Kings Of The Midnight Congregations: 8 Kings Arc Volume 2 3 Chapter 05: Kenzoku No Yoru ? The Sovereign's Family

Part 1

Border Overlaying Albion and Jade Empire, 16th of January 2013 – 11:12 PM

Kia and Gerard, junior knights of the border patrol have never been this nervous before, true that they were in a full battle formation against the Jade Royal Army, but these two had already faced them before, so, no their nervousness did not come from the enemy in front of them, instead they were nervous because of the ally that they were to fight together with.

For one, their regular reinforcement whom they had battled together with, during the 4 days campaign against the same kingdom, the JUUSANKA (lit. thirteen flowers) are no longer there, also their esteemed leader, Ace, was not present. In their stead, was the leader to the house of 'de Luc', the SWORD of One, Lancelot du Lac, and the BLACK Sorceress, 1st Magus Unit lead by the house of 'La Fey', the one known as 'The Sorceress', Morgana La Fey.

The knight Lancelot is one of '7 Sword Saints', who are considered as the strongest swordsmen in all of the Midnight Congregation, he was in full battle gear and wore no mask as if to make a statement that he was prepared for the worst. He is a veteran fighter with 4 knights under his command who has garnered the same experience as him.

And, Morgana La Fey who is one of the '7 Mystic Saints' considered the strongest spell casters and summoners in the Midnight Congregation. She was wearing a full blown black dress and wore a stone mask which complemented her t.i.tle and also hide her beauty. She also had 4 caster and summoner type knights under her command.

There was no greater privilege other than fighting alongside with these legends, and to top it off, they were also graced with the presence of the Jade Empires' reigning empress, a girl who was no more than their age and yet was in full control to one of the Kingdoms of the Midnight Congregation. She was known as Wu Zetian by her retainers, but they have come to know her by her true name: Tao Rin.

It was evident that the battle between these two armies was going to be one long epic one. It might undermine the battle that took place 4 days ago. This time Albion was in no way inferior even with the still greater number the Jade Empire has ama.s.sed. Because this time around, Albion had spell casters and summoners on their ranks, not like 4 days ago.

Well, at least this was the scenario everyone in the battlefield had envisioned, but… the unthinkable, or perhaps as it was predicted by the King of Albion a day prior had come true.

The King of the Jade Empire did not wear any mask (well, there really was no longer any need for it) and a somewhat disappointed expression worn on her face.

"Where is Ace…?"

Her voice also sounded disappointed. 'The BLACK Sorceress', Morgana La Fey just made a quite laugh in the sideline, it would seem that she was half expecting the outcome of this face off, while Lancelot and the rest of the Jade Empire's generals were at lost for words.

"He is currently not available your highness." Although it was not her place, Kia had to answer Tao Rin or it would make the situation more awkward. "He is sent by His Majesty Arthur Pendragon on a different quest."

The King of Jade, no… Tao Rin, then let's out a more disappointed sigh and waves her hand lazily to signal a retreat.

"My Lady…" one of the generals tried to reason with his liege but it was for naught, for she was no longer listening and was mumbling loudly.

"I think I need to have a word with Albion's Heir…" her voice although was monotonous it had a somewhat anger mixed into it. "…He can't just replace the guards protecting his border from me."

Lancelot who finally recovers lets out silent laugh together with Morgana.

"We will inform our lord for your visit, your highness."

"…Hm." Rin nods, then turn around and deliberately ordered a full retreat. As she was about to leave the area, she stops to look at the blue moon which was about to wane.

"I wonder where he is now."

Abandoned Dojo in the Middle of the Forest, 16th of January 2013

"Increase your distance!"

Ace creates an opening and instantly catches his student off guard. With that opening he positioned his Gerber Mark II a combat knife at his student's throat.

Although his student is of higher standing, with his authority as mentor for the combat training he was able to do and say almost rude things to his young student.

As soon as the victor was evident, Ace removed his knife from his student's throat. He smiled apologetically as she was no ordinary student.

Ace is currently training a young lady; her name is Alexia Boromeo a 16 year old with well endowed bosoms and a silky black hair slightly above her waist with a few strands tied in at the sides. Despite her age she was actually known by the congregation as Alexandria and she is the Kingdom of Alexandria's reigning king.

"Your highness, after you make a huge attack try to create more distance with your opponent." Ace gave an awkward explanation to an existence who outranks him.

"You don't have to call me your highness. Or perhaps do you want me to call you, sir knight?" Alexia gives Ace a piercing look just to make her point.

