Chapter 6

Apparently, the super serious mission their Captain and Magna went on, which they deemed 'not for kids', was gambling. Yes, they were gambling.

Asta, Noelle, and Elara were at the Beast room at that time, feeding the beasts, when Magna and their Captain suddenly appeared before them, naked. It's safe to say that Noelle and Elara were probably gonna be scarred for life. They had apparently lost all of their money and clothes to a guy named Seyhe, and also owed him a favor.

So here they are now, boar hunting in a forest just outside Saussy Village where the guy lived. He asked Captain and Magna to take care of the wild boars outside their village so they wouldn't cause some trouble for the villagers, but since their Captain wasn't suppose to clean up his own mess, they were there to do it for him as their very first mission.

Currently, Asta was screaming for his life while running away from a gigantic, flaming boar. At a safe distance from the danger zone, you could see three other figures. One was Magna, who was lying on the floor leisurely, his back propped up against his mana-powered broom which he named Crazy Cyclone. The other two, were the two new female members of the Black Bulls, who were at least a tad bit more worried for the ash blonde than their senior was.

"Shouldn't we rescue him?" Noelle asked.

"I'm taking a break. My magical powers are pretty much drained after flying you and the shrimp this far." Magna informed, referring to Asta, who couldn't ride a broom because of his lack of magic, and Noelle, who couldn't control the broom as much as she couldn't control her magic.

They then watched as Asta was thrown through the air.

Elara sighed as her grimoire flipped opened in front of her. Her grimoire was midnight blue in color and had goldish white engravings of the phases of the moon on the upper and lower part of the cover with the same colored dots surrounding it (to which Elara strongly believed were stars). In the middle of it was a three-leaf clover insignia. "Well we wouldn't really be rescuing him right now if he hadn't straight up marched into the danger zone without a plan."

"Lunar Creation Magic: Weapon of the Moon Goddess"

Magna and Noelle watched as a bow made out of light appeared in between Elara's fingers. As she drew back the string of the bow, an arrow made out of light appeared. She aimed the arrow towards the boar that was chasing Asta, her stance immaculate and her bright yellow eyes sharpening. And with a lingering exhale of air, she released the arrow.

In the speed of light, the boar chasing Asta was thrown back into a tree, lifeless, with a long arrow of light pierced deep into it's body.

Magna, Noelle, and Asta, who stopped running after noticing that he wasn't being chased anymore, gaped at the lavender haired girl who lowered her bow, deactivating it.

"A-amazing.." Magna and Asta mumbled at the same time from their respective places.

Such power and precision. To top it all off, she did it in such a graceful manner. Noelle thought, enthralled by the elegant display of magic.

"H-how did you do that? And from this far?" Noelle asked, her gaze not leaving the deceased boar.

Elara smiled, "Well, I specialize in Archery Lunar Magic. My parents noticed this since I was 5, so they hired someone to train me in archery. It was just my luck that I happened to have sharp eyes."

"Great job, Miz Dynamite! I didn't have to save the shrimp after all!" Magna praised, laughing boisterously.

An irk mark suddenly appeared on Elara's head, "Now you're calling me that too?" She muttered under her breath, irritated.

"Elara already took down a boar! It's my turn now!" They heard a yell, which brought their attention to the ash blonde male, who pulled out his sword.

Asta let out a battle cry before striking at another boar. Despite the boar being 10 times his size, he still managed to kill it in one strike.

"He sure is ridiculously strong for a short guy." Elara commented.

Noelle had a deadpan look on her face as she turned towards Elara, "You say that like you're not actually short too"

Two irk marks appeared on the lavender haired girl, "You're not even an inch taller than me! That makes you short too!" She said while pointing an accusing finger at the royal.

If there's one thing that could make Elara loose her cool, it's when people make fun of her height, whether it was intentional or not. Yes, the Captain had made fun of her height before, but let's all be realistic here, any normal person wouldn't want to pick a fight with the captain.

The girls bickered as they followed Magna down to where Asta was standing.

"Great job, Asta!" Magna praised, "But it ain't over yet."

This caught the three newbies' attention and they turned to where Magna was pointing at to see four more boars lined up.

Elara grinned, lightly patting Noelle on her shoulder, "This is great! It's your turn now, Noelle!"

The said girl paled and looked as if her soul left her body, "Ehhh!?"

