[Nightmare]

"Yo." Helix called out after opening a door.

"Haaaaaaah. If it isn't…. To be honest, I don't know what to call you anymore, boy." A gruff man replied.

"Idiot is still as valid as ever, Macron." Helix suggested.

The two burst into laughter.

"I just might do that." Macron chuckled with dead eyes.

"Did you manage to secure the transportation?" Helix asked.

"I did… but boy, on this short notice, and for that range… it's going to cost you a small fortune." Macron warned.

Helix chuckled and gave him a mysterious smile.

"You don't have to worry about the necessary amount."

Macron gave him a quizzical expression with his sharp brown eyes.

"1000 gold. You still laughin' boy?" The man gruffed.

Helix's smile didn't fade in the slightest.

"That's less than I expected. Thank you, Macron."

Macron raised an eyebrow.

"You're not wrapped up in somethin' sketchy, are you?

I've never heard of someone bloodpacting a small army to guard a few people traveling on a Gryphon before."

Helix burst into laughter and activated the Circle of Privacy he drew in Macron's office the night before.

"I still can't believe that boy drew that thing from memory…." Macron muttered under his breath in amazement.

"No. It's completely legitimate. However…." Helix said with a slight smile.

He touched his neck, and massive items slammed onto the floor.

"They'll be transporting these. I've altered their gravity with magic circles.

So you don't need many people to help you."

Macron froze in disbelief.

"Do you understand now? It's not like I can send a carrier pigeon to send a message." Helix laughed.

"You have no idea what type of hell is going on behind the scenes."

Macron opened and closed his mouth multiple times.

"Gawk later. We still have to meet with the queen before we blood pact with the guards." He requested with a smile.

Suddenly his face shifted and became serious.

"What is the situation with the troops? Their reaction."

Macron snapped out of his daze, made eye contact with Helix, and then put his elbows on his desk.

Then he shifted his head to his palms and rubbed his temples.

"Do you even need to ask?" Macron chuckled bitterly.

"Overwhelmingly positive for many, positive for most, but the small fraction that is bitter is causing trouble."

Helix frowned.

"Fights? Reprimands? Detainments?

What level of trouble are we talking about?"

Macron looked up at Helix with a wry smile.

"Boy, did you know what would happen?"

Helix locked gazes with Macron.

"Of course. If there's an attack tomorrow or next week, no one will listen to a nameless kid without service experience. That's a problem." Helix replied with a serious voice.

"Macron. Marie is Level 72. If she uses [Quake], it can destroy half the entire city in one shot."

Macron's eyes widened in disbelief, and he released his hands from his face.

"L-Level 72!" Macron cried.

"What? Do you think Master Tyrene casually brought us to fight a fifth-evolution Colossus as a training exercise?" Helix scoff-laughed.

Macron frowned and thought about it some more.

"Master Tyrene had reason to believe that the impending attack on the capital would be worse.

That's why she had us fight against the Colossus for the experience." Helix warned.

"We wouldn't be training immature liabilities if we thought we could handle it ourselves."

Macron trembled in disbelief.

"It's that serious?"

Helix matched his gaze.

"Yes. I'd bet my life the Stalkwalker Colossus would've wiped out this Capital and 90% of the army before going down."

Macron's face was shocked into a stupor.

"Look, Macron. We're speaking to the queen shortly about the situation.

After that, I'll need your support with the army.

In the meantime, please. Tell me what the situation with the troops is."

Macron wiped his face with his left hand.

"Okay. After Master Tyrene's message, many people are in support of you." He began.

"Those who spoke out against you were met with fierce opposition.

It wasn't for you. Rather, it was because Master Tyrene told them not to harm you.

As a result, the groups were beaten, humiliated, or shunned."

Helix closed his eyes.

"Those who were partially exiled have banded together.

It's the minority, but it's not a small group.

They're causing trouble, which has put the generals and the brigade leaders in an awkward position." Macron explained.

"While most want to support you, you dumped a political headache and shitton of stress on their shoulders out of the blue.

While most were happy initially, they're already bitter you didn't give them a heads up at the least."

Helix nodded with a serious expression.

"Boy. If you're wrong about this attack…." Macron began hesitantly.

"I'll take full responsibility, Macron." Helix replied without hesitation.

"It's not about responsibility, boy.

We're just sick of watching people try to kill your scrawny ass." The man chuckled bitterly.

Helix gave him a pair of smiling eyes.

"Don't worry, Macron. Eventually, everything will sort itself out."

Macron looked up from the desk to make eye contact.

"If I could survive before, I can sure as hell survive now." Helix chuckled.

"Now come on. We have some people to bloodpact before we meet with the queen.

—

"Greetings, Sir Helix. You may enter." A woman called out.

Helix had walked into a massive room with a long purple rug in its center.

Illustrious art hung in the room on every wall, and the marble pillars had elaborate engravings of past Alzerian battles.

"Greetings, your majesty." Helix said before walking to the throne and taking a knee.

Two rows of Royal Knights were on either side of him.

Beside him stood Macron, and two other people were kneeling to the left.

"You're quite the attraction." Liliana chuckled with a narrowed gaze.

