King Appius walked into the large building located at the edge of the Grand Magic Academy. Despite being made of a mix of red brick and wood it seemed to be a lot stronger than either of those materials. Behind him was his son, Prince Gaius who was too busy being a little bitch to care about the materials of the building. Instead, he was looking forward to seeing his sister Maria. Who was, in fact, about to technically commit a war crime among other things.

Inside the building Stood two women. One of which was the Grand Mage and the other was Maria. She was a petite girl who looked like a gust of wind could blow her over. Dressed in common Alsenian Mage robes she had her blonde hair cut short to avoid having to put it up. To most, she looked like a doll that did little other than to be displayed at events. However, she was probably the smartest out of her siblings.

“How’s it going, sis? Any luck so far?” Gaius asked with a carefree expression before hugging her.

“It was going well until you showed up.” Maria replied as she accepted the hug but did nothing to enhance the embrace.

“Don’t be like that. I am serious. How far along are you?” Gaius stated as he let her go.

“It’s done. We just need to activate it.” Maria said before stepping up to the circle. Getting on her knees she placed her hand on the edge of the runic circle. Within seconds of activating it the entire building which had been fairly dark lit up with lightning. Gaius and Appius both stood in awe of the light show before them. However, Appius couldn’t help but feel off about this.

“Are you sure that this will work?” Appius asked Grand Mage Octavia quietly.

“Of course. She is a master of familiar summoning. It would only make sense that she would be able to handle this.” Octavia replied confidently.

“That’s not what I meant. Do you think that we’ll be able to defeat both the Hutch army and the Paslonian army with just our military might and a single hero? Lucia still hasn’t returned with that other hero yet.” Appius said with a worried tone.

“Don’t worry. She’s on her way with the hero and her master as we speak. It’s best to be prepared.” Octavia said with a smirk that to Appius, looked sinister.

“I see. Well, I’ll be glad once this is all over.” Appius said before crossing his arms in discontent.

Once the ritual site finally calmed down Smoke had filled the building to where it was near impossible to see anything. Maria stood up to face the hero beyond the veil of smoke. Though no figure could be seen at the moment, Maria stepped further into the circle. Finally, a noise came from inside the circle. The scraping of bone and metal on stone.

“Hero, who I have summoned. Show yourself and kill my enemies.” Maria exclaimed from within the smoke.

“And who are your enemies, my Lady?” the voice of a man with a thick unidentifiable accent asked from within the smoke.

“Maria, what are you doing?” Appius asked with a concerned tone before reaching out his right hand into the smokey inner circle to grab Maria.

“Those who stand before you are my enemies!” Maria yelled hatefully. As she said this Appius saw a small glint in front of him. Pulling his hand back he saw that it had been completely cut off. He yelped in pain before falling back on his ass clenching his forearm.

“Father! Maria, what are you doing?” Gaius asked fearfully. Though he couldn’t identify the feelings flooding through his head at this moment. Betrayal? Shock? Curiosity? Fear? He didn’t know. All he could do was stand there and wonder.

Grand Mage Octavia stood to the side with a smug look on her face. Everything was happening exactly as it had been shown to her. Though she couldn’t tell whether she was happy or excited. Either way, she was experiencing this moment Joyously. She was the exact opposite of Appius and Gaius.

“Is this all the strength you have?” The voice asked before walking out of the smoke. It was a tall man with a rather unique appearance. His short hair was a mix of brown, blonde, and red. On each of his cheeks were four dimples one red, blue, green, and yellow for some reason. To add to his over-the-top appearance, he had seven pupils within his red eyes. Adorning his tan body were several animal fur coats which neither of the men could identify and in his hand was a long spear with a tip made from both metal and bone.

“Sister, what are doing?” Gaius asked again. Appius was still too shocked from losing his hand to do or say anything.

“I’m tired, tired of being considered weak. You, father, and Lucia are all fools. This country is slowly falling into ruin and none of you will do anything about it. Though I’ll do something about it. I’ll make this country mine and mine alone. Then I’ll overtake any nation that challenges me.” Maria declared with a hateful tone from within the smoke.

“What?... Sister, please. We can talk this out.” Gaius said as he began to back up towards the door. Tears fell down his face with the only emotion he could identify at this point. Fear.

