Cursed Queen: Battle Against Gods

Ghosts?!

"She probably knew that I was scared of Lady Sophia's ghost. That girl likes to mess with the people around her, so I can see why she did that," Karis said when we were on our way to the training grounds.

"About that..." I trailed off, which made him look at me. "I talked to Bythos in a dream again. He told me that the ghost was merely Sullivan's prank. Also, Sophia wasn't Bythos's lover. And she's with Hildus right now."

He stared at me like he couldn't believe what I just said. I guess Sullivan took his prank too far to the point that the rest of the twelve couldn't tell that it wasn't real. His face flushed, and it looked like it finally dawned on him. I chuckled and said goodbye to him to go to the training grounds where I usually stay. They were already having duels when I arrived, so I supervised them to make sure that they won't end up hurting each other badly.

During lunch, we talked about resuming the said training. It seems like the two are already sure that there isn't a traitor amongst the camp. If Alwina says so, then there isn't any reason to postpone it anymore. All we have to do is create the three-dimensional model again and start it.

"Flare, you wouldn't be in the front lines," Aiyana said when I started to talk about accompanying the squads who would charge towards the castle.

I blinked twice. "What?"

"You're going to disguise yourself and launch a surprise attack on Hildus. Karis would be the one to give commands out. We have people who can use telepathy, so you don't have to worry about it anymore."

Even if I want to charge through the front, it wouldn't be a good idea. Hildus would be alerted, which means he'll have more time to prepare for our arrival. I can't risk that, so I have to go with this. It's better to for a strategy that gives us a higher chance for success.

I nodded. "I understand. Let's announce it now," I said with a smile on my face. They heaved a sigh of relief after hearing what I said.

"Should I call Aurora now?" Alwina asked before we could finish eating.

I nodded. "We only have less than two months, so we have to turn the notch up."

They agreed, and we called Aurora in. She bowed her head before sitting down with a nervous expression. I tried to smile to make her more comfortable because I didn't want her to think that I'm a leader that she should be scared of. Of course, I want them to respect me, but I don't want them to be afraid of me. That would make me look like a tyrant, which isn't true.

We explained the whole thing about the training, and she immediately understood what we want to happen. As soon as we finished discussing it, I stood on the platform to get their attention. They seem to be done eating, so we decided to announce it now.

I clapped my hands. "Everyone, pay attention!" I said since some of them haven't noticed yet. They immediately stopped chattering and looked at me. I cleared my throat. "We're going to practice executing our plan now. This way, we wouldn't mess up when it's time."

They listened well while I explained what we were going to do. Karis and Aurora stood beside me to help me explain it well. After explaining, I asked if they have questions. They said that they don't have any, so I proceeded to make the three-dimensional model of the city.

One of the mages under Alwina's wing walked up to me. "I can make the dolls, Your Majesty," she said.

I smiled and stepped back so she could make them. "Go ahead. Thank you."

She smiled and made the dolls that look like civilians. She can also make them move at her command, so things became a lot easier for us. However, it seems like she can't make the soldiers that can actually fight the faction.

"I'll have to control them manually if I make fighter dolls," she said apologetically.

I smiled and patted her head. "You did well."

Her face flushed as she bowed before me. I made golems out of earth minerals, and Alwina placed a spell to allow them to move like soldiers. Drake said that the soldiers have a specific patrolling route, so we had to be more careful.

"Should we make their routes more specific?" Karis asked.

"How? Do you know what to do?" I asked.

He shook his head. "Doesn't matter. The leaders of each squad can handle it. We chose them for a reason. And if they can't, I can give them commands."

"Okay. If you say so."

As soon as everything was prepared, each squad gathered, so Aurora can make them shrink to a size that would make them fit in the model. The ones who can use spatial magic were shrunk first so that they can make the portals. That's what we're going to do anyway, so we decided to try it this time as well. Aiyana can't come with us to the capital, so she only stood beside the model to monitor us.

