The Invasion of Crystonia

Saad and Humzah were on their way to the royal palace as Humzah asked in an uneasy tone

Humzah : what's your plan Saad, please tell me?

Saad : the Queen of Crystonia is my plan.

Humzah : what?

Saad : just do as I say ok, trust me Humzah, my plan is gonna work 100%.

Humzah : if you say so.

maintaining an unwavering pace, the two were now standing a few feet away from the entrance of the royal palace as Humzah asked

Humzah : ok, what's the plan Saad?

Saad : alright, see those two guards at the entrance of the palace, I will go and start a conversation with them, you go inside find Asad and tell him that a townsfolk is distracting the on duty royal guards and that you told him to leave but he ignored you.

Humzah : then what?

Saad : then a magic will happen.

Humzah : Saad please this is a serious matter, are you really sure what you're thinking will work?

Saad : my plan is as solid as a rock.

Humzah : Kainaat's dignity is on the line, so be cautious.

Saad : she's my cousin, I won't let anything bad ever happen to her again.

Humzah : I trust you, please don't let me down.

Saad : I won't.

Humzah went inside the royal palace and Saad approached the royal guards, inside the palace Humzah soon met Asad and upon seeing him he said

Humzah : hey Asad.

Asad : what do you want?

Humzah : their's a guy at the entrance talking to the royal guards.

Asad : so?

Humzah : he's distracting them from their duty, I think you should go and tell him to leave.

Asad : why didn't you do it?

Humzah : I did but he ignored me.

Asad laughed and said

Asad : damn, even the townsfolk don't respect you, some prince you are.

Asad headed towards the main entrance to do as he was told, on the other hand Saad began talking to the guards who were really extroverted,

Saad : greetings boys.

Guard 1 : go away we are on duty.

Saad : sorry to disturb you I was just here to ask you about your plan to attack Crystonia.

Guard 2 : why you wanna join the army?

Saad : no I was just asking what you'll do with their royalties?

just then Asad arrived as Saad noticed him he put his plan into action by saying

Saad : I've heard that the Queen of Crystonia is a really hot chick, pretty sure any man would want to marry her.

to this the Guard confusingly asked

Guard 1 : why are you telling us this?

Saad saw Asad coming his way so he raised his voice and said

Saad : oh nothing, I was just trying to be friendly, besides everyone in the world wants to spend the night with Veronica.

Asad heard this as he thought to himself

Asad : (thinking) who is he talking about?

Saad put the nail in the coffin by saying

Saad : after all, she is the most beautiful woman in the world.

upon approaching the Guards Asad angrily shouted

Asad : why aren't you doing your duty!!

Guards : sorry sir, we're very sorry.

the Guards got back to their duty, Asad turned to Saad and asked

Asad : who are you?!

Saad : I'm a lemonade seller, want some?

Asad : get lost!

Saad left but his plan had worked,

on his way inside Asad kept thinking of only one thing

Asad : (thinking) who is this Veronica, is she really very beautiful, I must find out.

Asad knew exactly who could tell him about Veronica, he immediately approached Nizaam's room and knocked on his door, from inside Nizaam asked

Nizaam : yeah who is it?

Asad : Nizaam it's me Asad.

Nizaam : yes come in.

Asad went inside and immediately asked

Asad : Nizaam, do you know anything about the Queen of Crystonia?

Nizaam : yeah.

Asad : tell me everything you know about her.

Nizaam : why?

Asad : since we're attacking them tomorrow, I thought I'd know what our enemy is like.

Nizaam suspiciously said

Nizaam : ok.

Asad : tell me what does she look like, her eye color, her skin color, tell me everything!

Nizaam : well she wears clothes similar to all the other players, she has white hairs and gorgeous yellow eyes, she is reportedly one of the most beautiful monarchs in the history of Rise and Fall.

hearing this Asad's heart began to beat rapidly, he had literally forgoten everything about Kainaat, now his main target was Veronica as Nizaam asked

Nizaam : as for her cabinet, her prince ...

Asad cut him off by saying

Asad : thankyou but I don't need anymore information.

