Three hundred years ago , King Chrome XIX with help of King of East and North destroyed the man who threatened to eradicate the world when he first appeared four hundred years ago . Events ensued from betrayal and thirst for power leading up to Selvesters , Weselton and others facing each other in a long battle to capture Venefics and gain more power .

CHROME ERA 416

Zelda after leaving Dylan made her way towards Princess Ruhainian . From what she had heard , she was already crowned as Queen so even referring to her princess wasn't exactly right but that is what she was calling her for now in mind.

Zelda (Knocks on the door as it opens slightly ) [murmurs to herself ]: " It is open ? Wait ..why is Ruhainian just cowering in a corner ? "

Ruhainian widens her eye as she notices Zelda peeking in and quickly hastened to sit back on bed .

Ruhainian (confidently ) : "Z-Zelda ! I didn't know you had already come back . It is good to see you."

Zelda (to herself): "Her attitude certainly took a dramatic change. I wonder why. Maybe to act tough but it is me.." (clears throat pacing towards her) "It is good to see you safe and in good health too, your highness."

Ruhainian : "Yes ! Same here . Are you here to tell me the report of what you found in Vexes? "

Zelda (admiring): "I was but apparently the person who was dispatched by Vexes got here faster and you handled it yourself quite well from what I heard ."

Ruhainian (smiles at her tone ): "Well ! of course I did . As if a simple spy can just take me out ."

Zelda (with shining eyes) : "Of course not . You are right, your highness."

Ruhainian (with determination) : "Well ! It is a shame that King of Vexes resorted to using such cowardly tactics but those cowards will pay the price soon . (with more stress ) I will make sure of it ."

A guard enters as both look up as to what he was here for .

Guard (informing) : "Your grace ! You have been requested to come to central hall at once . "

Ruhainian nods as he bows and leaves .

Zelda (shuffling her feet ) : "I .. I should leave then too , your highness."

Ruhainian (insisting) : "No ! Wait here. It won't be too long . "

Zelda obliges as Sphylla departs from the door .

Zelda (with a hint of dismay as she looks at empty wall) : " I wanted to spend more time with her . But it all just went too formal. I mean I guess I should expect that since she is now a Queen but I just thought she would act herself around me like in past . No ! I should probably stop such thoughts . It isn't like she even considers me that close now or anything ."

She sits on bed as she feels the warm sheets sighing.

Meanwhile

Ruhainian (looks around and then breathes relieved ): "Oh my gosh ! I wasn't expecting her to just come so suddenly . I just froze up and started to act like how I do around all . No ! No ! I don't even know if I should act like myself .I mean she would be expecting me to act more mature and would be mad if I don't ..but I don't want her to think that I am not as happy to see her as I used to be . I am glad I asked a guard in advance to call me out on excuse if Zelda suddenly comes into my room ." She continues walking to and fro thinking .

"But now that I am here outside , what do I do ? No ! It is perfectly fine . I will just act like I was acting so far . I mean she didn't say anything ...so she might be just liking this version better. "

She slowly opens the door as she peeks at Zelda who was sitting with her face pressed to pillow.

Ruhainian (panicking ) "Ah ..I am so sorry ,Zelda . I really didn't mean to act cold or like ..."

Zelda (raises her head slightly from pillow aa she looks at her ): " are....you back yourself again"

Ruhainian (raising her hands ) : "Ya ! I will be... just don't look sad . I even had a present planned for you ...."

Somewhere else

"You are pretty boring! Hmm."

Keith (twitches sighing): "What is it ? Like really. Is there like some hidden urge in you Felix that you can't go too long without calling me something rude out of no reason at all."

Felix (shaking his head ) : "No! I mean then I would be calling you all time something new ..."(pauses)

Keith (glares ): "You are lucky that I am nice ."

Felix (nonchalant): "Or what ! You will raise some puny flames for warning hands ."

