The strategic realization—that the assassination plan was, in fact, Zeron's trap—hit the four heroes with the force of a physical blow. The moment Minister Brokk's Tier 6 Void Containment spell was effortlessly compressed and flung away by Zeron's Tier 3 spiritual force, the battle was over before it began.
Zeron's cold, mocking smile widened as he addressed his younger brother, Zayn, his blue eyes glinting with malicious triumph.
"Did you truly think I would send my most valuable asset, Prince Zeron, into a marsh unprotected, little brother? You walked into the heart of the trap."
Jai, masking his inner panic with the composure of his lineage, spoke first. "Hey, Zeron. You knew we were coming for you, didn't you?"
"Yes, I knew," Zeron replied, his voice calm. "I know how my little brother's brain works. He is guaranteed to come seeking revenge and retribution. And you, Arthur, are guaranteed to follow."
As they spoke, movement disturbed the edge of the clearing. A figure, covered in partially healed scars and walking with a stiff, unnatural gait, emerged from the cave entrance and stood silently behind Zeron. It was Lenard, his body now stitched back together through Zeron's extraordinary Nature Magic. His face, still marred by the Light attack, held an evil, predatory smile.
Zeron used his Tier 4 Telepathy Artifact, The Silent Eye, to communicate with the shadowy figures surrounding the heroes.
Zeron (via Silent Eye): "Attack and kill all of them, but do not kill the two humans, Arthur (Jai) and Clement (James)."
Lenard questioned the order telepathically. "Why, My King? They are the highest-Tier threat."
Zeron physically turned, facing Lenard. His green hair flowed gently as he looked back, his blue eyes filled with a cold, terrifying calculation. "Did you not see the silver bracelets in their hands? They are bonded to their hearts. If their hearts stop, the bracelets will immediately signal their death to their protector."
Zeron leaned in, his voice dangerously low. "I am not scared of them, Lenard. I am terrified of their protector: Queen Beatrice. You are new to the political game, Lenard. You do not know the power of the Human Queen. She is the strongest Master across the four Kingdoms. If anything happens to those two princes, the Dwarf Kingdom and our entire organization will be killed within the hour. Be careful when dealing with them. Make sure they do not press that bracelet."
Zeron stood amidst the chaos of his command center, the tactical displays swirling with data, the shouts of his officers a constant drone. He was orchestrating the trap, watching as the human and dwarven resistance forces were lured into his carefully laid snare. A flicker of satisfaction, cold and sharp, ignited in his chest. Soon, the leaders would be in his grasp.
But then, amidst the calculated precision of his thoughts, an unsolicited image seared itself into his mind. It was a face from a memory so distant it felt like a dream, yet vivid and terrifying in its clarity. A woman. Her features were sharp, aristocratic, framed by a cascade of dark, unbound hair that seemed to writhe with a life of its own. Her eyes, though seen only in the hazy recall of childhood, held an unnerving intensity, a deep, unsettling calm that spoke of immense, untamed power.
Beatrice.
The name resonated like a thunderclap in his skull. He hadn't seen that face since he was a small boy, huddled beside his father, listening to hushed, fearful stories. His father, a man of iron will and unshakeable resolve, had trembled when he spoke of her.
"Your grandfather, son... he was a Titan among men, a true warrior." Zeron could still hear the reverence, followed by the chilling fear in his father's voice. "But she... she killed him. In a fair fight, they say. One-on-one. And she did it with terrifying ease."
The memory faded, leaving Zeron with a lingering chill that had nothing to do with the cold efficiency of his command center.
"Sir?"
Lenard, Zeron's second-in-command, approached cautiously, sensing the shift in his leader's demeanor.
Zeron blinked, forcing himself back to the present. "It's nothing, Lenard. Just... a memory."
Lenard, ever perceptive, sensed the lingering tension. "A memory of what, if I may ask? You seem... troubled."
"Beatrice," Zeron finally said, the name tasting like ash on his tongue.
Lenard's brow furrowed. "Beatrice? The legendary 'Hell Queen' from the Elder Wars? She was a legend, wasn't she? A propaganda figure used by the humans and dwarves to inspire fear."
Zeron shook his head slowly. "No myth, Lenard. She was very real. And very dangerous. My grandfather faced her in that war."
Lenard's eyes widened. "Your grandfather? The legendary 'Stonebreaker'? The one who shattered the Siege of Eldoria with his bare hands? He was a Tier 2, wasn't he? A 'God Seeker'!"
"Precisely," Zeron affirmed, a bitter taste in his mouth. "He was one of the strongest, a true paragon. And she... she was barely past her ascension to Tier 2 herself when they met. My father told me the story. I remember seeing the fear in his eyes, even years later, as he recounted it."
Zeron's gaze drifted to the tactical display, but he wasn't seeing the current battle. He was seeing the shadows of a past war, a single figure dominating the field.
"In that war," Zeron continued, his voice low and heavy, "she didn't just fight. She reigned. She moved through the battlefield like a storm of death, an unstoppable force. It was said she looked like the Hell Queen herself had come to take life directly from the world. Not just a warrior, Lenard. A force of nature."
