Leon breathed in the cool morning air, grateful to finally stand upon solid ground again. It had been a long trip up from Calabria, almost a week from the city whereas it only took a couple of days when he’d last sailed down the river.

But now, after almost six months, they were back. He was back. He could see the capital about a dozen miles in the distance, just waiting for the Augustine forces to take it. And they were ready to do so; to his left stretched out seven Legions, slowly arraying themselves into their distinctive checkerboard formations on the plains to the south of the capital. To his right on the other side of the Naga River were the noble armies, arranged in more-or-less a straight line with their cavalry on the right flank. The fleets, meanwhile, covered the Naga River so completely that it almost seemed the river was made of wood and nothing more.

August had other forces, too, with several more Legions and loyal nobles he could call upon, but they were to stay in the south and keep the place peaceful in the absence of a Prince or Consul—the Consul of the South having been killed in the last battle between August and Duronius.

Once everyone was in position, they would begin to advance upon the capital. Their advance would be slow since their scouts had indicated serious fortifications were being constructed by the Octavian troops, but Leon had no doubts they’d overwhelm everyone in their way. At least three Legions from the Western Territories had come to defend the city along with an unknown number of noble levies, but with August’s force advancing from the south and Minerva’s from the north, they’d be hard-pressed to defend the entire city.

The scouts had also mentioned a steady stream of deserters and city inhabitants fleeing the city, but without solid numbers, Leon was just going to be safe and assume the capital was fully staffed and ready for a long siege.

Leon was looking forward to seeing Minerva again, too. It had been months since he’d last seen her, and he wanted to see her reaction to his ascension and the death of Earthshaker. He wasn’t sure if August had told her about both events in their communications, but he hoped the Prince had refrained and kept it a surprise.

More than that, though, was the knowledge that Elise was waiting for him and Maia to come back. It was hazy in the distance to most of the army, but to Leon’s seventh-tier eyes, the Heaven’s Eye Tower was still perfectly visible in the western districts of the city. Elise was there or in her mother’s palace at the Tower’s foot, and every fiber of his being yearned to make his way there first and foremost.

But he doubted that the city’s defenders would be so accommodating as to just let him make his way to the Tower. He could see the walls they’d constructed in his way, which would have to be surmounted before the Augustine forces would enter the city. The walls were pretty short, but still tall enough that he couldn’t see anything immediately beyond them.

It took almost two hours, but finally, everyone got fully formed up and in position on the banks of the river. Roland and August were in the lead dreadnought, and when the signal horn was sounded and the flares were launched, that ship began leading the way north. The signal was relayed west by the Legions and east by the nobles, spurring the entire army to begin their march.

Leon gave his signal to Anzu, who began trotting out in front of the Legions. Maia was riding right behind him, lightly grasping his waist to keep herself balanced since she was riding with both of her legs on one side of the griffin rather than astride. She was ready to jump back down once the fighting began.

Behind Anzu were Alix and Valeria, both of them riding borrowed horses. Leon had been quietly hoping that Marcus and Alcander would join him again, but they’d opted to ride with the nobles for this one last push, which Leon could understand—both of their families were in that division of the army—but he was still a little disappointed.

The Legions quickly crossed the plains, occasionally making their way through a few small groves of trees. But as they drew closer, Leon began to feel a quiet sense of unease. He couldn’t hear anyone on the other side of the walls reacting to their presence. His senses were sharp enough to be able to pick up on troop movements and horns, despite still being miles away, but he heard nothing.

‘What’s going on?’ he wondered to himself. ‘We’re too numerous to have gone unnoticed, they have to have seen us… Did they abandon the city? Is that why they’re not reacting? Were those reports about desertions underselling just how bad it was?’

As soon as they drew to within ten miles, Leon projected his magic senses, hoping to see what was going on. He didn’t expect it to work, thinking that there would be enchantments in the low walls that would block that very tactic, so he was more than a little surprised when his magic swept over the walls unimpeded.

He was even more surprised to see that the walls were completely unmanned. There weren’t even Legion soldiers or city militiamen behind them.

“What in all the hells?!” he muttered aloud.

[What is it?] Maia asked, her embrace tightening a bit in apprehension.

“Nothing… nobody’s preparing to meet us…” Leon replied.

He felt Maia project her senses after his, and a moment later, she confirmed that what he was seeing—or, more accurately, what he wasn’t seeing—was real. There weren’t even any troops in the streets or suburbs immediately neighboring the walls.

