Will of a Prince

Everyone stood frozen in shock hearing of the absurd news. Lidia especially looked horrified.

"I-Impossible. That can’t possibly be true."

Orvo clenched his teeth and grunted.

"I wish I was lying. It was a report straight from our sentries on top of the wall."

Suddenly, hundreds of large booms ripped through the air. Even while being inside the palace, everyone flinched and covered their heads briefly.

"What the hell is going on?!"

Orvo’s eyes widened.

"It must be coming for the wall. We need to hurry!"

Everyone sprinted towards their rooms to put on their armor before following Orvo outside of the palace. Steel looked especially angry while he stretched his arms.

"Where the hell is Lee when you need him?! Bastard always disappears when he wants!"

As they ran out into the kingdom’s streets, onlookers were all staring at the wall, mortified of what was happening just beyond them. Avala charged ahead of everyone to calm the crowds.

"Everyone, get back to your homes and take cover! We have everything under control, but we don’t want any of you caught in the crossfire! Understand?!"

Chaos spread through the streets. People scattered around back towards their homes with no time to waste. It was not the calmest method, but it was easily the most efficient.

Gabriel walked next to Avala and stared up at the top of the wall. Avala could tell something was on his mind.

"What’s wrong, Gabriel?"

Gabriel squinted his eyes and used his hand to block the sun from getting into them as he continued to stare.

"It’s gone quiet. The sentries aren’t shooting."

Avala’s eyes widened.

Suddenly, an earth-shattering boom echoed across the sky, followed by a massive shockwave, kicking up rocks and debris as it passed. The indestructible wall in front of them, was now being shredded apart right down the middle with ease. To add to the destruction, each side of the walls began to sway backwards.

Lucy grunted, locked her arm around Bart’s arm, and shouted at Lidia while running towards her.

"Miss Lidia!"

Lidia looked her way and read her intent easily. She bent down and steadied her hands, allowing Lucy to let her feet settle in them. Using a good amount of strength, Lidia sent the pair flying towards the swaying walls through the air.

While Lucy and Bart Locked on arm, each of them held out their free one, readying a combined power.

"Release!"

"Release!"

Suddenly, dozens of onyx pillars shot into the backs of the wall, supporting them desperately so they wouldn’t collapse on the kingdom. However, even with their combined strength, that was all they could manage. The wall was simply too strong and vast to completely seal it. Even being one of the best blacksmiths with months of training under her belt, it was simply too tall of a task without any preparation.

With that, the entire group looked on in horror at the split. For the first time in Paria Empire’s history, its walls had been breached.

Not only that...

"No... It can’t be."

Loud cheering could be heard flowing through the wall. Enny shook a little seeing the situation unfold. She came to this kingdom to escape war, and yet war had found her anyway.

Slimo heard a low voice grumble behind them.

"So, today is finally the day, huh?"

It was the emperor. It was clear that age was taking a toll on him. His movements were much slower and more calculated than they were months ago when Maria saw him.

"If they are attacking this suddenly with this much ferocity, it means they are desperate."

He laughed under his breath.

"I mean, who wouldn’t be when we managed to take over half of their land in the span of a few months. But still... a suicide charge? That emperor has lost his mind."

Slimo looked back at his dad.

"Sit this one out, old man. No offense, but I have a personal reason to keep you alive, even if you still hate me."

"I may be old, but I am much wiser and more experienced than you."

Slimo picked up his dad and started walking away with him effortlessly.

"Go take a nap or something."

The emperor fumbled in his grasp.

"Why you little-! Avala! Make him stop! Avala!"

Avala pretended not to hear her father’s pleas and looked forward at the threat in front of her.

"Me and Gabriel will take charge on the front. Everyone else can decide what they want to do. Stick to your usual pairs and be on the lookout for Zalo powers."

Everyone nodded their head and started paring up. Steel climbed on top of Bo and turned invisible with him. Harold looked at Abby with a strangely confident look. Abby nodded her head in agreement.

"I think it’s time to test it out, Harold. I’ll be right by your side the whole way."

Abby jumped on Harold’s back and they zipped away, leaving only dust behind. Zoey grabbed on to Serena’s hand and puffed out her chest confidently.

"YAH! LET ME AND SERENA GO CRAZY ON THESE BASTARDS!!"