"Ever since you've arrived, you've been at the center of every major incident this year."

"If I could have lived as a blacksmith who drew magic circles, I would have your grace." Helix replied in a serious tone.

"Hoh? A young man who wishes to become a blacksmith accidentally led an army of 1200 to attack a Colossus?" She mused.

"Yes. There was no choice, your majesty.

My partner's Nightmares are strong enough to be a liability. " Helix replied.

"If I hadn't, many soldiers would have died because we couldn't utilize our strength."

"Is that so? How is it that an aspiring blacksmith of eighteen has the political skill to take over another country's army out of necessity?"

The atmosphere multiplied, and an overbearing pressure entered the room.

Macron's eyes couldn't get wider.

He couldn't believe his ears.

"Master Tyrene was at my side, your majesty." Helix replied.

"There is very little chance General Lackbolt would have seeded authority to me otherwise."

Queen Liliana gazed upon the boy with narrowed eyes.

The guards and the other two men listened with suspicion.

"The general was desperate. We were moving toward a 350-foot Colossus of unknown strength." Helix continued.

"After demonstrating our power, he agreed to allow us authority because he couldn't utilize them.

Since Master Tyrene was present, he was confident in allowing us to take hold of the operation."

"I appreciate your humility, Sir Helix.

However, I am not asking these questions to you as a form of praise." Liliana warned with narrowed eyes.

"I'm asking you out of suspicion."

An icy chill crawled down Helix's spine.

Macron was sweating, and the atmosphere was becoming suffocating.

"Understood. Can you please reiterate or narrow your question?

I will answer without humility." Helix requested.

"Perhaps this question is better.

Why were you the person leading the army while Tyrene was not?" Liliana asked with a venom-laced smile.

"General Lackbolt said General Tyrene was not involved with the operation aside from a single strategy conversation, to his knowledge."

The two men next to him gasped and glanced in his direction.

The guards stood taller in a serious manner.

Helix could tell what she was getting at.

"Master Tyrene was teaching me how to become a general."

The men next to him breathed sharp breaths.

"She instructed me to take full control of our group during the battle as a training exercise.

That included her, Master Tilo Salazer, her other apprentices Marie, Charlotte, Riley, Chief Elsa, and her assistant Timothy." Helix continued.

"Her primary objective was to see how I would address the issue of our team's power when working with others.

Neither she nor I believed we would be given the army's authority."

Liliana listened patiently.

She did not want to rush his explanation, as her questions were serious.

Helix took a deep breath and continued.

"The reason she wasn't involved was that I was doing well, and everyone present underestimated the Stalkwalker's strength until the end.

After the initial trap we set up, everyone thought the battle was a foregone conclusion.

As a result, neither she nor General Lackbolt found any reason to take control away from me.

Does that answer your question, your grace?"

Liliana studied the young man before her with a serious expression.

"How did General Tyrene die?" She asked.

"General Tyrene died saving my and Marie Skybolt's life during a suicide attack."

Helix's answer was immediate and lacked hesitation.

Everyone in the room, aside from the queen, gasped in astonishment.

"Please permit me to elaborate." Helix requested.

As he was still kneeling, he couldn't see the queen, so he became anxious about her reactions.

"You may proceed." Liliana said with narrowed eyes.

"Under my leadership, we led the Stalkwalker into a trap.

Master Tilo set up calamity-grade magic circles, Master Tyrene used [Sub Zero], [Blizzard], and a calamity-grade [Frost Nova] in less than five minutes."

The men next to Helix gasped in shock again.

"My team hit it with an earthquake, a massive ground pike fifty feet tall, shredded its legs with a tornado filled with boulder-sized rocks, leveled with 100 G's of gravity, and lit it on fire with a mythical-grade Nightmare.

After that, it received approximately four hundred magic attacks from General Lackbolt's army, received fifty ballista arrows, had its neck slashed by thirty sword and spear masters under the effect of gravity." He continued.

"After that, it would have killed General Lackbolt's entire army if I didn't trigger traps to constantly distract it for two hours."

The queen's eyes trembled alongside the other men.

Everyone was stunned, silent in disbelief.

"While it was proving its deadliness, we believed it was paralyzed from the legs down.

It sat in the same position, and it couldn't turn around on its stomach because the burns on its back were lethal.

However, we were wrong." Helix said after a deep breath.

"The Stalkwalker Colossus fell onto its back, causing an earthquake, and turned around.

We couldn't see, and when it came back, it started attacking Marie Skybolt.

It killed her twenty guards and shattered a Level barrier with a single attack.

When I went to save her, the Stalker was attacking with both hands.

I guarded against one but couldn't guard against the other.

General Tyrene died kicking me out of the way.

Grandmaster Tilo Salazer watched the entire event unfold and will corroborate my testimony."

"Thank you, Sir Helix. However, that won't be necessary." Liliana announced.

"While I was unaware of the Stalkwalker's strength, I already heard the story from Grandmaster Tilo."

The men beside Helix were still in a state of shock.

"However, I have one last question for you." Liliana announced.

"Why is it that the Kozen army is equipping troops to send to Alzeria, and we have not yet sighted any monsters."

—

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