Elam and Sena arrived at the hideout when the sun was about to set. The sky was pastel blue with peachy and pastel pink clouds. It was a beautiful sky.

As Sena was changing back to her white robes, she could hear Elam's voice from inside the house. He was reporting his sightings.

"The Royal Capital was completely under Lusitanian control.

"What of my Lord Father?" Arslan asked.

"Neither the soldiers nor the townspeople seemed to know where the King was."

"I see."

Sena halted behind Narsus and Daryun, back to her original clothes. Elam was still removing his disguise. Underneath his pink robe is his usual clothes.

"Well, I also have something to report." Sena says, surprising everyone inside. They didn't notice that she was there. She smirked at their reactions. "Be careful, I might just be by your side without you even noticing."

Narsus and Daryun gave way for her to enter, and she enters. Standing beside Arslan, she said her report.

"Marzban Shapur and Marzban Garshasph are dead." She said, arms crossed.

Everyone was shocked to hear that two other Marzbans are dead. The Lusitanians have killed four Marzbans now, and one has betrayed His Majesty. The Marzbans are slowly dwindling.

Daryun had his fist clenched. He can't believe that the savages are killing Marzbans easily.

"Marzban Sam is missing. And it seems King Innocentius VII and his younger brother, Guiscard the Grand Vizier of Lusitania, is residing in the Royal Palace. Just like what Elam said, no one knows what happened to His Majesty, same as the Lady Queen." And that ends Sena's report.

"Also, Kharlan left the palace, leading soldiers to capture Your Highness. There were over a thousand cavalrymen." Elam added.

"What? Is that not somewhat excessive for the purpose of capturing me?" Arslan pointed out.

"They do not know how many we number, after all. Not to mention, Your Highness us a walking, talking just cause. If you were to be placed at the head of an army, we could rally together a force that would stand against Lusitania." Narsus explained.

"For Lusitania, that would be extremely inconvenient." Elam says as he washed his face, removing face powder that made him look like a girl.

"But how do you suppose they intent to discover where I am hiding?" Arslan asks.

"If I were Kharlan and I wished to capture Your Highness as quickly as possible, I would first attack some suitable village and burn it down." Narsus said.

"Burn down a village?!"

"After that, there are several ways I could go about it. Burn the village, kill the villagers, and make a declaration of the deed to extort Your Highness. That is one way. For as long as Your Highness does not make an appearance, I burn village after village, killing innocent people."

"W-Wait! Would Kharlan go so far? He is still a warrior!"

"A most exemplary warrior, who sold out his king and country."

"Even if he didn't dirty his hands with the killing, there is Ellia. She would gladly kill the villagers without second thought." Sena pointed out.

Arslan tried to take it all in, staying silent for a while. Everyone was waiting patiently for his response.

"Can you tell which village Kharlan will attack?" Arslan said.

"Certainly. His company will lead the way and we simply follow them. Shall we do that?"

Standing up, his eyes showed resolve. He was ready to face whatever comes at him.

"We leave immediately! Saddle the horses!"

Elam and Arslan saddles the horses while the three adults stayed inside the house, discussing. Sena was there to listen to their conversation.

"Narsus, Kharlan is not a simple man. Forming up for all to see and leaving the Royal Capital in broad daylight..." Daryun was worried.

"A trap to lure His Highness out? That is a possibility." Narsus says.

"If you think so, then why not stop him?"

"Daryun, in truth, I have high hopes for that prince as a man of caliber. And in any event, unless we hear it from Kharlan himself, we have no way of the circumstances behind this."

Daryun had his lips curved. "Had His Highness not set out to save the village, you were planning to deem him unfit to be a ruler and forsake him, were you not?"

"Hmph." Narsus closes his eyes and bowed his head. He was found out.

"It's a relief that things went this way, because if you really abandoned Arslan..." Sena had a sadistic look. "I'll come and find you no matter what strategic plans you put in my face."

