An hour after the adults had turned into crystal statues, a semblance of acceptance had descended among the survivors in Ravenlord Citadel. The injured had been taken care of, and everyone looked to Crown Prince Lionel for orders.
Since the King and the Great General were out of commission, he was the highest commanding officer inside the fortress. Naturally Prince Lionel did his best to make himself look good in front of the warriors, and most importantly, to Princess Sidonie.
However, the Princess remained indifferent to his advances to personally safeguard her own safety. Princess Sidonie stuck close to Priscilla and remained with the Knights of the Angorian War Sovereign, which irritated the Crown Prince to no end.
While he was still thinking of ways on how to get his hands on the Princess, the black-robed members of The Organization appeared in the fortress.
"We are the Special Order working directly under the King," one of the black-robed men announced as they entered the fortress. "We came to take custody of the King and the other important members of the Kingdom."
The black-robed man removed the hood that was covering his face. Prince Lionel recognized the man because it was the man who had acted as the middle-man between him and The Organization.
"Sir Calum, you're finally here," Prince Lionel greeted the man and walked in his direction. "You're here to ensure the safety of the King and the great nobles of the Kingdom?"
"Yes, Your Highness."
"Good. I'll leave my father in your hands."
"Thank you, Your Highness," Calum replied before making a gesture. "Take the King and the other nobles. We are going to bring them back to the capital!"
Over a hundred, black-robed men scattered in different directions in order to carry out Calum's order. Est frowned, but he didn't do anything to prevent the unknown group from doing their duties.
Although he didn't like the Crown Prince, the King's safety was his top priority. Also, a single glance was enough to tell him that Prince Lionel was familiar with the man named Calum. Even though he was still uneasy, there was nothing he could do in the current situation.
Prince Lionel then dragged Calum to the side and the two were discussing something. Both men glanced in the direction of the Princess of Freesia from time to time as they continued their chat.
"Tonight, your Highness," Calum said. "I will personally escort the Princess in your chamber tonight."
"Good," Prince Lionel replied with a smile. "Make sure that she doesn't get hurt as much as possible."
"We will do our best, Your Highness. However, the Princess from Freesia had this troublesome ability."
"It's her Charm, right?"
Prince Lionell was aware that Princess Sidonie had a special constitution. She was born with an unusual ability to make anyone around her fall madly in love with her. Naturally, he also thought that the feelings that he felt for the Princess were due to her powers.
However, the Prince didn't care. Princess Sidonie was the girl he had chosen to become his bride. Whether his infatuation was due to her Charm or not, he would not let anyone take her away from him.
"Don't worry, Your Highness," Calum assured the Prince. "We have prepared a way to capture her that will yield the least sacrifice."
Prince Lionel nodded. As long as Princess Sidonie became his woman, he didn't care what method The Organization used in order to subdue the Princess. The two men talked more about how to carry out their plan, while the black-robed men used the power of wind to carry the statues towards the carriages that were stationed behind the fortress.
Since they couldn't assassinate the King and the other High-Ranking nobles, taking them to their hideout was the next best thing that they could do.
Priscila glanced at the Princess standing by her side and the latter nodded her head. What Prince Lionel and Calum didn't know was that Priscilla had the uncanny ability to focus her sense of sight and hearing in a certain location.
The Vice-Commander of the Angorian Knight Order had heard the talk between the Crown Prince and Calum as if they were talking right next to her.
"Knights, let's kill the Ant Army while they are still immobile," Priscilla ordered. "Although the Ants seem to have been paralyzed, it's possible that they will recover soon. Now is the best time to eradicate them while they're still unable to defend themselves! Follow me!"
""YES!""
Just like the Ants, the other magical beasts like the Gryphons, and Hipogriffs had suffered from the Aurora Borealis that descended from the sky. They were currently too weak to fly, so they couldn't accompany the Knights to cull out the Sea of Ants that was right outside their fortress.
