It has been brought to my attention that there are two different spellings of Roylra being used in this book. I have spelled them both as Roylra and Rolyra.

Roylra is the correct form since that is what is spelled on the map. Rolyra is incorrect. Thank you to those who brought this up since I did not realize this mistake myself.

And sorry for the late update. The scenes in this chapter for particularly troubling for me to write given the complexity of it and the world building aspect.

But I hope you enjoy! Put a lot of hard work into this chapter for you guys! :)
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"Well this is a bloody mess," Violet said.

"Yeah well, keeping things clean wasn't Nicholas's strong suit," Ianite said.

Violet looked at me. "Must be some type of Guardian thing," she said making me narrow my eyes at her.

"Hey, I'm not that bad--"

She shakes her head. "I've seen your room in the tower. It's bad," she said. I roll my eyes, looking away from her since it is obvious her mind is made up. I go to the desk, seeing parchments and books covering the surface of it. But my eye catches something familiar to me, something I've seen before. I move books off a piece of parchment that looks like age has taken hold of it. It's a map.

I've seen this before. It was in a memory, the one before the attack. This must be the map that Ianite was talking about, the one magically enchanted to update with the changes.

Honestly, that's real convenient for me.

I stare at it, reading the names to myself, not realizing that Violet and Chimney are looking over my shoulders and waiting for translation.

"So that's a map of Estir I guess...what exactly does it say?" Chimney asked breaking me out of my trance.

Violet sighed. "It's in the Arcanic Tongue, typical," she complained.

I smiled a bit. "Alright, alright. I'll provide translation," I said before laying the map flat on the cluttered desk. "This is a map of Estir" —I put my finger on Solace— "and this is Solace, a human kingdom. In Estir, I'm known by the Archmage of Solace, that was at least what some bandits called me from my recovered memories when I saved Prince Brice Solace from being kidnapped."

Chimney chuckled. "That sounds familiar," he said.

"Brice Solace?" Violet questioned just as confused as I was.

Chimney shakes his head. "No, royalty being kidnapped. My cousin was kidnapped a few times growing up," he explained.

I nodded a bit before looking back at the map. My eyes stop on Roylra, the capital city of Solace. If the capital has fallen...does that mean that Solace has fallen? I mean, it is still on the map, so...it can't be gone just yet. "This is Roylra, the capital city of Solace," I said.

"The city that was attacked," Violet said making me nod.

"Yes..." I mumbled. I feel her hand touch my arm.

"The fact that the kingdom is still on the map is a good sign. It means Solace hasn't completely fallen yet," she said.

"That may be true..." Chimney said in a tone I didn't like. I looked at him as he continued. "But losing capital cities is usually fatal to an empire, kingdom, or country."

"It isn't the buildings and stuff that is important...it's the citizens," Violet said making me smile a bit.

I nodded, agreeing with her. "Yes and I almost died ensuring that the people, my friends, and the royal family escaped unscathed. Once I fix Vienna, I'm gonna go back and help Brice and them save Solace," I said.

"Don't you mean help Lord Notch?" Chimney asked making me involuntarily scoff at the name. I looked at the prince as he crossed his arms. "Lord Notch is the God of Creation—"

"I don't hate Notch...but I don't particularly like him all that much right now either. And yes, I know stopping the God of Chaos is important...but so is protecting the innocent and helping your friends when they need you the most," I told him.

I don't hate Notch. I really don't...I just am not his biggest fan right now. Sure, I guess I could just roll over and sit like an obedient dog, but then I would just be his slave, not his follower. You don't follow leaders blindly just because you like them or like their ideals, you follow them voluntarily and of your own will.

And for me...it doesn't seem like I have a choice in the matter of following Notch or not...I sighed, pushing the thoughts away.

My existential crises later...

I move my finger over to the Malus Clan. "This is the Malus Clan, and their name is very familiar. I remember you talking about them, Ianite, what do you know about them?" I asked her as I looked over my shoulder. And she looked...displeased.

"The Malus Clan use to have more territory, it wasn't always the same country it was today. But that was before they turned their backs on everyone by soughting the aid of the God of Chaos and murdering a Guardian of Estir in cold blood," she explained making me flinch.

Okay, so...four Guardians have died here in Vienna, one has died in Estir. And there were originally twelve. Exactly how many are left? Are there seven left or have more died? I gritted my teeth together. That's assuming that I'm one of the original and I don't know if that is the case. The title and role could have been passed down in my family through the generations.

"How many Guardians are left? Do you know?" I asked, afraid of the answer.

She hesitated before she spoke, "Including you...there are five left. You are a second-generation Guardian, Seto, while Nicholas was the first generation."

"W-Wait, there are only five guardians left?!" Chimney exclaimed.

