The Empire was always a threat to the other kingdoms, before the shadow continent even existed they had attempted to conquer each kingdom one at a time, it was only because of the Shadow that the Empire had formed an alliance. Now that there no longer was the Shadow to worry about, the kingdoms were half expecting something like this, especially since they had refused to attend any of the meetings.
However they didn't expect an entire kingdom to be destroyed in a single night. The other kingdoms were already panicking, thinking that they wouldn't survive an attack and that their only hope was the group of Redwings that had destroyed the Shadow previously.
Inside the council room, the leaders were busy making their cases and deciding what to do, the only piece of information they had was that the Empire had used a piece of strong ancient machinery in their attack.
Luckily, the contraption seemed to take some time to move to the next kingdom.
"We knew the Empire could be planning something, we even thought they might have attacked us years ago when we were fighting against the Shadow. It's clear that now they are ready, they will go through every kingdom until they reach us and if they do that, Ray will…" Sylvia couldn't get the words out.
She knew the truth of why Ray hadn't gone out, after all the two of them were married now and they had no secrets between each other, but they had decided not to tell anyone else.
"It would be best if we stop them before they reach the kingdom." Gary said, holding the special sword in his hand, at one point people were afraid it's power would possess him but after living with the gauntlet, it had no such effect on Gary now. "I will take an army and we will fight with the kingdom of Cylstenia calling to their aid. If we have their help we shouldn't have to use many of our own people. If we fail, we can regroup and attempt again when they go through to the next kingdom."
Sylvia didn't like that Gary was volunteering, since coming back he had gone on many trials in an attempt to make up for what he had done. Gary had practically become Ray's joint second hand man along with Jack.
If Ray found out that Gary was sent to sort the issue, he would know it was a big deal. Whether Ray liked to admit it or not, he didn't want any of his friends to get hurt.
"Very well. Choose who you want to take with you, I'll send Jack and another group to the borderline of the next kingdom. If you get in trouble you can fall back and allow Jack to stall them for the time being." Sylvia said.
The group knew they didn't have much time, if a kingdom had been annihilated in a single day, then every day spent trying to deal with the problem would be devastating to the continent of Bronzeland.
Along with Gary, Monk and Martha decided to tag along with five thousand members of the Redwings. The army had grown since their last war with the Shadow due to many people taking refuge with the Redwings. The army had been split into two different groups, the Redwing members who each were linked to Ray, they also had the top beast gear and were well trained while the others were known as the Wing army. They were still strong but the resources and time spent training them were completely different.
The army was separated into two groups like this to honour the troops that had fought against the Shadow. Ray believed these should be rewarded and their name known far and wide, and five thousand of these were now heading to fight another enemy.
Sylvia had returned to the throne room with baby in hand, since Martha and Monk would be going off to battle.
"What's going on?" Ray asked straight away.
"Can I really not hide anything from you?" She asked. "I will tell you but you have to promise that you won't leave me, your job is now being a father and looking after us. You've already done enough for everyone else." Sylvia was almost shouting at him.
However, Ray didn't say anything. He never made a promise he wasn't sure he couldn't keep.
"The Empire is attacking kingdoms. Gary and the others have been sent and Jack is going as a reserve, you should trust them, they are strong." Slyvia said.
Almost as if on cue after saying those words, the baby started to scream heavily.
In order for the group to travel as quickly as possible, a large transportation circle was made by Bliss. Lenny would be going in first to be on the other end in case they needed to send certain individuals back.
During the years since the war with the Shadow, they had gathered plenty of strong beast crystals that could help with the transportation. Once the circle was activated, it lit up and a few seconds later the army of five thousand had disappeared into it.
——
Inside the kingdom, King Hon was there to greet the Redwings. His army stood out in a plain open field with around fifty thousand men. That's why when he saw the five thousand members of the Redwings arrive for support, he was quite shocked by how few people were there.
"What is this?" Hon said. "We are going up against the Empire. They have forces as large as all of the kingdoms combined!"
"One of our own is worth a thousand of your fighters. Don't worry, we have brought enough power to help you." Gary said, walking forward with Lenny, Monk, and Martha.
The groups were organised with the Redwing members going to certain squads in the army, and a squad team was sent out front. The King however had remained behind, hurrying to his castle where he believed it was safe.
It didn't take long to see flags of the Empire being carried by hundreds of men, but that wasn't what stood out. Instead it was the giant machine that seemingly moved on its own and had a shell on its back like a turtle. From the protective shell, a giant cannon stuck out of the front of it.
What was even more amazing was all the small particles in the air. They looked like balls of energy that could be seen hovering around and were going into the Empire's machine.
"Are those balls of energy mana, have they been able to invent a machine that is able to take mana out of the air?" Lenny spoke out loud, and now he was realising how devastating this was.
The giant machine and the army were around a hundred meters away from the kingdom when the cannon started to light up with a giant white energy.
"We have to get out of here now!" Lenny shouted.
Seeing how much trouble they were in, Martha spread her giant wings. Monk jumped on her back, while Lenny and Gary held on to her legs as she flew up in the air.
"What about the other-" Gary was about to say, as a huge explosion louder than any other they had ever heard was set off.
Ringing was felt in their ears and they couldn't hear a thing. A bright white light was seen a second ago, but now they were all blinded.
When the ringing started to calm down and the white light faded, they looked below to see an army that was no more, including the five thousand Redwings. The entire kingdom was gone in seconds, just like the one before it.
"What in the world…we are doomed." Lenny shouted as his hearing was still damaged from the explosion.
"We have to get back to Jack and the others to tell them that it's hopeless. Maybe we can come up with something else." Monk said.
"Wait, what's that, on the giant turtle's back!" Gary pointed out, it looked like a human was strapped onto the device.
Since turning part beast, Martha had improved eyesight and when looking closely, her eyes widened out of shock.
"That's….Ray's mother."
******
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