"Your Highness! Your Highness!" A male voice called out, followed by the sound of knocking.

It was late at night, the same day the bladers had arrived to his residence. Hyperion was in the middle of a good night sleep when unexpectedly, a Celestial came to wake him up.

As a mature king, he knew it had to be something important. No guard would disturb their ruler at a time like this for no reason. Successfully fighting against sleep's tempting embrace, he got up from his bed and swiftly put on a simple robe. He went to the door and opened it, revealing a daemon Celestial with a distraught look on his face.

"What has happened?" Hyperion asked.

"The main gate, Your Highness. Your presence is highly needed." the Celestial said.

Hyperion and the daemon rushed to the main entrance of the castle. When they arrived, Hyperion was met with a shocking site. An unconscious Selene cradled in the arms of a giant Celestial with her battle outfit on.

"S-Selene..." was the only words that came out of the kings trembling mouth at the site of his possibly hurt daughter.

"We were guarding the gates when suddenly, she came out of nowhere! She was stumbling around towards us tiredly like she had fought a rough battle! We tried to help her but then she went limp. Thankfully, the princess is still breathing." the daemon explained.

"At least that's comforting," Hyperion said. "Please, take Selene to her room and get the maids to watch over her. I will ponder about this in due time."

"But Your Highness, shouldn't we be a bit more cautious given of what just happened? It might be dangerous." the giant Celestial said.

"I know of its dangers but now isn't the suitable time. I have some young guests that I need to attend to. I wouldn't want to involve them if the situation gets any more serious. The least you can do now is increase the castle's defences."

"Understood, my lord."

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.
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"-on!"

"-ion!"

"Hyperion!"

The king's eyes widened at the voice, waking up from a deep state of thought. He turned around to see his fellow noble, Brynhildr of the Valkyries, or as her master and friends call her, Valkyrie. Both of them, as well as the others were in the castle's training arena.

"Huh? What is it?" Hyperion asked.

"You were spacing out all of the sudden. We were supposed to battle next!" Valkyrie said.

"O-Oh, right. I apologise," Hyperion rubbed his forehead and stood up. "I was just thinking of some duties I've yet to do."

"But if you have duties, why not do them now?"

"No, no. They are...not that important. I was just planning to do them after the battles are done." Hyperion lied. He knew that the well-being of his children was one of the most important things in his life. But he could not risk getting the young bladers involved for he knew that it would be dangerous. He needed to solve this matter as soon as possible.

"Hmm, if you say so. Let's go." Valkyrie said as she and Hyperion went to the fighting ring. As they passed by, Helios could sense something wrong about his father.

"Father, are you hiding something from us?" Helios thought.

Hyperion and Valkyrie positioned themselves in the arena. Valkyrie swore that she saw a worried expression on the king's face.

"Hyperion seems a bit anxious today. Is there something bothering him?" she thought.

Hyperion on the other hand was trying his best to mask his emotions, his current dilemma weighing heavily in his heart. Despite this, both chose to focus on the battle.

"Ready...Set!"

"3!" Valkyrie summoned her luminous sword.

"2!" Hyperion unsheathed his double bladed lance.

"1!" Both struck a fighting stance.

"Go...Shoot!" The two spirits sprinted towards each other. The moment they met at the centre of the ring, the clashing of weapons rang throughout the room. The king and the knight continued to exchange blows, with Valkyrie slashing about with her sword and Hyperion twirling his lance around to counter Valkyrie's attacks.

"Brave Slash!" Valkyrie screamed out her attack as her sword gleamed bright blue, cutting through the air to hit Hyperion.

Hyperion managed to block these attacks but stumbled back a bit, almost losing his balance.

"Come on, Hyperion! You can do it!" Hyuga cheered for his partner.

"Is he holding back?" Hikaru asked.

"Father tends to do that," Eos responded. "As the king, he's by default the most powerful spirit in the kingdom. But in battles, he likes to make things easier for his opponents so the fight doesn't feel one sided. In some cases, he even looses on purpose."

"That maybe true and all," Helios suddenly spoke, making the boys and his siblings turn to him. "But there's something about him in this battle that seems a bit...off."

"What do you mean about that, brother?" Selene questioned.

"Usually he would have this confident smile on his face, undeterred by his opponents' strength. Here however, he seems to be struggling a bit more."

Dragon entered the discussion. "Now that you've mentioned it, Hyperion's been acting weird recently. He's been spacing out a lot and is busier than ever."

"Well, we were attacked by a devil on the way here. He's probably really worried about our safety." Valt said.

"That would make sense. But here, I could sense that his conflict seems more...internal. Whatever that's bothering him, I will surely find out!" Helios said.

Back to the battle, Valkyrie was attacking Hyperion relentlessly. The red haired king dodged and countered as best as he could but was struggling to keep up.

