Cursed Queen: Battle Against Gods

The War Has Begun

"Listen well, everyone!" I shouted as soon as our preparations have been finished.

It's finally the fated day where we go into war with Hildus. We spent every single day preparing for this very day but we didn't do anything yesterday to make sure that our bodies are in condition today. Anyway, I want to say something before we proceed.

I cleared my throat to catch their attention. "You lot seem to be on edge, huh? Don't be! Forfeit those thoughts now and focus on defeating whoever gets in our way. I won't be saying any more than this. I'll be on the way now. See you on the battlefield!" I shouted as loud as I can to make sure that each of them heard me.

They shouted as well as their way of hyping themselves up. Karis would be leading them since I can't be in command. I have to focus on Hildus since that's the point in all of this. Drake told me to be careful inside the castle since Hildus has prepared for my arrival. Well, all I have to do is snatch him away and take him outside.

"Take care, Flare. I'll see you in a while..." Karis whispered as he tapped my back.

"See you, my love..." I whispered back before riding the dragon that Drake sent here.

I saw his surprised face, but he didn't have time to answer because we already flew away. We're taking a slightly different route to make sure that they won't catch us. It'll be pretty weird to see a dragon coming from the forest's direction. Drake would be questioned if we are caught, which might put our plans to naught.

We're trying to avoid any failures, so everyone must be on edge. I was also nervous! That's why I couldn't say something sensible. Ah, I'm not used to speaking before entering the battlefield! I felt embarrassed for what I said earlier, but it doesn't matter now. I have to focus on the mission since our success depends on me.

Anyway, it's still night, and I'll be leaving already since that's the plan. Aiyana can't come with us to the city, so she's staying here until the battle is over. After that, we'll find a way to take her to the castle without causing any problems. Ah, I have a lot to do after this.

"You can do this, Flare!" I said to myself and slapped my cheeks. "I will be victorious..."

I wore my cloak, and Cyrus shrieked. Oh, s**t! I didn't notice him there, so I said sorry and rubbed his neck. He remained there since the wind is strong to the point that he would be blown away if I don't hold him in place.

"Milady..." Drake suddenly said while I was busy keeping an eye on our track.

"Yes, Drake?" I responded quietly.

"I assigned more dragons to escort you. They're often seen flying around together, so it's better that way."

"I understand. Thank you," I replied.

He quickly cut the communication off since he still needs to make preparations to help the civilians evacuate in time. He's slowly been doing that since a month ago while making it look like the people are being sold off as slaves. The truth is, they've already been sent to a safer place.

Poor him, he's been so stressed lately. I doubt he's getting plenty of sleep either. That's why I have to hurry up and kick Hildus out. I kept that on my mind while making sure that I can arrive on time. It's hard to keep track of time, but I made a clock inside my mind with Aiyana's help.

"Bythos..." I called just because I feel like calling his name.

"Focus, Flare."

I chuckled. "Where are you? I feel like holding someone's hand right now."

He didn't answer after that, so I shook my head in dismay. What's wrong with him? He would answer me from time to time, but he never shows himself unless we're in a dream. Still, I don't think he's just inside my head. That jerk is alive somewhere, just watching since he can't join the fray. I would have punched him in the gut if I can!

"Calm down..."

I rolled my eyes and continued to wait until my comrades have reached the city. We're almost there, so I think they're already opening the portals and are currently preparing to enter. Drake's soldiers are stationed all over the outskirts of the city to help us, so everything should go well.

"I'll give you a signal, Milady. Please wait for it patiently," Drake said. "By the way, please suppress your enormous power now. Hildus might notice your presence."

I obeyed what he said and made sure that it's suppressed so no one can detect my presence. The dragons will have to fly around the sky for a while if I arrive too early, which I'm trying to avoid. Even if I try to hide, they'll probably find me if I linger there.

I heaved a heavy sigh as I tried to keep my calm. "Please hurry up..." I murmured.

"Milady, we have a problem!" Drake suddenly said which startled me.

