“Researchers from University of Princeton and Havard and top portion mages from North American Coven Councils have successfully re-create the fable Mithridate poison antidote that can cure virtually all forms of poisons from nature or even something as strong as Ricin and cyanide.

The Mithridate was created by Mithridates VI Eupator of Pontus with his royal mages in the 1st century BC to safeguard himself against assassination attempts. The formula of the antidote has a staggering 65 different ingredients and dozens of enchantments, solidifying it as the most complex form of medicine in ancient times. After the death of the emperor, the formula was mistranslated, wrongfully modified and the mages with the knowledge to create it vanished to escape prosecution. As a result, the antidote lost its potency and faded into obscurity from the public.

For centuries, the mage descendants of the ancient mages of Pontus safeguard the original recipe and its creation technique so someday this fable portion will benefit society. With the Great Magical Revelation, the antidote has now become one of the newest symbols to justify the peaceful existence between mages and non-mages.

Medical experts state that the Mithridate will enable the public to have far more effective and much cheaper means to combat poisons either from nature or man-made.” - The Lotus News

***

--- Thaluilas, Elies Region ---

Date: August 2nd, 2026

Hearing the warning bells ring, it had become clear that the Thaluilas Knights, the Oprichnina and Ticaret forces, under Sasax’s and Ganog’s command, had figured out that they had been infiltrated. If it was not for Lartia knowing the layout and the defectors giving advice on the enemy's strength and location, Pina would have been forced to launch a direct assault which could have resulted in heavy casualties.

While hoping to find Legutas Fabius, the Rose Knights found their secondary objective, Albon, commander of the Ticaret Conglomerate. However, he did divulge a location called the Garden for them, where the Legutas could be.

"What do you mean by Garden?" Pina asked. "Do you mean outside the city?"

"No," Albon painfully replied. "I do not know where it is. It sounded like it was a place where the city elite went underground."

"A private chamber?" Beefeater asked.

"Why not," Panache replied. "If I were this wealthy and lived a thousand years, I would want a place to escape everyone else."

"The lady is correct," Albon said. "The truth is we elves, who live in the cities, all have a place to get away from you short-lived folk. Usually, they are not underground."

"Well, it’s the only lead we have so it’ll have to do," Pina said. "Everyone, prepare to leave."

"Empress, he is in no position to run around like this, and he will slow us down," Panache said.

"We do not have time for this," Pina replied. "Jalin, carry him and regroup with Bozes."

“I cannot,” Jalin replied. “His injuries are too great for me to simply carry him off. Give me three minutes, hopefully I find something to make a makeshift stretcher for him.”

“Damn it!” Pina cursed. “Okay, fine. Macarita, patch Albon up in the meantime.”

“Got it!” Macarita replied before getting herself to work on Albon. Started giving him a morphine injection. “It’s okay, it’s just a medicine to numb your pain.”

“Calm down, Pina.” Jalin said while searching around the room and managed to find two flagstaffs. “Besides, we don’t even know where the chamber is. And searching around blindly will only tire us faster.”

"He got a point. How are we going to find this chamber?" Bozes asked.

That was the question Pina was still trying to figure out. Doing a sweep would only mean they would get boxed in and overrun. Now that their cover is gone, she either finds Fabius or calls off the mission. "Ideas?"

"Yes," Lartia said. "Let them take me."

"You are insane," Pina quickly replied. "They will kill you or worse. I will not lose the wife of the Legatus."

“She is right! This is too dangerous! And I will not lose you twice,” Nelia added.

"They will not kill me, not yet anyway," Lartia said. "As you said, I am his wife. There is value in keeping me alive. At least long enough to reach my husband and the royalty to give his speech. You and the rest can follow the trail to reach the Garden."

"Not going to happen," Pina stated again. "I cannot lose both of you."

"Do you have a better idea?" Lartia asked.

The brain remained fogged, unable to think of a better idea. Everything else would take too long and put everyone in more danger.

"Shit, now I know how Sharpe felt," Pina mumbled. "Alright, let's do it. Sebile tracks her movement. Do not lose sight of her.”

“Yes, ma’am,” the fairy responded.

---

While sounding confident to the Empress, Lartia was terrified of what she volunteered herself to do.

As she rushed through the halls of the palace, she purposely bypassed guards to make them chase her.

"Just be like, Nelia." Lartia kept telling herself as she felt her heart pounding, having never put herself in such a dangerous situation before. Seeing her old friend fight without hesitation nor any hint of fear, she assumed she could borrow some of that courage from her old friend.