Leon scowled. He momentarily contemplated calling the army to a halt, but he wasn’t in a hurry to do so. Seven Legions, an army of nobles at least a hundred thousand strong, and hundreds of ships don’t just stop on a whim, even if he didn’t like what they were marching towards.

But they still had some time.

“Dame Alix! Dame Valeria!” he called out. The two ladies riding behind him quickly advanced almost parallel with him and looked to him for orders. “I need a message passed on! Make sure that the Legates know that there don’t seem to be any defenders on those walls and to advance with caution!”

“Yes Sir!” Alix and Valeria replied in unison. Alix peeled off to the west to speak with the Legions while Valeria went east to the riverbank to send a message to the fleets.

They’d just have to deal with whatever this was, though. Leon doubted that August or anyone else would want to call this attack off in favor of sending out more scouts.

A few minutes later, Alix and Valeria returned, their messages relayed to the rest of the commanders. Leon felt a few waves of magic power pass over him as Legates and nobles alike projected their own magic senses to corroborate his report as they drew closer, but no one called the army to a halt. They kept on moving.

Leon took a deep breath to steady himself. Whatever this was, it unnerved him.

It took about two hours to cross the remaining land between them and the walls. Leon and the stronger members of the army could’ve done it in a matter of minutes, but they were slowed down by the need to stay in formation with the weaker members of the army. But they made it, and not a single Octavian fighter showed themself to challenge their advance. Even as Leon, Anzu, and Maia leaped into the air and landed on the top of the wall, no one revealed themselves to contest their advance. It was as if the entire wall had been constructed, then immediately abandoned.

Or, perhaps more accurately as Leon got an up-close look at the wall itself and the land immediately behind it, abandoned before it was finished. It was only about ten feet high, after all, barely enough to defend against mortals, let alone experienced and powerful mages. It had no crenellations, no towers, no fortifications of any kind. It wasn’t even enchanted, so it only took a little bit of applied force from a few sixth-tier mages, and holes were punched into it that allowed the Legions to advance. The same happened for the nobles, but there were no such obstacles for the fleet to bypass, allowing them to proceed unimpeded.

The Legions that Leon accompanied streamed past the wall and, after only a few thousand more feet, finally began to enter the suburbs of the city. This far from the commercial centers of the capital, the houses were small, though free-standing. Only a few apartment blocks could be seen here and there. What really drew Leon’s attention, though, was the utter lack of people on the streets. He could see a few terrified faces in building windows staring at them as they marched past, but there wasn’t a soul to be seen outside as the Legions entered the city.

This trend continued as they pressed further in, without a single inhabitant of the city seen outside, guard, soldier, or citizen notwithstanding.

Leon’s sense of unease grew with every step he took through the deserted streets, a feeling which seemed to be shared.

“Where is everyone?” Alix asked from just behind him.

“The civilians are still here hiding in their homes,” Valeria observed, “but I haven’t seen a single enemy soldier since we arrived…”

“Neither have I,” Leon said, keeping his magic senses projected to scan the city, looking for anything that might indicate where the enemy had vanished to—they’d been there only a couple of days beforehand, when the Augustine scouts had first shown up, leaving Leon more than a little confused.

“Maybe they all left?” Alix suggested.

“That’s a possibility, but don’t take it for granted,” Leon said. “For all we know, they’re hiding somewhere in the city ready to ambush us, so keep your guard up.”

Leon was believing that idea less and less as more of the city fell into range of his magic senses. Most of the commoners’ houses and apartment blocks didn’t have the necessary enchantments to block magic senses, so he could see that there were still hundreds of thousands of people at least in the city, despite the empty streets. However, he couldn’t sense hide nor hair of any Octavian troops.

[Do you sense anything?] Leon whispered into Maia’s mind.

[Nothing concerning,] she replied. [I can’t find anyone who might seem hostile. The only possible place they could be hiding would be the palace in the center of the lake or in that one place in the southwest…]

Leon understood what she was saying. Only the Legion headquarters southwest of the city or the Royal Palace had enchantments strong enough to block her magic senses, and she couldn’t see any Octavian troops outside of those places.

A few flares went off in the distance, colored bright yellow, the agreed-upon Augustine signal for advancement—it seemed that Leon’s group wasn’t alone in finding no one to block their passage. Leon quickly fired off a yellow flare of his own and pressed on.