Keith (to himself): "Just calm down. He is trying to get on your nerves but you definitely don't need to take it . "(aloud) "So care to explain why you called me boring "

Felix (raising his shoulders) : "Well ! We are packing stuff and all now for our departure and I do get essentials are necessary but your taste in buying our food is so cheapstake and bland, it is really boring."

Keith (grumbling) : "That is because I got no firewood today due to fight and someone decided to eat like as if world was ending just after that so I barely had any money left . You might as well be lucky that I was even able to get this stuff . Bargaining ..."

Felix (smirking) : "Great ...ye ye ! You sound like real middle aged guy buying stuff for his kid ."

Keith (ignoring Felix) : " Anyway ! We should hurry up. It is already 10 pm . Even though there are two hours before the border gets closed , it will still be dark travelling through the passage if we start too late and we won't find a safe place to camp in woods."

Felix (as he goes silent ) : "Hmm! "

Keith (confused) : "what ?"

Felix : "Well ! I was just momentarily surprised that you were acting sensible and all."

Keith (barely containing himself) : " Let's go "(pushes the bag onto Felix )

Felix (protesting) : "I don't want to carry your bag too."

Keith (retorting) : "Is that so ? Too bad , I am just too unreliable to carry it . "

Felix (agrees sighing): "Fine ." What a pain.

The duo after paying their bills and packing set out on main Street . There are three routes in town of Meran all of which lead to terminal through which you can go to second island behind the island of Meran . The guards are appointed there day and night unlike entry point of Meran where guards keep rotating and all as it is located right next to forest and at edge of urban city so it is significantly less guarded.

Each day , hundreds of merchants , traders , folks travel through those points going into Meran and out of Meran all of which requires tremendous work on guards part especially in war times when supplies are more necessary .

The main street on which Keith and Felix had taken shelther in Inn led straight to that point in straightforward manner as it lies in center while other two routes were in North and South respect to that street known as Megan Street . The only demerit in using main street , both are using now is that it is longer than south and north routes as they are curved paths while Megan Street road route just runs straight . That is the main reason Keith was so anxious to set out early with Felix .

The Megan road also bifurcates into several alleys as you go along because shops are significantly less since lesser people use it to travel . Felix and Keith still are going by this because they came from outside and it lead them to center and now going to south or north to use curved paths would be counter productive only .

Keith (shouting) : "I wish my legs could go faster. I truly do but they can't . So wait for me , Felix would you ? "

Felix (stops as he looks back ): "Honestly ! Even physically you are not that great . Tch !"

Keith (raising an eyebrow) : "Yes ! I obviously can't keep the pace of a Venefic ."

Felix (waving his hands) : "Excuses ! Excuses ! "

Keith (with hands on his knees) : "They are not . So how long do you think we have left to cover ? "

Felix (answering): "Well ! We have been walking approximate for past twenty minutes . So it is covered mostly . Ten minutes more or so at best ."

Keith (sighs) : "That much ...ah ! And You must be counting it in your walking speed anyway so maybe even more ...."

Felix (turns his head away to look at half opened shops ) :" We can stop for rest if you want ." After a long pause . " What ! No answer ..(blinks his eye as he finds no one there on turning back ) Prince ..

Felix suddenly notices a shadow vanishing into alleyway as he runs after it. As he enters the alley, he finds it only going deeper and deeper almost as if reaching south side itself.

Felix (to himself) "Well ! This place is certainly very dim. Even while I am running, I can still notice how old and uninhabited this area is . From the looks of it , nobody lives in home whose wall are siding the alley . I still can't get a good look at the scampering figure . All I see is a red tint of glass brooch .......
Huh ! It finally stopped.."

Felix could see the figure more and more clearly as he got closer . There was a red pendant hung around the dark claded figure's  neck .

Felix (Thinking) "From looks of it and her agility, definitely a female. She doesn't particularly look tired so why did she suddenly decide to stop now ? Was she convinced that this is most convenient place for her to attack . It is pretty right space but then same level rules applies to her movement ss they do on me . What is this red pendant she is wearing ? It obviously looks very important. She knows she is heading into a battle so is it really fine to bring something like that amidst that . It could be that she is just confident in her abilities ."