Her husband provided her with a wonderful life, allowing her to go from slave to nobility. That kindness was something she felt she had to repay. Despite her fear, Lartia kept reminding herself that she was doing this for her love. But a part of her wished that the Empress overrode her proposal.

Turning a corner, she saw two elf guards keeping watch. When they noticed her, they instinctively tried to grab her.

But leaping over, she barely got past them.

Rushing away, she ran into a dead end. Quickly turning around to flee in the other direction, she was stopped by a light fire blast that impacted her shoulder, throwing her against the wall.

Screaming in pain, three elves approached. One of the bigger ones, aggressively, lifted her from the ground.

Wanting to cry, Lartia noticed Sebille behind them all, watching. Remembering others were relying on her, she found the strength to push the pain away.

"You cannot harm me. I… I am Lartia Aulus, wife of Legutas Fabius Aulus. I demand you take me to my husband!"

She watched the three elves debate the demand until it seemed like they made up their mind.

"Fine," the elf guard said. "We have been looking for you tirelessly, and you have been under our noses the whole time."

Dropping her, the elf grabbed Lartia’s arm tightly so she could not escape.

"Not so hard; I am the wife of a legend!” Lartia screamed. "I swear you will pay for this."

"Shut up, Neko! Do you think you are still high and mighty after your husband betrayed us? Consider it a luxury that you are still drawing breath!" the elf said.

Being dragged through the halls, she passed the other guards organizing to counter the Rose Knights. She struggled as best as she could, unable to apply no resistance.

Being forced to the lower chambers, the four stood at a strange brown wall that looked like massive tree roots.

One of the elves waved his hand as it shimmered a strange bright light green color, revealing some type of rune.

The root wall unfolded as each layer pulled back into the ground. The group moved through once the path was clear, heading down a staircase.

It did not take as long as Lartia expected to get to the end. Looking around the chamber, she saw much vegetation, infesting everything. Green-flamed torches lit the chamber while a strange light emanating from the plants illuminated the place.

The guards continued to drag her through the garden as she put up some resistance. The guard’s hardened grips made it that much more painful. They continued until they finally reached the end and tossed her onto the muddied ground tainted crimson with some substance. Her eyes widened when she realized what this substance was.

"My lord, we have captured this Neko," the elf guard said. "She claimed to be his wife of him."

"Lartia!?" Fabius yelled.

Finally seeing her husband for what felt like months, Lartia nearly screamed as she saw her beloved husband’s body bruised and bloodied. She held her hands over mouth, trying to hold back her tears while staring at his defeated look.

She could see the horrific and confused reaction on his face upon laying eyes on her. He jerked up quickly to try and get to her, but his chains held him back; a small stream of blood oozed from his mouth as he tried to speak. Until now, he believed that she was far from here and safe.

"I guess that confirms that," Duke Luirlan Olafina said.

By her husband's side, Lartia saw the leader of this city, Olafina. She didn’t expect to see him here and plotted against them as well. ‘Was everyone against them,’ she thought to herself. Hearing a spit, she noticed a glob of blood on the floor near her.

"What are you doing here?" Fabius asked weakly, finally getting rid of the blockage from his mouth.

"I had to save you," Lartia replied, holding her arm, trying to ignore the pain.

"This will be good," Katsuo said. "Once we secure our control over the Legion, I will grant you the honor of executing them, Duke Luirlan Olafina."

Two guards grabbed Fabius and dragged him toward his wife as another guard lifted her.

"What about the Rose Knights upstairs?" Duke Olafina asked. "I think it is clear that Pina wants to free her husband to join her cause."

"They are trapped within the palace," Katsuo said. "It is only a matter of time until they are all caught..."

Suddenly, a lone Oprichnina soldier emerged from the back entrance of the garden, out of breath before prostrating before Katsuo.

"Just you?" Katsuo asked the soldier. "Where's the rest of you? There should be a squad of you who must come here during the emergency as per my order."

The soldier, still prostrating and catching his breath, replied. "Forgive me, sir. I do not know what happened to those soldiers you have assigned. I'm a messenger from the unit outside the castle. There is an urgent situation developing."

"About the NATO infiltrators?" Duke Olafina interjected. "We already knew about them, you fool!"

"No, your highness. It's something else. We need your or-"

A large explosion suddenly is heard coming from the entrance. The garden chamber shook, striking fear into everyone.

Looking up at the large elf guard that held her, she saw a glowing light rush into an opening in his helmet to attack him. She felt relief, realizing it was Sebille as the guard released his grip on her to try and remove it. That was before a dark figure flew past, slicing his throat.

