<h4>Chapter 361: The Battle Begins (1)</h4>


    <i>Note: Parental guidance is advised because of some harshnguage and bloody scenes</i>


    The sky is dyed in the orange afterglow of the setting sun. The waves are sshing calmly along the beach near the small pier. A pair of guards are on patrol, walking along the sandy pathway of the beach.


    "It is kind of boring to guard this deste ce." One guard said. "Don''t you think?" He asked his partner.


    "Well, kind of." The other guard replied. "The sound of the waves make me kind of sleepy. And the smooth wind just makes you just want to lie down somewhere and sleep."


    "Haaahhh…" The other guard sighed. "When will our shift end?" He asked.


    "Probably not some time soon." The other guard replied. "The others are preparing for the surprise attack we willunch in the port city of Veluria."


    "That is where the king of Grandcrest is residing currently, correct?" The other guard replied.


    "Yes. Our queen has quite a grudge against him." The other guard said. "Most of the army will be joining into battle against the king of Grandrest while he has a small amount of his men with him right now. The high priest had advised our queen to attack with this advantage."


    "I know right." The other guard replied. "The king of Grandcest''s army is all the way in the capital. He is at a disadvantage right now."


    "But even so, I heard that the king''s men are also magic users like us." The other guard said.


    "What?! They are Antians like us as well?" The other guard said in surprise.


    "I heard from one of arerades that came with out prince diolus that even the king of Grandcrest himself is Antian with half of royal blood running through his veins." The guard replied to his partner.


    "That is something surprising." The other guard said. "But still, we have our allegiances to our queen and prince that has pure royal blood. I am sure that they will bring back glory to us Antians."


    "I don''t know." The guard has a reluctant expression on his face. "I heard that the king of Grandcrest is a good leader to his men, especially to Antians like us. What if…?" He trailed off.


    "What are you saying?!" The other guard scolded. "Do you n of betraying our queen and prince? You are absurd! Are you crazy?"


    "Have you not seen how our queen has been actingtely?" The guard countered. "She is getting angry all the time andshing it out on us. It is like she is just seeing us as ves that will do all of her bidding."


    "The queen has given us a second chance in life, did you forget that? If not for her, we would have lived a life more terrifying than living in hell!" The other guard said with an angry expression. "Our queen is just acting like that because she lost in the civil war against her own daughter who betrayed her."


    "That is what I am thinking as well. Why did you think the princess has betrayed her own mother? In all of our years with her majesty, she never even once treated the princess like how she treats the prince." The guard said. "I am just staying here because of Prince diolus. He is the only hope left for us who is under Queen Patricia."


    "Stop your nonsense." The other guard scolded. "Her majesty is just stressed with all that has happened. And you are right, his highness Prince diolus is ourst hope and that is why we are fighting to get the forbidden magic that will turn the tide in this war. We might be in the losing side, but not for long."


    While the two guards were talking to each other, shadows were moving stealthily under the waves. And without any sound, something swiftly moved out of the water.


    "What the…?!" The other guard was caught by surprise with the sudden ssh of water. He was about to pull out his sword but was toote. His throat was shed by nail marks, blood flowed non stop. The guard fell down the sand with him gurgling on his own blood before he had breathe hisst.


    The other guard was in shock when he saw his partner fall down lifeless and was about to counter attack but before he does, a knife was resting neatly on his throat. The sharp de was sticking so closely to his neck that a trickle of blood came down. If he moved even a little, he will surely have a slight cut on his throat.


    "I will not do that if I were you." William who was the one holding the knife on the guard''s throat threatened him. "If you want to live, then I suggest you do not do anything foolish."


    The guard saw men and womening out of the water. He knew that he was outnumbered and there was nothing he can do with a knife on his throat threatening his life.


    "I… I surrender." The guard said.


    "That is a good decision." William said and took the sword of the guard away from him. "Tie this one up and be sure to gag him." He pushed the guard towards one of his men.


    "Yes, Sir William." One of the men replied.


    Anatalia emerged from the waters and walked towards William.


    "I think the men that my sisters have charmed are at the docks." Anatalia said. "We can sneak to the ships with a little effort."


    "That will help a lot." William replied. "But there will still be some guards that are not under your charms so let us be careful nheless."


    "I know. Unlike our queen, we can only charm one man at a time." Anatalia said with a disappointed look on her face. "But we can still help in fighting." She had a confident look.


    "It''s okay. You and your sisters were still helpful." William patted Anatalia''s head. "You go with your sisters and try to clear out as much guards as you can quietly. Be careful not to alert the others of our presence."


    "Do not worry. We will handle this carefully." Anatalia gave William a thumbs up and smiled.


    "Be careful." William said and Anatalia nodded.


    Anatalia left the beach shore with her sisters quietly. William and his men who were wearing ck clothes were blending now that the sun has set.


    From the horizon, many boats are arriving quietly to shore. The boats are carrying other men from William''s group. When the boats are ashore, the men aboard jumped down. Some were carrying crates and put it down the beach shore.


    "We will head towards the ship docks quietly." William ordered his men. "Some of the guards would be under the siren''s charms, the sign that one is under a sirens charm is having nk eyes without shine as if they are lifeless. This will help us move more effectively. But we still need to move stealthily and carefully. There would be others that are not under the siren''s charm and we need to watch out for them as to not alert the others."


    "Yes." William''s men replied.


    William opened one of crates and dynamites were seen inside. They n to nt explosives to the enemy''s ships.


    "All of you, carry enough amount that you can." William ordered. "We will ce this dynamites on the ships and then wait for my signal before lighting the fuse. Understood?"


    "Yes sir." William''s men replied in unison.


    William''s group now then stealthily moved in the night. They headed towards the docks where the ships that Patricia''s army will use tounch a surprise attack by dawn. With this intel they got, they have nned to destroy every ship they find in the docks to also prevent Patricia and her army to get to where Alicia was as well.


    At the entrance of the docks, they saw quite a number of guards walking around. William made a hand gesture towards his men to stop, his men stopped and hid behind stacked crates and boxes along the way. In sight were three guards chatting to each other in the entrance.


    "The night is quiet." A guard said to his partner.


    "It is the calm before the storm, I guess." The other guard replied. "Tomorrow will be a big day of the battle."


    "Unfortunately we won''t get to see the action because we are on duty tonight." Another guard said.


    "I know right. It is a pity we cannot pay back the Antian traitors we have fought a few days ago." The guard replied.


    "Yes, they are a piece of sh*t to side with the half blood royal." The other guard said. "They should die for doing such!" He said with anger.


    While the guards were chatting, William gave another hand gesture to two of his men to move slowly. When they were in ce, William gestured once again to wait and then gave a go signal to attack.


    The two men jumped in swiftly. One of William''s men got one guard from behind and stabbed him with a knife on his back with holding the guard''s mouth tightly so he will not scream. The other one was slit on the throat swiftly from behind as well, blood oozed and the guard''s body dropped on the ground lifeless. The other guard was just standing looking lifeless, he was one of the guards that were charmed by the sirens.


    William then gestured his men to spread quietly to do their mission. William also moved towards the ships on the docks when he saw head bobbing out of the waves in the water. Some sirens were there to help them with the charmed ones. William nodded to them as thanks and then proceeded as nned.


    Edited by: nalyn