It seemed that indeed made a good point, Ace has never liked being called with reverence, when it is coming from a higher ranked and especially coming from beautiful young maiden, he has made it clear with the king of Jade Empire who was happy enough to call him, 'Ace'.

"Very well… ah… mm… Alexia…" Ace's voice sounded stiff.

"That will do. Ace, SENKOU is really difficult to do. I had learned martial arts from ate Rena but never have had the time to learn SENKOU."

SENKOU is a skill used by close quarter combatants, and since Alexia who is a caster type combatant, she would not necessarily need to master such skill. But, with her situation as crucial as it is, she needed the skill in order protect herself, the ideal she represent and the clue she needs to help her search for her ate Elena is at hand.

And thus, her training has started from learning the skill SENKOU, but learning the skill known as SENKOU is just a preliminary training for Alexia, since she is a spell caster, she only needed the skill so that she would easily increase her distance from her a.s.sailants. Part of her training is to keep her a.s.sailants at bay by learning and mastering how to use both her Twin Gun-Dagger EMBLEMs Diana and Artemis, as well as to incorporate her magic in combat which she can amplify using her REGALIA Replica of the Book of Pandora's Secret to achieve a technique unique to and fit for the king of Alexandria.

Part 2

The concept of Kingdoms in the Midnight Congregation has been created based from the G.o.ds that was summoned by the King of Illusion: GENBU (朱雀) the Emerald Tortoise of the North, SEIRYUU (青竜) the Azure Dragon of the East, SUZAKU (玄武) the Crimson Phoenix of the South, and BYAKU (百虎) the White Tiger of the West.

The King of illusion summoned these G.o.ds by the use of crystals as a type of transmitter, but after the IUDICIUM REBELLION, these G.o.ds were defeated and the G.o.ds' powers were also halved. Four crystals became eight, and each crystal was then given to each of the kingdoms as a form of a weapon… these would become the REGALIA.

In order to distinguish from the severed power of these G.o.ds, they were cla.s.sified further into two: the Earth and the Heavens.

The Deity or as the Midnight Congregation coined it GRACES are as follows:

⇒The Turtle of the North's(GENBU) is divided into two, GENBU of the Heavens: Atlantis and GENBU of the Earth: Alexandria;

⇒The Dragon of the East's(SEIRYUU), SEIRYUU of the Heavens: Jade Empire and SEIRYUU of the Earth: Albion;

⇒The Phoenix of the South(SUZAKU), SUZAKU of the Heavens: Uruk and SUZAKU of the Earth: Babylonia; and lastly

⇒the Tiger of the West(BYAKU), BYAKU of the Heavens: Yamato and BYAKU of the Earth: Etheria.

There were a lot of issues regarding the naming of the cla.s.sification, but the first generation kings had decided on the simplest rule. During that time the Kingdoms that had originally been created by foreign blood or those who have mixed nationalities are designated the t.i.tle of the Heavens, and those whose kingdoms are ruled by pure Filipinos are designated with the t.i.tle Earth.

And thus the four G.o.ds then became the foundations to creating the t.i.tLES of the kingdoms from whose deity or GRACE they belong.

Ace is a knight in service with the one called as the strongest kingdom in the Midnight Congregation, a kingdom under 'The Dragon of the East's(SEIRYUU) Grace': the 'Land Born by Magic and Kingdom Built by It's Great Swords', the kingdom of Albion. He is a border patrol that protects their Eastern territory that is adjacent with another kingdom which is also under 'The Dragon of the East's(SEIRYUU) Grace': the 'Forbidden Kingdom of the Solitary Will', the kingdom of the Jade Empire.

And as of the moment, Ace is not guarding that very border instead he is training another kingdom which is due to the north, a kingdom ruled under 'The Turtle of the North's(GENBU) Grace': the 'Library of Great Knowledge and Kingdom of Wisdom', the kingdom of Alexandria.

Of course, this goes without saying that he is in Alexandria on the order from his liege, this was to form an alliance that would stabilize the conflict with other kingdoms. But this alliance would not have been possible if the former First Generation King of Alexandria had not approached Ace.

Rena, also known as the First Generation King came 2 days after the Library of Alexandria was a.s.saulted.

Shop: 'Grimoire Atelier' 7th January 2013 – 15:45

Ace was melancholic and somewhat reminiscing days that had gone by. He was at the window looking at the sky which was somehow very far away for him. The shade of blue reminded him of the days that might have been, if it were not for that incident 2 years ago.

