Six years passed. At a house on the edge of the forest, just outside a village, "SLAM!" The back door of the house was thrown open. Leon, Lucia, and Livia, now six years old, ran out of the door with cheerful faces, looking like three small children playing chase.
"Hey… don't go too far, and don't stay out until the evening!" Eluisa shouted from the doorway.
"Okay, Sis!" Leon, Lucia, and Livia replied, turning back as they ran.
They immediately entered the woods, and once they were a little deeper into the forest, the three of them looked back to confirm they were far from their house. Then, the three looked at each other and smiled. "WHOOSH!" They immediately ran at high speed, leaping onto trees, then jumping from tree to tree until they finally jumped out and landed in an empty space with a large rock in front of them.
Around them lay the ruins of a city or village and a palace, all half-buried in the ground and overgrown with wild plants. Leon looked at the surrounding ruins with a sad feeling. Then he turned to look at his two sisters.
"Okay, we're safe here," Leon said, sitting on a rock.
"Yes, this is our place, the three of us… these ruins used to be your kingdom, right?" Lucia asked, sitting on the ground right in front of Leon.
"Yep, that's right. These are the ruins of the Neptunia Kingdom, but all that's left are these ruins," Leon replied, looking around.
"I'm sorry, we destroyed your kingdom back then," Livia said, sitting next to Lucia.
"That was 1,000 years ago, that's what Sis Eluisa says," Leon said.
"Yeah, who would have thought we would be reincarnated 1,000 years into the future. Besides, we're triplets and actually the children of a noble whose territory was overthrown and seized," Lucia replied.
"Our Mom and Dad were from House Reinald. Our territory was called Nortom in the southern region named Seriyan," Livia said.
"Yeah, that's right. It turns out that after the rule of our three kingdoms, everyone formed a new empire and built a dividing wall to contain our old enemy," Leon said.
"And now they all worship the three gods simultaneously… under a new religion. Tradition has changed drastically," Lucia said.
"That's the thing, we don't know anything about this era," Livia replied.
"So… what should we do now? Seek revenge for our parents whom we never knew?" Lucia asked.
Leon seemed to think for a moment. Then he looked around the ruins of his former kingdom and seemed to realize something. Then he looked at his two twin sisters.
"Our era is over. I personally want to live a peaceful and quiet life in this age. It's just that I'm still worried about our enemy in the north, the Hellion forces, who are the children of the dark god and god of hell, Helacius, attacking this world again without the three of us here," Leon said seriously.
Lucia and Livia immediately looked at each other. Then they stood up and sat on the rock right on Leon's right and left, sandwiching Leon.
"You're right, Al… I mean, Leon. Our era is indeed over, but our enemy is still around," Lucia said.
"I also want to live peacefully and quietly… with the two of you, like before when the three of us were still childhood friends. Hopefully, our enemy is dead too," Livia added.
Leon immediately stretched out his arms and hugged Lucia and Livia, who were sitting beside him.
"So, now we forget our 1,000-year-old feud. Forgive me for making you suffer back then," Leon said.
"Same here, forgive me too. We'll move forward together now. I'm grateful the gods gave us a chance to atone for our personal mistakes in the past," Lucia replied, leaning against Leon.
"I also apologize again. From now on, I promise I won't fight with you two again, even to the point of waging war," Livia added, also leaning against Leon.
The three fell silent again, enjoying the gentle breeze and listening to the noisy sound of leaves rustling in the wind. After a while, Lucia turned to look at Livia.
"Ana… I mean… Livia, your birthmark on your cheek is gone now, huh? It only showed up when you were a baby," Lucia said.
"Right. I'm thankful my face is flawless now. I don't need to wear a mask like I did before," Livia said, touching her cheek.
"That's because we aren't a king and queens anymore. The birthmark symbolizing Cronus on my right upper arm is also gone," Leon said, touching his upper arm.
"Same here. The Soranus mark on my back also disappeared," Lucia replied.
"We really are ordinary citizens now, huh? I'm happy like this. I hope everything stays this way," Livia replied.
"Yeah, let the empire handle the enemy from the north. We'll just live quietly and comfortably here," Leon said, hugging his two twin sisters.