"Nelia!" Lartia said after realizing who it had to be.

The other guards prepared to attack before being stopped in their tracks by a strong gust of wind by Kryuune.

Being freed, Lartia quickly grabbed her husband, cutting the rope with her sharp claws, and released him.

"What are you doing here?" Fabius asked once more.

"I said I came for you," Lartia responded while embracing him tightly to Fabius’ discomfort.

"Kill them all!" Katsuo ordered multiple guards to rush toward Lartia and Fabius.

"Not so fast,” Pina shouts before pulling an incendiary grenade.

Hearing the Empress' voice, Lartia saw Pina and some of her Knights form at the entrance.

“Nobody is making a move or else I will burn this place down,” the Empress threatened as she pulled the pin and held the spoon of the grenade to prevent detonation.

“You fool, you would doom us all?!” Katsuo shouted.

“So long as I don’t release this, it will not blow, but that depends on your next move,” Pina threatened.

“She is bluffing, she would not kill herself or the ones she risked so much to save,” Olafina added.

“Do not test my resolve,” Pina said, standing her ground, slowly releasing her grip.

The Oprichnina agent looked all around in order to escape but saw no other means and sighed.

Being familiar with the grenades from captured NATO weaponry, Olafina and Katsuo ordered the guards to stand down.

---

Without breaking her gaze from her opponents, Pina told Lartia to get Fabius upstairs. She continued, "Duke Luirlan Olafina, I am giving you one chance. Surrender now and let us go with the Legatus. Because, when I leave this chamber, I will not offer this a second time."

"You think in such short terms, young lady," Duke Luirlan Olafina said. "This world will never embrace the Other Worlders. Today many warriors might fall because of their sheer power, but our differences will divide us over time. The Empire and the League might lose this war, but we will win with the spirit of the war and our ways that last for centuries. The entire continent will be against those people you sold yourself to. Even they cannot wage war on that scale and occupy us."

His words terrified Pina; a reminder that there were still so many who opposed the changes she wished to bring to her people. For there to be a future, she realized that she must quash people like them now and end the war.

"You people might persist with the old ways but that doesn’t mean I will fail to change all of that. I know about your deal with the Ticaret dogs," Pina replied. "You do not know that we already established contact with the rebels at the Ticaret capital.

Your confidence is based on your old ways and the misbelief that everyone will want to oppose the Terrans forever. You are wrong as we are about to remove the Ticaret from the war."

An Oprichnina commander intervened, cutting in front of the king. "Lies! She is a traitor who will say anything to weaken our cause. Guards, kill them!"

“You idiots! Stop!” Olifina screamed, trying to stop the guards from making a move but it was too late as the zealous Oprichnina members, and guards rush toward the Knights, the Legatus, and his wife

Seeing the incoming Oprichnina, Pina could only feel hatred for them. While always fearing them growing up, she always had a level of respect. They protected Sadera and the rest of the Empire from all the other races and maintained order; now, however, she only saw monsters. She gave her team a nod.

Giving the signal, Pina, Ginebra, and Elison tossed three incendiary grenades into the large plants. Once the plants caught on fire, she ordered Kryuune to use a wind blast to spread the flame quicker and then told everyone to rush out as fast as they could.

The five Knights and Siren rushed as fast as they could as a large explosion was heard, and they all felt a powerful airbrush engulf them, throwing them out of the stairway and back into the palace.

Coughing, Kryuune asked, "what was that?"

"Homemade air bomb," Pina replied, placing a hand over her head. "We learned that plants create the air we breathe. However, too much in one place makes it flammable. When I was in Ohio I saw these greenhouses familiar to the ones down there. I did not realize learning about farming would one day help me in battle."

"I get it," Sebille Said. "Because of the garden, combining a firebomb and Kryuune’s wind magic; you created a larger bomb."

"Correct," Pina said.

"Do you think you killed them?" Lartia asked.

"The guards that were attacking us, yes," Pina said. "But I saw the rear guard move to protect their king."

“I hope that was enough of a signal for Severlinus out there. Whatever he is trying to do.” Ginebra chimed in.

“Yeah, and I hope his ‘trick’ is worth all the trouble,” Pina replied.

Pina remembered when he got an order from Albert via radio before. The order goes, ‘When you are ready to head out, make a big explosion for Severlinus to initiate his plan.’ When Pina asked him to elaborate, Albert simply said that there was not enough time, but he convinced Pina that the plan would work. Pina was hesitant to follow a plan she did not understand, but from Albert’s tone, he sounded confident of the plan.

