In Rosetta...

Ignoring the strange gaze heading my way that had since disappeared since I cleaned myself, I looked at the desert around us as I sat atop the carriage top.

Modified to brave the desert sands, the large wheels of the carriage had been substituted to become flat surfaces like a sled which the carriage glided on.

And sitting on top of this carriage which was now being dragged by large lizards with dirty brown scales I admired the surroundings.

And I realized how strange deserts in this world could get.

Since I wasn't able to get dehydrated in the slightest, most of the things that I was involved in couldn't have been mirages despite acting as them.

Watching a nearby guard use their sword to chop at a tree, the surrounding greenery moved away to reveal the golden sand now splattered in red.

Seeing the sand which was oh so unique to the desert now dyed in the red color of a strange brown colored beast with a gem in the center of its head, I tilted my head.

The danger level of this beast seemed to be on the level of elites as it could conjure up illusions, but they seemed rather awkward.

And the beast itself wasn't that strong as it probably used a good majority of its strength trying to support its big ass head.

So in conclusion I could just ignore these guys and just breeze past them.

Lightly twirling my dagger and watching the sun light glint off of its metal surface, soon enough underneath the direct gaze of the sun and the guards.

I finally arrived at the kingdom of Rosaria.

And it didn't look good in the slightest.

Mouth twitching, I stared at the large cloud of darkness swarming the city.

And if I looked closer, that cloud of darkness was nothing more than a stupid amount of insects swarming around it.

Silently adjusting the cloth around my left arm I wondered what in the hell did I get myself into.

And as it turns out, I got myself into something incredibly troublesome.

---

"SIR!"

Standing atop the battlements with a calculating gaze, a man with an eyepatch frowned at the sudden intrusion all the while sounds of battle occurred around them.

"What is it soldier!? Make it quick or I'll toss you to the antlions myself for wasting my time!"

"The Princess has requested entry into the City!"

Hearing that the eyes of the commander instantly changed.

Staring at the soldier which was shaking from a mixture of exhaustion and adrenaline the commander instantly barked.

"Well why didn't you tell me that earlier soldier! Come with me! We're running out of time!"

Instantly loading a flintlock, gunpowder was ignited as the iron bullet found its way into the skull of the flying antlion heading their way.

Running alongside the castle walls, the giant ballistae loosed large bolts of wood which tore through the swarm of insects.

"Sir Balswick! The Princess is coming in! Help me clear 

"Focus fire the Two O'clock direction of the city with the magic cannons! Clear a way for the Princess to return!"

"Yes sir!"

Following the commanders command, several cannons with large barrel shaped holes pointed at the swarm before alighting with several blue runes and blasting out large super charged rocks at them.

Turning the bugs in that general vicinity into bloody mist, the several standby knights of the kingdom started moving.

"Open the gates!"

Moving in complete unison through the opened gates, the antlions which survived the barrage of cannon fire instantly surged towards the opening.

Only to meet the wall of steel that greeted them.

Pushing back the antlions which were the size of horses they roared.

"Corridor formation men! Stab them!"

Moving their shields out of the way, the knights moved the large antlion jaws up and stabbed at their vulnerable underbellies.

"Fire mages bring hell onto them!"

Blasting the earth into a scorched hell, flaming pillars fell from the sky as the antlions were detered by the rising flames and moved to other portions of the wall.

"Forwards men! To the Princess!"

---

"HAHAHAHAH"

Cackling loudly, the princess whom had restrained herself outside of the capital let loose her desires.

Swinging her staff, the magic embedded into her mind manifested in the world.

Ringing loudly, visible shockwaves in the air sounded out in loud bursts targeting the antlions in extreme vibrations.

Targeting their innards, the shockwaves tore at their bodies with increased frequencies that bounced from antlion to antlion.

Exploding the antlions from within, they shrieked in pain and gave a last charge before their limbs shot out in all directions and targeted their fellow antlions besides them.

Maniacally laughing, Lucia Rosetta the princess of the Rosetta kingdom finally let loose all of her stress as she observed all of the mercenaries that she had brought along for the ride.