"B-but I can't even control my magic! How am I supposed to take them all down!?" Noelle stuttered loudly, waving her arms up and down frantically.

"You're not taking them all down silly! We'll of course help you! What I meant was that it's your turn to attack now. Water dominates fire so you have the advantage here", Elara covered her mouth with one hand as she giggled and was waving her other hand up and down, lightly in front of her.

The sight of four other boars staring dangerously at them, flipped the personality switch on Elara. Adrenaline now pumped in her veins, as her grimoire flipped open beside her.

"Let's have some fun, shall we, Noelle?" The lavender haired girl said cheerily, suddenly reminding the three other members of a certain blonde berserker.

"Just clear your mind of any negative thoughts and you'll be controlling your magic in no time!" She said as she summoned her light bow again.

But before they could even do anything else, the sounds of an explosion echoed through the forest. The source of it being Elara, who over-excited herself and ended up blowing up the space around her along with the ones standing on it. As the smoke from the explosion cleared, Noelle, Asta, and Magna could be seen covered in soot, their hair and clothes all messed up.

"Miz Dynamite!"

"Sorry!"

~

Elara was laughing and giggling excitedly as the group hiked up towards Saussy Village, carrying dead boars, the adrenaline still in her system. Magna was leading the group, carrying a single boar over his shoulder; Elara, using her magic to conjure up circular platform made out of light, carried 2; Asta, who was carrying 3 boars on his back; and lastly Noelle who was carrying none, since she was royalty.

"See? I told you you could do it! With a little bit more training, you'll be a water goddess in no time!" Elara praised Noelle, who was walking beside her.

Noelle blushed a shade of pink before looking away, embarrassed, "I was only able to land a single hit, though.." she mumbled dejectedly.

"Oh no need to worry!" Elara waved her hand in front of dismissively, "One's better than none, right? Didn't you tell me, you've never hit at a designated target before? So one's already progress! I'll help you train more when we get back!" Elara said encouragingly.

"Miz Dynamite is right, Lady Noe! I'll help you too, if you'd like." Magna offered, then started to chuckle, "Anyways, what a haul!"

"Indeed!" Elara agreed, looking at the six boars they were carrying.

That went quite well for our first mission! Although, wild boars aren't that much of challenge if I keep using long distance spells...Still, that was fun!

"You guys were amazing.." Noelle praised under her breath.

Elara heard which made her grin at her, "Thanks Noe! I'll help you so you can be amazing too!"

Noe? Noelle's cheeks turned slightly pink, startled at the sudden declaration. She then smiled to herself before directing it towards Elara, "Thanks"

"No problem!" Elara replied chipperly, with her close eyes smile.

"Three or four wild boars ain't nothing!" Asta yelled, laughing boisterously, excited that his first mission was a success.

"You got some impressive brute strength." Magna commented, "This should make Old Man Seyhe happy. Let's have ourselves a wild boar party."

"The mayor of Saussy Village...Seyhe? You know him?" Noelle inquired.

"Yeah. I've known him for a long time." Magna said, "I'm from Rayaka Village, which is just past here, but I used be a bit of a handful when I was a kid."

Used to be? Noelle and Asta sweatdropped.

Elara laughed, finding what he said hilarious, "Great joke, Magna senpai! You said that as if you aren't a handful now, but we all know you are!" She stated bluntly, unaware that Magna was actually being serious.

Eh!? Noelle and Asta gaped at Elara's bluntness.

"What did you say, brat!?" Magna turned sharply to glare at Elara.

Elara stopped laughing after studying the atmosphere and Magna's face a little bit more, "Oh, you were actually serious?"

"Why you!" Magna said about to hit Elara in the head, but she quickly scampered away, laughing.

"I'm sorry Magna senpai!"

Magna sighed in exasperation. I've already got Luck on my back, please let this be a one time thing!

Deciding to let go of the matter, Magna turned to the front and started walking again, "Anyways, where was I?"

"Oh right! I got a big head after I got my grimoire and went into Saussy Village with the intent of taking over, too. And then..."

Magna then went into a full scale flashback, telling his kouhais about how he first attacked Saussy Village but failed because Seyhe beat him. He then told him how he just kept on challenging him after that, but it all ended the same way:

"He whooped my ass everytime." Magna informed them.

"That must've been fun!" Elara piped up from behind him, cheerfully.

