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Chapter 38: Shock And Awe

"All weapons down!" warned the general, a man the sizean of ogre slowly making his way towards his men from the dark. Equipped with darkened silver armor, bejeweled with violet gems over the artistic depiction of war on his chest plate, he carried the aura of a man who\'d been weathered through countless battles.

Their faces all covered behind their helmets, masked their true feelings–but that was the essence of the royal guard–doing what\'s necessary, not what they deemed to be right.

"You really thought you could threaten me, you fools?" The king asked, snickering in the snarkiest of manners.

"Raven, cut this out!" Amedith whispered, growing a bit angst about the whole situation.

"Don\'t you dare, you really think he\'s gonna let us go alive if we put our weapons down?" Aria chimed in, walking up to the two while tightening the bandages around her knuckles.

"Shut up, Aria! We\'re not gonna win against this many guards anyways!" Though he kept his voice low, Amedith\'s tone was anything but calm.

Ignoring the two bickering beside him, Raven focused more on the thoughts of the guards. None of them wanted to do this, after all, they too had been subject to this tyranny at least once before, even their general, the masked dark knight–wanted the situation to defuse, and having actually been in battle he knew exactly how little of a threat the queen truly was.

"Give me a moment," walking up towards the guards in front, Raven looked right into their eyes through the gap in their helmets. Taking a step back as the dark mage approached, the guards didn\'t want to confront him, even though they had superior numbers. "Go ahead, kill me. I\'ve died before and the goddess revived me. How do you think I returned from the Minotaur caves after being left behind by everyone else? Or did that news never make it to the palace?"

"As much as I hate to admit it..." Reaching into her quiver, Mel took out a handful of arrows and tensed them against the string of her bow. "He did come back, so I doubt the goddess will be happy about this, and if she revives us, I doubt even more that we\'ll be happy."

"Mel!" Amedith exclaimed, horrified as he noticed Mel ready to fight their way out of the situation. But as her gaze grew sharper as she looked at him, the hero was forced to reconsider his choice in the matter. "Damn it! Alright!"

Reaching for his sword, he drew it out of its sheath as well. Now with every eye turning to Erika, the only one who hadn\'t yet chosen a side, she too couldn\'t help but join the fight by putting up a defensive barrier over her companions.

"By the goddess\'s grace let this be over," she prayed as she moved to the very middle of her group.

"It will be..." Glancing back up at the king, Raven\'s expression contorted to anger. "Especially since none of your men want this fight."

"What?!" A bit shocked by what he\'d heard, the king\'s rage riled up once more. Jumping off the throne again, he held his staff directed at Raven and screamed. "Kill him, you bastards!"

And yet, for once in his life his own soldiers defied him. A ripple of gasps echoed through the throne room, the dukes, duchess, and every other attendant were left in utter horror at what they were witnessing.

"The girl means no harm anymore, only a heretic would lift his blade against her," said the general, his eyes shifting towards Mino. "Be useful you monsters, for my blade greeds for the blood of the depraved."

"WHAT IN THE HELLS DO YOU THINK YOU ARE TO DEFY MY ORDERS?!" The king screamed again, but this time, none of the guards were listening. For their general had spoken, and they respected the man more than the king himself.

"The priestess speaks the truth," turning to the king, the general stepped forward. Looking into the twitching eyes of his master, he clenched his fist as if trying to suppress his own rage. "We serve the divine, and it\'s her order to spare the defeated who wish to change. And her authority greatly outweighs yours, my king."

As the general knelt before the king, the entire room fell silent. The contempt, however, lingered in the noblemen\'s hearts, but with nobody willing to do their bidding–they knew better than to blabber with their foul mouths. Even the king, feeling defeated, sank back into his throne. He knew he had no course left to take as of now, thus it was best to simply listen.

"Back to your stations!" The general exclaimed to his guards as he rose from the ground.

The guards quickly drew their weapons back and scattered throughout the room. Letting their weapons down as well, everyone from Raven\'s party loosened up a bit as well.

"Just go back with that monster pet of yours!" The king announced, however, Raven had other plans.

"Wait, I wanna ask you something," the king clicked his tongue in annoyance as he heard the mage\'s request.

"What?!" He barked, jerking his shriveled-up body forward.

"The murders that have been going on in the lower city," taking yet another step forward, Raven took out a flier that he\'d been keeping in his breast pocket. "What have you been doing to stop them? The people demand an answer since none of the guards are doing anything!"

A flicker of recognition flashed before the king\'s eyes. He knew what Raven was talking about but somehow seemed reluctant to answer. Unaware of Raven\'s intentions as to why he was bringing up the murders, the rest of his party was just as baffled as the king. However, living in the lower city themselves they wanted the king to answer as well.

\'If only I could read his mind too!\' Raven thought, glaring at that staff in the king\'s hand.

"I\'ll look into it," muttered the king, knowing full well that there was no escaping from the question after everything that just happened. "You\'re free to stay with the guards at the barracks in the meantime, better you stay here so we don\'t have to waste more time waiting for your arrival."

With that said, the king was about to dismiss the assembly, but as the hall\'s entrance gates creaked open, everyone\'s attention was drawn towards the new arrivals. Cast in shadow by the blinding light from the corridor behind them, the frames of a tall woman, her daughter, and her son slowly made their way inside the halls.

"I apologize for the intrusion, but..." Wearing a wide smirk on her face, the bright amber eyes of the tall woman darted towards Raven and the rest. "How could I not when the heroes of our lands are visiting?"

\'The queen...\' Thought the entire Hero\'s group.