A Few Days Earlier

Robin cupped his chin as he stared at the various Taguel skeletons kept by the back end of the royal castle.

He had remembered the stories and tales of how just before the war with the Insurrection, Queen Cordelia ordered that Taguel be hunted and wiped out for the value of their fur and ears. She demanded to have some of the dead Taguel put on display in her castle. Robin knew that one of these Taguel was 'Panne', the last of them to be slaughtered, and he couldn't help but think of what Panne's last moments must've felt like, knowing her entire species would die with her.

Robin stared at the skeletons for a few more moments before finding his way to the library. He activated the entrance to the dungeon and walked down the seemingly endless flight of stairs until he found himself walking down into the dungeon – and he looked at the book in his hand, having found something the Thorn Queen would be most interested in hearing about.

He saw King Frederick walking by, looking disgruntled and angered. The king always looked like this whenever Robin would come to the castle with his father, but this was the first time he had a chance to speak with him. "My king, are you all right?" Robin asked.

King Frederick looked at Robin and just stood there quietly for a moment before answering, "I'm alright, Robin. I'm just going to get myself some tea and once more ponder how I got stuck getting married to Cordelia."

Robin scratched his cheek with an awkward look on his face. "Erm, right…."

"I've tried to distance myself from her and her reign as far as I can go. But it never seems like it's enough….I just wish I could be in the south side of town, with the girl I fell in love with growing up. I'm not sure how much longer I can deal with the likes of Cordelia."

"I'm…I'm sorry to hear that," Robin replied, unsure of what else to say.

King Frederick looked down at the ground and sighed. "My tea awaits me. And don't worry – Cordelia is finally getting less angry about the escape of Sumia and…whoever the hell those other two were. I'd think they were nobles, but I never saw them at any gatherings…oh well. Point is, she's in one of her better moods."

And with that, the King walked away.

Robin, for his part, was quite happy to hear that. Queen Cordelia had become even more enraged than usual after that fateful day, which made her presence simultaneously scary and irritating for Robin. He thought about that as he walked through the dungeon, knowing where the Queen and his father would be.

He passed by a torture chamber, and he saw General Sully walk away from the screams and plights of terror and walk in the same direction as him. The two briefly exchanged glances, and that was all they did to acknowledge each other as they walked across the dungeon – Robin was able to figure out that the general was also going to see the queen.

After a minute or two, they finally entered the room where Tiki and Nowi were chained up, and as Robin expected, Queen Cordelia and Validar were both there. And while Nowi was still chained up to the wall, a handcuffed Tiki merely kneeled down to the ground and bore eyes as wide as a plate. Validar's attention turned immediately towards his son.

"I was just going to search for you, Robin. Tiki is finally ready."

Robin nodded in response. "That is good to hear, father."

Before either of them could continue on, General Sully cleared her throat. "If I may, my queen, I bring some rather big news!"

Queen Cordelia furrowed her eyebrows in interest. "Go on, General."

"One of the Insurrection soldiers finally squealed. It took weeks of the most brutal torture methods imaginable, but he finally spilled the beans on where Captain Libra is based."

The queen's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. "This is splendid news! Just what we needed to finally take out Captain Libra out. Go to the east wing with the other generals and begin planning and strategizing. I will be up there as soon as I can. I have to discuss some matters with Validar and Robin."

"Yes, my queen."

General Sully walked out of the room, leaving Robin alone with Queen Cordelia and Validar.

"My queen, where does this leave us?" Robin asked in a curious tone.

Validar let out a half-hearted chuckle. "Robin, don't be stupid. We're still gonna bring Tiki to the queen's will."

"Your father is right. We will be planning a surprise assault on Libra's base, but we've known for a while that he is well-equipped and well-guarded. In case General Sully and the others fail, Tiki will cement the Insurrection's fall. And help prevent any other resistance groups from ever forming again."

Validar looked at the redheaded royalty before turning back to face his son. "What brings you here, Robin?" he said. Validar then noticed the book in Robin's hand. "Did you find something big?"

"I found…it, father," Robin answered as he handed Validar the book while Queen Cordelia looked at them both with confusion.

"Excellent work, my son," Validar said with a grin on his face.

Now Queen Cordelia was furrowing her eyebrows in confusion. "What is it you've found?"

Validar turned his attention back to the queen. "There's a story that's been passed down from generation to generation in our family, my queen. A story about how, towards the end of his reign, Medeus began work on another spell. A spell more grand than anything anyone had previously created. A spell more powerful than most minds could comprehend. A spell capable to leveling the entire world. When he realized his downfall was imminent, he was going to use the spell to destroy everything and everyone before it could break free from his rule. But of course, your ancestor killed him before such a thing could happen."

