Realms of Magic: Demon Invasion

90. Hero of Elaise

"Madam Fron?" I mutter. 

Madam Fron appears out of nowhere, her glaive at hand. "Sorry, I'm late. But you are a better bait than I thought."

"Bait?"

"Oh, please. Do you think Pierre and I wouldn't suspect a trap? Nobody casually mentions a dungeon below a tower."

"Hmph!" Lady Sakurako quickly leaps toward the cell. 

"Oh no you don't!" Madam Fron, now in her half-butterfly form, casts another wall of ice, blocking Lady Sakurako's path. "Go ahead, Vio. I'll handle her."

"Got it."

"No! Fireball Cannon!" Lady Sakurako hurls a massive fireball at me.

"Quintuple Flamethrower!" Madam Fron unleashes a sea of fire from her mouth and bird heads on her wings, completely engulfing Lady Sakurako and her fireball. 

I break through part of the ice wall in front of the cell and cut open the bars. "You're Michel the Younger's wife, aren't you?" I ask hastily. She weakly but quickly nods.

Cutting off the restrains, I lay her on my back. "I'm leaving first!" I declare. Madam Fron is locking blades with Lady Sakurako.

"Not so fast!"

"I'm your opponent, young lady!"

With Lady Sakurako physically restrained, I propel myself to the air. I take my leave. In a few minutes, as I fly, I meet Madam Fron again.

"She slipped away," she explains. "But our mission is done here."

We hurry back to the headquarters. To my surprise, King Michel the Elder is here, speaking to an orb.

"Here she is, Your Majesty," Madam Fron says, to the King's delight.

"Brother, here is your wife," he declares. "She is safe."

"Then we can end this war. Brother, let us join forces against the demons."

"Our job here is done. Let's return to Irvine and allow our diplomats to navigate through the diplomatic fluff," Madam Fron whispers.

"Now?"

"Yes."

Without a word, we withdraw from Elaise. The warhawk silently travels back to Irvine. "Why the hurry?" I ask.

"What? Do you want to hang around Elaise a bit more?"

"I wouldn't mind if Lita and others were there."

"It's because Irvine requests us to be back quickly," Madam Fron says. "You'll support Remi and Arctus."

"Oh, I see."

"By leading an army."

"... that again?"

"Hey, it's pretty common for elite mages to lead armies. Your grandma, for one, is an excellent defensive general."

"Yeah, yeah. Don't equate me with Grandma."

"Our armies are swelling after Mirakarta, but officers don't grow out of nowhere."

Madam Fron detaches herself from the warhawk half an hour later. The warhawk itself lands somewhere in Irvine; an urban city, some of its buildings destroyed. Mirakarta!

"John! Aelita!" I gasp as the two rushes towards me.

"Vio! It's been a while!" Aelita smiles broadly.

"Aelita! Yeah, it has been," I say. "What are you two doing here?"

"Oh, well, you're leading an army, aren't you?" Aelita asks. "We're part of it."

"Yup."

Lita walks calmly from the distance. She leaps, hugging me. "I'm glad you're fine."

"Me too. What have you been doing recently?" I ask.

"Oh, nothing much, really. A few ambushes here and there," Lita answers. "But we've got new orders now, haven't we?"

"Yeah."

Aelita, John, and Lita escort me to my new headquarters. "We have to move now. High Command needs us to reinforce Remi."

"Alright. Let's move out now," I say. "How many do we have?"

"About 120,000," Lita answers while Aelita and John scatter to deliver my order. 

120,000 ... that's just over half what I was given in Elaise. Well, that should mean my job is easier here. 

"I'm surprised there's even an army here," I say. "Last time I was here, Irvine was desperate for men."

"Let's just say people don't like seeing Mirakarta massacred," Lita says. I wear my white ribbon once again. 

"What's our mission?" I ask Lita while she sheathes her blade.

"The Port City of Trest fell to the Lady Clarisse's army a few days ago. Now Mr Arctus' fleet cannot land their troops. We have to retake Trest."

"Lady Clarisse, huh? How many does she have?" I ask.

"200,000, at least."

Not good ....

My new army is equipped with heavy equipment, but it is foolishly not fully motorized. I separate it into two; 40,000 lightly armed vanguard that I lead myself, while Aelita, John, and Lita handle the rest. One rainy week passes without much drama. My vanguard arrives at Remi's camp, but the rest of the army lags behind. 

As my soldiers set up their own camp, just next to Remi's, I visit her. Remi's men allow me to pass to her tent.

"Remi, are you here?" 

"Oh, Vio. You've arrived!" Remi walks from behind me, holding a piece of parchment. She smirks; so very typical of her.

"Yeah, I have. We're going to retake Trest, right?"

"Right. I have their plans here," Remi says. "Let's read it together."

"You have intel on them? How come?"

"We routed their rearguard yesterday and captured an officer."

Remi and I enter the tent. Remi opens the parchment. "Hmm ... it would seem that Lady Clarisse's army has no purpose other than crushing ours," Remi says. "But we have to take Trest no matter what. Your army has siege weapons, right?"

"They've yet to come," I say. "You know how slow they are."

"Then we'll wait. There's no hurry. Mr Arctus' fleet hasn't arrived yet, either. If anything, the timing is fortunate."

It is another week before the first siege weapons arrive. And it is another three days before the bulk of my army arrives in full. With Lady Clarisse's army passively waiting at Trest, it is our turn to move.

I revisit Remi's tent.