Chapter 186: The Wings of War
Fifty hours later, at night, inside the Tramund naval fortress, a council was held in the war room. Ard, Eva, Elmer, Grethia, Eledar, Bhadra, Alexis, Dimitri, and Rosalind—acting as the representative for the Rellios Kingdom—met with Osgrelf representing the barbarians, and King Leonard, Vahn, Cain, Xeria, and Tatiana. The high-ranking officials from the southern continent had arrived via the zeppelins now docked atop the fortress. They all looked tense as they stared at the map on the table.
"There has been no response from the Orthus Empire as of today," Ard muttered.
"I’ve heard from my men there that the capital is in chaos. They say twenty-five thousand angels descended from the sky, and Emperor Edmund has officially declared war on the Liberta Empire," Dimitri said.
Upon hearing Dimitri’s words, the room fell into a heavy silence. No one spoke. Ard and Eva stared at the map, deep in thought.
"That’s enough. Let’s just launch a direct attack," suggested Elmer, representing the dwarves.
"Please, don’t act recklessly. Are you certain your men truly saw angels descending from the heavens?" Eledar asked.
"I am certain. I have no doubts about it," Dimitri replied.
"The Raven forces from Fredonia are reporting the same thing. If the instructor says it’s so, it must be true," Alexis added.
"Hmm... my men are saying the same. In fact, they say the palace has been temporarily closed because a ’grand guest’ has arrived," Bhadra added.
"Someone capable of bringing an angelic army that size," Eva whispered.
"Yes... it’s definitely Goddess Ophelia. Which means there’s a chance she’s descending into this war personally to control Edmund," Ard muttered.
"Hmm... this is a problem," Tatiana muttered.
While they were conferring, Ard and Eva suddenly turned their heads to the side. Noticing this, everyone else followed their gaze. A man from the Raven forces approached the two, bowing as he handed a scroll to Ard.
"For you, Your Highness," he said.
"Very well. Thank you," Ard replied.
The Raven disappeared instantly. "Gasp!" Tatiana let out a sharp breath, watching the man vanish before her eyes. She was the only one who reacted.
"We’re immune to seeing things like that by now," Grethia said.
"Yep... exactly. We see it all the time. That’s the special forces from Fredonia," Elmer added.
"Oh... I see. I thought everyone on the surface could just vanish like that," Tatiana replied.
"What does it say, Ard?" Rosalind asked.
Ard read the letter, then passed it to Eva beside him. Everyone waited for an explanation. Once Eva finished, she placed the letter on the table. It contained intelligence on the deployment of the angelic and Orthus forces across three borders, as well as movement in the northwest.
"Hmm... the northwest, huh?" Leonard mused.
"But isn’t there nothing but ocean over there?" Osgrelf asked.
"No... according to legend, there’s a hidden island there. But there’s nothing there now; I’ve been to that area myself," Vahn answered.
"Oh, the island is definitely there. It’s called Sky Island."
Hearing a young girl’s voice, everyone stood up and faced the entrance. They were shocked to see Luca leaning casually against the doorframe, wearing a wide, relaxed grin.
"Yo... Ard... Eva," Luca greeted, raising a palm with a smile so wide her teeth showed.
"Luca? What are you doing here?" Ard asked, walking over to her.
"Gigi asked me for a favor—to give this to you and Eva," Luca said, handing a slightly damp letter to Ard.
Ard slowly opened the letter, his eyes moving back and forth as he read. His tense expression relaxed slightly before suddenly turning into a bright, spirited look.
"Hahaha... I see," Ard muttered with a laugh.
"What is it, Ard?" Eva asked.
Ard looked toward the others, then pulled Luca along with him as he sat back down. "Thud!" Ard slammed his hand on the table, his wide grin leaving everyone confused.
"Tomorrow, we attack the central continent from four directions. We’ve received some unexpected help," Ard said.
"Unexpected help?" Cain asked, puzzled.
"Yes... tomorrow, Githiess—or Gigi—is sending thirty thousand members of the wing tribe and harpies toward the central continent to join us," Ard answered.
The entire room went silent in an instant. Everyone turned to look at one another, unable to believe what Ard had just said. According to legend, the wing tribe was not the same as angels. While they both used the holy element, there were physical differences; the wing tribe had bird-like heads, human bodies, and avian feet capable of gripping, though sometimes there were those among them with human heads and only the bird-like feet. But most importantly, they were supposed to be extinct according to the legends. Originally, the angels lived alongside them before falling under Ophelia’s control.
