Ragna0011: I'd be mentally scarred to if I found out that my siblings just had sex with someone I hate. A tiny tidbit of the actually fight scene, the real war is in the next chapter.
Ryosuke: It's an easy guess as he did have a statue of himself in the middle of Elder. I don't think Elesis would do that as in Eve's code is her life after all.
Yuuya Bridges: Flashbacks...Flashbacks everywhere. Chung and Eve had talked to the king beforehand then go and see Add and Elesis (since the king was more important to them). Eve is already the queen. She's well...queen. Add knew that the war was coming. He had to check on his drones so they would work. No use bringing junk into the war. Elesis is the only one Add could trust and if she was gone...hell broke loose. Joshua is a king, but he was also a father. He would do things to make sure that his country and his children were alright.
NaruSaku1995: I'm glad that you enjoy it that much. I'd still write fics even after this was done. I'd make another AddxElesis or something similar to that with my OC... Who knows.
Artemicon: Not in the Transformer style. Michael Bay would make it too much of a bang (does that even make sense?). Also, I'd pay to see that 10 seconds movie of myself. Just saying...
wulfralph: I just love to torment the poor Elboy. Honestly, as SI, he wouldn't be shock, but thank god he wasn't LK or he might just pretend that he didn't have a sister all together.
I upload this a little late. Sorry guys/girls.
When they finally got back to their room, Elesis flopped down the couch with a heavy sigh. Now, they really had no idea what Elder was planning. They could see why the royalties of Velder would be there, but why Feita and Sander? They had limited the supplies to those two countries, why would they invite them? Add opened the drawer in the desk and took out all of the drones that he had.
"We should be prepared for this. Who knows what they might try?" The MasterMind said as he checked the availability of his drones.
"You're right. I guess that they're planning to negotiate with the royalties, but if it goes wrong…"
"They had already planned for war already. I think it's safe to say that the army has Nasod implants if our theory is correct."
Elesis took out the notes that Aisha and Elsword gave her. Aisha was a genius at magic, she knew that, but she was proud to see that her brother was able to do something like this. Luckily, the notes were for Fire Fist, a skill that would be useful in one-on-one situation, and Burst Wave, a skill that would be good to use when dealing with an army. They didn't know what was going on, but they managed to help her in the end.
"Should we tell the others?"
"Although we only have theories, it would be best to warn them about Elder so they could get prepared." Add narrowed his eyes. "I don't want to say this, but we shouldn't tell Raven. He's loyal to Elder. Although he got a Nasod arm implanted onto him, he isn't the type to even think of betraying one's country."
Elesis nodded. She had to find the others and told them to meet her at her bedroom. Unlike Add, she didn't know Raven that well, but he was still someone she chose to trust. It was better to plan ahead, thus she purposely left him out. She hoped she could tell him before tonight. After successfully finding everyone, Elsword, Aisha, Rena gathered in her bedroom. It was the first time that she asked them to meet her in one place.
"There is something that I need to tell you. Elder has limited the trade to multiple countries, except for Velder. I think it's safe to say that they're planning for war."
Elsword and Aisha looked surprised, but Rena was composed. As Elesis thought, the Wind Sneaker was well informed since she was the captain of the combat division in the military.
"I've heard about this. They also requested Velder to throw a party right?" Rena looked like she was deep in thought. "Judging from the fact that Velder wasn't on the list of being limited, they want to negotiate."
"The problem was that…they also invited royalties from Feita and Sander."
It looked like Rena didn't know about this. Add left his desk and went to sit down next to Elesis. He had finished checking all of his drones and many of them weren't working probably as he feared. He didn't have time to check them frequently as he was focus on the Apocalypse lately.
"That explained why my mother wanted to return to Feita two days ago, but then she said that she would come to Velder tonight." Aisha wondered. "But why would they invite the royalties from Feita and Sander? It's still a huge stretch to say that they will come."
"They will come. First, they can find out the reason why the trade was limited. Second, since Elder said that this is a political party, if they don't come, there will be more troubles than it already has." Add answered her questioned. "The problem was…why? Why would they bother to invite them?"
"Feita is widely known as the home to magic. Many powerful magicians come from there. Maybe they want more allies." Elsword gave his own theory. "I'm lost at Sander though."
"Actually, Sander has Ran, he is rumored to be the best strategist in history." Aisha gave him more information.
