Maria readied her spear and secured her hood with slips before she leaped in battle. Her whole outfit was designed in a way that made guessing her identity impossible.

Unless someone really knew how her chains worked or were overly familiar with her, Maria was in no danger of being found out.

In other words, as long as Princess Neah did not arrive on this battlefield, Maria’s secret was relatively safe. Even Howl would not recognize her in her current get-up.

“Identify yourself,” A soldier asked as Maria neared the group. She could see the weariness in their expression. They were a good batch, knowing when to press and to follow orders.

Maria felt bad to make them take the blame but they had it coming with joining the royal nights and all. Not that it was their fault they were stuck with leaders that did not care for them.

“Sorry, I’m in a hurry. Please roll over and fall for me” Maria replied before she knocked the nearest person with her spear. She aimed to injure and not kill which might have been a mistake.

The soldier did not fall unconscious so Maria increased her strength on her next strike and it finally did the deed. Maria just had to be careful not to kill anyone and she would be golden.

“You-what? How did you do that without magic? Our armors are thick” a guard asked as he charged at Maria. He was unlucky and tried to fight Maria barehanded.

He was knocked out in a second by the spear in Maria’s hand. The other guards did not try attacking her head so Maria had to take initiative on that front.

“How is she doing this? Magic? But it should be impossible” a guard asked as he distanced himself from the fight. Maria motioned to follow him but was blocked by other bodies in-between.

It was an all against Maria situation but somehow, Maria held the upper hand. She knocked out the guards in one or two struck and the rest, she dodged.

Most people were using normal weapons against her which made deflecting their attacks really easy. Maria's chains provided her body with magical protection. She clearly had a huge advantage in this match and it did not go unnoticed.

"It's the spear. She's using a magical spear that is not being affected by the device. Quickly, someone sent a message to the princess. This must be some kind of demonic trap we stepped into" a guard cried and Maria quickly extended her spear to block the exit.

These people clearly had no way to contact the princess from inside. If they did, then they should not have panicked as they had. Maria had to keep them in here for as long as possible.

"The demon blocked the exit. We cannot send for the princess" a guard cried out before he was knocked out by Maria. It did validate her point about their lack of communication and this was the first piece of good news today.

"It doesn't matter. Just keep her busy and I'll call the reinforcement. The news and sound of fighting will attract the princess anyway" the guard ordered before Maria saw him join the fry as well.

It was cute how they thought they could overwhelm with numbers. Maria was not impressed and her attacks picked up speed.

Her body was beginning to show signs of exhaustion as well. The magic inside Maria was limited and using the chains was pushing it to its limit. The heat was beginning to come back and the protection inside Maria had all but melted.

There was only so much Maria could do with her limited resources. The number of guards in the last few minutes as well. They were multiplying like files and seemed to be pouring inside the hall.

Maria forced herself to keep ongoing for a few more seconds. She just needed enough time for the device to be taken down and then she could leave the fight. She had other places to be and trains to hijack.

“Hurry. Blow the demon up and show them that they were messing with the wrong people” maria heard those words and her body instantly ducked the fireball aimed at her.

The royal guards had decided to give up the small chase and had brought out the big guns. They were aiming to kill now and their next shot made it evident.

Maria brought her spear down in an arch to prevent herself from getting caught up in the crossfire. Her magic allowed Maria to cut through the large fire and get out of the way of the second one.

She needed to be faster, better if she wanted to survive this she needed to think fast on her feet.

“Hurry. Load it and fire it again” the guards prepared to fire the gun again but Maria did not give them a chance to do it. She extended her spear and hurled it toward the guard.

People ducked out of the way to not get hit by the spear but the explosives were not as lucky, they exploded on impact and Maria quickly retrieved her spear from the mess.

“Darn it” a guard cursed before he was knocked out by Maria. Her body protested the movement but Maria forced it to keep going. The heat was pressing against her but it was still in a manageable range.

Maria resided herself for the next confrontation before she felt magic slam into her hard.

“What happened? Was that our magic?” A guard asked with surprise coloring his voice. Maria grinned at the success of her companions before she quickly cast a spell.

People fell around her like puppets and gave Maria the perfect opportunity to run away. Maria took it without hesitation and was out of the room.historical

She kept the spell up, exhausting her magical reserve, and quickly made her way to the train. Her system beeped with a familiar sound and Maria cursed her bad luck.

[Howl’s presence detected in the vicinity.]

Maria quickly opened her map and found herself not fully out of luck yet. Princess Neah and Howl were still outside the station.

Maria was already on the train and she only knew how to start it. She knew she had to start it now rather than wait for the other two. The other two would have to jump on board from the bridge as soon as they heard the announcement.

Maria would just have to trust Nao to understand what she was about to do and Maria gulped.

It was now or never and Maria pulled the lever to start the train. Her vision faded as a familiar feeling took over her mind.

[Initiating future vision. The actual result of the visions may change depending on the actions taken in the past]

Darn it. Now was not the time for this.