"What is the meaning of this?" Fabius asked.

Pina was helped up. As she readjusted her armor, she looked at the man and spoke, "You must be Legutas Fabius Aulus. I am Empress Pina Co Lada, of the Sadera Republic. We came to rescue you."

"By bringing my wife to me and using her as bait?" Fabius asked. "I sent her to you to be safe, not to be brought back here to be killed!"

"It is okay, my dear; I volunteered," Lartia defended Pina as she tried calming her husband down.

Looking toward the neko, Pina saw the damage to her arm, severe burns, probably from a magical attack. It hung limply onto her side as Lartia held it. With its strange positioning, she realized it might be broken too.

A flood of guilt hit Pina, realizing what she had done. Sending a civilian woman as bait to complete the mission.

"I apologize, but we can talk about it back at base," Pina said. "Knights, secure the way out. O’iloiat, help Legatus Fabius up and out of here. Clanless, You’re on escort duty. Protect Jalin and the Legatus."

“Wait,” Fabius said to Pina as he was being shouldered by O’iloiat. “What about Albon? Is he dead?”

“He’s fine,” Pina replied. “He’s with the rest of my knights upstairs. We are taking him with us, as well.”

After regrouping with the rest of her knights upstairs along with Albon, treated and laying on a makeshift stretcher with Jalin and Beefeater carrying it, the group navigated through the palace, clearing out resistance. Pina reported to Captain Albert via radio.

“Captain Albert, it’s Pina. We have Ten of Spades and Nine of Diamonds in custody and heading out of the castle. Be advised, Ten of Spade is lightly injured, and Nine of Diamond is heavily injured, but stable. What’s your sitrep out there?”

“Fighting is breaking out in the city, but we’re fine.” Captain Albert replied via radio. “It just sounds worse than it is, at least for us. Your friend, Severlinus did a bloody good job on giving us a window to escape, so I advise to double time it. Cause when the chaos subsides, I imagine there will be an entire city worth of angry soldiers coming right after our arse.”

"What about my comrades?" Pina asked. "They are with you, aren’t they?"

"They're stubborn like all you Imperialists," Albert replied. "They insisted on assisting you, even though Severlinus had done one bloody job. So, they will meet you halfway."

Fully understanding the meaning, she just shook her head with pride. That stubbornness has been a curse; however, it has led to their once greatness, a trait she has learned to embrace over the past year.

Reaching the main royal staircase, the sounds of steel clashing and screaming rang throughout them. Looking over the railing, Pina saw Bozes team engaging the city knight guard, trying to stop them.

The fight seemed intense; while the majority fought with swords, she watched as one of her Knights blocked a water attack by an elf. Two more are freezing the door shut while another was blasting two of her Knights with a fire and lighting attack.

"Bastards," Pina mumbled. She then directed and ordered Kryuune to use a wind spell hoping it would cancel or lessen the elf’s attack. Then ordered her knights to charge forward to push out and kill the enemy.

Kryuune stood up and moved her hands in circular motion as her hands shimmered, forming several miniature tornado balls and then hurled them at the enemy position.

The mini tornadoes flew straight towards the guards as those whirlwinds fully enveloped them. To their surprise, the spell lifted the elven guards and other assailants in the air as they tried desperately to grab anything to stay grounded. Kryuune watched as they panicked, nearly reaching the ceiling but with a snap of her finger, canceled the spell, causing them to plummet back onto the ground. They groaned in pain as they tried to recover but it provided the knights an opening to finish them off easily.

“Good job Kryuune!” Pina commended. “Now everyone breaks the ice layers that encased the door so we can get out of here!”

The knights and the Clanless tried swinging their weapons to chip away at it, but they merely bounced back with each impact. Since the ice layers were conjured to be very thick beforehand to prevent their escape, Pina knew it would not be an easy task.

“Wish we had a flamethrower to melt through these ice layers,” Jalin complained.

After about five minutes, the group managed to break through the ice layers and head outside. However, as they were about to go out, several palace guards charged from behind and started shooting arrows and elemental magic at them. Kryuune managed to enact a wind barrier to blow most of the arrows and elemental magic blasts away, but an arrow and a fireball managed to get through. Nikolasha grabbed her leg with a yelp as she fell back, grabbing her leg that now held a protruding projectile. While Bozes was blown back as smoke emanated from her hip, skin seared underneath her armor. She held her side with a pain-wretched face as her right hip was heavily burnt by the fireball when she tried to dodge its trajectory.

