After changing to their battle garments, Takuya walked out of the palace's wall to meet with his siblings. There they were greeted with a surprise. Walking up to them were their old friends whom they had promised to return to soon, yet failed to do. One of them ran up to Takuya and neighed happily.

"Precioso!" Takuya yelled. He put his arms around the neck of the black alicorn as soon as it descended in front of the palace.

"Thanks for coming, Unico," Kuroshi said as he stared at the old black unicorn. The unicorn turned to look at his wife, who was running toward her owner.

Anis jumped into the saddle of the white pegasus. The woman donned glistening silver armor, which reminded Takuya and his siblings of valkyries' tales, female psychopomps.

"Let's go, kids. Primera, take to the skies!" the woman said as she raised a glistening white spear toward the heavens. Her mount jumped into the air and was gone within the blink of an eye.

"Wait, we're gonna use them to fight?" Takuya asked as he looked back and forth between his alicorn and Kuroshi.

Kuroshi closed his eyes. "Yeah. Their father is a breed of unicorn used for war. Similarly, their mother is a war pegasus. So it's in their blood."

Tetsuya stared at his own alicorn. He recalled the days when Príncipe was a pony, he would often charge at him or some tree or rock to hit with his hooves. It was good training for little Tetsu himself as he learned to dodge fast attacks.

"So that's why you enjoy fighting," the knight said with a chuckle as he petted his friend. He jumped on its back and held a hand out to Rosa. "Get on, we're taking to the skies!"

Rosa's eyes expanded. "Huh? You want me to ride with you?"

The young man chuckled. "Yeah, why not?"

Rosa smiled and took his hand. She gasped as the alicorn neighed with joy. She had half expected it to run from her.

"See, you are a nice person," Tetsuya said with a grin. "Príncipe here wouldn't have allowed you to ride him with you weren't."

"It seems like it," the princess said as she put her hands around the knight's waist.

"A-Akari, want to go with me?" Takuya asked, averting his eyes.

Zafir narrowed his eyes at him. "What are you playing at?"

"Huh?" Takuya asked.

"Zafir, be professional," Akari said, looking back at him. She knew that now wasn't the time for them to bring up their relationship issues. She jumped on top of Precioso and wrapped her arms around Takuya's waist. Her eyes widened. "It's not throwing me off."

Zafir sighed. "Why would it? You aren't a mean person. Also, you are right, forgive me," he said, turning his back to her. He eyed Teresa, who held her hand toward him. He chuckled. "Are you trying to ask me to go with you?"

"Uh... maybe," she said. Her face was as crimson as a beet.

Zafir jogged over to her. "Honestly, I am not sure if it will let me fly it."

"Sure, she will. Right, Unidad?" she asked, rubbing between her alicorn's ears. The creature let out a happy neigh.

Zafir gave her a pencil-thin smile. "Alright, but if it throws me off, then I expect some treatment for the resulting wounds."

Teresa scoffed. "Don't be such a babe."

Zafir's smile widened. He jumped on. Teresa was right. Unidad hadn't dared to get him off.

Kuroshi watched as Tetsuya and Teresa flew on ahead with their crushes while Takuya and his remained. "Brings back memories, doesn't it?" he asked, turning toward his unicorn.

Unico nodded before turning around and running off.

Kuroshi laughed cynically. He cursed himself for expecting the unicorn to let him ride him. There was no excusing his sins. He was no longer like the three kids. He only hoped that war wouldn't ruin those kids like it had him.

"Seems that I will go there on my own wings," Kuroshi said as he turned away. He kept his head low.

"If you wish, you can ride with me," King Osamu said. The king rode on a violet pegasus with a golden saddle.

The masked man chuckled. "You want me to ride with you? I thought that you hated that. Remember when we rode Unico together as teens? Besides, I have a different task than you do."

The king turned away. "So be it, good luck out there."

Kuroshi smiled behind the mask. "It's strange for you to act like this."

"What do you mean?" the king questioned as he looked away.

"A-are you blushing?" Kuroshi asked, running around him.

Osamu covered his face with his left hand while he held onto the reins with his right. "S-shut up and get out of the way unless if you wish for me to trample you over."

The masked man sighed and stepped back. "You're shyer than when we were teens."

Suddenly, a surge of energy spread throughout the land and through Kuroshi's body.

"Y...Ya all gotta get outta here!" Kuroshi yelled. Osamu looked back, shocked to hear his accent. Within a matter of seconds, the ground vibrated with vigor. A cloud of dust and ice-filled parts of the city as screams filled the air. A crowd of tourists looked with fear at the billowing clouds making their way toward the center of town. In order words, toward them.

"What was that?" King Osamu asked, grabbing his pegasus for support.

