Palm Dancing Queen
"Your Majesty," Emilia called to the Queen, kneeling before her in the throne room. The carpet she rested her knee on was a deep red color with the same sigil on it as the banners in the coliseum: a golden eagle, or more specifically, the facial structure of a golden eagle.
More banners hung above that lead from the huge double doors to the throne, where the Queen sat above everyone else.
"I am sorry to report that after thorough investigations in nearby villages and the coastal towns of District Eight that the boy known as Alan Clementine is nowhere to be found."
"That *boy* put down one of the Kingdom's most strength-renowned men," the Queen replied in a clipped fashion. "If such a boy were to be influenced by organizations around the world, the Kingdom would suffer greatly. I want you to bring him here, with force if necessary.
Bring two men with you to the Sorrow Mountains. We've been hearing more and more rumors of inhabitants there and it has always been a hotspot for evasion."
Emilia bowed her head even lower and gripped her armor.
"As you wish, Your Majesty."
The Sorrow Mountains were normally a forbidden-to-enter zone due to the exotic organic activity and insane men who had gotten lost wandering around. They were called the "Sorrow Mountains" for a good reason, since every man who had confirmed deaths in the area was found deceased by suicidal means. That being said, only desperate runaways dared to go there.
On the other hand, if anyone could make it through them, it would be the Head Chief Warrior.
"You are dismissed."
Moments after Emilia closed one of the massive doors that connected the rest of the castle to the throne room, the Queen slammed her fist into the armrest, making a loud *BANG!*
Her eyes went wide, almost like her sanity had been instantly neutralized. The smile she made was that of a lunatic and she trembled like a twig in the wind.
The Queen stared at the ground while pressing her fingers around her face, covering most of it with her palm.
"I can't believe it," she painfully muttered. "A boy as strong if not stronger than the Head Chief Warrior... Not found?! It's only been two days! Where could he possibly be?!"
The Queen next banged her foot on the floor, this time making the banners above sway and the beautiful chandelier make small chimes. Big windows to her right decorated the room with streaks of light, however the aura shrouding it was terrifying and dangerous.
And yes, the throne room was made of solid stones.
Seeing how the Queen just made the space shiver, her unnatural and unheard-of strength was something to be wary of.
"This Kingdom...! We just can't seem to do anything right, can we?"
The Queen just sat in the throne room, maniacally laughing in defeat. After so many losses to the Kingdom, losing a potential war-changer just because of inability was the breaking point of her psychological standpoint.
"Would you like me to dispatch him?"
A voice in the shadows reached Her Majesty's ears. The voice was smooth and collected, as well as analytical and decisive.
Fortunately, the Queen knew this man. She calmed herself down, straightened her posture, and faced to her left, where a man of unseen appearance leaned against the throne, basking in its shadow.
"Romulus... Yes, do as you please. Follow whatever leads you see fit. If there is a problem here, ignore it and I will take care of it. Take the Crystal Scroll with you, too. You'll need it."
"As you command, 'Your Majesty.'"
In the blink of an eye, he was gone.
A knock sounded through the room.
"You may enter!"
The left door from the Queen's perspective opened to reveal an imperial knight. His helmet was held in his hand, so his clear expression of fear was exposed to the Queen.
"YOUR MAJESTY!"
The knight sprinted before the Queen and then kneeled. Before she could reprimand him for disrespecting her with such rude behavior, the knight informed her:
"There has been an attack on the Third Sector! It's the Sentinel of Hades!"
The Queen gasped and quickly dismissed the knight's potential penalty.
"How many are there?"
"Two, Your Majesty. They're both witches!"
The Queen growled as she stretched her arm out toward the door behind the kneeling soldier.
"Bring 1,000 men and three Wizards with you and eliminate the threat! I will not hold tolerate an attack in my Kingdom!"
"But Your Majesty! Sending the many men will weaken the camp surrounding headquarters! If we dispatch them, then it's possible that-!"
"JUST DO IT! No way will even the Sentinel of Hades deploy more than two witches for a town and imperial knight headquarter camp!"
"Y-Yes, Your Majesty!"
As the knight sprinted out the door, the Queen ground her teeth and wore an enraged facial expression. In the corner of her eye, the rising smoke started to take form.
"I will *not* let those cursed bastards wreak havoc in my domain!"
