The Thousand Year Dynasty
Anthology 18

At her residence, Lucia who had just finished her bath was drying her hair in front of the dressing table with a large glass attached in front of her.

Already wearing a nightgown in the form of a silk peach dress, when suddenly he heard sounds like knocking from behind the window of his room on the second floor.

"Who?" asked Lucia who swiftly picked up a firearm located inside her dresser drawer, and then walked slowly towards the window.

And when he was close to the window, suddenly there was the sound of a huge explosion that surprised him. And as he was still in a shocked position and lowered his vigilance, suddenly a voice sounded from behind him.

When he turned to find out, there was already a man dressed as a hunter with a face covering with a blood-colored skull right in front of him.

Out of nowhere, the masked figure immediately lunged at Lucia with a long sword drawn right into her heart, even before Lucia was shocked.

When Lucia was unable to dodge quickly, another figure in black and white clothes who was also wearing a strange mask appeared just like that before Lucia. Behind him also stripped the opponent's sword that had been drawn to him.

Seeing the appearance of someone before him, the skull-masked figure had jumped backwards.

"Oh, really surprising. Light from the East?" The masked figure spoke. His voice sounds heavy. "So you're the original descendant of Hero Elbrasta? I thought the man was playing around with us, but he wasn't lying" he said, nodding lightly

"Who are you?" asked Lucia who had just been able to gather her strength to speak. It appears he pointed the gun in his hand at the skull masked figure.

While the masked figure of the other one just fell silent not speaking or moving in the slightest. The position of the horses looks perfect for immediate defense, and counter-attack.

"You don't sound right to us. Impressed more personally isn't it, Queen Elbrasta?" said a masked figure of the skull, which then appeared several other masked people. With clothes that have a red black pattern that matches the previous figure.

"Queen!" Along with Jean from the entrance of Lucia's room, a strange masked figure wearing a black-and-white robe began to appear, standing before eight other masked figures. "What's going on?" Jean is shocked to find sixteen masked men in Lucia's room.

Suddenly we heard the screams of Aunt Lucia from the guest room not far from Lucia's room.

"Auntie?!" exclamation Lucia who immediately ran towards the exit, which triggered the movement of all the masked people.

The clanging of swords echoed along Lucia running.

A masked man appeared suddenly right next to Lucia while slashing his sword at Lucia, but at the same time another figure with a strange black-and-white mask repelled the attack.

And that's what happened over and over again along Lucia running through the exit of her room. The users of the skull masks were always trying to attack Lucia, and the black and white masked men were trying to resist their attacks and protect Lucia.

Jean, who saw this, immediately escorted Lucia out of her room.

"For the gods! Mugger?! What the hell is going on?" Lucia and Jean are surprised to find ten Yllgarian-like Crocodiles in the corridor outside Lucia's room, fighting some of the Queen's guardian soldiers.

"Auntie, Alexander, and Eden" said Lucia who just ran towards the guest room. This is now her aunt's room.

"Queen wait!" Immediately Jean ran after Lucia and prepared to resist the attacks of the Muggers who realized their existence and began to attack.

-

Meanwhile at the Bar, people immediately came out to check things out. Suddenly, the clock tower in the city square exploded.

Everyone looked surprised. Some of the people on the street seemed to start panicking when they saw the flames soaring in the middle of the city, after they had previously been startled by the sound of a loud explosion.

"Are we under attack?" diana asked as she looked around.

"Damn it, how can it?!" sahut Sigurd sounded in disbelief.

"This magic... Arcane Space Time!" Yvvone sensed the familiar flow of magic.

"Who used the transfer crystals?" ask Ende to Yvvone to make sure.

"Diana, Ende, Sigurd, you check into the town square" Shuri ordered immediately. "Me, Thomas, and Axel will check the direction of the Station. And for the others immediately go to a safe place," he continued before then the two groups of Fire Stars spread east and west.

"I think for a while you guys take shelter in this place, I'll help them check" Rafa said as everyone returned to the bar.

"Then I will head east, to give word and ask for help" Luke said.

"It should now be with a network of watchtowers that other regions must already know that this region is in danger" Haldin responded.

"Right, but I'll make sure." Luke replied again.

"Let me take the Iron Train to be faster" Fla said later, staring at Livia, as if asking for her approval.

"Alright, be careful both of you," Livia replied later.

"I will accompany you, Miss Rafa," Yvvone said this time offering himself.

