Realms of Magic: Demon Invasion

78. March on Batavia

Madam Fron and Mr Anwar fetch a warbird: a new air machine shaped like a bird (surprising, isn't it?). We enter and sit in the central lounge as our pilot navigates the warbird.

"Alright, so what is happening now, exactly?" Aelita asks brashly.

Madam Fron, sitting across us, sighs. She briefly nods at Grandma and Mr Anwar, who return her nod.

"Alright, you deserve to know about this. Remember the dimension-opening machine I told you? The one that needs the Sacred Gems to run?"

"Yeah."

"We stole the machine and stored it below the Imperial Palace in Batavia," Madam Fron asserts. "If they capture it and the Yellow Gem, we're done for."

"The Yellow Gem's there, too?" I, aghast, ask.

"No, of course."

It is a mere hour later when a radio transmission appears.

"Unknown aircraft, you are ordered to land now. I repeat, land now."

"Damn it!" The pilot curses. "Madam Moonray, there are two warbirds behind us!"

"Don't worry about them," Grandma declares. She nudges her walking stick on the floor. A mana bubble forms around our warbird. Batavia lies nearly below us. Hundreds of thousands of civilians are protesting in front of the Palace, held back by a line of policemen.

"Careful there. There are one Class VI and one Class V mages in the Imperial Palace."

Class VI? I thought the highest rank is Class V!

"Class VI mage ... so some of them have broken through our ranking systems, just as Anwar and I have," Madam Fron remarks.

Madam Fron, Mr Anwar, John, and I grow our wings. Aelita prepares two griffins. Mr Anwar coats Archduke Windwood with a magical protection as the exit meant for paratroopers opens.

"Let's go!"

We fly straight at the Imperial Palace. Grandma hurls a small mana bomb, blasting apart its glass window imbued with magic. We push through, landing on a massive chamber in the Palace.

"You!"

The thousands of Irvinian guards turn their rifle muzzles to our direction. Archduke Isabelle and Archduke Royard are signing a piece of paper, watched by the Princess of Terror and Lady Jessica.

"Not on my watch!" Madam Fron barks, hurling a wave of ice blades at the foursome.

"Dark Field!" Lady Jessica conjures a dark shield. "Hurry up!"

"Deva: Ruyi Jingu Bang!" Mr Anwar summons his staff. It enlarges hundredfold, destroying the barrier.

"Armageddon!" Grandma hurls a few mana bombs, exploding in front of the two women's faces.

"Blood Chains!" I grab the papers with my spell, and then I tear them into pieces.

Lady Jessica and the Princess of Terror exchange glances. "Dark Salvo!" both exclaim.

"Way of the Preta!" Mr Anwar leaps in front of us, physically blocking the torrent of arrows as the duo escapes.

And then there is awkward silence. Both Archduke Royard and Archduke Luxor has been killed in the scuffle and now the Irvinian guards (to be fair, almost all of us) don't seem to understand what is going on.

Sir Cadogan steps in. "If any of you will shoot their Grand General, here I am."

Almost immediately, the riflemen raises their rifles. An officer walks from their ranks, saluting Sir Cadogan.

"Where is Queen Seira?" Sir Cadogan asks.

"Her Majesty Queen Seira has gone missing, Sir."

"Sir Cadogan, Archduke Windwood, go ahead and quell the protestors," Madam Fron whispers. "The rest of us will investigate the Palace's underground chamber."

Sir Cadogan nods. "Men, follow me!" He leads the troops out of the Palace.

Madam Fron, Mr Anwar, and Grandma rush to the highest floor of the Palace. We follow suit. We barge into the empty Throne Chamber.

Madam Fron, Mr Anwar, and Grandma simultaneously chant a magic spell, causing the throne to move backwards, revealing a secret tunnel, perhaps three metres wide.

"Whew, what a secret entrance," Aelita comments. We slide into the metal coated tunnel. Shock overcomes us.

"King Arthur! Seira!"

King Arthur is held in some kind of magical bubble. Queen (or should it be Princess now?) Seira has her mouth gagged and her arms and legs bound with rope. Three corpses are scattered in the room.

King Arthur! So he's in here all along? And what's happened to his daughter?

Grandma undoes Queen Seira's ropes and cuts off the gag. Mr Anwar dispels the bubble. Meanwhile, Madam Fron rushes right at a massive chest in the middle of the chamber and opens it.

"Damn it! They took it!" Madam Fron curses. She, Lita and I check on Queen Seira.

"What happened here? Where's the machine?" Madam Fron grabs her by the collar, only to be stopped by Grandma.

"I'm sorry ...," she whispers, "I was a fool. They played me. Archduke Royard and Archduke Isabelle stole power and imprisoned me here. I never thought they were in cohorts with the Empire to topple me. The-the machine–I don't know."

"Naive idiot," Madam Fron mumbles to the air.

I have to say I kind of agree.

Then we move on to King Arthur. Mr Anwar has returned his consciousness, holding him in his arms. "Your Majesty! Are you fine? What happened to you?" Madam Fron blurts out.

"I'm fine," King Arthur says as he stands up, "thank you, Anwar."

"I was fooled, too," he says. "I received a letter from the Order's members inviting me to a meeting here, so I brought with me the First Imperial Guard Division. We were ambushed by two demon Lords and the Imperial Guards were killed. They imprisoned me in that bubble."

"So that was a fake letter," Mr Anwar says. King Arthur nods.

"But-but Alice said the Empire didn't know about this!" Aelita exclaims.

"That must have been a diversionary tactic to make us believe they don't," Madam Fron asserts. "Your Majesty, please allow us to bring you back to Batavia proper. The situation has developed to the enemy's favour. Al-Azhar and Francia have fallen while our armies are in disarray. The enemy has stepped onto our lands."

"Then let us hurry to the Palace," King Arthur says, "what have I missed?"