"Huff! Huff! Huff!" Varian panted as he winced at the pain gnawing at his back. The auras merely grazed at him at the last moment but he couldn't feel anything on his back. The injury wasn't high but the enemy aura got in and was wrecking havoc in his body.
"I-I'll need a few seconds to pull myself together," He distanced himself from Maria and started using the slivers to expel the foreign aura.
"We can do anything, but we must not attract the attention of the elves again. They're on look out for us, okay?" Maria looked into his eyes and asked in an almost pleading tone.
"O-Okay!"
"Alright, as long as we don't do anything stup—"
The mountain they were hiding in exploded and two rank 6 silhouttes attacked Maria in an instant.
Maria crashed through dozens of mountains before getting back onto her feet. She clutched her abdomen and spat out some blood before looking up at the two figures walking towards with her cold fury.
"Y-You guys! Why are you betraying me?! We're a team!" Maria screamed.
"You betrayed us by leaking the Alliance secrets to a non-personnel." The man's black overcoat fluttered in the wind, every step of his shook the mountains.
The woman, in a rosy red tops and pants, walked on silently. She had a amiable smile and a cold gaze at the same time.
"Bella, you too?" Maria's voice was heartbroken, the corner of her eyes wet. "I can understand if Sohan is overcautious but you! You've known me for decades! Don't you believe me?"
Prince Sohan halted and turned to Princess Bella. But she shook her head with the same smile. "It's not about knowing or not knowing, the task on our shoulders might save a kingdom or destroy it. That's why there are rules to be followed."
Saying so, she stepped forward and a weapon manifested in her palm. "Those who break the rules are to be punished. Don't take it personally. You and that Jai Empire spy just have to die for the greater good."
Maria's hopeful expression collapsed.
Varian who was watching the show from the sides didn't even bother to respond. He covered his face with his palm and looked at the sky with a tired expression.
The moment these two appeared, they used a space-locking formation and blocked off any chances of his escape.
These dumbos didn't know, by sneak attacking on them, they're going to attract the pursuit of tens of millions of elves.
The elves wouldn't care if they're with them or not. They'd kill them all nonethless. It didn't matter that the so-called Prince and Princess are strong rank 6 awakeners.
Sure, they could fight against 5, 10 and even 20 rank 6s. But what about 100? Their death would only be a matter of time.
"He's not a spy! He's weird, speaks things that make no sense and I don't know anything conclusive about him. But he's not suspicious!" Maria screamed.
Prince Sohan gazed at Varian following her words and snorted. "That's exactly what suspicious means, Traitor Princess of Arbor."
Varian let out a deep and frustrated sigh.
But those words triggered Maria. She summoned her crimson spear and pointed it at the two with full momentum. "Take that back!"
"What?"
"I am not a traitor! I vowed to give up my life if my homeland needs it. Take your words back and apologize!"
"Oh, really? You're angry now?" Prince Sohan lowered his head and burst into a chuckle before he took large steps towards her and roared. "After fucking over our mission, attracting attention from Reaper's group and his superior and putting everything at risk, you're talking about your vow?"
"Now, now. Calm down, guys." Princess Bella maintained her perfect smile but her barbed whip slapped between the two and stopped them from getting any closer.
"Maria Virdis, we don't have time to share final talks with you. May you find peace in afterlife, if it exists." She raised her whip.
Prince Sohan raised his heavy sword and Princess Maria gripped her spear.
As the three were about to clash, a concerned voice sounded from the side.
"Ugh, excuse me?" Varian raised his hand like that one student in the class.
"Yes? Do you want to die first?" Princess Bella asked with that same smile.
Varian wondered if she worked as the front desk for so long that the smile remained on her face.
"You're going to kill me?" Varian's jaw dropped and he pointed a trembling finger at himself with wide eyes.
"Yes, genius. Or what did you expect me to do?" Princess Bella tilted her head, and the smile on her face remained the same but her gaze grew colder. "Propose and wed you here?"
Varian shook his head vehemently. "If you did that, I'd reject you outright."
He sized her up and down.
Red top and red pants with short red hair. She wore no accessories and looked plain but beautiful.