Felix puts his hand on the chin as the woman starts to unsheath her knives.

"I haven't seen Prince Keith at all ..but her sudden appearance out of nowhere can't be just coincidence. Keith was fighting a man , sent by someone probably town chief  who got his information from an informant in Selvesters . She must be connected to him in order to take Keith away and then draw me out at same time ."

Felix blinks as a knife enters his field of vision but before it could hit him, knife was thrown back at the woman who caught it with little blood trickling from her finger .

Negika : "Well ! Looks like it won't be that easy . Good ! (Licks her finger smiling ) That is just the way I like it ."

Felix (raising a point) : "Who are you ? You obviously think you know me . It is only fair if I know you . " I must try to get as much information from her possible.

Negika (smirking): "Fair..a Venefic talking about fairness . But since I am going to rip you apart soon, I will tell you my name . It is Negika ."

Felix (understanding) : " I see . I don't suppose you will listen if I tell you that I am not a Venefic . I truly am just an ordinary person walking by who happened to chase after you . You should probably leave me" I can't reveal my identity at any cost . Even though she suspects that I am a Venefic, still she doesn't truly have a proof that I am . Which means that I don't need to oblige to her fanciful wish simply . Also ! I can't be sure yet but I feel like there is a way to get out of this situation without using my powers . I am sure if it comes down to fighting, I can defeat her even so my identity as Venefic would be proven because they know Prince Keith isn't strong enough to beat her. After all that is why they must have sent her . I am more worried about how Prince is going to handle his enemy . His magic reserve didn't last in last battle and it has not been long since then . Though I did teach...

Felix shifts to right as Negika pounces at him almost like a cat avoiding her attack interrupting his thought processes.

Felix : "I can't lose focus from...(winces at sudden prickling sensation ) That..was bait. " It seems Negika attacking me was a distraction to lure me to move rightways while real Negika comes from behind me and stab me . I certainly didn't expect her to be able to use such kind of magic. What is she using to create a duplicate of herself ?

Felix shifts away quickly from Negika keeping two Negika in reasonable distance away.

Felix : "Fielera ."

Negika (laughing): "Was that supposed to do something ? ..aw..it certainly didn't ...wait (raising her eyes as laughing stops) I can't move forward at all. What is going on ? My feets are definitely not frozen and I am applying same force but I don't seem to be budging at all."

Felix (crossing his arms): "Surprised ? Even though I am not a Venefic or a mage , I have some tricks up my sleeve . Have got to protect myself somehow going in and out of city daily ."

Negika ( bitter smile )" Would you stop with facade ? You ain't convincing me that you aren't Venefic . And even if you aren't, I am not letting my prey go ."

Felix (smiling) : "Is that so ? " As I thought I was right.  Now it makes sense why she deliberately lured me here out of all places even though the street was pretty empty in itself. Considering new town chief sent a normal Weseltonian mage after me , they would certainly have no reason to hide the fight going on . But Negika chose this place specifically so that no one can notice this fight . No ! More specifically her . Because she is criminal on run . I know by conversation I heard today in bar that she (new town chief) obviously doesn't care about panic or good opinions. After all if she did , why would she impose outlandish taxes just after few days of accession ? And there is only one reason you would want to fight sneakily and that is if the person doing the deed is someone who is also not officially recognised. The last line from her about her not caring even if I was innocent proved to me that she is just a serial killer .

Negika (murmurs) : "This brat hasn't even flinched ever since this fight started. There is no doubt that he is the Target . But just what kind of this monster is he to not even bothered about stabbed wound on his gut ? I guess that is what you call a Venefic .Now that I can't even move , I would definitely have to go all out . After all , a chance to taste the blood of Venefic ..oh ! How sweet that will be ."

Felix raised his eyes in amazement as four more Negikas appeared and  started to move.