———————————————————————
"So, how's the diversion going?"
"Splendid. The Queen took the bait and dispatched some of her Wizards and a 1,000 men, as you had predicted."
"Fantastic. When the forces arrive, have Aura and David keep them busy with clones, then take over the imperial knight headquarters. If they attempt to do it now, one of the knights are bound to escape and request for reinforcements. When the takeover is performed, make sure they put on a show."
"As you wish 'Alan Clementine.'"
———————————————————————
Explosions disrupted the beautiful houses and buildings in the Third Sector. Desolation was upon the Kingdom.
Imperial knights lied dead on the cold ground, fires burned mercilessly, buildings collapsed, and people fled, screaming out of fear and for help.
This was the work of two people, both in their early 20s.
The woman wore a black leather jacket, which she kept unzipped, with a plain white t-shirt underneath, and black shoes with black pants.
Her partner in crime wore a red flannel with casual denim jeans, with a pair of black sunglasses.
"Have the imperial knights sent their men, yet?" the woman asked. Beside her, the man, who she was currently destroying the Third Sector with, closed his eyes for a moment as if the destruction that lied in front of him brought him peace, then opened them, responding.
"Yeah. We should probably get a move on. Don't screw up this time, sweetheart."
"Oh, please, you're dressed like an senior so why don't you respect the next generation."
Her teasing wasn't serious and was quite disturbing considering they were surrounded in complete devastation. The screams of men, women, and children didn't seem to affect the two in any way.
A grin escaped from the man's mouth as he sighed and put his hands up in defeat.
"Ok you smartass, now let's go."
"Right."
Behind the two individuals, rifts of light so subtle they could've been mistaken to never have occurred as all were produced. These rifts of light were only distortions, so one could've seen through it, but the fact that *something* was there was possible.
And indeed something was there.
When the rifts of light disappeared suddenly, the marching of 1,000 men could be heard and the screams gradually decreased in number due to the interference of the imperial force.
"ELIMINATE THE ATTACKERS AND PROTECT THE KINGDOM! TO BATTLE!"
A chorus of battle cries was thrown into the atmosphere.
——————————————————————
*/Our clones have been placed. We're moving to the imperial knights headquarters immediately./*
*/Very well. I will inform King Lucifer./*
The use of telepathy allowed for instant, wireless communication between individuals. Its versatility was remarkable, from illusionary performances to information transference. For this reason alone, the user of this ability was granted the honor and privilege to be the second-in-command of the Sentinel of Hades.
"Aura and David's clones have been placed an their movement to the headquarters is being conducted as we speak. The imperial knights never noticed the sudden decrease in power of the two as expected."
"The clones will probably be eliminated due to the three Wizards that the Queen recklessly sent out. Make them regret doing so and eliminate them."
"As you wish."
———————————————————————
"AH-!"
The soldier's final shriek of regret was cut short by the clone left behind by the man named David, the latter plunging his fist into the knight's stomach. Aura was busy taking care of the rear.
Of the 1,000 men, 40 were already dead. Because of the fires and collapsed buildings, the wreckage formed narrow pathways. This allowed a maximum of 15 soldiers per row and around 67 per column.
It was the start of a massacre.
At the current point in time, 629 men had fallen, bleeding in the streets, and left to rot like trash. Most of their injuries were similar to direct interactions with high-speed cannonballs, albeit smaller holes.
Just mountains of death.
Men with unnatural pits that went through their armor, skin, bones, and organs, in that order, were sprinkled all over the ground.
It was truly a waste of a 1,000 armed force.
"Don't let them leave unscathed!" a female voice sounded in the sky. Aura and David's clones tilted their heads up to see three individuals, all wearing cloaks with masks underneath, hovering over the ablaze town.
"Yes, ma'am!"
"Yes, ma'am!"
The two voices that replied at the same time consisted of one male and one female, although they sounded slightly distorted from their donned masks.
Unfortunately, time for analysis was over, because they were gone.
Faster than the clones could react, the presumed leader casted an offensive magic, which formed a magic circle around her outstretched arm, and proceeded to barrage David's clone with ice shards. She stood in between the rest of the soldiers and the enemy, so pursuing them was impossible.
Simultaneously, the one of the other individuals was helping the retreat of the soldiers, and the other kept Aura's clone busy. The street that they fought on went straight for a while, however many other roads intersected with it, making escape possible.