Narsus' head started to sweat, taking that into consideration. He'll have to be careful around her.

Arslan called out to the three. "Daryun! Narsus! Sena! Let us leave quickly! A village may be under attack even as we speak!"

He was in a hurry and was restless. Seeing how the prince is, the three adults looked at each other and smiled. They are serving a worthy prince.

♔♕♖♗♘ Arslan Senki ♞♝♜♛♚

The night was dark. Kharlan's army were marching in the middle between two mountains, holding fire torches for a light source. It was a huge army that no one could easily defeat, but with the right strategy and manpower, its different.

Narsus watches from a higher vantage point. "Believing that you have outwitted me, you let yourself be lured into these mountains without question, Kharlan. It is always those with passably sharp minds who dance most prettily upon the game board."

Noticing someone from behind, Narsus barely evades the attack from an unknown person. Strands of hair was been cut. He quickly unsheathes his sword to deflect the next attack, causing sparks to fly.

The spark revealed that his attacker is a woman and the woman was surprised to see that he was able to black her attack. They back away, having a stance to get ready for the next strike.

"You are not a Lusitanian soldier?" The woman had her mouth covered with a white cloth.

"You do not serve Kharlan?" Narsus countered. "Who are you?"

"I am Narsus and I serve Prince Arslan." Narsus introduced himself.

The woman takes back her stance and puts back her dagger. "Forgive me. I am Farangis. I serve the Divine Mithra." She uncovers her mouth. "I have come in the holes of offering my aid to Prince Arslan."

She has black midnight hair and emerald green eyes. She was a beauty like no other.

"Oh-ho, an ally for His Highness! All right, let us put you to work right away."

"You do not doubt me?"

"If you were with Kharlan's company or on Lusitanian's side, right about now, you would be raising your voice to reveal my location. We are about to capture the traitor Kharlan and take him to Prince Arslan. Mor manpower is a welcome addition."

"How many are currently in His Highness' service?" Farangis asks.

"My retak, myself, one night of matchless skill, and a ferocious mobile assassin. And with the addition of you two, that makes six."

Farangis looks over to tree behind her. A man reveals and pointed himself. "Six, huh..."

Hiding in the bushes not too far away are Arslan and Elam. They have been watching the army marching through the terrain that was obviously a disadvantage for the large army. Elam decides to give his bow and arrows to Arslan, wishing that it would keep him safe.

The night sky was a bit cloudy but the stars are still visible. The moon was a very thin crescent, barely giving any moonlight.

It was time to move. And so everyone goes to their assigned places and roles.

The army stops, seeing Arslan on top of a hill with his horse. Beside him was a huge lit torch, standing on the ground. It showed that the person speaking was indeed the prince.

"Kharlan, I am here! I cannot stand by and watch you murder any more innocent people!" Prince Arslan yells.

"Arslan!" Kharlan yelled out from the bottom. "Kill him! His head is worth a hundred thousand gold pieces!"

The soldiers charged at Arslan, going up the steep hill. With the right timing in place, Arslan kicks the torch to the bottom as a distraction. After doing so, he starts to shoot the soldiers using the bow and arrows Elam gave.

When one soldier was able to get up the hill, Elam shows himself and throws a trap to the horse. It would tie the horse's legs together and cause them to fall from imbalance.

The soldiers at the bottom were confused, unable to see anything at the top of hill. They suspected a lot of things.

"Bring me more torches!"

"How many are there against us?" The soldiers prepares an arrow to shoot from the bottom.

With one swift quiet motion, Narsus strikes the soldier down and leaves in an instant. The army was baffled. Just what was going on?

Narsus creates a cloud of dust as his horse gallops around, using it to cover what was really happening. Before tw soldiers can shoot at the direction Narus had fled, an arrow hits head.

The army thought there were archers hiding in the woods but there was only one. Farangis left as the soldiers concentrated shooting into the woods.

Gieve enterd the field and killed some soldiers with his longsword. Narsus meets up with him. No one can see anything clearly because it was dark and there are no lit torches.