Queen Cordelia cupped her chin with genuine interest on her face. "That is all…very fascinating. It truly is. But may I ask why you've been trying to find it."

"For you, my queen," Validar replied with a smile on his face. "Tiki has great potential. Well…it certainly has more than that other, pathetic one."

He took a look at Nowi, who stared down at the ground with misery on her face, before turning back to the queen. "But don't forget how your own ancestor took down Medeus. If Captain Libra and his men are able to slay Tiki, then they will be able to take control of the continent. And ever since you first took the throne, you've gone on about how you refuse to be the queen that loses the kingdom. My queen, if everything else fails, and the kingdom falls, this spell will at least guarantee that Libra won't claim it in your place."

Queen Cordelia stood there for a long moment, seemingly pondering the thought, before replying. "…Yes. Yes, that all sounds good. I still refuse to be the queen that loses the Archanean Empire. I would rather have this land destroyed than die knowing that Libra and his group will take it all for himself."

Robin couldn't help but scratch his hand. "My queen, how will we be able to get the spell to work if the Insurrection storms the castle."

"Well, let's see if there's even still an Insurrection after General Sully and her men siege Libra's base. But in the meantime, we will be busy. I want all three of us to learn how this spell works in preparation, but first, I do want you two to bring Tiki to my will."

Validar nodded. "It will be done, my queen."

"Good."

Queen Cordelia left the room, overdue at the east wing.

Validar and Robin were left alone in the room with Tiki and Nowi, the former letting out a strong cough. "You're all a bunch of psychopaths."

Validar let out a smug smile. "Look at them. They think what they say actually means anything."

Tiki looked up and glared at Validar. "Try as you might, you won't break me."

Robin's father patted her on the head condescendingly. "You overestimate your mental capabilities."

Nowi then began to cough violently, and Validar and Robin looked at her for a moment, but Nowi's situation didn't matter to Validar, who only smirked. "Come now, Robin. Let's begin work on breaking Tiki's will." And with that, the two grabbed Tiki and led her out the room.

Stahl, Gaius, and Sumia all scrambled around to find any weapons as the Archanean Empire began their siege.

Gaius saw one of the Archanean soldiers fall dead to the ground and immediately grabbed his lance, with which he began fighting off two more soldiers who had charged towards him. Gaius stabbed one of them in the hind legs and simply let him fall to the ground while slashing at the other soldier. Once that soldier was dealt with, Gaius turned around to see Pheros finish off the soldier he had injured.

Stahl and Sumia, meanwhile, had also found lances from dead soldiers, and they began slashing at the Archanean soldiers as well. Two of the soldiers tried to back Sumia into a corner, but Stahl slashed at the back of one of them, and Sumia was able to slaughter the other one with ease. Their attention was taken, however, when they saw three soldiers charging towards their Pegasus.

Sumia tackled the female soldier and began slashing at her, but Stahl wasn't able to stop one of the other soldiers from slashing at one of the Pegasus' wings. The Pegasus cried out in pain, and it kicked the soldier away. Stahl impaled that solider while Sumia took care of the remaining one, and Stahl immediately ran to the Pegasus to make sure its wound wasn't too bad.

One of the soldiers charged towards Gaius, but the thief dodged at the last second and the soldier was sent crashing into the wall. Gaius stared at the soldier's unconscious body and let out a chuckle. Then he saw one of the other soldiers darting towards him, but the redhead bashed her in the head with his lance. He impaled both of the soldiers in the back to make sure they would stay on the ground.

Gaius turned around to see five of the soldiers charging towards him. 'Well, shit,' He thought to himself as he saw how outnumbered he was. But to his luck, Pheros and another Insurrection soldier came and killed two of the Archanean soldiers before they could get any closer to Gaius. Pheros killed one of the other soldiers while Gaius slashed and impaled the other two. Not only that, but the brainwashed slave from the plantation, Raimi, was somehow freed, and stabbed two more approaching soldiers to death.

With the soldiers dealt with, Pheros let out a grin. "Look around us, Gaius. There's much more of their blood than ours. We are set on claiming this kingdom as our own!"

"Don't get cocky in the middle of combat, Pheros," Walhart said in a stern voice as two Archanean generals fell dead to the ground. "Say'ri, Yen'fay, and Gregor all made that mistake. Now focus!"

Pheros nodded and went straight towards another soldier, and Gaius took a look around. There were indeed more Archanean bodies on the ground than Insurrection soldiers. They must have underestimated the true might of Captain Libra's forces. He narrowed his eyes and charged towards an Archanean soldier that managed to kill two Insurrection opponents.

After checking on the Pegasus' wounds, Stahl impaled two Archanean soldiers and slashed at a soldier until he laid dead on the ground. He looked at the bodies for a moment before his attention was taken when he Kellam approach him menacingly.