After seeing the strange lizards power which was about the level of the elite knights she was already set to recruit him alongside the man who defeated three bosses.

So imagine to her surprise that not only alongside the elite knight and royal knight level warriors there were several more knight and elite knight level warriors coming with them.

To compare it in adventurer terms, the knights were generally around B rank with each one of them being able to hold their own against a boss monster of relatively strong calibre.

And watching them in action cemented the fact in her head that she wouldn't regret forcing her father to pay them.

Watching all of them, including the smith who helped sharpen their tools fight against the antlions, Lucia also felt an odd sort of dissonance.

Swords shining, arrows gleaming, magic blasting it was a strange experience to see.

And that was coming from a princess from a war torn country who had spent a good majority of her time on the front lines herself.

Looking at the crimson dyed ground setting alight in the flames of battle, small rivers flowed through the sands dying the originally golden sand in blood red colors.

She finally found out what it was that caused her to feel the odd sense of dissonance all the while sound magic tore at her enemies innards.

The Warriors she had hired were not at the B rank like she had thought.

Fighting with the utmost efficiency, a twist here, a cut here and a slice here.

Every single movement that the warriors made was without a single movement wasted.

And not only that, despite their varying fighting styles ranging from long heavy blows of a two handed weapon to the quick shots of a bow and the fast strikes of a dagger.

They fought as if one body.

It was oddly terrifying.

Thinking this Lucia felt an indescribable heat rise up in her chest as the warm red blood splashed onto her face.

Lightly licking off of her face and savoring the taste, Rosetta noted down in her heart that these warriors were nothing more than killing machines. 

Killing machines that could theoretically tear apart one of the stronger bosses without much problem despite being around two ranks lower than such an event were supposed to be.

S ranks were the ones who were supposed to be able to kill bosses with relatively low losses, not this group of B ranks.

Lucia was even confident that her specially assigned royal guard could barely pull out a win against any one of these warriors.

Heart trying to escape her chest she shivered all the while blood pooled around her attire now encased in leather armor.

'Oh I wish to see how my brothers fuck this up.'

Shivering in anticipation, if an outsider were to see princess Rosetta's face right now they would be taken aback to see a beautiful face smiling peacefully all the while surrounded by a field of blood.

But if a native of the kingdom were to see her right now, they would only frown a little before nodding as if nothing was wrong.

She wasn't called the Bloody Opera's singer for nothing after all.

---

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN SHE'S BACK!"

Slamming their fist into the desk made out of the rare desert wood, the table creaked underneath the force as a gaunt eyed male of around ages twenty shouted.

"She's back brother and you can't deny it, you might as well just try to do what you were doing all this time."

"FUCK!"

Clutching their hair and on the verge of tearing it apart, the map depicting a desert dyed by the colors red, orange and green marred it getting messed up by the chaotic movements.

Lightly waving her hand, a subtle wind picked up the knocked over pieces all the while the map was reset to its previous position.

"UGHHH WHY COULDN'T YOU HAVE JUST STAYED FAR AWAY FROM THIS PLACE SO THAT THE PLAN COULD JUST WORK AAAAAGGHHH!!!"

Roaring in frustration, although she didn't show it either, the womans eyes couldn't hide her frustration either as the large office room they were in was covered in several notes.

The most notable ones being the ones depicting Princess Rosetta of the Rosetta kingdom as they were the only ones having the red circles around them.

And on those red circles large notes stating 'KEEP HER AWAY' 'Dangerous individual' and 'Interests?' were tacked on them.

Glancing at the princess, the woman lightly looked at the map where a piece copying the princesses motif was placed, dresser in pink and all with a peaceful smile on its face.

Extending her finger, she tapped on the pieces head and softly spoke.

"Nothing against you princess, but for the sake of the future, its better that you don't get involved in this.'

Knocking over the princess piece, the princess piece slowly rolled over to the red part of the map where several antlion figures lay in wait.

+++

TREE