Alice and Kazius were hidden in the shadows, standing on the roof of a building in Layton, the capital of Ratier. The fiery light in the sky… Indeed, Caleb had done his job. It was something of beauty, though also something that had the populace of Ratier frozen in fear. In their ignorance, many believed this was a sort of reckoning caused by angering the Oracle God.

Panic showed in Ratier just as much as in Zelphar.

So much so that Ratier was rallying their extensive army. Even Edicts were running around to provide reinforcements and direct the army. The commanding Edicts that were directing the soldiers looked to be of high rank.

There were also clearly some Edicts that were going ahead to Zelphar without the army though. From the looks of it, they appeared to be mostly lower ranked Edicts and Apprentices… But there were some among the ones leaving that looked strong…

Yet there was no sign of Elande…

Kazius waited, coldly studying the situation as Ratier continued to prepare to mobilize their army.

Their reaction was so much faster than what had occurred when he was a Knight… The incident with the Orcs that changed his life… Almost like they wanted the Orcs to pillage the city back then. If Kazius remembered correctly… They had been looking for something… It was interesting… It was beginning to look more and more like the Edicts allowed such an event to happen… But why? Then again, that was not something he would bother dwelling on at the moment.

Alice would watch the Knights, her expression souring as she looked on at the rallying army and the castle in the distance.

“Feeling nostalgic, my love?” Kazius questioned with a raised brow.

“No…” Alice stated with a sigh, sneering at the sight of the castle in the distance, her former home. “I just want this eyesore gone.” She admitted, bitterness ringing in her voice.

These people who once loved her yet cheered for her execution… Elande… The Church… The Knights… They stole everything from her. They stole her best friend… Her parents… Her grandpa… And to some extent, even Kazius and her friends. Things would never be the same… And she had accepted that…

She would live a new life…

One where she wasn’t afraid to take… And would be willing to commit every atrocity she could to get what she wanted. She refused to lose anything ever again.

“And we will. Don’t worry…” Kazius assured, taking her hands in his and kissing the back of them. The very hands that have aided him in doing all sorts of things.

“Then let’s get started… I believe we’ve waited long enough… You’re going to go find Lazne, right? If you see Elande in the process… Please try and not to kill him until I catch up… Leave this army to me… I think other than the first set of reinforcements… This should be all of them. I won’t let them go. They will get no mercy from me.” Alice stated bitterly.

“Of course, we will kill him together. I promise.” Kazius stated with a smirk, eagerness on his face. The two were indeed very different people than the ones that had left this kingdom.

The righteous Knight and scared Princess were not here.

“Thank you.” Alice stated with a warm smile, one not all too different from the one Kazius had at times. She had picked up a few of his nasty habits… But she no longer cared… After today, she would no longer look back.

With that, Kazius would disappear into the shadows, leaving Alice to handle the situation.

Ratier’s army was far from small. Compared to the army of the Frost Giants, that had been only 1,000… Ratier’s army stood at an impressive 15,000… And some of the numbers mixed in were Edicts… Trained and disciplined… This was an army that Alice had once been proud of… But now it was her job to take care of them on her own unlike with the Frost Giants, which took all of her friends working together to defeat.

Alice moved to a higher point, able to see the gathering of Knights that filled the streets and the front courtyard of her former home… Her friends had gotten stronger… And so had she. This was something she could manage… She was no longer a some little Princess, she would be a Queen.

Alice would extend out her hands, her violet eyes could see it… Every bit of metal that all these knights were wearing… Blades they were holdings… She could sense it.

She was more than a descendant of Ratier… She would show what her family’s ability could really do… Her eyes would begin to glow, purple light filling her eyes fully as she focused… And then suddenly the city of Lazne was being lit in purple. Every blade, every bit of metal with a point would begin to tremble, shaking violently, throwing the army into chaos.

Before they could react though, their fate had been sealed. Alice would close her right hand into a fist and then moved it rapidly to the right… When this occurred… All the weapons of the army would fly out. All weapons in the city soon joining it. Anything with a point would join the pile.

Soon… A shimmering wave of metal could soon be seen in the sky, the flowing and flying weapons too numerous to even count. This wave that moved like water… Would soon begin to rapidly flow through every street, moving around quickly and repeatedly. It did not matter that they had armor on, the result of Alice’s Rain of Blades was not something you could run from.

Before Alice knew it, she would stop… She panted, a trail of blood coming down her nose. She quickly rubbed it off with the back of her hand, studying her handy work with a cold expression. Layton looked like it had gone through a shredder. The city painted red with her victims. She understood what Kazius meant now… This would be a Massacre, not a war…

Her thoughts would be quickly interrupted though… Edicts making it onto the roof. It seems she had been noticed. These Edicts did not look like small fry… In fact… She recalled seeing them with Elande in the past.

Alice could not help but gain a wide wicked grin as she turned to face the Knights. Her violet eyes shone a bit as she stared them down with a delight, she did not know was possible within her.

“Well… Hello there… About time you greet your Queen. You are all quite rude to keep me waiting, you know? I do hope you keep me entertained longer than your friends did.” She giggled out.