"Vio, behind you!" Lita warns. "Explosive Marks: 18 Marks!"

"Lita, grab my hand! We're flying! Blood Wings!"

Lita clenches my left arm. I flap my wings, propelling us upwards. Thick wires protrude from the "forest", blocking the sky.

"Ocular Blast!" Angelita shouts, collapsing the wires. We pierce through the trap.

"Blood Maelstrom!" I shriek, drowning Lord Eugene's amalgamation in a sea of blood.

Aelita's Yggdrasil has had some of its branches chopped off. Lita and I rush there.

"Augh!" John screams in pain, his left arm dismembered. The iron golem smashes the main branch of the Yggdrasil. Lord Eugene raises his sword in front of John.

"Explosive Marks: 36 Marks!" Lita jumps from the air, tapping Lord Eugene's shoulder. Explosions occur from the circular marks.

The Yggdrasil disappears, leaving a wounded Aelita. A huge gash bleeds on her face, her right arm gone, her abdomen soaked in blood. She falls to the ground, her protection bestowed upon Lita and I vanishing.

"Blood Chains!" I bind Lord Eugene with my red chains. "Lita!"

"Ocular Blast!"

Damn it ... Aelita's knocked out, I have wasted almost all my mana and he's not coming down!

"Lord Eugene!" A group of three demon women calls out.

"Don't go here!" Lord Eugene screams. "It's dangerous!"

I look at Lita. "His concubines," she whispers.

Time to fight dirty, I guess.

I dash backwards, putting a knife on one of the women's neck. My two summoned wraiths do the same.

"Let us go," I say coldly.

"Are you really going to bring innocents into this?" Lord Eugene asks.

"Lord Eugene! Help us!" The women cry.

"The ends justify the means," I reply, pressuring the woman's neck, almost drawing blood.

"Good job portraying yourself as benevolent," Lord Eugene taunts.

"I am never benevolent," I say, my knife drenched with blood. My hostages start to cry.

"Heah!" Lita rushes forward, stabbing Lord Eugene in the chest.

"You!"

Lita bashes him in the head with her rock-hard fists. He raises an iron shield.

Finally! There's a gap on his armor!

I clench Aelita's paralyzing darts. Summoning another wraith to take my place, I throw the dart.

And it misses.

Lord Eugene shoved Lita aside, lunging at me. I draw out another syringe. I swing the dart at him, but he grabs my wrist forcefully. Our blades lock above our heads.

Krrr ... just a bit more!

My hostage somehow breaks free. She grabs the last dart, driving it through a gap on Lord Eugene's armor.

"What?"

"Lightning Bomb!" The woman repels an unmoving Lord Eugene.

"Law of Gods!" John shrieks, calling upon his final spell, pushing Lord Eugene to the ground.

"Blood Bone Serpent!" I shout, summoning a giant rotting snake, covered in red blood.

For a very brief moment, I think he is dead. And then he rises, like an unyielding undead. He flicks her hand and suddenly iron wires and iron spears protrude from the ground, the latter aimed at John and Aelita's necks.

"You know what to do," Lord Eugene says.

I must protect my Empire!

Who is that? What Empire? Ah, Merango!

I will ... lend you a little bit of my power.

No! If we move hastily, John and Aelita will die!

Don't worry ... let me handle this. Lend me your body for a bit.

My hands clap on their own, blood barriers materializing around John and Aelita, repelling the iron wires and spears.

"This aura! It couldn't be ... King Merango?" Lord Eugene gasps.

My arms extend on their own, another Blood Bone Serpent descending on Lord Eugene. I feel Merango's influence disappearing, my body back to my control. Lord Eugene spurts blood, struggling to stand as his bones are crushed.

"Heah!" Lita's palms were bright white, emitting a thick vapour. She whacks Lord Eugene's head with her fists. He falls to the ground with blood spurting from his head.

Dead.

I sigh a breath of relief, and a sense of glory and victory overcomes me. And then it doesn't.

"Aelita! John!" I shriek.

Lita inspects Aelita. "Don't worry. They'll be fine," she says. "They are tougher than they look."

"Of course they are," I say.

"Vio, what was that earlier?"

"That–long story, will tell later."

"Nonetheless, your friends will need hospital beds," the woman says.

I glance at her. "Who're you? Why did you help us?"

"I am Valentine, King Darryl's spy," she says. Looking at her slightly protruding cheekbones and short, black hair with purple hues, she looks quite similar to Valerie.

She throws two daggers at the other two hostages, killing them instantly. "Lord Elliot will be here soon."

"Lord Elliot?"

"Archduke Elliot of Francia. I just found out he is the Empire's spy. Now go and take Princess Suzuran with me."

We unchained Princess Suzuran, unshackling her cuffs and removing the cloth that prevents her from speaking. "You are ... the Twelfth Imperial Guard Division."

"Former. Let us go, Princess. We have little time."

I summon a few giant bats with what mana I have left. Lita and John are on one, Princess Suzuran, Aelita and I on another.

"Where are we going?" Lita asks.

"Ad Astra's HQ. I'll lead the way!"

There's a strong aura near the market! It must be Archduke Elliot–lucky we could get out in time.

We land safely on Ad Astra's island. Nisa and her sentinels intercept us. "We need medics now!" I cry.

She glances at the wounded John and Aelita and immediately nods. "Bring them to the hospital. I'll report this to Jonathan."

We follow Nisa closely as she descends into the headquarter while her sentinels carry John and Aelita to their hospital; Princess Suzuran trails them. Nisa walks hurriedly through the city Ad Astra built underground.

"Why the hurry?"

Nisa eyes Lita. "An ally, I presume?"

"My sister."

Nisa nods. "Half of Francia had been wiped out."

"What?" Lita and I gasp simultaneously. Even alone, Francia could draw manpower from its population of roughly a billion people. Its bureaucracy is quite mild and its technology reasonably advanced.

"How could that happen?" I ask.

"You will see."

We arrive at an office. Nisa scans her fingerprints and enters. She walks through the lobby, coming into a massive room.

Jonathan sits there, tinkering with a giant map with his colleagues. "Our Irvinian allies," Nisa says.

"What is happening here? What happened to Francia?" I hurriedly ask.

"A couple million vampires and demons and, well, this." Jonathan hits a remote, producing a holographic image.

A giant cannon, at least 150 metres tall and 800 metres long, fires a deafening and destructive beam. Above it, a person stands.

"Lady Jessica has a new spell in her arsenal, apparently. The good news is that she fainted for a day after this and she hasn't fully recovered yet, so at least we know she can't spam this nasty thing all day long."

"But–but against that, what could we possibly do? Even the most elite mages' most destructive spells could only destroy, say, a couple islands."

Jonathan sighs, downing a chalice of wine. "I know. It also wiped out several small duchies. Just like that."

"Don't worry about that," Lita says. "She needs at least three weeks to recover after using that spell. It's also highly unstable and requires hours of charging before usage. Well, that's what Lord Eugene told me, at least."

The cold air turns colder. Jonathan flicks his hand, weaving barriers around the room. Nisa reaches for her pocket, taking a gemstone. Her sentinels draw their daggers. I instinctively hold my blade by its handle.

"Lord Eugene told you?" Jonathan hisses. "I think we might need a few explanations here."