Ianite nodded. "Yes, there are three third generations, one fourth generation, and then you Seto, the second generation," she said surprising me.

I'm a second-generation? But...why do I look so young when there is a fourth generation? I must be older than I think I am for that to happen.

Ianite gives me a soft smile. "Don't ask me how that is since even I don't have the answer to that. I don't know why you still look to be in your early twenties. Lord Notch might know that answer," she said. I sigh and nodded, having to accept that answer for now.

"Malus Clan?"

She comes up beside me, looking at the map. "The War of Chaos was the first war that ever took place. It was the war between Lord Notch and Lord Herobrine that prompted the creation of the Guardians of Estir. And what drove Lord Notch to push his kingdom, Aether, into the skies. But Lord Notch had banished his brother into the Nether before the war...he trapped him there. The war taking place twenty years after his banishment..." Ianite said making me put two and two together.

"The Malus Clan freed Lord Herobrine from his confinement," I said making her nod.

"Indeed, and their treachery wasn't discovered until late into the war. So the Guardians protected Malus much like they would the other kingdoms and clans. But the Guardian that was protecting Malus found out about their betrayal and was fatally wounded by them while fleeing back to the Aether Kingdom. Lord Notch couldn't heal the wounds inflicted on his guardian by the Malus Clan and the guardian died of them. Lord Herobrine gave The Malus Clan the power to negate the magic of the God of Creation, which should be impossible...but he is the God of Chaos. The Malus Clan worships Lord Herobrine while the rest of the world worships Lord Notch.

But when that guardian died at the hands of the Malus Clan...that was the final straw. The Guardians, the original twelve, were made up of the closest and most trusted friends of Lord Notch...and the Malus Clan had murdered one of them. Lord Notch was...beyond angry. I don't know what become of them since Nicholas refused to tell the tale further. And whenever I brought it up, it...pained him," she said.

I nod a bit, understanding. I can only imagine that Lord Notch made the Guardians do things they didn't want or they did things that haunt them. That makes me wonder what things I have done that have haunted me. Apparently, something broke me in the past, to the point that I didn't care that I was about to be burnt at the stake.

I wonder what it was...

And that isn't the only instance either. The memory with Anna, with her looking so upset and mad at me, begging me to let something go. And the death and blood around us...

What drove me to such...anger?

I thought myself to be calm and mellow, but...that isn't the case at all. I must have some type of anger problem for me to do something like that out of spite. Or maybe it wasn't out of spite...maybe there was a reason for that fit of rage.

No...no...There is no justification for that senseless murder...

I flinched when I felt a calming sensation go through me making me look to see Ianite beside me, with her hand on my shoulder. She gives me a soft smile before she spoke to me through our mental link.

'Seto, I know this must be hard for you. But you need to have more faith in yourself,' Ianite said to me. I like that she can calm my nerves, it's...useful since I'm not the most stable person.

I looked at the others realizing that I have been silent while they continued talking and they noticed it. I forced a smile on my lips, not wanting them to know about the constant turmoil in my head. If they knew, I'm afraid of how they would react to some of the things that I have done in my past. My past is my business...not theirs.

I looked back at the map. "So the Malus Clan was the enemy, that's good to know. Do you know anything about the relationship between wizards and demi-humans?" I asked Ianite.

Ianite shakes her head. "I know the relationship during Nicholas's age, but not yours. Things change and given your age, it will have changed a lot," she explained.

That makes sense I suppose. I don't know why I thought she would know that. I nodded a bit, looking at the map.

Why is the Wizard Territory so small compared to everything else? We have a few islands. My eyes stop on the Alius Clan, the city Vora. I felt my head start to hurt making me wince and touch my head.

"You okay?" Violet asked. I nodded a bit.

"Y-Yeah...just a headache..." I mumbled.

"You get a lot of those," Chimney said. I know I do, it is one of the side effects of amnesia that I have grown to hate.

"What do you know about the Alius Clan? They are...very familiar to me..." I told her. Ianite looked at the map.

She sighed. "Well...I know why they are familiar to you. It is because your family is from the Alius Clan. The Azdel Family, Azdel being your last name, is a gifted mage family that became friends with the God of Creation after series of assassination attempts on the life of the God of Creation that your father protected the god from during his travels in the Alius Clan territory. And--"

As interesting as that is, and it is interesting...that's not what I'm feeling. I don't feel a home familiarity...more or a...horror-filled one. Like whatever experiences I have had with Alius Clan weren't nice ones. My eyes shift over to Kance, getting another pulse of pain in my head that makes me close my eyes in order to grasp a hold of myself better.

But when I open my eyes, I'm not in the End anymore, but in another recall of the past.