"But isn’t the wing tribe just a legend?" Leonard asked.
Ard simply smiled, pointing toward Elmer, Grethia, and Tatiana, who were sitting side-by-side.
"They used to be legends too, Your Majesty. But in the end, they are real, and they are helping us," Ard said.
"Ard is right, Your Majesty," Eva added, supporting him.
"Hahahaha... you’re absolutely right. Isn’t that so, Osgrelf?" Leonard laughed loudly, slapping Osgrelf’s back like an old friend.
"Hahahaha... spot on, Your Majesty," Osgrelf replied, throwing an arm around Leonard.
"With this, our strength grows. The angels in the Empire might not be so willing to fight their own kin," Eledar noted.
"That is true," Bhadra agreed.
"It seems the outcome of this war was decided before it even began," Dimitri added.
"Hey... I’m hungry. I didn’t come all this way just to deliver a letter from Gigi."
All eyes immediately turned to Luca, who was sitting on Ard’s lap with a pout, her arms crossed over her chest.
"Alright, Luca, let’s go out and get you some food," Rosalind said, standing up.
"Hey... where do you think you’re going?" Eva asked calmly.
"Um... to get food?" Rosalind asked.
"Sit down. You shouldn’t even be here, Rosalind. Be grateful I didn’t take your head off because of Beatrice and Adeline’s pleas," Eva answered calmly, though her voice was ice-cold.
"O... okay. Sorry, Eva," Rosalind said, quickly sitting back down.
"Oh, speaking of those two princesses, where are they?" Eledar asked Eva.
"They are on duty aboard the zeppelins," Eva answered briefly.
Eledar looked over at Grethia, who was stifling a laugh, then noticed Alexis and Dimitri smiling—clearly knowing the truth but choosing to stay out of it. He finally understood and cracked a smile himself.
"Now then, let’s discuss our attack. Eva, could you take Luca to the city?" Ard asked.
"Sure, leave it to me. Let’s go, Luca," Eva said, standing up.
"Yeah... let’s go. Oh, by the way, Gigi sends her regards to you both," Luca replied.
***
Meanwhile, on the deck of the zeppelin docked atop the tower, Beatrice and Adeline were wearing sailor uniforms, scrubbing the floorboards with brooms until they shined.
"Hey, Beatrice, the right side isn’t clean yet," Mirea said with a smile.
"Try going a bit to the left, near the edge... yeah, right there," Pyria added, also smiling.
"Grrr... why are you guys even here?" Beatrice muttered, fuming.
She looked over to see Mirea, Alicia, Milia, Claudia, and Pyria sitting along the railing with wide, satisfied grins on their faces. Eva had assigned them to supervise the two.
"We have to make sure you both stay here and do your work, right?" Alicia asked.
"Yep, exactly. This is a rare opportunity... come on, don’t just stand there, work," Milia said, waving her hand like a taskmaster.
"Ugh... why are we being punished like this? It’s not like we did anything wrong," Adeline grumbled while scrubbing the floor.
"Wow, it seems like you still don’t get it. The five of us have explained your mistake over and over, haven’t we? All of this is because you two didn’t listen to our fiancé when he told you to stay at the palace. Instead, you ran away... and dragged Rosalind along too... that’s why she’s being punished as well," Claudia explained once more with a shrug.
"But I’m supposed to be the same as you guys, so why am I being treated differently?" Beatrice asked, confused.
"Only Ard and Eva know the answer to that. But you should be grateful that you’re being looked after. If I were told to stay home, I’d be perfectly happy. Who actually wants to go to war? I’m only here because I truly want to help Ard and Eva. Do you understand the difference now?" Alicia replied.
"She’s right. We all feel the same way. I mean, who actually wants to join a war? No one. But you guys love joining in. Why? Because to you, this is a game and just for fun, right? You didn’t intend to help Ard; you just wanted to test your own power," Mirea added.
"So, do you understand now why Eva is punishing you? You’re lucky she didn’t follow through with what she wrote in that letter, but believe me, she wasn’t joking," Pyria added.
"So hurry up and finish your work without complaining, or should I tell Eva you’d prefer whatever she had planned in that letter?" Milia asked with a sly smile.
"Fine, fine... we’re working," Beatrice and Adeline said in unison.
The two immediately started moving with speed and energy to clean the deck, while Mirea, Alicia, Milia, Pyria, and Claudia watched them with wide, satisfied smiles—taking full advantage of the chance to mess with them.