Minutes before Leo and Ben arrived at the pce grounds, the Virex Corps, Royal Guards, and special troopers were ced on high alert in anticipation of the impending conflict.


    Meanwhile, the Royal Family, including the Young Emperor, were swiftly evacuated from their chambers to a secure panic room within the castle that was protected by the best soldiers within the castle.


    The room they were ced in had a singr point of entry, and had no secondary doors or windows to speak of.


    The idea was to not allow anyone into the room, as the singr point of entry was guarded by a corridor full of men.


    For an Assassin, such a design was their bane, as unless one was ready to enter into a nitty-gritty close dog fight, it was impossible to sneak-into the panic room undetected.


    In this way, Denver made all the necessary preparations to ensure the protection of the royal family, while also making ns to  confront Leo and Ben with the sincerity they deserved, taking nothing up for grant.


    ********


    ( Leo''s POV )


    Roughly 30 minutes after themon yers logged out, Leo finally managed to make his way to the Royal Castle, as he stood just outside the building, blending into the shadows cast by its long walls.


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    Beside him, Ben surveyed the guard rotation patterns based on the thumping sounds of the metal boots, and once he had figured out their pattern, Ben gave Leo the signal to climb-up the wall.


    Leo exhaled softly and nodded, his mind already calcting their entry point.


    Then, after quickly surveying their immediate surroundings, he tapped on Ben''s shoulder and gestured to a section of the wall where shadows pooled in the moonlight, a spot just out of sight of the wall patrols.


    Ben responded with a subtle nod, his hand moving in silentmunication to indicate which guards they should neutralize first, as Leo nodded back in acknowledgement.


    With a silent precision and Dumpy on his shoulders, Leo leapt from the shadows they were hiding in and scaled the castle wall, his movements quick and fluid, honed from years of practice.


    As he reached the top, he peered over the edge, as from his vantage point, the grounds below appeared deserted.


    ''No immediate threat–'' he thought, as he quickly neutralized the guard that was patrolling with his back towards him, while Ben did the same with his.


    "Odd," Leo muttered under his breath, his instincts prickling.


    "It''s too quiet." Ben noted, as although the flickering of torches along the walls cast long shadows into the pce gardens, there were no signs of life.


    "Should we reconsider? This doesn''t feel–" Leo began, however, Ben raised his hand promptly to cut the boy off.


    Gesturing toward two guards stationed near the gate, he signalled to Leo about their next move, as Leo nodded grimly.


    Then, with a silent motion, the pair descended.


    The night was their ally as they moved like shadows, with Leo creeping up behind one guard, as his dagger shed briefly in the moonlight before plunging into the man''s neck.


    Ben, meanwhile, dispatched the other with a swift, silent blow to the temple, as both him and Leo lowered their bodies gently to the ground, leaving no trace of the intrusion.


    "Clear," Leo whispered, as Ben gestured toward the central courtyard, their next target.


    Although something felt off, since they were already inside the castle, Leo decided to go with the flow, as although he could sense that something was off, he decided to suppress that instinct for now.


    Following Ben''s lead, Leo swiftly moved across the grounds, their boots making barely a sound against the cobblestone.


    Every corner they turned, every shadow they passed, revealed nothing unusual, as it all appeared almost too easy.


    Finally, as they reached the center of the grounds, Leo nced around uneasily. "It''s like no one''s here…" he murmured, as by this point rm bells began ringing in his head, as Ben concurred the same.


    "That''s the problem," Ben replied grimly, his voice low. "Something''s definitely wrong."


    And then it happened.


    The air shimmered around them, like the ripple of heat waves on a summer day.


    The torches lining the grounds flickered violently, and the once-deserted courtyard transformed before their eyes.


    Where silence had reigned before, the space suddenly came alive with movement, as hundreds of soldiers stood in formation, their weapons glinting in the torchlight.


    The Virex Corps, Royal Guards, and special troops surrounded them on all sides.


    "What the—" Leo started, but his words were cut off as the ground beneath him lit up with a faint, glowing sigil.


    The air crackled with energy, and before he could react, an invisible barrier sprung up around him, trapping him and Dumpy within a confined space norger than a few square meters.


    A simr barrier enveloped Ben, separating the two and locking them in ce.


    "Vivienne," Ben growled, his eyes darting toward the main castle.


    "She''s behind this." He concluded, however, before he could say more, a loud voice cut him off.


    "SURRENDER IMMEDIATELY! YOU ARE COMPLETELY SURROUNDED!" A man yelled, as he rushed up near the barriers and demanded that both Ben and Leo remove their utility belts and raise their hands in the air.


    Unwilling to do so, Leo simply ignored the man and swept his gaze across the crowd.


    The soldiers standing behind the man,  hundreds strong, stood with their weapons at the ready and their faces looking tense yet resolute.


    They seemed to be anticipating their arrival and did not look shocked that Ben Faulkner was here, as if they already knew he was alive.


    Leo''s mind raced as he tried to assess their options, but the barrier made his situation slightly moreplicated, as it left him no room to move.


    "It''s an illusion spell,yered with a concealment barrier. Vivienne''s handiwork, no doubt. She used it to mask the soldiers and catch us off guard." Ben said, his voice low and steady as he exined the situation to Leo.


    The two of them had felt that the pce grounds were too quiet, but that was only their illusion.


    The pce grounds was never really quiet, but the master mage''s spell simply made them feel like it was.


    "So, we walked right into their trap…" Leo said, clenching his fists in anger, as a frontal fight was not at all what he was hoping for.


    He was here for chaos and quick assassination, however, he had identally walked into a war zone.