“Bozes! Nikolasha! Medic! Macarita, we got men down!” Pina shouted for Macarita to tend to the two injured knights while the rest of them drew out their compound crossbows and shot back, taking down some of the guards but more of them still flooded in.

Knowing they would need a distraction to buy some time, Pina ordered Beefeater to throw the smoke grenades to cover their escape.

With the smoke concealing them, the group manage to escape as the guards were left incapacitated.

Once Pina exited the palace, she saw a confusing sight. Smokes, fires, and fighting had spread all over the city, even though she swore that neither she nor NATO had enough manpower to incite a battle this large. Focusing more into the ongoing fighting, Pina's confusion only increased.

"What in the name of Emroy is going on here?" Was all that Pina could mumble at the sight?

“Are the Leagues… Fighting against each other?” Panache chimed in while also watching at the bizarre sight.

Through the thick smoke, Pina and the Rose Order Knights could barely tell that the League forces were fighting amongst themselves. Oprichnina, Ticaret, and the Thaluilas knights are in the melee against one another inside the thick veil of smoke. Pina could also swear that she saw some Ticaret men killing their fellow Ticaret soldiers.

“Hey! I don’t know what is going on myself,” Jalin walked up to Pina’s side while shouldering Fabius. “But we must get out of here now. I don’t know what Severlinus did, but this is a great chance for us to escape!”

“R- right! Sorry,” Pina got herself together from the confusion and ordered her knights to push. “Let’s go! Heads towards the exit! Don’t engage the enemy unless you must!”

Once outside the palace and moving toward the street, Pina saw the battle taking place in the street and by the sewers through the NETT Warrior. The sound of gunfire popped off and explosions occurred in multiple places. Taking advantage of the chaos, the group hurried toward the sewer entrance. However, what caught her attention though was that the sun was beginning to rise, losing their night protection.

“We need to move fast, the SAS cover will not last long as they are running out of bullets and when the sun is rising high enough, the whole fortress will swarm on us,” Pina said.

“Then you should leave me here,” Bozes said, holding her burnt side and trying her best to hold her sword. “I am just going to slow you down.”

“Never, don’t say such stupid thing!” Pina said while holding Boze’s by the shoulder.

Bozes laughed then felt a sharp pain on her side. “At least you did not give ‘no man left behind’ speech like you know who would.”

“Yea but at least I can tell you that Charles would skin me if I left his woman’s behind!” Pina jokingly replied.

Loving her lifelong friend's humor, Pina looked down the main pathway, about eight or nine elf knights and human Oprichnina charged at them. They suddenly stopped when the leader's head exploded from one of the British sniper rifles.

Beefeater ordered the counterattack and the enemy was cut down with ease. Quickly regrouping, the group rushed down the path, heading to the sewer.

Moving through the streets, civilians screamed as they passed, fleeing for their lives as fire and explosion occurred rampantly. A few warriors appeared but were defeated. It seemed the enemy was still confused about what exactly was going on and struggled to react.

Luckily, they met up with the Legionaries and Seckin Sanctum soldiers who defected. Albert did say they sent them halfway to provide support. Outside of killing any enemies and hostile civilians, they were also burning some of the buildings down in lieu of SAS’s C4 explosions in several places in the city, creating as much confusion and damage as they could.

“Legatus, you are alive!?” Severlinus said to Fabius.

“I am fine, Severlinus.” Fabius replied. “A little hurt, but this will not kill me.”

“Commander! By the gods! What did they do to you?” One of the Sanctum soldiers asked while checking on Albon who was lying on the stretcher.

“I am fine, Dalyol.” Albon replied to the Sanctum soldier. “I feel better than before, thanks to the Rose Knights and their medic.”

“I see.” The elf called Dalyol breathed easy before turning to Pina. “Thank you for saving our commander. My name is Dalyol Perberos. Sir Albon’s second-in-command. We are indebted to you.”

“Glad we can help, Dalyol.” Pina replied, happy to receive gratitude.

Pina could see the excitement and thrill of seeing their leaders. Watching the love and respect of the soldiers reminded her of how her knights would have acted. Looking at her wounded friends, both of them smile, enjoying the loving sight.

“I am in no condition to take command,” Fabius said, holding his chest. “Listen to the Empress, they got us this far already.”

“Severlinus, take point and get us to the British,” Pina ordered.

That was until they ran into a large formation that was engaging the SAS force.

Ordering everyone to take cover on the sides and wait for orders, Pina sat Bozes down and grabbed the radio from Ginebra, and said, “Captain Albert, this is the Rose Knights, we are just north of you but cut off.”

