Chapter 21 Roy

Dinner came. Ace, Nora and I waited patiently for four hours. When the moment of truth came, I used the key to unlock the door. Once it was done, I looked outside to make sure that the coast was clear. When I was certain, I looked back at the Feradin siblings to confirm before breaking the key.

"Figures. You are an expert at escaping rooms afterall." Ace commented.

"I know!" I whispered and beamed proudly at them. “Thanks!”

"That was not a compliment." He snapped.

Stupid arrogant PRINCE!

I let Ace lead the way this time as he has a more solid sense of direction compared to me. We headed to where I assume is the way to the East. I followed him silently and I have to say, I was really impressed that Ace moves too quickly despite wearing heels. He was still dressed as LADY Grace in case we ever get caught. We were able to slip through the East gate and found the glowing blue jellyfish. As if the jellyfish sensed us, it started to move.

"Well that was easy." I said. And like I said before, I attracted a lot of bad juju.

As we were running, a man suddenly appeared in front of us. Like really appeared. A man with grayish hair looked at us and smirked. I saw that the whites of his eyes were black and his pupils were blood red. His skin looks like it was a combination of white and purple - like it was dead. "Well well, look at what we have here." We stopped up and slowly backed away. "Three pretty girls. Two of them ripe for the picking." He licked his lips greedily.

"You're an undead vampire, aren't you?"

"And you're a pretty little elf." The rogue commented before turning his gaze at me. "And you are?"

"A magical unicorn. Princess Mississippi Bloom Shakalaka." The man blinked at my statement. "And who are you?" I asked.

"My name is Roy Flarick. A general from the kingdom of Tereau." He grinned. "I wonder why the king offers us goods of low quality. Now I know. The greedy sea pig hides the best of the women." He chuckled and glanced at me. "I have never heard of you, princess Mississippi. Perhaps you want to come with me?"

The fact that Princess Mississipi is popular compared to Rose is kind of bothering me to be honest.

"No thanks." I said.

Ace moved and covered me from the vampire's gaze. "This is bad. He's a general." He cursed.

Roy looked at Ace and Nora. "How about I offer you a deal?" He told them. At that moment, my nose started itching again and I wanted to sneeze. "Leave Princess Mississippi and I will allow you two to leave. You two seem like siblings so that woman right there must mean nothing to you, right?"

At this moment, my eyes started to water from the sneeze that never came. Ace saw me and gave me a glance before returning his gaze back at Roy. He handed me Nora, whom I took while wiping the tears from my eyes. I blinked when he placed a hand on top of my head. "Even though I prefer not to see you, I will never hand you over to him. So stop crying and having that upset look on your face."

Upset? Upset who?

I blinked and watched as Ace marched towards Roy and punched him hard enough that the vampire fell on the ground. Roy snarled and glared at Ace. "Woman, how dare you!"

"Dang this stupid wig is getting in my eyes!!" Ace yelled and, with a flick of his hand, threw the wig aside. Then he threw away his cloak and revealed his large man muscles. He ripped off the constricting sleeves of the dress and even went as far as ripping off...actually he just ripped off the entire dress. Now the elf PRINCE is standing there shirtless and wearing his black trouser that he wore yesterday.

Wait, he was wearing trousers under the dress this whole time!? Tied to his trouser were a couple of small daggers as well. I have to admit that I was impressed at how he was able to hide them all. Kudos to the elf PRINCE.

Roy's mouth was gapping like a fish, as if he couldn't believe his eyes. That or his brain simply stopped working the moment he saw the beautiful lady turning into another beautiful man. Ace looked annoyed by the pathetic look on the vampire and gritted his teeth. "What? Haven't you seen a man wearing a dress before!?"

At that, Nora clapped her hands in delight. "Bwother Aish is so cool."

"Nora, not now." I whispered to her.

"You are one sick man."

"I do not want to hear that from someone who serves a mad king!" The moment that Ace said it, Roy charged at him. His nails elongated like daggers and he attempted to claw Ace. Ace deflected his nails with one of his daggers, then swung another one to Roy's cheek. Roy stumbled on the ground. A large gash, that was now closing, was on Roy's cheek. I had to grimace at the fact that nowhere was no blood coming out of the gash.

"No one insults King Ferius without having his head roll."