What Elsword and Aisha said was possible, but why would they limit the trade if they wanted Feita and Sander as allies? The more they discussed, the more lost they felt.
"Anyway, we should be careful. Be on your highest alert tonight." Elesis tapped her index finger against her chin. "We don't know what they might try."
"Right." Aisha and Elsword answered at the same time.
"Where is Raven? We should tell him too." Rena looked like she was worried.
Elesis and Add went quiet at her question. They couldn't outright say that they distrusted Raven. He had been with them for some time and he was a good guy as far as they could tell. However, Add had known the Blade Master for a long time and he was loyal to his country. The MasterMind didn't know that whether or not Raven might betray them for Elder. Luckily for him, Elesis got his back.
"I was in a rush so I forgot him. I'll tell him later. You should get prepared." Elesis lied through her teeth. "Your crossbow has been waiting for you a long time."
"Yeah."
Rena left the room while Aisha and Elsword remained there. They didn't think that war was at their doorstep now. They were so used to the peaceful time that this was a huge shock. The magician sighed heavily.
"I don't want another war to happen." She said while gripping tightly on her skirt.
"It's okay…when it comes down to it, I'll protect you." Elsword rubbed her head to calm the girl down.
"You siblings really don't know how to get embarrassed."
Their little moment was ruined by Add. He didn't leave his seat yet, but he was still checking his drones. Elsword felt a vein popped on his forehead as he heard Add and also from the mental images of what Elesis might have said to him.
"I don't need any more information."
"What are you talking about?" Add finally lifted his head up. "Don't get cocky just because you're dating Aisha."
"And you're with my sister. Do you think I like that?"
"I don't care if you like it or not." Add nodded towards the magician. "She certainly deserves someone better than you."
"Like you?"
"What are you talking about? You said that I'm with your sister. I'm not that kind of person."
"You look like that kind of person."
"And you're an annoying brat."
Elsword was somehow relieved that it was only a taunt. For a second, he was afraid that Add actually liked Aisha. It would be bad for him and Elesis. The strange conversation lightened up the mood a bit. The magician giggled at the way they went back and forth. Temporary, she forgot about the inevitable war. Elesis smiled. It was good to see Aisha composed herself. The Blazing Heart didn't do so well when she heard that her parents could be in danger.
"You should bring your magic staff Aisha. Just in case anything bad happens." Elesis didn't forget to give her a reminder. "Don't stay too close to the people of Elder."
"Don't worry about me, if anything, I can even protect you guys."
"I know you can." Elesis gave her a wide grin.
They talked more about why and how Elder was waging war. Add and Elesis purposely left out why they knew the fact that they might have an army of Nasod implanted soldiers. Since fully fledge Nasod lacked the ability to have a flexible pattern of thought, humans exceeded Nasods in that department. If they could combine that with a Nasod's strength, things could get dangerous. Suddenly, their conversation was stopped as Raven opened the door with a displeased look on his face.
"Why didn't you tell me about Elder's intention for tonight?"
"Who told you that?" Add narrowed his eyes.
"Me." The elf came up from behind the Blade Master. "Elesis, you lied to me that you would tell him later."
The Blazing Heart nibbled on her lower lip. She underestimated Rena. Elesis had lied to the elf before and she didn't call her out for it. How did she figure out that she was lying? Rena noticed that puzzled look on Elesis's face.
"Your eye twitches when you lie." Rena chuckled. "I've known you better than that."
The Blade Master rushed over to Add. He looked at him in the eyes and he could tell that Add didn't trust him, the look that the MasterMind gave to other people when he was in doubt. Raven gritted his teeth and increased the distance between himself and Add. He scratched his head in dismay.
"You don't trust me that much?"
"Raven, tell me, where did you get your Nasod arm?" Add answered his question with another question.
"This?" The Blade Master held up his artificial arm. "After the war with Altera, my arm was lost. The king ordered me to get a Nasod arm implanted so it wouldn't affect my fighting ability."
When the war with Altera ended, it was after the time when Add was adopted. They wanted to try whether or not it was possible to have another living experiment. Raven was unfortunately chosen. The king was a sick fuck.
"Tell me one more thing, are you willing to go against your own country? Even after what they had done to you?"
