Chapter 26

Sitting alone at a table in the middle of a secluded room lit by torches, King August sighs, attempting to calm his own mind before placing his hand on top of the sphere on the table.

As the glow spread through the small spherical object, a voice echoed through the tiny ball;

"Have you found your piece...?"

"Not yet," replied August, clenching his fist tightly. "...I will need more time."

"More time... this is the third time you've said that."

"What do you expect me to do?" questioned August, clicking his tongue. "She's nowhere to be found in the entire kingdom."

"I understand, but that's a problem. Mine is starting to get impatient."

"Impatient?" August smiled wryly. "The time you promised me hasn't elapsed yet... and I thought you claimed to have full control over it."

"...Your consecutive victories among the most ordinary pawns caused this. As I said, he seems to care a great deal about the demon people."

"My winning so often has become a problem?" August taunted, smiling thinly. "But who would have thought that, aside from the summoned, all your troops would be apparently so useless?"

"Useless..." pondered the voice through the sphere. "Well, I've said what I needed to. My warning has been given. Hurry up and find your piece, because I won't be able to stop mine from going to Camelot if she so desires."

"What?!" exclaimed August, rising abruptly. "Wait!"

The glow of the sphere faded, indicating the end of the connection with the person on the other end whose voice it belonged to.

Unable to contain his anger, August raised his hand holding the ball and threw it towards the gray-colored wall while shouting;

"Damn!"

As the broken pieces of the sphere fell to the ground, August quickly turned and moved swiftly, ascending the spiral staircase in haste.

"Damn!" he exclaimed, pushing the doors of the king's hall and walking towards the throne. "Summon all the kingdom's officers! Find the heroine Elizabeth now!"

"But my lord, we already..."

With just one step left to reach the throne, August turned for a moment, and just a mere glance was enough.

The knight fell to his knees. His veins bulged, his heart raced, and his mind, for a brief moment, seemed to have shattered.

"Now," ordered August.

"...Yes, my lord..." said the knight, his legs trembling and his breath heavy and uneven. "I will do as ordered..."

The knight left slowly, his legs faltering at times, causing him to stagger.

August bit his lips, blood dripping to his chin as his fingers tapped constantly against one of the armrests.

"Damn...!" he thought, clenching one of his fists against the armrest, shattering it immediately. "You really believe I don't know what you're planning?! Using such a flimsy excuse... wretch!"

"Lancelot!" exclaimed August, hitting his fist against the armrest and breaking what remained of it.

At his call, Lancelot immediately entered the grand hall and, for a moment, bowed before August;

"My lord," he said, bowing part of his body forward. "What does my lord desire?"

"Prepare the knights from across the kingdom," ordered August, unwavering. "And except those responsible for any borders, ensure all are ready to join the war at any moment."

"..."

Lancelot hesitated, but the words still tried to escape his lips;

"Lord, may I know the..."

He froze.

Just a brief meeting of their eyes was enough for him to understand that question shouldn't be asked.

"I will have them ready as quickly as possible, my lord. But... it will take at least ten days, as it will take time for all of them to gather here."

"Five days."

"Excuse me?"

"You have at most five days to do this. Nothing more," decreed August, looking intensely at Lancelot and generating a pressure that would easily kill anyone below level 40 instantly.

Lancelot swallowed hard. He didn't understand why August was acting this way; it had never happened before, not even with the onset of the war. So why now?

"Understood, my lord. I will make it happen as you wish."

It doesn't matter, these questions are useless. His job is to serve the royal family and the people of the kingdom, and that is what he will do.

*****

With swift and silent steps, Elizabeth moves at high speed alongside a large pack of gray and black wolves.

The landscape changes and blurs past her eyes as she quickly moves away from the small town of Frostwatch.

The straight road surrounded by vast grassland with scattered fruit trees could no longer be seen; it had been left behind long ago, gradually replaced by rocky terrain with various small mounds and no signs of nearby living plants.

"Huh? Are you tired already? But we've only just begun."

As time passed, the wolves began to slow down their pace, their steps becoming clumsy, although still quite fast, and at this point, their tongues could be seen hanging out of their mouths for longer than they were tucked inside.

"Well, thank you for keeping me company this far, but it's time for me to go. Next time, choose an easier prey, something a bit slower than yourselves."

The wolves stopped, staggering, watching Elizabeth disappear before their eyes like a blur. Their speeds never came close to being enough for them to even get close to her, but indeed, one thing cannot be denied; there had never been such determined animals before.

Traces of Elizabeth no longer existed, and not even her scent could be sniffed now. Before falling onto the rocky road, the leader of the wolves, the largest black wolf in the pack, howled to the skies with all the remaining strength.

Elizabeth's run continued without rest, passing through a large forest before reaching, a little later, a vast plain covered with crops.

Her steps within the forest left no traces and created no sound disturbances; the animals wouldn't even notice her if she just kept running. However, it had been days since she last ate anything.

Elizabeth couldn't resist the apples that were literally right beside her.

It was just supposed to grab one of the apples as she passed by the tree, but who would have thought that the whole apple tree would fall along?

Her path was not interrupted, but the apple tree definitely fell, causing a commotion within the forest.

Upon hearing the sound, animals ran, screamed, scattered, and some even ventured into the skies.

There were few who remained in that place, mostly just those animals that couldn't move easily on their own, like newborns, or those that were too slow to even walk, for example, the giant red turtles; creatures usually docile with black skin, but named "red turtles" because of their practically indestructible red shells, which can only be broken by a very powerful aura or high-level magic.

Exiting the forest, Elizabeth found herself running on another road and, after a few more minutes, finally reached a huge river with several branches beyond the direction it naturally flows, branches that head in the same direction she is going.

After crossing the large bridge over the river, Elizabeth walked for some time until she found herself in a gigantic plantation.

The fish flow through the river branches and end their journey in the large lake just before the city.

Before flowing into the lake, the waters of the branches pass through the various paths in the field where the plantation is conducted, ensuring a constant flow of water for everything planted there.

The lack of fruit doesn't seem to be a possible problem; after all, there are several fruit trees lined up near the lake in an area of about 1 hectare.

Herbs, vegetables, and legumes extend in abundance, but mainly cereals, which occupy about 15 thousand hectares of the approximately 25 thousand that is the total area of the plantation.

"Sorry, young lady, but could you help me?" asked the poor old man, who stands beside a cart with one of the wooden wheels broken in half.

"Of course," replied Elizabeth, smiling politely. "Do you want me to help you carry your belongings to the city?"

"If you don't mind..." said the old man, laughing embarrassedly. "It's just a few things, so you don't have to force yourself if you don't want to."

"No, no problem. I'm going that way anyway."

"Really?" said the old man, smiling. "Then I'm really grateful to you."

Despite the old man's constant opposition, Elizabeth took all six boxes filled with fish and let him deal only with his horse.

"Thank you again, young lady," said the old man when they finally arrived in the city. "I don't know how I could ever thank you."

They talked on the way to the city, but Elizabeth's words seemed unreal to him; how could someone walk from Frostwatch to that place?

There are hundreds of kilometers between the two cities; something like that would only be possible for someone of the highest level, otherwise, the person would die halfway. But why would someone of high level be wearing such worn-out clothes?

Despite not wanting to label Elizabeth, the young woman who helped him so cheerfully, as a liar, the old man couldn't believe those words at all. At least not until the city guard captain kneeled before her and said;

"Madam, please forgive my sudden and mannerless approach, but I must ask you to come with me."

"Huh...? But... who are you?" questioned Elizabeth, confused.