A grim silence settled between them, the distant shouts of their triumphant soldiers momentarily dulled by the weight of history and the chilling power of a name. If she came to eliminate us it is going to be end for us.
Zeron leaned in, his voice dangerously low. "I am not scared of them, Lenard. I am terrified of their protector: Queen Beatrice. You are new to the political game, Lenard. You do not know the power of the Human Queen. She is the strongest Master across the four Kingdoms. If anything happens to those two princes, the Dwarf Kingdom and our entire organization will be killed within the hour. Be careful when dealing with them. Make sure they do not press that bracelet."
Zeron released Lenard, the silence of the marsh amplifying the chilling revelation.
As Zeron finished his warning, the air thickened with oppressive, hostile elemental energy. The terrifying Tier 5 Masters—the Dark Master, the Ice/Storm Master, the Earth/Metal Master, and the Void/Time Master—stepped out of the fog, sealing every possible escape route in the "Four Corner Checkmate" formation.
Jai, despite the pressure, instantly recognized the strategy from the King's Traverse training he'd had with Little Arthur. "It wasn't our ambush!" Jai roared, his voice cutting through the suffocating spiritual pressure. "We walked into his trap! He used the intelligence we stole as bait! He knew we would target the Southern Marshes!"
The four young heroes—Jai (Tier 9), James (Tier 8), Zayn (Tier 8), and Brokk (Tier 6)—were completely shocked. Zeron clapped slowly, his eyes gleaming. "Finally, a mind worthy of the name Arthur. Your King Winston may have thought he won a strategic victory, but he merely delivered the key pieces directly to my capture net. The assassination attempt was simply the final move to seal the door."
Zayn, seeing the Void/Time Master flicker to the left and the Dark Master solidify on the right, felt a chilling dread. "He let us steal the intelligence... he wanted us to come here.....".
The situation was instantly hopeless. James strained, trying to find a gap to use his Space Magic, his own brown hair whipping with the effort, but the spiritual noise was too high. "We cannot fight this! I can't teleport!"
Brokk rallied the last of his focus. "We must break the formation! Aim for the Ice/Storm Master!"
Jai grasped the Tide Weaver, channeling the immense Tier 7 water energy. "Zayn! Focus your Ice and Storm on the Earth/Metal Master! We must create a gap!"
The heroes plunged into the impossible fight, but their combined efforts were useless against the concentrated force of four Tier 5 Masters. The Ice/Storm Master absorbed their attacks easily, throwing back ice shards that forced the heroes onto the defensive.
Suddenly, a massive, utterly paralyzing Tier 3 spiritual force—a second wave, even stronger than Zeron's normal aura—slammed down upon the entire marsh.
The pressure was absolute. All the trees in the surrounding forest were instantly crushed and flattened. The water in the marsh was violently compressed and evacuated. The mountains in the distance seemed to buckle and strain under the invisible force. The heroes and the villains were all instantly pinned to the ground, the overwhelming pressure forcing them deep into the mud.
Only Zeron remained standing, completely unaffected, his blue eyes burning with focused rage. The force was so immense that it should have crushed the Tier 5 Masters instantly.
"It is my father," Zeron snarled, his voice tight with hatred. "That old bastard always trying to disturb my plans and always trying to make me look like the villain!"
Lenard, pinned next to the four heroes, turned his head to see Jai. Despite the suffocating pressure, Jai managed to lift his face and let out a small, mocking smile toward Zeron.
Jai used the critical moment of shared paralysis to quickly explain the true situation to Zayn and James. He strained to speak, the words barely audible.
"Zayn... I told you what happened in the King's room. Remember? When you asked your father... how we were going to find Zeron?"
Zayn, pinned to the ground, groaned in understanding and pain.
"I told the King that I would make you think about eliminating your brother, and when you came, Zeron would appear like bait... and that's when King Borin could come and save us."
James, pinned next to Jai, quickly added the conclusion, his brown hair matted with mud. "King Borin played the role perfectly! He wasn't laughing at you, Zayn! He gave us the Tornado Breaker and Tide Weaver to make us desirable bait! He knew Zeron would wait for us because of my mother!"
Zayn's resentment instantly dissolved into crushing shame. His father hadn't abandoned him; he had played the perfect role to draw out Zeron.
The crushing spiritual pressure suddenly receded, allowing Zeron a moment of desperate action.
"Father is not coming to fight," Zeron telepathically relayed to his Masters and Lenard. "He is only coming to drive us out of the Dwarf Kingdom territory."
Zeron's eyes flashed with calculation. He looked down at the recovering heroes, their escape imminent.
"The waiting is over," Zeron announced to his troops, his voice ringing with absolute finality. "The war starts now. Tier 5 Elemental Masters: Initiate the mass advance!"
Lenard and the other Tier 5 Masters, recovering from the King's surprise attack, immediately sent telepathic orders and magic-sealed messages to the Shadow Ledger leaders across the region.
The message was clear and immediate: Advance toward the main capital of the Dwarf Kingdom.
The war everyone had been dreading—the massive, cataclysmic war—had begun, triggered by the arrival of a father seeking to protect his sons. The heroes remained pinned in the marsh, helpless witnesses to the start of the conflict.