Evolution begins with an ant colony

Standing directly in front of the gates, Leona easily pushed them open. The scene that greeted her and Oliver was a group of holy knights, all suited in white and golden armor. Alongside them stood a massive group of mages, dressed in white and purple robes.

Most of them clutched their arms around their staffs, their uncertainty could be seen in their eyes as they prepared for battle against the enemies before them. For a moment, there was absolute silence as Leona, Oliver, the holy knights, and the mages simply gazed at each other.

"Stand down," a voice suddenly cut through the tension. It belonged to a woman with brown hair and green eyes, standing at the center of the holy knights. She was none other than the captain of the holy knights, Emaralis. She stood ready, clutching her sword, prepared to put an end to Leona and Oliver's advance toward the castle.

"For your decision to wreak chaos and destruction upon Imperia Magna, you shall be put to death," Emaralis declared, her voice resolute. "From slaying loyal knights who were in service to their nation to ending the lives of multiple townspeople, you will offer up your life as amends for your sins."

Oliver, observing the tense standoff, leaned towards Leona's ear and mumbled in a slightly playful tone, "Seems they're out for blood, Leona. What do we do?" He narrowed his gaze , smiling right after.

Leona tightened her fists as she murmured back in response, "I'll try to convince them, to not fight us."

Surprised by her reply, Oliver mumbled in a slightly higher note, "Convince them? What the heck! Look at their faces. It's like they know there's a chance they'll die, but they're facing us regardless. Most of them won't give up unless we're dead. Some of those mages even look like they might be out for revenge."@@novelbin@@

"I'll just knock them out if they choose to stand in our way. I won't allow them to slow our progress, but I won't kill them either," Leona spoke in a serious tone, her resolve could be seen in her words.

Meanwhile, on the mages' side, a man with purple hair and eyes, known for his knack for always finding a way to elevate himself in any situation, pointed at Leona and Oliver. "Hmph, just two of them. When they said the intruders were slaughtering the knights and magic knights, I thought perhaps it was caused by some sort of monster swarm.

But seeing that it's just two regular humans, I can't help but question the strength of our soldiers these days," he remarked, running his hand through his hair with a smug smile. "Seems it's up to mages like us to handle things now."

"Hey, Xiver," a voice called out from behind him, interrupting his delusions. It was a girl with blond hair and yellow eyes, her demeanor timid as she stood and held her staff.

"What is it now, Harume? You always like being a pain," Xiver responded, turning to acknowledge her presence with a hint of annoyance.

"I'm sorry," Harume replied softly. She then gestured with her right hand, directing Xiver's gaze towards the city beyond the gates. It was littered with the bodies of fallen soldiers and multiple destroyed buildings.

As his gaze landed on the sight, he froze up with shock, his earlier bravado evaporating in an instant. Explore more at My Virtual Library Empire

Suddenly, the voice of another mage could be heard. It was a man with brown hair and green-yellow eyes. "That's enough. No need to feel discouraged because of the fallen soldiers," he declared calmly. "We should honor their memory by putting an end to the advancements of the intruders here and now." It was Yefrit, a senior mage, his authoritative tone cutting through the tension like a blade.

Oliver, sensing how tense the atmosphere was, asked Leona, "So when exactly do you plan to convince them? Why don't you give it a go now? Let's see how successful it will turn out."

Leona could obviously feel the provocative elements behind Oliver's words but chose to ignore them. He had a right to be angry for her insisting to use words to settle a tense moment where their weapons were the ones supposed to do the talking.

Leona's voice suddenly echoed as she said, "Humans, look, my companion and I have come for your king and only your king. We don't intend to harm him; we only ask that he follows us back to meet my liege. Please step out of the way. I don't intend to use violence to settle this."

The voice of a holy knight suddenly rang out, "It's too late for that," he said. "My brother was one of the magic knights who went ahead to arrest you people and calm things down. If you didn't want violence, you should have let yourselves get arrested.

Now you have killed so many people and destroyed so many homes," his grip tightening on the hilt of his sword as he continued, "ruined so many lives, taken away so many loved ones..." He began to tear up, as did many others beside him. He then yelled, "Don't even think you can suddenly beg forgiveness now. Either both of you die here, or we all do."

His words left Leona downcast, her gaze seemed lifeless as she simply gazed at him, not saying anything. Out of nowhere, Oliver let out a massive laugh, one that made everyone direct piercing gazes at him. He then mumbled, "Damn, Leona, seems negotiations did not go as planned. So I guess what's left to do now is knock out everyone here," he placed his left hand on her right shoulder as he spoke.

Leona then replied with a slight serious tone, "Seems you are right. We'll just have to knock everyone out." Leona began to walk forward, her footsteps echoing as she did. All the holy knights and mages braced themselves as they all prepared to begin combat. Leona's yellow eyes glowed with serious intensity as she said, "Oliver, follow me.

Let's make quick work of them and move to the castle." She then paused, then added, "But remember... don't kill anyone."