"What? What's wrong?" I asked worriedly.

"Hildus has left the castle all of a sudden. He disappeared and we're currently looking for him."

I raised a brow. "If he's not in the castle, should I wait for him there?" I asked.

He went silent for a while, but I waited for his response. It seems like he's trying to inform the ones in the camp as well. What I said may sound ridiculous, but the rest of the twelve would fully break out of his spell if I do that. It's no longer a hypothesis because Alwina and I have been studying the forbidden spell that Hildus used, so we've found out that it would break if I expose them to my presence.

Well, it's still a mystery as to why Karis and Drake broke out of it without me. Hmm, maybe they've met Bythos without knowing. Whatever, it happened already! There's no point in trying to figure it out since it worked out well.

I sighed because Drake was taking a while. It seems like he cut the connection off because something happened. Ah, f**k. We're almost at the city, but it feels like they haven't figured it out yet. I'll have to fight Hildus right here and now if he's waiting for me at the entrance.

"Go south," I whispered.

The dragons split up and headed for the back of the castle. It seems like they haven't arrived yet. f**k. I gritted my teeth and tried to determine what to do since Drake hasn't responded yet. Oh, f**k. There's probably a trap inside the castle. Why would he leave it unattended when he knows that I'm coming? There's no other reason for him to do so aside from trying to ambush the ones in the forest.

"Please don't. I've figured it out. He came outside to kill the faction while you're not in the camp. There's probably a trap inside the castle."

I sighed and massaged the bridge of my forehead. We f****d up. Right, Hildus has known about the faction because of an oracle. Perhaps he knew that Drake is on our side, so he made sure that he doesn't know anything!

"Drake, I'll go back. The only way around this is to make Aiyana stop time. I can move even when her magic is in motion, so it won't be a problem for me."

"Yes, please. And we're coming with you. The Zodiacs who are on his side have left the castle and are probably planning to gang up on Karis to take him down. Even if your faction has grown stronger, it doesn't change the fact that we are a lot stronger...especially when we're together."

I ordered the dragon to turn back to the forest before it's too late. However, it felt like it wasn't enough! I stood on top of the dragon and stopped suppressing my mana. Once again, I grew wings. It's a good thing that they've made an armor that allows me to do this without having to take the armor off.

"Speed up..."

I flew towards the forest at the speed of light. Aiyana is probably aware that he's on his way now. She doesn't look into the future anymore, so she didn't know that this could have happened. It seems like there's something in the future that she must not see, so I didn't want to force her to do it.

I tried to avoid flying past Hildus and the Zodiac members that are with him. There's a town nearby, and it would have been caught up if I clashed with him now. However, I felt his presence and I'm certain that he also felt mine.

"They're still far from the forest..." I mumbled as I smirked.

"Speed up..."

I had to go even faster since every second matters. They would reach the forest within half an hour. Before that happens, I have to assemble the faction. We've been training this whole time, so they're probably in a panic now that our plan has been completely destroyed. Well, it was my fault for being too comfortable. Had I thought of every possibility, this wouldn't have happened.

"I have to take responsibility for this..."

As soon as I came inside the forest, it seems like there was chaos. Everyone was panicking and even Karis couldn't stop them. I slowly landed on the platform, which caught their eye. They were surprised to see me, but they finally calmed down.

Karis's face lit up when he saw me. "Flare..." he mumbled.

I smiled at him. "It's going to be okay," I mouthed.

Alwina and Aiyana are also trying to get them to calm down, but they couldn't. As soon as they saw me, they stopped and grew silent. Everyone who saw me looked like they've regained their composure, but there are still plenty who are having difficulties trying to remain calm.

Ah, f**k! They probably had trouble accepting the fact that we f****d up because some of our efforts weren't of any use. I'm sure that Drake feels bad because of this, too. I could literally hear it in his tone. That's why I have to do something about this now!

"Everyone, I know that things didn't go the way we wanted!" I said, which made them stop talking. "But we are not going to lose! We're still going to execute the plan. However, we have to be more careful this time. Aiyana, please stop the time!"