Takuya jumped down from on top of Precioso. He removed his shoes and socks and put them into his backpack. Closing his eyes, he felt the vibrations of the ground course through him. Though, these weren't natural at all. These quakes were being caused by something breaking into the surface, and it wasn't magma.

"Something is coming, fast. It's coming from the epicenter of the dome," the barefooted young man said, raising his right hand toward the sky. He transformed the dark silver bracelet on his right arm into a bow and arrow. "Everyone, go find shelter!" He looked at the king. "You should've evacuated the civilians!"

The king scoffed. "Why would I waste precious resources and time on saving them? It's not their lives that I'm concerned about, but the kingdom. Besides, Miyuki is the ruler of this domain."

Takuya tightly gripped the silver and black bow in his hands. "How can you say that? The kingdom is the people! It is the people's job to provide tribute to the kin,' and in turn, the kin' is to provide protection. If you can't do that, then you got no right to be kin'."

"I'm already handling that, though it seems that the arrival of so many nobles caused them to emerge from their homes," Grand Duchess Miyuki said, eying them with concern.

The king paid her no concern. Instead, he had his horse walk up to Takuya. "That look you're giving me, it's the same one as your father." He punched the young man, sending him falling to the ground.

"Takuya!" Akari yelled as Precioso returned to the ground.

Takuya wiped the blood from his mouth and watched as the king marched ahead with his other soldiers. His face ached, but it was nothing compared to the anger boiling within him. First, Eiichi beating his brother and Hideo into a bloody pulp without remorse, and now this. What was wrong with all these nobles?

"Hey, you went too far there," Kuroshi said, standing before the king.

"Move aside, Kuroshi. Now isn't the time to fight among ourselves."

"You should have thought of that when you punched him!"

"It's fine," Takuya said as Akari helped him up. "For now, we must focus on savin' this city and beyond."

King Osamu flashed him an amused grin. "You truly are the spitting image of your father. I wonder why he didn't have you be the heir of Aventine."

"Not sure, but that doesn't matter right now," Takuya said as he jumped back on Precioso.

"My apologies for my actions," the king said, causing Takuya and Kuroshi to gasp. "I have been rather stressed preparing this large army. This is the first time that I have done so as king. Even during the midst of the war with Kasai no Ki, my father hadn't prepared a mission as massive as the one we're about to undertake."

Takuya smiled. "I see. Apology accepted," he said as his alicorn took the sky.

***

https://youtu.be/tmtOxvPsFt0

Tetsuya stared at the massive army waiting outside the gates of Shirayuki. There were over 500,000 of them spread throughout the mountainous frozen land. Several of them were riding on what appeared to be tanks with modified wheels to allow them to quickly move across the frigid terrain. Mounted on the tanks were what looked like giant railguns, which were in the process of charging energy. Then there the squadrons of armored angels in the air. They were ready to swoop down on their enemies as soon as the fighting began.

"These are nearly all of Kuroriku's forces," Rosa said as she was taken aback by the sheer size of the force her father managed to muster.

"So this is why the King had Princess Setsuko and Sir Serrano's forces stay back in the capital. The Imperial Capital would otherwise be completely unguarded," Zafir said.

Hideo stared at his aunt and her husband, who were riding on a lavender pegasus. "Good thing that he didn't leave those two behind." With Suzuki unconscious, the only issue was Reno.

His aunt chuckled. "You're right in assuming that now is the best time to attack the capital, but what would the point be when all of Zionia is destroyed?" Zaki asked.

The young knight tilted his head. "I guess that's true... so is this everyone?"

"These aren't all of the forces," Zafir said as he looked northward. "My kingdom will soon be sending their own."

"Same here," Koukyuu said. The Kasai no Ki princess rode a red pegasus with fire coming out of its legs. Tetsuya wondered how she had called upon it. The more he thought about it, the more he wondered how Kuroshi did just that with Príncipe family considering they were allowed to roam free until they returned home.

"Ditto," Akari said as Takuya and the others caught up. "Aunty is preparing her own forces too, should we fall here."

"Wait, so this battle might number in the millions?" Hideo said, gasping. "That's overkill!"

"Is it?" Kuroshi asked as he flew over the outer-wall. "The enemy itself could have millions or perhaps even more in their disposal."

King Osamu raised a hand toward the pitch-black dome and formed a purple sphere. "Begone!" The orb flew out of his hand and ripped though the black dome. A cloud of darkness spread outward, blanketing the area like dense smog.

Floating high in the air was a black-haired man with a monkey tail wrapped around his waist. It was Etsuo's father, Daisaru.In his hands was the sphere that Osamu had sent flying. The man smiled widely.

