***One week later.The troops from the southern region came sooner than expected. They came through Sarastrea City until they reached Valestria. The number was as Tobias had expected, around 20,000 troops.Gunnar and the other two captains were ready. They had gone to reconnoiter the three cities, only Leafvile was under extra guard, while Rachdale and Edinburgh were not so much.Valestria's white palace was halfway through the repair process, some parts of the room were usable, some were not. Now, Tobias and the other captains were able to use Valestria's white palace as the place where they ran the city government.Currently, Tobias was standing alone on the third floor balcony of the palace, a place where the royal family of Equestria used to greet their citizens. The young man's eyes clearly saw the 20,000-man army march in from the southern gate of the city.In line with the troops, Tobias saw three horse-drawn carriages running simultaneously, no one ahead of the other.Adrian
***Three days later.All preparations had been made, from the availability of weapons to the readiness of soldiers for battle. Gunnar, Laura, and Edgar led their own troops, Gunnar in charge of Leafvile, Edgar in charge of Rachdale, and Laura the rest.Just before leaving, the three captains were briefed by Tobias and Leonora in the meeting room of Valestria's white palace. This was important so that the three of them knew the priority that must be prioritized: the safety of the citizens of the city."You still have to prioritize the safety of the townspeople. Give them a chance to surrender," Tobias said.He sat next to Leonora. Their presence was important to show the existence of the King and Queen of the Jiyu Kingdom, even though the two were still engaged and not yet organizing an official wedding."As always, negotiations must be done at the beginning. If it doesn't work, then make sure the townspeople have a safe evacuation route," T
Tobias and Leonora were still sitting on their horses. Tobias told Adrian alone to ride up to the people before him because none of them intended to ride up to Tobias.Just as Adrian rode up on his horse, several Norman Royal Army archers appeared to be preparing. They were holding bows with arrows stored in the centre, ready to unleash an attack as ordered by their squad leader."They seem to be preparing with their arrows," Leonora explained. Both of the woman's eyes could watch the movements of the enemy troops from a distance.The atmosphere grew more tense as the wind grew stronger, blowing leaves down on the spot, even tossing Leonora's long hair to the side.Even though they had taken such a stand, Tobias committed that none of Jiyu's troops should retaliate by taking up arms.Aside from the tense moment, Tobias was also quite fed up with fighting with humans just to satisfy their power. He only wants to create a safe peace for his people an
"What's happening?!" groaned King Norman, feeling so scared after realizing the power was much stronger than he had imagined. "I don't know, Your Majesty. We'd better get going before something bad-" "AKH!" Tobias held Leonora's hand tightly, creating a giant shadow of a gold-coloured katana-wielding knight, almost matching the height of Valestria's city walls. Tobias' immense strength caused the people around him to bounce away, except for Leonora, who Tobias deliberately pulled closer to him, precisely into the giant golden shadow of the knight. "What is this power, Tobias?" asked Leonora, both amazed and afraid. "This is my power that defeated the Valestrian army. However, this much power will greatly impact my condition," said Tobias, explaining in detail. "Oh, so this is why you fainted for so many days," Leonora said, fully understanding the effects of that power. Tobias cleared his throat. Now, he focused his aim forward, precisely on the thousands of Norman troops who h
Although his condition was not as good as before, thanks to Leonora's help, Tobias was able to maintain his consciousness and not faint after using the divine power. Tobias' strength was beyond the expectation of Norman and his soldiers. They never thought King Jiyu had abilities beyond human reason. Jiyu's soldiers began to take thousands of Norman soldiers into custody. The number of Norman soldiers reaching thousands of people made it difficult for the Jiyu soldiers to imprison them in the city prison. The best option was to gather them in a large field. One of the soldiers seemed to be in charge of bringing King Lucius to be held in the city prison, along with the five troop commanders who were with him. The man could only sit listlessly, striding handcuffed like a criminal towards Valestria. Adrian walked up to Tobias with King Lucius' coat and crown. Tobias told Adrian to do that so that the townspeople of Valestria would not give wild speculations about the man's identity. "
"What should we do now?" asked Leonora, curious.Tobias looked at Leonora and then at Karin. As the King of the Jiyu Kingdom, Tobias had to immediately convey his orders to address the current events. Leonora was worried that if Jiyu gave orders late, the mythological army would continue to push in and invade Atrea's territory."Send a message to Stratham. Concentrate all of Jiyu's troops at the border gate, withdraw troops from the kingdom's borders and focus on holding back the mythological kingdom's advance," Tobias explained.Karin listened carefully. She went alone out of the throne room to reach the palace post room, where she had originally gotten the letter from Liam sent to him."Our focus is now split between Norman, Equestria, and Mythology. We can't withdraw the invading forces in the three cities of Equestria, nor can we use the Norman forces we've been holding back," Tobias explained."So, what should we do?" asked Leonora, curious.
"Where are you going, Your Majesty?" someone asked.The man arrived at the palace to collect a file containing the soldiers' personal data, along with the exact number of Norman soldiers that Jiyu captured. It was Adrian, the man who was about to deliver the documents to the city administration office, which was now working near the White Palace of Valestria.Tobias was caught in the middle of preparing his equipment and strapping it onto the black horse that would be his mount. His appearance that night was much different than before. He wore a noble shirt covered by a knee-length black coat, with a black hood covering his head and face.However, Adrian could easily figure it out, apart from posture also behavior. After Karin's news that the Mythology army was trying to push through in the Western region, the man's attention was immediately drawn to Tobias.Tobias' actions were in line with what Adrian had expected. The man would act alone amid Jiyu's di
***The next day.Leonora woke up from her sleep with a feeling of happiness covering her heart. Her eyes opened, turning to the side where she couldn't find Tobias. The woman only saw sunlight coming in through the open window, warming her body and the mattress where she lay last night."Tobias?" call Leonora.No response at all. Leonora didn't suspect anything, perhaps Tobias had woken up early to take care of matters related to the invasion of the Mythology Kingdom. Leonora pulled out the bathrobe hanging on the clothes hanger, putting it on gracefully as she stood up.The room door was open, looking to the right and left where there was no one there. The atmosphere was pretty quiet and deserted, as if everyone was doing something according to their respective duties.Leonora decided to walk down the stairs, trying to find someone, whether it was a maid or a guard. Leonora's eyes saw a maid who was turning off one by one the oil lamps that had been lighting up the corridors of the