Asad stormed off to his room leaving a confused and curious Nizaam, he had no idea that the information he given Asad was the reason why another poor girl was about to fall victim to this sick twisted psycho, on the other hand Humzah was lying in his room praying that Saad's plan works as he thought to himself

Humzah : (thinking) please oh God please, tell me Saad succeeded, my Kainaat, why can't I just marry her and live an ideal life like a happy couple?

Humzah wasn't even aware of how Saad's scheme to get Asad away from Kainaat had succeeded, Asad was at the minute in Ashhad's room and when he told him that he wanted to go to Nefluk instead of Asteronia, Ashhad asked

Ashhad : what?

Asad : I want to go with you to Nefluk, I don't want to go to Asteronia.

Ashhad : but Asad if I take you with me whose gonna go with Kainaat, Alyne, Nizaam, they won't be enough for this job, they need a fourth member.

Asad : then send Humzah with them.

Ashhad : but why, I already finalized everything, please Asad just go to Asteronia.

Asad : Ashhad, Humzah and Kainaat have good Chemistry, he can also coordinate more properly with Nizaam, not to mention his Godly skills in combat.

Ashhad : why are you all of a sudden saying good things about Humzah?

Asad : I just want the betterment of Ortania, I won't be that useful in Asteronia, please Ashhad try to understand.

Ashhad thought about it for a second, Ashhad : (thinking) Humzah's skill is remarkable and then again Humzah can provide Kainaat with backup more efficiently as compared to Asad.

finally Ashhad accepted Asad's request

Ashhad : you know what, you sold me, go tell Humzah to come here right now.

a few seconds later, both Humzah and Asad were in Ashhad's room, as Humzah asked

Humzah : Ashhad you called me?

Ashhad : yes, Humzah I'm deeply disappointed to tell you that you will not be going to Nefluk with me and Hussnain.

Humzah : wait what, but why?

Ashhad : because you're going to Asteronia and Asad is now going to Nefluk with us.

Humzah was overjoyed to hear this as he somehow controlled his laughter and asked

Humzah : are you serious?

Ashhad : yes.

Humzah : Oh my God, thankyou!

Ashhad : you two may leave now.

Humzah left, as it began to turn dark all the shop keepers and stall owners began leaving, Saad had also packed up and was heading home when he saw that behind his lemonade stand was lying a large sack, Saad approached the sack and opened it, inside was a card that read " thankyou Saad, you're plan worked, Love Humzah ", inside the sack were heaps of emeralds as Saad smiled and said

Saad : thankyou God, but these gifts are not what I desire, I want more, I want to become a hero, will I ever become a hero God?

a reply came in the form of the roaring of thunder in the skies as Saad smiled and said

Saad : I'll take that as a yes.

just seconds later it began raining in Stevenburg, the rain continued until morning and as the sunrays hit his eyes through his bedroom window, Ashhad woke up, he immediately headed to the dining room, all the friends were their, the common gossips were going on, the girls were as usual talking about random things, Hussnain and Zulqarnain were planning their combat strategy, Humzah and Nizaam were having a friendly chat, Asad being the black sheep of the bunch sat alone eating breakfast in solace, Ashhad also sat down and had breakfast, afterwards the friends all headed to the training site where their soldiers divided into 9 battalions were waiting for them, as they all got set Ashhad looked at his friends and said

Ashhad : come back home in one piece ok.

Kainaat : we will Ashhad.

Humzah : may our bravery lead us to victory.

Aliza : through valor and glory we shall prevail.

Zulqarnain : may God be our savior.

Hussnain : take care Humzah buddy.

Humzah : you to homie.

Ashhad : come on it's time to go.

thus the 9 armies left for the invasion of Crystonia, as they were marching down the streets of Stevenburg, the people of Ortania began chanting their names and shouting supportive slogans to boost their morale, among these their was a chant in which the people said

People : this is awesome!

followed by 3 claps, another was

People : Long live Ashhad, Long live Ortania, Long live Ashhad, Long live Ortania!!!

along with this people were also throwing flowers on them, their were also people with placards showing full support to the soldiers, Ashhad had not expected this level of support from his people, he was just looking here and there and waving his hand to every new face he saw as he said to Humzah

Ashhad : my oh my, quite the crowd we've got, eh?

Humzah : as the leading nobility of Ortania, this is customary.

Ashhad : I was never a fan of customs but this I can get behind.