"Well," answered Rafa quickly, because he knew Yvvone's help would be very useful.

"Be careful of you all." Luque uttered that answered a deep nod by the others.

Yvvone and Rafa are out of the bar with Luke and Fla. And just as they were outside, there was a noise coming from the direction of the town square.

"That voice... Is that an army?" luke has a much sharper sense of hearing than the two humans and the one Elf he has with him today.

And not long after that successive explosions occurred from the direction of the city square.

"We have to get there soon, Miss Yvvone," said Rafa as he pulled out his wand.

"Then, we'll go straight east" said Fla, who started running towards Pietro's Iron Train next to the Bar.

While Yvvone immediately grabbed Rafa's body from behind, and jumped up and then darted rapidly towards the direction of the explosion.

-

"How did all this happen?" Katarina asked frantically and fearfully from inside the Bar.

Seigfried and James were closing all the Bar windows and doors. Now in the bar there were only ten people left. Livia, Luque, Couran, Haldin, Ellian, Katarina, Edward, Luna, Seigfried, and James.

"Damn it, it's all my fault. I should make sure that there is no gap at all for intruders to enter this Central region" said Luna who sounded angry and disappointed with herself. "I should have forced on Her Majesty the Queen to install the Mystical Instrument of Soul Stream intruder within the city," he added, again beginning to look disappointed in himself.

"You've done your best, Miss Luna. We cannot guess exactly what will happen in the future" said Ellian who tried to encourage Luna.

"No, Miss Ellian. This is something very clear, and I still can't see it" Luna replied later. "Now that one intruder has made it in, with the Space-Time Arcane, they can make their way in for the entire army" he said, explaining the grave mistake he had made.

"You don't have to blame yourself, Miss Luna. Now that everything has happened, we can only hope that whatever is going on now can be handled immediately by the soldiers" Luque said later, trying to change the atmosphere of the room.

"This central region doesn't even have any soldiers at all. There are only city guards and some fighters" said Luna again who looks like giving up. "That's all because all the soldiers were sent to the outskirts, because we lack soldiers and feel that this region is safe enough" he continued.

"Let's not give up first" Luque said, smilingly staring at Luna.

-

Meanwhile, back to Lucia's residence. It appears Jean and four guard soldiers are fighting against five Muggers in the corridor outside Lucia's room.

Lucia starts using the firearms she has to clear her path to her aunt's room.

Some Muggers are seen lying down groaning because they are pierced by several hot bullets in the legs and arms.

And by continuing to do so, Lucia finally managed to arrive in front of the aunt's room. Then without a second thought, Lucia opened the door and entered the guest room.

"Queen, wait!" jean shouted as she saw Lucia disappear from her sight. Entering the Guest Room alone. "That girl!!" he shouted furiously while swinging his sword furiously towards the opponent before him. Trying as fast as possible to defeat him and chase Lucia.

Lucia herself arrives in her room just as one of the Muggers stabs a sword into her aunt's stomach.

"No, auntie!" Excited Lucia while pulling the trigger of the weapon in her hand blindly. Which makes Yllgarian Crocodile who stabbed his aunt did not have time to avoid and died instantly. With a few bullets from Lucia's gun that pierced the Mugger's heart and head.

Then Lucia immediately ran over to her aunt who was now lying covered in blood on the floor.

"Auntie, hold on" said Lucia, lifting her body up onto her lap. Blood began to wash over the nightgown that Lucia was wearing.

"No, Lucia. Alexander's... Eden's..." The aunt had difficulty breathing. His face seemed to be enduring the pain.

"No Aunty, hang on first" said Lucia, with a half-crying face clutching her hand tightly.

"Lucia.. save Alexander and Eden.." said the aunt who then broke up before she could finish her sentence. And along with that his hands and head began to fall helplessly over Lucia's lap.

"No, aunt. Aunties.... No. don't." Lucia just cried as she pleased with her hand still tightly grasping her aunt's hand.

"Queen!" Suddenly Jean appeared from the entrance, who then quickly approached Lucia and sensed the condition of the aunt who was on the lap of the Narva girl.

"He's dead, Queen," Jean replied after finishing checking the pulse on the aunt's neck.

"No..." Lucia said softly.

"Now is not the time to be sad, Queen. We need to do something about all this" Jean said later. "Possibly the Muggers still roam a lot in this residence. Not to mention the people who use the mask," he explained.