"Shut up, you brat!" Magna threw a fireball at Elara, which she dodged easily, "You know, I liked you much better when you were calm and quiet!"

Elara just replied by sticking her tongue out at him, childishly.

"He must be strong." Noelle intervened before Magna could throw another fireball at Elara.

"Yeah. I found this out later, but Old Man Seyhe had enough magical power that he aspired to be a Magic Knight when he was younger." Magna replied, making Noelle successful in taking his attention away from Elara. "He's the one who suggested that I take the Magic Knights Entrance Exam."

"It's all because of him that I'm here right now." He continued, "When I passed the Magic Knights Entrance Exam, he was happier for me than anyone else."

"He must be a nice person." Noelle commented to which Asta and Elara nodded in agreement to, "Mhm!"

"Yeah. And he went to the royal capital..."

"Well, to get rich quick so he could make some money for his village, but I think he also came to see me."

"He did take me for every bit of change I had, though!"

"But he's the one who showed me what a real man should be. I wanted to be like him, the person I respect most after Mister Yami..." Magna abruptly cut himself off, as he stopped walking in confusion.

He dropped the boar he was carrying which piqued the newbies' curiosity. "Magna senpai?"

"The hell is that!?" Magna suddenly ran off, making the three follow after him, Asta and Elara dropping their own boars in the process.

They all stopped as Saussy Village came into view. "The village..."

"It's covered in mist."

Elara frowned upon further inspection. This isn't normal mist.

"Wow, the weather sucks in that town." Asta stupidly commented.

"You idiot! It's not the weather!" Noelle reprimanded.

Elara shook her head, "No, it's magic. This is someone's doing."

"WHAT!?" Asta yelled.

They drew nearer to the town until they were at what was supposed to be the entrance.

"A magical mist?" -Asta.

"Once we enter it, we probably won't be able to get anywhere."  Noelle told him, "We'll lose our sense of direction and end up wandering around in the mist."

"Magic that can cover a whole village..." Magna said thoughtfully, "None of the villagers have magic this strong. Of course, this isn't Old Man Seyhe's magic, either. What's going on?"

"Hmm.." Elara mumbled, cupping her chin with her forefinger and thumb, looking down with a thoughtful expression on her face.

"Oh!" She perked up, moving her forefinger to point upwards, as an idea struck her. She then pointed the said finger at Asta, "Would you mind cutting through the mist with your sword, Asta?"

"Not at all!" Asta yelled in reply, moving forward but then suddenly stopped as a thought struck him.

"Huh?" He said, a funny look was plastered on his face as he waved his hand in a dismissive manner, laughing "That's a dumb thing to say. You can't cut through mist with a sword."

Magna suddenly bonked him in the head, earning an 'ouch!' from the ash blonde, "You're the dumb one! Since it's magic, you can cut through it with you sword!" He yelled at the shorter male.

"Oh yeah!" Asta yelled, grabbing his sword from his grimoire and cutting through the mist, leading the way.

"Good. Now, let's go." Magna said.

"Right!" Asta yelled, cutting through more of the mist.

"Take a right there."

"Got it!"

"Take a left there."

"Right!"

"You seem to know where you're going." Noelle commented.

"Well yeah." Magna replied smugly.

"I mean, he did get beat up a lot in this place, so of course he'd know!" Elara piped, suddenly popping her head out from behind Noelle.

"Shup up, brat! Now Left!"

As Asta cut through more mist, Magna, Noelle, and Elara suddenly became apprehensive. They looked towards each other in alarm.

"Did you feel that?" Magna asked.

"Mhm.." Elara nodded, a serious look now dawning on her face.

"Yes. Powerful magic." Noelle replied.

"Straight ahead. Be careful." Magna ordered.

"We should end up in the square." Magna informed them, as Asta cut through more smoke.

They were finally met with the sight of the villagers. They were huddled up together, praying, crying, hugging their loved ones close, and looked pretty beat up.

The four knights looked up to be met with a horrifying sight. Sharp ice shards were dangling over the villagers, threatening to fall any second.

"This is your execution." A voice said and as if on cue, the ice shards started to fall rapidly at the villagers.

Acting quickly, Magna went running in with his grimoire wide open. "Explosive Scattershot!"

A barrage of fire balls were sent towards the ice shards, successfully destroying them.

