CHAPTER 33

In the Kingdom of King Bartholomeo, he was seated on his throne and many warriors and warrioresses had attended his important announcement, kneeling down and ready to listen. Queen Veronica and Prince Arthur were seated beside him. Whereas, King Malik and King Baron were standing on the border side of the throne hall, as neither of them wanted to be the center of attention.

King Bartholomeo rested his chin on his arms and began to speak. "I have assembled all of you here today to announce that we will celebrate the 40th anniversary tomorrow and not on the day after that. This is to ensure the safety of our kingdom from King Abaddon, who tried to invade our nation. For your information, we have Amazonians guarding the borders of Alabama.

And yesterday evening, the werewolf tribe, along with bandit pirates and magicians, attacked us, with the goal of infiltrating our kingdom and exhausting our soldiers and warrioresses, thereby weakening our defenses. But such an old trick won't work against us. Not when I'm still alive," the voice of King Bartholomeo was so firm when he said the last line of his statement. He was so adamant about protecting his land at all costs. He took a deep breath before speaking again, rolling his eyes at the brave warriors and warrioress gathered in front of him.

"Therefore, on the very day of our supposed anniversary, we will prepare to defend our territory. Let us not defend on the strongest warrioress and fight for our territory."

"And I shall reward each one of you with tons of gold once we succeed in defending our nation," blurted out Queen Veronica.

Everyone was shocked by her sudden speech. Usually, they see her not caring for the welfare of her nation until this very moment. 

"You should let me speak, Veronica. I am the king of this nation and the decision for the welfare of this nation is mine alone!"

Queen Veronica glared at King Bartholomeo and raised her voice. "Not until he defeated you alone, Bartholomeo! I witnessed all that happened yesterday, and I was extremely dissatisfied. So, I hereby declare that whoever brings King Abaddon's head will be granted plenty of awards and the privilege of living in this kingdom."

Prince Arthur found himself in yet another complicated situation, unable to do anything but listen to his parents' most embarrassing dispute. He desired to vanish, but he needed to hear his father's other announcements.

"Honestly, you act as if you have made significant contributions to this nation, Veronica. Even being a mother to your only son is difficult for you. All you want are the precious jewels and other benefits I granted you. I am the one who worked really hard for the sake of this nation, and everyone knows that I should be the one they must obey."

Queen Veronica stood on her throne, her voice rising, as she began to express her latent animosity toward her husband. "That's because you always contradict my words whenever I want to say something. Let us face the fact, if I wasn't beautiful enough back then, you wouldn't have married me!"

King Bartholomeo slapped Queen Veronica's face out of extreme anger. This time, Prince Arthur stepped in and separated his mother from his father in order to keep her safe.

"This is getting out of hand. Our enemy is King Abbadon and not any of our kind. Please, father, let my mother say something to this nation. It's never too late to change. Give her viewpoint some weight!"

King Bartholomeo gestured his hand towards the door. "I founded this nation by myself. That woman you're helping did not even love me in the first place. But she married me anyway, so she could have a lavish lifestyle. Now, the door is wide open for her to leave. I have no use for her anymore!"

"Still she's my mother after all! She may not have contributed a lot to this nation, but that does not mean you should embarrass her in front of everyone. I mean it. I stood by her decision and I'm gonna follow it. I'm sick of you telling me what to do!"

King Malik decided to become involved and strolled inside the guild hall going towards King Bartholomeo's seat. "In my kingdom, the sole purpose of a woman is to take care of her family and children. Nothing more and nothing less. The king established the kingdom and has the right to order his warriors regardless of whether it benefits them or not. For example, when King Bartholomeo ordered one of his warriors to commit suicide, he had no other option but to follow the king. That rule has been strictly followed by all the kings in the entire universe. A king should always dominate his kingdom, Prince Arthur!"

"You heard him, Prince Arthur. Now let go of that woman and let her leave this place if she wants to. My kingdom will be besieged any moment from now!"

