'The principles of war are the same as the principles of peace.' General Tybalt reviewed one of the many ironic tenents of Ares as his assistants secured the plates of enchanted armor on his body.

Each piece drained his maximum mana, restricting him like a tourniquet until something fundamental inside him felt numb. He paid the price of discomfort to solidify his authority.

Soldiers needed to see leadership on the frontlines, bearing the pain and risks of combat alongside them, and the donned armor symbolized discipline. The civilians back home wanted a protector.

Today, more than ever.

His army crossed the mountain range separating the loosely-agreed-upon border between Wilmand and Rangville. Prince Wilhelm's flight from the Five Kingdom's Congress confirmed Wilmand Kingdom's violation of the Summoner's Treaty. Other responses were intolerable since summoning is a declaration of global war. If a hero, drunk on power, rampaged, then Wilmand Kingdom must be segregated from the rest of the world and left to die in its sin. Sometimes, to save the man, the leg must be tied off, and it is the same with nations.

General Tybalt reiterated his general orders to his commanders: no rape, no pillaging. One of his own attacked a village girl two days passed the mountains. His military castrated and hung the sobbing cretin. Everyone marched by the corpse, and the sign declaring the obedience to general orders. Trailing logistics sergeants asked for guidance since passing soldiers mutilated the body. Tybalt responded after he straightened on his horse, "Fuck him."

Though the coarseness didn't fit a professional army, it proved their high morale. They wanted to erase that stain. Spitting on seventy years of reforms insulted those that suffered to build them.

General Tybalt believed Wilmand Kingdom would collapse within his grandchildren's lifetime. Their long-lost brothers and sisters would need a new home, and that will be Rangville. Pillaging would dissolve any hope of unification, and refugees would die needless deaths.

A sergeant interrupted his reverie, "Rangers spotted the black dragon to the West."

"Fortune smiles," General Tybalt's grim face did not convey a celebration, "Order them to lure it away but stay in carrier pigeon distance. Hopefully, we can direct it towards Camp Wolf during the battle."

Some of the rangers would die because of those orders. Rangers faced a horrible part of military life. Marching armies battled monsters before even arriving at the intended war, and Rangers lured, cleared, and directed the Spawn of Ouroboros, often as bait. Guiding anything as powerful as a dragon was a gamble with men's lives. He pinned posthumous medals to plenty of funeral pyres.

General Tybalt appended additional orders before the sergeant marched off, "Tell that ranger named Doge he's to report to me. He'll try to blow you off. If he tries to ignore you, tell him I'll hang him if he doesn't obey. Send runners to fetch Rex and Ian, too. The three of them have a bigger game than a dragon to fight."

"Vetoed."

"Please see reason, Lady Elin," Prince Wilhelm said, "We need you to act as the spearhead for our army. Let us reassign Sir Walter to the mage auxiliary, where his magic will be the most effective--"

"Under no circumstances will I be separated from Sir Walter."

"Sir Walter, I implore you, speak reason to your lady."

"Do not address him," Lady Elin raised her voice, "You're speaking with me, and I said no!"

Two hours passed as Prince Wilhelm argued with Lady Elin about the formation. The prince assigned her the point position of the central and foremost unit because even Rangville's disciplined soldiers would hesitate to run directly at a 'Level 100' hero. The additional breathing room provided Wilmand's army control of the battlefield. However, the issue of the flanks remained. If Rangville's cavalry attacked them, they would cause a rout. To prevent that, the prince wanted Sir Walter to harass any advancing troops.

Prince Wilhelm considered General Tybalt's strategy. The general approached problems like a grindstone. Striking Letun generated too many losses for the empire, so the likely target was Camp Wolf. Wars in Eovamund altered the environment to make enemy nations weaker to monster attacks. Once the monsters did their part, then Rangville would consolidate power by annexing territory.

Unlike Camp Bear and Camp Eagle, the nobility never invested coin in Camp Wolf. Reinforcing Camp Wolf implicitly admitted the Necropolis was forever lost. While the public accepted it, the vanity of the seated and unseated nobility prevented them from changing their stance.

This attitude reflected in the military structure. Rangville employed a professionally trained army paid by their nation, while Wilmand fielded vassals from landholders. Publicly, they declared the war an opportunity for glory, but none would put the interests of the kingdom before themselves.

Lady Elin, herself, acted the same. The land she obtained meant less to her than the other landholders, that much Prince Wilhelm deduced. Sir Walter's safety, on the other hand, she prioritized over the kingdom's.

Her staunch denials baffled Prince Wilhelm. Sir Walter's status as a hero demanded he acts. She went so far as to deny his orders before the Letun council. For a moment, the prince weighed the pros and cons of revealing Sir Walter's status and force their hand.

Now the prince, Lady Elin, and Sir Walter argued in a private meeting.

"You're putting the nation's safety after the life of one man," Prince Wilhelm said.

"Yes, I am. That's right." Lady Elin's voice sounded uncharacteristically smug, and the prince imagined slapping her for it.

Sir Walter touched her arm and whispered to her. While he spoke in her ear, her face twisted. She responded by shaking her head.

"Why not centralize the mage auxiliary?" Sir Walter asked.

"That's not possible," Prince Wilhelm said. The nobility, the ones trained in magic, would not accept being in the thick of battle. "Sir Walter, if you accept orders, I will reward you with--"

Lady Elin slammed her fist on the table. "I said, no!" Prince Wilhelm figured the impact echoed throughout Manticore Keep.

"Then, we're going to lose."