Raven tightened his fist. It was a question that he would answer without a second thought if it was asked in a different scenario. This time, it wasn't so easy. He was well-aware that Elder was waging war. The Blade Master didn't want to go into another war as the last one stole his fiancée away from him. However, he wasn't the type to betray his own country whether they were right or not. The lack of answer from Raven had given Add enough information. He turned around to avoid looking at Raven.
"As I thought…"
"Raven…" Rena quickly approached him. "Do what you think is right…"
The Blade Master gave her a sad smile. He was in a struggle that he desperately needed an answer.
"What would you want me to do?"
"I don't want to face you in the battlefield." Rena gripped on his sleeve.
"Me neither. Let me think this through."
That said, Raven left the room. The tense atmosphere was still in presence. All of them couldn't say a word. Rena leaned against the wall in mental exhaustion. If she met him on the battlefield, she would hesitate and it wouldn't be pretty for the both of them. She just hoped that he would rethink this. Rena was well aware that it was low to talk him into committing treason, but if she could, she would. Raven needed some time to his own and if luck was on their side, he would turn his back against Elder.
"Your situation is understandable, but we couldn't have a threat to us. This is war." Add's cold tone was like water to her heated head.
"Raven…" Elsword mumbled.
Rena forgot about the Rune Slayer. There were two people here didn't want to fight him. He was a mentor to Elsword and her loved one. Facing him in war was the last thing the two of them wanted to happen.
The party soon began as the royalties from Feita, Sander and of course, Velder arrived. Add and Elesis arrived early at the party while Elsword and Aisha were making sure that everything was in place. As soon as Ara saw someone she knew, she headed towards the two of them immediately.
"Good evening." She bowed.
"Hello Ara, you've known what happened, right?" Elesis smiled briefly before going back to her serious look.
"Yes…" Her voice got a bit smaller. "This makes people's lives in Sander become harder as our country consist mostly of deserts."
Elesis comforted the girl. She knew that it wouldn't do much, but she wanted to ease her worries somewhat. A guy with white long hair and attire consisted of mostly the color black approached them. He placed his hand on Ara's shoulder. The Sakra Devanam turned around and her expression brightened up quickly.
"Brother!"
"So this is Ran…" Elesis mumbled to herself, he looked nothing like Ara.
"Are these your friends?" Ran looked at them. "I see…the princess of Velder and…who might you be?" He turned to Add.
"…Nobody."
He killed the title 'prince of Elder'. If he still kept it, he couldn't help stopping the incoming war. Ran arched his eyebrow, but he asked nothing.
"Well then, I'll leave Ara here with you." He turned to her. "When I need you, call Eun out, okay?"
"Yes…" Her expression dropped.
Ran waved them goodbye before going to meet other people. Ara looked at her brother until he was lost in the crowd of people. She sighed sadly and looked down to her feet. She did that when she felt like her confidence was lost. Elesis wasn't pleased by what he said before he left.
"What did he mean by calling Eun out? Who is his sister? You or Eun?"
"Please don't get mad at him." Ara smiled, but she didn't look happy. "I'm useless so the only way I can help him is lending him the knowledge of Eun."
"You're clumsy, but you have your own good point. Don't look so down." Unexpectedly, it was Add who said that.
Elesis nodded vigorously to support him. She was proud to see Add actually encouraging people. Ara smiled. Aisha would be happy if she saw this.
"Have you seen Elder's king yet?" Ara changed the subject, she wasn't used to have other people worried about her.
"No." Add answered briefly. "We need to watch out for him when he's here."
"Right." Ara nodded.
The Sakra Devanam knew nothing about Add and Elesis's theories, but she did know that it was the man who made the people of her country suffered. That alone was enough to make her be careful around him. Speaking of the devil, Add gritted his teeth as a man walked through the door with his subordinates. He looked like he was in his 60s as his hair was white mixed with the color grey. He also had a mustache like Velder's king, just a lot less majestic. Elesis noticed the shift of Add's expression.
"That's the king?" She whispered.
"Yeah, that's Wally. The king of Elder. I've never seen the queen before."
Joshua and Victoria approached him and shook the man's hand. Wally noticed the MasterMind standing nearby as he grinned.
"Oh…isn't this Add?"
"Father." Add sounded like he forced that out of his throat.
"Come here."
Add really wanted to refuse right now, but if he did, it would cause a scene here. Elesis gripped his sleeve from behind, silently told him to be careful and then followed him. The Blazing Heart stood next to Joshua while the MasterMind stood next to Wally. The distance between them was much bigger than between Elesis and her parents. Wally raised one of his eyebrows.
