"What was that?" Aelita asks.
"It's a combination of light and dark magic, able to nullify and bypass any defence. I never thought it's even possible!" Grandma answers, then she turns to King Arthur. "Your Majesty, it's no longer safe for you now. Let us handle this situation."
Aelita and John escort King Arthur to safety. "Lita, Vio. Watch out for any powerful magical attacks and counter them with your own."
"Gotcha, Grandma!"
Meanwhile, a vicious melee ensues between Madam Fron, Mr Anwar, and Lady Jessica.
"Genesis: Disintegration!" Lady Jessica screams, creating fields of destruction, fending off the duo.
"Throne of Mercy!" Mr Anwar fires thousands of jade swords at Lady Jessica.
"Twin Dragons!" Madam Fron follows, releasing two great dragons.
"Dark Field!" Lady Jessica exclaims, fielding a barrier to hold off the assault.
"She's getting even stronger," Mr Anwar says.
"Look who's talking," Lady Jessica shoots back.
"We have to kill her here before she becomes too dangerous," Madam Fron declares. "North Flames: Waves of Annihilation!"
"Tornado Guard!"
Lord Luke leaps into action from nowhere, repelling the ocean of blue fire. Madam Fron and Mr Anwar retreat into Pazna. The enemy duo, too, withdraw to the safety of their lines. Artilleries keep on exchanging fire. Irvinian aviation has faltered, but its anti-air defence systems crash multiple enemy machinery to the ground. Sir Cadogan comes to us.
"A thousand more have arrived with the tunnel," he whispers. "How's the situation here?"
"The tide has turned in the enemy's favour," Madam Fron remarks as the first layer of the barrier is stripped off, leaving only the second layer. "Lord Luke has arrived ... at least the vanguard of his army must have too. How about the movement of other armies?"
"Remi Isabelle has gathered some 70,000 men. The rest has not made communications."
Enemy bombardment has stripped away the second layer of barrier, atom by atom. A few hundred veteran mages join us at the front as we prepare a stand. Behind us are machine gun nests and Lutzian elite snipers, as well as several armor pieces, used as pillboxes.
BOOM!
"What is that?"
Lita and I draw our blades. "Behind me," Grandma whispers as she takes in the right flank.
"Fire mages, on my command, unleash your fury," Madam Fron commands.
And they break through, countless undead fiends leading the assault. Wind bullets after wind bullets pass through the air, felling the fiends.
"Now!" Madam Fron bellows, unleashing a sea of fire at the enemy.
A giant ball of fire is fired, throwing back the undead assault. Now the armor units of the Empire are pushing through.
"Disperse!" Madam Fron orders as she and Mr Anwar take on Lady Jessica and Lord Luke. Lita and I swiftly take on the enemy armor columns on the right.
"Ocular Blast!" Lita screams, tearing apart a tank.
Four figures immediately rush forward to confront us. "The Argentum Sentinels ... Vio, be careful."
"The Argentum Sentinels?"
"The Empire's equivalent of the Imperial Guards. But these seem to be the Young Sentinels, so they should be individually weaker than us by quite a margin."
"If we could capture them, it would mean a promotion to Middle or even Old Sentinel!" one of the Sentinels squeals, flaunting her pink hair.
"Calm down, my sister," another hisses. "They are no common foe." She is absurdly tall.
The two male Sentinel position themselves behind, the two females protecting them.
Summoners ....
"Blood Bone Serpent!" I shriek.
"Sister!" the pink-haired one screams.
"Tornado Guard!" The two form a united front, a wall of wind against my burst of energy. Lita outflanks them, her fists, covered in white smoke, charging at them.
But the necromancers have finished their ritual magic and they summon a giant bone golem.
"Blood Avatar!" I instinctively summon my Avatar: a monster to crush another monster.
"Yeah, crush them!" The pink-haired Sentinel cheers as my Avatar raise a blood shield to defend against the golem's punch. The four Sentinels have gathered atop their summon's head as Lita and I have atop mine.
"Sister, don't keep on talking in battle!" the tall Sentinel curses.
"Lita, you ready?" I ask as I notice Lita charging up a spell.
"Yeah. You go first."
I bash the golem's head with the shield, then stab its body with the Avatar's blade. "Now!"
"Grand Nova!"
Lita annihilates the golem with a massive explosive spell. I unleash a blood lightning storm from the jewel on the Avatar's head, destroying the Sentinels. I order my Avatar forward, decimating enemy armor amidst continuous artillery bombardment.
Night falls after six hours of continuous fighting. Both sides, exhausted, have decided for a lull in fighting. Lita and I join the others in the military bunker for an intelligence briefing. We're late.
"We've lost four thousand men," Sir Cadogan begins the report, "but have inflicted at least 40,000 casualties. Our barriers have been taken down, but the line has not been pushed back. 2,000 men has arrived to bolster our defenses."
"Now, bad news: Lady Clarisse has escaped somehow and the barrier generator has been sabotaged."
"What? How could that be?" I ask, aghast.
"There is a traitor among our ranks," King Arthur asserts. "Someone in this very room, who has knowledge of Lady Clarisse being held here and the intricate security of the barrier generator systems."
Everyone immediately eyes each other. The Archdukes look at each other, Madam Fron eyes Princess Seira. Grandma stares at Madam Felicia.
"Well, if I might suggest something," Madam Fron says. "Princess Seira did, unknowingly, as far as we understand, cooperate with the Empire."
"It was an honest mistake," she fought back. "And you were the one who tortured and interrogated her. And you definitely know how to sabotage the defensive barriers."
"It doesn't take much magical expertise to break the passwords ... punching a few dozen buttons on a machine doesn't require the ability to burn down an island."
"If we're talking intelligence, the first to access it would be our own intelligence agency," Grandma says.
"So now you are implicating me?" Madam Felicia says.
"Not you. Maybe one of your subordinates."
"That's not too far-fetched," Madam Felicia admits.
"Please, ladies and gentlemen. I think we're overlooking the obvious suspects here," a general says.
"And who will that be?" Sir Cadogan inquires.
"The Lutzian vampires, of course. Why do we believe that they changed sides in the first place?"
"Because without us, Lord Abel and Lady Caitlyn would be rampaging here, and Violleta Vonville–one of their main targets, remember–would be on their hands. And if they need spies, they will send a lone agent or a small team ... say, someone like Angelita Vonville," Valerie comments.
"You dare!" I shriek.
"Alright, calm down." King Arthur whacks the table with a stick three times. "We will not be divided in this precarious situation. Now we all shall rest."