Yes the incident the Midnight Congregation knows all too well: the 'IUDICIUM Rebellion', he was one of the few who witnessed and battled against the 'King of Illusion'.

Days might have been boring if it did not happen, but for Ace, it might have been better if it did not happen at all.

"…here is the world you longed for… it still has a long way to go, but…" Ace stretched his gaze towards the unimaginable sky from the window as he rests his head on his hands.

It would seem that this reminisce would take on forever, if not for the bell chimes that had woke him back to reality.

*Tingling…

"Welcome to the 'Grimoire Atelier', where you can get everything from anything." Ace welcomes his guest as he removes himself from the window. "You…!"

It was not the first time he had seen this visitor, in fact he knew about her before, what surprised him the most was the very fact about her visiting him.

"Rena…" Ace was somewhat reserved like a thief who has been caught stealing. ��It has be…"

"It has been awhile, Ace." Rena cut off Ace's lines as she continued to glare at him.

"I've been doing fine, how about you. How have you been?"

"As much as I would like to reminisce about the past, I would pretty much want to talk about the reason as to why I am standing before you today." She was not intent on having unnecessary conversation.

For people who knew Rena, she was quite the talker. Ask her anything about the sun and she would talk about anything under the sun. She was a busty teenager who loved tanning her body, and was gifted with a well endowed breast. She had the inkling of a martial artist as some body-muscles were visible on her abdomen, which was revealed with the sports bra that she did not bother to cover using the coat she was wearing together with it.

But despite her anger and somewhat arrogance before, she had somehow mellowed at the end as she breathed in some air.

"I would like to see Arthur."

It was not just any simple request. True that Ace had seen his liege a few times, but never on such short notice.

"If things go well, which it will." Rena made a definite statement. "Alexandria and Albion could get an alliance that would threaten any other kingdoms to attacking any of our two kingdoms."

And the request just went off charts. With that statement alone, Ace had no choice but to believe her words and accepted her request.

Part 3

Audience Chamber, Albion Castle 7th January 2013 – 18:25

As respect to Rena, one of the few remaining 1st generation kings (well for her case, former king), the request was easily brokered.

The discussion went quite smooth since compared to the other kingdoms; Albion had a knack for peaceful negotiations, and that was the sole and meat reason why Rena was in front of them.

Ace was behind her all the time, listening.

"I knew that you were secretive, but…" Rena raised an eyebrow as she looks at the king of Albion through a wooden protective screen.

Albion, aside from being hailed as the strongest was the most mysterious of all the kingdoms, 'they' do not attack other kingdoms, 'they' do not force other kingdoms to make move against another, and most of all, it is the only kingdom whose king is still a question mark.

No one knows who and where he came from, although most kings are protected by wearing their masks, there is to some points clues of who might the other kings be --for example the kingdom of Atlantis, their king is somewhat linked to one of the business tyc.o.o.n who is now growing his power in the industry, middle-aged and wealthy… resembling so much to a person who was also present during the IUDICIUM Rebellion… but Albion's king has not a single of that indications.

"Well no matter…" Rena collected herself. "My name is Rena, former 1st generation king of the 'Library of Great Knowledge and Kingdom of Wisdom', one who was formerly known as King Alexandria. I, who acts as emissary and representative of the current King of the kingdom of Alexandria come before the strongest kingdom to come with an agreement… an alliance that would surely benefit both our kingdoms.

"What are the terms of this agreement, Miss Rena?" The king of Albion had the full intention to listen to Rena's request, this made Rena smile.

"Last night, the kingdom of Alexandria was besieged by unknown a.s.sailants and desecrated our library and we humble beseech your a.s.sistance. One of its terms is that your knight here…"Rena looks behind her as she continues. "…come and have a talk with me about the disappearance of my only remaining family."

Rena used her words well, although a bit mysterious with his overall ident.i.ty, there was one thing that was quite clear with the king of Albion, he was quite soft-hearted. This a.s.sumption was stemmed from the fact that of all the kingdoms, that Albion have never gone acts of violence despite being hailed as the strongest.

Ace was listening and he himself knew that the king would permit it since the word 'family' weighted deeply for the king. And as if to confirm both his and Rena's a.s.sumption, the king without hesitation:

"If you are searching for a family then so be it…" Ace closed his eyes to the words of his liege. "But… before I am king I am human, therefore I cannot just take away Ace's freedom to make his own decision."