"I'm sure that you're aware of the current situation."
"Yes, we're well aware." Joshua's voice was stern, but he kept his smile to avoid any unnecessary conflicts.
"What is the meaning of this?" Victoria followed.
"What else to explain? Velder, the country with powerful military and Elder, the country with superior Nasod knowledge should be above others. I'm giving us a head start by limiting the supplies from the trade."
As Joshua thought, he wasn't here just to have a talk about the marriage. Elesis noticed the deep frown on her parents's face and shifted her attention to Add. He nodded towards Wally then to Joshua and Victoria. Strangely, despite the look on her prents's face, the king of Elder still had that smirk on his face.
"If I join you, we'll be up against seven other countries in Elrios, the odds is clearly against us."
Add quickly narrowed his eyes at Joshua's words. It sounded like he had the intention to join forces with Wally. It wouldn't be good at all if that happened. The king of Elder chuckled.
"I have an army that guarantees overwhelmed any other oppositions. If Sander and Feita are smart enough to join us, how can we be defeated?"
"What if they don't agree? What else do you have?" The queen raised her eyebrow.
Wally smirked as he snapped his fingers. Soldiers accompanied his side suddenly restrained Add and pushed the bang out of his forehead. Elesis was about to rush over to him, but she was stopped by her father. He looked at her and shook his head. Silently, he reminded her to keep her cool head.
"Do you see this boy's right eye?" Joshua narrowed his eyes as he felt something bad was going to happen. "It's a Nasod implant. Although this kid's is only a failure, we assured you that the successful results bear overwhelming power."
"You're crazy! The implantation of Nasod onto humans is illegal! You know that most of the experiment resulted in death." Victoria lashed out as she learned Wally's plan. "The marriage is cancelled!"
"She's right. This is inhumane." Joshua ticked his tongue.
Add struggled against the soldiers' grip. It was strangely strong. The MasterMind reached into his pocket and pulled out one of his drones. He activated it.
"Ultimate Fury!"
The drone cloned itself into three versions and fired continuous beams towards the soldiers. They released him. They struggled in pain as it kept firing. Add coughed as their grip on his neck was too tight. The Blazing Heart kneeled down next to him in concern.
"Are you okay?"
"Elesis! Get away from him!" Joshua tried to pull her away, but Elesis didn't budge.
"Father! He's the one that told me their plans beforehand. He's not one of them."
Joshua didn't trust Add. He knew that his daughter loved him, but no matter what, he was from Elder. There was no guarantee that he was a spy. Victoria only cared about her family. She wouldn't know what to do if he turned out to be a spy. The MasterMind composed himself and stood up. After the drones were done, the soldiers were kneeling on the ground. Add narrowed his eyes at the fact. His Ultimate Fury was his strongest drone (beside Apocalypse). Up until now, there was no one could stand up after taking full hit. These soldiers weren't knocked out yet. Wally clapped at the performance.
"As expected from you, Add. Your inventions are incredible." He snapped his fingers again. "Too bad that my soldiers exceed your ability."
One of the soldiers kneeling on the ground suddenly charged against Add and strangled him. Joshua felt anger rose in his veins, not as a king, but as a father. Elesis didn't need him to tell her. She drew out her sword, hidden underneath her coat.
"Flame Rose!"
Fire shot out from the sword and hit the soldier that was strangling him. She immediately pulled him away from Add and towards her. Elesis raised her hand in front of the soldier. She mumbled.
"Explosive Fist."
Fire emitted from her hand, burned the soldier continuously.
"Ha! You think that can stop him?" Wally laughed.
"No, but he will be useless in a while." As Elesis finished her sentence, the soldier collapsed. "His mana is burned. Your turn, Add."
"Drone Activator."
The familiar drone fired lazer into the collapsed soldier and he stopped moving. This time, he was really down. It wasn't confirmed whether or not he was dead. The skin felt out and revealed that his arms, legs were Nasod parts. As they expected, Wally was really rotten. Wally laughed died out as he eyed the two of them. They had caused quite a ruckus as everyone in the room stared at them. Ara mumbled in worry.
"Add…Elesis…"
"I expected nothing less from you, Add." He turned to Elesis. "You, on the other hand, is unexpected. No matter. He didn't use his full potential. He's a fool for going easy on you two."
