Chapter 130: The City Defense
Unlike outside, the throne room was almost quiet. Almost. Only distant explosions, stone collapsing, roars, and the cries of wounded Goblins carried through the walls. Every sound reminded Athena of one thing.
Someone just died.
Every second she spent translating, another Goblin fell. But the silence wasn’t any better. Because the silence that came after every explosion meant someone else hadn’t survived.
The hidden page lay spread across the floor, sheets of paper completely surrounding her.
Symbols.
Notes.
Translations.
Crossed out words.
Mara sat opposite her while Athy hovered nearby. The three of them had transformed the throne room into a scholar’s battlefield, with the only sound being ink scratching across the paper.
Then, boooooooooom!!
The palace violently shook.
Dust rained from the ceiling.
A deafening roar echoed across the city.
Athena instinctively looked toward the balcony, and for one brief moment she saw it. A massive shadow that seemed to obscure so many buildings and somehow reached all the way to the throne room. She blinked before realizing what it was, a town-sized boulder that was heading towards the city.
Its presence seemed to suppress the lanterns in the city, and she heard the screams of Goblins through the city.
Even Mara froze. "What is that?" she whispered.
Athena’s heart nearly stopped.
She wanted to run.
She wanted to help.
Instead she clenched her fists. "Trust them," she said.
She forced herself back to the journal.
The hidden page was unlike anything before. Its language constantly shifted, one symbol carrying three meanings, another changing depending on where it appeared in a sentence.
Athena repeatedly wrote, erased, wrote again. Mara translated another line. "No," she said, crossing it out. "That isn’t right."
Again. Again. Again.
The palace continued shaking. Outside, the screams suddenly stopped. A strange silence fell.
Then, boooooooooooom!! A shockwave nearly threw all three of them off balance. The windows rattled. Books fell from shelves. The throne itself trembled.
Athena ran toward the balcony. Smoke filled half the city. She couldn’t see what had happened. Only a massive cloud of dust.
She whispered, "Please. Tell me they stopped it."
She forced herself back inside. Blood suddenly dripped onto the page. Her nose. She wiped it away.
"Keep going," she said.
The pressure kept mounting. Athena’s vision blurred. Letters refused to stay still.
Mara suddenly coughed, blood staining her hand.
Athena looked up. "Mara—"
"I’m fine," Mara said.
She wasn’t. Neither of them was. Mental exhaustion began manifesting physically. Every translation became harder. Simple words took minutes. Ancient grammar refused to cooperate.
Athena began reading passages aloud. Again. Again. Again. Trying different pronunciations. Different sentence structures. Nothing fit.
Then a roar. Not from a monster. From the entire city.
Athena rushed to the balcony again. Far in the distance, a pillar of crimson and gold erupted into the sky. The clouds split apart. Heat washed across the palace.
Athena stared. "Kong," she said.
She didn’t know why.
She simply knew.
Somehow that stubborn monkey had done something crazy again.
She smiled. "Keep buying me time," she murmured.
Then she returned to work.
Hours seemed to blur together. Outside, the city continued dying. Inside, the symbols refused to cooperate.
Her thoughts spiraled. If she failed, Arthur’s trust. Sun. Kong. Mithra. Melo. Every Goblin outside. Would have fought for nothing. The city falls. The archives burn. Everything Halburn built disappears forever.
She gripped her head. "I can’t fail," she said. "I won’t fail."
She forced herself to read. Again. Again. Again. Each word. Each sentence. Over and over.
Then a beam of golden light suddenly flashed through the windows. The throne room became golden. Athena instinctively shielded her eyes. A roar unlike anything before echoed through the city.
Mara whispered, "Another monster?"
Athena slowly walked to the balcony. Then she laughed. A golden dragon.
"No," she said. "Reinforcements."
Hope returned. Only for a heartbeat. She immediately rushed back. "We’re close," she said. "I know we’re close."
Even Athy began slowing down. Her vision doubled. The symbols blurred. She crashed onto the papers.
Athena reached toward her. "Athy," she said.
The little bird slowly lifted her head. Another explosion shook the throne room. Another scream echoed outside.
Athy looked toward the doors. Then toward the journal. Her tiny eyes sharpened. She slowly stood and returned to work, pointing, comparing, reading. Again. Again. Again.
Athena smiled through tears. "Thank you," she said.
Mara quietly whispered, "We’re all stubborn."
Then one sentence suddenly made sense.
Athena froze. "Wait," she said.