"Your smile…" He pointed to her face and winced. "It's fucking ugly I'd vomit in my dreams. No way I'm marrying you to see that face every goddamn night."
Princess Bella's smile which never fluctuated until now broke for a moment. She gazed at Varian with a cold face and ferocious eyes, as if she wanted to eat his flesh and drink his blood.
"No, don't look at me with those lusty eyes," Varian covered himself with a long coat to stop exposure of his muscles. "My wives told me to be beware of homewreckers like you."
"Sohan, you know what? I'll bathe my whip in his blood. You go kill that traitor." Bella said with a cheerful grin.
"Alright." Prince Sohan nodded and his silhouette blurred.
Maria thrust her spear and an explosion flattened the mountains and dislocated the oceans.
"So, where are you gonna run now? A rank 4…rank 5?" Princess Bella was confused for a moment before looking at him with indifferent eyes.
Varian raised his hands and said. "You know, fighting here attracts the elves."
"This region is secretive." Bella sneered but let him speak. It seemed like she wanted to see his final struggle and enjoy his desperation.
"It's secretive and in normal times, the elves would only come after thirty minutes. That's enough time for you guys to finish your job and escape." Varian said what was on her mind and shook his head. "But this isn't a normal time."
"You're such a natural liar," Bella casually swung her whip.
Varian could barely react and when he did, the whip already wrapped around his waist and tightened.
Blood splashed and flesh tore apart as the barbs dug into him mercilessly.
"Continue speaking," Bella said as she tightened the whip.
Varian's expression was calm, as if he wasn't being subject to cruel whip torture and he said in an even calmer tone. "I killed an elf girl wearing a floral crown."
"W-What?" Bella's smile broke for the second time and her whip loosened. "Y-You killed what?"
At his words, even Prince Sohan stopped fighting and held his breath. He just wanted to confirm what he heard was wrong.
"The elf girl with flo—"
A familiar black sphere reached Bella in the blink of an eye and she jumped out of her way, barely avoiding it. Even so, the skin on her left arm withered, exposing her bare flesh.
Men and women in black robes that once chased Varian and Maria.
Instead of 50 rank 4s like the last time, it was 100 rank 4s this time.
Instead of 10 rank 5s, it was 50 rank 5s.
And instead of only the single rank 6 skeleton called Reaper, there were three this time.
A familiar skeleton in black robes, a three-headed hound the size of a bus, as well as a purple-skinned elf.
"Traitor Numan!" Prince Sohan's eyes went bloodshot.
Not too long ago, the Alliance had four kingdoms as the first line of defense against the Jai Empire. Famously known as the Mythril Quadrilateral, they wrote history with every war.
But a spy from the Jai Empire infiltrated a kingdom, resurrected their dead king, and unearthed a dirty killing that occurred in the previous generation. The feuds, carefully hidden, were all out in the open and with the spy pushing things from behind, resulted in a bloody war of royalty.
With royalty in a mess, the kingdom was destroyed by the Jai Empire vanguard. But it wasn't so simple.
Some internal 'help' was unavoidable.
It came from a group of traitors headed by Prince Numan, the crown prince who lost his succession rights after the dark history of his parents was revealed.
"Oh, looks like people still remember me, even after all these years." Numan smiled but his eyes weren't smiling.
"I can forget patriots, but I'll never forget traitors." Sohan gripped his heavy sword and gnashed his teeth.
"Blah blah blah, you fools. You're all going to die here." Numan waved his hands and casually swung the axe from nowhere.
Prince Sohan was blown back and crashed into the ground. Beside him were Princess Bella and Princess Maria who were also beaten back.
But the three got up and looked at each other. Even though they didn't trust Maria anymore, the two told her to not die.
The three silhouettes flashed forward and clashed against their respective opponents.
Prince Sohan vs Traitor Numan.
Princess Bella vs Three-Headed Hound
And finally, Princess Maria against Reaper.
On the other hand, Varian finished killing off the rank 4s and rank 5s and sat on a nearby mountain range. His focus wasn't on the earth-shattering battles.
Rather, his gaze remained on his six artifacts that wouldn't stop vibrating for some reason.
"What's going on?"
