Alliance~1!

"Are we done with all the preparation and final check-outs?"

Sitting in a very thinly lighted room, asked a burly man as he sharpened the wedge of his double-headed ax. 

The ax, despite being plunged into a raw plain wood, had spilled the blood of countless enemies, which the man holding it had slaughtered to preserve his freedom until now.

"I briefed the Generals, double-checked the weaponry, and stretched out our movements among the troops as much as I could. Hopefully, we would be untied for the long term and could inflict damage on the enemy base strongly, this time."

The person who was working as an assistant and was the most trusted follower of the Rebellion Chief spoke in a confident tone about the battle preparation.

The reason why he mentioned, 'Untied for the long term', was because of the unmannerly and lack of training of the troops who didn't have acquired much knowledge about battle formation and team assistance.

The lean man, along with the white beard, fell into deep silence as they had the same kind of worries, but soon their train of thoughts was interrupted by a loud thud on the door.

The wooden door was almost about to break from its bracket, signifying how hurried the intruder was.

Both men inside the room instantly pulled their guards up but when their gaze fell on the sudden appearances, they became shocked, more than wary.

"Mike, what's the matter?"

The lean man walked forward and asked the guarding officer in charge of looking out of the main base.

Mike, despite being a guard, held great strength to the level where he could handle one or two Unique Class Demons all by himself, but looking at his current condition, the chief didn't have a good premonition.

The head watch guard raised his hand towards the place from where he came from while still huffing audibly, as some particularly unbelievable words left his mouth in between the gasps.

"Two peeps*huff* walked just *puff* inside the barrier*huff*."

The Rebellion Chief, Nordeik's eyes went wide when he heard the words of his trusted guard before he instantly went outside, followed by his assistant.

Trespassing a barrier that was conjured with the mana of more than 300 mages, and was boosted with the help of Unique Artifacts, was something Nordeik could only expect from the central Empire or any equivalent powerhouse.

The conclusion of whether indeed the Aurorean Palace had found their hideout or not was destroyed in a second as soon Nordeik walked out of his cabin.

The world was dyed in white as always, with death-freezing whips of cold blizzards making the scene even just some meters from a person, blurry.

Even though the time was nearing the downfall, and even if the weather was highly non-supportive, Nordeik could perceive that two people were walking right towards where he was.

He could hear the screams of soldiers who were doing their best to stop the duo but to no avail. Neither any spell nor any physical attack was working on the team; heck, the attack wasn't even reaching them.

'Is it a mana barrier?'

This was the most generic conclusion the burly chief could land upon, but even so, a barrier able to withstand so many damages was far from his expectancy. 

It was close to impossible!

"Let me handle this, sir."

The assistant, an excellent mage in Nordeik's arsenal, let go of his shroud as soon his aura started to change with golden lightning erupting at a short range.

The man, even being smaller than most of the people in the tavern, was still a Saint Class Mage who had joined the faction since the very first day along with Nordeik and was determined to pluck away any obstruction which would come in before their goal.

But the Faction Chief had different plans.

Placing a hand over the shoulder of his assistant, Nordeik brought his ax forward with his other hand.

"We don't know what kind of monster they are, Bell. It would be better if you stay here as in any unforeseen cases, your life would be much more important than mine."

Bell's eyes went wide as he heard the honorable words of his leader, but before Bell could have rebutted his statement, Nordeik plunged into the sky with his ax held tightly in his clutch.

The figure of a more than 2 meters big man holding a giant ax and descending from a hazy sky was nothing less than utterly frightening.

Nordeik, even not being proficient in using mana, was still a superhuman who could go hand to hand with a Terror Rank Demon with the uncertainty of results. His strength was enough to give Charles a decent brawl which also helped him build this faction with his trusted assistant, up until now.

And now, when he was a step away from the possibility of raising his flag on the Northern Empire, these two intruders would be the last thing Nordeik would allow.

Using his enhanced physicality, Nordeik, after reaching up to a decent height, plunged like an unstoppable meteor towards the intruders, but little did he expect that someone could have sensed him from this range too.

