An army of blue marched across the land of the Sun.

In the end, Commander Erik was able to muster the 20,000 men Jean demanded. This came at a price of a drop in quality among those men, as well as a lot of unfamiliar faces in the commanding ranks. Nonetheless, Jean got the army she wanted.

A week ago, this army marched across the Sun-Moon border. In a swift assault, the invading forces crushed what was left of the Sun Border Army. This time, Adam wasn’t in place to stop the Voyagers from unleashing hell. Blink assassinated all the high ranking officers from the Border Army. When the Moon army moved in, the Sun forces were confused and leaderless. The invaders slaughtered them to the last man.

With the main opposition removed, Jean lead the invading forces straight toward the capital, Crown’s City. At least a dozen settlements in her way were destroyed. Some tried to put up a fight behind high walls and a mountain of arrows and stones, but after being pushed back by the initial skirmishes, the rest of the Moon forces doubled their attack under Jean’s command. Jean no longer had a need to work with the Moon forces in the long term, so her methods were simple. Move forward or die. Any general that sounded a retreat would be executed, along with one tenth of the forces that pulled back.

Within five days, fourteen towns fell. Thousands of Sun soldiers and tens of thousands of civilians were killed.

Suddenly, Jean, leading the forces, stopped her horse and raised her hand. Immediately, the entire army came to a halt.

In front of the Moon forces, a group of men and women in black armors stood tall. Violet was leading them.

Jean smiled and greeted Violet. As the Voyagers merged in with the Moon forces and the army continued marching, Jean finally had a chance to talk with her fellow Voyager. Via their watches, of course.

“At this rate, it will take us less than two days to reach the capital, but our forces aren’t enough to take the capital in a siege.”

The rapid advancement of the Moon forces came at a price. Crown’s City was the heart of the Empire of the Sun. It held countless Sun elites behind its towering walls and lines of artillery. By the time the Moon forces arrive, Sun reinforcements from all across the country would have arrived as well. A frontal siege would be difficult.

“The Empress doesn’t need to know that.” Violet replied quietly. Since it was just the two of them, their conversation was short and concise. It was an exchange of information. Nothing else mattered. “Have you done what I required?”

“Yes. For every settlement taken, we left a couple of survivors who have witnessed the sieges and slaughters to escape.”

“The Empress is wise, yet she cares deeply about her people. This will be our opportunity.”

“Indeed. Anything else I should know?”

“The Empress has deployed one of the best cavalries she has left, the Red Dragon Corps, with the intent on launching a surprise attack on our base to deplete our forces before the final battle. See to it that their mission is unsuccessful.”

The Red Dragon Corps consisted of 5,000 elite Sun cavalry. Since the days of the Immortal Fort, they have been tasked with hunting down Voyager kill teams, and they have had some success with their skills, numbers, and mobility. Unfortunately, their luck has run out.

“Affirmative.” Jean’s expression didn't change as she entered into her watch. “There is a settlement an hour’s ride from here. We should be able to take it before dawn. Make sure the Voyagers are seen in the siege. We need to make the Empress understand all her enemies are at the same place so she can gather all her available forces to counter us.” She suddenly glanced at Violet. “Yet even the combined forces of the Empire of the Sun can’t exterminate dozens of Voyagers before they escape. You could’ve have missed that, so...what did you give to the Empress that can grant her such power?“

“That is irrelevant.”

“That is very relevant. We both know our alliance can shatter at any moment. I will not place myself in a vulnerable situation.”

“Very well.” Violet did a quick calculation and realized, at this point, Jean was still too critical in her plan to lose. “It is…”

---

Inside Crown’s City, the Empress was walking back and forth stressfully. Adam sat beside her, concerned as well.

“This is too risky.” The Empress said quietly. “I have heard reports that there are at least two Voyagers in the field commanding the Moon forces. They would’ve expected a surprise attack during the night.”

“I beg to differ.” Adam replied. “The Voyager commanding the Moon forces is too rash. Our scouts reported an almost desperate method of war adopted by the Moon forces. They have disregarded the casualties and tactics. I feel like the Voyagers are growing impatient, as they should be. After all, to them, this was supposed to be a quick mission. They never expected taking so long and suffering this many casualties.”

“Their arrogance will be their downfall.” The Empress finally sat down next to Adam. “But I fear…”

“The Red Dragon Corps has thousands of elite men. Even if the attack fails, they can pull back without too much losses. Two Voyagers can’t stop them.” Adam reassured again, but deep down in his mind, he felt like something was off.

It was as if the idea of sending in the Red Dragon Corps didn't come from him, but...how’s that even possible?

Suddenly, someone knocked on the door.

“Come in.”

The door open, and a man covered in blood and dust walked in along with two Empress Guards.

“Your grace…”

“Vice Commander Kayden!” The Empress immediately recognized who it was. It was the Vice Commander of the Red Dragon Corps. Instantly, seeing the look on Kayden’s face, she realized her fear has came true.

“Your grace!” The man was suppressing himself from breaking down. “The Red Dragon Corps is gone!”

