Chapter 1299: Do You Have A Better Idea? A flash of light appeared inside the grounds of the Royal Palace. Erasmus and a lady wearing a veil glanced at the teenage boy, who had appeared at the place where they had agreed to meet after the City of Lyra fell. "Looks like we have underestimated them too much," Erasmus said as he stood from his seat. The lady beside him took a single step and reappeared beside the teenage boy. She then carefully wiped his face with her handkerchief, then checked his body for injuries. "Mom, I’m not hurt," Thirteen said softly. "Don’t worry. I made sure to escape on time." Queen Miriamele finally sighed in relief after confirming that Zion wasn’t injured in the slightest. "Rocky, take out Azrael," Thirteen ordered. He wanted Erasmus and Queen Miriamele to work together to help Cranky recover as soon as possible. When the pair saw the Celestial’s injuries, their expressions turned solemn. They knew how strong Azrael was, and seeing how badly he’d been injured, they realized that Castor mustn’t be underestimated. They were curious as to how Azrael ended up like this, but they held themselves back, understanding that their questions could wait until their ally had recovered from his injuries. While Cranky was being cared for, Thirteen ordered Rocky to release Queen Xeres, as well as the other defenders whom they had saved, to the center of the city of Velgrande to prepare for their defenses. The capital city had the highest defensive formation in the world of Artem, but after seeing how Regulus and his men managed to teleport inside the city, none of them planned to take any more chances. Thirteen also left the palace to create some runic formations that would prevent anything and anyone from twisting the space around the city, reducing the risk of the enemies exploiting a loophole to teleport inside once more. To speed up the process, he summoned Tiona and her demons and instructed them to write runes at several locations inside the city. They planned to cover every location, preventing their enemies from sneaking in. This process took over an hour. Once it was finally finished, Thirteen returned to the palace to rest. He had already asked Tiona to wake him up at the first signs of invasion. According to his estimate, it would still take their enemies at least five days up to a week to reach the capital city. ’I hoped the bombs I left in the city managed to kill more of them,’ Thirteen thought as he laid down on his bed. He waited until the last moment, when the airships were in position, before he detonated everything and made his escape. Only he had a teleportation crystal that directly sent him inside the Royal Palace. Simply put, he didn’t need the teleportation gate to escape. This was why, as long as Rocky could pull those who could not make it to the teleportation gate inside his Mobile Fortress, Thirteen could safely summon them after he teleported to the city of Velgrande. ———— Back in Lyra City... Castor gritted his teeth in anger after seeing that a third of their Aerial Fleet was wiped out by the blast that took them all by surprise. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂 The ships that managed to survive were in need of repairs, which would take at least a few days. Regulus sighed in his heart as he listened to his subordinates report the number of casualties, as well as the number of ships that were destroyed, in their invasion of Lyra City. They might have won the battle, but the losses they took were something they couldn’t shrug off so easily. He then passed the report to Castor, who also sighed deeply after reading everything. "What now?" Regulus asked. "What else?" Castor placed his hands behind his back. "We finish what we started. We only need to win one more battle, and everything will come to an end." Castor knew that his colleague was right. They were the ones who started this war, and they would also be the ones to end it. "Did you kill that Celestial?" Regulus inquired. "No." Castor shook his head. "When I was about to give the killing blow, he managed to escape at the last second. Still, he was seriously injured. As long as we attack Velgrande within a week, he might not be able to use his full strength." Celestials were truly powerful individuals. It was difficult to hurt them, but when they did get hurt, it would take some time for their injuries to heal. Even with the best medicines, they would need a few days to a few weeks for their injuries to fully recover. Sometimes, it might even take them years to recover. Regulus glanced to the north, where the capital was located. "If the shield that protects Velgrande is just as tough as those three-layered shields that your cannon could not break completely, we might need to change our strategy," Regulus commented. "You mean to say that we should wait a month so that your artifact can be used again?" Castor arched an eyebrow. "Do you have a better idea?" Regulus asked back. "By all means, I’m listening." Castor pondered for a bit. He understood that if they waited for a month, they would have a higher chance of succeeding in infiltrating the city. But waiting for a month also had its disadvantages. For one, the Celestial they faced might be able to heal his injuries during that time, which would make their conquest more difficult. However, waiting also allowed them to recharge their relics, which would make the battle easier. "How about this—as soon as the repairs are finished, we go to Velgrande," Castor proposed. "Then we will try to launch a preemptive strike. If we can’t break through their defenses, then we wait for our relics to recharge." "Okay." Regulus nodded. This was a sound plan, so he agreed to test it out. Since, they wouldn’t lose anything by doing a preemptive strike to check how strong the defenses of the city were, they still had the leeway to put pressure on their enemies by simply being present. —----