Humanity's Hero Of Despair

My room soon becomes barren as I pack my clothes and essential items.

Even just after a couple of nights in this place, I am so ready to leave. It is just the thought alone that I am sleeping in a traitor's guest bedroom that irks me. I mean, even though we are here for a bigger purpose, it is still unsettling. Once I have all my clothes packed, I walk into the bathroom to grab my travel bag.

I make sure all my toiletries are packed, and I double-check to make sure nothing is left on the counter. All of us are packing just in case we have to make a quick getaway if things get worse. Our only goal is to retrieve the Elemental Sphere of Earth and return back to the Imperial Palace.

Soon enough, everything is packed and ready to go.

The balcony was one of the only things in the room I genuinely enjoyed. I step outside one final time to take in the entire city. The city itself is quite beautiful, and I can't blame the citizens for liking their ruler. I mean, he is giving them better rights to govern the Grand Duchy even if they don't know he is directly opposing the Emperor.

I sigh as I lean against the balcony's edge.

My breath almost catches in my throat once I notice the mysterious figure standing next to me. It turns out to be the same imperial agent from before. He says that everybody is ready to commence the operation. He mentions that he, along with the other imperial agents, encased the castle in barrier magic to prevent them from getting outside help.

We talk for a few minutes and then head back out of my room to meet with the others.

Before you know it, all of us are gathered on the second floor secretly as we all look at the castle guards stationed at the base of the stairs leading up to the mysterious third floor.

I use my light and dark magic to become invisible. My breath is quiet as I sneak up on both of the guards and knock them out with the hilt of both my wands. Matteo and Zephyr quickly follow me as we slowly ascend the staircase.

Quillen has his wand out as he starts disarming magic traps he sees before we do.

We reach the top of the stairs and enter a large, dimly lit area that covers the space of the entire floor. On this floor, we see numerous desks with classified documents on them. There are maps pinned against the wall with various colored pins on them. We notice a magic box levitating at the far end of the room, blocked by around ten layers of advanced magic.

The Elemental Sphere of Earth. It must be it.

The imperial agents follow up behind us as they quickly observe our surroundings. Many of them start to write down notes as they try to take down all the information they see. From glancing around at everything myself, it is very clear the Grand Duke and Vice President had a plan to overthrow the Emperor and President no matter what it takes.

My personal opinion? I understand their sentiments for wanting change. However, this is not a good time to have any political discussion or any massive political change when the future of humanity itself is at stake.

Quillen starts helping imperial agents move around as he notices more magic traps. However, some imperial agents fall for them, as one is burned alive by a trap. I call up the rest of my party to block the stairs while we continue to investigate and steal back the sphere.

One of the castle guards manages to break through our defenses and gets away.

I tighten my grip on my wands. This is not good. I shout to everyone in the room.

"Everybody! One of the castle guards escaped. They are probably calling backup from other guards around the castle. A few of the castle guards I know are elite, which means they probably are around the eighth to ninth affinity level, possibly even a couple of tenth affinity ones. Stay on your guard."

"Gather as much evidence as you can and help Quillen break through the magic security layers for the sphere. Matteo, Zephyr, Leena, Ivy, and Neve, help me along with my knights to protect them while they do so!"

Everyone springs into action as I hear numerous footsteps running up the staircase.

Castle guards explode onto us as the clash of steel and spells can be heard all throughout Pedgas Castle. Luckily, the barrier the imperial agents made is also soundproof so as to not alert outsiders of any trouble.

Suddenly, the atmosphere changes as I feel my heart tighten.

Several castle guards, with a different color of cloak, appear out of nowhere. They shout advanced spells, which to me I can block easily. However, some of my magic knights are not so fortunate, and neither are my friends. It's hard to fight all of them off while protecting Quillen and the others as they break the magic security layers.

I briefly turn in Quillen's direction and shout, "How many more layers do you have left?"

"We have around five left. We are working on it!"

Hopefully, that is enough time for us to grab the Elemental Sphere of Earth and get out of this hellhole. I instruct my magic knights to form a certain formation that allows some of our guys to prepare the emergency carriages for our escape.

The imperial agents also help us fight back against all the castle guards.

You'd think this would be an easy fight, but it isn't, since Grand Duke Pedgas had more security than all of us thought he would have. He has been saving and building his military forces up in secret.

I launch several dark rays of magic at my foes as they go flying back into the wall, knocking over some documents on one of the desks.

Let's just hope this mission goes successfully.

We can worry about the other stuff later.