On the night when Sora endured the agony of his mind fracturing under the torrent of returning memories, the capital underwent a silent upheaval.
The capital's defense forces consisted of two main parts: the three elite knight orders that guarded the palace and the queen, and the city guards who maintained law and order while protecting the roughly two thousand residents.
The three major knight orders rotated duty to defend the palace, with two of them each deploying half their troops. Tonight was the turn of the Unicorns and the Chimeras. It should have been Captain Rove of the Unicorn Knights coordinating with the Chimera team's vice-captain, but just after midnight, Chimera Captain Jeter showed up.
The gatekeeper recognized Jeter's rank and waved him through.
Jeter found Rove riding his unicorn, slowly pacing as he inspected the palace grounds.
"Hey, Rove."
Rove heard the voice and turned to look.
"Oh, it's you, Jeter. Aren't you supposed to be on vacation tonight? What brings you here?"
"I've got something extremely urgent to tell you."
"What? What's going on?!" Rove grew anxious and urged his unicorn closer.
"Yah Faile Faile Albrook." [Big Fireball]
When Rove was about ten meters away, Jeter suddenly drew his wand from his belt and swung it toward him.
An orange-red fireball a meter across hurtled forward.
Rove never saw it coming from a fellow knight, and there was no time to chant a counterspell.
He leaped from the unicorn and ducked behind it.
The fireball struck with a deafening "boom."
The unicorn let out a prolonged wail as the blazing flames scorched it. The blast hurled both the unicorn and Rove more than three meters backward.
Rove scrambled up from beneath the half-dead, thrashing beast and drew his own wand.
"What the hell are you doing, Jeter? This is treason! Treason!!"
Rove snarled.
Jeter grinned wickedly.
"What do you think I'm doing, playing games with you?"
"You bastard."
"Jerut erth erth Harem." [Earth Puppet Level 2]
"Yah Faile Faile Albrook." [Big Fireball]
The two elite [Triangle-level] mages chanted simultaneously and finished at the same instant.
A three-meter-tall giant of rock and earth rose from the ground, crouching low and cupping its hands to shield Rove.
The next moment, the fiery fireball slammed into the earth giant and burrowed straight through. Its rocky body exploded in a shower of gravel. Half the giant's form was obliterated.
Jeter didn't let his guard down. He frowned, eyes fixed on the shattered remains.
Beneath the rubble, Rove targeted the ground under Jeter's feet.
"Haru erth erth xiu." [Rock Spear Continuous Stab]
The earth trembled slightly, and Jeter leaped aside.
"Shoo!" A one-meter rock spear erupted from the spot.
Before he could catch his breath, another spear thrust up from the ground in the direction he'd jumped, guided by Rove's control.
"It's no use, Rove. You're no match for me." Jeter laughed.
"Ibalu Wo." [Float]
After a few dodges, Jeter was lifted by a gust of wind to hover three meters off the ground.
The rock spears below stabbed uselessly at empty air.
Rove canceled his spell and stepped out from the earth giant's wreckage.
"Jeter, it's not too late to stop this. I won't report it to Her Majesty."
Jeter burst out laughing.
"Her Majesty? She's just a little girl. After tonight, she'll be my caged canary, and I'll rule Tristain in her name."
"In your dreams."
"Gru Ess Ess Lie." [Soil Cone Burst]
Palm-sized chunks of compressed hard rock burst from the ground in front of Rove and shot toward Jeter in the air. Rock spears rose from the earth and stayed grounded, but soil cones were projectiles that could target airborne foes.
Jeter wasn't fazed.
"Indi Wendy Wendy Hou." [Wind Wall]
A one-meter wall of swirling, interlocking air currents formed around him. The incoming soil spikes pierced halfway through before the turbulent winds deflected them harmlessly left and right.
Rove's face darkened. Second-level spells clearly weren't enough against Jeter anymore.
He gripped his wand with both hands and began chanting loudly.
"Haluglu Us Us Us Xiulie." [Fury of the Earth]
As Rove chanted, Jeter started his own incantation at the same time.
"Yah Faile Faile Albrook." [Big Fireball]
"Inz Wendy Wendy Gluck." [Great Wind Hammer]
A second-level composite wind-fire spell: Inferno Fireball.
The ground beneath Jeter cracked open in a five-meter fissure. A massive three-meter rock spear thrust upward, growing to full height before launching skyward at the floating Jeter.
In front of Jeter, a one-meter fireball and a one-meter compressed air hammer hovered side by side. As the giant spear closed in, Jeter opted to defend. He slammed the spells together—flames met wind, expanding violently as the explosive gusts shoved Jeter clear.
The next instant, the five-meter blaze collided with the rising spear.
"BOOM!!!"
Flames erupted outward. Most of the spear's rocky shell melted away, but the remaining half-meter shard punched through the inferno and speared toward Jeter.
Blinded by the swelling fire, Jeter barely registered the dark shape hurtling at him—no time to react.
"Thud!" The rock shard impaled his abdomen, punching clean through and spraying blood.
"Ah!!" Jeter screamed, plummeting from the sky while desperately clinging to his [Float] spell to cushion the landing.
"Hah—hah—" Rove, drained from channeling [Fury of the Earth] and landing that blow, was drenched in sweat, his face ashen. That strike had been his best shot. A hit to the head, neck, or heart would have ended it. What a shame.
"Rove——————!"
A shrill, furious roar came from ahead. Jeter clutched his wound, blood pouring out, his face twisted in agony.
"I'm going to kill you!!"
"Haxiu Wendy Wendy Lie!!" [Great Wind Blade]
A one-meter arc-shaped wind blade materialized at the tip of Jeter's wand and slashed forward.
I can't give up yet. I have to buy time for Her Majesty.
"Jerut Urs Harem." [Earth Puppet Level 2]
A man-sized rock-earth puppet erupted beside Rove, spreading its arms to block for him.
"Shrieeek!!"
The great wind blade carved effortlessly through the puppet and gouged Rove's left side, ripping open a massive gash and fountaining blood.
"It's not enough! Not nearly enough!" Jeter raged on, burning through his magic without restraint.
"Hash Wendy Lie." [Wind Blade]
"Inz Wendy Gluck." [Wind Hammer]
A barrage of spells hammered the now-exposed Rove. Wounds multiplied across his body.
After weathering five first-level spells, Rove finally buckled. He vomited a gush of blood, vision blacking out as he pitched forward, unconscious in a spreading pool of his own blood.
"Is that it? Hmph."
Jeter gripped his wound and glared coldly at the fallen Rove.
Their brutal clash had already alerted the entire palace, but the Unicorn Knights rushing to help were tied up fighting Chimera members Jeter had bought off.
With Rove down, Jeter pressed deeper into the palace, his expression icy.