"I just did." Ace spat. "And as you can see. I am still standing."

"Let's see how long an elf can keep up with my vampire speed." Roy smirked and attacked again. This time he feigned an attack and managed to stab Ace's chest. Luckily, Ace jumped back before Roy's hand went anywhere deep. Ace gritted his teeth, his chest bleeding from the pricks.

"Get out of here." Ace gave us a side glance. "Now."

"Aish..." Nora looked worried and I had to force the little elf girl to look away. I do not want to get in Ace's way so I decided to follow him. I took Nora and decided to run towards the last direction where we saw the blue jellyfish. "Bwother, can't use his powers. Doesn't work." Nora mumbled.

"What do you mean?" I asked Nora as soon as we arrived at the empty port.

"His powers work on eawth and not watew." She said. I was about to break the marble that Prince Meruem gave me when I paused. I know that he is a great fighter and he can easily take on any rogue, but isn't Roy a general? And an undead vampire general at that. Can Ace really win?

Then I remembered how Roy was able to puncture his chest and my feet grew cold. We still have a few hours before Nate and the other will come to pick us up.

I set Nora on the ground. "Nora, you have to go without me. Nate and Ren will be at shore. Tell them to here as immediately."

"What about you, Wose?"

"I-I don't want to leave your brother. I am currently powerless, but I will find a way to help him survive until the others arrive." I admitted. But I actually have a plan in mind. I just hope that I can make it work.

I gave Nora the marble that Prince Meruem gave me and stepped away. Nora looked like she was ready to cry, but broke the marble anyway. A bubble started to form around her and carry her off and out of the magical barrier of Atla. As soon as I was certain that the bubble protected her from the water and that it could carry her off to the shore safely, I ran back. There, I saw that Ace and Roy were still fighting.

Ace was able to damage Roy's jaw as it was now hanging on loose veins. The sight along makes me want to puke. I noticed how Ace was only using one hand and realized that his left hand was actually dislocated. It would seem like Roy wanted to say something, but his jaw was still healing. I had to look away when I saw his nerves wrapping and merging - trying to fix and connect the jaw back to his face.

I learned that in order to kill an undead vampire, we either burn them, cut their heads, or stab their chest with a stake made of oak wood. At this point, the only thing we can do is for Ace to cut Roy's head off. But looking at Roy's jaw, I assume he tried and failed.

Roy lunged and Ace managed to deflect a fatal jab to his neck but he was kicked back by Roy's foot. Ace twisted in mid air and kicked one of his fallen daggers up. He caught it with his mouth and kicked the ground as he lunged for the vampire. As soon as Roy met his gaze, Ace threw the dagger in his hand and hit the vampire's eyes. Roy screamed in pain. Ace grabbed the other dagger in his mouth and used it to plunge the dagger in Roy's neck. There was a sickening crunch as he forced the dagger to cut bones. There was a thud as Roy's head fell on the ground.

Finally, it was over.

I ran after the fallen Prince. "Ace!" I yelled.

Ace looked at me weakly and frowned. "Nora." He said and I knew what he was asking me.

"She's safe. I sent her out first to get Nate and the others." I crouched and grabbed the cloak that he wore earlier. I tore it into strips using one of his daggers to bind it to his body until we can fix his arm. I used the rest of the remainder of the strips and wrapped it around his wounds.

"Seems like you...have some use after all." He panted. The side of his lip is turning blue from the bruise.

"Yeah yeah." I said and helped the royal prince up to his feet. I looked at Roy's body and towards the decapitated head on the ground, I grimaced. "And here I thought you needed help."

"It wasn't easy. I admit." He coughed. "That stubborn bastard scratched me a bit."

I gave the elf PRINCE a look. "A bit you say?" I gave him a dubious look.

"You want to argue with me?" He asked with a raised brow.

"No, PRINCE." I quickly said. I would like to keep my head, thank you very much.

"There they are!" Ace and I suddenly turned and saw King Virus - I mean - Corona glaring at us. A group of rogues and sea men gathering around us in every direction. Ace moved away from me and grabbed his fallen dagger on the ground. "I guess, there's no time to rest until the fang and mutt will arrive." He grunted.

"Ace-" I said. Ignoring the fact that he just called Nate and Ren as fang and mutt.

