Sven watched the other soldiers running around busily, but he nted himself firmly to the ground. Right now, his only mission was to bring the queen to safety.


    “I will obey with my life, Your Majesty.”


    Kasser turned his body, crouched a little, and kicked high off the ground. As he soared higher into the sky, blue Praz wrapped around his body.


    “Long live the king!”


    The people shouted watching the king fly further and further away in the direction of the red res. The hopes of the king saving them from this horror had quickly driven out the fear that they had just been shrouded in. The heavy weighted atmosphere became lighter in moments.


    Eugene blinked rapidly as if it would calm her taut nerves. In reality, she was very very frightened. Back on earth, although life was difficult, it was still very peaceful. Wars were just tall-tales of long ago, but never did she imagine a reality with rioting monsters.


    It was said that Larks do not harm an Anika. However, when facing them directly, no one knew what could actually happen. In honest and sincere greed, she wanted to hang on to Kasser and ask him to take her to a safe ce.


    <i>You did a good thing.</i>


    She was proud of herself. She was proud that she did not beg him. She almost gave herself a pat on the back when…


    “My queen.”


    At the sound of someone calling her, she turned her head. The horse that the king had ordered to be brought over earlier on had almost arrived. Sven took the reins from the soldier who brought the horse, turned his head toward the queen, and bowed his head.


    “Please mount the horse, my queen.”


    Eugene looked at the soldier who had spoken to her and then lifted her eyes.


    The new white horse was uniquely intriguing to the eye. She turned her head from side to side to look around her surroundings. With relentless momentum, the soldiers made sure that no one could approach the queen’s perimeter.


    After the king had left towards the re, the agitation had quelled to an extent. There was still some crying here and there, particrly children. She couldn’t leave with how things were.


    “Sir, Sven.” She called out tentatively.


    “My queen.”


    “I was told that in case of a red re emergency to evacuate to the underground shelter.”


    When erecting a structure adjacent to the street, an underground shelter was the first to be constructed. In cases of emergencies that called for an evacuation, whether someone wasing towards or away from the street, they would have to seek the nearest underground shelter.


    Byw, the building owners could not reject any person. Even so, a lot of big buildings were firmly shut right now.


    “There is a limit to how many people each underground shelter can amodate. An official will soon arrive to help organize this.”


    The shelters were not all of the same sizes. Therger buildings, of course, seemed to haverger space and a more solid foundation. Without a second thought, people would definitely try to evacuate to therger shelters.


    However, today there were more people than usual. Large crowds gathered in hopes to see the royal couple with their own eyes. The building owners had closed the doors to avoid the annoyance of the throng.


    Doors to shelters were closed, and many people couldn’t make it to another shelter because they didn’t know which shelter was safe. There was a high probability that the people would run into danger whilst looking around for a safe ce to hide.


    Eugene embraced andforted a crying child in her arms as she turned her head towards the mother and frowned.


    “Sir Sven, open up all the shelters immediately and get the children to safety first.”


    “Yes, my queen. I will ry that message now.”


    “I said immediately. Wouldn’t a message from the officials be better received, than those of the building owners?”


    “My queen. But….”


    “Urgently. Bring the children to safety first.”


    Taken aback by the queen’s authoritativeness, Sven and the other soldiers exchanged looks. He had to follow the king’s orders, yet he couldn’t just ignore the queen’smands either. Eugene leveled her gaze on Sven who was hesitating to follow hermands, the words that came next were befitting a royalty.


    “The king has left this perimeter to fight the monster in order to protect these people here. I cannot just escape by myself. I don’t intend to leave until this situation is cleared up so start now!” Her sharp tone left no room for argument, the queen had spoken.


    Almost instantaneously, themotion came to a grinding halt and the surroundings quieted. Although Eugene’s voice was not very loud; her voice carried through from a distance.


    Sven knew at that moment that her will was firm and unchanging, so he bowed his head. Even if the king were to rebuke him, he was ready to take full responsibility for his actions.


    “At once, my queen.”


    Even if the queen were to be safe in her pce, his loyalty would still not have wavered. In an emergency situation the most important decision that could be made was providing safety and protection.


    But the queen wanted to care for the safety of her people, and Sven’s eyes wavered for the first time. He was sincere when he told the king that he would protect the queen with his life. However, now, strong determination was added to his loyalty.


    “You all heard Her Majesty?”


    “Yes!”


    All the soldiers replied in one voice.


    “All of you here will open the nearest shelters and the rest of you gather all the children.”


    The soldiers started to move in haste. Some ran around from shelter to shelter knocking on the doors and the others lined up children.


    Eugene had set up specific criteria for evacuation. Evacuation protocols for children and parents, females, and the elderly were immediately established. Everyone followed the orders withoutint. No one whined about who should be first in line and who should not. Adults yielded to the children and young men stood at the back.


    <b><i>BOOM!</i></b>


    A third re had just exploded. Eugene was already looking up at the sky, and her face hardened at the sight. The red re exploded in a directionpletely different from where the king had fled towards.


    It was the third re. No one knew what was really going on.


    “My queen. You must escape! Hurry to the pce!”


    Sven was standing next to the queen and his face became contemtive as he urgently begged her. Eugene hesitated as she watched people being divided into the shelters. There were still many people remaining.


    “My queen! You must leave at once!”


    <b><i>GAHHHHH!</i></b>


    A shrieking ear scratching noise was heard. And it was not far away.