In the afternoon right when the sun shines the brightest at the top of the mountain, Shuhua went up and summoned all the strong creatures that could fight alongside them. They all bowed their heads to her.

“All of you, remember to follow not just my commands but also the members I’ll be leading this battle with. I’m not forcing any of you to come with us. So only those who are willing to fight with us and are ready for the worst would stay. The rest of you are free to leave.”

Shuhua waited, but none of them moved and left.

“Are you all sure about this? A true warrior doesn’t step back and cry in the middle of a war”, said Shuhua.

Still, no one stepped back.

Shuhua smiled and said, “I’m very lucky to have all of you. I hope none of us will die.”

“It is normal for colleagues to die during war. You should be prepared too, my queen”, said a mandrill.

Shuhua nods and says, “I know. But I’ll do my best to protect everyone”.

Together, they went down the mountain.

“Wow~ That’s a whole lot more than I expected”, said Miyeon.

“Shuhua—” Soojin smiles, feeling really proud of Shuhua who already looks like a true leader.

“Let’s go”, said Shuhua.

The five of them stayed beside her and took the lead as planned.

[AT THE PALACE]

“Are those soldiers?” One soldier who was guarding the entrance of the palace asked.

His co-soldier frowned and tried to get a clearer view of the mass amount of creatures walking towards the palace.

“Animals? I think they are animals!”

“Why would animals come in a big group here?! It’s not like they have intelligence like us!”

“But they are really animals!” He insisted.

“He’s right. They are animals. I can see tigers, lions, bears and more from here.” Another soldier said.

“Should we tell the lord about this?”

“No need. Animals would be a piece of cake!” One soldier said.

As they get nearer, they realized there are six humans riding horses in front. Six women who give them the feeling they’re gonna be torn to pieces anytime if they fight them back.

“Tell the lord about it! Stay alert, all of you! They must be the ones who killed the four pillars!” Their head general shouted.

They weren’t doing anything yet but their eyes were already making the soldiers quiver in fear, especially the one with the golden-brown eyes in the middle.

“All of you, to your position!” The general shouted.

The soldiers get their swords and arrows ready as they go to their position.

“They are starting. Wait for my signal”, said Shuhua.

Arrows started flying to them from a distance.

“Yuqi!” Shuhua calls her.

“I know!” Yuqi protected them all with her plants.

After a while, Yuqi said, “They’ve stopped shooting arrows”.

“Wait, not yet.” Shuhua does her best to hear the enemy better.

“They should scatter! That way, it would be harder for the plant user to protect them all and we’ll be able to kill them one by one!”

“Their main goal is scattering us for Yuqi to fail to protect us from this kind of attack. They are belittling us”, said Shuhua.

“Miyeon and Minnie will take care of the ones in front, Yuqi and Soyeon will take care of the ones shooting from top of the palace, while Soojin and I will take the ones in the middle. Right after the plant uncover us, let’s all run to the palace and start the attack!” Shuhua instructed.

“Keep your eyes on us! You won’t want to miss out combo!” Yuqi boasted.

“We also have combos! You think you’re the only one who does?!” Minnie asked.

“I guess only Soojin and I doesn’t have one”, Shuhua chuckled.

Suddenly, Soojin held Shuhua’s hand.

“Calm down. You’re shaking”, said Soojin.

Shuhua smiled and said, “Thank you”.

“Now!” Shuhua shouted.

Yuqi uncovered them. As instructed, they scattered into three groups.

“Scattering us is actually better. These bastards just don’t understand”, said Soojin.

“They’ll understand once they see.”

With Soyeon’s fire and Yuqi’s plant, both of them were able to get to the upper part of the palace really quick as planned.

“They’re fast!” The soldiers got surprised.

Meanwhile, in the front line, the General shouted, “Attack!”

The soldiers ran to them, but suddenly stopped moving.

“What are you all waiting for?!” The general shouted.

None of them answered and they all collapsed.

“What is—” He heard a soothing voice out of the blue and suddenly felt too weak until he also lose his life.

The range that Minnie’s voice can reach have risen with the help of Miyeon. She made icy breeze take her voice to a distance.

“Sorry, but—” Minnie pants.

“—I don’t think I can do more.” She continued.

“You did well, Minnie. That was a lot! Thank you! Ms. Horse, take care of her until she get enough strength back. I’m counting on you.” Shuhua taps the horse.

The horse bowed and ran away with Minnie for the meantime to let her rest.

“Looks like I got nothing else to do here”, said Miyeon.

Shuhua says, “Go now.”

Miyeon nods and leaves with her horse.

“It’s our turn”, Shuhua told Soojin.

Soojin nods.

“Let’s go!” Shuhua shouted.

They all attack the soldiers in the middle for them to be able to enter the palace. Some animals were harmed, and some were killed before Shuhua’s eyes. She wanted to tell them to stop and just go but she knew that wasn’t the time for her to be soft.

“Keep your focus, my queen”, said the head lion.

Shuhua nods and takes her eyes off them.

Suddenly, petals dropped from above.

“All of you, run back and keep a distance!” Shuhua shouted.

The petals dropped and burnt everything it touched.

“See that beautiful combo?! HA-HA-HA!” Yuqi shouted from the upper part of the castle.

“We’re not done yet! It’s still too early to boast!” Soyeon knocked her head.

They both went down to help Soojin and Shuhua.

In a couple of minutes, Miyeon shoot some ice in the air as a sign she already took and saved all the palace prisoners. The main palace took all the people around the land who fought against them. They killed the ones who are useless to their eyes but kept the ones who could be used for different reasons like money, human trafficking and more.

“Are you ready?” Shuhua asked Soyeon.

“Even more ready that than boastful kiddo.” Soyeon looks at Yuqi who was fighting as if she was just playing.

“Don’t use too much mana!” Soyeon shouted.

“’Kay!” Yuqi shortly answered.

Soyeon went right at the palace’s front door and made fire burst out her palms to burn everyone inside.

Miyeon came back with Minnie.

“Are you okay now?” Shuhua asked.

Minnie nods and says, “I can now fight physically, at least.”

“It’s a waste we can’t do any more combo because you ran out of mana that easily”, said Miyeon.

“Taking lives isn’t as easy as altering feelings or making them fall asleep, okay! Besides, there are no longer much soldiers around.”

“We can use it with the king, though.”

“Just give me a little more time to recover my mana”, said Minnie.

After the fight with the soldiers, Shuhua asked the animals to leave, saying they can handle the king by themselves.