"T-this power… it's just like back then…"
I swiftly looked in the direction of the quivering voice, only to find Ciel mumbling as she shivered in fear. Her widened eyes which seemed about to pop out of their sockets told of an untold trauma, and her pursed lips trembled with terrifying horror.
A dark sense of expectation hung above her and I could feel tension spreading throughout the hall at a rapid rate.
'I need to find out exactly what's going on.'
"One second…" I told everyone, instantly teleporting out of the throne room.
>VWUUSH!<
In a flash, I appeared outside, floating directly on top of the grand Midas Palace. My head was raised high into the sky, and my senses enhanced to their limits.
That was when I saw it… the sight that was impossible to miss.
'N-no way…'
Many miles and kilometres away from the Midas Empire and its pleasant ambience was a thick formation of dark clouds. I recognized the coordinates well.
'The Eastern Kingdom's Capital. The enemy's main base.'
A bright purple light shot out of a particular compound and seemed to connect with the sky, causing a cloud of darkness to form around the area.
'I can sense extremely dense energy from that light, and also something within the dark clouds. It feels otherworldly…'
My eyes widened in realization and shock.
'Is he trying to—?! Already?! But how will he? No, this doesn't make any sense!' I had a million questions on my mind, but how could I start addressing them at that particular moment?
Upon closer observation of the dark clouds, I saw a disk-like energy projection. It was very small, but I saw it gradually expand. It looked like a portal, leaking a great amount of malevolent energy that threatened to tear everything around it apart.
It was a wonder how the portal was able to remain firm, rather than simply crash upon itself. The energy utilized in generating it had to be immense, and it also had to resonate with the force that dwelled on the other side.
'Now isn't the time to analyze this, you idiot!' I gritted my teeth and chastised myself.
This only proved that we had much less time than I initially thought. We couldn't allow ourselves to be patient and wait for a while before developing a plan.
We had to act quickly.
'Damn, why don't things ever go according to plan?'
*
*
*
"M-Merlin's plan… it's going down now. I can feel it. This creeping sensation, this growing darkness. Can't you sense it? Can't you feel it?"
As Ciel shivered, the Outers surrounded and comforted her. She was always the pillar that gave them a purpose, so it was very difficult for everyone to see her break down like this. The very thing she feared and had hoped to avoid was now upon them.
And she wasn't strong enough to stop it.
"Let's not focus on that for now. The plan comes first." I told Neron, who kept glancing at Ciel.
"A-ah, yes. You're right." He responded hesitantly.
I could tell he was concerned about the woman and also worried for the world, but we didn't have time to be hung up on emotions. This was a decisive moment that required action. Hopefully, he could see that.
"I apologize for being distracted. I'm fine now."
Once he said this, I nodded and decided to leave the rest to him.
"Emperor Kuzon, King Z'ark… we no longer have time to spare. Right here and now, I will brief you all on the plan, and we will act as quickly as possible."
Kuzon and Z'ark also seemed flustered by the sudden wave of vibration and the strange energy that was strong enough to even invade the closed walls of the Midas Empire.
However, they had no time to be afraid.
"The war has begun."
*
*
*
As expected, Neron gave a precise, concise, and charismatic rundown of the plan.
By designating roles, and assignments, and also issuing warnings to others, he was able to quickly make sense of the situation and deliver his message succinctly.
In a nutshell;
The Midas forces were to storm the Fairy Kingdom to take it over, along with Beruel and Kido, who would be serving as the commanders.
The Magic Beasts would go to the Beastfolk Kingdom, and they would be led by Vaizer and Reed.
Ana and Stefan, who seemed to be the best duo based on their compatibility in Magic and Technology, as well as in other areas, were in charge of the Dwarven Kingdom. Their goal was to eliminate the opposition, but more importantly to emancipate the enslaved Dwarves there.
My Automatons would be evenly distributed among the members, creating an army large enough to resist the enemies, while also ensuring the safety of the people.
'I'll be transferring the consciousness of my Familiars into the Golems, so they can have even higher combat ability than usual. As for the Automatons, they function well enough with orders.'
It was going to take some time to gather the armies belonging to the Midas and Magic Beasts, so we simply began the preparations while they gathered.
"W-we still haven't figured out a way to transport all of the soldiers you lot claim to have!" At this point, Kuzon was panicking more than normal.
His hysterical voice, widened eyes, and perspired face showed what kinds of thoughts he was having.
"Don't fret. We have a way to handle that." Neron responded.
That way was simple.
'We'll use [The Tower] to transport the armies to their respective locations.' I smiled, exchanging glances with Neron.
There was a bit of a hiccup with the plan, though.
Since I would be transporting a lot of soldiers (Automatons/Golems/Magic Beasts/Midas), it would take me some time. Besides, I needed to attach my Bond Souls to the Golems and grant accurate instructions to the Automatons before releasing them.
In any case, we couldn't afford to wait for all of that before confronting whatever Evil Jared was cooking up.
"It is as you think." Neron smiled as he placed his hand on my shoulder. It seemed he was also having the same line of thought.
To ensure things didn't progress too much in our opponent's favour, we had to disrupt his plans as early as possible.
That meant one thing.
"Some of us will have to head out first."
*
*
*
[A/N]
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