Chapter 9

Shirou's POV

As I have arrived at the castle gates with the people. I immediately went to my father's Throne room to tell what happened at the village and to inform that there is a possibility that Monsters will be heading on the Castle too.. Once he heard that his eyes widen in alarm, he immediately calls over several Knights and guards.

"Soldiers! Prepare the defenses of the Kingdom! We have been informed that a horde of Monsters will be heading towards the Capital, We don't know if this info is Valid or not. But it is better to be prepared! And alert all soldiers, including our Generals!" His voice echoes through the walls of the throne room, the sound sending shivers down my spine.

"Yes, King." All Knight bows before taking their leave and leaving me alone with my Father. My heart is pounding as I wait for him to continue speaking.

"And you Shirou?" He speaks quietly, his blue eyes looking at me softly. "Are you alright? You looked frightened when you told us about the village."

I look at the floor and slowly nod my head, unsure if I should speak anymore or if I should just leave. Before I can decide though, my father continues speaking.

"I know what is in your Mind. The Village was destroyed right?"

I stay silent and continue staring at the ground. Finally, I find the courage to speak.

"Y... yes, the village has been destroyed. A horde of Monsters have come to attack us..."

I whisper, trying hard not to think about the villagers. They were slaughtered, My hands are shaking so much that I can hardly hold onto anything, and I feel like I'm going to pass out from shock. My Father's hand lands gently on my shoulder, and without thinking, I grab it and bury my face in his chest. I hear a quiet chuckle coming from my Dad as he pats my head.

"Shh... Shh... There, There, it was your first time leading a Village so it's no wonder that you'll feel like this. But I am proud of you. Your mother would have wanted to see you here today. I know you must feel awful about losing some people you just know at the Village but the Monsters attack unexpectedly at your Village don't be discourage use this as an experience to get you to lead better, I trust you to get through this, okay?" His warm voice fills the room and brings me some comfort even though I still feel so confused as to why my Father thinks I could do it.

After what seems like forever, we finally pull away from each other. After taking another deep breath to steady myself, I wipe the tears off my face with the back of my hand, trying to calm myself down.

"Of course I'm going to try to lead better," I say smiling at my dad who smiles back with pride. He ruffles my hair affectionately while I smile and blush slightly.

Before my Dad can say any more words however, we're interrupted by a servant entering the throne room.

"Sire... Sir.. I'm sorry to interrupt.

There were signs that the Monster's have entered the area and we can see that many of them have already reached the castle borders." The servant informs my father, her tone full of concern.

My father stands up quickly, making me jump slightly, and walks towards the door. I watch my Dad with wide eyes as he stops, turns around and gives us both a small reassuring smile.

"It'll be alright, just stay inside the castle until things cool down.

I'm sure the knights and soldiers stationed here will handle this situation. Just relax and stay out of trouble. I'll be joining them to fight the beasts."

Without waiting for either of us to answer, he leaves the throne room accompanied by his Royal Guards

"Aisling. let's go to my room."

"Yes, Your Highness." And with that I went to my room.

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Michael's POV

We were running towards our way to the Castle with 26 knights behind us, carrying torches that lighted the path ahead of us. It wasn't exactly easy to keep the flames in check, considering the dark sky and snow that had fallen earlier on the day.

All of us are tired; . We've all fought against the Monsters. The first few battles on the Village were tough, they knew what they were doing. we were outnumbered, and they were attacking with a large force.

'Has the monsters been getting smart' I thought while looking ahead. I didn't know how bad the situation could get until now, I guess I should count myself lucky. I saw a familiar shape in the distance, and I sighed in relief once I realized that it was the Castle.

The rest of the group slowed down a bit after noticing that the Castle is in sight, but soon picked up their pace again. As we approached the gate, one of the Knights who was watching in the Guard Tower who gave us a confused look and asked "Which Army do you guys belong?! Why are you in the borders of Kingdom of Amadeus?, but we couldn't respond because we were too busy trying to catch our breath and not die in an instant.

What the heck is going on?!"

The Knight shouted.

"Hush! This isn't important! I'm Captain Michael of the Kingdom of Amadeus and these are my Knights! We were tasked to Guard His Highness Shirou and but while on our way to the Kingdom, there was a Large Wolf monster that attack us. And we had no choice but to buy time for His Highness to escape safety with the people. So we stayed until we managed to kill the monster." I spoke in a commanding voice.

" the Prince has already arrived at the Castle safely, and is currently being guarded by our General." The Knight Said.

"Thats Good." I said relieved, I was worried sick that the Prince might not make it alive.

"Anyways! The Monster is heading for this Kingdom, we need to inform His Majesty so that we can find off the monsters!

" We already received the information, His Majesty already took action and is preparing the army to go to their battle stations. And aswell as the Catapults

that he ordered to prepare for the Monster's arrival, so we may be able to prevent the monsters from destroying our Kingdom."

