Realms of Magic: Demon Invasion

77. She Returns

The Princess of Terror lands gracefully in front of Dita's shattered body. An agent of hers carries Dita away.

"What two excellent bargaining chips I've found. Dark Salvo!"

Dark energy arrows bring down my Avatar. Luckily, Lita and I manage to land on a nearby ruined building.

The Princess of Terror draws her sword, dashing forward. She raises her knee, disarming me. She grabs us by our necks, pushing us down to the ground.

Even though I've gone this far, am I still not a match? But I have to save Lita, at the very least, at all costs ....

Merango, lend me your power!

"Explosive Marks: 72 Marks!"

This voice!

The figure taps the Princess of Terror's stomach repeatedly, causing a massive explosion. A strong kick to the chest pushes her back.

"Don't you dare touch my granddaughters!" Grandma balks.

Grandma!

Lita and I rise up slowly, clenching our nearly-crushed throats.

"Grandma!" Lita yells.

"Are you two okay?" she barks, turning her back on her foe.

"No problem!" We both reply.

Grandma faces the Princess of Terror, drawing her blade from inside her walking stick before tossing the latter away.

"You know who the superior mage is, Vanya," the Princess of Terror coldly declares. "Why throw away your life like that?"

"Heh. Do you think you can take on all nine of us?" Grandma asks. John and Joe appears from behind (strangely enough, Joe is carrying a woman and their hands are bloody). Remi dashes to in front of us. The White Mask Division marches from the flanks.

"Bone Golem!"

The Princess of Terror summons a golem before she transforms into a bat, fleeing.

"Armageddon!" Grandma hurls a few balls of light, blasting apart the golem.  She turns her back, smiling.

"It's been so long ... Lita."

Lita bursts to tears, leaning herself on Grandma. Grandma hugs her tightly, squeezing Lita's stomach.

"I'm sorry, Grandma, I'm so sorry ...."

I hug them both from the side. "I miss you, Grandma."

"Me too."

"Whew. The Vonvilles are always so stubborn."

"Madam Fron?"

Madam Fron, Mr Anwar, Mr Arctus, and Mr Charles approach us. A few others trail behind. All of them wear cloaks.

"Why are you here?" I ask, breaking off the hug.

"Let's talk in a safer place."

They turn back, walking towards Remi's bunker. I approach John and Joe, the former of whom is carrying a woman.

"Hey, who's that?" I ask.

"My mother," Joe replies in a low voice, "my father pimped her out. I killed him."

Whew ....

We all descend to the bunker. "So, Grandma," I say, "where were you all this time?"

"Oh, there were some discreet operations I had to do," Grandma replies. "Ah, it's been so long since I saw you two. Especially you, Lita."

We all meet at the headquarters of the bunker, separated by a giant table. Madam Felicia puts her hood down.

"I didn't expect anything this drastic to happen," she begins.

"Neither did I," Madam Fron says.

"What? What is happening?" I ask.

"Whelps, you better listen yourself." Madam Fron retrieves an orb from her pocket.

"The deaths of Lady Caitlyn, Lord Eugene, and Lord Abel have been too devastating. We can't continue the war like this!" Lady Clarisse argues.

"But to retreat now would be a sign of weakness," Lady Jessica replies. "The Princess of Terror would turn on us immediately. We must push on to Irvine. As long as Crown and other agents are still in power, we could disrupt the formation of the national armies."

"Perhaps so," Lord Elliot chimes in. "But what about the Order? They would make a stand in Irvine."

"Exactly my point. Let them defend Irvine with sixty thousand loyalists and one hundred thirty thousand soldiers of the provincial armies. It would be a massive momentum to crush the Order," Lady Jessica replies.

"Lady Clarisse, you will command the vanguard. I will lead the main army itself, while Lord Luke will be in charge of the central army," Lady Jessica continues.

"Yes! My first independent command!" Lady Clarisse whispers to herself.

The orb's recording ends there. "Those bastards got us right. We can't give up Irvine without a fight."

"But at least we intercepted their plan," Mr Arctus says. "Deliver this to Queen Seira and she won't be able to refuse us."

"My spies say she's missing," Madam Felicia reports. "Apparently Archduke Isabelle and Archduke Royard have been running things recently."

"Whew. That's strange."

All of a sudden, Remi bursts in. "Everyone! Turn on the television!"

Almost instinctively, Mr Anwar does so.

"Yes. Here is the official order from Queen Seira with her signature. We are declaring a national emergency regarding the situation on our northern borders. Our agreement is for a joint government with the Golden Empire in the northern parts of Irvine. In exchange they would assist our war efforts ...."

What?

"The audacity of those bastards!" Madam Fron and Mr Charles, simultaneously, bang the table. They rise.

"We couldn't let them do this!" Grandma screams a second later.

"Batavia would be the new capital of the joint government, while the capital of Irvine proper will be moved."

Now all of the Order rises up in shock. "What? What is happening?" I ask.

"Batavia ... the Empire will have access to Batavia!" Mr Anwar loses his signature calm.

"We've got no time to waste. Archduke Windwood, Archduke Luxor, how many men do you have in the provincial armies?" Madam Fron asks.

"Four corps of 30,000 each, all battle-ready with their own armor and artillery units," Archduke Windwood answers.

"To bring forth an army from Mirakarta to Batavia would take too much time," Mr Anwar disrupts. "Fronica, you, Vanya, and I should go to Batavia immediately. Archduke Windwood, we'll require a political figure to bring order so you should join us. Sir Cadogan, I think it will be useful for you to control the military in Batavia."

"Alright. I'll bring along Vio and Lita," Grandma insists.

"Might as well bring the Twelfth," Madam Fron adds. "The Thirteenth will stay here. We've got only 40,000 here; let them raise more troops. Arctus, Charles, pick up the provincial armies and march with them to Batavia."

Everyone nods. "Come on, follow me!" Madam Fron gestures at us.

"What? What are we doing?"

"I'll explain later. FOLLOW ME, NOW!"