"Lunar Creation Magic: Lunar Aegis!" Elara held her hands out towards the villagers, summoning a huge protective shield embedded with celestial bodies above the villagers to shield them from the smaller shards that could still possibly injure them.

The villagers looked up at the shield made out of light that was preventing them from getting harmed before turning towards the four new figures that emerged from the mist, their eyes settling on the Black Bulls robes they were wearing.

"The Magic Knights..." a boy with blonde hair said, tearily, his voice dripping with relief and gratitude.

"They've come to save us!" A girl hugging a doll, said in the same manner.

Elara deactivated her spell as the four walked towards the villagers.

"Nick! What the heck's going on?" Magna approached the blonde kid who spoke earlier. But the boy didn't seem to have the strength to reply as his body shook with tears streaming down his face.

That's when Magna started to look around and spotted a body lying on the ground, not giving out any signs that they were still conscious.

The villagers were surrounding the body, crying in grief. It was their village mayor, Seyhe. The one that requested for them to come over and hunt wild boars in the first place.

Magna gasped in horror. He immediately knelt beside Seyhe's body and gripped his shoulders, shaking him, "Old Man! Hey! Wake up!" He yelled in desperation.

"Old man..." Magna trailed off, as he let go of Seyhe's body, leaning back in disbelief.

"The mayor..." one villager spoke.

"He tried to protect us." Another one said.

"Grandpa, they came. The Magic Knights... " Nick, who was apparently Seyhe's grandson, said after he pulled himself together. "Your prayers were answered."

Elara, Noelle, and Asta watched this, their expressions dark and solemn.

A person can just die... so easily? Asta thought.

This is unforgivable... Purposely using one's magic to take a life... Elara thought, clenching her fist in frustration.

Elara might like fighting and seeing magic clash, but when one dies because of it...she can't stand it. Especially when it reminds her so much of how her parents died. Magic is a gift given to them, so they could protect each other, aid them in their daily lives, and can even be a form of entertainment, but using it to seriously harm and kill others... it's just not right.

Magna heard a ticking sound of a clock and turned to its owner. There were four guys in total, 3 of which wore hooded cloaks and were standing, while one was sitting, staring at a pocket watch in his hands, who seemed to be the leader. The one with the pocket watch had a pale complexion and had silver eyes and hair, he also had a scar on his face.

"Are you the bastard who did this!?" Magna demanded.

The guy didn't bother to reply to the question and just continued to stare at his pocket watch. "How dare you put me behind schedule." He said.

"You'll be executed in ten seconds." The guy raised a hand with his grimoire wide open in front him. A giant piece of ice then started to form in front of him, and when it was big enough, the ice went dashing towards the villagers in high speed.

Crap! I'm out of magic! Magna thought.

Elara's brows furrowed. If I attack something that big and fast with my magic, some shards would still harm the villagers. I've got no choice but to try and block it, but with my magic half drained, I don't know if it'll hold up... I knew I shouldn't've played with the boars earlier!

And when all hope seemed to be lost, a certain magicless boy went running to the front and sliced the ice in half, successfully nullifying the magic, making it disappear.

"I won't forgive this!" Asta said, looking straight into the eyes of the enemy. "How could you do something so cruel?"

"Who the heck are you guys!?" Asta demands.

They don't seem like they're from the other kingdoms nor do they look like bandits coming here to steal and trash the village... Who are they? What are they hoping to accomplish?

"I don't recall hearing anything about Magic Knights showing up." One of the hooded men said.

"Could they be out on some unofficial mission?" Another one asked. "And how did they get into the village through our mist barrier?"

"The Black Bulls... crude heretics that don't fit in with the rest of the Magic Knights." The pale guy said before looking back down towards his pocket watch, "Dealing with them would be a waste of time."

"Five minutes.. we'll get rid of the useless villagers that didn't know anything and seek what we came here for."

"Don't ignore me!" Asta came charging towards the guy with a pocket watch.

"Mist Magic: Whirlpool of Illusory Mist." One of the hooded figures cast a spell that thickened the mist around them, but Asta was still charging forward, not bothered by it in the slightest.

"You're a fool to think you could get near Lord Heath so easily." The guy who cast the spell said. "Get lost in the mist."

"No, I won't!" Asta yelled, cutting through the mist, nullifying it in an instant, making the caster gasp in shock.

