"We need to go now!" said Emery, this time louder, as Gwen seemed to not hear his words.
Gwen forced herself to stand. She gradually got on her feet again, wiped the tears streaked across her face, turning to face him, "I am ready."
Looking at her expression, Emery didn't say anything but nod his head. Then he called upon Morgana with a gesture of his hand.
"I need you to take her to Venta Town and wait for me there."
Normally, Morgana would object, but she couldn't bring herself to do so at the moment, as she could vividly sense Emery's seriousness on the matter. Therefore, she nodded her head agreeing.
Receiving the needed confirmation from Morgana, Emery quickly casted [Spatial Gate] that opened a gate heading to the Forbidden Forest, or more precisely, the clearing where stone formation was. The reason he sent Gwen there was because he thought that was the safest place for her right now.
The moment the gate fully opened, Morgana immediately grabbed Gwen's arm, intending to take her away. Unexpectedly, the princess resisted her action.
"What about you? What about the others?!" asked Gwen worriedly.
"We still have other things to do." replied Emery, before Morgana tugged Gwen hard and the two went inside the gate. When Gwen's body completely passed through the gate, it swiftly closed.
Afterwards, Emery turned around and faced the others. All the knights standing in front of him, including Sir Yvain, Marc and Lucas, were looking at him with a confused look on their faces. However, none of them dared to question Emery's decision, as they knew he was doing it for the princess' safety.
Other than himself, Emery was sure he wouldn't be able to take the entire 20 knights through his [Spatial Gate]. He believed he would collapse before even half of them passed through. But fret not, he had another plan for them.
"Knights of Lioness, listen up!" said Emery loudly, attracting all their attention. "You don't have to worry about the princess anymore, she's safe. However, the princess's life will always be in danger because they won't stop looking for her. Now come with me to settle this matter."
Sir Yvain stepped forward and asked, "What's your plan?"
Upon hearing the question, Emery let out a smile.
"We are going to make a grand exit!"
Immediately after, Emery sent out a series of orders. He ordered 6 knights to carry the Lioness King's deceased body, which the latter swiftly did by putting the body on an improvised casket and placing it on their shoulders. On the other hand, the others would make a line in front of the casket carriers to protect it.
Next, Emery grabbed the terrified and petrified Fantumar and dragged him over to the front of the group. He forced the latter to stand there, as he intended to use him to open the way to exit the palace.
As the group moved out from where they were, Yvain would shout a phrase.
"The King is dead!"
The sight of these 20 knights walking carrying the king's deceased body brought sympathy and respect to the rest of Fantumar's men. After all, Richard the Lioness had been their king for as long as most could remember.
The group swiftly moved through the palace hallway, as Fantumar's men opened the way. They managed to walk smoothly from where they initially were all the way to the castle courtyard.
There, Emery and the others could see there were many who knelt seeing the Lioness King's body being carried out. They didn't know who started it first, but chants suddenly resounded through the air, lauding the deceased king.
From the way these people reacted, it seemed there were some among them who were forced to betray their kingdom.
A few minutes later, the group finally managed to reach outside of the castle unscathed. However, Emery's plan did not simply end here. It wasn't his purpose to just get away.
Emery kept leading the group, maintaining their advance. As a result, the Lioness King's body continued to travel until they approached the area where the Cantiaci camp was situated.
Some of the Cantiaci knights, who were in charge of guarding, recognized who Fantumar was and subsequently realized it was the group delivering the Lioness King's body. Therefore, they didn't stop the group and instead slowly created a straight path heading to the camp for them.
The thousand of Cantiaci knights with black banners and white bird insignia were surrounding Emery and the others with their weapons completely drawn, as they walked through the outer periphery of the camp into the main camp.
Even being surrounded by an ocean of enemies, the knights didn't tremble.
They eventually arrived in front of the distinct commander tent, where Emery saw the queen of Cantiaci along with the four golden knights of Cantiaci standing beside her.
"What is this, Lord Fantumar?! Is that the Lioness King's body? Is he dead?!"
Fantumar wiped the sweat on his face and quickly straightened his shaking body as he said, "Yes, My Queen. It's indeed the case."
"Then, who are they?" asked the Cantiaci Queen, clearly confused about the situation.
"My Queen, these are the Lioness King's last loyal knights. They have come here to have an audience with you!"
Emery then took two steps forward, As expected, the four golden knights immediately pointed their weapons at him. However, he ignored their actions and looked straight at the Cantiaci Queen.
"I came here to negotiate the terms of surrender on the Lioness Princess' behalf."
By bringing the kings' body, Emery hoped it would satisfy the enemy that they had won. Now, he wanted to bargain and reach an agreement for Gwen's safety.
In the meantime, the Cantiaci Queen certainly couldn't hold her smile when hearing such wonderful news. She nodded her head and said, "Two of you may enter."
After being stripped of their weapons, Emery and Yvain swiftly entered the commander tent following the Cantiaci Queen. Inside, they could see the queen, the 4 golden knights and the Prince of Cantiaci, Edward, who had just escaped from where he was imprisoned.
Immediately, Fantumar introduced Emery and Yvain to the others. But most of the people inside, more precisely the golden knights, already knew Yvain and Lanzelot, the newly-knighted silver knight from the recent Yearly Tournament.
"It's you?! Why is it you again?!!" the Cantiaci Prince shouted as soon as he saw Emery.
Emery looked over to Edward, his gaze extremely calm.
It was normal for Edward to act like this, as the silver knight who stood before him was that damnable Lanzelot, the one who embarrassed him in the Tournament;
the last person he saw before he fell unconscious and woke up in the Lioness Kingdom's prison.
"KIll him! KILL HIM!" Edward frantically shouted.
Fantumar's face instantly became pale when he heard Edward, but for an entirely different reason from what the Cantiacis thought.