Humzah looked behind, Kainaat, Alyne and Nizaam were chatting with one another as Humzah asked

Humzah : after all this war and chaos is over, what do you say we do something positive?

Ashhad : like what?

Humzah : you haven't forgotten about me and Kainaat, have you?

Ashhad : of course not infact, I'm thinking that we should hold a small ceremony where you two get married.

Humzah : small, Ashhad I plan on inviting the whole nation to my wedding.

Ashhad : I greatly oppose that decision.

Humzah : why?

Ashhad : investing so much into a one day endeavor seems like a pretty bad idea to me.

Humzah : then what do you propose?

Ashhad : instead of having a big wedding, why not just take Kainaat on a ultra luxury honeymoon?

Humzah : that's actually a good idea.

Ashhad : is it only good?

Humzah : no it's a very good idea.

Ashhad : my pleasure.

Humzah : how are you and Zulqarnain smart like Einstein and I'm a dummy?

Ashhad : maybe you've been busy in the bathroom recently, cause your IQ is washing away with that sticky substance.

Humzah : come here you little brat!

Ashhad quickly got away from Humzah and said

Ashhad : what's the matter fatty, are your knees hurting?

Humzah : you ugh!!

Ashhad : tsk tsk tsk, you're pretty weak, I wonder if you'll even last a minute in bed.

Humzah : you stinky bit*h!!

Ashhad : hahahahahhahahaha.

the two began quarrelling with one another just like they always did, after walking for some time, the army got split in two, Humzah, Alyne, Kainaat and Nizaam headed east to Falkshire from where they would launch their attack on Asteronia, while Ashhad, Zulqarnain, Aliza, Hussnain and Asad headed north towards Nefluk, when Ashhad's army approached the Crystonian border, he saw something strange, from their west a small group of people approached them, their faces were covered by veils, townspeople usually didn't live near border areas so seeing this group made Ashhad a bit alarmed as he asked

Ashhad : hey who are they?

the others took notice of what Ashhad was saying, Zulqarnain said

Zulqarnain : I don't know.

as this group came closer Asad remarked

Asad : something tells me we've got company.

just then these unknown people drew out bows and crossbows and opened fire, the person who was infront took of their veil to reveal that it was Andrea the leader of the SOM as she screamed

Andrea : attack!

a bow fight broke out between these attackers and the Ortanian army as Asad screamed

Asad : take cover!

Hussnain began to counter attack as he screamed

Hussnain : defend the king, defensive formation!

the soldiers quickly surrounded Ashhad as Ashhad remarked

Ashhad : impressive but I don't need protection.

to this Zulqarnain jokingly remarked

Zulqarnain : we know, we're defending you cause you're our last resort.

Asad chuckled and said

Asad : hehe good one.

the fight waged on and in minutes the tide turned in Ashhad's favor, the attack was a complete failure for Andrea as they were slowly pushed back and killed, in all this chaos Asad was committing an endless rampage when his gaze met Andrea, her face and her eyes mesmerized Asad, Andrea somehow managed to make her escape, seeing her run away Asad immediately ordered two of his soldiers to follow her, this short battle ended in a victory for Ashhad with 0 casualties, on the other hand Humzah and Kainaat along with Nizaam and Alyne had already began their attack on Asteronia, their offensive was stale at first, the four along with their armies were only capturing useless lands but when they had captured about 49% of the total area of Asteronia they reached the populous areas of the town, the infantry and cavalry units were ready for their arrival but, they were unaware of one thing, Asteronia was a former town of Ortania, it had been under Ortanian rule since the era of King Orton, so when the people heard that the Ortanian army was coming to retake the town revolt began in it, due to this the soldiers were forced to abandon their positions, left behind were empty archer towers and several openings in the defensive line, Humzah and the others were roaming the outskirts of the town for an opening and when they saw it, they attacked and the Crystonians weren't able to fight back, the Ortanians sent their forces through the gap attacking Crystonian soldiers from behind their backs, the entrance of the town was secured after which a brutal artillery attack was unleashed on the territory, the shells of the artillery destroyed many buildings and houses, the revolt turned into an all out rebellion, the Ortanian army quickly eradicated all resistance defending the town, now all that was left was to head into the town and finish the job, by now almost 200 Crystonian soldiers had been killed, the 300 that remained were all inside the town, on the other hand, the Ortanians had only lost 29 soldiers, the numeric difference between the two sides was not that much, a major difference however, was in the morale, the spirit of the Ortanians was at an all time high, while the Crystonians were losing both their morale and Asteronia with every passing minute, upon entering the town Humzah roared the following words