"Let’s save our transformation until we get a scale of what we’re dealing with."

Slimo had come back from carrying his father away. Lidia grabbed his shoulder and nodded.

"Where did you put him?"

"Tied him to a post up there. He’s totally going to kill me if we survive this!"

"Why didn’t he use his Zalo on you?"

Slimo smirked and lifted up a charm Enki gave him while giggling devilishly.

"You should have seen the distraught look on his face when it didn’t work! Enki’s charms sure are the greatest!"

"Please don’t tell me the drawback is important."

"Not really. I simply can’t eat anything for the next day or so."

Luna ended up pairing herself with Orvo since Lee was nowhere to be seen. Sarah ran towards the front with Avala and Gabriel. That only left Squabee and Enny standing next to each other. Squabee looked at Enny confused.

"I heard a bit about you from Sarah. Nice to meet you, I’m Squabee. I wish we could have more time to chat, but I think I need to fight now, so... see you later!"

Enny reached out for Squabee as she tried to run away.

"W-Wait a second!"

Squabee stopped and looked back at her confused.

"Hm? What is it?"

"Aren’t you going to ask me to fight?"

Squabee raised her eyebrow.

"Fight? Why would I ask you to do such a crazy thing? Look at the state our walls are in!"

Enny’s face dropped.

"But... if Sarah... the Butcherer told you about me, then you must know-"

"I don’t give a damn if you have a power or not. I’m not your boss or your puppet master. Choose to do what you will with it!"

Squabee turned around and ran away, leaving Enny stuck on what she should do. At face value, it was clear that she should help the people who had spared her and were nice enough to take her in. Not only that, but she would also be saving the lives of countless Paria citizens. However, she would also be saving the very people she called enemies for years. She had lost countless friends to this empire. But most importantly, she was absolutely through with fighting. Or rather, through with fighting for someone other than herself.

The dilemma that she was facing was: if she went out and fought now, would she be fighting for herself or because she would feel guilty otherwise? She continued pondering her true feelings for three moments before finally coming to a decision. She sighed heavily and began to walk.

Meanwhile, at the crack of the wall, Avala and Gabriel were already staring down the ocean of soldiers that were stationed in front of them. This was the largest group of people either of them had seen formed together at once. There were easily more than a million bodies here craving bloodshed. Avala didn’t mean to, but she reached out to hold Gabriel’s hand. However, Gabriel dismissed it and walked forward confidently. His heart began to thump like crazy in his chest.

However, it was not from fear. It was from excitement.

There was a large man donned in a royal armor standing at the head of the army. His expression was unreadable under his visor, but his killing intent was thick enough to almost make Gabriel claustrophobic.

"So, you’ve decided to take the fight to us, huh? Am I to assume you were the one who took out that leviathan sitting in our yard?"

No response.

Avala walked up next to Gabriel with a mean expression.

"You and your people will die. My only mercy is giving you all one chance to surrender before we make your people no more than a memory of this world."

Silence once more. However, the large soldier prepared himself in a battle stance. Avala looked at Gabriel, who met he gaze and nodded.

"Goodbye, Monlo Empire."

And with that, the final war for humanity had officially begun... or so they all thought. Right as Gabriel reeled through his opponent, his weapon simply phased though their body, causing him to stumble forward. Similarly, all around him, everyone began to drop on to the soldiers like crazy, sending attacks all across the battlefield. However, nothing was happening to the soldiers. It was as if...

Zoey sent her flames outward in a large area. However, once she stopped them, the people were still unaffected. She took off her visor and left it hanging by her side.

"An... illusion?"

Suddenly, the claw of a beast sliced its way directly through the back of Zoey, going straight through her heart. Zoey dangled on the beasts claw lifelessly. Time seemed to stand still. Everyone turned their heads towards the screaming coming from Serena’s mouth. This beast, this monster, whatever it was, appeared faster than any of them could realize.

Suddenly...

CRACK

A massive steel cart with sharp spikes attached to the front rammed into the monster, causing it to stumble slightly and fall over from the momentum. Attached to cart was none other than Harold, with Abby piloting it with a dark expression of hate.

Zoey managed to slide off the beast’s finger before dropping completely still in the grass. With that, Serena’s wail shrouded the surrounding area.

"ZOEY!!"