"If I am gone–not dead– hold this every time. You will know that I am alive with it." Matthias said as he smiled.
Isabelle gasped and examined it. She saw a circle behind it and tapped it.
Suddenly, a wide hologram emerged from the circle. On that hologram, there was a message that she understood because Matthias taught it to her.
"Guin was an enemy. I am in Ichosterse. I am alive, continue the attack plan." She read slowly.
"What is it?" Although they were still shocked by the hologram, Princess Yuna still remembered to ask Isabelle about it.
"It's a message from Matthias!" Isabelle cried out with happiness.
"A message?!" They exclaimed. "What does it say?" Princess Raya asked with excitement.
"As far as I understand, He is currently in Ichosterse and he wants us to continue the attack." Isabelle reiterated to them.
"What?!" They grimaced. "I would handle the army that would pass the Valley of Sorrows." Isabelle said.
"How did he even get there alive?" General Tuwa exclaimed with confusion.
"It was Guin. He said she was the one who plotted it." Isabelle answered with a hint of disappointment. She wanted to join Matthias and Guin together, seeing their closeness, but she didn't expect that she was an enemy.
"I knew it. That woman couldn't be trusted from the start." Princess Yuna grunted.
"Anyways, we could continue the plan. With Matthias being there, I think he has something up his sleeves." She added.
After thinking for a minute, the others sighed and nodded solemnly.
With the go signal from the princesses, the Forest of Ganae started to prepare for war. The tests beneath the forest also moved in full swing, developing excellently and showing improvements from the original idea.
In the refuges, their armies were all prepared with the confirmation from the Forest.
Isabelle stealthily rushed to the Refuge to lead its army away from the sight of the Ichtir. Although Isabelle is far inferior from Matthias, with the techniques that she learned from him like the Spirit Sense and Thousand Sword technique, she could still face an army by herself as long as she has energy.
While marching, Isabelle hunted for Ichtir spies with thousands of flying swords flying all around the army.
They then reached Serqiu Refuge, a refuge of beastmen.
"Princess Sally, I, Deruma the Lionman, greets you." A huge, seven feet tall bulky man with a lion's head, greeted him. The Lionman adorned a bronze armor and a huge greatsword.
"Warlord Deruma, the time has come." Princess Sally stated with seriousness.
Deruma suddenly turned serious and replied, "It's time?" He then turned around and went on all fours, rushing inside the refuge.
Deruma yelled with a low growl, "Our time has come!" Suddenly, countless eyes opened beneath the shadowy refuge. Thousands of beastmen awakened and growled.
Hearing that, Princess Sally smiled with confidence.
They then marched to the Refuge of Aenathen. It was an old city under the Elves that was attacked by the Ichtir and was later seized by barbarian humans.
"Heiress Sally of Sarqisi, we greet you." When they arrived, the leader of the barbarians greeted her.
"It is time for Aqiartha to be redeemed." She declared. Hearing that, the barbarian leader smiled wickedly and laughed, "We ride, boys!"
Inside, loud shouts boomed with fervor. "Hu, Hu, Ah, Hu!"
Now that they are complete, Isabelle and Princess Sally led a 300,000-men army towards the Valley of Lightwhere they would pass.
At the top of the Black Tower Ichosterse, Kelbrom held on to his staff as he struggled to stand. But, even though he was struggling, the glee on his face couldn't be covered. "Finally, I shall once again own Aqiartha!" He cackled eerily.
"My lord, shall we begin the attack right away?" One of the generals behind him asked.
"No, no." Kelbrom quickly waved his hand back, "My victory is already certain. Let the foolish rebels enjoy their last day. Tomorrow after, let the rise of the sun be the symbol of our glorious conquest!" He growled with pride.
"Where is that brat?" Kelbrom suddenly asked.
"Toying with her newly acquired toy, I suppose." One of the generals replied.
When he heard that, Kelbrom scoffed, "Fine. But tell her to make it quick and kill his consciousness immediately. I don't want any thinking humans inside my territory. They disgust me." He then turned around to look at the scenery with excitement plastered on his face.
