Chapter 136 - The Forest Folks Part 1
Lance proceeded to walk in front of the platform, his head held high with pride and his fists clenched tightly in nervousness. His thoughts weren't as collected as he had hoped and he was having a hard time composing himself.
What if they don't want me now? He thought. What if they decided to not have me as their prince anymore?
Lance forcefully shoved all the negative thoughts away as he finished revealing his identity. The crowd gasped, seeing their once bright-looking prince gloom with dread.
"Prince Lance, we will now hear your side," the Holy Crow said. "Explain everything and then we will judge."
"We?" Lance tilted his head.
Another carriage came, a man with a dark gray robe and is carrying a scepter walked towards the Holy Crow. He was wearing a diamond-shaped hat with a large black X-shaped crystal in his back.
"What's the Raven Justice doing here now?"
"What in the hell is happening?"
"Did he come with the Holy Crow?"
…
This man is the Raven Justice, the one who controls the kingdom's justice division. He is the head of the ones who implement the law, ranking over the captains of guards, knights, and other military personnel.
"This aura has been bothersome for me for a while," the Raven Justice said. "Just like you said, Holy Crow, it feels natural."
The Holy Crow, Raven Justice and the King are the Trinity that holds the highest ranks in the kingdom. Although the two are under the king, their power and influence almost rival him.
"Justice will be served right. And a trial must be held in order to attain proper justice," the Raven Justice said. "Chains of Liability."
Four holes around Madam Hoot appeared, three chains with a sharp tip spewed out from the holes, binding the woman. The sharp tip surrounded her head, 12 blades pointing at her face, one wrong move and she will die.
"M-Madam Hoot killed my mother," Lance started. "I don't know why she told us, perhaps because she thought we were going to die, but she did tell us everything. The previous king burned their forest, killing a lot of her people. She swore revenge and inflitrated the castle under the disguise of a magical trainor for me."
"She then slowly poisons my mother with her curse, killing her bit by bit, day by day…" Lance trailed off and cupped his mouth, realizing how painful his mother had felt. "She then sabotaged us by hiring an assassin and sending the police to come after me. She planted everything like she would plant a seed to regrow her forest. But she failed."
"She messed with the wrong people. I know some of you might question my position, am I a prince? Am I royalty? Am I an Adventurer? And to answer your question, before all of those, I am a citizen of Avancia. And a threat like her…" he pointed at the woman. "Is something that a citizen should never tolerate."
Just as Lance finsihed, just when the people were about to cheer for him, large green spheres were conjured all over the town square, hovering above them while forming a circle. Inside each sphere was a single leaf that was glowing with a bright green color.
"You think everything is that easy?" Madam Hoot chuckled. "Now!"
A woman appeared above the town square. Her ears were elf-like and she wore a light green dress that flowed beautifully down her body. The woman raised her arms beside her, closing her eyes and chanting a spell under her breath.
"Forest Reign."
The spheres surrounding the center glowed and fired a beam towards the woman, she groaned at the contact of the beams but she's didn't look like she was in pain. It was more like she was concentrating.
The woman raised her hands up, opening her eyes before slamming her hands down, refocusing the spheres' beams down.
"It's an attack!" Lance yelled.
The Raven Justice raised his scepter and made it glow with a dark gray color.
"Protection of the Weak."
The scepter fired a dark gray dome that's covered them. Elliot was worried that it might be too thin but several people in gray cloak appeared on the surrounding roofs, pointing their palms at the sky.
"Protection of the Weak!" they all casted, also firing the gray dome the Raven Justice shot. Their domes seemingly melted against each other, thickening the protection before the gray beam clashed against it.
The elf woman was screaming, forcing her attack to penetrate the protection that the Raven Justice and his men put up. The man looked effortless as he held up his weapon, clicking his tongue before disappearing.
He reappeared above the woman, taking the X crystal behind him and was about to slam it against her when suddenly, there were five elves surrounding him.