"I'll tell you to halt the training if someone is injured badly," Aiyana said.

As for me, I'll ride Drake's dragon and head straight to the castle. Dragons are often seen flying all over the kingdom as Drake's surveillance cameras, so they wouldn't suspect that I'm riding one of them. Because of that, I would leave earlier than everyone while suppressing my powers.

Anyway, Alwina and I won't be joining them since our routes are different. And besides, we're going to be controlling the movement of the dolls of The Zodiacs. This way, they can fight them like it's real. I've seen all of the twelve's fighting styles when I traveled in time, so I know what to do now. Alwina served in the castle for some time before Sophia took her appearance, so she's also aware of their way of fighting. But since we should be there, we made dolls that resemble us to make it look like we are there.

"You can start now," I said when all of them has settled in the outskirts of the castle.

The Evacuation team has started to move stealthily to take the civilians to a safe place. Meanwhile, the squads that are supposed to fight The Zodiacs and the ones that are going to fend the soldiers off have started to move across the map to cover for the Evacuation team. They were doing good! The way I see it, they'll be able to pull it off during the actual battle.

"They're treating it like a real battle. This is good, right?" I asked.

Alwina nodded. "You said that you wanted zero mortality, so they're trying their best to keep it that way."

There's no telling if this is how it's going to turn out within two months, but the more prepared we are, the better the results are. According to Drake, Hildus isn't doing any preparations. But we're not sure of that. I don't think Hildus is the type to trust his servants with everything. Who knows, he might be doing something to counter our attacks behind The Zodiacs' back.

The soldiers that they're currently fighting are only dolls. Real ones are way different since they can use different types of magic. They could support each other and bring us down within a matter of minutes. That's only a worst-case scenario. My men didn't train rigorously for months only to lose to a bunch of soldiers who chose to serve that wicked king. We will win no matter what.

"Shouldn't we raise the difficulty? They seem to be comfortable now," Alwina said.

I chuckled. "I think so too."

We made the soldiers' moves more complicated so they would have a hard time taking them down. Since we're assuming the worst, it's better to give them a difficult time. I'm the one who's controlling most of the soldiers, so they had a hard time trying to keep up. The archers seem to be too accurate, so I didn't worry about them anymore. They were able to defend themselves while supporting the others, which is impressive. Karis's commands were good, too. Everyone obeyed what he says, so there weren't any problems at all.

They finally finished after three hours. It took them a long time to finish, which is what I expected since I wanted them to execute the plans carefully. To be honest, I thought it would take five hours. Maybe the actual battle would take a lot of time, but that depends if The Zodiacs would break free of the spell once I'm in the vicinity or not. I sure hope they would.

"Finally..." Alwina murmured as we stood up to prepare to help everyone.

I chuckled. "Were you bored?"

"A little," she answered honestly.

Aiyana pouted. "I did not get to do anything."

"You supervised them," I told her. She pouted and looked away. Pfft.

Before Aurora ran out of mana, everyone was able to leave the model. They bumped into each other when they reverted to their original size because they were too close to each other. Aiyana restored their mana while we gave them remedies to muscle pain when they sat on the chairs around. The reason why Aurora had her mana drained early was because of the giants. They were too big compared to us, so she used more mana up than she has to.

They were too exhausted because of what Alwina and I did, so I chuckled and clapped my hands. "All of you did great," I said.

Everyone went silent for a while, so I was worried. But when they realized that I gave everyone a compliment, they shouted in joy. I shook my head while laughing and approached Karis, who was fanning himself at our table. He smiled and waited for me to come to his side.

"What?" I asked because he looked like he was waiting for me to do something. I had to read his mind because he didn't say anything. "Oh, I get it."

I ruffled his hair as I sat down. He smiled as his ears twitched. Wow, that made him happy? Maybe I should do that all the time. Anyway, I summoned a slight breeze to help them cool down since they were sweating a lot. Alwina and Aiyana went to the kitchen to prepare lunch, but they wanted me to sit beside Karis. Everyone else took a nap to recover faster, but Karis didn't.

