>>30292224The Rainbow Kingdom was in turmoil once again.
After the departure of Melissa the Bard and Grand Strategist Mayuzumi (arguably the greater of the two losses), the citizens had been quite uneasy about the future of the Kingdom. The heroics of Baseborn Princess Salome, as well as the addition of several local and foreign mercenaries had bolstered the morale of the rank and file, but there was still an undercurrent of tension.
Princess Salome was an enigma who had almost got them a permanent territorial victory two months ago with her immaculate charisma in leading her troops, but the Demon Rabbit and her ilk were a crafty lot, and had taken back the conquered territories bit by bit, forcing a stalemate.
The bigger problem was several parts of the Kingdom had to be sold off in order to pay for her armies, and that of the new mercenaries. Grand Caliph Riku had promised him that the sale was temporary, and that with the funds and the armies it would bring, they would eventually be able to take those lands back.
The yearly ritual to summon the "Enchanted Bat" item had also been done earlier than usual last month, yet despite that and the efforts of Senior Mage Ibrahim, they could still only go as far a stalemate once again, and Princess Salome's isolated armies had been slowly getting whittled down the entire time.
Perhaps it was because of this situation that the Elven Queen had chosen this moment to rebel.
"Your strongest armies were not enough?" King Kuzuha asked from his throne, reading the correspondence that had been brought to him.
"No, your majesty. The Elven Queen was joined by the Duck as well, neither of whom I was strong enough to tackle. Giving battle would have risked getting my armies routed, so I simply retreated. The Queen plans to attack the Capital tonight. I apologize for my weakness." Princess Lize lowered her head.
King Kuzuha smiled a little and waved his hands.
Tonight was it? The Young Elven Queen was overestimating herself it seemed. She had a powerful image as a cool beauty, however she had stubbornly forsaken that image in order to pursue her passion of being a cute leader instead. Despite the obvious stupidity of such a thing, he could not bring himself to hate that stubbornness.
"Did the Chronicler send any updates?" he asked.
"No your majesty, he still refuses to declare a clear victory for that fight." Princess Lize answered nervously.
The Chronicler was arguably one of the most influential dwarves in the realm. Despite his intense hatred of elves, he was a fair arbiter and judge of the great battles that happened in the realm every single day.
Was.
Several of his colleagues had used forbidden magicks to secure a few victories in the past months. The Kingdom needed every victory they could get to pay for the mercenaries they kept hiring after all. Unfortunately the gods seemed to have taken notice this time. One of them had outright shut down their magicks in their domain, and another had cast a realm-wide ward which revealed their illusions, both of which had apparently shaken the once unshakeable Chronicler's faith in judging the battles. Commander Fuwa's victory a couple of days ago had been accused of being tainted with Black Magicks, and the Chronicler had refused to declare the result of the battle either way.
It mattered not. Kuzuha spared a glance at the Enchanted Bat that had finally made his way to him after another cycle. A single great victory was all that would be needed to quell the citizens' fears. His subjects were easy to please after all. Princess Lize shifted nervously.
"Gather the comm-"
He almost slapped himself.
"Do your reports mention anything about a Golden Haired Vampire among the Elven Queen's ranks?" he asked.
Princess Lize was confused, but looked through her reports again.
"No my Liege, the Queen is only bringing her closest compatriots to this battle".
King Kuzuha internally breathed a sigh of relief.
"Princess, gather the commanders and rouse the troops. We go to war."
---
"The plan was a success your majesty" Princess Lize spoke into his head "Our Angelic spy has been able to distract some of their number as well. I'm leading the rest to you." He acknowledged it and cancelled the link. MindShare was a very useful spell to have in the battlefield.
He rose from the floor and dusted himself, his troops followed.
"Men, get ready." he shouted.
Down the valley, he could see Princess Lize leading the Elves along the narrow road. As expected, their numbers were inferior, and they had been planning to win by flanking as the Elves always did. He smiled, and activated the Enchanted Bat, reinforcing him and his armies.
"Charge!" he screamed.
His armies thundered down the road. The next few minutes were simply a massacre.
---
Yet another great victory for the Rainbow Kingdom. The Citizens cheered as they returned, as once again it was established that their domination would not be stopped.
'A single Victory is enough.', thought the King.