"Queen, wait! Ck, that girl!" sahut Jean finds Lucia again running out of the room. "The others stood guard and asked some of the servants who were still in this residence to take care of the body that began Queen Daisy. And the rest followed me down" he ordered some of the guards who ran after Lucia.

-

Meanwhile, in the town square, Diana, Ende, and Sigurd are facing dozens of Muggers, some of whom are quite reliable fighting witches.

"Are they the Mugger Fighters Union, the Blood Swamp?" Sigurd said after successfully dropping a Mugger dressed as a fighter with a double-sided axe as his weapon.

"How did they get to this place?" Diana asked from behind Sigurd and Ende.

"An even more precise question is who is the one who is able to hire and command them to attack here," retorted Sigurd who was still putting the defensive horses together while remaining vigilantly observing the movements of his opponent.

"Can magic and weapons hurt them?" asked Ende who was not out of thought after he saw one of the Muggers standing back after receiving the lightning magic that he released.

"No, they only had a very high battle will. To the limit of their ability to withstand pain is very high," Sigurd quickly replied. "Added with stamina and a very good way of fighting, it makes them look like they are immune to weapons and magic. And that's what helped them build their reputation up to what it is today" he explained later.

"Alright, the information you provided is very clear, Sig," Diana said in response to Sigurd's explanation.

"And obviously, it's going to be a very long night" Ende said.

The three of them had begun to be surrounded by the Muggers from various directions, when then Yvvone and Rafa descended from the sky with magic ready to be released.

And Yvvone with wind magic and Rafa with earth magic instantly swept over a part of the side that was besieging Ende, Diana, and Sigurd earlier.

"Finally, our help came," said Diana who looked relieved.

"Death to you Blood Swamp! You will not stand before Aeron and the Firearms Witch of the Rhalsodia Kingdom" said Sigurd, who made Rafa feel ashamed.

-

While Shuri, Axel, and Thomas were checking the Steam Train Station, they found panicked people running. Several city guards and workers at the station tried to calm them down and direct them.

While on the train line to the south, the fire looks soaring. And it looks like a pretty horrible sight. Several guards were seen trying to rescue the injured man and were trapped among dozens of overturned carriages around the railway line.

And immediately, the three Fire Star members ran to where the dozens of carriages were located, to join in providing assistance.

It turned out that there were already several children members of the Star of Fire in that place.

"What the hell is going on?" shuri asked later, to a bald-headed Morra who appeared to be wearing the clothes of a fighter.

"According to witnesses who saw said that this Steam Train Locomotive suddenly exploded while walking. And made the carriages behind him flung in all directions as we see them today" the bald man replied later.

"All right then. Immediately ask for help from other guards to secure other residents. The town square was also in danger at this time. So be careful," said Shuri ruled and at the same time give a reminder to the members' children. "And make sure once again to the other territories. If possible, ask them to send assistance to this Central City" he added.

"Okay, chief!" the bald man replied before then running towards the city.

"Damn it!" sumpat Shuri who then immediately helped Axel who had already helped people out of the carriages.

While Thomas has begun to heal some of the injured people who are lying on the outskirts of the train line.

-

Back to Lucia's house. It seems that some of the guard soldiers were fiercely fighting against some Muggers in the living room, when Lucia was descending the stairs down.

Lucia swiftly started aiming at the several Muggers from the top of the stairs and dropped them one after another. Giving the guard soldiers a chance to turn things around.

Then Lucia immediately headed to her study room which was not far from the position of the stairs earlier, when her guard soldiers already looked superior to her opponent.

Lucia went straight to the wooden cabinet to the right of the entrance in her study. Open the drawer inside the closet to pick up another gun and a few bullet containers. Not to forget, Lucia also wore her long-sleeved suit that hung on the back of her work chair when she was about to walk out.

And after Jean caught up with Lucia with the other guard soldiers, the number of Muggers in the living room was only three, that was then easily finished off by the soldiers who had just come with Jean.

"You saved Alexander and Eden" said Lucia, ordering her guards, as she walked to her nephew's second room.

And as soon as it arrived in front of Alexander and Eden's room, it seemed that a fierce fight was taking place. Fifteen soldiers were seen fighting against eight Muggers.

And as soon as she found the door to her nephew's room open, Lucia immediately ran through the fight and entered the room. Jean appears to be following while trying to protect her.

Seen in the room, three Muggers are fighting a knight who looks seriously injured trying to cover Alexander and Eden.

