Leon's eyes were red from rage, but the moment he heard the kid's voice, he softened down. Something inside him was stirred, and his heart was feeling heavy. He turned his head towards the kid and smiled at her.
"Hey, kid. I almost forgot to ask your name", he said with a smile. Although he had a smile, a tear was rolling from the corner of his eyes. Leon was squatting to the girl's height, and the girl saw the tear.
"Why are you crying, Uncle? Are you sad?", she asked in her innocent and cute voice. The weight in his heart doubled, and the tear that one, turned two.
"Mother always does this whenever I am sad", she said and she wrapped her tiny little arms around his neck. She was hugging him tightly, and she didn't let go.
She began to hum quietly, and it seemed to help him in calming down. The weight was now unbearable, and he was sure if he spent a minute extra, he would burst open.
He felt the little arms around his neck loosen, and the smile on the kid's face brought back a lot of memories for him. A lot of painful memories that he had buried deep inside him.
"You feeling better, Uncle?", she asked as she stretched her hand out. Leon smiled and shook her hand.
"My name is Nora. Nora Limestone" she said as she flashed her innocent smile. Leon looked at her and replied to her.
"My name is Leon Bradley. And if you ever need to reach out to me, you can use this computer here to reach out to me", he said as he left the place and waved his hand at her.
Right when he was outside, he saw Denver standing right in front of him. He was cracking his neck, and there was another man next to him.
And behind the both of them were men who were wearing a hoodie with the symbol that he had on the brooch. The hood covered their faces perfectly.
There were around two dozen men behind them, and they all were standing silently waiting for orders from the two of them. And the two of them were waiting for orders from Leon.
"But Mr. Limestone, you...", he said and was paused mid-sentence.
"You are the current Guardian, and thus you have the right to command the Former Guardians. And these are the best people we currently have. The rest of them are out exploring the wilderness and gaining experience", he said.
Leon nodded his head and took a deep breath. He looked at all of them, and he thought of himself as the commander of the army.
"I warn you, there will be many of you who will not return after today. Are you prepared to lose your life in stoping the enemies, or will you cower in defeat? What are you willing to do?", he said in a deep and commanding tone.
He had his hands strapped to his back, and the air he exuded was that of a leader. Everyone was astonished to someone exude the same level of power to their chiefs.
Everyone looked at Leon with newfound respect. Everyone had their fists on their hearts, and they said in unison.
"Yes Sir."
"Louder."
"Yes SIR."
"Louder."
"YES SIR!!!"
Leon was satisfied with the answer he had received. He looked at everyone, and he smiled at them.
"Get ready. Wheels up in ten", he commanded and everyone scattered around. Denver and Alex were impressed by the feat he had shown them, proving to them that he was indeed fit to lead the Guardians.
The both of them nodded their heads and stood beside him. Leon looked at them and smiled.
"Haven't you informed your families about your departure?", he asked. A snicker was all he heard as an answer.
"It seems that you haven't noticed our presence. Seems like we still have it", said two women and fist-bumped with each other.
Leon was shocked when he saw who it was. One of them was Iris, and the other was Elle. Though both of them had aged, they had still retained their beauty.
All of them were wearing the hood, and Leon looked like he was the odd one out among them. He was wondering if he should get one, and he felt a cloth getting wrapped around his shoulder.
"Well, the commander should have a different color, shouldn't he?", said Elle as she draped the cloak around him. While the others had a deep purple cloak, he had a pitch-black cloak.
It had the same symbol behind it, and right after ten minutes everyone had assembled and were ready to move. They had informed and spoken to everyone that they had to.
"If every one of you leaves, who will protect this place? Someone should stay behind", said Leon. He was concerned because of two factors.
One was that they had been attacked some time ago and had been forced into hiding. Two was that if what was coming was the second wave, just how many waves have they planned until they exhausted and killed them all?
"We are leaving our children behind to guard. We, as experienced fighters are itching to have a good fight. It has been a long time since I had gone all out", said Alex as he cracked his neck.
Leon just smiled at the preparation they had made. The four of them made their introductions, and Leon understood the depth of the attack that was carried out fifty years ago.
He ordered for them to move, and Denver showed them the way out. Around the corner from where he had left, a little girl was seen praying with her eyes closed.
"Just come back safe, Mom and Dad", she muttered. It was none other than the girl Leon had met, Nora.
(The Guardian's Tower, The moment of the Attack)
Bradley was staring at the screens that were overlooking the Kingdom. He was calculating the risks he had to take and countermeasures for the horde that was coming towards them.
He called for an announcement, and everyone was present. Sally, Anthony, and Jason. They were the only three people who lived in the Tower as they were needed to be around anytime.
"We have a Code: Red. We have multiple enemies heading towards us, and we have initiated Protocols to protect the citizens", he said and there was a sigh from Sally.
"Do not relax, for that is seems like just an icing. As we speak, an attack is being carried out at the entrance of the Underground City. We do not have enough people, and I will need to look for more people. As for now, no need to head to the Underground City."
"I am going to notify some people, and I hope that they will move quickly. With them, we will be able to save the number of lives lost. This is an all-out war, between this Kingdom and The Omega. Any person you see with this symbol, or fighting against the Royals, you are to intervene and stop the fight", he said.
Everyone nodded their heads and was in deep thought. Jason was still trying to understand what was happening and looked at the only people who would explain everything to him. Anthony sighed out loud.
"Jason, we have people here who want to kill people and kill the King. Do you want something to happen to him?", he asked. Jason had a very good impression of Ben, and he smiled.
"No one would be able to kill him. He took care of a horde with just me and another man. Are you sure they will be able to?", he said sarcastically. Bradley pulled up the screen and showed him the horde that was heading towards them.
Jason's eyes went wide when he saw the sheer size of the army. It was at least fifteen times larger than the horde they had faces, or that was what he thought.
But what he didn't know was that the horde was much larger than he had thought. The horde was a whopping thirty times larger than the one that was sent before.
And with a few Demon Tiers present amongst them, this made the power of the Horde much powerful. Bradley was still trying to split the power level of the Horde.
"There are three Demon Tiers. And if I assume they are the commanders, then they will each head for an entrance of the Kingdom from the setting I see here. And the rest have the same hierarchy, I suppose", he thought as he looked at them.
He looked at the people he had with him. The best they could face against was a King Tier, and if they were lucky, an Emperor Tier. He was sure that anything above that, they will end up in pieces.
"Alright, you three are to guard three people respectively. Anthony, you will guard Sam. Sally, you will guard Kate. And Jason, you will guard both the King and the Queen.. And take these", he said and handed Jason a small box.