Yet, the two "people" didn't even try to escape. In fact, it was almost as if they wanted their enemy to stay in that exact spot.
Aura's clone was fiercely attacked with spikes popping up from the ground via Earth Magic. When this occurred, the magic caster gasped, for the woman they were attacking wasn't even making a sound. In fact, her mouth was sealed shut, and her eyes were dull and lifeless.
*/How can she be so dull in a situation like this? Something's off./*
David's clone responded to the leader's ice barrage by launching a nearby brick at his attacker's face. With a triumphant *tch*, the magic caster dodged the brick by multiple millimeters.
"Is that all you've-?"
...
*/BASTARD!/*
David's clone, with the same lifeless eyes as Aura's, lied in wait behind the magic caster. Not wasting a second to spare, he bent his elbow out and plunged it into her lower back. A painful choking sound was made and the air escaping from her lungs could be heard.
This only lasted a moment.
In the next, she was gone once again.
"Clone Magic takes a toll but it sure is useful," a voice muttered. "David", albeit too late, saw the blinding figure of his enemy charge at him from above. "His" vision blacked out... and he disappeared.
In fact, it seemed like his entire state of being dispersed into the atmosphere.
A confused breath came out of her lips before seeing her comrade slay "Aura", who also disintegrated in the wind, and the last comrade return from retreating the remaining men.
When the two magic casters who fought the clones nodded in understanding, the 'leader' faced the two of them.
"The enemies we just fought were clones."
"What?! You can't be serious," one of them exclaimed. "All of the men I just retreated are strong enough to take over Districts with the correct numbers. No way can two measly *clones* cause such destruction."
"I agree with Greg," the other one concurred. "I may be a woman, but I don't think it matters who you are to admit that this wasn't the clones' doing."
"Hmm... You're right. It *is* quite unusual," the leader agreed. "It may be a long shot, but if the witches were able to cause such disruption, and then use the clones as a diversion..."
A sharp inhale was executed by both of the subordinates. Before the leader could finish her thought, the one known as 'Greg' snatched her shoulders and shook her back and forth.
"We have to let Her Majesty know! If this is true then-!"
*BOOM!*
The three magic casters gasped as a massive fireball and excess of smoke rose, distance unknown, but considering the direction and relative location, only one place could be in the vicinity of the explosion.
*/Dammit!/* the leading magic caster's inner voice shouted. */How can a Wizard like myself be outdone by *witches*?! They really pulled one over on us!/*
"Greg, Sarah, we're going. Let's move!"
"Yes, ma'am!"
"Yes, ma'am!"
———————————————————————
"So they've finally taken over the imperial knight headquarters, huh?"
"Yes, sir. Aura and David's clones lasted just long enough for them to approach the location without interruptions.
I have to say, I'm quite impressed, King Lucifer. How did you know that not only an extraordinary amount of men would be dispatched from the Queen, but also the Royal Guard would be completely absent, as well?"
A chuckle sounded through the dark halls. Unusually, the sinister voice belonged to a rather younger individual, but it was apparent that his mindset and actions were that of a mad genius.
"Don't tell me you haven't noticed the routes the Royal Guard takes whenever they search for someone they don't have a lead on, Borocho. The Head Chief Warrior is busy in the Sorrow Mountains, the rest of the Royal Guard is nearly kilometers away via Teleportation Magic, which requires a massive cooling time, conducting perimeter checks to 'box me in', and the Adventurers ranked high enough to defend the state are dealing with international matters, mostly with the Empire. Some of them remain in the Kingdom but a single witch would be way out of their league.
Need not worry, Borocho. I promised you victory... and you shall have it."
A grin appeared on the hidden face of a man shrouded in darkness, before the man kneeled before the superior he called "King Lucifer".
"I can't wait to see what you have in store for me, my lord."
Side Note: For the next week I will be on a cruise, and unfortunately we didn't buy internet for my phone, so I will keep writing for as long as I can, however publishing will have to wait.
I hope you're all enjoying this story as much as I am writing it. If you didn't already know, I have many inspirations that led me to produce this, including Overlord, Naruto (Madara's status), Irregular at Magic High School, Legend of the Legendary Heroes, and more! If you don't know these franchises (these ones listed are anime), then go and check them out, especially Overlord 😉
Happy reading!
— Clockmaker