"You've finally made it. I have been waiting. I await you nobles and knights within the castle," Daisaru said as he disintegrated along with the king's sphere.

"A clone!" Koukyuu said.

"Make haste, you can't keep the man waiting," Kuroshi said. "I will go and back you up if the situation turns sour."

Osamu narrowed his eyes at the enormous black castle, which put even the imperial palace and mountains to shame. "Why does he want us to meet him there? This smells like another trap."

Kuroshi nodded. "It does, but us doing nothing could be one too."

"Who said anything about not doing anything?" the king asked as he stood on top of his pegasus' back. He spread his hands out—a ring of purple spheres formed behind him. "Go, destroy the shadows, Spheres of Destruction!" he shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Wait!" Kuroshi yelled.

Osamu halted his attack and turned around. "What is it? Think it's not enough? If so, then how about all of you help blast that castle and crystal out of the horizon?"

"Look at the crystal!" Kuroshi said, pointing at the highest tower of the castle. The king's eyes and those of everyone else widened. The crystal was glowing lightly.

"What's it doing?" the king asked as he had his spheres disintegrate.

"It seems to be anticipating your attack. I feel something strange about it, it's like it wishes for you to attack."

"It wishes? The way you make it sound, it's as if it's alive... Wait, is that crystal an abyssmal too?"

Kuroshi rubbed his forehead. "I think so. To be honest, I have never seen nor heard of a crystal like it. Like I said before, they likely want us to think going inside the castle is a trap. Though, they probably have a plan to win no matter what option we take."

"Hmph, then that man must be confident that he can beat us within that castle. We'll see about that," Osamu said he sat back down on his pegasus. "Follow me, Seven Hill and Knights of Prophecy, we are going in! Everyone else, remain on standby and protect Kuroriku!" He raised a fist toward the sky. "Viva Kuroriku!"

"Viva Kuroriku!" nearly everyone yelled, causing the valley to tremble with all the collective shouts.

***

Tetsuya, Hyosetsu, Hideo, and Eiichi followed the king and the older Seven Hills, minus Anis, who had stayed behind with Kuroshi. They had managed to fly within five feet of the castle when suddenly a torrent of arrows flew out. Lodged on the walls of the building were what looked like monkey goblins.

Tetsuya's alicorn flew left and right, majestically dodging the arrows as if he had been doing it all of his life.

"These really are war beasts," Zafir said in amazement as Teresa's Unidad did the same as her younger brother.

Tetsuya blocked some stray arrows that his friend failed to dodge. "Everyone, get on my right!"

"Hmph, we can defend ourselves," Eiichi said as he unstrapped Carlos from his back.

Eiichi swatted arrow after arrow with the golden spear. An impish grin crossed his face. He raised Carlos up high, allowing a bolt to descend from the heavens to strike it. The electricity remained on the tip, which let out sparks of cyan. With one swing, the knight unleashed a massive wave of electricity on the goblin-like monkeys. The strange creatures fell to their demise.

"Great, son!" Eiko said, grinning.

"Your boy sure is strong," King Osamu said, chuckling. He didn't even make an attempt to deflect any of the arrows as they bounced off his body. Around the king was a thin purple aura.

"That's nothing compared to me," Hyosetsu said before unleashing a wave of ice on the castle. The remaining creatures froze and shattered along with their red cores.

"Seems that they're starting off easy," Eiji said as they finally landed. He jumped off of his stead and kicked the black doors of the castle open. Inside it was all black and devoid of all light. The old knight snapped his fingers, causing wisps of light to emit from his hands.

The interior of the palace looked like another world. There were floating doors everywhere, and the ceiling was a raging black vortex. There was no sight of those beings, though.

"W-what is this?" Hideo said, stepping back. The ceiling was bubbling. Suddenly an eye appeared on the ceiling. "Wahhhhh!"

"Relax!" Lady Miyuki said, freezing the giant eyeball in an instant.

"Seems our enemy is taking us lightly or Kuroshi greatly overestimated them," King Osamu said. He glanced at the five doors floating in the air. "Seems that they want us to split up."

"How about we turn around and come up with a different plan, eh?" Hideo suggested as he fidgeted.

"No, we've made it this far," King Osamu said as he looked over his shoulder. Suddenly, the sky outside went black as an army of apes emerged from the castle's lower reaches. "Tsk. So they draw their army now. No matter, the others shall make easy work of those primates."

"Welcome," a familiar voice called out. "You have finally made it, Shield Knight. I am looking forward to my rematch with you. Now, choose a door. I hope that you pick the correct one, or I will be dearly disappointed."

"Satoru!" Rosa yelled, taking a step forward.

Tetsuya glanced at the various doors. He couldn't feel what laid beyond any of them.