“Kill him.” Maria stated.

Within a second the spearman charged forward and stabbed Gaius through the heart. Appius looked at the spearman stabbing his son with a look of disbelief. A look that would never leave his face as he saw the glint of the spearhead right before it severed his head from his body. From each of their wounds, roots began to grow until their entire body was engulfed from the inside out by thorn-covered tree limbs.

“And what of the woman, my Lady?” the spearman asked.

“She is also my enemy and she is a lot stronger than those two.” Maria said as the smoke finally cleared. Before looking at the spearman she looked at the two dead bodies of her family engulfed in a thorned tree. Her expression turned from a serious one to that of a disgusted glare before looking at Octavia.

“My, my, Maria. Even though I knew this would happen, I never expected that you would actually order the death of your father and brother. How savage.” Octavia said with a smug grin.

“Kill her quickly.” Maria stated with a threatening glare.

“Of course, my Lady.” the spearman replied before launching forward. This time, he practically disappeared in front of them. Even Octavia was surprised. However, the spearman was the most surprised as his spearhead stopped short of her skin. In a mix of shock and flight response, the spearman jumped back and took a defensive position.

“My Lady, my spear cannot penetrate her skin. What is she?” the spearman asked Maria with a concerned look. Maria went wide-eyed in response.

“That is concerning. I didn’t sense any essence either so what did you do? What exactly are you?” Maria asked defensively.

“Good, so you were paying attention to my lesson on essence detection!” Octavia said with an ecstatic look. “I guess a heathen like yourself wouldn’t know what I was even if I told you. I’m a Saint. Specifically, I am a tool for our Creator to enforce his will. Though most Saints can’t use magecraft, I am the exception as it was necessary for my success here today.” Octavia explained.

“What do you mean? What are you planning?” Maria exclaimed, demanding an answer.

“You’ll find out soon enough. Just do as you were planning to do and I’ll stay out of your way.” Octavia said before placing her hand on the side of the building. The wall completely disappeared with a loud boom as a perfectly circular chunk was taken out of the side. Octavia then disappeared into thin air as guards began rushing into the hole.

“Princess Maria, what happened? Where is the King and the Prince?” one of the guards asked as he and the others looked around the building.

“They… were both killed by the Grand Mage. The Hero attempted to fight her off but she escaped.” Maria lied. She was already planning on blaming their deaths on Octavia but now she had to worry about her coming back. Just what was she? What was a Saint?

“My Lady?” The spearman said, snapping her out of her thought.

“Yes?” She replied.

“I see that you are a Princess?” He said questionably.

“I am. My name is Maria. Though I never got to ask your name. Everything happened a bit too quickly for that.” Maria replied.

“I am Cu Chulainn.” He replied proudly before bowing.

“Well, Cu Chulainn, I look forward to working with you.” Maria said with a somewhat flustered look.

* * *

At that moment Sasha and Lucia were being shown around the various levels of the Labyrinth by the Elder while I stayed in the library with Nekhasha and Raghatnu. Both were eager to hear what had happened since I had left. Though they mainly wanted to know because they wanted to make sure that I wasn’t a possible threat. Which I understood to an extent. I would be cautious too if anyone brought their enemy’s daughter to their home.

I explained as best as I could to them what happened. How our escape plan worked and how we made it all the way to the Islandhand border of Hutch. Obviously, they had some problems with parts of my story but they realized that I wasn’t lying so they let it go. Instead, Emperor Nehkasha felt a bit confused about what we were planning next.

“So let me get this straight. You want us to help you in saving Alsenia? The nation which had put this Empire to ruin and also banished you?” Nehkasha asked with a confused look.

“I couldn’t really care about Alsenia. However, I know the war that has begun is because of my actions here. I should at least do something to stop it.” I replied.

“And what exactly are you planning on doing? You have no army. No skill in battle. Nor do you have any idea for what to expect once you reach Alsenia.” Nehkasha stated inquisitively.

“Lucia would know better than on those matters. I was hoping that you would back us up? Between all of us, I think we can figure out something.” I said hopefully.

“Allow me to think on it and discuss the matter with the rest of my people. Though tonight you, Sasha, and Lucia shall be our honored guests.” Nehkasha said stoically before giving me a smile.