“Standby,” Albert said. “I requested air support. Patching them through.”

Suddenly, Pina’s radio blared with somebody else’s voice. “Rose Knights Six, this is Geist 0-1., currently orbiting Thaluilas at Angel-7. Over.”

From what Pina could recall, air support was supposed to be the last resort if stealth was compromised, which it had. A F15E Strike Eagle, the air-to-ground version of the mighty Eagle should be above them, waiting just in case thanks to its long-range abilities.

Pina turned to her radioman, Ginebra, and gave her order. “Ginebra! Guide them in. Panache, Balalaika, mark our position with green flares. Give some flares to Severlinus’ and Albon’s men, too.”

“Alright!” Panache and Balalaika responded before popping their flares and handing some to the defectors. “Here, hold this and stick together with your group. If you hold this, our aircrafts won’t shoot at you.”

“Okay.” Severlinus replied while receiving a couple flares from Panache.

“Thank you. But please, I believe we need more of these flares. We have more groups,” Dalyol asked, to which Balalaika happily provided more flares.

“Yes, ma’am!” Ginebra replied to Pina before she got on her radio. “Geist 0-1, this is Rose Knights Six. We are marking our position and friendly positions with green flares. Break. Your first target is an enemy garrison setting up a blockade one hundred meters to our south. Be advised, further south of the blockade is the SAS team, so pick your target. Over.”

“Roger that, Rose Knight. We got visual on all friendlies and enemy blockade. Engaging with thirty millimeter. Keep your heads down.”

A moment later, a series of explosions destroyed the intersection and damaged the nearby buildings.

Seeing the opportunity to bypass all the enemy, everyone gathered up and moved through the alleyways and reached the SAS position.

“That was close,” Pina stated as she handed Bozes to the team medic.

“Sorry,” Albert answered. “We got to move; I am calling the F-15 for bombing run. We have five minutes to move.”

“Isn’t that a bit overkill?” Bozes asked.

“We are deep behind enemy lines, kilometers away from our extraction,” Albert said. “I don’t want them following us.”

She began thinking about many innocents that might get killed, but Pina shook her head as she forced those thoughts into the back of her head. They are at war, and they are the enemy. It is not as if she ordered their execution and their mission must come first, otherwise, everything was pointless. Innocent death in war is simply unavoidable.

“Wait, your highness.” Albon called to Pina from his stretcher.

“Yes?” Pina responded.

“What about my men? Will you be able to take them with you?” Albon asked.

“Take them, as in taking them with us with the helicopter?” Pina asked to which Albon simply nodded.

Pina was stumped. She was too focused with the mission, she forgot to think about how to get her new defecting allies to go with her back to Legrath. Now that she thought about it, she didn’t think about how to get Severlinus and his men back either. She then looked at Albert.

“Sorry, lass.” Albon immediately responded, already guessing what Pina was about to ask. “We don’t have enough choppers. For Severlinus and his fifty men is easy. It just so happened that there was a spare Chinook at Legrath to pick them up. But that’s it. And speaking of which. You. Dalyol, was it? How many men have you got?”

“A little over three thousand, your highness.” Dalyol replied.

Pina’s heart sank when she heard that number. Forget about helicopters, they would need several of USAF’s largest aircraft to transport all of them.

“Wait!” Lartia chimed in. “What about your men, Fabius? When I escaped Thaluilas before, there were still many of your men at the forest base.”

“I am afraid it won’t work.” Fabius replied. “There was a reason why my officers only brought a handful of soldiers with them during your escape. Many of them could still be coerced to either surrender or join NATO, however quite many of them are too loyal to the Empire to be coerced.”

“Besides,” Dalyol chimed in. “Bringing them with us is only adding more men to move. Not that I do not want to, I would be happy to help fellow defectors. But it does not solve the problem of how we go to NATO’s territory. Your highness, I only ask of you. Please, take care of Sir Albon.”

“But-”

“We will be fine, your highness.” Dalyol cut Pina off, trying to reassure her. “We, too, wanted to go home from this foolish war. We will not be killed by the likes of Gagnog and Katsuo. Sir Albert, could you tell your aircrafts to level the southern city wall and attack the League’s garrison at Belirgit after they have bombed this city? We can take it from there to cross the river.”

“Understood. I’ll pass the message to them. Take care of yourself out there, mate. I’ll treat you to some beer when I see you at Legrath. C’mon, princess.” Albert said before heading to the sewer and talking to the pilots on his radio. “Geist, Lancer, this is Charlie Six, standby for new tasking...”

