At the same time, the Mazai tribe was celebrating and singing in a large gathering filled with joy and dancing. Suddenly, their celebration was interrupted by the loud sound of a horn echoing through the surroundings.
Everyone stopped and turned their eyes toward the wall, where expressions of worry began to appear on their faces.
Scarface, the leader of the Mazai tribe, stepped forward and addressed his men with a stern look, saying,
"This is the horn of intruders! Carry your weapons and prepare yourselves. The wall needs us!"
After Scarface headed toward the wall with his brothers and men, Ateen had just come out of the Purification Chamber inside the Estrason Tree. Her face looked more radiant and beautiful as she sat on a chair wearing magnificent clothes, while one of the women was brushing her hair.
At that moment, Ria entered the room holding a bouquet of fragrant flowers in her hands. She presented them to Ateen with a smile and said happily,
"Congratulations on your marriage to the king, Your Highness."
Ateen raised her eyes toward Ria, carefully observing her features, then asked in a calm tone that carried a hint of mystery,
"What does this day mean to you?"
Ria smiled and replied naturally,
"It is the day of preparing the bride for her wedding."
Ateen asked again, this time in a more serious tone while looking directly at her.
"And what does this day truly mean to you?"
Ria's expression changed slightly, and confusion appeared on her face. She answered hesitantly,
"What do you mean?"
Silence filled the room for a moment before Ateen spoke again.
"Who are you… really?"
Signs of confusion began to appear on Ria's face as she tried to answer in a faint voice.
"I… I am Ria, your servant, Your Highness."
Ateen's eyes remained fixed on her, watching her sharply before she spoke in a calm voice filled with emotion.
"Ria, my dear friend, would never forget her birthday."
Then she continued,
"And the necklace she always wore was the most precious thing she owned, yet you showed no sadness for losing it."
At that moment, the unexpected happened.
The calm expression on Ria's face vanished, transforming into something terrifying. A horrifying and distorted face appeared. Her eyes darkened, and her features turned into something inhuman before she moved in a swift motion, attempting to stab Ateen with a dagger.
However, Ateen avoided the attack skillfully. She caught the dagger in a swift motion, then spun with force, taking control of the situation and delivering a direct stab into the impostor's heart.
The disguised woman collapsed to the ground, writhing in pain, while Ateen looked down at her in anger and asked,
"Where is Ria? And how did you manage to get in here?"
The impostor breathed with difficulty as her terrifying features began to fade. In a trembling voice, she muttered,
"We came for revenge… and Ria… that woman… our pets left nothing of her."
Shock briefly appeared on Ateen's face, but it was quickly replaced by anger mixed with deep sorrow as she remembered her friend Ria, who had accompanied her through many moments of hardship and silence.
After a few moments, Ateen composed herself, raised her head, and clenched her fist tightly. Then she turned quickly and left the room with a stern expression.
As soon as she stepped outside, she gave her orders to the female warriors in a firm voice,
"Prepare immediately… there are intruders!"
The enemy had begun to move, and the kingdom was on the verge of facing a threat it had never expected.
Meanwhile, as Ateen was heading toward the palace, Basil, Hamza, and Novich were on their way to the wall when they were suddenly startled by a massive explosion coming from the direction of the palace. Shock appeared clearly on their faces.
Novich's eyes widened in terror as he immediately realized that something was happening at the palace. He turned to Basil and Hamza and said in a voice filled with urgency,
"It seems they're trying to breach the armored walls underground! If they succeed, they'll reach the king! We must change our route to the palace to protect him… we cannot allow them to reach him."
Inside the palace, where the king was sleeping in his chamber, he suddenly woke up to the sound of a thunderous explosion shaking the place. Despite the heavy exhaustion weighing on his body, he tried to gather his strength and slowly got up, heading toward the door to check the source of the sound.
When he opened the door, a horrifying sight met his eyes.
The female guards were lying on the ground before him… dead.
He stared at them for a moment, his eyes heavy with shock, before bending down and taking the sword from the hand of one of the guards.
With heavy steps, the king continued walking through the palace corridors. His eyes caught sight of the door of a room that contained an old portrait of him with his wife and children.
That door, which had always remained closed, was now open.
Concern appeared on his face as he approached it cautiously.
He entered the room to find a woman standing there with her back turned to him, holding the portrait of his wife as it slowly burned in her hands.
The woman turned toward the king, revealing a horrifying sight. Half of her face clearly resembled his wife, while the other half was horribly disfigured.
With a slight tremble in his voice, the king asked,
"Who are you? And how did you get here?"
The woman slowly transformed into Kalisa, the princess who had appeared in the sunken city beneath the sea. Seeing her true form left the king stunned.
Kalisa answered in a cold voice, her clothes stained with blood:
"I came to take blood to revive the King of Atlazon… and your blood is what I need."
The king tried to defend himself despite the weakness in his exhausted body, but he did not have enough strength to confront her.
Within moments, she lunged at him with terrifying speed and stabbed him with a dagger before whispering with a sinister smile,
"This dagger is poisoned… there is no cure for it."
Then she brutally reached into his chest and pulled out his liver in cold blood, placing what she had taken into a bag she was carrying.
After that, she disappeared from the room, leaving the king drowning in his blood on the floor, his eyes still fixed on the burning portrait.