He cut through my ice magic earlier. I don't know what kind of magic he uses, but his sword negates magic. We shouldn't let him get too close. Heath, the guy with the pocket watch, thought.

"I'm asking why you tried to kill all the villagers!" Asta demanded.

Heath stood up, finally answering the ash blonde's question, "The world is split into several regions. The Noble Realm where royalty lives, the Common Realm where the commoners live, and the Forsaken Realm."

"This village, Saussy, is located in the Forsaken Realm. Most of those who inhabit the Forsaken Realm are an inferior race that can only use enough magic to complete daily tasks. They're basically mindless beasts. I was only trying to get rid of the mindless beasts that might steal more of my precious time."

"Beasts?" Asta repeated in disbelief.

"The four of you also had enough magical power to join the Magic Knights, did you not?"

You're wrong.

"You're only trying to save them because it's your mission."

Wrong again.

"But in truth, they look like lowly beasts to you, do they not?"

Everyone lives to support each other. Everyone has their own purpose. But most nobles don't know this, because they're too arrogant to notice or to care, but I did notice and I do care.

These people feed us food, provide us clothing, and gives us the resources that makes the kingdom stand strong. In return, we should be protecting them, not harming them. And that's exactly, what I'm gonna be doing!

"Those people you called beasts are lives I have to protect!" Asta yelled.

"I see. So the filthy beasts are that valuable to y—" Heath wasn't able to finish his sentence as a light arrow suddenly pierced through his right shoulder so quick that it was practically invisible to the naked eye, making him stumble back, blood dripping down his right arm.

Everyone turned towards Elara, in shock. They didn't even see her cast her spell. She was still in her aiming stance, her hands gripping her bow firmly.

"Call them filthy beasts one more time or I'll make sure my arrow won't deliberately miss it's target." Elara snapped, lowering her weapon, "You can only call people Beasts if they're contemptible. So really, the only people that should be referred to as Beasts are you!"

"Lord Heath!" The hooded men behind him, cried out in worry for their leader.

"How dare you harm Lord Heath! Mist Magi—" the hooded man was cut off by Heath, stretching his good arm in front of them, as if saying to halt.

"There's no need, they'll be executed in 15 seconds." Heath said, raising the arm that wasn't connected to his injure shoulder, making ice shards appeared beside him.

"I'll send those icicles right back at y—" Asta was cut off, when a sudden gust of wind accompanying the mist came out of the three hooded men's hands.

The mist started to surround them, violently, more ice shards appearing within it. They were suddenly in a tight situation as dozens of lethal ice shards surrounded them.

"Ice and Mist Compound Magic: Endless Ice Cage." Heath announced. "Do you think you can protect those beasts now?"

Elara bit the inside of her cheek as she restrained herself from shooting another arrow towards Heath. She knew that it would be too risky to do that, considering the tight situation they've gotten themselves into. If she'd shoot her arrow and Heath'll manage to dodge it, he'll instantly trigger the shards to come right at them. The smart move would be to change into defense for now.

Begrudgingly, Elara deactivated her current spell so she could use a defensive one. Using her normal defensive spell, Lunar Aegis wouldn't save them from getting hit in all directions, so she had to concentrate hard to use a more advance one. With the limited mana she had left  and the fact that she can't use her magic to it's fullest because they aren't even under the light of the moon, she knew it wouldn't last very long. Not to mention, defensive spells takes a lot more mana from her than offensive spells do, but she trusts Asta and the others to help so all she can do now is do her best.

"I'm not very partial to the term 'gradually', but it seems like it'll be the most effective."

The villagers started screaming as the shards went shooting towards them. Elara's eyes widened in horror. She wasn't ready yet. She wasn't concentrating enough.

Fortunately for her and the others, Asta came saving the day once again, hitting the shards and redirecting them towards Heath and his minions.

"Dissolve." Heath said, making the ice shards disappear before they could hit him. "Not only can you negate magic, you can repel it, as well."

"But that's not enough to defeat me. The blades of ice will come one after another."

Sure enough, the ice shards started reappearing around them, making Elara panic.

Please let this work!

"Now, just try and protect them."

"Lunar Creation Magic: Lunar Aegis: Home Of A Hundred Moons!"

Just as the shards started to shoot towards them again, a hundred of mini Lunar Aegis surrounded them, shielding them from the ice shards. Asta took care of the shards that manage to get in through the small gaps and Magna helped take care of the once outside the barrier of light, lessening the chances of the shards from coming in.

