The Queen’s Ten.
The first ten Knights of the Order of Queenmaker are all significant characters who have been playing active roles for the past five years. Each of them is personally taught by the Exalted One. The Skills they possess are assorted and varied. And their combat tactics are refined, and perfected.
Be it individual combat or group combat, the Queen’s Ten is a force to be reckoned with.
Under each of them are specialized elite fighters whom they command. Their equipment is all products of STRF, a special research group that the Exalted One is managing.
Tinel, the Seat of First, briefs them on the meeting. She walks to a podium, with the same boyish stride since even before the Order's beginning. “The day has finally come. Each of the Queen’s Ten shall be responsible for attacking certain areas. We will purge the Kingdom of its rot. In the past five years, we have strengthened our organization in various fields and collected information. Now, the time has come…”
An illusory screen projects itself on the wall. It is a product of magic engineering and illusion magic. One of STRF’s few inventions. The screen has a detailed map with ten marks for each leader of the Order to attack. “The Exalted One will duel the three rotting masters of Blumend, and while he does, we need to create as much distraction as possible. It is not simply for the sake of distraction, as it is necessary we kill our targets without any complications. As I said, we will purge the Kingdom of its corruption— and for the successful rule of our Queen, then that means every one of them…”
***
The Blumend Kingdom is one of the top seven Kingdoms in the whole of Vanaheim. However, because of corruption that has been dating since the King’s illness, the Kingdom’s worth and the trust of its citizens continue to plummet.
It is a sad reality, and it is most crushing to Sofalia who the King wishes to inherit the throne. As a bastard daughter, her reception with the nobles is especially dismissive and hateful.
Because of the lack of clout, and her disadvantageous position, she has to seek aid from a father figure she despises only to end up with someone as weird as Him.
“You don’t need to come.” The Advisor tries to dismiss her, but she wants to go.
Sofalia removes her clothes, not finding the presence of a man to be disturbing. She exposes her lustrous white skin and her unique beauty showcases its purity that will certainly invite lust. But the Advisor is unaffected. She then wears her battle armor, the same armor her father uses, and identifies the King. “I will come, whether you like it or not. It is not that I don’t believe your abilities, but I want to see those rotten greedy parasites for myself.”
The three hidden masters of Blumend. Over the past five years, they made their investigations into where the root of corruption comes from. The Advisor is certain that the Trinity of the Sky, the Guardians of Blumend, is the source of this corruption.
Sofalia is in disbelief, but considering that it is the Advisor who is saying it, she must verify it in one way or another. So, when she learns that they are actually the sponsor of the current Prime Minister, she is furious.
***
The Trinity of the Sky— the Harpy Queen, Wyvern Lord, and the Magic Sky. They are about Tier 7 characters who are responsible for undermining the Kingdom of Blumend and causing its fall.
In the mirror, Sofalia only can fight them after a decade of challenges after the fall of Blumend.
From what we gather, this character’s appearance in the Blumend Kingdom is about five to eight years ago when Knigic Arkruff Mondsten committed the crime of Queenslaying.
After that, various espionage attacks occur one after another targeting the Blumend Kingdom.
Because of my interference, the Blumend Kingdom will not fall, and Sofalia doesn’t need to suffer from losing her Kingdom and the long decade of anguishing revenge.
“Since you want to come, then there will be a need to change the plans,” I tell her. At first, I am thinking of simple assassination. I go, arrive on their doorsteps, and kill one. And then, I will go to another door, knock on their doors, and kill again.
“What is it?” Sofalia asks, curious about my ideas.
I need not explain anymore as it is self-explanatory. “Go and be my bait.”
***
From various territories of important personnel, there has been a massive attack happening simultaneously around Blumend.
The Prime Minister, Defence Minister, Agriculture Minister, Generals, and famous political figures are met with a disaster in the form of the full brunt of the Order of Queenmaker’s might. It is a total chaos.
Marcus, the once albino mercenary, now looks like more of the part of a Knight. His silver armor shines at the touch of the sun. His great sword, Bleedstine, a Magical-Grade artifact drips with red as he chases the Defence Minister whose combat abilities belies his age.
The old man is carrying a polearm with a blunt end, ferociously defends, while Marcus attacks in a flurry.