Seeing this, Jean deftly helped the knight earlier, by attacking one of the three Muggers in front of him. Lucia also began aiming her pistol at one of the Muggers.

And after some pull of the trigger from Lucia's gun, and some slashes of Jean's sword, the three Muggers were defeated. But the protective knights Alexander and Eden earlier, looked badly wounded. He could barely stand up anymore.

The bodies of two of Alexander and Eden's caregivers were not far from the bed. Looks bloody.

Then Lucia immediately ran towards her two nephews who were seen curled up at the end of the room. Eden looks scared. Alexander looked as flat-faced as ever.

"You guys are okay? The al? Ed?" Lucia seemed worried. He hugged Eden's head and Alexander took turns.

"I'm fine, brother. Eden is fine too. Moreover, worry about Rachel, Nanda, and Nash" Alexander said in a flat tone. Which was meant for their two female servants, and the knight who had been desperately protecting them.

"Don't worry, the soldiers will take care of them" Lucia replied later while stroking Eden's head.

"What about Mother?" alexander asked then who made Lucia silent.

Lucia did not know what to answer Alexander's question. He could not bear to say that their mother was dead.

"It seems we can continue that conversation later," said Jean suddenly, who saved Lucia from Alexander's question. "Now we have to do something about this. It looks like they're attacking the city right now, too" Jean continued.

"really? Then we'll talk again after this, Al," said Lucia who then headed to her room. While some maidservants and men had already come to take care of Alexander and Eden. Also help the guard soldiers deal with the wounded. There was a healer who lived in the residence.

"Where were the masked men?" lucia asked as she returned to her own room.

"I don't know. Maybe they move places, or maybe their fight is over, even if we don't know who the winner is" Jean replied later.

"Then, do you want to hear from Caspian? Which areas have suffered attacks?" asked Lucia who started changing her blood-soaked nightgown earlier.

"I haven't heard from Caspian. We only know that this town was attacked because there was a city guard who just reported." Jean answered.

"Then what about the Muggers in this place?" asked Lucia again after she had changed her clothes with combat-ready clothes, which were complete with body armor.

"They've got it all removed" Jean replied quickly.

"All right then. Brackets all surviving Muggers into one. Then send some soldiers to the city to help, "Lucia orders while refilling the bullets from both of her pistols

"Okay, Her Majesty the Queen," Jean replied with a nod.

And as soon as Lucia came out of her room, suddenly one Mugger jumped from the side and slashed his huge axe towards Lucia's head vertically, from top to bottom.

Surprised, Lucia could no longer dodge, but just before Mugger's axe blade touched Lucia's head, Jean leapt in front of Lucia and confronted the axe with her sword.

However, the strength of the axe, coupled with Mugger's powerful swing, caused Jean's sword to be unable to withstand it. The sword broke in two. While the blade of his axe continued to slide against Jean's right shoulder. Which then stamped in.

While Lucia who was pushed aside by Jean looked surprised when she found Jean's body covered in blood.

"Jean!" lucia shouted unconsciously.

Seeing his first attack miss out on Lucia, the Mugger again prepared to launch his second attack on Lucia.

But because Jean grasped tightly the axe that some of the blade stuck deep in his body, making Mugger who had difficulty to pull the axe, finally released it and immediately attacked Lucia with his bare hands. While some other soldiers began to appear to arrive at that place.

"Run.." said Jean Lirih.

Lucia who did not have a good reflex motion was unable to dodge when Mugger's hand hit her stomach. And made him slam back hit the table in his room until it was destroyed.

Lucia was squirming on the floor. His stomach feels very painful. The Mugger seemed unrelenting, giving Lucia time to breathe. The Mugger began to step forward towards Lucia.

But fortunately, before Mugger was about to act again, three guard soldiers managed to stab their three swords towards the Mugger, trying to lock his movements. But it doesn't seem to work very well. Mugger was still able to face the three soldiers.

The pain is now beginning to spread all over Lucia's body. He seemed to be trying to get up in a limp. He saw his gun lying not far from where he was standing. And immediately he took the gun and then aimed it at the head of Mugger who was fighting the three soldiers.

And after the first two shots only penetrated the shoulders and arms of the Mugger, the third shot managed to hit the human head Crocodile. And stop his movement for good.

And though she was enduring the pain all over her body, Lucia immediately ran over to Jean, who was lying at the door of her room, covered in blood with an axe stuck in the front of his shoulder to his right chest.

"Jean!"

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