Priscilla ordered the gates to be opened and the Knights stormed out to start their extermination. Prince Lionel watched with an amused expression as the Princess followed the Knights in their undertaking.
The young magicians and knights vented out their anger on the immobile ants and chopped them to pieces.
Prince Lionell thought that this was a good opportunity to score some brownie points with the Knights, and the Princess, so he decided to join in the massacre. However, before he could put his plan into motion, a loud screech tore through the skies.
The Blade Wyvern, that had pulled the Princess' carriage, suddenly descended from the skies. Ironically, it still had the flying carriage attached to its body.
Before anyone could react to its sudden appearance, Princess Sidonie grabbed Priscilla's hand and channeled her magic power into the bracelet that she wore on her right wrist. The two were enveloped with a radiant light and disappeared from where they stood.
The Blade Wyvern then uttered another screech as it flapped its mighty wings and fled using its full speed.
Prince Lionel's face contorted in shock and rage as he raised his hand to give out an order. "Capture the Princess!"
Calum, who was standing beside him, immediately shot towards the sky like a rocket. He hadn't thought that the Princess would try to escape from the fortress as soon as they arrived. His plan was to wait until nighttime to capture the Princess without alerting anyone.
Although he was a Wind Battlemage, he didn't have the ability to catch up to the Blade Wyvern, which was known as one of the fastest beasts that could fly in the sky. The only thing he could do was relay his message to all the members of The Organization that the Princess had escaped.
The man wearing a red-robe looked at the fleeing Wyvern in the distance before shaking his head.
'Fools. What do you think you're doing?' the man sighed and made a gesture. "Contract our agents in Freesia. Tell them to lay an ambush for the Princess once she appears on their borders."
"Yes, My Lord!" The black-robed man used a communication crystal to talk to his comrades that were currently taking over the Kingdom in the Far East. As soon as the Pseudo-Eleventh-Circle Spell descended from the sky, The Organization had immediately moved to capture the Princes and Princesses of the Royal Families of the three major powers of the Southern Continent.
They would pave the way for Prince Lionel to become the Overlord of the entire Southern Continent, as per their agreement.
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"Princess, we should return to Freesia as soon as possible," Priscilla proposed. "I'm sure that the young warriors of our Kingdom will come to your aid."
Princess Sidonie shook her head as she looked outside of the carriage window. "Freesia is no longer safe. I'm afraid that my Father has also turned into a statue. The survivors will either soon be imprisoned or ruled over by The Organization that has used everyone as their chess pieces."
The Princess of Freesia had known about the existence of The Organization because she had charmed one of their members. It was quite unfortunate that the one she captured was only a grunt who was ordered to keep an eye on her.
Even so, the information that she received from that charmed member was enough to tell her how dangerous her opponents were. Princess Sidonie and Morgana had no intention of falling into their hands.
"Then, where should we go?" Priscilla asked.
Princess Sidonie pondered for a while before relaying her intention to the Blade Wyvern. The Wyvern screeched in agreement as it changed its course.
"We're going to the Aenasha Dynasty," Princess Sidonie answered. "Now is a good time to take control of an Army."
"Army?" Priscilla tilted her head. It was at that moment when a sudden realization hit her and her body shuddered uncontrollably. "Princess, when you said Army are you perhaps referring to the…"
Princess Sidonie smiled and nodded her head. "I've always thought of doing this in the past, but with my current ability, it was impossible. However, right now, a golden opportunity has arrived. If I don't use this to my advantage then I would be a fool."
Morgana, who was inside Princess Sidonie's mindscape, nodded her head.
\u003c So what if they managed to take over the Human kingdoms? They won't be able to defend it with their measly manpower. \u003e
Princess Sidonie nodded in agreement with her other half. As long as she succeeded in taking control of her target, she wouldn't have to worry about anyone trying to capture her within the Southern Continent.
Afterall, even though The Organization was strong, they couldn't possibly fight off an army that numbered in the millions.