Felix (chuckles) : "Well ! I guess you finally learned to walk again ."

Negikas : "If you think your protective shield is going to hold out against this, then you are certainly in for a shock ." ( As all six Negikas drew out knives and started to hit at invisible wall as scratching sounds fill the atmosphere )

Felix (thinking) "I see . She isn't wrong . The very feat that she is even able to move is surprising but she is actually cutting the Fielera . I still don't get how she is forming more selves of herself ."

Negikas continue applying pressure on wall.

Prime Negika (smiling internally) " I bet he is scrambling his brain as to how I am doing it . Creating more of myself is no problem . I can create several more than this but the only drawback is each time I do , I divide myself .  Humans are so brittle and yet they must maintain consistency . If I create another duplicate of same mass as myself , then it contradicts total density of my physical self if it is merged back . That is why whenever I create another self , we both gets our mass divided equally . That is why six is limited because even though mass is divided equally into six parts , the amount of pressure I can apply at several focal points is just what I need as my trump card . Furthermore ...(as the wall opens ) if any of my self even my original self is injured , it doesn't affect me at all and I can just transfer to my other self until I am the last one remaining."

All Negikas raising their knives (aloud ) "So you see Venefic , there is no way you are getting out of here ."

Felix (opens his eye snapping his fingers ) " Spatium Imperia " As all Negikas were thrown to the wall crushed into the concrete like lime as the wall started to break like sawdust falling from wood. Negika panics and transfers to another self but finds that all but her prime were already smashed to death and battered . Realising that , she tried to create more of herself again but without giving her any chance , she was clung away from the wall and pulled towards the North , the very same way from which they had come .

Negika (screaming )" what the hell is going on ?  Thirty ...no ! It has been more than one hundred seventy metres ... just how far is this force going to ta-ke..." (Gasps as a figure looms over her almost as if flying while she was being pulled )

Felix (glaring) : " I told you , didn't I ? I am not a Venefic . I told you to go .You should have listened . Tch ! You didn't ..."(puts his finger on her lips as she feels goosebumps all over her spreading;  whispering in her ear quietly) "Don't worry ,dear Negika . You have a taste for blood , haven't you ? I am going to get you some though it won't be mine ." (As her fingers desperately clenches on knives )

Somewhere else

Keith (groans with his hand over face ) " "Are you serious ?"

Bezos (twitches eye)  "Well ! That is a first to hear when I am attacking someone ."

Keith (apparently annoyed) : "Yeah ! It most definitely is . Because I personally have no idea how to react when a guy I just beat this morning suddenly grabs me out of nowhere and I am in another deadlock on very same day .."

Bezos (growling ) "You didn't beat me . It was that Venefic who saved you earlier brat or you would have been dead for sure ."

Keith (in offhanded manner ) : "Details ! details ! Well ! I suppose you are here to finish the job."

Bezos nods as he gets ready to transform his leg into spear .

Keith (scrunches his face) : "I mean can I at least see the person who ordered my execution ? "

Bezos (informing) : "That is not how this works."

Keith (sighing) "Should have expected you to say that . Well ! I can definitely not beat you . You might as well allow me to pray before I die ."

Bezos (in disbelief)  : "Wait ..you are just going to give up .."

Keith : "I mean what would be point in trying to battle someone who I know is stronger than me and I can't beat ."

Bezos (agreeing) "I mean that d-does make sense . All right. You can pray ."

Keith (holding one hand at heart)  : "I wish kingdom of Selvesters continues to stay blessed with great power . Internal conflict should be reduced to minimum . Energy should be supplied from magic to all . Recheck your royal stocks, Brother Milan in with Night sky bless  forever"

Bezos raises his eyes as Keith eyes starts to glow emerald  green almost as if symphony of red and green orbs swirling around.

Keith (looking at Bezos): "You should have listened to my incantation but you didn't so thanks for your consideration. Now then let's fight, shall we ?"(breaking into a smile)