The mage just nodded and recieved a file from his servant.

"A command from the emperor, we are to engage in combat with the enemy's forces"

"Then are we?"

"Yes, our destination has change we are to go the kingdom of Aileen and struck them"

the teleportation circle glow bright, indicating its activation, however that light soon seize followed a static sound coming from the spell.

"What happened Howl?"

The duke asked feeling that what just happened can be an ill omen. The mage Howl look aghast a bit pale as well as if he just received a big blow.

"My lord...." He mutter as if he is afraid of something, "It seems the space surrounding the kingdom of Aileen have been sealed"

Helios didn't like the sound of it and immediately he reported it to the arcduke.

"Damn it, just what is going on" he said as he gave another to command to head to the capital.

....

Moments before this, at the kingdom of Aileen.

A girl sat right beside her window, calmly watching as the snow flew pass her.

As she calmly sip her tea, something urgent suddenly came to her mind. Her cal expression immediately change, her movements frantic as she order her knights to come with her.

The cold wind clawed at her cheeks as she rode through the narrow pass, the hooves of her mare pounding against stone and dirt. Every beat echoed in her chest — not from the ride, but from the words still lodged in her mind.

{The one who planned the lab in Lumen and the ambush… was none other than Emilia.}

"That iver confident maggot" she gritted her teeth as she heard one of their men talking to her fiance like that. The Falcons are loyal pawns of the royal family, to make sure their wont betray them aside from oaths, their memories were tied to their masters as well. So as soon as one of the falcons shared any information outside of the roayl family, the memory sharing will activate letting their master to peek into their minds.

Eros's voice in her memory was calm when he is trying to urge her stupid servant to cough more information, she knew him well enough to sense his objective. Though he didn't outright accuse her the seed of doubt was already there. It was something she didn't want to happen, not now, not until the attack on the capital happened. Emilia wanted to weaponized her status as his beloved to create a space in Eros heart that believe her innocence. She thought it could be useful but with her stupid's servant's fault that plan can no longer be used.

"He already doubts me, knowing him he won't let me go"

*Sigh*

"It could have been better if he killed Eros but no....he was killed instead..how useless"

She tightened her grip on the reins.

If only the thought her would shake the Lionhearts, but unfortunately even if Eros had any feelings for her, it wont be enough. Because their loyalty outweigh any kind of emotions.

However what is important is to report this discovery to her father.

"To all the things he could say, why the armada" she feel so stupid, if only her father listen to her and not lot stupid falcons into the the creation of their aerial fleet, then its existence wont be easily leaked like this.

Her mind raced through every possibility. What could they use against our army after knowing ts existence , will it be the sacred weapons? Or weapons from the tower. whatever it was, she is certain that they well prepared. She is confident they can wipe the capital out before the imperial defenses even reacted.

But even though she has every faith in their strength, becoming complacent might cause their downfall. She must inform her father and the council, they need to know that the empire knows thier plan.

She urged the horse to move faster. Every passing moment, the noose tightened.

---

[Ailleen's War Council – King Lorenzo's Hall]

The news came immediately to the king, carried by a Emilia , though a trembling messenger whose boots were still covered with mountain frost, came bringing in the same news.

"Your Highness," he bowed, voice quivering. "The ambush has failed… our forward unit was wiped out."

Emilia sat in her carved chair, eyes fixed on the flicker of the braziers. Her lips curved — not into a smile, but into something colder.

"We are already aware of that information, perhaps you could provide us something aside fromt that," she said, voice smooth as silk draped over a dagger.

King Lorenzo, standing beside her, narrowed his eyes, seeing their servant sweating so badly, "It looks like you don't havve anything to report, you may leave"

the messenger immediately obeyed afraid to be beheaded from his lack of information.

"Father we should move," Ailleen advise as her father take his sit, rising to her feet. Her gown shifted like storm clouds gathering. "We must take this chance to move ahead of them, currently even if the ambush failed and information leaking it still hadn't reach the archduke. We still have a chance to take them off guard."

She swept her gaze across the war table, where miniature flags and carved figurines marked the empire's provinces.

"The armada remains unseen," she continued. "The skies above the capital are clear, unsuspecting. When the order comes, they'll descend before the Imperial family can even raise their barrier."

One of her advisors hesitated. "Your highness, if they've already heard of—"

"They haven't, I am sure of it. Their communication still haven't fix as far as I know," she cut in, her voice sharp enough to silence the room. "If Eros learned of it during the skirmish, he will report immediately but seeing no reaction from the capital means they are still unable to communicate."

She turned away from the table, her shadow stretching long across the hall.

"Ready the armada. We strike not in weeks, not in days… but the moment I say now."

King Lorenzo just watch her daughter, happy on how she is handling the meeting. Even when the generals were looking at him wanting to ask to change the order, he didn't all he wants is too how will Emilia lead.

The council bowed. The flicker of her ambition cast her eyes in a different light, the princess who had already decided the fate of thousands move to finally start the war. An event thats been plan for generations.

The first tremor was felt in the dead of night.

By the second, the ground groaned like a wounded beast, and the capital's watchtowers lit their beacons.

On the horizon, the black silhouettes of warships emerged—an armada of jagged iron hulls cutting through the mist like predators. Siege cannons glinted under moonlight, their muzzles already alight with magical runes. The air filled with the bone-deep thrum of war horns.

But the fleet was only the beginning.

Far inland, monstrous roars and the metallic march of homunculus soldiers echoed. The Tower's wards shuddered under a rain of explosive spells, their casters hidden behind a wall of chitin-skinned beasts. The Association's territory found itself swarmed by creatures birthed from corrupted mana pools, while the domains of the Four Dukes and even the Archduke himself were struck simultaneously.

It was no reckless charge—this was a strategy of suffocation.

The enemy sought to divide the empire's forces, sever communication, and burn every stronghold that could mount a unified counterattack. By striking all fronts at once, they forced the empire to fight in fragments, every city a drowning island.

Apollo stood at the edge of the northern watch post, eyes tracing the distant glow of the capital's flames. Every instinct told him to remain still—to watch, to measure, to wait for the right moment. But the Eternal Oath pulsed in his veins, a cold, unrelenting command that clawed into his soul.

Move.

Fight.

Defend the empire.

His fists clenched.

"Fine," he muttered, stepping forward. The air shifted as his base form surged to life—no demonification, no overwhelming displays, only the raw strength of his unaugmented self.

The streets were already chaos. Shouts. Steel on steel. The acrid bite of burning alchemy powder. He struck fast, cutting through advancing homunculi, redirecting spells before they could breach the last defensive gates. Yet the battle around him was far from won.

The empire was bleeding.

And then—the tide shifted.

From the inner city's sealed armories came the grinding of stone and the hiss of awakening mana cores. Colossal golems stepped into the streets, their runes igniting in molten gold. Mechanical soldiers, forgotten relics of the last continental war, emerged from underground vaults, their steel bodies bristling with arcane weaponry.

The sky itself answered when the capital's ancient mana cannons, hidden beneath its spired towers, roared to life. Lances of light and fire carved into the enemy fleet, scattering ships into burning wreckage.

The empire struck back, every hidden weapon and dormant machine unleashed at once. The ground trembled—not from the enemy's advance this time, but from the awakening wrath of a nation that refused to fall.

And Apollo… kept moving forward, blade in hand, the Eternal Oath whispering in his ear.

The war had begun again.