Humzah : Glory to Ashhad, Glory to Ortania!!!!

this bolstered the Ortanian morale and they became unstoppable, the battle had now became a fight from house to house, Ortanians and Crystonians were clashing everywhere, cannons and artillery shells were flying like confetti, Humzah, Kainaat, Alyne and Nizaam were all fighting for their freaking life, it was now or never, the battle was becoming more and more aggressive by the passing minute, Humzah was cautiously walking through the town, a small fraction of his army was following him while the rest were engaged in battle, Humzah soon arrived at the military camp of this town, seeing it Humzah said

Humzah : troops go and loot that camp, I'll stand guard.

the soldiers went inside and Humzah stood behind, a few soldiers attacked Humzah but because of his training, Humzah was able to kill all of them in a short span of time, as the soldiers came out of the camp Humzah asked

Humzah : did you find anything?

Soldier 1 : yes sir, we've gathered all important weapons and resources.

Soldier 2 : shall we set this place ablaze?

Humzah noticed the strategic location of this camp, being at the center it could be used to assault the whole town, after a few seconds of observation Humzah said

Humzah : lay the artillery.

artillery aimed at houses and zones of combat were set up as Humzah shouted

Humzah : and fire!

artillery shells were fired at the town, causing severe damage to the infrastructure and people, within minutes the town had went up in flames, despite the Ortanians not harming the civilian property, the resentment within the people of Asteronia lead to to a total collapse of the Crystonian army in the town, it was only a matter of time before it would fully fall into Ortanian hands, on the other hand Ashhad had stopped to re organize his army, Ashhad was sitting on a log drinking some water when Zulqarnain approached him and said

Zulqarnain : we are ready for the attack, I've assessed the situation, their were 30 attackers, one was loaded with a lot of dynamite, indicating that he might have been a suicide bomber, 29 of them got killed, their bodies have been burned, Andrea managed to get away somehow.

Ashhad : what do you think was their motive?

Zulqarnain : from the looks of it, it seems they wanted to kill you.

Ashhad : did you send someone after them?

Zulqarnain : Asad sent two of his soldiers after them, they'll report back Asap.

Ashhad : right, let's get going.

with all re organization now complete, the friends and their army of 300 soldiers broke through the border and into Nefluk, after walking for miles on end Ashhad's army reached the town of Nefluk, the town was heavily fortified, seeing this Ashhad remarked

Ashhad : impressive.

Zulqarnain : infantry, archers, cavalry, probably even mechanical units.

Asad : anyone in the right mind would think a million times before even attempting an offensive.

Ashhad : we can get in, we just need to get a little closer and then we can assault the entrance with shells and cannons, afterwards we'll launch an all out attack.

Asad : it's not like that we can just divert their attention, or can we?

the four friends looked at eachother in silence, Ashhad turned around, standing behind him was Aliza who was mindlessly leveling her nails with a filer, Ashhad smiled and looked towards Zulqarnain, when Zulqarnain saw the smile he said

Zulqarnain : oh no no no no no.

Hussnain : Ashhad you can't be serious, right?

Ashhad got Aliza's attention by asking

Ashhad : hey Aliza can you do me a little favor?

a few seconds later Aliza was heading to the entrance of Nefluk, behind her at a distance, long range artilleries had been readied as the guards standing at the entrance of the town saw her coming their way, one of them asked

Guard 1 : whose that?

Guard 2 : I don't know but, she looks pretty.

as Aliza reached the guards, the one who was looking at her with a bad intent approached her, Aliza innocently asked

Aliza : do you wanna play hide and seek?

the guard walked upto Aliza and shamelessly grabbed her hand and said

Guard 2 : found you.

Aliza smiled and said

Aliza : we haven't even begun yet.

the Guard overwhelmed by lust asked

Guard 2 : when can we start?

