"You're back?"
"Yes". Princess Elanor replied Rex while still feeling light-headed.
As they looked at each other, without any exchange of words, they both knew that they benefited a lot from this encounter.
"Thank you". They expressed their gratitude to each other.
Without Princess Elanor's invitation and effort, Rex would have never found this opportunity while without Rex's Blood Tome, Princess Elanor would have never been able to access her ancestral inheritance.
They were grateful to each other.
"So, umm, what about your parents?" Rex coughed.
"Don't worry about them". Princess Elanor smiled. "Once they know that we accessed the inheritance chambers, they'll heap praise on us rather than admonish us for going behind their backs to come here".
"Oh!"
With that, the 2 mystic warriors started climbing back up.
As they climbed back up, it did not take long before they discovered that something was wrong. Rex could still remember when they came underground as they had to sneak and bypass a lot of guards along the way.
Now, for some reason, more than half of the guards were gone. As they noticed this more, Princess Elanor's face suddenly turned serious.
"No need to sneak anymore, follow me!"
Princess Elanor grabbed Rex's hand and started running up the stairs. The guards who saw them did not interrupt them, they only seemed to send messages whose recipients Rex guessed were the Elven Queen and the King.
"What is going on?" By now, Rex already guessed that something was wrong.
"I'm not sure, I need to confirm first".
About 2 minutes later, they arrived before the door through which they entered the underground and to Rex's shock, the door was closed shut. Beside the door were ropes that extended all the way to the top.
On seeing this, Princess Elanor's eyes narrowed. "Like I expected".
"What?"
"The Kamaitachis attacked again, I think that they felt something wrong when we opened the ancestor's inheritance ground after so many years".
Rex was shocked. "Shouldn't we go fight them then?"
"Yes, but first," Princess Elanor turned to face Rex. "Did you discover the way to rescue my race from the curse of the Micro World?"
"No, I'm not sure, I just got an inheritance that I was unable to complete immediately. I was told I could complete it at a later date".
Princess Elanor was visibly disappointed on hearing that but she soon recovered. "Then, let's go fight some Kamaitachis".
"Grab a rope!" Princess Elanor and Rex grabbed one of the ropes that extended to the top as they were instantly pulled away.
Mid-flight, Rex's system finally lit up a notification.
"Yes!" He was ecstatic.
[You have received a new system mission: The Wrath of the Kamaitachis!]
[Mission Details: Your actions in the Elven Kingdom have angered the Kamaitachis. Now, they are out to exterminate you and the Elven Princess with their whole force, the whole Kamaitachi race is after you. Escape!]
[Main Mission: Escape and Survive!]
[Mission Reward: 15,000 Skill Points.]
"Holy Sh*t! The whole Kamaitachi race?"
"Huh?" Princess Elanor turned, directing a weird look at Rex.
"Nothing". Rex quickly raised his hands in surrender.
The mission reward for this system mission was mouth watery but so was the danger enormous, going against a whole beast race that was able to go toe to toe against the Elven Kingdom for close to a millennium was no easy feat.
"Damn, I'm screwed!" He cursed in his mind.
"Be careful!" Rex made sure to warn Princess Elanor as the ropes finally pulled them out of underground. His warning came right on time as dozens of wind blades flew past their heads, cutting some of the Princess's hair in the process.
Princess Elanor was shocked. "They breached the castle?"
Rex was completely petrified as he looked at the disaster currently before his eyes. The originally harmonious Elven castle was now a warfront.
Loud barking sounds made by the Kamaitachis filled the background.
These wild beasts with claws as long as steel and as sharp as razors were now stampeding through the castle. Their spiny fur like those of a hedgehog gave them natural defense that enabled them to breach the defense of the Elves.
This was not the first clash between Elves and Kamaitachis, and in all these years, the castle of the Elves had never been breached so fast.
The difference maker today was that the Kamaitachi race came with their full force. Every Kamaitachi that could fight was mobilized for this battle today.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
In the now barely standing castle walls, Elves could be seen shooting the Kamaitachis with their bows as arrows flew like raining bullets.
The Kamaitachis were not to be outdone. Apart from their natural bestial body made for war, they had a natural affinity for wind. Now, with their mystic energy, they rode the wind to war like the hurricane itself.
Seeing hundreds of thousands of Kamaitachis outside, Rex felt a chill running down his spine but this was not the greatest danger, the greatest danger was the Kamaitachi who was almost 2 times bigger than all the others.
"King Kama Itachi!" Princess Elanor's face turned pale in horror.
Almost at the same time that the Princess saw the King of the Kamaitachis, the Beast King also saw her as its eyes narrowed the next moment.
The Beast King shrieked loudly before going towards her.
At the same time as it shrieked, all the other Kamaitachis shrieked also as they finally found their target. Without wasting any time, all of them turned and started bulldozing their way towards the Elf and human.
For the first time since her birth, Princess Elanor was petrified by fear though she already learned to control her emotions. "They are coming after us…, they…"
"I know, run!" This time, Rex was the one who reacted first as his face already turned serious.
Rex grabbed Elanor as they started sprinting away.
They could run but they could not escape, before King Kama Itachi himself, they were like sitting ducks. The Elven soldiers tried to assist their escape but they became canon fodder instead as the Kamaitachi King bulldozed across.
King Kama Itachi fully embodied the dangerous specialty of Kamaitachis, his long claws cut Elven soldiers left and right with such speed and precision that not even their blood flowed before they died.
In just seconds, it closed the distance to Rex and Princess Elanor as it channeled its wind mystic ability but before it could pounce on them, someone intervened as fire came raging down on it.
King Algar after hearing of his daughter's arrival was fast as he rode from the part of the massive battlefield where he fought to go save her.
He arrived just in time on his Elk to stop his archenemy, King Kama Itachi.
The Elk ate yards of space even as with his raised sword, he was already channeling his mystic energy to pour fire on the Kamaitachi King like a flood.
"Leave my daughter alone!"