One of the intruders suddenly disappeared from the barrier and before Nordeik could have changed his trajectory or thought of any better method, his darting figure collided with an utterly great force.

**BOOOOOOOOOM** 

A heaven-defying loud explosion resonated in the middle of the sky as the two slammed into each other. 

Nordeik's eyes went wide, as along the pulverizing sensation, he saw the blade of his ax creaking up to the base. 

Nordeik's whole attention was diverted between his ax and the person who, in an instant, made him realize the gap in their power level before his big body slammed into the ground.

**DOOOOM** 

The place where Nordeik fell flat was turned into a small crater with the man as its center. 

Instantly the chestnut-haired mage, Bell, landed right in front of his chief with wide eyes as he also saw the single exchange between the two, and how plainly Nordeik was defeated.

"Sir, are you okay?!"

With his hand raised to help his leader, Bell asked panickedly, but instead of getting up, Nordeik just whispered audibly to warn the mage and take the immediate step.

"B-Bell...go and...hear...what they ha-*cough* have to say. Whatever hap..pens, just don't get involved in a battle with those...two..."

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[Bell's POV:]

'What is he thinking...'

Not sure what my lord thought, but inviting two intruders inside the base was nothing but an impulsive and careless decision.

We were mere six hours away from our full frontal war with the Empire, and now he had invited two people in whom one was, without doubt, belonged to the royal family and the other one by appearance, looked like a foreigner.

Even though they were doing nothing, except for the flirting and the sweet atmosphere they were creating disgustingly all around the place, I just could not turn my guard off against them at all.

(A/N:- Guess what they have been doing ;) ) 

Thankfully the man I wanted to question so dearly right now, entered inside the cabin, which was a little far from the place where the two intruders were seated.

"Chief."

I instantly held him at the entrance before he could move inside as I asked him in a slight panic.

"There's one of them confirmly from the Royal Palace. Are you sure this decision of letting them in was correct?"

I seldom doubt my chief's decision, but this was his most thoughtless one of them all. 

On my remark, the Chief smiled only to increase my annoyance as I heard his reasoning.

"Those two would have infiltrated even if I hadn't permitted you."

Raising my brows, I couldn't keep my curiosity away as I hurriedly asked.

"How are you so sure about it? Maybe we could have won if we had fought together."

Hearing my argument, the Chief laughed lightly as he placed his hand on his back as he continued.

"You already have seen what level of mana that girl carries, that even using such a high barrier spell, she is sitting right here comfortably. Now, if it's about the blonde haired one then see this..."

Saying so, he brought his battle ax forward, which he used to attack the two intruders. Since I was in thorough distress then, when I saw him at the crashing point, my eyes never fell on his ax.

But looking at it now...

"D-does that fragile-looking guy give such damage?"

Upon getting a nod, I again inspected the axe I had seen by Chief's side, even before I joined.

His ax was made with a metal that was far more expensive and rare than the overcoat which the Northern Emperor wears, but looking at the big chunk of metal disheveled near the wedge and several cracks lining up to the base, for a second, I wondered whether this ax was really reliable?

I know doubting the quality of the ax was futile as I myself have seen its might being utilized by the chief before, but the problem was how such a mighty weapon broke into such a state just with a mere single blow.

"Did he use any artifact or Mythic Grade weapon to inflict such damage?"

This was the only conclusion I could draw upon seeing the miserable conclusion of such a minor confrontation, but the actuality was more terrifying than I could have ever thought.

"No, he didn't. That guy used his bare fist to break my Fenrir and the most shocking factor..."

Hearing that it was not all things to numb my reasoning, I heard something which might make me doubt my life experience until now.

"That boy...didn't even use a single ounce of mana, and just with his physical might made me realize that there is someone always stronger than you. He is a monster Bell, with whom we couldn't confront but only can converse for our own good."

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A/N:- Told ya, he won't hold himself back.

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Editor : Zenon #4120