The Royal Troops

The royal guard Tyberson rode on his horse. He was an old man with a well-shaven grey beard, his face was square-shaped.

He led the small royal troops of the capital. They were the most experienced and skilled swordsmen tasked to protect her highness, Princess Adelia Vulhelm. The youngest daughter of King William Vulhelm.

Tyberson set out with thirty men to rescue her. It was his biggest mistake to come close to the 1st ring forest of Celpheus. Since it was the most dangerous territory in the land.

He thought they were rumors but it was a fact. The villagers who came close to the borders of the 1st ring were kidnapped by the veil spiders. They were then brought inside the ring forest.

The veil spiders had a queen called the death crawler. The veils spiders scouted the ring forest and fed upon anything that had blood. It was even said that their smell of blood was sharp.

Though, the only thing keeping them from leaving the 1st ring of the Celpheus forest was the sun and lack of humidity. They were said to be weak during the day and in a dry environment, thus they retreat into the forest where it was dark and damp.

Looking above them, a thick cloud was already looming over the forest. When they entered here to rescue the princess this task was a suicide mission.

Princess Adelia was the unique child of the King since she was birthed by a beast-men, which the people and the church hated. The King had a thing for beast-women that he would secretly make love with one after the Queen died. But thus far, the only child he cared for the most was Adelia. Even that he wasn't doing a good job.

There was a law keeping those races from breeding. Since according to the church, it would taint the pure blood of humanity. Many men and women were already punished due to this violation.

Thus, they hid Adelia far from the capital where no eyes could witness her. If the King was exposed, it would weaken the trust of his citizens. And also, they wouldn't want to get on the bad side of the church. The church have been a great provider of magic stones.

Only a few people knew of Adelia's past. Including Tyberson, the royal troops, and some of her close associates, like the housekeeper and her servants.

Tyberson was now worried about the safety of Adelia since she got captured by these spiders. He hoped deep in his heart that she was safe.

They used to be a hundred of his men, their numbers have dwindled to 30. The 1st ring forest was too much for them. It was unlike the other forest. There were giant and violent bats, poisonous snakes, and mushrooms that would emit a mist that could kill them.

Though Tyberson had to go.

Tyberson took care of Adelia since she was a child. At that time, Tyberson was in his prime. He treated her like she was his daughter.

At this point, he even cared more for her than his real son who chose to be a woodcutter in his hometown.

Tyberson only admired those who strived for greater things. Adelia wanted the unity of the beast-men and humans. He was willing to see where that would take them.

Luckily they brought a veil spider scholar with them. His name was Zan, an alt-mage who was working in the closest village. He had been studying the 1st ring forest ever since he started his career. Zan was motivated to study it when his grandfather was kidnapped by one of those veil spiders.

In fact, he was the one who coined the term and published his findings to the kingdom. He was the only one who lived to see and study the death crawler before.

Ordinary arrows and swords won't penetrate its thick shell. It would also get surrounded by spider workers. They were the smallest ones that hunt for food and bring them to the queen. The spider jumpers were the ones who locate their prey by being the lookout in the air. Their eyes were sharp and they could see even in the dark.

He explained that the captured prey would be stored underneath the queen spider until it was time for her to feed. They would be lucky if the queen spider was still full so that the princess would be untouched. That's what they were praying as of the moment.

At some point, they came across the marching spiders. They needed to keep their distance to avoid being seen by the jumping spiders. But due to their extreme carefulness, they lost the spiders.

Though one of them was pushy. His name was Reg and he was a shorter man with a thick beard. He was the vice-captain of the royal troops, also tasked with the rescue of the Princess. "Tyber, I told you didn't I? We should have come close to the queen and rescued Princess Adelia while we had the chance.

Tyberson was upset with his statement. "Are you a moron? There are thousands of worker spiders surrounding that thing."

"Then if we are just gonna hide and follow those creeps there's no end to this. I recommend the others would act as a decoy."

The knights were talking to each other. It was impossible to outrun the worker spiders with their numbers even with a horse. Thus, in their mind, they were only seen as dispensible if they were to follow Reg's plan.

Tyberson frowned. "Reg, I plan to follow my plan with Zan. According to him, the death crawler will be unguarded once it starts its hibernation period."

Reg clicked his tongue. He pointed at Tyberson. "Tyber, do you hear what you are saying? Just before hibernation starts, it will start eating the people living underneath that thing. So it's now or never."

