"It seems like I need to do everything on my own," the Twelfth Apostle muttered, leaning back into his throne.
"Commander, the army should have a few more minutes until they reach the Nether Principality," 1 said, glancing toward Helios. Helios sat in a chair within the command tent, resting his chin on his hand with a weary expression.
"Tell me something I don't know," Helios replied in a calm, distant voice. His eyes glowed with an eerie light as he shared his vision with his two ravens, watching the army move from above.
"I have no new information then," 1 said with a stiff bow, turning to leave the tent.
"003... I almost forgot you were here," Helios said, his expression shifting to one of mild surprise as he removed his hand from his chin. 003 appeared suddenly, standing tall in front of Helios.
"Do you want something?" 003 asked, his voice flat and calm.
"No, I just wanted to see if you were still here," Helios said, a faint, tired smirk playing on his lips as he put his chin back on his hand. "Leave now," Helios commanded. 003 vanished instantly.
"By leave, I mean leave the tent. I can still feel your presence," Helios added in a calm, knowing tone. The King couldn't even let me rest, Helios thought, his brow furrowing in annoyance.
A few hours later, the soldiers finally reached the Nether Principality. Enemy soldiers were already waiting for them, entrenched and ready.
"Supreme Commander, what do you see?" 2 asked, looking at Helios with a mix of anticipation and nerves.
"It seems like they have built trenches and they are planning to defend the principality," Helios reported to the four Commanders in the room, his glowing eyes fixed on the distant battlefield.
"A trench won't help them," 2 said with a confident, predatory grin.
"You should give the soldiers the go-ahead to attack, Supreme Commander," 3 added, looking at Helios with a serious, determined gaze.
High above the battlefield, Tina flew in front of the gathered troops.
"It's the Supreme Commander's raven!" one soldier shouted, pointing up at Tina with awe.
"You have ten seconds to prepare, and after those ten seconds are up, attack," Helios's voice echoed to all the soldiers. "Ten... nine... eight..." Helios counted down. The moment he finished, the soldiers charged toward the Nether Principality, with tanks roaring behind them.
"The enemies are coming! Get ready to fire!" a Nether Principality soldier shouted frantically. They leveled their guns at the Aethelgard Kingdom soldiers. "Fire!"
A volley of bullets erupted. One Aethelgard soldier was hit in the head and died instantly, his lifeless body falling heavily to the ground. The Aethelgard Kingdom soldiers started firing back, their expressions grim as they traded lives with the men in the trenches.
Suddenly, fire rained down from the sky, burning the skin of the advancing soldiers.
"They have Seekers! Fire at the Seekers!" one soldier shouted, his voice cracking with fear as he shot a Nether soldier. The Aethelgard tanks pivoted, their cannons roaring. The shells hit the Seekers directly, their bodies exploding in a bloody, gruesome sight.
Dust rose into the air, turning the sky a dull, suffocating grey.
"We need more firepower!" a Nether soldier screamed through the smoke.
"Hold the line! We can't let them enter the gates! The vanguard isn't ready yet!" another shouted back, his face pale with desperation.
Ice spikes suddenly fell from the sky, impaling Nether soldiers as the Aethelgard Kingdom forces closed the distance. An artillery shell slammed into the Nether Principality gates, sending shards of rock flying. Some debris struck soldiers in the head, killing them instantly.
"What's happening, Supreme Commander?" 4 asked in a worried, trembling voice.
Helios's eyes stopped glowing as he disconnected from the shared sight of Tina and Robin. He took a steadying breath. "It seems like we will get inside the Nether Principality gates in a few minutes," Helios said.
1, 2, and 4 started celebrating, their faces lighting up with relief.
"We can't be celebrating yet, guys. We don't know if they have a trump card," 3 said, his voice dropping into a serious, cautionary tone.
"Yes, they might not have any trump cards, but it's better to be prepared," Helios said, his expression turning cold as he reconnected to his Nightmare Ravens' vision.
He saw the Aethelgard soldiers pouring through the destroyed gate, leaving a trail of bodies and blood behind them.
"Go, go, go!" a soldier yelled. The units split into teams, fanning out through the streets. One team spotted a group of people running and leveled their rifles. "Stop running and put your hands up!"
The group stopped, trembling, and raised their hands. "Turn around!" the soldier commanded. A woman and her children turned, their eyes wide with terror.
"It's a group of civilians. Let them pass," the soldier said, his expression softening slightly. "Go outside the gate!"
Nearby, another group saw a man running. They aimed their weapons at him. "Are you an enemy soldier?" the lead soldier barked.
"No, I'm not!" the man cried out frantically.
"Shoot him," one of Helios's Nightmares whispered from within a man's shadow, its voice cold and hollow.
"Yes, Supreme Commander," the soldier replied, his eyes glazing over as he opened fire. The man jumped incredibly high, dodging the initial spray.
"He's a Seeker! Keep shooting!" the soldiers shouted. As the man landed, he was riddled with bullets and fell to the ground, bleeding to death. "Keep moving," the lead soldier said, his face hardening as they pushed forward.
"It seems like we have the Nether Principality," Helios said, his vision still linked to his ravens.
"I'm not surprised. We have five thousand men, tanks, and artillery. They only have a few Seekers and normal soldiers," 1 said with a shrug.
"That's not what some of you were saying last time," Helios remarked in a calm, dry voice. Suddenly, his expression shifted. His voice turned icy. "Wait. We might be losing."
"What? You're joking, right?" 2 asked, looking at Helios with a shocked, wide-eyed expression.
"Their Seekers are stronger than we thought," Helios said, his jaw tightening.
In the city, a group of soldiers was struggling against a figure in red robes protected by a shimmering barrier. The figure raised a hand, and another barrier materialized above the soldiers. With a sharp downward motion of the figure's hand, the barrier slammed down, crushing the soldiers into the pavement in a spray of blood.
Another group faced a man wearing spiky gauntlets. His punches were lethal, tearing holes through the stomachs of the Aethelgard soldiers. One soldier tried to use an ice ability, but the man in the red robes dodged effortlessly and smashed the soldier's head in, killing him instantly.
As the man in the robes turned to attack another person, Helios's Nightmare Knight Lord appeared. With a swift, coordinated strike, they cut the man's body to pieces.
Above the chaos, the voices of Tina and Robin rang out in unison, mimicking Helios's cold, commanding tone:
"All Nightmares have been given permission to join the war. Your only rules: do not kill innocent citizens, and do not kill our soldiers."