Author’s note: To feel more of the atmosphere that I wanted to convey in these Chapters, turn on Hypersonic Music for background listening and enjoy.

The shimmering shroud trembled in the air, shimmering with bright flashes of sparks, faced with strong pressure from outside. The barrier melted under the heat of external influence, but instantly gathered into a single whole in the next moment.

It was an endlessly repeating sequence of attack and defense, which seemed to have no end while the enemy was trying to overcome the barrier.

Tearing from his place like a violent whirlwind, Horel raced through the corridors, igniting magic around him, calling on his army to take a defensive position.

He was tormented by tormenting excitement, his heart was filled with fear of meeting face to face with his own wife, who could no longer count on his boundless love and trust. He did not know how he should behave towards her, but he knew that he should not allow her to enter the castle.

"And how long has she become so strong to try to destroy his `indestructible` protective layer?", he realized that even with his returned strength, it was impossible to restrain her if she continued to attack in the same spirit.

By the time he reached the melting breach in the magic barrier, the strongest mages of the kingdom were already gathered on the spot, holding back the invasion attempt with all their might.

- Do not give up positions. Give as much as you can. - The king shouted, raising his magic wand into the air and sending a powerful stream of energy into the center of the breach.

He was extremely tense, but out of the corner of his eye he caught Terrence, who was also there and his heart was filled with warmth.

The combined movements of the magicians, filled with harmony, created a solid grid-frame over the territory of the palace, reflecting external resistance.

Terrence and Aizen were on par with the king in the front ranks, sending all the magic that was bubbling and boiling in them, bursting out with all their might. They were responsible for keeping trouble out of their home.

However, Aizen couldn’t help but wonder if the king had foreseen this in advance when he ordered the entire army to be mobilized the day before? Wasn’t it happening too fast?

No matter how well and harmoniously they were working now, he felt that something was pulling his strength, forcing him to weaken. He is not sure that at this rate they could have lasted longer.

What kind of crap is this that can withstand a large number of the strongest magicians at the same time? Who was their enemy?

Rick, standing at a distance from the defenders, squinted at the overly calm Richard.

- You made a mistake, brother. - he chuckled, but was ignored. – I wonder how he will punish you?

The last words came with a special pleasure and delight of anticipation.

With each new round of magic, the balls filled with light sealed the holes that appeared again and again from the inside, which became more and more, before the whole sky was covered with small ripples of tiny cracks and sonorously crumbled into dust, cutting off sparks as if from silicon.

The dark haze instantly spread like a soft surface under the feet of the Riliya army and they all felt suffocated at once, falling to their knees, but still remaining conscious.

The king couldn’t do anything anymore, as his body was immersed in a dark substance, weakening an already weak body. He was on the verge of despair and wanted to scream, but his voice was buried deep inside under layers of personal self-deprecation.

Feeling like the most incompetent and powerless ruler, he hung his heads in despair, his shoulders slumped.

The darkness cut through the air, expanding the space in front of it, enveloping it with black smoke in a circle, when one by one huge, powerful, strong werewolves began to run out of the portal on the territory of the Marro Castle.

The three werewolves were growling menacingly, standing in a fighting stance, exuding a murderous warning to anyone who resisted. But could someone do it while being completely immobilized?

The next blow to the king came at the moment when his own daughter appeared out of the gloomy dark density with a scattering of snow-white iridescent curls, like the radiance of the sun itself. His Thea.

She stood proudly with her head raised, drawing with her statuesque and graceful posture the image of the ruler of this place.

There was no doubt that his daughter had adopted all the traits of her own mother. She was the perfect

image of her mother, doubled several times in her best moments, except for the vampire’s hands, which exuded the same dark smoke swirling around her waist, in the place where Raphael’s hands were.

- It wasn’t very friendly. – Raphael sarcastically remarked, measuring the kneeling magicians, completely defeated morally.

- Father. - Thea’s lips moved softly and softly, like cherry blossom petals, as her eyes moistened with painful excitement.

She hadn’t seen him for so long, but now she couldn’t shake the feeling that he was still the same person who had been lost to her for a long time. That look of his was full of sorrow for his daughter’s broken feelings, for the days when he dared to turn away from her.

She saw every facial wrinkle on his face, every heavy gulp as his adam’s apple moved nervously, highlighting the skin on his bristly throat.

She turned her head to Raphael and mouthed something her father couldn’t hear before the vampire pulled his hands away and allowed her to move forward. In the place where her feet stepped, the darkness dissipated as if by magic, as if clearing the entire space with its light.

Thea moved slowly, feeling insecure in her movements, stiffness.

She stopped one meter away from the king, giving herself time to decide or change her mind. They looked at each other so intently and so openly that her heart could not stand those guilty eyes of her father and she felt hot jets sprinkle her cheeks with something that she could not control.

She fell to her knees in front of him and hugged him tightly, driving away all the darkness that held him captive. Immediately, his hands found her tiny, emaciated body and pulled her into their parent`s trembling embrace, while they were both drowning in their own tears, which they could not and did not want to restrain.