"KYAAAA!… Help!"
Suddenly, a scream was heard from a distance. Leon, Lucia, and Livia immediately stood up, turning to look in the direction of the sound.
"Huh… what's wrong?" Livia asked, shocked.
"Should we check?" Lucia asked.
"Why are you two hesitating? Let's go look," Leon replied.
Without further delay, Leon grabbed Lucia and Livia's hands and ran into the forest toward the direction of the sound. Finally, they reached a river flowing through the forest. The three of them peeked out from behind the bushes. They saw a red-eyed, medium brown-skinned woman who looked like a hunter, surrounded by a group of goblins. Behind them was a huge orc wearing armor and carrying a large sword.
The woman appeared wounded and was struggling to fight the goblins with her sword, holding her injured arm with difficulty. Around her lay many people, dressed in various professions, face down, soaked in blood, and motionless.
"Should we help them?" Livia asked.
"But won't she be confused if she's helped by kids like us?" Lucia asked.
"Right. It looks like that woman is a village resident who's a hunter. Sis Eluisa already warned us not to be reckless," Leon replied.
"Why are you two doubting?" Livia murmured.
"Um… it's too risky," Leon replied, watching the woman who kept retreating while swinging her sword.
"KYAAA!" The woman screamed again when a goblin grabbed her sword and pushed her back until she leaned against a large rock. "CLANG." The goblin threw her sword, and then "KIIK!" All the goblins immediately rushed forward, ready to assault the woman, who held her arm and looked at them with a face full of terror. But suddenly, a blue spear, like a trident, pierced three goblins in front of her all at once from the side, like shish kebabs.
The startled woman immediately turned to look to the side. Her eyes widened, seeing three small children carrying a bright blue trident spear, a large white, lightning-shaped sword, and two greenish-yellow, single-bladed axes.
"SLASH!" Leon swung his trident spear sideways, sweeping away all the goblins, then gesturing to Lucia and Livia. "SLASH!" Lucia sliced several goblins in half as easily as cutting butter, while Livia just raised her two axes sideways, right at the necks of several goblins whose heads were severed by themselves as they passed her axes.
After that, Lucia raised her sword. Clouds immediately gathered above her, and "BOOM!" Lightning struck all the dead goblin bodies on the ground, setting them on fire. Seeing his goblin troops destroyed, their boss, a massive orc wearing armor and carrying a large, dull-looking sword, stood up and approached the three with an angry face.
"WATCH OUT!" the woman screamed, seeing the huge orc in front of the children and pointing forward.
"GRAAAAH!"
The orc swung its sword from the side toward Leon to cleave him, but "CLANG!" Leon raised his trident and parried the huge orc's sword without moving an inch from where he stood. Immediately, Lucia and Livia jumped onto Leon's shoulders, then shot high into the air.
Livia immediately threw her two axes like boomerangs, severing the orc's two arms, which then fell to the ground along with its sword. "GRAAAH!" The orc screamed and took a step back, but suddenly, "SREEEET!" Lucia descended, slashing the orc from top to bottom until the orc's body split in half to the left and right, then landed as lightning struck the orc's body, setting it on fire.
But when the large orc's body fell, it hit the surrounding bushes. Immediately, the fire flared up, making Leon, Lucia, and Livia turn pale.
"WAAAH… A fire!" Livia screamed in a panic.
"Quick!… Get water! Put out the fire!" Leon screamed in a panic.
"Oops… sorry, I didn't expect him to fall into the bushes… I'm sorry!" Lucia screamed, also panicking.
The three weapons in the children's hands vanished. They immediately ran toward the river. The woman was stunned, watching the three small children, smaller than the goblins, run around in a panic because they accidentally started a forest fire after killing the huge orc—which she knew was the Orc General—so easily, a task that usually required at least ten experienced people to defeat.
She wanted to reach out to the three small children, but because she was injured and bleeding heavily, she finally lost consciousness and fainted.
"Hey, why didn't you use your Maelstrom? Your signature move!" Lucia said to Leon.
"No way! Do you want everything in this forest to be swept away by water?" Leon asked.
"Enough!… Come on, quickly put it out!" Livia replied, splashing water onto the bushes.