She immediately did what I said. I have to think of a way to lure Hildus into a different place. We'll end up turning this place upside down if we clash here. There are towns nearby, so we can't risk it. Especially if The Zodiacs start backing me up!

Wait a minute...

He probably knows that The Zodiacs would break out of the spell if they get exposed to my presence, so why would he charge towards us along with them? Ah, f**k! We have been deceived once again! They're luring us into a trap. The problem is, I don't know what it is! I looked at Aiyana who seem to have started looking into the future.

"Sorry..." I said in advance as I dived onto her mind because it's faster this way.

It seems like the ones headed towards us are nothing but puppets or shapeshifters. Hildus is still in the castle, preparing some sort of chant. I have to stop him! He's casting another forbidden spell just to make sure that I'll die.

"Aiyana, allow Alwina to move," I told her.

Alwina is the most knowledgeable when it comes to this, so I have to take whatever she says into consideration. That magic circle could be the end of me, so I can't charge without getting my facts straight.

"Okay," she said and tapped Alwina's shoulder.

Alwina was a little flustered, but she immediately composed herself. I relayed what I saw to her through telepathy, so her eyes widened. It seems like she knows what the magic circle meant, and it might be something dangerous!

"Why? What's with that magic circle?" I asked worriedly.

"That's the circle that would activate a magic box that could seal anyone or anything within a box called Eternal Prison. Aiyana might not know anything about this, but this was made because of her. It seems like someone from two centuries ago stored a portion of the Goddess of Time's power, which was found a few decades ago."

Aiyana gasped. "I remember that! They said it was only for an experiment, so I did not hesitate to give them what they asked for."

How naive...

Alwina cleared her throat. "Some psycho mage used it to create a box that could seal anything and succeeded. However, that person could not bear the heavy weight of your power and died after some time. Someone had replicated the box, making three of them. The first one was used to seal a ferocious beast that wreaked havoc in a town. And Hildus seems to be preparing to use the second to seal you, Your Majesty."

I stared at Aiyana. "You can disable it, right? You are the Goddess of Time, after all. If there's anyone who can do it, that's you."

She nodded. "I can if I can enter the city without having it crumble into nothingness," she answered while scratching her nape.

Ah, right. She can't enter the city since it would ruin the balance. But, it's an emergency right now! We can't just stay here and chatter while everyone is waiting for us. Oh, wait...

"Does the time stop for the balance as well?" I asked.

She blinked twice, unable to process what I just said. If that's the case, we just have to teleport to the castle and have Aiyana disable the magic circle. I'm not sure if that will work, but it has to!

"Well, it should be fine as long as you suppress your power," she replied with a smile.

I can totally kick Hildus's ass right now, but that would make me look bad. I'm not going to kill someone who can't even move! That's who I was before, but I'm totally different now. I'll fight Hildus fair and square. Besides, how can I be worthy to be a queen if I can't even make my way out of this?

"Alright, then. Let's do that. I'll take Hildus to a different place once we're done. You can proceed to the plan once I've done that.

I held Aiyana's hand as we prepared to cross the portal that Alwina made. Since we would end up destroying the city if we come together without suppressing our powers, I kept mine at the lowest level. As long as I keep it that way, there wouldn't be any problems.

"Are you ready?" I asked her.

She nodded, but I could feel her hand trembling. This is the first time she's coming to the city after almost two centuries, so I understand that she's nervous. Alwina did the same, so she wouldn't be scared anymore. She's coming with us since we can't use spatial magic.

I squeezed Aiyana's hand. "We can do this," I said.

We heaved a sigh as we crossed the portal to the castle. Everyone seems to be in a hurry, but all of them have stopped. We saw the rest of The Zodiacs on our way to Hildus's chamber, but we ignored them. Our goal is to take Aiyana's magic back from Hildus, so she can disable his magic circle.

"What has Hildus done to them...?" Aiyana asked as we passed by the soldiers.

