The Guardians' Throne - The First Magic Swordsman

Before leaving the island, Zaos healed the most dangerous wounds of the survivors; he couldn't do more since they didn't have time. While they did a lot of research, it was impossible to tell how much time they had left. Still, most likely, the followers of the demon god surely were planning to do something that would force Milliendra to summon him. According to Drannor, Milliendra had the power to control the elements as well, so the demons were no match for her, but she was just a child. She didn't want to kill anything, nor did she want to see others getting hurt. The demons will probably use that against her.

Zaos and Aleni said farewell to the kids and promised them that Milliendra would be with them once they returned… Once they headed toward the port, Zaos and the others found the smuggler that Aleni had asked to help. He had grown so much over the years that he had a fleet of eighty ships.

"Forgive my delay, my lady, gentleman," Enrico said. "I was far away when I heard what happened to our country…"

"It is all right. It would be weird if you were nearby at such a convenient time," Noemi said. "Nevertheless, do you know what we are going to do?"

"Fight some demons that want to bring back to life an even more dangerous demon," Enrico said. "While fighting for the sake of the world is good and all that, some of the demons destroyed some of my ships, so I am doing this for revenge if you don't mind. By the way, those two were the kids back then, right? I heard a lot of things from them… it is weird seeing them together because of that."

"That doesn't matter. We need you to pick some of our allies in the port town of Sairus kingdom," Drannor said. "We can't waste time talking."

It didn't seem like a good idea to say anything against that, even more so when Drannor was a father who wanted to rescue his daughter. Besides, Enrico was getting too old to argue about every single thing. So, he just shrugged and decided to follow those words. Enrico's ships were on the same level as the best of the country. Ten years ago, after getting some warships, he decided to study them and then learn how to craft even better ones to keep ahead of his competitors. Thanks to that, the group traveled between the islands of the region pretty fast while they waited for the golden spears and the bloody knights to join them. Still, they only found destruction across the islands… at least half of the fleet of most islands had been destroyed when the demons attacked. It seemed that they didn't know exactly where Milliendra was, or they were just worried that she might escape using those ships.

Fortunately, the group only spent five days traveling and passing by the biggest islands and requesting ships. Once that was done, they obtained one hundred more vessels, and Noemi gave orders to some of her subordinates to go to the other islands and negotiate for her. After that, they began to travel toward the north, and after five more days, they met with the golden spears and the bloody knights.

"It is kind of weird seeing you two working together after so long," Melisse said when she and the others came aboard that ship where everyone was.

"Melisse… how can you be so…" Cohnal said after a long sigh.

"It is only a temporary truce. Once this is over, I will make sure to make him pay for his crimes," Drannor said.

"It seems that we won't have to worry about teamwork now…" Nyana frowned, but she still looked to be in a good mood since everyone she liked was working together with a common goal in mind. "We showed your letter to your subordinates, and he should send letters to the mercenaries you left behind in the other country. Do you think that they will join the mainland army and march North?"

"I left someone able to control everything behind. You don't have to worry about it," Zaos replied.

Even if his mercenaries didn't follow him, Zaos was confident that at least the two thousand that he left with Kat would… the others swore loyalty to him, but even now, he wasn't so sure if he truly was the leader of the country. Kat told him to consider everything while thinking of his new position, but Zaos didn't even know how that battle would end… will he have the chance to return? The only thing that he had in mind was that he would rescue Milliendra in one way or the other and that he wouldn't let anyone close to her die. Besides, there was the fact that Drannor still holds a grudge against him… Zaos knew that it was time to pay for his crimes, even if he did everything to protect Milliendra. It didn't matter… he killed Ameria, he lied to a lot of people, and he hid the truth from many more. All because he felt like he was the only one who could protect Milliendra, only because he heard that voice before he was born in that world. Still, that wasn't true… Zaos only realized that recently because two weapons that could wound the demon god existed in that world. Considering that, it was evident that he wasn't the only one who could defeat the cause of Milliendra's suffering.

Nevertheless, Zaos didn't even share those concerns with Aleni… while she was quiet the whole time and hid her feelings, Zaos knew that her silence was just a barrier to hide her fears and how worried she was about Milliendra.

"Don't worry," Zaos said and then patted Aleni's head. "Millie is strong… she surrendered to the demons to save the other kids. That says a lot about her."

"You are right…" Aleni said and then smiled. "But I am not a kid… don't comfort me by head patting me."