“You brat! What is your affiliation?”
Marcus laughs boisterously, as under his armor, his muscles bulge at his frenetic movements. Within the blink of an eye, he disappears. The Skill: Silver Flash are among his favorite which the Exalted One also tends to use.
Reappearing just right in front of the Defence Minister in a silver flash, he then furiously stabs forward.
The precious garden of the Defence Minister is in tatters as Marcus’s subordinates make a mess of them. The Order of Queenmaker has been hiding in the shadows, and while their stories do spread on the rumor mill, the political figures who are insidiously harming the state from within remain ignorant of their presence.
Marcus’s subordinates similarly wear silver armor, a replica of his Magic-Grade Silverdeep Armor. They also wield more superior weapons which are on the Unique-Grade, something that will easily make even Rare-Grade artifacts into scraps of metal.
***
Similarly, in other areas, there is also bloodshed occurring left and right. Mysterious figures wearing mage robes and casting physics-oriented magic are slaughtering the guards and private soldiers of the Agriculture Minister.
Liza Ounder Paraz is fighting for her noble honor. As a proud noble of the Blumend Kingdom, she finds it deplorable that such rotten mongrels are serving at the royal court.
The Agriculture Minister who is pretending to be a Druid is actually an evil Warlock who specializes in curses. Just the sight of him alone makes Liza wretch.
“Your skills are wonderful. But you see, I am at my Sixth Circle, unlike the best mages this Kingdom has to offer. As the Magic Sky’s disciple, one of the Trinity of the Sky, and the now heir of the only Seventh Circle mage of the Kingdom, I cannot lose to you.” The Agriculture Minister proudly comments as he raises his hands and summons a group of Trents.
The wooden monsters cast from the wooden bark of Elder Wood possess the thick properties of nature and exert a great amount of vitality.
Liza just scoffs at his boasting. Among the Legacy Origins, only the Mages have an accurate measurement of Legacy Grades. Sixth Circle roughly means Tier 6. “Don’t get too ahead of yourself. Scrubs like you within my order are aplenty.” Hell, nine of the Queen’s Ten are Tier 6 closing in on Tier 7, and a few executives subordinating from the Queen’s Ten are Tier 6!
She raises her staff, and from its tip dances a fiery serpent reaching to the sky. “Know that you have been killed by the Third Seat of the Queen’s Ten!”
With a furious cry, she releases the blazing serpent, causing havoc among the summoned Trents. The advantage of attributes greatly works in Liza’s favor.
This is all thanks to the long five years of preparation. Among the dissenters and disloyal politicians who manage to worm their way to Blumend’s government are the best warriors, mages, rogues, and clerics in the world whom the other Kingdoms and even Empires are nurturing in secret. For the Order of Queenmaker to succeed in their mission, they take in great painstaking efforts to research their enemies.
The mismatch in attributes is just among the few tricks of their Order.
***
Masked, is now his sobriquet. In the past, he simply goes by Er, a single syllable that means 'but' in his dialect. Now, he is Masked. It is a frightening persona he manages to create for himself while working on various espionage missions for the Order.
Among the Queen’s Ten, his combat ability also doesn’t fall short in comparison to his comrades, but that doesn’t mean he prefers combat after all. In fact, he doesn’t even like killing. He prefers stealing and is more involved in stealthier work.
Maybe, that is why he favors assassination.
Assassination isn't exactly killing, but more of stealing... stealing a life that is...
Just like the way the Exalted One teaches him, he must strike with his strongest when it comes to assassination. Soaring like an eagle, he jumps from one building to the small window pane with accuracy. He arcs into a parabola and enters through the small window pane causing glass shards to scatter.
There sits a beautiful lady chilling on her desk while sipping champagne this high noon. The Countess is among the political figures that are a high-priority target.
~Clang!
Masked’s daggers are met with a powerful rebounding force. The reason why Masked is tasked with the Countess is that she has the most inestimable combat power among the low-key targets. Among the Queen’s Ten, Masked is the second most proficient in one-on-one fights.
If Tinel doesn’t have a more urgent job, it will be she who will be fighting the Countess.
***
The skirmishes become bloodier and bloodier. For the Kingdom of Blumend, this might be their bloodiest day yet. It will only become bloodier from this point onwards.