"Hey, Taku, can you tell what's behind each door?" Tetsuya asked.

Takuya closed his eyes and tried to get a sense of each door. A strange sensation filled his body. It was like static. There was no mana beyond each one. "We might need to rely on our own mana for this."

"You mean these doors are cut off from the outside world?" King Osamu asked as he stepped closer to one.

"Yes. We need to be extra cautious when it comes to how much mana we use," Takuya said.

"I see. I will be taking this one then. The rest of you go divide yourselves as you deem fit."

"Wait, I'll go with you," Eiji said with a grin.

"I'll go with you, Pops," Eiichi said, putting Carlos over his shoulders. He smiled at the door. "I may not be able to sense the presence beyond, but I bet my luck on it being this one."

"Me too!" Eiko said, running over to them.

Eiji gave her a suspicious look. "Wonder if it's because of us or Osamu."

Eiko scoffed. "You? Please. Just like our son, I feel this door will lead to the leader of this operation. That's all."

Eiji gave her a deadpan look. "Sure..."

"I will be going with my boys," Lady Miyuki said, waving at them.

"Alright, good luck if you run into that man," Eiko said, waving goodbye.

She turned her eyes back toward the king, who was sticking a hand through the vortex beyond the door. Osamu smiled and passed through the door confidently.

Eiichi team and his parents followed King Osamu through the portal. As soon as Eiko stepped through, the door vanished.

"Will they be alright?" Rosa asked, frowning. "This seems strange. Are we being led to our own deaths?"

Tetsuya grabbed her hand. "It'll be alright. You just saw your dad test it out, didn't you? A man that cautious wouldn't have stepped through that door if something were off about it."

"That may be so about that one, but what about the others?" Hyosetsu asked as he watched the other four.

"True," Miyuki said as she watched Kohri fly around the lobby of the castle. Her youngest son was glimpsing at each door, wondering what could lie beyond them.

"So guess the three of us will be choosing one of these doors," Kohri said, grinning. He flew higher and chose the highest door. He put a hand through the door, just like the king had. "This one is safe!"

"It better be," Hyosetsu said, pushing his younger brother through the door.

Kohri stuck his head out of the portal. "See! Perfectly safe! Though it's empty beyond here. The enemy must be further inside."

Hyosetsu pushed his brother's face back inside and walked in himself. The door vanished as soon as Miyuki was through.

"Meanwhile, the rest of team Tetsuya will be taking that one," Rosalba said, pointing toward the second-highest door. Tetsuya had Principe fly them over to the door and opened it, but as soon as they did, two long gray tails sprung out. The appendages coiled around them and pulled them inside while a third tail headed in the direction of Koukyuu.

"Tetsu!" Takuya yelled as he jumped off of Precioso.

He gathered the darkness on the floor and used it to create tendrils. One of the tendrils struck the third tail, sending it back into the portal. He tried to pull Tetsuya and Rosalba back, but arrows flew out of the door. A few of them managed to graze his face and wings.

"Please save them," Teresa said as she watched her older brother maneuver across the storm of arrows. Sweat dripped down her face as the portal was starting to close.

Takuya lurched forward and grabbed something, but he pulled out a large gorilla-like monster. The creature landed on the ground with a thud. The ape banged its arms on the floor, unleashing a wave of darkness across the room.

Unidad and Precioso and the pegasi of Hideo's team took to the air to avoid being hit, but the wave spread to the air.

Akari grimaced as the wave hit her and Precioso.

"Akari!" Takuya said as he turned over to look.

Zafir dashed over and deflected the wave back at the direction it had come from.

"Focus on saving Tetsu and Rosa!" Teresa yelled. "Hideo and the others will take care of that ape!"

"Right!" Zafir said, said, glancing back at the door that Tetsuya and Rosa had been sucked into. He extended blue chains toward it to pull them out, but the giant gorilla-like abysmal dashed over and grabbed hold of them. "Get out of my way!"

The chains wrapped around the ape, sealing its movements.

"Die!" Hideo yelled, shooting the creature with a wind bullet from Donato. The beast let out a shriek, sending everyone flying in different directions. Without warning, the last two doors opened up and sucked in whoever was closest to them.

"Tetsu!" Takuya yelled as one of the vortices pulled him in. He struggled against the force of the wind and watched in dismay as the portal his brother and the princess had taken closed completely.

"Noooo!" Teresa yelled at the top of her lungs. Her younger brother had narrowly survived their last encounter with that gray fox. And that was mostly thanks to Yuko's desert spell preventing the guy from using his ice powers until backup had arrived. The chances that Princess Rosa, Principe, and Tetsu would survive were... abyssmal.

**Solar Note: What do you think will/has become of Tetsuya, Rosalba, and Principe?**