"Nicely done." Narsus compliments.

"This is nothing." Gieve grinned.

Everything was in chaos. The morality of the army fell.

"Where?! Where are they coming from?!"

"Are we surrounded?"

"How many are there against us?"

"A hundred? Two hundred?"

Using their confusion, Elam made a boulder fall down the mountain causing the ground to shake. "It's Daryun! Marzabn Daryun is charging this way!" Elam yelled.

"D-Daryun?!"

"What do we do?"

"Daryun?!"

"S-Scatter!"

"Hey! Do not run!"

The men fled in fear, not wanting to face the Mardan fu Mardan. It caused much chaos in the terrain.

"I took advantage of his notiriety, but I never imagined it would be quite so effective. I leave the rest to you, Sena, Daryun." Narsus watches the chaos at the bottom from above.

Kharlan and Arslan came face to face. One of them has to die, it was inevitable.

"Kharlan, I wish to ask you... As a Marzban... No, not even that. As a knight of Pars... No one has ever spoken ill of you behind your back. So why have you bent your knee to the likes of Lusitania?!"

"I cannot think that greed got the better of you. If there is a reason, I beg if you, tell me!"

"It is for your own good that you do not know. Believe that I, Kharlan, am a heinous traitor and die, ill-fated son of Andragoras!"

They both drew their swords. Kharlan's attack has been brought to a stop when Daryun enters on his horse.

"Daryun!"

"Your Highness, you have shown admirable restraint thus far. Please stand back and leave the rest to me."

"All right."

"I am your opponent, Kharlan!" Daryun yells with a fearsome look in his eyes.

"Daryun!"

The two clash weapons and each time it clashed, sparks fly around. Both of them ran off to a farther distance.

Unable to detect a soldier at an earlier time, Arslan couldn't deflect the attack immediately. But an arrow pierced the man's body and falls of his horse. Looking at the source, he sees a woman with black hair who had her mouth covered. It was Farangis.

Farangis puts a hand to her chest in respect and bows her head slightly. It was to greet the prince.

The time for the Freelancer to act has arrived. With the men was fleeing the terrain, the brunette riding her horse gets her bow. Having a clear vision of the things going around her, nothing would escape her eyes.

She got ten arrows and stretched the string of the bow, aiming at the fleeing men. Feeling the rush of adrenaline, she smirks and lets the arrows fly. They have pierced shoulders here and there.

With her fast draw, she shoots the soldiers with four arrows at a time at an incredible rate. The bodies were starting to pile up and soldiers thought that archers were on top of the hill.

Just when she ran out of arrows was only when she drew out her longsword. She had no plan on using her greatsword. It was only for last resort and for worthy battles. Using the greatsword against fellow Parsians is not something she wants to do.

Charging to the bottom, she slices each and every soldier that came her way.

"It's the Empress of a Hundred Weapons!"

"Sena's here!"

"The female Marzaban!"

"Run! Nothing escapes the mobile assassin!"

"How cruel of you to not even mention my caliber as a Freelancer. That's where I hold my pride in the most." Sena grins as she slaughters those who were trying to flee.

"Sena!" A yell of hate was heard throughout the battlefield.

Looking back, Sena knew who it was. It's time to shut Ellia's mouth.

Holding her spear, she charges at Sena while riding her horse. The brunette cancels out her attack by swaying her longsword, making sparks fly.

Ellia's face was full of anger and jealousy. Sena pittied that Ellia was born this way. If it wasn't for jealousy or the want to be famous, she would have been great and powerful who would be known to be fearsome.

Ellia's attacks were simple and done out of hatred, nothing about was special. For Sena, it was easy deflecting and cancelling them out. If only Ellia wasn't so desperate, it would have been a great battle. This was a joke.

Having enough of her childish play even if she was three years older, Sena throws away Ellia's spear and pointed her sword towards Ellia's neck. Not wanting to accept defeat, she goes far as to throw sand at Sena's face.

