The three of them arrived at the plaza where they could see the handful of knights they brought with them, along with the town's watch, fending off what seemed to be giant, deadly insects.

With the help of the streetlights that haven't been destroyed yet, they could make out the shapes of their enemies: wasps the size of a full grown bear and red angry ants the size of cows.

They were destroying the houses in their way, overpowering the town's watch that was facing them.

The wasps gored anyone and anything with their needles or with their front legs while the ants would chomp off the limbs or eat someone whole. Blood splattered everywhere and the stench of it made Somnus wrinkle his nose.

"A little sensitive, are we?" Letum muttered, a corner of his lips twisting upwards

"Are you certain you can handle yourself?" Somnus pointedly asked him. "I can't handle two things at once, fighting these things and saving your ass."

"I told you, I'm fine. I need to keep an eye on you, as I really don't want to take on your studies and future work."

There were still a few people running away to safety, away from those invading monsters.

The situation is urgent but somehow, for the twin princes, their views were a little detached as they took in the damages and the situation before jumping in without any plans.

In the middle of that plaza was a metallic spire thrice the height of an average heron, with three herons huddled urgently in mid-air. In one of their arms were round objects the size of an average male adult's fists.

"There are runestones that come in that size?" Letum gasped. "Isn't that a little expensive for a town like this?"

"Government subsidy, no doubt." Somnus replied, surprised to hear that his brother is more concerned about the runestones than the invading monsters. "What on earth are those creatures?"

"Mutated creatures." Urien responded, his expression grave. "I didn't expect this…they weren't supposed to exist this close to Caladrius's nest."

"Those things are normal occurrences?" Somnus asked as he pulled out the sword from its scabbard. "Why weren't they taught in our lessons?"

"We have mentioned them as creatures corrupted by the miasma." Urien told him with a scowl, opening his wings and flying up. "I will not tolerate your accusation that we neglected your studies. Protect yourselves well, and if you can't handle it, run."

Somnus glared at their battle instructor who started saving some of the town's watch from those monsters, his attacks ruthless yet graceful.

"They were never specific about those creatures!" He fumed, channeling his ether into the sword while his brother conjured up five magic circles, one large beneath him while the other smaller four floated around his cardinal directions, linked by a chain-like mana.

"You sure you have time to berate them for that?" Letum asked him as he lined up the magic circles by two, two fingers pointing at his targets and releasing fire arrows.

Somnus scoffed at how his brother is showing off, knowing that he's a limitless well of mana and ether and the complete opposite of his older twin.

Somnus charged forward to protect the herons who seem to be trying to fix something in the spire, putting acceleration seifon into his feet and cutting the incoming wasps in half by jumping up with full force.

Twisting his body as he slowly and gracefully goes down, he called out to the herons.

"Hey! What are you three doing?"

The herons flinched at his voice and they turned to look at the slowly falling human.

Then they saw the dark hair and dark eyes, making their shoulders curl up defensively. One of them glanced down to look at Letum, who was casually burning the monsters who noticed his presence.

They've heard of how the Kingdom has raised some Imperial princes whose birth were supposed to bring good fortune.

However, these herons who finally noticed their presence couldn't decide if it's fortunate that they were there or if it's the complete opposite.

This barrier that the ruling Count had brought over to their town was working fine for years, yet the moment the princes stepped foot in their town, it broke down.

"We…we're changing the protective runestones, sir." One of the herons nervously replied. "Once we remove the cracked ones, the barrier to repel those creatures will be up again."

Somnus nodded at that as he's halfway down to the ground. "We'll take care of the surroundings and keep you safe. Do what you need to do properly."

"Yes…yes, sir!"

Somnus lightly shook his head at that, looking down at his clothes as he gently touched down with a light tap of his shoes on the ground.

He's not wearing anything that would denote him as a noble, and the twins are still babyfaced for their age.

Why would that heron be so respectful to him? Did he, by chance, visit the estate before and saw a glimpse of the princes in the past?

He shook his head, clearing his thoughts.

That's not important right now.

"Hey, Let!" He called out to his brother as he came close to him.

Letum has a scowl on his brows, letting out small coughs through clenched teeth.

"What?" Letum snapped.

"What's wrong with you?" Somnus asked him, trying to keep the worry out of his voice, all other thoughts shoved to the side.

"Nothing. These creatures reeked of disgusting ether. It's making me nauseous again, but I can still fight." Letum told him. "What were you going to say?"

Somnus frowned at him before sighing. "I was planning on taking care of the ants and leaving the wasps to you. We have to protect those three up there until the barrier is restored."

"What barrier?"

"Dunno, that's what they said."

Letum gave his brother a long, suffering look.

His dearest older brother is such a naive and trusting one. How could he be so sure those herons weren't stealing or were the cause of this problem in the first place?