"Gotcha," the elf woman grinned and disappeared. The other elves stretched their arms beside them, firing green rope-beams that binded the Raven Justice.
The beams dissappeared as well as the spheres, the elf woman walked in the air a few meters away from the Raven Justice.
"What in the–" the Raven Justice was cut off by a rope around his head. It wasn't long before he was covered entirely with ropes, making him look like a roll of thread.
Elliot turned to look at Madam Hoot but all he saw was chains lying on the ground, no signs of the woman.
"She escaped!" Elliot yelled, alerting the others.
The guards surrounded the balcony, guarding the royals and especially the king. They were being attacked by the Forest Folks and the chief of the military was already defeated.
"What big balls," Lance chuckled and brandished his swords. The dome that surrounded them suddenly broke, shattering like glass and the particles vanishing into thin air. Everyone gasped after seeing the guards who put up the shield were already knocked out, all were lying face down on the roofs of the buildings.
"I tried to just eliminate 6 at first then spare everyone later," Madam Hoot said from the building beside the balcony. It was a three-story building that overlooked everything in the town square. The other roofs around the city center were filled with Forest Folks.
Elves, Fairies, Orcs, and just about every forest dweller were present, taking the unconscious guards and throwing them to the ground.
"Madam Hoot, what is this?" the king yelled. "What is happening, Madam Hoot?"
Madam Hoot clicked her tongue and let leaves trail over her body, replacing her clothes with a more revealing one. A gown with a slight slit in her chest, barely covering her plump breasts.
Fernando walked beside her, raising his head high and looking down over everyone else.
"And Captain Fernando?" King Leopold gasped. "What is happening here?"
"You see, Leopold, you are too gullible," Madam Hoot said. "Just as any other human. You're all so easy to fool. Because you don't even have to try. Your foolishness is your talent."
Elliot stared at Madam Hoot's chest. Not because of her large bosom, but because of a familiar yellow symbol that he found himself addicted to collecting.
She has a mark. Elliot thought and grinned.
If he gains one of her skills, a flora affinity, he could have more in his arsenal. He needed a lot more skills to become even stronger. Skill with different affinities so he was invincible.
Like the man in the Forest of Gray Lake.
"I was going to spare the whole lot of you but I changed my mind," Madam Hoot said. "I will kill you all and build another kingdom. One that's fair and just. A kingdom thaf is prosperous and does not destroy another race for their own selfish goals."
"What my father did is not the fault of these people, Madam Hoot." The king to stand but ended up falling back on to his seat, his energy was drained by the curse. "Let these innocent people go. If there's anyone that you need to blame, it's me. So take me instead!"
"Well," Madam Hoot pursed her lips. "If you say it like that, who am I to disagree? Seed Bombardment!"
Madam Hoot pointed her palms at the king and fired a rain of large seeds towards the balcony where he sat. The seeds were fast and they were going to reach the king not one second more.
"Dragon Morph!"
A large pair of gray dragon wings wrapped themselves around the balcony, cradling the swarm of people inside. When the seeds reached the dragon's wings, they exploded with fierce green flames, turning into smaller seeds that also exploded with weaker flames.
"Are you okay, Hope?" Elliot asked worriedly, walking over the dragon's face and cupping his cheek. "That explosion was strong. Are you okay?"
Hope groaned, Elliot worriedly backed away in fear that his friend might get hurt. Hope then sighed and pouted. "My back tickles. Could you scratch it?"
This made Elliot chuckle and nod, "Once we kill her, I'll scratch your back to your heart's content. How's that?"
"That's fair," Hope said and shook his head. When he felt that there were no other attacks coming, he opened his wings from draping over the balcony, roaring to assert dominance.
"A dragon?" Madam Hoot gasped. "Why do they have a dragon as an ally? Dragons are not sentient creatures!"
"That's where you're wrong." Lance appeared in front of Madam Hoot, his blades swiftly gliding in the air and pointed at both her and Fernando.
"That dragon is my son," Lance smirked.. "Now, die b*tch."