Mara immediately reread it. "Again," she said.
Athena translated. Another line. Then another. The hidden page wasn’t history. It was instructions. The final contingency of King Halburn. A defense left behind only for the kingdom’s darkest day.
The city itself contained an ancient defense system.
It was the crown itself on the altar.
Athena stopped breathing as she realized this wasn’t a history lesson. It was an instruction manual. She continued reading, all one needs to do is grab onto the crown while it’s still on the throne to activate.
Once activated, the city’s Guardian Golems would return to life. The warriors of the Dawn Kingdom, those who died protecting it, would answer one final call. Not as ghosts but as spiritual guardians carrying the wills they left behind.
Beneath every district sleeps a guardian.
Beneath every tower rests a shield.
Beneath every citizen waits a warrior.
Mara’s breathing quickened. "Athena," she said. "This can save everyone."
Then they reached the activation requirements.
The wearer becomes the temporary ruler of the defense system. But the crown rejected weak minds. Only someone possessing extraordinary willpower and mental strength could activate it.
Otherwise, the defense would never awaken.
Athena looked toward the altar.
The answer had been sitting beside them the entire time.
She immediately tried standing, but her legs collapsed. She crashed beside the altar, only inches away from the crown.
Mara reached for her, but she fell too, and blood spilled across the floor. Their bodies shook uncontrollably as their minds had reached complete exhaustion.
Shock.
She forced her body again, but nothing moved or was listening to her. Not even her fingers listened anymore.
Mara let out another painful cough before blood stained the floor. "...We..." She whispered, her voice trembling. "...We pushed ourselves too far..."
Athena already knew their minds had finally reached their limits. It wasn’t simply exhaustion anymore, but their body being pushed to the point of shock and numbness.
Their thoughts felt numb, and it began slowing down. Their bodies refused every command, and even if they wanted to stand, they couldn’t.
Athena stared at the crown only a half a minute away. "How long..." Her voice shook. "Until we recover?"
Mara didn’t answer, and that was all she needed to know. None of them knew, and that was terrifying to both of them.
Maybe minutes?
Hours?
Every possibility was the same, and that would be them being too late.
Outside...
Another explosion shook the palace, and the screams returned. Even the sounds of buildings collapsing could be heard. The battle hadn’t stopped, and then they heard it, the scream as someone shouted.
"They are pouring in!"
Athena shut her eyes.
Arthur...
Sun...
Kong...
Mithra...
Everyone was still fighting. Still believing she would find a way, and yet she couldn’t even crawl another inch.
A tear rolled down her cheek. "I’m sorry..."
Beside her, Mara silently cried as well. She bit her lip hard enough to draw blood. "We found it..." Another tear fell. "Why couldn’t we be just a little faster..."
Neither of them spoke again.
Only the sounds of war filled the throne room.
For the first time since the siege began, Athena truly believed this city might already be lost. Tears began falling. "We found it," she said. "We were too late."
Then they heard tiny footsteps.
It was Athy.
She was shaking, barely standing.
Athena looked toward her, then toward the crown, and then toward the realization.
"Athy," she said. "The crown is right there."
Athy nodded.
Athena could barely move her lips. "Please," she said. "Save them."
Athy nodded once and flew toward the altar.
The tiny owl didn’t hesitate.
Not even for a heartbeat.
Every flap hurt, and she almost crashed down to the ground. But she kept on flapping her wings, again and again. Then white light began surrounding her; it was soft and gentle.
Evolution.
Athena immediately noticed. "Athy," she said. "You’re evolving."
Athy ignored it and kept flying. Another day she might have celebrated, but today, her partner was counting on her.
Then Athena suddenly remembered another line from the translation. Her exhausted eyes widened. "No," she said.
The defense system needed power.
The moment someone began activating the crown, every reserve inside the city would be diverted into the Kingdom Core. The walls would slowly deactivate, and their reinforcement enchantments would fade.
Athena’s heart nearly stopped. She forced every ounce of strength she had left into one scream.
"ATHY!!"
The little bird turned.
Athena coughed blood. "You have thirty seconds," she said. "Once you touch the crown, the walls begin shutting down. You have to activate the defense before they fall. Thirty seconds or all the beasts rush in."
Athy’s eyes widened, then hardened with determination. She nodded once, and her wings beat even harder. The white light surrounding her grew brighter as the evolution continued.
But Athy never slowed.
Ahead of her, the ancient crown waited. Behind her, an entire kingdom was counting on a tiny bird to save it.