Kellam smirked. "This should be just as easy as our last encounter."

Stahl pointed at the scars on these face. "I had just gotten these right before that encounter. Firewalker scars are quite a hassle. But I've had plenty of time to heal."

Kellam charged towards Stahl, but the prince deflected Kellam's lance with his own. Stahl gritted his teeth and knocked his gargantuan opponent away. Kellam let out a war cry and tried to slash at Stahl with his lance, but Stahl was able to deflect it once more. The two kept on locking lances for a moment before Kellam kicked Stahl in the stomach, sending him down to the ground. But Stahl got up and managed to slash at Kellam in the face with his lance, and then bashed him with it.

Kellam looked back up to see Sumia and three other Insurrection soldiers join Stahl's side. Kellam's eyes widened a little and he was sent running. However, the commotion from the battle send large rocks crashing down from the mountains above, and before anyone knew it, two of the massive rocks landed on Kellam. All he could do was grunt one last time as the rocks crushed him to death.

"Well, well, well…."

Stahl and Gaius both looked over their shoulders to see that General Sully was approaching them, with four soldiers accompanying her. "If it isn't Sumia and her little friend. The Queen will appreciate you being brought back into her custody."

General Sully pointed towards Stahl, Sumia, and the other soldiers, and her own soldiers went charging at them. An Insurrection soldier slashed an Archanean one to death very quickly, only to get slashed himself by General Sully. Sumia slashed at one of the other Archanean soldiers, before another soldier caught her by surprise by another soldier, who came close to impaling her, only to get stabbed to death by Stahl.

General Sully impaled one of the Insurrection soldiers and bashed the other's head into a building, his dead body plopping to the ground after she let go of him. Sumia charged towards the General, intending to impale her right in the chest, but General Sully dodged her and the two locked lances – for only a brief moment, before General Sully knocked Sumia's lance out of her hands.

General Sully kicked her down to the ground and got ready to impale her before she noticed Stahl about to do just that to her. She dodged, and she tried to bash him in the head with her lance, but Stahl deflected it with his own lance and they began going at it. General Sully snarled and charged at Stahl, only for the prince to slash her in the face. He had to admit, it was weird fighting Sully so soon after Kellam – but it didn't make him feel so uneasy anymore. He had come to accept that these just weren't the people he befriended – and now he was willing to finish them off.

After a few more moments of fighting, the two locked lances again. "Your escape made the Queen a pain in the ass to work with," General Sully said in a bitter tone. "Your capture should appease her just fine."

She pushed her lance towards Stahl and sent him towards the building behind her. "For the Archanean Empire!" General Sully said as she readied her lance to kill Stahl.

But Stahl gritted his teeth and got back up, slashing General Sully in the face again. He then bashed her in the face, sending her crashing towards the ground. He grabbed the general's chest plate and threw it off of her, before glaring at the redhead.

"Look around, Sully – no matter what, the Empire will fall," Stahl said as he aimed his lance up high. "Now forgive me," he added on as he impaled her in the chest. She cried out in pain, and she let out a few heavy breaths before all motion ceased.

Stahl pulled his lance out and Sully's lifeless body fell to the ground. Stahl simply stared at her corpse for a few moments, frowning before closing his eyes and sighing. Even after he finally worked up the nerve to kill his comrades here…it was still hard to kill Sully like that. And even though he didn't follow the Insurrection anymore, he could see from the battle around him that the Insurrection would be victorious.

Sumia got up, and she and Stahl looked around and saw Olivia and Gangrel both fighting and slaying the enemy soldiers while Captain Libra slaughtered what looked like to be a lieutenant. Raimi joined in on the battle as well, only for one of the other lieutenants to slash her in the chest with a sword. Before Raimi could react in any way, the lieutenant impaled Raimi in the chest, killing her. However, immediately afterwards, Libra aimed his spear and stabbed the lieutenant with it.

Captain Libra looked at the lieutenant's body and grinned. "Long live the Insurrection!" he yelled out before he began attacking two more Archeanean soldiers.

Gaius knew he had to be quick, since the battle still was ongoing, so he ran as fast as he could towards Stahl and Sumia. "A surprise attack, and Archanea is still getting smoked….yeah, Libra's getting crowned."

Stahl wanted to point out that, depending on how their search for the hooded man went, Captain Libra wouldn't rule for that long, but he decided that they needed to get out of this battlefield as soon as possible. But it wouldn't matter in the end. Before he could so much as open his mouth to say anything, a blue and mystical flame suddenly began to engulf the two. Both Stahl and Gaius were in complete shock, and neither knew what to say about any of this. They felt no pain from the flame, either – they were just in bafflement.

It was only a few seconds before the flame engulfed the two completely – and when it vanished, so did they. And Sumia was merely left confused as to what the hell had just happened.