“That’s the plan, then. C’mon, Pina. Let’s go,” O’iloiat said to Pina before following Albert to the sewer while still shouldering Fabius.

“Sir Dalyol. Please, bring as many of my men as possible with you.” Fabius said to Dalyol.

“I will do my best, Legatus.” Dalyol replied to Fabius, before turning to Albon being carried by Jalin and Beefeater. “Commander, we will see you soon.” Dalyol bowed to Albon, to which Albon nodded to reply. The gesture was simple, but his expression showed confidence that his men will make it.

“Well, your highness. I believe we have to part ways now. We will see you again.” Dalyol bowed to Pina before joining back to his own group. Pina could only look at Dalyol and the Sanctum men, hoping that she could do more for them.

“Pina.” Panache called Pina while reaching for her shoulder, catching her attention. “I know what you’re thinking. But we have done everything we could for them. Now all we can do is to hope for the best for them. Let’s just hope that they will be strong enough to not only join us at Legrath, but also for them to go back home.”

Hearing the advice from her friend, Pina sighed to calm herself before replying. “You’re right. Thank you, Panache.”

Pina turned to her comrades, no hesitation this time. “Captain, cover us!” Pina ordered. “Clanless, Vinco, Balalaika, advance forward and secure our exit. Everyone else! With me!”

The Knights and Clanless eventually pushed toward the exit followed by SAS members. After they managed to reach the other side of the sewer, the F-15s unloaded their payloads on the city, destroying barracks, guard posts, and other vital facilities along with the southern city wall as per Albert’s promise. Decimating the defenders of Thaluilas and further damaging the already-ruined city.

Two Chinooks reached the extraction zone by the sewer exit. Quickly rushing to them, the four groups all gathered in and headed back to Legrath.

***

--- Fort Legrath, Elies Region ---

Date: August 4th, 2026

An entire day had passed ever since Pina got out of Thaluilas to rescue Fabius and Albon.

The moment they landed back at Legrath, Fabius, Albon, Lartia, Nikolasha and Bozes, along with other wounds were immediately taken to the infirmary to be treated. Thankfully, none of them were killed. Including Albon who received the worst of injuries in the group, although it meant that he had to receive intensive care and he couldn’t be released for some time.

Later that day, the group had also received news that Dalyol and his men had also managed to cross the Agaront stream with a thousand of Fabius’s men in tow. Sadly, they also received news that some of them didn’t make it despite the help of the air support. Over one hundred of them were either killed in the city or during their escape south. But still, about two thousand freshmen were now in Pina’s command. Well, at least until the Seckin Sanctum’s men decided to go home, then she would be left with only Fabius’ men. But Pina did not complain. Besides, there were still many of Fabius’ men left on the other side of the Agaront stream.

Accomodation of those men gave the NATO commanders in Legrath some headache, but overall, it was an easy fix. Housing was easily solved by American’s semi-permanent buildings, and even Fabius’ men and the Sanctum’s men volunteered to build their own housing using logs from the nearby forest. And Legrath is situated right in the middle of the Empire's main food producing region, now with even more yield thanks to American seeds and equipment. So really, most of the problem was the paperworks.

After spending a day at the fort infirmary, Legatus Fabius Aulus and his wife, Lartia, finally were assigned their own quarters.

"I was expecting something smaller," Lartia said.

With a quick inspection, it was obvious the Americans gave them one of the royal rooms. They didn’t know that he held no high enough title yet for such luxuries. He assumed they thought he spent time in such a room when the Empire still controlled this place.

"So, these are the artificial lights," Lartia said, inspecting a chain connected to a self-installed ceiling.

Once they reached here, he first noticed the non-flame artificial lighting. While seeing it in the halls and the infirmary, he was still surprised it was in personal rooms. His Empress warned them of how the Terrans loved their lights.

Now, he did not understand, but now, he did. Before heading to this room, he ran into some formal warriors of his that defected long ago. The catching up was short as he needed to take care of his wife; they provided candles to use as lighting.

Setting up four candles and lighting them, he asked Lartia to turn off the main light source, finding it unnatural.

As Fabius lit the candles, he noticed the main light was still on. Turning around, he saw his wife's free arm pulling and swiping the hanging chain.

"What are you doing?"

"I do not know," Lartia replied, transfixed on the chain. "For some reason, I cannot stop."

He chuckled as he shook his head, but it reassured him to see his wife still retain her cheerful self. He saw the cast around her left arm, where she was stricken by an elf fireball spell.

Walking over, Fabius pulled the chain, turning off the light, so there was only candlelight. "There. Now that feels more like home."