I'm on a horse, going up a hill with the sounds of others all around me. My eyes looked from side to side, seeing a long line of cavalry soldiers on both sides of me and behind me.

So...what's going on here?

As soon as we make it over the hill, my horse stops a few feet ahead of the calvary behind me. My eyes widen upon seeing the sight in front of me, I grit my teeth together. A man comes up beside me, looking angered for a moment.

"That's more than double our numbers and what we were told," the man said. I nod in agreeance. There's a massive army, made up of at least 8500 soldiers, monsters, and others attacking a massive city that is built into the mountains. The terrain is mostly flat where the army is, but for us, we are on top of a hill that slopes downwards towards the army.

Smoke rises from multiple places in the city, it looks as if the army has yet to breach the wall and gate. That is a good sign, but flyer units are hovering, and diving over the city is probably causing a lot of trouble.

"Hugh, look," I motion to the city and Hugh looks.

"Sycans, damn. Well, you are the best suited for taking those out. You are in charge of taking outright flank, led the right side of our forces through these dastards but once you pass the gate of the city, get up the top and take out those Sycan. After you leave, Memphis will command the right flank," Hugh ordered making me nod in acknowledgment. He turns away from me, looking at two others. "Trevor, you follow down the center with me! Ray, take your men down the left flank! It will up to us three to take down their demonic beasts, Harvey is taking out the Sycans as per usual, meanwhile, the men are dealing with the normal soldiers with our aid."

I looked at the three, noticing we all have the same crest on our armor. Not only that, but I'm sensing powerful magic off them. They must be guardians like me. They are very familiar to me. I pull on the reins of my horse, turning them to the right, but before I took off, Hugh stopped me.

"Don't you go dying on us, Harvey," Hugh said.

I smiled a bit looked over my shoulder at Hugh. "Have you no faith in me? I'm kinda hurt at that. I have the easy job, you three have to kill those demonic beasts. Those dastards don't go down without a fight," I said.

Hugh smiled at me. "Yeah and neither do Sycans. You have an enemy soldier and a Sycan to deal with and from the looks of it, you have eight Sycans to kill. Those things are nasty and mean. Their riders are usually dark sorcerers too. Your job is much tougher. So, don't die," he said.

I chuckled lightly. "Killing Sycans is basically my specialty since you always push slaying them onto me since the start of this war. I can handle them. But same you three, don't you all go dying on me. I'll see you after this battle is over," I said before turning my horse away and hitting its sides. As I leave, I hear Hugh start a pep speech, which I can tell is working by how the men after reacting. I slow down my horse, pulling up beside another armored man on a horse.

"So?" he asked.

"We're taking the right flank. But as soon as we pass the gate, I'm going to deal with the flyer units. And then, you are in charge of the right flank," I told them. They nodded. This must be Memphis.

"You know, for a guardian who didn't want to become a guardian...you're quite strong and good at being one," Memphis told me. I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah, well...you can blame my father for that. He resented the idea of passing the title onto a weakling. So he often found amusings in training me to death," I said before I looked over to where Hugh was, hearing the men cheer out making me smile. I looked forward as I drew my sword. "Well, I'll see you on the other side, Memphis."

Memphis nods. "I'll see you at the feast," he said before I hear the men behind us roar out with Hugh.

"FORTH!" I hear Hugh shout before I hear what sounds like a horn going off.

[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]

(Sound provided by: FunkyVox Media. And ignore the creepy woman's voice)

This is when I felt my nerves spike as we started the charge down the hill and straight towards the 8500 soldiers and demonic beasts as well as eight Sycans. I gripped my sword, my eyes narrow as I see the enemy forming ranks, pikers in front with archers set behind them. Two types of weapons that are both bad for calvary, which our army force consists all of. I put my hand up out in front of me as I chant. "Arkana Ŝildo!" I chanted out making a purple mage circle form in front of me. I make a fist, turning it as I shout. "Pligrandigi!" My mage circle gets bigger, and out of the corner of my eye, I see a green, blue, and red version of what I just did.

I flinched when I could feel the arrow storm hitting the shield, but I keep it up and strong, wanting to protect the men from falling from arrows.

Once we met the pikers, my horse jumped over them, ceasing the shielding spell, I sliced downwards on a piker to my left, killing them. The next few moments were almost a blur as we charge straight through the enemy lines, mowing down soldier after soldier without any signs of stopping. My eyes look to my right, seeing we are about to cross in front of the city gate. But I see two Sycans turn away from the city and go towards us. I sheath my sword, grabbing my saddle before jumping up, putting my feet under me. I hesitated for a moment, keeping my eyes on the Sycans overhead, seeing one heading straight over me.

