Raelis stepped outside the castle, where all his remaining soldiers stood at the front.
Truthfully? He was a bit disappointed.
They had 42 people who could fight, and yet, only 34 were present.
I threw one inside the wine cellar, but that's still too low, Raelis thought, turning to Clea, who was giving the soldiers a rundown on their formation moving forward.
"Hey." He tapped her shoulder. "Where are the others?"
"They've defected," Clea replied plainly. "I saw them sneaking out at night. I didn't bother stopping them because... you know."
"Yeah, no use keeping baggage around," Raelis remarked, stepping forward and overlooking all the soldiers present.
Some wore armor, the others did not.
He was planning on sweeping through the other teams, so he preferred being more agile, but he didn't say anything to those who wanted extra protection.
Raelis gestured for Charlotte, Alice, and Antares to approach.
"You three will be the captains of your respective teams, so form groups of ten," Raelis stated. "For your own safety, choose wisely, because once we're out there, you will have to stick to the formation Clea had shown you."
Antares tilted his head. "And the exam overseer?"
Raelis turned to smirking Julius.
"His role will be simple, but it'll only be utilized once we face the red team. Until then, just stick behind him if you're afraid of being hurt."
With that, Raelis took another step forward, facing in the direction of the Blue castle.
Then he glanced back at the soldiers, making sure each one had a healing potion strapped to their waists.
Thankfully, they did.
Yet when his gaze landed on the potions strapped to Alice and Charlotte's waists, he raised a brow.
"Poison?"
Alice shrugged. "It's non-lethal. It's more of an anesthetic so that those we hit fall limp and are easier to catch."
Raelis hummed in amusement. "Could I have some?"
Alice and Charlotte exchanged glances, then Charlotte pulled out another vial of green liquid and tossed it over to Raelis.
He caught it and slipped it into his pocket.
And with that, the not-so-thorough preparations were done.
Just as Raelis was prepared to announce their march, Resian approached, a sly grin tugging at his lips.
"Mind if I tag along with you?"
"One of your Jester requirements?" Raelis asked with narrowed eyes.
Resian scoffed. "You can think of it that way."
"Then no," Raelis replied flatly. "You're to stick with the rest of the group."
Resian clicked his tongue. "You sure? My infiltration abilities are top-notch."
Raelis didn't humor him further as he began walking out into the field.
The soldiers watched him for a few moments until finally, they also began marching alongside him.
Clea appeared beside him, and so did Julian.
Yet it seemed like Clea had something to say as she leaned in and whispered.
"I think I understood what role the Jesters play."
His eyes widened. "You did?"
She nodded. "I believe the flags are there for a reason. I observed Resian from the moment we were teleported here to the time we left. His gaze lingered on our flag constantly, and when we brought back the Blue flag, he was especially ecstatic."
Clea glanced toward his pocket. "By the way, that cloth you're carrying is a fake. It seems like a certain someone might have replaced it while we weren't there."
That was when she tugged at her own pocket, slightly revealing the Blue flag.
"When you put the Blue flag into the cabinet, I replaced it with a fake one and stored the real flag elsewhere. What do you know... the fake flag I had planted was stolen."
Her intellect was scary sometimes.
She seemed like the person who had all the answers, but alas, no one was omnipotent.
"Keep watch on him," Clea said plainly. "I will too. Because I'm sure he's going to pull something either now or when we invade the Red team."
Of course, the biggest hurdle would be Zeri.
But he felt that with enough preparation and distraction, he could deal with her.
Maybe.
The soldiers picked up the pace as they began sprinting, covering a large distance in the span of minutes.
It didn't take long to arrive at the Blue team's castle.
It seemed fortified, but Raelis knew that this was nothing but a sham.
Before he could even give the first command, he felt the air contort in front of him, and as if by instinct, Raelis lunged to the side.
The moment he did, a giant cannonball embedded itself into the ground below.
If that had hit him, then he might've even died.
But this only confirmed Raelis's suspicions.
Red team and Blue team managed to form an alliance, and what Blue team got in exchange were these cannons.
Even so...
"Go behind Julian!" Raelis commanded. "Try to move in and break through their walls. Disable their cannons. Clea and I will deal with their King and Queen."
With those words, and a quick acknowledgment from his soldiers, Raelis kicked off the ground, his speed formidable as he approached the walls.
"Hey! That's the king down there!"
"Shoot him!"
"Tell the Flame Princess to come too!"
Flame Princess...? Is Zeri here? Raelis thought warily.
But even so, he scaled the wall by digging his daggers into it until eventually, he was at the very top.
A blue butterfly flew in from the side, continuing to head toward the castle.
As for Raelis, he focused on the Blue team's soldiers beside him as he narrowly ducked under the sword slashes, then sent a kick to their sides, causing them to tumble down the wall and land onto the ground.
They were tough enough to survive, but they likely broke a bone or two.
There were two red cannons beside him, and by infusing enough heat into them, he made them shatter.
He left the rest of the cannons to his team as he made his way down the wall.
Before the Blue team's soldiers could track him, he used a sliver of shade to jump into the shadows, following the shadow of a flagpole and finally arrived in front of the castle.
He used the shadows to navigate throughout the castle, reaching the throne room within minutes.
And when he was finally there, ready to swing open the door, he took a step back.
At the same time, the throne room's door shot open as Clea flew straight into the wall beside him, her skin slightly charred.
Raelis uncorked one of the healing potions he had taken and tossed its contents onto Clea before turning his gaze toward the inside of the throne room.
There were three people in total, the king and queen of the Blue team, and of course, the person he had not wanted to see just yet, Zeri.
Yet what surprised him the most was the fact that the king and queen of the Blue team were tied up and slumped together in the queen's throne.
As for Zeri, she sat on the king's throne, cross-legged, with a tiny yet sharp pink flame emanating from her finger.
Her gaze slowly traveled toward him as she blew the flame out, her smile widening as she rose from the throne.
"I'm glad you could make it, Raelis. I expected you to rush in yesterday, but I suppose you're not that foolish after all," she said in a playful tone, then suddenly turned serious as she narrowed her eyes.
"But I'm afraid this might be the last time we see each other for a very long time..."