With a smile, Lartia said, "You know they will ask you to fight again."

He knew all too well why the new Empress came for him. While he was grateful for the rescue and for saving as many of his men as possible, he knew it was not a charity. Seeing no other option, he had no choice but to swear an oath to this new Sadera Republic Pina kept boasting about.

"I know," Fabius said. "A soldier's duty is never over; you should know by now."

"I know all too well," Lartia said. "I am the one that has to watch you leave every single time. I just want it to end so we can go home."

"I do too, my dear."

Hearing a knock on the door, Fabius had a good idea of who it was. "I must go. I will send help; I do not want you to stress your arm."

Opening the door, he saw Pina.

“You're high-...” Fabius stopped his sentence before prostrating in front of Pina and correcting himself. “I mean… Your majesty. Can I help you? My apology, this new title of yours is very new for me.”

Pina chuckled at Fabius’ action. "It is fine, Legatus. Besides, I’m not officially an empress yet. And please rise. Can we talk?"

With a nod, he left his quarters and the two headed down the wall to an outer balcony. "If you do not mind, your majesty, can I arrange a servant to help my wife?"

"I will personally take care of it," Pina said. "You have a tough wife, you know that? Most noblewomen I know would have never risked their lives for their husbands. They would have hidden behind their title and station to stay away from the violence."

No need to respond; he knows his wife's character all too well. It was still not easy for a man to watch his wife be put into such a dangerous situation as that. It was supposed to be the opposite.

Once outside, he got a full view of all the construction and transformation. The sound of artillery in the distance and jets taking off at the nearby airfield with helicopters flying around.

"I have to admit, your majesty," Fabius said. "A part of me hates what I am seeing. What are they doing to this place?"

"I can understand," Pina said. "But such is the nature of war. We lost this fortress to NATO, and now they are using it to suit their needs. Just like what we have done to many states. Many people. This fortress once had a legacy. And the sad part is that its legacy could have been maintained if my brother did not betray you, and the people out here."

"You did side with the enemy in this war," Fabius replied. "You helped the Other Worlders."

"It was his last wish," Pina said. "He brought me here, gave me the responsibility to continue his goal." She then pulled out a scroll and handed it to him(2). "He gave me this."

Taking it, he quickly glanced through it. It stated how he intended to surrender to the Americans, take the army to the Gates of Sadera and force a surrender. It revealed how he planned on ending the war and corruption, and finally ushering a new age.

“He planned so far ahead.” Fabius mumbled. “And I thought he was nothing but a traitorous war addict. Now I understand who the real traitor is. I wish I realized that earlier.”

“You’re not the only one, Legatus,” Pina replied.

"If you are asking for my support, you have it," Fabius said while handing her back the scroll. "Our interests align. As long as my men can get to go home, and they and their families enjoy a better life under the new Republic."

"Your men will get to go home and have a better life once the job is done," Pina said. “And you too, Fabius. You and your wife deserve much better after everything both of you have been through.”

Taking a tired breath, Fabius looked toward the Empress and asked, "What do you need from me?"

Pina turned toward him and smiled, "To help end the war here once and for all. Then to me overthrow my brother and end this bloody cycle of oppression. But first, I would like you to meet the Duke Nater Da Akilu. If you endorse him, it will help end the insurgency in this region and finally bring peace."

"I can do that," Fabius said. "I am surprised the Other Worlders did not toss me into a dungeon or hang me."

"If you did not surrender when you did, they might have," Pina said. "But I would not worry about that. My brother Diabo and I already agreed with the Americans on who they could arrest for war crimes as well as which of the main leaders within the Empire are to blame. Outside of that, anyone who sides with me is off the table, which is why I have been trying to recruit as many generals and their Legions as I can."

"That, and you need an army after taking control," Fabius pointed out.

"That too…," Pina said.

Not needing to explain the importance of the Imperial Army for post-war, there would be very little left to stabilize the Empire. There would be no point in trying regime change if the new government could not project power.

"What about the rest of Albon’s and my men who were left behind in Thailulas?" Fabius asked.

"You and I are going to go after them," Pina said. "Save as many as possible, march to Thaluilas, and capture the city, ending the Elies Front once and for all."

Looking out into the farmland that seemed to go on forever, Fabius reflected on what had unfolded. “I do wish I could have killed those who betrayed me. I wonder if this is what Muilk felt before he met his end.” He turned to the Empress and extended his hand. "I believe the Other Worlders have this gesture, confirming an agreement?"

Pina looked at the hand and smiled. She took it and shook it.