I push off my horse, jumping up and grabbing the leg of the Sycan that flew overhead, letting it carry me off into the sky. I grab onto the billet strap, using it to climb up the side of the Sycan, but as I climb, I'm having to dodge the creature's attempts to swat me off. I grab the saddle, but as soon as I appear over the side of the creature, the rider instantly attacks me. I duck under the attack, grabbing their leg. But my grab made them steer the Sycan to the right, almost make me fall off from the sudden change of course.

I would just kill the Sycan, but I sort of need it alive and we are high in the air. I tighten my grip on the rigging guard, using it to heave myself up and swing my leg up and over to sit behind the rider. I grab onto the cantle, steadying myself before I have to dodge a spell the rider cast at me. I grabbed their arm, drawing a dagger from my belt before stabbing them in the chest. I push them, letting them fall off the Sycan. I quickly grab the reins before they fall, getting into the saddle and pulling on the reins, which make the Sycan screech in response.

Luckily, I've had plenty of practice flying these things from the amount of them I have commandeered throughout this war. For as annoying as Sycans are, they won't hesitate to cannibalize their own species and more importantly, they won't blink at eating their riders. So having one is well...it makes life easier for me until it turns on me that is.

....Wait, how do I know all this?

I flinch as my head pulsates in pain making me groan and grip my hair, hearing a voice speak.

"Seto? Seto, are you okay?"

I squeeze my eyes shut, letting out a shaky breath before I open my eyes, seeing I've been released from the recall and back in the End with the others.

Violet and Chimney have a hold of me, with worried looks on their faces. My head is killing me.

"Did you remember something?" Violet asked me.

I nod a bit. "A-A battle...Sycans...a massive army that was sieging a city..." I answered.

"Maybe you should lay down," Chimney suggested. I nod, sleep does sound good, despite how little I get of it in peace. My head hurts and I'm exhausted from that memory recall.

"Y-Yeah...good idea," I mumbled.

"Get him up!" a voice shouted making me flinch and close my eyes as the pain worsen.

As I did, I felt a hand grab my wrist as I heard the sound of battle closing in around me. I opened my eyes, seeing Brice grabbed my wrist.

"L-Leave me..." I stammered before Brice pulled me up and across his shoulders.

"Now is not the time for your jokes, Harvey," Brice said. He stepped back. "Can we hold them, Ty?!"

"No! There's too many! They'll overrun us!" I heard Ty's voice shout. I opened my eyes, seeing those monstrous creatures again. We're in Roylra and my leg is killing me.

"Pull back to the citadel! Retreat! Get the women and children out!" Brice shouted as he ran with Ty and Bodil protecting him and me.

"I...can walk..." I mumbled making Brice disagree yet again.

"You were stabbed in the leg with a demonic blade, Harvey. You can't walk," Brice argued. I felt him shift me on his shoulders. "Geez, you're heavier than I thought you would be."

"That's...hurtful..." I mumbled weakly. I hear him chuckle lightly. I pick my head up slightly, seeing we pass through a gate.

"Seal the gate once everyone is through! Leave no man, woman, or child behind!" Brice ordered.

"Harvey!" I heard someone cry out.

"Don't worry, he's alive. He's been injured by demonic weaponry, luckily it isn't a fatal wound like most would be. But the weapon's magical properties are taking hold of him. He fought until he couldn't stand on his own two feet anymore. Get him to the citadel for healing now," Brice said to someone before he laid me on a stretcher. I grabbed Brice's sleeve, stopping him from leaving.

"Brice..." I said looking at him. He grabbed my hand, looking at me with a smile.

"I'll be fine, Harvey. You need to rest, you've done enough for us. Once this is over, I'll check on you," he said before he loses his smile as he looked away from me. "Take him away now! Protect him with your lives!" He pried my hand off his sleeve before drawing his sword and running towards the gates with the others.

"B-Brice..." I mumbled before my vision darkened.

When I woke up, I'm back in the End, sitting in a chair with Violet having a hold of me, looking at me.

"Oh thank goodness, you're awake," she said seeing me conscious. Chimney grabbed my arm, putting it around his neck.

"Come on, we're taking you back to your bed for rest," he said. I don't argue as Violet and Chim get me to my feet. Violet puts my other arm around her neck, both of them helping me walk straight.

Which was helpful since my mind was clouded with what went on through those two memories. It was a lot to process.

So I was injured enough to have it cripple me during the battle at Roylra, so much so that Brice had to carry me to safety...

I wasn't expecting for the Prince of Solace to carry me, I expected him to make a soldier do it. But from what I can tell, Brice and I have this close friendship despite our personality differences.

And then there was that charge, the Sycans, Hugh, and the other guardians. When was that battle and who were we saving?

And...why did Memphis say that?