Rena has also taken this answer into account, and breathed calmly before she made another statement.

"Then during that time of your consideration, I would like to have this very person return me a debt by training my liege, the current king of Alexandria."

The king of Albion though not too visible due to the wooden veil, clearly smiled. He knew that Ace was definitely going; the only question was 'WHEN'.

Ace, after a few moment of silence also smiled with Rena's weird resourcefulness and negotiation skills.

"Then we will forge the actual terms into paper, when both parties are ready." Albion's king affirms his voice so that it can be heard even outside the door.

"Please do not delay too much; we do not know when the next attack will be." Rena gave her sincerest request.

The king of Albion and Ace both nods in agreement.

It was on the 15th that Ace finally decided to face his past, which brought the current situation.

Library of Alexandria, 18th of January 2013 – 15:04

With Alexia striving to become a king fit for their kingdom of Alexandria, she is current training at a dojo outside the territory of Alexandria, a former hideout and training ground of the old IUDICIUM, which as of the moment only known by two persons: Ace and Rena.

With her absence, despite her struggle to become strong… no, it might have stemmed from the fact that she was not strong enough even though she was given the t.i.tle of King, a rumor has started to swell inside the library.

"A king who is not strong enough to protect her subjects is worthless…"

"She screamed… a sign of weakness."

"Why did Rena give the t.i.tle of 'King' to that brat?"

"s.h.i.+n, do you think that Rena is still rightful king of Alexandria?"

s.h.i.+n was Rena's supporter ever since she started the Library of Alexandria under the Midnight Congregation. He then believes that she should have not given up the t.i.tle.

"Yes, you're right…" s.h.i.+n was intent on giving Rena her rightful place and t.i.tle, despite what was Rena's say and claim for the matter.

Just with that, the knights which were supposedly Alexia's protector were now aiming for their liege.

Abandoned Dojo in the Middle of the Forest, 29th of January 2013 – 20:12

14 days have pa.s.sed since Alexia's initial training together with Ace and she has finally gotten used to using the skill SENKOU, although she still has to master it and can only high-speed to a kilometer, she has indeed come a long way. But as of the moment, it was enough, because for her, this was only a type of accessory skill that will allow her to escape from her a.s.sailants, and cast magic.

Since Ace is not a spellcaster, he could only train together with her… be her sparring partner so that she could get the feeling and the intensity of an actual combat.

Alexia's current combat skill allows her to wield two EMBLEM gun-daggers, DIANA u0026 ARTEMIS; her shooting accuracy greatly improved; and now she is able to some extent parry attacks Ace swings at her.

Ace was not the best teacher --it might be no exaggeration saying that he can't teach at all, so in order to train Alexia, Ace's only role is really just to prepare Alexia in whatever attacks that people might land at her.

Ace from time-to-time does add a few techniques that would be helpful in their standard trainings. That was the real ident.i.ty of the training regime Ace had given the king of Alexandria.

It was now past seven when Alexia's phone rang. The ringtone was a tone she had chosen to inform her that the call is from s.h.i.+n Kafra, a knight serving the kingdom of Alexandria.

"Your Highness, YAMATO is attacking us!" s.h.i.+n's voice was quite hysterical, but more than the voice, the news itself had made Alexia dizzier.

Part 4

Library of Alexandria, Kingdom of Alexandria 29th of January 2013 – 21:50

What looked like an even fight from a far was actually a battle with 75 Alexandrian knights, and 10 INHABITANTs from Yamato. As the battle progressed it would have been an overwhelming defeat for the Alexandrians despite their number against the 9 guarding one who was merely sitting in the middle since they were not able to break the guards who were purely on the defence which must be the only reason why the Alexandrians were able to withstand the siege.

To Alexia who had just arrived, it almost look like a repeat of what has happened to them days ago, the difference, is that the ten people who are currently here are not wearing those ninja garbs, and among the ten was clearly the king of Yamato, she was wearing her fox mask, sitting calmly at the middle of an impregnable circular barricade her guards has formed.

"Something is definitely not right here." Ace took the words that Alexia was just thinking.

All the while, a battered s.h.i.+n appears in front of them and readily informs them of the situation.

"We had let them through saying that they wanted to talk to her highness." He was weak from the attacks he had received. "…but, they suddenly demanded for some book."

With s.h.i.+n's confirmation Alexia has finally affirmed that Yamato was indeed looking for a certain book and was the sole reason they had attacked the library for 3 times now.