The blonde always hated the eyes of Sena. They were a beautiful color of amber. With Sena's demeanor as a killer, those eyes always looked demonic to Ellia. Those eyes knows no fear as if she had seen hell itself. It was never clouded, they looked clear as ever. Ellia thought that she deserved to be blinded this way.

The brunette was blinded and her eyes hurt from the sand. She laughed in amusement.

"That's my move, copycat." She says with eyes closed.

Using the chance, Ellia gets a shortsword from her waist and charges at Sena. Because her senses evolved over the course of time from different situations, Sena could clearly hear and feel everything around her. Imagining the field and Ellia's attack, the Freelancer sways her sword to Ellia's direction.

Having a direct hit to the side of her stomach, she falls from her horse.

Having a pouch of water with her, Sena washes her face and eyes with it. The sand has more or less been cleared from her eyes.

Opening her eyes, Ellia saw the eyes she always hated. Those amber eyes that know no fear.

"You bastard! You're the devil!" Ellia yells in pain.

"There's nothing wrong with being prepared. I am always prepared for everything, take note of that." Sena says, sheathing her sword.

"Not that! How can you adopt so quickly?! It's abnormal! Everything about you is abnormal!"

"Is that how you perceive me? If you have a complaint, complain it to the gods who made me this way because I never wanted a life like this."

Finding things settled as for the moment, Sena leaves Ellia and hurries over to Prince Arslan. She didn't care if Ellia makes it out alive. Either way works out for her. If Ellia manages to survive, they would clash again. If Ellia dies, Sena would not have to worry about her again.

Out of nowhere, a magician peeks his upper body from the ground. He gets Ellia's body and they both submerged to the ground. Both of them were no longer seen in the battlefield.

Going to the hilltop where Arslan was positioned, she sees the prince not too far away. She unmounted her horse and heads towards Kharlan who was on the ground and stabbed.

Seeing this, Sena hurries and goes over to their side. I thought Narsus made it clear to Daryun not to kill Kharlan?

Sena mades it to the group, seeing the spearhead in Kharlan's chest. It was a broken spearhead. What happened?

"Kharlan!" Daryun kneels to Kharlan's side as Narsus stands beside him. "Where is the King?!"

"King Andragoras is... The King is alive. But the throne is already no longer in his possession. The rightful king will ascend the throne." Kharlan says with his lasts breaths.

"The rightful... King?" Daryun says in surprise, looking at Narsus and Sena.

Arslan unmounted his horse and arrived quickly, just barely a moment away from hearing what Kharlan says.

"Do not die..." Arslan says, catching his breath. "Kharlan, you must not die!"

Kharlan narrows his eyes as he sees the people surrounding him. He was thinking of the prince's new companions. A woman, a child, and the guy from the underground passage, the court-hating bastard.

It was obvious that Kharlan was dying. The look on his face says so.

"Do not die, Kharlan! Live!" And yet the prince still wishes for him to live. Even if he had done some wrong, Arslan wishes for him to live.

Kharlan's face looked relieved for a moment, almost smiling. He holds Arslan's knees.

"I... cannot... do as you order!"

Those were his final words, leaving this world. Arslan's face soured, feeling awful for Kharlan's death.

The three adults looked at each other. They had news they didn't expect.

"It seems King Andragoras is alive." Narsus says.

"My lord father?"

"Unfortunately, we were unable to get anything else out of him."

"My lord father is alive?"

"Your Highness, if he is alive, you will surely see him again someday. If the Lusitanian army has kept the King alive to this day, they must have a good reason. And they will surely continue to refrain from inflicting undue harm." Daryun pointed out.

"Yes." Arslan stands up, and the three followed suit.

Sena thought of Kharlan's words. The rightful King to the throne. Who can that be? It's no other than Arslan.

Not only that, they weren't able to talk like how Sena promised. Sena said to hear Kharlan's reason of betrayal but it seems it would never happen.