As soon as Wally finished his sentence, six more soldiers surrounded him. He walked pass them and up towards the stairs. Joshua quickly called out for the guards which he had prepared beforehand. They charged at Wally, but one of the soldiers raised his hand up and bullets were firing out constantly, like gatling gun.
"Fall back!" The king shouted out.
The soldiers quickly took cover, but it was hard to as the soldier kept aiming at them. Luckily, Elsword and Aisha arrived in time. As they saw the situation, the magician disappeared from his side and appeared in the middle of the gunfire.
"Statue of Glory!"
A statue of herself appeared and all of the bullets were stopped. The guards quickly hid behind it. They thanked her over and over again. Elsword knocked her on the head, silently told her that she was too reckless. However, when it came to that department, he was certain much more reckless than her.
"Iron Body."
He mumbled before he rushed out to the enemies' gunfire. Aisha was about to yell at him, but she was amazed that he wasn't flinched by it at all. He ran into the middle of them and raised his sword.
"Storm Blade."
Multiple of swords appeared around him and spun around, trapped the soldiers within it until it ended. Miraculously, they stood up again. Elsword put his hand in front of him.
"Ice Rune."
The soldier was stopped frozen on his track. They were extremely durable as he could only take down that one before he realized that his mana was almost empty. He quickly fell back to Aisha.
Wally laughed and continued his way until he was standing in front of all of the guests. They whispered, mumbled amongst themselves, wondered what was going on. Wally cleared his throat and began his speech. Elesis and Add was about to stop him, but Joshua shook his head.
"If we do this now, the other countries will see us as hostile. They will listen to what Wally would say better."
"Royalties of Sander and Feita, I'm sure that you are under some…difficult circumstances." The crowd's whisper became louder. "It's hard to have fewer supplies right? Especially Sander, the country filled with sands. If you want to regain your former glory, join forces with me, Elder. We shall conquer Elrios and I promise that the supplies in the trade will be double…no, triple what its original is."
The crowd's whispers became much more louder.
"You want allies? I'll join forces with you." It was the king of Sander. "Sander's citizen cannot live if the supplies are limited."
"How very wise of you. I want you to lend me someone."
"Ran Haan?"
"Exactly."
The Sander's king nodded towards Ran as he nodded. Ara gripped on his sleeve in worry.
"Call out Eun for me." He said only that.
Ara felt like a needle just pierced through her heart. He didn't want to know her own opinion, he only wanted Eun's advice. Ara wanted to shake her head, but Ran's glare at her hesitance made the girl's will shrunk. She accepted and called out for Eun. Soon, her appearance changed into the fox's. She walked next to him towards Wally.
"I know that you don't want to do this for Sander, but you just want to test your rusted ability."
"And you don't want to go crazy once in a while? Ara will be sad if she hears what you just said."
"She doesn't hear what happens out here. I can, but she can't, her will is too weak." Eun chuckled. "I guess as a Millennium Fox, I want to see some chaos in this boring peaceful life."
"You're the same as me."
As they arrived, Wally looked at them with a smile. He shook Ran's hand. Having a genius strategist on his side made sure that he won the war.
"How about it Feita? Do you want to join us?"
"No. We can't side with a hostile leader." The queen of Feita with long purple hair said with a stern voice. "We'll fight you if the time calls for it."
"Very well then."
Wally's voice told them that he didn't care that he couldn't acquire one of the allies. The speech was over. The side was decided. Joshua gave them an approval nod. They were waiting for this moment. Aisha raised her staff and increased their magical attack. Add raised his hand and pointed his finger at Wally. There were only his soldiers in the way. Even better.
"Panzer Buster."
A huge magenta laser beam was fired and it headed straight towards Wally. When the dust cleared out, three of the soldiers closest to the beam was taken down, but the others were fine. He wasn't too worried as even before the dust was settled. Elesis and Elsword sprung towards them with their sword in their hand.
"Rising Slash."
Multiple swords raised from the ground and knocked the soldiers up into the sky. Elesis slashed her sword forward.
"Blazing Wing"
Fire that had the shape of a wing headed towards them. It rushed through the soldiers, severely injured them. The ones that still could function tried to stop Elesis, but Add made sure that they failed. He threw a disc at them and it pushed the guards out of the way. As Elesis was about to hit Wally, someone stopped her sword.
"R-Raven?"