"We must not allow them to desecrate the 'Library of Alexandria' any further." Alexandria finally gives YAMATO a signal.

"I think, this farce has gone long enough!?" on the other hand the king of Yamato also seem to have gotten from the battle finally stood her ground.

This battle had already started before Ace and Alexia has arrived, and the king of Yamato has yet to enter in the fray. It is evident since the king of Yamato has not yet removed the decorated white cloth wrapping from her weapon, but now she has removed that very clothing as if removing a seal on a sacred beast.

"I am the one who hails from the 'Land of Solidarity and Kingdom of True Power' the kingdom of YAMATO." The king of Yamato swings her weapon then as if to divert all attention to her, she then removes the fox mask that she is wearing. "My RETAINERs know me as Kiyohime, but you may call me Sakuya… Kohouin Sakuya.

The young king named Sakuya, glowed even more with the white haori matched with a crimson hakama, her REGALIA was a weapon specially designed for women in j.a.pan, a naginata with a jewel for a habaki.

"Those who are strong enough, come at me, My AMENONUHOKO will play with you." There was a smile painted on her beautiful white face, and glee glittered on her sky blue eyes.

It was clear that by having a king as your opponent fear would definitely grow on anyone, s.h.i.+n, no… no Alexandrian knights dared moved against her.

Ace looked at Alexia, and he knew that she was going to take her on the challenge. He smiled, for even though Alexia's body was shaking in fear, her eyes were burning with courage.

"Remember your opponent is one of the '7 Sword Saints'. Give everything you have… Fight a battle that will not leave you any regret."

Alexia nods as she unsheathes her own short-staff sword made of wood on her left hand to make her own declaration.

"I am Alexia Boromeo one known as Alexandria Ptolemias, King of the 'Library of Great Knowledge and Kingdom of Wisdom' the heir to the kingdom of Alexandria, will take on that challenge." There was great resolve and strength in her voice.

Library of Alexandria, Kingdom of Alexandria 29th of January 2013 – 23:59

A duel between two kings was decided by the same two kings who now both positioned opposite of each other.

Although, many would have seen this battle an epic one, most of the spectators had considered this as a one-sided fight; and all odds favored the king of Yamato… to Sakuya's side.

Easily enough the reason for this was that although Alexia maybe strong in terms of spell casting, however she will be faced with her natural enemy, a swordswoman who can stop spell casting at bay. In a battle were every second counts the faster combatant wins. Spell casting is considered the strongest manifestation of a kingdoms' power, but in the Midnight Congregation casting takes time, even the shortest VERSES still takes time. If the opponent does not allow the VERSE to be completed, magic will be rendered useless.

This was Alexia's greatest disadvantage against battling Sakuya, but there was something they did not take into account: the very presence of an Albion knight, which did not seem to have eluded Sakuya.

"An Albion knight… and someone with his caliber…" Sakuya begins to get interested. "If he's here then Albion and Alexandria are…" She did not bother to finish this sentence, instead looked at Alexia and her stance.

Alexia did not bother to summon to fight on her stead which was normal for her as a spell caster, instead she was in a full close quarter combat stance: She had sheathed her decorated wooden REGALIA which was not combat worthy but still amplified her magic power, instead she unsheathed two gun-daggers –on her left hand with the short sword ARTEMIS extended in the front; her right hand directly behind the DIANA covering her chest; even her legs were positioned in which she would be able to move about freely.

Alexia noticed that Sakuya was patiently waiting for something… it was as if telling her to make the first move. Although it was inviting, Sakuya did not exude an arrogance of someone who's got the upper hand.

And to show her respects, Alexia kicks the ground and performs a SENKOU for the first time in actual battle, even Sakuya was shocked at the feat the magic princess was performing.

The battle begun to heat as the king of Yamato also retaliates with her tremendous display of skill using her naginata.

As the battle progress, Sakuya who is considered one of the '7 Sword Saints' find sometimes to be in the defence against Alexia's varied attacks, at one time she cast magic, at times she uses SENKOU not to evade but create openings for an attack using her gun-daggers, at times she would use her gun to stop Sakuya from moving to certain advantageous locations.

During the heat of battle communication is still possible: They say that the master swordsman can talk with their opponent through the sword, although she has not fully mastered her sword, Alexia realizes a little bit of Sakuya's pain and sufferings by crossing blades with her.

With each blow felt, each strike severe… Sakuya's blade was heavy, not out of duty but for something that she has come to treasure… this was how Alexia felt through each of Sakuya's strikes…