"No, there are stages with the hibernation process. First, it will build its home and rest for a day. What you are talking about is the second stage where it would start eating its harvested prey. So just before the second stage starts we will bet everything we have on it."

Zan stepped forward. "I can confirm, I have studied these. There is a time gap where the queen will be unguarded and thus will fall asleep. The only challenge is that we need to make a path in entering its home."

Reg cursed under his breath. "Do what you like you morons." He was annoyed with Tyberson leading the troops. If he was disposed of, the leadership would turn to him. He then smirked as he just thought of something.

The Knights relied on the tracks left by the spiders. The queen was big enough to leave visible tracks for them to follow.

Eventually, they were just surprised to see the Queen Spider has fallen. They couldn't believe their eyes.

Zan was surprised. "Sir Tyberson, the death crawler is dead."

Tyberson nodded with a serious look. "I can see that." They galloped faster to check it out.

"That's absurd! There's no way it's dead." Reg said.

Approaching the spider corpse, they came across mysterious individuals holding unusual staffs. Their attire was also odd for them. But it was obvious to Tyberson that they were soldiers.

Reg commanded his troops to stand by He spoke to the mysterious individual. "Who the hell are you?!"

The royal knights then raised their spears pointing at them.

***

The VMF couldn't understand what they were saying, but they were posing as a threat.

"Identify yourselves and your motives!" Captain Flynn spoke to them.

Mark stepped forward. "Sir Flynn, I think we should open up to them than act aggressively."

"Private, these guys could lunge their spears at us at any moment. Looks like they don't have any intents to back down."

Mark cleared his throat. "Let me handle this." He approached alone slowly with his arms raised as a surrender. "Hello."

The other VMF was just aiming their weapons.

Mark then gestured pointing to himself. "We..."

"From..."

"Another..."

"World..." He then drew a circle in the air with his finger.

"Come..."

"In peace..." He then shook his arm.

Varg laughed behind him. "Nice try Mark if they can understand that."

Reg harrumphed. He unsheathed his sword and aimed at Mark's neck. Mark gulped, he was taken aback. "They are annoying. Hey, capture them up."

When they were about to approach the VMF, Tyberson stopped them. "Wait! Let's talk with them for now. There is a chance that these people were responsible for killing the Queen. We can't act rashly and provoke them."

"These lanky individuals? Don't kid with me." Reg eventually agreed with Tyberson and stayed back.

Thankfully, Tyberson spoke, otherwise the VMF could have already fired.

Tyberson approached Mark. "You speak Mendovian? Do you have an idea who killed the death crawler?"

"Oh, it seems you speak English as well. Well, I guess it was my associates."

Tyberson gasped. He called out to his men. "Everyone lower your weapons." The knights aimed their spears away.

The VMF as well have withdrawn their weapons. They loosened up with a sigh. But they were still careful.

Reg was annoyed, he sheathed his blade back. "Tyber, do you believe these fools can kill the queen? They are messing with us. You're too naive to lead the royal troops."

Comparing the royal troops, the VMF looked like a joke. The royal troops with their tough and high end armor, which was crafted by the best blacksmith in Lemorio. They were also chosen from the best swords men of the Kingdom. It was laughable.

"Reg, who else in here can kill the queen?" Tyberson said.

"Some other beast could have done it."

Tyberson ignored Reg for now. He knew nothing better would come up if he would entertain him further. He peacefully went alone to the VMF. "My name is Tyberson, a royal guard of Princess Adelia Vullhelm. We are looking for her."

Mark was surprised. "Could it be that woman with pink hair?"

Tyberson's eyes widened. "That's her! Where is she!"

"She's being taken to our country to get treated."

Tyberson's look was serious for a second. His eyebrows furrowed. "What do you plan to do with her?"

The tension between them rose. Both sides reached out for their weapons.

"We just wanted to help her." Mark got startled for a moment, but he wanted to lessen the tension.

Tyberson moved slightly backward from that odd response. "If you want to exchange her for a ransom, pardon me but even her highness don't have any enough gold left." It was the common tactic of any person once they get a hold of royalty. They would even use them to take advantage of other countries.

"I'm serious we don't have that intent. We don't even know she was a princess." Mark persisted.

Tyberson sighed. "Then will you give me your word?"

Mark gave a salute. He smiled. "I promise, as a Vesnian soldier."

Tyberson loosened up. "Fine, I'll trust your word for now. I don't know what that gesture is, but I get the message. Then when can we see her?"