I took her advice, and after just an hour of practicing with her, I got it down and felt my swordsmanship increase by another level.

"See, what did I tell you?" She smirked, but just as I was about to practice some more, she caught my sword with ease, interrupting my solo training session.

"Huh? What's wrong? Is there something off with my stance again?"

"Nope, just take a break for now. Getting rest is one of the most important parts of training, so allow us to take care of you for the rest of the afternoon. We shall also inform you of anything else happening within the camp,"

I silently nodded before letting out a long sigh of exhaustion.

…

A few days have passed, and the queen has finally returned from her break, and over these past few days, I've been practicing under the surveillance of nobody.

Practicing by myself and without the stress of anybody watching me was nicer than I thought, but to be honest, I was feeling a bit lonely.

So, whenever I wanted to interact with somebody, I just returned to the camp and watched the spars that continuously happened to grow larger and more popular with each passing day.

I even heard some other armies had been practicing by doing these kinds of spars as well.

"So, what is our next plan of attack?" I asked while looking over at the remaining commanders, which were more than I thought.

There were ten before, and now there were only six, meaning four had already been eradicated due to some unknown reason.

I knew how the queen thought, and if a part of her plan got fucked up, then it must be something really strange, and that is also why she needed a short vacation.

Suddenly, a few pawns of ice rose from the table we were sitting at, and yet another board to display the entire plane appeared.

"It's an all-out war now. No more dwindling away at their numbers," The queen said, but all of us looked at her with confusion.

"What about the unknown variables that killed off the bottom four armies?" Cora asked, and the queen shot a glare right at her as if she was hoping not to hear such a thing.

"I got rid of them. No need to worry…."

"Can you at least tell us who it is?" The first commander asked, leaning back in his chair and slowly sharpening his sword with a dagger.

"A few of the surrounding nomads were assisting in the war against us. I sent out a few of my men and had them eradicated while I was also vacationing across the plane… and that fucking tree is growing bigger with each day,"

"So, an all-out war is the only plan you can think of? A single battle to decide it all? From what I've heard, they have nearly double our men… and their generals are insanely strong as well," The third commander spoke up.

"That's why I have another task for the first army. You have the smallest amount of men for a reason, and that is to destroy the tree. Circle around it and destroy its core which is a literal seed of lava. Slicing it in half will be enough, and it should be easy for you… right?"

"I bet they're guardians that place with their lives, so I doubt it will be as easy as you say… so, let's stop the pipe dream and give me some more men,"

"Nah… you need as few people as possible. You have the most important job, and you're the only one who can cut the core in the first place,"

All of a sudden, the man smiled maliciously at the queen, who was still as cold as a rock sitting in the middle of an icy tundra.

"And why should I do that? Huh? Shouldn't you be the one doing such a suicidal mission? I mean, I don't have to do it if I wanted to?" The man smirked, and I immediately got the gist of the situation.

We're all slaves and gladiators to the kingdom, so the kingdom falling to us wouldn't mean anything… in fact, we might as well just switch sides.

"I found your sister, but I won't be telling you where she is unless you complete this mission. The same thing with everybody else… betraying me isn't an option since I have what you all want, and the opposing army can't find or give it to you… so make smart decisions,"

The entire room went silent, and a deadly pressure cracked the table in half, causing all of the icy pieces to fall through it.

"You have no idea how much I despise you," The first commander muttered before taking his exit, and as the meeting was pretty much already done, everybody left as well.

I took a walk with Cora to discuss the logistics and ask her if we needed to do anything else since this plan was a walking suicide mission.

"If worst comes to worst… we'll escape far away and never come back. That's what we'll be doing, and I hope you have no complaints as I won't be lenient with any form of comrdary… if you die, I'm running off with my girlfriend… that's it,"

"Ditto," I muttered before giving her a fist bump, and we split ways, taking out own paths back from the guild hall and into the palace.

I met up with the girls and told them about my plan for what I was going to do… and in the end, I knew what had to be done.

"You're seriously gonna do that?"

"All has already been lost. If you can't win, join them," I muttered, and as Mia brought me in for a tight hug, I hugged her back.

"We'll help you then,"

…

It was but a quick journey to the front lines where all of us stared at the enemies just across the river of icy water.

Anybody who jumped in there would be instantly frozen into an ice cube and wouldn't be able to escape alive.

The demons across the river were bloodthirsty, with some even just attempting to jump over the river, only to be swept away by its raging and merciless current.

"So… do we just stare at them until they leave?" Ethel asked as she stood beside my unicorn, ready to attack at a moment's notice.

"We're just here to stall time," I muttered while shielding my lips from the enemy who might be able to lip-read me.

"Then what if they cross?"

"We retaliate, obviously," I replied, and just to my bad luck, one of the demons across the river froze over the entire thing, allowing their army to charge over and attack us, but Mia, who was as smart as ever, instantly melted the river, causing the fodder to get swept away yet again.

We continued to stare at our enemy, who glared back, waiting for us to make another move… until one of our men, in what seemed to be the second army, shot an arrow at one of the generals clad in black armor.

He immediately caught the arrow, and with his rageful stance, he shouted at the top of his lungs,

"CHARGGGEEEEEE!"

All of a sudden, rocks began to rise from the river, forcing the water out of its trench and onto the battlefield.

A perfectly good bridge had appeared for them to cross, and all of the demonic generals, this time, shouted at the top of their lungs.

"CHARGGEEEEEEE!"

We immediately began to fight back, creating an instant stalemate that all of us were completely carrying.

If we commanders weren't here, then we would've instantly been destroyed by the sheer amount of demonic assailants.

"What should we do?" Mia asked as my men charged past us while we sat in the back, showering the front lines with our very own attacks.

"Just stand your ground. We'll step in fully once the generals start to attack,"

While the army was fighting, I decided to check up on a feature of the system I had completely forgotten about.

.

Lucy Amana (Draconic Bird)

Mia Lachnes (Blue Fire Stone) (Halberd) (Draconic Succubus Coated In Flames) (Ancient Lesser Succubi)

Aria Balthasar (Summoning Stone: Light Knight and Dark Knight) (Sword) (Draconic Empress of Light and Darkness) (Dawn and Twilight Spirit)

Astra Bloodriver (Blood Stone) (Daggers) (Draconic Vampire Countess) (Greater Dhampir) (Second Rank))

Nell Bloodriver (Blood Stone) (Spear) (Vampiric Dragon) (Small Blood Drake)

Amanda Balthasar (Summoning Stone: Large Lizard) (Sword) (Dragon Basked in Sunlight) (Lesser Sun Drakeling)

Chun-Hei Gaignes or Charna Gaignes (Shadow Stone) (Long Daggers) (Dragon Shrouded By Shadows) (Small Shadow Drake)

Clio Porter (Support Stone) (Hand-to-Hand Combat) (Plane Walker) (Lesser Sand Jackal) (Second rank))

Celestine Porter (Support Stone) (Hand-to-Hand Combat) (Plane Walker) (Lesser Spirit of Disorder) (Second rank))

Ethel Brollet (Water Stone) (Bow) (A Draconic Mermaid born from within the trenches of the Deep Sea) (Ancient Small Mermaid)

Electra Brollet (Water Stone) (Bow) (Dragon born from within a Glacier) (Small Ice Drake)

Nuala Brollet (Water Stone) (Hand-to-Hand Combat) (Dragon Born from the Depths of the Ocean) (Small Water Drake)

Sophia Whix (Electricity Stone) (Sword) (Human)

.

"Huh… it's a bit outdated," I muttered before feeling a threatening presence step onto the battlefield much faster than I had anticipated.

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