The Guardians' Throne - The First Magic Swordsman

While Drannor and Noemi were trying to get closer to Milliendra, Zaos and Aleni were approaching the capital of the Sairus kingdom. The Brien army was forced to retreat at some point, but several other smaller ones began to follow Zaos and the others. Still, they never attacked. On the day Zaos' group finally could see the capital in the distance, he decided to stop and camp even though it was noon.

"Are we expecting someone?" Aleni asked.

"Since we can't see an army blocking our path, I believe that the people there have other plans for us," Zaos said. "In any case, they will probably send one of my old friends to talk to me before doing anything."

"If I were them, I would have allocated an army here," Aleni said.

"That is because you aren't an aristocrat," Zaos said. "They also need to worry about appearances… no matter what happens, they can't let the population see the nobles and their armies being defeated by a smaller enemy. Otherwise, the population won't feel the need to follow them."

"It looks like the life of nobles really is a pain in the ass," Aleni said.

  In the end, the group waited for a full day before they finally had the chance to see the gates of the capital opening and see a small group leaving the place and heading toward them. It took a while, but Zaos eventually managed to Cohnal, Nyana, and Melisse approaching alongside a squad of heavy infantry… didn't they already learn that heavy infantry was useless against him? Probably someone who had never been on a battlefield sent them.

"When we least expect you, you always appear, huh," Cohnal said. "Aren't you going to unleash your fury upon the kingdom after what happened?" 

"I already did it, and I am making sure that I won't be fooled again," Zaos said. "By the way, how do you feel about being treated like bait?" 

"Not good at all, kids who are young enough to be my kids are causing too many headaches, and I feel like retiring," Cohnal replied. "Fortunately, our future king fooled everyone, so I decided to stick around for a while longer."

"Enough with that… is it true that the mercenaries that you thought that were your allies joined side with Drannor and captured Ameria's daughter?" Melisse asked.

"Yes… but I am the only one to blame for that," Zaos said. "Since I failed miserably, I want to change the way I will do things from now on. In preparation for the demon god's return, I want to talk with the king."

"That is not going to happen," Nyana said. "Not a single army will let you get close to any member of the royal family."

"Well, if I won't be invited, then I will talk with them the same way after invading the castle," Zaos said. "Tell them that and that I am going to tell everything regarding Ameria's death."

The soldiers behind those three heard that, but as expected, they could only see those words as bait to make everyone drop their guards, and then Zaos will try to kill the rest of the royal family while he also looks for traces of Milliendra. That kind of thing was starting to get old, but in the end, Zaos was also getting used to the mistrust.

"You act like you want to negotiate, but then you say something like that…" Cohnal said and then sighed. "I will pass the message to our superiors and see if we can convince them, but then don't expect too much. Besides, you don't have anything to make them believe you or force them to listen to you since the princess is no longer with you."

"Maybe I can help with the persuasion. Who is your current superior?" Zaos asked.

"... Your father," Cohnal replied after another sigh.

Zaos felt like sighing, too, of all people in the world. Perhaps only Laiex had more reasons to hate him more than Drannor. He brought shame to the name of his family that had been working for the royal family for two thousand years by deserting, killing Ameria, and kidnapping her daughter. Not to mention, he killed the king and the queen of another country.

Persuading his father was impossible… or even the royal family for that matter. Zaos needed something to convince them… soon after, Cohnal and the others returned to the capital, and Zaos pondered about what he should do now. Defeating a demon-like, he did in the mercenary's country in front of others would work. Still, he doubted that he would find any lurking in the capital… and lesser ones couldn't transform, so nothing would change even if he finds them.

Regardless, Zaos wasn't crazy enough to wait for an invitation and then get a surprise attack on the next day, so when night came, he left the camp alongside Aleni without giving the soldiers who were watching them the chance to notice anything. While Cohnal asked him to wait, he should have gotten a good reply on the same day… if he had received one. Using the darkness of the night, they reached the capital two hours later, and while they tried to use the sewers, they realized that those routes had been sealed by new and thicker iron bars. While Zaos could destroy it, it was hard to say if that was the only thing in the path on that route. Entering the castle from above would be difficult, but it was probably the safest option.

"How is your body?" Zaos asked.

"One hundred percent fine," Aleni replied.

"I don't think that we will have to fight if we do this well, but just in case, we should prepare ourselves," Zaos said and then passed some magic rings to Aleni that could be used to enhance her body and heal her wounds. 

Once that was done, they climbed the walls of the capital. Both of them felt a powerful sense of nostalgia...