Prince Arthur continued arguing with his father and lost his respect for him. "But my mother has a point; all she wanted was to motivate the warriors to kill King Abaddon!"

"The one who can defeat King Abaddon is only you, Arthur! Your Tizona sword was created to eliminate King Abaddon from the entire universe. These warriors and warrioress stood no chance against him, and as a king, I'll never let that happen!"

"Fine,Bartholomeo. You will never see me ever again!" responded Queen Veronica, then she stormed off and walked through the door to save herself from further embarrassment.

King Bartholomeo sat on his throne and resumed speaking. "Now, I oblige all of you to cooperate and be vigilant. Once you spot any possible threat, I am permitting you to kill them with your swords. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, your Majesty!" shouted all the warriors and warrioresses.

"By the way, I haven't introduced King Malik and King Baron. They came from different planets, and they are here to celebrate with us. After the 40th anniversary, they will return to their planets." King Bartholomeo gazed at King Baron. "Please come here so they can see you!"

King Baron walked towards King Bartholomeo and faced the throng to introduce himself. "I am King Baron and a friend of your king. It is a pleasure to meet all of you!"

"This meeting is adjourned. All of you can leave this place now," ordered King Bartholomeo to the warriors and warrioress.

When the crowd was gone, Prince Arthur went outside to meet his Zodiac warriors in the frozen cave stream. They were all still injured after being attacked by the werewolf clan and their minions, magicians and bandit pirates.

"I am sorry for calling all of you to this urgent meeting. I know that most of you are still recovering from the attacks of your enemies. I am disappointed that my father did not even express sympathy for you despite your relentless effort to protect this nation."

"We are not the only ones who received this kind of harsh treatment, so we're just fine!" stated Alexander. "Luckily, Isabella was able to treat my wounds with herbal medicine, so I am getting better now!"

"The same goes with me," agreed Ammon. "Although I can still feel pain whenever I lift my elbows. Aside from that, I have no other issues with my body."

"We still never let our guard down. Nobody is going to protect us," uttered Leomord. "Now that I can no longer use magic, I am putting my faith in my sword. I prefer to be alone, so when the enemy suddenly attacks, at least I am not involving anyone!"

Prince Arthur nodded in disagreement. "I strongly oppose your suggestion, Leomord! The enemy has a higher chance of succeeding when we are alone. My plan is this: none of you shall leave this frozen cave stream until the threat of the werewolf tribe is over. That way, we can protect each other and avoid anyone from dying."

"How about me?" Alexander inquired. "What if they pursue Isabella? She's pregnant, and I can't abandon her!"

"I will ask some warriors to guard your family for the meantime." For now, you have to stay here for your own safety. I know it's hard not to see them. However, this is for their own sake as well."

"But why don't they go after the Amazonians instead," Oshiro wondered.

Ammon answered. "Well, as I mentioned before, an old woman appeared on the enemy's boat and told me that our sword is designed to be used against werewolves and anything deemed as part of the darkness, which is why they are chasing us instead of the Amazonians."

"To be honest, they defeated the enemies on their own," Loke stated. "I wonder if we could do the same in that situation!"

"Of course we do, bastard!" responded Balthazar. "We were able to defeat those assholes coming after us individually. I am sure we could defeat them if we were the ones guarding the borders of Alabama."

"In any case, I need to go immediately! I'll have some warrioress bring you food and drinks; my father puts pressure on me because his sudden decision disrupted my original preparations for the 40th anniversary of the Alabama!"

Leomord blurted out a question. "How about your mother, who walked out earlier? Is that for real?"

"My mother was just upset. Trust me, she will return to the kingdom soon. She could not survive life outside the kingdom."

"You're nice and respectful to your mother, Prince Arthur! In spite of everything she's done, you still bravely stood for her even when you know that disrespecting the king is one of the most heinous crimes in our nation," said Alexander. "Although, it saddens me that our rules forbid the queen from ruling her own nation."

"Everything that is happening right now is the result of King Abaddon's evil schemes! If I manage to destroy him with my Tizona sword, everything will turn back to normal!"