I sighed and shook my head, annoyed after seeing what has become of them. Their eyes were cold and it looked like they were also brainwashed! Some of them are different, but they're probably Drake's soldiers.

"Wait, I think we should take Sir Drake with us," Alwina said before we could pass by him.

"Why? We know the way to Hildus's chamber," Aiyana replied.

I sighed and tapped Drake's cheek to allow him to move. "We need to inform him about what's going on," I told her.

"Wait!" she complained, but it was too late.

"Milady..." he murmured, bewildered that he was able to see me now. "Please forgive me for being incompetent," he said as he bowed down.

I made him stand up because we have to hurry. "Listen to me, we decided to continue the plan once I've taken Hildus somewhere else. It seems like he prepared something to defeat me, so I'll have to go all out."

He nodded. "I understand. Then, we don't have to make any changes. The seven members who haven't broken out of the spell would notice once Hildus is gone, so we'll have to fight them. Don't worry, we'll follow you once we finish here," he said and bowed once again.

"Shall we go now?" Aiyana said.

Oh? It seems like she has some sort of beef with Drake, so we left him there and froze time for him once again. We proceeded to Hildus's chamber. It's really him since I can tell a normal person's presence from another creature.

"Ah, that is indeed my magic!" Aiyana exclaimed when we saw the box. "What kind of brat would use my magic to seal a friend of mine," she said.

I pursed my lips to stop myself from chuckling. This isn't a laughing matter, I know! But that was really cute, so I got distracted for a while. Even Alwina seems to have thought that it was cute!

Aiyana closed her eyes as she started to disable the spell. We stepped back to allow her to do the thing until something caught my eye. There was a familiar katana hanging on the ceiling.

"That's Bythos's..." I murmured.

It looked like it hasn't been touched for years. Nobody can wield it aside from the original owner, I guess. I shook my head and focused on the reason why I came here.

"Okay, I have finished. That thing can no longer be used no matter how many spells you use," Aiyana said with a smile on her face.

I nodded and turned to Alwina. "Aiyana would know once I've left the city with Hildus. Time will continue after that so you can proceed to the plan. Alwina, you can handle it, right?"

She nodded. "Don't worry about us, Your Majesty. We will execute it as planned."

Hmm. We went to the kitchen first because there was something I wanted to do. I took seven containers and stored some of my mana there. Seven of The Zodiacs, the ones who haven't broken out of the spell, only need a whiff of my mana at this point.

I handed them to Alwina. "Make sure to expose those seven to these."

"But you have lost some of your mana, Your Majesty! We can handle them so please take it back," she said worriedly.

I looked at Aiyana and she immediately understood what I meant. She restored the mana that I lost, so Alwina won't have to worry about it anymore. She placed it on the table on the platform so she could explain it to the others later.

"Aiyana, are you okay?" I asked.

She nodded. "Do not worry about me."

"Anyway, those guys must be disheartened right now, so try to bear with them. I'll handle things with Hildus. It seems like The Zodiacs are not aware of what's happening because Hildus doesn't trust them anymore, so it should be fine. Have them back me up as soon as they break out of the spell," I told her.

She nodded and bowed. "I understand, Your Majesty."

We slowly walked towards Hildus's chamber once again. He was standing still, so I didn't worry about taking him to the place Alwina prepared. She created a place that was protected by a strong barrier just a few meters away from the place where I had a date with Karis. She created that place in case something goes wrong, which saved us now.

"I'll leave everything else to you," I told her one last time as I made Hildus float.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Alwina opened a portal towards that place while Aiyana kept restoring her mana. I smiled at the two of them before entering the portal. The place Alwina made was quite enormous, so I no longer worried about any casualties. I placed Hildus in front of me while I stood there, waiting for Aiyana and Alwina.

I heaved a sigh. "It was quite complicated. I'm glad it worked out just fine."

"Don't rest assured yet, Flare..."

I was startled when I suddenly heard Bythos's voice. "What now? Do I have to watch out for something?" I asked worriedly, but I didn't get a response.

Ah, fuck...