Chapter 444: The Crisis Of The Kingdom Of Britannia [Part 1]

All across the Kingdom of Britannia, the bells of war rang nonstop.

The alarm spread far and wide, soon reaching the capital. It forcibly woke everyone at the break of dawn, and even the King was no exception.

It was a matter of great urgency.

The seventy-year-old King of Britannia, Augustus Vi Britannia, was quickly briefed on the current state of affairs. Halfway through the report, he almost coughed up a mouthful of blood after hearing that his kingdom was being invaded from two fronts.

"What did you say?!" the King shouted. "The Helion Army and the Barbarians, along with the Beastmen, are invading from the north and the west?!"

"Yes, Your Majesty," the Prime Minister replied. "As we speak, the Blue Dragon General and the White Tiger General have mobilized their forces to stop their advance. But I fear it will take some time before they reach their destination."

In a fit of anger, the King pounded the table with his fist. To everyone's surprise, the table snapped in half, proving their ruler was stronger than he appeared.

"I can understand why the Barbarians and the Beastmen are invading the west, but why are we being invaded by the Radiant Empire?!" King Augustus roared in anger. "We have just signed a five-year non-aggression pact with them!"

The Kingdom of Britannia had paid a hefty price to broker that deal with the Radiant Empire.

And yet, the moment they sent the Vermilion Bird General, who had kept the Helion Family at bay, to the Borderlands, the damned Helion Family decided to take advantage of the situation and attack!

"What is the current situation on the battlefield?!" the King asked, doing his best to rein in his anger.

"Our fortresses in the north and west have fallen," the Prime Minister reported. "Both the Helion Family and the Barbarian King are advancing deeper into our territory. They took us by surprise, so we couldn't muster enough resistance."

Pinching the bridge of his nose, the King carefully predicted the extent of damage they would suffer from this invasion.

Now that the Blue Dragon General and the White Tiger General had mobilized their forces, they should be able to stop the enemy's advance.

Even so, the King believed that a quarter of his kingdom would first fall to the invaders before the two generals could clash with the enemy forces.

And that was taking things in a positive light.

If any of his two generals were defeated, it would only take a week or two before their enemies reached the capital city of the Kingdom of Britannia.

By then, things would take a turn for the worse.

"Give me the communication crystal for the two generals and the Royal Inquisitor!" King Augustus ordered. "Give it to me now!"

He didn't plan to take any chances, so he decided to recall the two generals and their armies!

"I have already prepared them in advance, Your Majesty," the Prime Minister replied as he presented the three ornate boxes containing the crystals directly connected to the three important figures currently in the Borderlands.

The Prime Minister would have already activated them if he had the authority to do so. But since they were bound to the King, only he could open the box and activate the communication crystals.

Wasting no time, King Augustus opened the three boxes and activated them at the same time.

The first to react to his sudden call was none other than Duran, followed by Vogel a few seconds later.

""Greetings, Your Majesty!""

The projections of the two generals appeared, with both kneeling as they paid respects to their King.

"The kingdom is being invaded by the Radiant Empire and the Barbarians from the west, along with their Beastmen allies," King Augustus stated. "Return to the kingdom in haste and stop their invasion!"

Upon hearing the news, both Duran and Vogel were shaken. They were the generals who protected the kingdom against these two hostile forces. They knew just how powerful these two factions were. If nothing was done, they would annihilate anyone in their path.

"Your Majesty, are you sure this news is credible?" Duran asked in a serious tone.

"Do you think I would waste my time calling you at this time of the night to crack a joke?!" King Augustus answered back with a glare.

"No, Your Majesty." Duran lowered his head. "I apologize. We shall return as soon as we can!"

"Please hold on for as long as you can, Your Majesty," Vogel declared. "We will do our best to hurry."

"Stop talking and come here already!" King Augustus roared.

The two generals understood that talking more would simply be wasting more precious time, so they swiftly bid their goodbyes and cut the connection.

A moment later, the Royal Inquisitor finally reacted to the King's summons as he responded in a sleepy voice.

"Hah… Good morning, Your Majesty." The Royal Inquisitor yawned. "What is the matter?"

"You are officially relieved of your duty, you imbecile!" King Augustus shouted angrily. "Wash your neck because you won't have it for long!"

After saying those words, the King immediately cut the connection. The Royal Inquisitor, who had been yawning earlier, was jolted wide awake after being shouted at by his King.

A moment later, sounds of shouting were heard outside his tent as people started barking orders.

"W-What is happening?!" The Royal Inquisitor came out of his tent. "Are we under attack?!"

"Sir, the Generals have commanded us to break camp and head back to Stoneguard Fortress as fast as possible!" one of the Royal Guards replied. "They are saying that the kingdom has been invaded by the Barbarian King and the Radiant Empire!"

"What?!" The Royal Inquisitor's face turned pale after hearing the Royal Guard's report.

Now he understood why the King had shouted at his failure to answer his summons sooner.

"All of you, break camp now!" the Royal Inquisitor shouted in panic. "Hurry! We need to return to the kingdom as soon as possible!"

The camp was thrown into chaos as everyone hurried to make preparations to depart.

Marco and Dominic were already on the move, barking out orders to their men.

The Viscount of Frontera recalled his wife's words before he left. He finally understood what his wife meant when she told him that Leone had cooked up a big surprise for the Kingdom of Britannia.

She had said nothing else after that, as it was supposed to be a surprise.

Indeed, Marco was surprised. He knew his son and his in-laws from the Radiant Empire had been talking as of late.

But he didn't know that they had grown so close that his son could ask the Helion Family for a favor.

And it wasn't just any ordinary favor.

It was an entire military operation with the intention of invading the Kingdom of Britannia at its most vulnerable state!

In less than an hour, the Britannian Army marched as fast as they could, with Duran and Vogel riding their horses hard to return to the Stoneguard Fortress as soon as possible.

Only the elite members of their personal armies could keep up with them, leaving their Commanders to take control of the army that they had left behind.

They pushed their mounts to their limits, using magical enhancement to strengthen both their bodies and their horses.

Duran and Vogel rode as if their lives depended on it, refusing to slow down even for a moment.

At such a terrifying pace, they managed to cover the distance to the deep gorge they had passed earlier that day in less than an hour.

Without batting an eye, the two generals and their elite forces crossed the stone bridge that they had refused to use earlier.

They had no time to take a detour right now. So, despite the danger, they went ahead and took a leap of faith.

But that was a big mistake.

No matter how much in a rush they were, they shouldn't have crossed the bridge conveniently there for them to use.

When they had gotten to the bridge's halfway point, both sides of the bridge shattered as if they were rigged with explosives.

Duran and Vogel's screams of anger, frustration, and shock reverberated into the quiet night, making Daedalus, who was paying close attention to the bridge at all times, chuckle as if he succeeded in pulling off a prank.

The grimoire was the one that had triggered the destruction of the bridge, causing the two generals and their elite forces to fall down into the darkness of the abyss.

With this, even if the fall didn't kill them, it would still delay their return to the Kingdom of Britannia.

By then, his Master's petty revenge against the kingdom that had exiled him to the Borderlands would have been completed by at least half.