Second Time's a Charm (MxM)✔

Chapter 50 - Battle

The mansion was buzzing with activity. As soon as the trio arrived, Cain began barking orders to the staff, letting them all know what was about to come.

Serena and two other girls darted off to the laboratory wing, a little too excitedly, while a handful of servants carried weapons and took up stations around the house. It wasn't like Cain believed that the Emperor's army would ever reach the house, but the royal family had managed to destroy the forest and kill the dryad in his previous life, so this time around he didn't want to take any chances.

Not a single one of them paid much attention to Maddox, who stood idly by and watched as Cain took charge. There was no time for introductions and they had to move fast.

He'd ordered Catalina to hurry off towards New Ashbury and get a look at how many guards were stationed there. While he waited on her return, he summoned Norton to get a total count of all their weapons that he'd stockpiled over the years.

"There should be more than enough." Norton handed over the ledger, listing all recent purchases and dates. "The girls have had the ingredients from the last shipment for weeks. I'm certain they've already developed more than enough."

"Good. And the men?"

"We have a few dozen trained men on standby," Doren answered this time, stepping up in his butler attire with a hand folded behind his back. The man had taken to being a butler rather well over the past three years and was much less rough around the edges. With the increase in staff, he no longer had to worry about cooking meals himself or doing the laundry. He merely had to give the order to the other servants and make sure they did their job while attending to Cain personally whenever he was home. "We may not have enough to defeat a whole army, but with their skills, they should be able to take a good number of the enemy down with them."

"Hopefully it will not come to that," Cain remarked and turned towards Maddox who had approached purposefully.

"If you need more soldiers-"

Cain raised a hand, stopping the villain from finishing his sentence. "We are more than prepared. The only circumstance in which we'll need your demons would be a dire one. I do not even plan on having Catalina fight."

Maddox quirked an eyebrow but did not argue and continued to observe.

After taking note of a few more provisions, Catalina returned in a shadowy mass, taking full size and returning to her true form, bone armor and all. "There are at least a hundred guards stationed around New Ashbury, and the Emperor's army is on the horizon. They'll be at the forest edge soon."

"Are they taking the roads?"

She grinned. "Indeed. Just as you suspected."

Cain thought he'd avoided the Emperor's attack on the forest by taking it over himself, but in the end, all he did was delay the inevitable, which was why he knew exactly what to expect.

"Then I believe it's time we go to greet our new guests." Cain quickly summoned a servant to help him put on his armor. He made sure the green tabard that went over the chest piece would proudly display the Brooks family crest, with the wolf and two oak trees. The engravings on his armor reflected tree branches, with the wings of his helmet being replaced by leaves.

Maddox, again, stayed close while also remaining out of the way. He'd picked up on the fact that Cain had prepared for this and was curious exactly what trick he had up his sleeve to be so neutral about his fight against the Emperor's army.

Only a dozen armored servants went with him. They were the ones he felt most confident in their combat ability so that if things went wrong, they'd be able to hold their ground while one of them would run back and signal the mansion for evacuation.