While the Tyrant Lord and his minions celebrate the nearing of their conquest, the marching of the armies of Ganae through the forests and the union of Ciandor, Serqiu, and Aenathen going through the Valley of Light continued with fervor. As the gathering of the Refuge Forces took a while, it was already noon on their way to their designated posts.
At the top of one of the Valley of Light's cliffs, Isabelle looked at the Black Tower afar and looked at it with determination, "Wait for us, Matthias. We are near." Below her, thousands of banners belonging to the three forces fluttered with the wind as the army marched continuously.
At the forests, an army of Spirits and Elves continued their march with the two Haylen Flags and green flags with a golden tree at their center fluttered with their poles being held by the soldiers of the two races. Princess Yuna and Princess Raya stood side by side as they gazed at the Black walls not so far from them, just some kilometers away with solemnity.
General Tarsus and Lauerio strode towards the two princesses. Lauerio was the first one to speak, "Princesses, we are now near the territory of the Tyrant. Shall we proceed to attack?"
"Not yet." Princess Yuna replied without turning back, "We will attack tomorrow dawn. Let the soldiers rest." She ordered.
"As you wish, Your Excellency!" The two generals nodded and turned around to leave.
"Wait." Princess Raya suddenly stopped the leaving generals. They turned around and General Tarsus asked, "What is it, Your Highness?"
"Spread the spirits and surround Ichosterse. With my signal, we would weaken their prowess." She ordered.
"Yes, Your Highness!" The general nodded and left with Lauerio.
Inside Ichosterse, Matthias was also doing his job. He sent shadows all over the outside of the tower and placed something on its surface without being noticed by Guin.
He also placed at the walls and on the ground using his shadows things that were different to the one that were attached to the tower.
Also, deep inside him, the faith that the Triant King Verdana gave him sparked and was being absorbed by him. Almost half of the faith that the Triant King accumulated over the years was now his and he now has the Treants under his command. Now that he already is a god of Aqiartha, he could now use some of his godly authority inside this Spiritual Realm, which made him happy.
He controlled his will to zoom past the walls of Ichosterse, going west, to where the old Spirit Princedom Hayle stood.
Slowly, the issue in Aqiartha was reaching its peak. With all its forces having determined intentions of going to war, one battle would be the last battle to decide the fate of this world.
When they arrived at the exit of the Valley of Sorrows late afternoon, Isabelle received yet another message from Matthias that was in Ichosterse.
"The forces of Ichtir would begin their attacks on the surrounding territories tomorrow at daybreak." She reiterated the message to the Princess and the other leaders solemnly.
"Mhmm!" Princess Sally nodded with a grim expression, "I do not know if they read our moves, but this would mean that an all-out war would start tomorrow at the center of our realm." She muttered.
"We can't do anything about that now." Isabelle sighed. "What we can do is face them head on." She narrowed her eyes filled with determination.
Isabelle looked at the Lionman Deruma and requested, "Warlord Deruma, we request the forces of Serqiu, with their tenacious nature, to lead the charge once the forces of Ganae faces head-on against the Ichtir."
Warlord Deruma didn't answer and looked at Princess Sally. Princess Sally nodded and Deruma finally replied, "You can count on us." He smirked with pride.
"Can I bother anyone to send the news to the other force?" Isabelle asked.
"Leave that with my men." Deruma replied. Isabelle smiled and bowed to say thanks.
Deruma went out and gave the message to his avians, his bat scouts, to fly towards the Ganaen Army.
Hours after, at the Ganaen Camp, the Princesses and Generals received the message and had mixed emotions.
They were relieved that Matthias was alive while they're also worried about the enemy's move.
"Let's just hope for the best and fight to the end." Princess Yuna sighed. "General Lauerio, an hour before the sun rises, immediately order the troops to prepare. Ready the army." She ordered.
"Yes, Your Excellency." The elven general nodded and turned to leave.
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