All throughout the city, the Augustine forces advanced without challenge. There was no fighting, no one stopped to pillage the houses or attempt to sack the capital. Everyone was just as unnerved as Leon was with the silence in the city.

After a few hours of slow and steady marching, Leon eventually reached the noble district. But that distance only confused him even more, for he saw through his magic senses that the northern forces had entered the city, as well, meaning that the city garrison had clearly not sallied out to face them.

Minerva and her Legion reached the bridge to the capitol island before anyone else, with Leon coming in only a few minutes later. Minerva herself seemed barely changed in the few months since Leon had seen her last, with the same cold expression and air of professional detachment about her. She was dressed in shining plate armor, but she had her helmet off revealing her sharp features and tied-back black hair. She had dismounted from her huge gray charger to wait at the first of the bridge’s gatehouses, which was also curiously missing its guard detail.

When Leon came riding up on Anzu, Minerva’s stoic face momentarily warmed, then morphed into shock as she registered his aura, as well as that of Maia riding right behind him.

“Sir Leon!” she called out as Leon approached, Legion battalions in tow. “You’re looking quite well!”

“As are you, Dame Minerva,” Leon heartily replied as he slid off Anzu’s back to greet the knightess. The two briefly clasped each other’s wrists. “How was the march south?”

“Not as eventful as your journey north, I should think,” Minerva replied. “After leaving the Northern Territories, we didn’t see any of Octavius’ people at all. Kind of a disappointment, to be honest, I was hoping the Sapphire Paladin might make an appearance so we could match the defeat of Earthshaker that you and your people managed. Good job with that rat bastard, by the way.”

With a dark chuckle, Leon said, “I definitely enjoyed that one. That pig-fucker deserved far worse, but I made it painful.”

“I can’t deny that I wish I’d been there for that. I would’ve made it last. He deserved nothing less than the full might of every hell brought down upon his worthless ass. We’ll have to get together once all this is over so you can tell me all the details that I didn’t get in my report.”

Leon smiled. “Still looking for some vengeance?” Minerva nodded and smirked at him as if he’d just asked the stupidest of questions.

“What we’ve done up north has hardly quenched my fire,” she growled.

“Then I suppose we’ll just have to find Sapphire and drag her to justice if she won’t be so accommodating as to come to us. Maybe wring some catharsis out of her for you.”

“Good idea. And congratulations, Leon, on your ascension. Truly, you’re putting the rest of us to shame with how quickly you’re rising.”

“Thanks,” Leon replied. His eyes then turned to the lake, which August’s fleet had just entered from the Naga River. “We should get moving, don’t want to fall behind. And I want to see just what in all the hells is going on here. These guys can’t have disappeared too long ago, or the city would’ve descended into anarchy. They’ve got to be here somewhere…”

“Right…” Minerva agreed, her tone shifting as she stared out over the bridge. “Who’s securing the Legion Headquarters?”

“The 10th and 11th Legions,” Leon answered.

“Ah, yes, I remember. I suppose that leaves this as the only place where there might be some violence…”

“Maybe…” Leon replied as he and Minerva walked out onto the bridge, their followers not far behind. He was starting to relax, having concluded that if there was going to be any fighting, it would’ve started by now.

They pressed on, passing each gatehouse without incident for there still wasn’t any sign of guards. It wasn’t until they finally reached the last gatehouse that someone finally revealed themself, and it was quite possibly the last person that Leon expected.

He saw walking along the road from the Royal Palace toward the bridge the armored form of the Bronze Paladin, his brown armor polished to a mirror shine and glistening in the sunlight of the early afternoon, his immense ax slung over his back. He radiated power, his aura thick and mighty. Though they were both seventh-tier mages, Leon couldn’t help but feel a little intimidated. Bronze, if his aura was anything to go by, completely outclassed the Earthshaker Paladin in sheer power.

“Hail! Dame Minerva and Sir Leon!” he called out to them, his tone stiff and formal, his aura suddenly weighing down upon them in a clear threat, but not enough to truly hinder them. “By the order of His Majesty, King Julius Septimius Taurus, you are all ordered to stand down immediately!”

Leon froze in surprise. His shocked question, which he wasn’t even able to give voice to, was echoed in the minds of every other person behind them in some form or fashion—save for Maia.

‘The King’s awake?!’