It's going to take everything Asta, Elara, and I have to protect the villagers. Not to mention, my powers are reaching their limits and Elara had also used up quite a lot of her mana from boar hunting earlier. They have four guys who are at least Magic Knight level. And that guy's still hiding his true powers! This turned out to be one hell of a first mission for those three! This isn't good! Magna thought.

"But if I cut and run now, I'm not a real man!" He yelled, sending more flames towards the shards. "It just so happens I'm a lowly commoner myself! I'll protect you!"

Magna was slowly reaching his limits with every second that has passed, Asta's stamina was being put to test as he could be seen jumping around a lot while swinging his sword, and Elara's mana was rapidly draining from using a strong defensive spell in her state and trying to match the intensity of the spells that were attacking hers'. It was not looking very good for them at all.

"I wonder how long you'll last." Heath said while looking at his pocket watch.

A ball of water suddenly came charging straight for him, but when it reached at least a few more meters away from him, it changed its course and hit the ground beside them instead.

"To think one of you can't even control her powers..." Heath berated, "I guess the Black Bulls were truly desperate for members."

Elara was suddenly brought to her knees from exhaustion. She was panting heavily but her hands were still stubbornly raised to keep the shield up. Although it seemed her limits were nearing fast as some of the mini light shields started to disappear from the brute force of the shards.

Due to their defenses weakening, more and more ice shards were able to penetrate the light barrier and some villagers were starting to get hit.

"These frail little beasts who can't even protect themselves... If you abandon them, I'll let you live, Magic Knights."

"Not a chance..." Elara said through gritted teeth, forcefully pushing out her magic to strengthen the barrier, making the remaining shields to glow a bright light and enlarged themselves, filling in the gaps that were left when some of her shields broke.

"Like hell I'll abandon them!" Asta yelled, swinging his sword left, right, and center, trying to break and hit as much shards as possible.

"A real man doesn't abandon anybody!" Magna shouted, throwing more fire balls.

I'm... royalty. I have more magical powers than anyone else here. Noelle thought, looking distressed.

"Step back, Lady Noe!" Magna warned her as another explosion took place in front of them.

Noelle gasped, looking up to see Magna and Asta struggling in the front lines, then she looked to her side to see Elara on her knees, on the verge of passing out from exhaustion, but still keeping a firm grip on her shields.

An yet I'm just holding them back! There's no reason for me to be here. Noelle berated herself.

Then Heaths words rang in her head, "If you abandon them, I'll let you live..."

Noelle's eyes suddenly turned downcast as a negative thought swirled around her mind, "That right. I'm royalty. I'm not supposed to die in a village like this. I should just run—"

Noelle was about to turn and run when a pair of little hands suddenly gripped her dress. She looked down, startled at the sight of the little girl who was holding a doll, her expression teary and full of fear.

"Miss Magic Knight... help her!" The little girl pleaded.

And suddenly the world pulsed around Noelle as she caught sight of Elara who was now lying on the ground, her body facing down, a weak hand still raised stubbornly. It was just then that Noelle noticed that the protective shields Elara conjured were lesser in number, broken, and dimly lit, huge gaps in between them as a sign that she was now dangerously close to her limit.

Elara...

The image of Elara's gentle eye smile was suddenly imprinted in her thoughts, her words from earlier echoing in her head.

"Thanks Noe! I'll help you so you can be amazing too!"

She was willing to help me even though stronger people than her gave up on me. She saw potential in me, even though others just saw failure. She believed in me... in a way that even my own family never had.

"Save us!"

And this little girl... she's asking asking for help.... MY help.

Noelle clenched her fists, her downcast eyes raised upwards and suddenly sparked with confidence and a new purpose, as her grimoire glowed beside her.

I'm going to protect them!

Noelle's grimoire flipped open, a new spell appearing on a blank page.

A new spell?

There's now way I can run now!

Just as Elara's body and magic reached their limits, her weakly raised hand falling beside her along with the few remaining light shields left, a powerful surge of water started surrounding them to replace it.

Heath and his minions watched, startled, as a huge water dome with a long snake-like creature slithering around it, appeared before them, protecting the people inside of it from the never ceasing, incoming ice shards.

"I'll protect them! I'm royalty, and a member of the Black Bulls!"