Chapter 1

“So, let me get this straight… Your fleet got targeted by the entire Shogunate fleet with two Demigods on their side along with the Kirin fleet,” said Ceres, pacing around in front of me with a deep frown on her face.

Sitting in the living room couch of our accommodations in the military headquarter back on land, I nodded helplessly. “Yeah, it did.”

“Then, you managed to hold out somehow against them, trying to delay until the Western Armada could catch up. But all that was negated when Ragyo Kirin suddenly decided to stake everything on one throw of the die and try and promote to Demigod. What’s more, against all odds, he succeeded.”

“That’s right.”

Her four tails lashing in agitation, Ceres continued, “Apparently, it was three Demigods against one. The situation seemed irredeemable, but the Black Widow was actually concealed onboard the Marine Palace for just such an eventuality. So, the circumstances should still have been under control. You just needed to hold out a bit longer and reinforcements would have arrived.”

“That’s what should have happened, but…”

“But, a rogue Demigod, unbounded by the Treaty appeared and threw everything into confusion. Not only that, the Shogunate had cut some sort of deal with the Viking Corsairs… something lucrative enough that they chose to enter these turbid waters and muddy it further. Now, with them obstructing the path of the Western Armada, you couldn’t count on the reinforcements arriving in time anymore.”

Phobos, who had been silently auditing our conversation until now, chimed in, “As per the latest info collected by our department, the pirates were in it for the Marine Palace. They were promised it as their spoils of war if the Shogunate attained victory and managed to capture it.”

Artemis grimaced. “Figures. A floating fortress would appeal to a people who spend most of their lives at sea. Now that they have it, they’ll be more of a menace than ever…”

“The Shogunate is really deceitful, ya,” commented Deimos. “Making us pay our enemies with our own coin.”

“So,” Ceres continued with her analysis of the battle. “We had Isabella and the Black widow guarding us while Ragyo Kirin and the two Shogunate Demigods stood opposite us. Then there was this third party in the form of an unknown Demigod… who turned out to be The Dark Sun. The same being who we met in the Sixth Forbidden Zone. Somehow, she had broken free of the shackles of her volcano and ascended to Tier 6. What’s more, she had managed to penetrate into the heart of our forces. Depending on her stance, things could have gone either way.”

It was my turn to make a face. “You don’t think her appearance had something to do with us, do you? I mean… the only ones among us who had prior contact with her was you and me. And I was on the Marine Palace. Could she have used me to circumvent the defences and appear directly onboard?”

Phobos frowned. “I think the Demigods would have noticed if something was wrong with you. You came into quite extensive contact them at the Capital.”

Ceres shrugged. “And if they didn’t, it’s their fault. You aren’t a Demigod. You can’t be expected to detect the plots of one.”

Both of them were right, the chances of Hei Yang fudging something on me were minuscule... and if she did, the chances of me detecting her deceit when all of the Demigods of Regiis couldn't was smaller still.

“Besides," said Ceres, "it didn’t have to be you. If she could mark you undetected, she could have marked anyone scheduled to board the Marine Palace. It could be any soldier that manned those walls.”

She was right, but she was wrong too. While what she said might have been the case, we weren’t wholly blameless. We didn’t tell anyone about the Dark Sun despite knowing about her. She had warned us not to speak of her but when I came into contact with the Circle of Demigods, I could have easily revealed her existence. Her threats counted for nothing with them on my side.

But… revealing her would mean revealing the role of the Duchess’ mother in everything. And that would have implicated Ceres. She had worked hard to garner trust; I didn’t want all her efforts to go to waste. In the end, I had decided against it, convincing myself with the argument that the Dark Sun was well meant towards Regiis. After all, she had directed her ant army to turn their pincers against the Crimson Coyotes, consuming their strength and allowing us to win our war against them with minimal effort.

Now, that decision had come back to bite us.

I kept my mouth shut. I didn’t want Ceres burdening herself with any guilt over my choices.

“Anyway,” continued Ceres, returning to her summary. “Everyone finally came to an arrangement and the Dark Sun along with the Black Widow used their powers to evacuate with all our soldiers while Isabella ruined as many of our ships as thoroughly as possible. The Marine Palace, due to its near indestructible nature in a marine environment, survived and is now in the hands of the Vikings.”

“That about sums it up,” I said.

Leaning forward, I caught Ceres’ hand and pulled her down to sit beside me. Turning to Phobos, sitting across from me, I asked, “And what about the war on land?”

She shook her head and smiled wryly. “Does it matter now?"

Still, she explained, "We were winning, pushing them back with every battle. A couple of weeks more and we would have thoroughly captured their core. Their army was simply too outmatched.”

I could feel Ceres’ hand tightening in mine. I could understand her frustration. They had been just days away from capturing the Duchess. I squeezed back and after a bit, she relaxed, leaning her shoulder against mine.

Phobos continued. “Then the news of your defeat arrived and we knew the game was as good as lost. It was then that the Traitor revealed her fangs. She had kept her elite forces in reserve. She had drawn us in to their interior in the hopes that their forces would win the naval battle and come to aid her. She had set the pace such that we wouldn't be able to capture her core before her reinforcements arrived. And as we tried to retreat, she harried us with her reserves, impeded us at each step. She wanted to prevent our retreat and trap us in a web of her weaving. To stall us until the Shogunate main force could arrive and capture us.”

“And we played right into her hands,” muttered Ceres dejectedly from beside me. “If not for our overwhelming advantage in numbers, she might have succeeded in keeping most our army there.”

I didn’t know what to say. The Duchess was a thorough daredevil. Was there anything she didn’t dare to do? In sharp contrast to our simple, but robust approach to war, her plan was dependent on things in each link going exactly the way she wanted to.

While success would bring her the greatest rewards, getting there would involve taking the largest risks as well. Her strategy was something too difficult to imitate. It was like walking on a wire.

Letting go of Ceres’ hand, I wrapped my arm around her shoulder and gave her a squeeze. Really, Hotaru Vulpine was one enemy no one would ever want to have.