"PRINCE!"

"You can't fight them all in your current state." I said.

"Then who will fight? You?!" He demanded. "You stay here and sit!" He commanded and started to fake our pursuers.

I sat there and watched as Ace charged at them. I closed my eyes and refused to watch the exchange. I did say I have a plan to help him, but at the moment I am not sure if I can do it. But if I do succeed, wouldn't it be risky if they find out about me?

I shook my head from the thought and just tried to focus on my link with Custard. It wasn't easy because of the distance, but I was able to connect to Custard and see through his eyes. From Custard's vision, I saw Ren running towards the water to assist Nora, who just emerged. Nate ran after Ren and wrapped a blanket around her. Nora was crying but she was definitely asking them to go down and help us. Prince Zeraph looked frightened, but agreed to help them. By the time they arrive it will be too late. I have to at least try.

"Kill them! Kill them all." King Corona bellowed.

Try to summon Custard.

'Master?' I felt Custard through our link.

'Custard, I need you here right now.'

'Master, are you safe?'

'Come here.' I ordered and felt myself temporarily being drained of energy. No not energy - magic. But then it was gone. I tried again and this time, with a very firm thought, I used every ounce of energy that I can muster. But then I looked up and saw Ace falling to the ground. I panicked and ran. I picked up a fallen naginata and plunged it into the shoulder of his attacker. Then I tried to drag Ace into safety but he was too heavy for me.

Another beast man came and stood in front of me and morphed into a bear. It raised it's gigantic paw as it readied itself to attack. Ace tried to push me away, but I stayed put.

'Come!' I willed my familiar to come.

There was a gush of air that blew around us that the fighting stopped. Everyone turned towards the gigantic white wolf, that now stood at the center where the wind blew. I felt drained and ready to pass out at any moment. It seems like what Ace told me about summoning my familiar is true. Custard, now a big white wolf and currently larger than Ren and Dan when morphed, used his gigantic claw and knocked the bear out of the way. The impact was strong enough that it knocked several men down too. Custard backed away and covered us with his large body. He knocked several arrows and weapons that were headed our way.

"She's the Tamer! S-She's the one that King Ferius wants!"

"Get her!"

Custard gave me a glance as if asking for what's next. I feel ready to puke at the amount of magic that I was using. "Go for it. Knock them all out." I said with certainty. Custard ran and attacked everyone that dared come for us. Ace and I stood back and watched as my familiar went on a rampage and knocked back every single person that it laid it's eyes upon.

I stumbled back and Ace caught me with his good hand. "You're using too much magic on your familiar."

"If I stop I am afraid he might morph back to a small wolf." I gasped.

"Where are those idiots anyway?" He demanded.

"They...just found Nora. They might probably be still on their way." I told him.

My eyes widened when water formed around me and I was dragged away from Ace. I yelped and suddenly I was in the hands of the Virus - I mean - King Corona. "Either you stop your spirit or I will kill and cut your eyes out!" He threatened me.

I glared at the king and laughed. "I have heard a lot of threats from one single person. Yours cant even compare to his threats that I receive on a daily basis."

The King grabbed my neck and started to squeeze. "Father!" It was Prince Meruem. He was panting as if he was running before he came here. He gave his father a pleading look and carefully approached him. "Let her go. Please. You are siding with the wrong people."

"Shut up! You are becoming weak. How can you rule when you don't have the guts!?" He pointed his dagger at his own son. When Prince Meruem approached him - still pleading, King Corona finally lost his mind and stabbed his own son. Prince Meruem sank down on the ground clutching his stomach wound. "I don't need you. I still have another son!" He laughed. His eyes seem like it lost whatever sanity he has left. "Once I deliver this Tamer to Kind Ferius, a new era will rise! I, King Corona, will be known for making it happen!" He let out a maniac laugh.

Then there was a sickening jab and I looked at King Corona to see Ace's dagger poking from his head. The king's grip on my neck loosened as he fell on the ground. "You sick f*cking King!" Ace gritted his teeth and kicked the body of the dead king.

"Rose! Ace!" I heard Nate and Ren calling for us in the background. I could feel Custard devouring the essence of our enemies. There was so much going right now, but I could only stare at what was in front of me.

King Corona. Dead. PRINCE Ace had killed him. He killed Corona.