Master called his summoned creatures accordingly if any enemy break through his soldiers and blocked his way. He also called his companions and royal agents and left them to deal with the higher-level native soldiers. He didn't want to waste his time dealing with them. He had to complete his objective before Eoranth escaped the immortal prison.
The Qilin he rode maneuvered nimbly whenever enemies appeared. His summoned creatures then kept those enemies busy while he continued galloping toward the palace.
The Qilin's hooves didn't touch the ground as it ran. A layer of mist appeared a few centimeters above the ground and the Qilin galloped along this mist. Every time an enemy approached, fire burst around its body, discouraging anyone from nearing.
With the Qilin, Master covered large distances in a short time.
His soldiers thinned as he approached the palace, but so did the enemies. Most fought near the wall. A majority was still fighting there, preventing more attacking soldiers from entering the capital. As for the capital inhabitants, they gathered at assembly points and hid there. So, the capital was mostly deserted.
With the Qilin's extraordinary speed, he soon reached the deepest point where his soldiers had charged into. He didn't wait for them. He continued onward, riding on his own to the palace while his soldiers chased from behind. Enemies also didn't show up anymore. It was like he was riding through a ghost town.
He wasn't afraid of encountering a strong native inside the palace. All the troublesome ones were out there on the wall fighting his army. The strongest one inside the palace was probably the queen herself, which he should have no problem dispatching on his own.
Soon, he arrived before the palace's entrance. One person was waiting for him there.
"Took your time getting here," Long said. He was sitting on top of a dead native. Around him was a score of dead draconian soldiers.
Master jumped down from the Qilin and walked past Long to the opened palace gate. "Let's go," he ordered.
Long snickered. He stood up and followed Master into the palace.
*
When Master was still on his way to the palace, Queen Frorryntiar and the others watched his progress from the holographic projection. Master was sighted by the soldiers who tried to stop him, so his dot was visible on the projection.
From what they saw, it was apparent that no one was able to stop Master's approach. Not to mention, more and more enemies poured through the gap in the wall Suzaki had created. Most of the battles now happened inside the capital. The defensive factors were greatly negated. In this situation, the enemies who were superior in number held the advantage.
They were losing.
"Aldryth… Go out and leave the capital," Frorryntiar said.
"What? Mother, no! If you want me to go, we go together!" Aldryth exclaimed.
It took some time before Frorryntiar said, "I'm protected by this palace's rune diagrams. You are not. My chance of survival is better here. You will just distract me if you..."
"My queen, is something wrong?" Grombi asked.
"The rune diagrams… They are down," Frorryntiar answered.
"How can that be?"
"Someone must have destroyed the power crystal at the palace's basement…," Frorryntiar said.
"But how did they get past the guards?"
Instead of answering, Frorryntiar turned to Aldryth. "You have to leave now! We don't know how many enemies had infiltrated this palace!"
"No! We go together!" Aldryths insisted.
"My place is here. If our dominion falls, then I fall with it!" Frorryntiar made a resolute expression.
"We… We haven't lost yet," Guzrim said. "That fireball conjured by the enemy's phoenix won't hold Eoranth long. I'm sure our great country guardian will free itself soon."
"That's right, mother. Even if the enemy enters this palace and destroys the throne. They won't be able to become the lawful sovereign of this dominion as long as you are still alive," Aldryth said. "We have to hide until Eoranth is freed. I'm sure he will be able to turn the tide once that happens. All we have to do is make sure that we survive until then."
Frorryntiar frowned and uttered, "I should be with the throne and face our enemies. I can't desecrate our draconian pride just to save my…"
"Screw our pride…!" Aldryth yelled. Her sudden defiance surprised everyone in the room. "Pride means nothing if we die! We will just be a shame to the next generation if we continue being stubborn when we still have a way out. Do you want to be remembered as a queen whose country is taken by a foreign power?"
"How dare you…," Frorryntiar was angry at her daughter's words, but her expression then softened. She sighed. "But you are right… Maybe it's time for me to step down. You will be a better queen compared to me."
"Mother, I didn't mean to…"
"It is fine, my daughter. I'm proud of you," Frorryntiar hugged Aldryth, which surprised the princess greatly. She couldn't remember when the last time her mother hugged her.
Frorryntiar let go of her embrace and said to Aldryth, "Let's leave this palace together."
Aldryth smiled upon her words.
Frorryntiar commanded everyone in the room to leave, including Bowler who was still with them. But as they were ready to walk out of the war room, they saw in the projection one red dot appearing.
Frorryntiar had sent the guards down to the basement to check the power crystal after the rune diagrams were down. They were just about to leave the main entrance and go down to check when this red dot appeared. The intruder must have tried to flee via the main entrance. The guards caught sight of this intruder and thus he appeared in the projection.
"Only one?" Guzrim said. The info on the red dot also indicated that this intruder was an outworlder. "We should ask the guards to apprehend this outworlder alive, just in case there are still more…"
He didn't continue his words as he saw the green dots that symbolized the palace soldiers vanish one by one.
"They… they are losing?" Guzrim watched with disbelief.
"Most of our higher-level soldiers are fighting on the wall. This one outworlder must be special," Aldryth said. After hanging out with Arthur, he understood that there were outworlders who were much stronger than their peers despite being on the same level.
"What should we do, my queen?" Grombi asked. This outworlder was battling the guards at the main entrance.
"I said we just charge out," Guzrim said. "Our queen is a level 75 rare elite. He won't be able to stop us if we all attack together."
"Mother, let's be prudent and take the secret exit," Aldryth offered her opinion.
Frorryntiar didn't waste her time pondering. "All right, let's head to the secret exit."
The group then used the magic elevator to bring them down to the ground floor. Arriving there, they headed to the rear side of the palace, away from the main entrance. Only a few people knew about this secret exit.
When they came to the wall where the secret exit was supposed to be, one of Frorryntiar's aides ran forward while saying, "I will open it."
But before he touched the wall, a giant flaming axe crashed into him. He was not a high-level native, so that attack took his life in an instant.
Everyone turned and saw an orc wielding a giant axe coming out from one of the pillars in the hall. It was Abasi Raretooth.
"Nobody is leaving this palace," he said.
