Laz followed the guards as he was lead from the black castle down a path and back into the fortress. While there was plenty of room in the mountain retreat, most of the free space already had a purpose and they couldn’t just let the castle sit there. So in the end they had to retreat to an area behind the fortress that was still hidden from view and wind before setting down.

As for the people currently residing in it, while Laz didn’t want to kick them out, they didn’t have the supplies for them to remain and so they followed him back into the fortress along with the members of Laz’s legion. Since they didn’t know what to expect, the legion remained armed and ready. They were considered deserters in the end and such a fate never ended well for those types, even if they were forcefully drafted.

Nagi ended up going with them as well, curious about the outside world. When Laz asked her if it was safe, she simply responded,

"Mother won’t move without me asking her to and possibly you now, so it should be fine."

"I meant you personally. This is the first time you’ve left your mother since you’ve been born, yes?" Laz asked.

"Oh. Well... yes. But it’s not like children are suppose to remain with their parents forever, right?" Nagi responded with a smile. Laz could only shake his head, wondering why he was worrying anyway. He could tell that this child of a divine was already well into the god realm and chances were high she wouldn’t meet with anyone stronger than her in the fortress except for the Empress herself. Even then, he couldn’t tell how strong she was in the end so if she was fine with it, who was he to speak against it. Not like he was her father or anything.

When the guides reached the gate, the guards posted blocked them.

"Your group hasn’t been cleared to be armed within the fortress. Leave your weapons here or fuck off," the guard said, a scowl on his face as he looked at Laz’s poorly armed and ragged looking group. He had been enjoying the benefits of having his position elevated ever since the escapees from the capitol had been making their way here. While this gate didn’t get as much traffic as the main gate, those not wanting to wait for clearance would normally make their way here to either try to threaten their way in, bribe their way in or plead their way in. Seeing such previously high and mighty people either bowing low or being forced to bow low had given him a greatly heightened sense of ego and since he hadn’t been present when they originally entered the fortress as the initial arrival was kept top secret, he just felt that they were some ragged group looking for shelter.

"The Empress herself has invited this group. Please move aside and let us pass. Now!" Ordered the leader of the guide. He was a seasoned man who had been a scout in the army for may years and also followed the Empress here when she had sent out her call for assistance. When she had abandoned the capitol before her husband had a chance to stop her as the beast tide rushed it’s way, she had many informants and subordinates spread word that the capitol was doomed and the Emperor wasn’t intending on stopping the wave but had planned to escape east by himself. For anyone wanting to live, she would be retreating to the Fortress of Time, located in the southern mountain range, a fortress that had been discovered and converted into an emergency retreat location thousands of years ago. While some people had been swayed by the words, many more were swayed when the beast tide was spotted inside the county and the Emperor hadn’t ordered the Legions to prepare a defense. Instead, the Emperor hadn’t been seen in many days, something that only the Empress knew was because of the ritual he was preparing. Despite his loyal children attempting to reassure the masses everywhere they could, it wasn’t enough to negate the Empresses words and this guide had taken his family and his troop and made their way to the Fortress.

Since coming here, this was the first time he had been questioned by something like a door guard.

As for the door guard himself, he and his fellows hadn’t let this man out since he had left through the main gate as he didn’t know where the Black Castle would be landing. As such, they didn’t recognize him even if he was wearing the official uniform of a Legion scout.

"If I had a coin for every time I’ve been told the empress personally invited someone in, I would be rich enough to be the Emperor. Now you can either wait here for clearance as we send a request or you can fuck off to the main gate if you don’t want to do that. Your choice," the guard said with a laugh. He had been respectful back when the first waves were arriving, but they had taken advantage of that to abuse the man until he finally snapped. Luckily for him since the person he had snapped at was truly a low level official, nothing ever came from it nor had he been lectured for his behavior, which just made him believe he was right and made his ego grow.

The scouts were only three in number and even if they wanted to force their way in, without the guards ok, the massive door couldn’t be opened from the outside. As for how long an official request would take and considering the circumstances, the Empress wouldn’t even hear about it until she went to inquire as to why their group hadn’t been let in yet. There were just too many layers between her and such a thing.

Laz frowned and turned to the scout captain.

"I’m truly sorry sir. We could make our way around to the main gate, it’s just that the road isn’t the most stable and with your group..." The captain said, giving a look to both the old, young and frail who were starting to shiver from the cold air.

"It’s alright. I’m sure the past many days haven’t been easy for anyone in here," Laz reassured the man with a smile.

"Boss. We can’t just stay out here in the cold until we are let in... the villagers...." Blake started to say, gripping his weapon. While he didn’t expect to be treated with respect, he also didn’t think they would be forced to wait out here in the cold either.

"We could either light some fires or retreat back to the castle..." Sixteen suggested.

"No. Even if we wanted to, there isn’t much in terms of supplies left back there, nor was there any place we could go to get some considering the entire county is currently besieged by the tides," Two responded.

"It’s fine. We are heading inside, one way or the other," Laz responded with a bit of a grin as the remaining legion around him smiled.

"We breaking in then boss? Want to take out the guards?" Seven said, really wanting to hit that asshole who was looking down on them.

"No. No. Despite his attitude, he is just doing his job. So no killing. Can’t be spraying the entrance in blood and wanting a warm welcome. Instead, just follow my lead," Laz said, before walking up to the guard the had been speaking with.

"We have both old and young with us. We can’t just sit out here and wait to be let in as it could mean their deaths," Laz started, but was interupted.

"Not my problem. You should have remained at the front gate," the man said back with a lack of care.

"You know there is no way you can stop us if we decide to take all of you out, right?" Laz then said with a grin.

While the man was a bit disturbed by Laz’s change in tone, he just laughed a bit to hide his awkwardness and responded,

"You can try if you want, but the guards waiting on the inside will storm out to kill you all before you succeed. And even if you did beat us before they could respond, you will still be left out here to die without even the chance of getting inside. You think you could get this gate open with just the few people you brought with you? Please... it’s laughable to even try, might as well trying knocking first to see if they open it up for you ha!.... Hey... what are you doing?" The guard noticed that Laz had moved away while he had been talking and was standing in front of the massive wooden doors, clasped in iron. They looked fairly new which didn’t match up with the fact that this fort was another interesting piece of history of this world considering it was here when they first got here, much like the black castle.

"Well... want to see something funny?" Laz asked with a smile.

Before the guard could respond, Laz kicked forward, his leg smashing into the massive door.

BBBBOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMM!!!!!!

With that, the latched door broke from it’s hinges and went flying straight into the keep before hitting a wall and exploding into splinters.

In the deafening silence afterwards, Laz turned to the slack jawed guard and asked,

"Knock knock. Guess who’s here?"