"Now Get inside the gates!!

We have a lot to do before the battle begins!"

"Yes sir!"

"Follow me!!"

And with those two orders, we ran inside the Castle,

hoping to see the Prince safe in front of us.

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"Send scouts to Monitor the enemy." His Majesty ordered.

"Yes, sire." One of the Captains replied, turning away from the map that they were previously examining and headed to the direction where the Scouts are positioned.

"Prepare the cannons for combat." Another Captain announced.

"Yes sire! I shall inform the troops to move to their positions!"

He then left the Map Room to meet up with the commanders.

"Sir! Are all preparations completed?" He asked his Captain who nodded in reply.

"Good! Please send word to the Commander of the Guards to bring more men and equipment for the battle to come! Make haste!"

"Yes, sir!!"

With that , the two Captains turned and left the Map Room, leaving His Majesty alone to think over what needs to happen next.

As the King pondered over what he needs to do, he noticed that his Queen had appeared beside him, giving him a questioning look. When she sees the King's somber expression, she knows something's wrong.

"Is everything alright Your Majesty?" She asked, looking into Her husband's eye and seeing that his golden eyes look lost, filled with confusion.

She takes a step closer to him placing a hand on his arm lightly, as she tries to comfort him.

"You don't need to worry about anything at the moment, dear. You are far too powerful and wise than most peoe would ever dream of being." She whispers lovingly.

He looks at her gratefully before turning back to the map before him as he continues pondering what he needs to do next.

"I want this battle to end, but I also don't want it to turn out badly. We've been attacked before by many different creatures. These ones are different however. Their attack is unexpected, almost unheard of. We don' know if there's more to it or not. However, what we do know is that we cannot afford the loss of anymore lives."

The King says firmly as he turns to face the Queen, who nods in understanding.

"Yes Your Majesty, we understand."

She replies as she pulls him closer to her side, kissing his forehead tenderly.

"Thank you, my beautiful wife."

"Anything for you, dear."

The King smiles at his wife and leans in for a kiss. However, when their lips meet,

neither of them can help themselves, instead their mouths open and allow their tongues to intertwine together. They continue to indulge themselves in their shared passion and enjoyment when they heard footsteps coming near them.

"Your Majesty! My Queen!!! The Monsters have arrived!" A messenger said.

The King immediately breaks away from the woman, and rushes towards the window, looking outside. Below he saw that all he could hear was the sound of loud breathing and heavy footsteps, signaling the arrival of the Monsters.

"It appears that we have company." He says with excitement and worry dripping from his words and the look in his eyes.

The King turns to the servant who called him, "Please tell the Commander of our armies that the Monsters are approaching our Kingdom. Tell the other Generals to mobilize their forces immediately."

"Will do!" The servant said before racing off, leaving the King standing alone once again.

His wife came up behind him and placed her hands upon his shoulders, giving them a comforting squeeze.

"We will defeat this monsters. Do not worry. Everything will be alright.You will be victorious." She said reassuringly, taking the place where her arms used to be moments ago, squeezing them gently in hopes of soothing the King's nerves.

"Yes I know." His Majesty said.

When he finally looked at her in the eyes again, he could see her smile.

" I shall prepare myself to join the battle."

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" Are the Catapults ready?" His Majesty asked.

"Yes Your Majesty."

"Good. Bring me the weapons you have been given."

One of the guards, whose name I've forgotten, grabs a wooden box filled with a bunch of weapons and walks to His Majesty to give them to him. The King opens the wooden box and grabs a small sword which he places into the holster at his waist. The King's armor consisted of white and brown colored armor. He was wearing an ornate golden helmet adorned with a white eagle feather. His chest plate was made from leather covered with silver metal that matched the armor, along with a cape which was lined with gold lace. The cape also matched the color of His Majesty's armor.

"Yosh, I'm done preparing myself. What's the distance of the Monster from the Castle?"

"Its approximately 3 kilometers from the North Gate to here, your majesty!" The soldier replied.

His Majesty nods his head at the soldier, and tells him to pass his command to the troops at the East Gates.

"Are all the units prepared? Have the cannons and catapults loaded yet?"

The soldier shakes his head as he informs his majesty about the preparation and deployment of the Catapults.

"Good work, How many monsters are there?"

His Majesty asks.

"I estimate that the monsters number at least ten thousand."

"That doesn't seem like much, is it." He says smiling lightly.

"Please don't Jose about it Your Majesty. 10k is not a Joke." the Knight said.

"I know,I was merely teasing. How about our soldiers?

Are they prepared?"

"They are indeed prepared! All our battalions are ready!"

The Knight replied.

"Good! Let the battle begin."

"Yes Your Majesty!!" Everyone said, as they raised their swords and shields in unison.