, the magic crystal works as a long distance communicating device, similar to a video call.
When the projector appeared, Edharn saw a room similar to the one that they're currently in, but instead of it being occupied by them, the room in that projector was empty beside a woman that is sleeping in a chair.
"Uhh..."
"That is probably the manager of that room in Highlios." Said Lewin.
"Can we wake her up?"
"Of course– Hello!? HELLO!? WAKE UP!!"
"AAHH!"
The woman on the other side screamed, she opened her eyes and looked around as if she were scared to be caught by other people, soon, she realized the projector infront of her turning on and displaying Edharn and everyone else.
"Huh!? HUH!!?? A- A- AH! G– GREETINGS!"
"Ehem– Pardon for the sudden intrusion, We have some matter to discuss with the king of Highlios, could you tell him that we're waiting here?"
"YES! OF COURSE!!"
The woman on the screen then ran away from the camera, a sound of running footstep can be heard getting quieter and quieter before it ends with a bang from the closing door in that place.