"How was it?" Karis asked while making me use the wind element to fan him.

I smiled. "Great. Maybe we should train more, but it's honestly better than what I imagined."

He smirked. "Of course, I was the one commanding them!" he said enthusiastically.

"Yes, yes. You are indeed amazing," I said before standing up to go to the kitchen. We have lots of people to feed, so I figured I should help the two. The more hands there are, the faster we're gonna finish.

Karis held my wrist to stop me. "Where are you going?" he asked.

"Kitchen. I'll help the two," I replied and removed his hand on mine, but he refused to let me go. "Karis," I called his name with a warning.

He pouted as he let my hand go. "Fine. I'll rest here for the meantime."

I went to the kitchen and found the two who weren't even halfway done. Ah, they're a little too slow. I stepped in to help them, so they were a bit surprised. Most of the ones who trained are hungry since I've heard stomachs growling earlier. I feel bad for them for having to wait for a long time after expanding too much energy.

"Flare, you do not have to help," Aiyana said while preparing the cooked rice.

I smiled at her. "All of them need to eat now so they can recover faster. Now, let's finish quickly!"

They finally agreed, so we were bound to finish quickly. I used my speed, so Aiyana used her ability to manipulate time at her will to cook the food quickly.

"Aiyana, you can only use it a little, remember?" Alwina sternly said as she placed the food on the plates.

"I am not using too much!"

"If you keep that up, you will pass out."

I pursed my lips as they started to bicker about it. They still continued to plate the food while arguing, so I didn't try to stop them. We quickly served the food on the tables when we finished. Those who were asleep instantly woke up after getting a whiff of the food's aroma.

"Did Her Majesty cook this?" they started to ask when they saw me serving the food.

I smiled. "I only helped the two a little, but-"

"She did," Alwina said as she sat at our table.

They started to praise me for it, not giving me a chance to clarify that I only helped Alwina and Aiyana. Well, whatever. I thanked them and went to our seats to eat as well. Karis smiled and gave me a thumbs up. I chuckled and shook my head to tell him that the two did most of the work, but he didn't get it! When all of us finished eating, we told the others to go ahead and take a bath in the hot spring.

Oh, they're hesitating.

"Go ahead. We'll follow soon," I told them with a stern tone, so they immediately left.

"Can I stay with you? Then, let's go together," Karis whispered when they started to leave.

I looked at him with a grim expression. "Go."

He pouted. "Okay, fine!"

I collected the plates through telekinesis and brought them to the washing area. It's a good thing that I can use all forms of magic, even though I can't master all of them. Once I see it, I can learn it. But I can't use it like how the original users do. It's strange that I can do such a thing, though. Perhaps it's because of Bythos? He can do it, too! We just used magic to quickly finish cleaning all of the dishes and went to the hot spring. They were still there when we arrived.

"They're relaxing more than they usually do," Aiyana pointed out.

I agreed. "They're probably too exhausted today."

"I think we can do better, though," Aiyana said as she closed her eyes.

Hmm, maybe we need more polishing. If the rest of The Zodiacs don't break out of the spell, it'll spell trouble for us. They can be extremely strong when the time calls for it. We have people who can enhance other people's magic, so I hope it could work out well when they fight them. I think we should try to make each squad have duels. They can pretend that the other side is the enemy's soldiers.

"Alwina, is there something you have in mind?" I asked.

She nodded. "Only The Zodiacs can beat each other. We are also outnumbered. As it stands, we are not going to win. I'm sure you have noticed..."

I sighed. "I've been denying that the whole time. There are high-ranked soldiers there, right? What are we going to do about that?" I asked with a sigh.

"We should talk to Drake regarding this. I'm sure he prepared a strategy to help us overcome this," she replied.

"Okay. We'll try to reach him later."