Aliza : you have 3 seconds to hide.

the Guard stood their stubbornly as Aliza began counting

Aliza : 3 2 ....

with the passing second the Guard got uncomfortably close to Aliza as she finished counting

Aliza : 1.

just then hundreds of artillery shells were fired on the entrance, all the guards at the entrance except the one standing near Aliza got killed, he began shivering from the sudden change of events, as Aliza said whilst smiling

Aliza : I told you.

Aliza drew out her blood ridden sword and said in a near demonic voice

Aliza : hide.

Aliza attacked the guard and the Ortanians followed suit, seeing this small window of distraction as their only chance to win, Ashhad, Zulqarnain and Hussnain charged at the entrance with their armies but not Asad, Asad had other plans, as the friends marched through the entrance they were immediately caught in an intense fight to the death, the first wave of attacks were the most brutal as hundreds of soldiers rushed into the Ortanian army, Ashhad and Hussnain were fighting a strategic battle, the leadership was fair but mostly all soldiers were on their own, Aliza was screwing up horribly, her leadership skills weren't the finest and she herself was to fairing poorly, Zulqarnain had became a true God of combat, the 60 men under his leadership were fairing the finest as none of them were under a lot of strain, despite the surprise attack Ortania was being pushed back, the offensive was slowly failing as for every men or women they lost, the Crystonians could just replace them with new ones and unlike Asteronia, Nefluk was more loyal to Crystonia, whenever an Ortanian soldier got past the enemy lines, the townsfolk would pelt him with stones and rotten tomatoes, after some time the townspeople began attacking the Ortanian army, be it men armed with pitchforks and pickaxes or women with crockery and even kitchen utensils, every Crystonian was defending Nefluk, throughout all this Ashhad kept motivating his soldiers

Ashhad : soldiers don't lose hope, fight till the last man, no looking back!!

but even Ashhad knew that he couldn't win this fight, this fact became evident when the Crystonian cavalry and mechanical units reached the fight and all hell broke lose, Zulqarnain was trying his hardest, the fire, the bloodshed, the chaos, it even drove Zulqarnain over the edge, when the swordplay began to fail, Zulqarnain took out his Trident, it worked at first but soon, it to lost its momentum, Ashhad, Hussnain and Aliza had now stabilized their stance but even they knew, the fight was not going to end in a victory but, behind the shadows Ortania had already won this war, the reason was Asad, the town of Nefluk was completely surrounded by artilleries and cannons and all were about to fire as Asad standing proudly amongst his men said

Asad : a wise men once said, " now I'm become death the destroyer of worlds ", I said to him, how can you become death when you yourself will succumb to it one day.

to this a soldier said

Soldier : sir we await your orders.

Asad : with a single command you will turn this town into a graveyard, then so be it, fire!!!!

an artillery shell was fired as a signal, Ashhad and the rest who were engaged in combat saw this, seeing this Zulqarnain asked

Zulqarnain : wait, whose that?

Ashhad understood what was about to come so he screamed

Ashhad : everybody take cover!!

the very next minute rounds upon rounds of artillery shells and cannons were fired on the town, buildings, infrastructure and people were badly hit by the attack, inside the royal palace of Crystonia, Queen Veronica was seated on her throne, she could hear the noise of artillery shells and cannons being fired, yet still she calmly sat on her throne drinking some tea, a panicked soldier entered the room, the expression on his face was proof of the degrading situation, as the soldier saluted Veronica he said

Soldier : my Queen, our town is in complete ruins, me and several others think that you should leave this town, it's for your own safety.

to this Veronica replied in a weirdly calm tone

Veronica : our people are fighting, you soldiers are fighting, our ministers are fighting, the whole nation is involved in the defense of our beloved capital and you're telling me to leave, I'd rather die by a shell or cannon then to flee my home.

the Soldier shook his head and said

Soldier : as you wish, my Queen.

the soldier left, Asad had now entered Nefluk, but unlike the others, he had blown his way in, anyone unfortunate enough to cross his path would meet his end via artillery shells and cannonballs, seeing how badly his enemies were performing, Asad remarked

Asad : I haven't even used my sickle, yet still my enemies are dying, how pathetic.

since Veronica was his end goal, Asad along with his army headed towards her palace and on his way their he took out his sickle and said

Asad : 99 here I come.