"Come on, Hyperion! Surely this isn't all you've got!" Valkyrie said, not in a taunting way but an encouraging one.

At these words, Hyperion gathered up his strength to focus on the battle. He cannot let his current problems stand in his way.

He smiled at Valkyrie and said, "I was just preparing for the right time to strike!"

"Heh! That's the spirit!"

The two continued to spar, this time with Hyperion attacking much more than before. At this point, him and Valkyrie were on par with each other.

"Look at them go!" Aiga commented excitedly.

"Alright, Hyperion! Go zoom zoom!" Hyuga exclaimed as if commanding his bey in an actual bey battle.

At this command, Hyperion lifted his lance into the air. It lit up in a blazing red and orange!

"Burning Strike!" the king swung his weapon onto Valkyrie. She swiftly blocked it with her sword but was pushed back. She could feel the heat emitted by the lance.

Hyperion then began to rush around Valkyrie in flashes of fire (or in Hyuga's words, he went zoom zoom). This didn't catch Valkyrie off guard however. The female cautiously looked around as blurs of red surrounded her, preparing to make a move if Hyperion attacks her.

Suddenly, the king of bey spirits appeared above her, ready to bring down his lance. His hair flared up like the burning sun and his brilliant blue seraph-like wings spread behind him.

"LIMIT BREAK: BURN!" Hyperion shouted, his lance enveloped in flames as he brought it down to Valkyrie.

"BRAVE SWORD!" she screamed out as she raised her sword, the blade electrifying with blue energy.

When the two blades collided, it released a powerful shockwave. The others who were spectating the battle raised their arms in defence, hoping that the blast would not blow them away.

After awhile, the blast faded away. When the spectators restored their vision, they saw a shocking site. Valkyrie and Hyperion were both laying on the ground, looking tired and defeated.

"Lord Hyperion and Lady Brynhildr are unable to battle! It is a draw!" the Celestial who acted as the referee announced.

"Woah, both of them got knocked out..." Drum said in awe.

"According to Eos, that wasn't even Hyperion's full power." Aiga said. "Man, I'm kinda scared to see him at his full strength."

In the arena, Hyperion was on the floor. Though he hadn't used his full power, he felt exhausted. Was it because of all the stress he was facing, given the situation with Selene and the fact that devils were now after his young guests? As these thoughts raced through his mind, he failed to notice that Valkyrie was standing in front of him, offering a hand.

"Are you alright, Your Highness?" Valkyrie asked.

Hyperion looked up to face Valkyrie, seeing the friendly smile on her face.

The king chuckled before taking her hand and standing up. "Thank you for your concern but I'm fine. Just a little burnt out back there."

"It's nothing. Just glad to see our king in good shape!"

Hyperion couldn't help but smile back at this response.

"HYPERIOOON!" a voice called out. When the two spirits turned to the direction of the voice, they saw Hyuga rushing towards them with sparkling eyes. The boy reached at his partner and hugged his leg.

"THAT WAS AWESOME! THE WAY YOU WENT ZOOM ZOOM AND BANG BANG WAS SO COOL!"

Hyperion let out a chuckle before kneeling down to Hyuga's height. "Hyuga, you shower me with praise undeserved, but... aren't you upset that neither of us won?"

"Not at all! Besides, it's like what Valt always says - Beyblade isn't about winning or losing, it's about having fun! And I had a lot of fun watching you battle!"

At this, Hyperion smiled at Hyuga like a proud father before turning to Valt, who was just standing nearby. "You've taught them all so much, Valt Aoi. Your name will surely be remembered along with the other great bladers of the past."

Valt turned a bit bashful. "Oh, it's nothing. I just did what I thought was right." he said while scratching his head. Being praised by royalty, let alone an actual king wasn't exactly something he'd expect to happen in his life.

On the sidelines, the royal siblings, Helios, Selene and Eos, looked onto the scene.

"They're really having a fun time, aren't they?" Eos said. "Father sure knows how to get everyone smiling as bright as the sun!"

"Seems like it's our turn to have some fun. What do you say, brother? Ready for a civilised sibling fight?" Selene said to Helios.

"Hmph, I've been ready since day one! I'll be sure to smoke you out of the arena like a wasp!" Helios challenged. He and his twin stared intently at each other, their auras flaring up around them.

🔸🔸🔸

"How are the preparations?"

"All is set, my lady. The concoction will take effect when the time is correct."

"Excellent. Soon we shall see how Our Highness fairs with his own kin. Once he is out of the picture, those children will fall into our hands and become the catalyst for our lord's return! Hahahaha!"

"But...what are we going to do about that Myrmidon, my lady?"

"Oh, him? Worry not. Once this plan goes into fruition, it will all be to late for him. Soon, I shall sit atop the throne on my beloved's side and all mortal life shall bow before us!"