Commander Hardstone stood at the fore of the Tesseract as it glided gently through the air.
It was morning and he decided to enjoy some morning breeze.
Right on this spot a few months ago, he had stood side by side with Chiron, and was telling him about the Vandora kingdom and it's greatness.
He couldn't help but sigh at this.
"Commander Hardstone!" Vanguard called to him, "we are almost at the Chanland Capital city."
"Hmmm!" He nodded, "I know," he took a deep breath, "I can smell it in the air. The smell of fear!"
"Commander Hardstone, do you think it's true? Did the Armless prince really conquer the Chanland Kingdom in one night!?"
"Hahahaha!!!" Commander Hardstone chuckled, "do you remember when we first saw him? A boy at age ten bloody and beaten. Yet, he stood refusing to fall in front of hundreds of cultivators. All of them with the goal of ending him, and yet," Commander Hardstone had a recalling look on his face.
It was like he could still see that day, "He did the impossible. Above all odds, he did the impossible."
Commander Hardstone turned to Vanguard, "I wonder Vanguard. After all, we are dealing with a young man that either has a habit of performing miracles or eluding fate."
Vanguard nodded.
"Pass my orders to the crew. Ready all Battle stations we are heading towards the Capital. If it is a trap, we will at least no die without a fight!"
"Yes, sir!" She saluted with a fist to her chest.
Immediately, she ran to pass out the Commanders orders.
At the moment, they were heading towards the Capital City of the. Chanland Kingdom.
Chiron had sent the message with the head of General Buckle as evidence.
In his letter, he asked for Commander Hardstone to come retrive King Ash's head.
Chiron sent the head of the General that claimed to have captured him for the obvious reason as to clear any doubts that the King might have.
Till this moment, Commander Hardstone could still remember when the news arrived that Chiron now ruled the Chanland kingdom.
General Buckle's head leading, and the heads of six other major influencial Commanders and Generals accompanied the blood stained letter.
The six tribal Chiefs had all been in the throne room.
They had all seen the big box with the heads.
Chirons letter had been in-between General Buckle's lips.
Whether this was true or not, one thing was sure, with the death of so many Generals and commanders, the Vandora kingdom was now leading in the war effort.
Taking over the Chanland Kingdom now was akin to stealing candy from a baby.
After all, these were were powerful cultivators. Each of them a force to be reckon with.
Yet, they had all died from Poisoning.
The Tesseract entered the capital's Air space. From the moment it did, the big gun barrels at its fore and aft were pointed below.
If this was a trap of sorts, then the ship would attack.
However, Even after moving a far distance in, nothing happened.
The Tesseract arrived at the Palace and descended slowly on the the huge palace hanger.
Till the moment it landed, the Tesseract was still on full alert.
Commander Hardstone came down from the Tesseract first. Behind him, were Vanguard and the rest of his crew.
As they came down, they all had their weapons unsheathed.
And some activated their spirit totems.
However, Commander Hardstone noticed something the moment they arrived.
He noticed that the Chanland Kingdom flag was not flying. Rather, it was the Vandora kingdom's flag.
Commander Hardstone had been by the King's side long enough to know how the political circle worked.
Even if this was a trap, there was no way that the Capital City of Chanland would fly the flag of another Country so boldly.
The morning Mist was still in the air, but the sun slowly rose in the east, chasing it away.
In the distance, Commander Hardstone could see the Silhouette of a person approaching him.
This person's Silhouette was very familiar.
They were some others too.
Commander Hardstone's men were in high alert.
However, the mist cleared some more and the person Commander Hardstone saw made him smile.
"Brother!" Captain Timi chuckled as he walked towards his elder brother.
These men although were under different divisions and for different reasons were still brothers.
Ideally, Captain Timi was supposed to have been a member of the Royal Guards, but he ran away from home, and only joined the military behind the family's back because of debts that were starting to drown him.
"We heard your entire division was Missing in Action (MIA)" Commander Hardstone added.
Captain Timi chuckled again, "if only it was that easy to get rid of me! Then again, it was all the Prince's plans. To deceive one's enemies, you most first deceive one's allies."
Commander Hardstone had never heard of such wisdom from his brother's mouth.
Captain Timi also noticed the look on his face.
"it is a proverb prince Chiron thought me. I believe he said it was from a book called: The Arts of War by Sun Tzu."
Commander Hardstone searched on his head. He was familiar with the books in the Royal Library, but he had never heard of such a book on all his years.
"May be it's from the Chikitsa clan," he told himself.
Just then, a good wind blew and Commander Hardstone and his men were able to get a clearer picture of the Castle walls.
Right there on the highest walls was King Ash's head.
It had been there for a while now and even the morning Mist could not drive the flies away any more.
"Impossible!" Vanguard muttered lowly.
"Not impossible! More like Incredible!" Captain Timi corrected her.
"So it is true, the Armless Prince actually did it. He killed the King of Chanland."
Captain Timi suddenly Frowned, "you best be careful what names you call my commander."
As he spoke, some of his Spiritual energy flowed out of his body.
He was not the only one.
All the men under Captain Timi were the same.
They looked at Vanguard as if they were looking at an already dead chicken.
This surprised Commander Hardstone dearly.
He knew that look. He knew it very well.
That was the look that a subordinate that had absolutely faith in their commander had on their face.
Through pain, blood and victories, they had soon idolized him in their hearts.
Vanguard instantly became their enemy when she called Chiron 'Armless'.
To this men, she was courting death.
Commander Hardstone could not believe that his proud, faithless deptor of a brother could become such a strong devoted follower.
It was almost too comical that he held himself back from Laughing.
They might have all been from the Vandora Kingdom but he could tell that if Vanguard had pushed a tard bit further, these men would have attacked her like she was an enemy.
"Come brother! Let us go inside. They is much for us to discuss." Captain Timi invited.
As they went inside the Palace, Commander Hardstone observed the men under his brother.
Some of them were men and some others were surprisingly Orcs.
These were the same barbaric creatures that only knew plunder and sex in their thick skulls.
Yet here, they were obedient soldiers.
"Commander!" Vanguard drew Commander Hardstone's attention.
"Yes! I know." He whispered back, "it seems that the Prince is capable of incredible things."
"Brother," commander Hardstone called to Captain Timi.
"It seems like you have once more advanced in your cultivation. In fact," he looked around at Captain Timi's men, "all of you stink of fresh advancement. Including the Orcs."
"Yes, yes. It is all thanks to the Prince. He has truly been very good to us."
They got to the throne room.
Sitting on the throne was Hunter. The Green shadow leopard was enjoying a femur.
Biting it with vigor and attention.
By its side was Carla. She rested in an unsightly manner on the wide throne chair too.
Commander Hardstone remembered them both.
He looked around the place but he did not see the star of the occasion. The one person he wanted to see was not here.
"Where is he!?"
"The Prince is about to advance his cultivation. It would be a bit before he will be out." Captain Timi replied.
"ADVANCE!?"
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