We're also planning to talk to him about Kath later, so we might have a long conversation. Drake has not tried to contact us for days, so I got worried, but I'm sure he's doing well. He often disappears for a few days because he's busy, so we can understand that he can't contact us all the time. But I wish he'd send updates regarding the three of them.

The girls from the opposite side of the hot spring suddenly screamed, so we were surprised. We stood up and approached them to see what was going on, but they went silent as soon as they saw me. I smiled and crouched to see what the problem was and saw frogs.

"Be careful! They might be carrying poison with them," Alwina said as she made a magic circle on them. "They must have been attracted by the water. This is bad. We have to place a barrier here. Frogs would take over if we don't."

Alwina kept the frogs from entering the water, so I made the barrier in her place. The women also helped me strengthen it to keep animals and monsters from entering. The ones from the other side noticed what we were doing, so they helped us. We chose a permanent barrier, so it required a lot of mana. To be honest, I can handle it on my own. But they decided to help, so I decided to let them.

"That should do it," I said when the barrier was finally strong enough to prevent other creatures from entering.

"Your Majesty," Aurora called me shyly.

I turned to her. "Hmm?"

"Is it true that there is a ghost from around here?" she asked.

I heard gasps from the crowd. Oh, s**t. How did they find out about that?! They suddenly turned pale because of the expression I made. Wow. They've seen beasts and the worst of it and are still scared of ghosts. That's strange. I didn't expect the people of this world to be scared of a bunch of spirits that couldn't pass. Not only that, Alwina told me that mages and wizards studied exorcism in a school for them. So, why are they scared?!

"Aiyana," I called.

"Yes?"

"Do spirits hurt the living? Why are they so scared of them?"

She looked at me, surprised. "You didn't know?"

"Know what?"

"Those spirits tend to possess whoever they see and do bad things to the living. Each living person in this world avoids them like some sort of plague. Divine beings are exempted since they cannot be possessed by anything, so it is not surprising that you are not afraid of them."

Oh. I see now. Maybe Karis was also scared of ghosts because they can possess him? I sighed and closed my eyes as I tried to relax once again. The others are still talking about the ghosts, but they found out that I have exorcised those guys. I got praised once again, so I opened my eyes to say thank you.

"Oh, what could we have done if you were not here? We're grateful to you, Your Majesty."

I chuckled. "It was nothing."

Aiyana raised a brow. "They can use exorcism, though," she whispered.

"Most people panic after seeing a ghost. They tend to forget the exorcism chants and get possessed due to carelessness," Alwina said while staring at her.

Poor Aiyana hid behind me because of the way Alwina looked at her. I pursed my lips as I looked at Alwina. She appears to be fed up by all of this, which is the total opposite of what she actually feels. I can see that she really cares about Aiyana. It's just that Aiyana is a bit clumsy, so she often gets mad at her.

Aurora approached us once again. "Your Majesty, may I know if you found a letter when you went to the dungeon?" she asked softly, and it almost sounded like a whisper.

I nodded. "How do you know about that?"

"One of my mother's friends went missing after entering that dungeon. My mother told me that that friend of hers likes writing letters. After I found out that you went there, I kept wondering if you found his letter."

"Oh. I see. I'll show you when we get back to the camp."

Her face lit up. "Thank you so much, Your Majesty!"

We kept on talking until we decided to go back to the camp after helping each other get dried. Karis seems to be waiting for me by the exit, so I approached him. He immediately smiled when he saw me, so I raised a brow.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

He pulled me by the hand and brought me to the entrance to the dungeon. "I found something interesting."

"Interesting? Like what?"

He only smiled at me, so I found it strange. What's wrong with him tonight? It's like he has a surprise for me and is too excited to show whatever he found to me. A small smile crept on my lips as I looked at his cute expression.

"All of a sudden?" I asked.

He chuckled. "Yes! You'll like it, I promise. It's not something weird!"

I raised a brow. "Not weird, huh?"

My mouth went agape when we arrived. What is this place...?