“What?” But it was Adam who was the most shocked. He snapped and stood up. “You had 5,000 mounted men! They had 20,000 exhausted who have been marching and fighting nonstop for a week! How did you…”

“The outsiders!” Kayden shook his head, as if he was trying to pull himself out of a nightmare. “There was an army of them! As soon as we charged into the enemy camp, everything went wrong! Fireballs started falling down from the sky! Veins came up from the ground and strangled horses and men alike! Bolts of Lightning struck down and electrocuted Commander Thorn and half his guards! When our formation was ripped apart, at least twenty outsiders charged into our ranks! Our spears and swords did nothing against them!”

Adam collapsed back into his seat. The Voyagers. The Voyagers have met together with the Moon invasion and joined forces. Of course! How could he have forgotten about that possibility? Once again, the strange feeling that he was making a lot of misjudgments recently appeared, but Adam subconsciously put it down.

The Empress sighed, but she kept a straight face. As the leader of the Empire, in no circumstance could she show weakness in front of her men.

“It is not your fault, Vice Commander Kayden. Guards, give him a hot shower and a place to rest.”

“Yes, your grace.”

“No need, your grace.” Kayden suddenly shook his head. “I have served in the Red Dragon Corps for forty years. My father and his father have served and died in the Corps. The Corps is gone, and so should I. I have only returned to give you the news, and now, I have done that.”

“May the gods stand with you, your Grace.”

With that said, Kayden suddenly drew his sword and swiped it across his neck.

The Empress sighed as the body hit the ground.

“Take him back to his family. Tell them...tell them he died from his injuries.”

“As you wish, your grace.”

When the guards finally left, the Empress sat down beside Adam.

“It’s not your fault. No one could’ve known.”

“I should’ve. I knew the Voyagers well, but...how did I miss it? Of course the Voyagers would reinforce the Moon forces!”

“It doesn’t matter.” The Empress sighed again, but her eyes were ever as fierce. “Without the Red Dragon Corps and with the Voyagers standing alongside the Moon forces, we have lost our final chance at defeating the intruders with conventional methods. You know what this means.” She stared into Adam’s eyes.

Adam lowered his head.

“Yes I do.”

Two weeks ago, when he barely escaped from the destroyed Lance City back to Crown’s City, he carried something. A piece of technology from the Shieldbearers, or so he thought.

That piece of technology was said to be the peak of the Shieldbearer inventions. Supposedly, it had the power to formulate a link between a leader and all her loyal subjects. With the faith of the people as the channel, the leader could gather almost an infinite amount of power. After all, in this world, even a child has some energy inside his body, and the combination of millions of civilians and soldiers in the Empire of the Sun could easily make the Empress the most powerful being in the world. Not only so, any attack the Empress endured could be transported onto her subjects. A fatal strike on the Empress would be nothing more than a gentle cough when spread out on millions of men and women.

This technology was called the Last Stand, and there was a reason for it.

No human being in this world could store so much power in his or her body. The exact time depends on the willpower of the user, but eventually, the user would burn out. His or her body would be evaporated by the rogue strength it could no longer tame, and all traces of his or her existence would be gone.

If Adam had a choice, he wouldn’t want the Empress to do this. Even aside from personal affections and respects, he knew the Empress was a beacon of hope for the people of the Empire. As long as she was alive, the people of this realm would keep fighting. But the moment she passes away, the Empire would fall apart.

Yet the Empress was the only one who could do this. Supposedly, lower generals could create channels with their men as well, but a few thousand soldiers were different from all the civilians and soldiers in the Empire.

The Empress was well aware of the situation, which was why she sought a new leader to the Empire.

“Have you thought about my proposal?”

Adam sighed. What was the Empress’s proposal? A marriage. A marriage between her and Adam that would make him a member of the royal family, and thus a legitimate successor to the throne.

“I am a Voyager, your grace. The people of the Empire will only see me as an outsider, and outsiders like me are the ones trying to take down this world…”

“No.” The Empress shook her head decisively. “That’s where you’re wrong, Adam. The people of this world will see you as someone who is willing to give up wealth and power and stand up for what is right. They will see you as a leader and a hero, and after our wedding, they will see you as my husband and the future Emperor of the Sun.”

Adam sighed.

“I understand...it’s just that...it’s just that I don’t trust myself.” He frowned deeply. “I feel like something is off with me. It’s almost as if...as if I take the throne, something terrible will happen.”

Adam didn't know where this feeling was coming from. Logically, he knew what the Empress was suggesting was the best possible idea. After the Empress sacrifices herself, he would pick up the banner of resistance and lead the Empire against further Voyager invasions. But he just had a terrible hunch that what he was doing was wrong.

The Empress gently sat down beside him.

“My father passed away when I was 16. He was killed in a skirmish with Moon forces. It came as a shock to everyone. More importantly, I was merely a teenager. A lot of people at the capital decided I wasn’t fit for the throne. General Flores, well, he was still captain Flores, and he was the head of the detachment of Emperor Guards stationed at the capital to protect me. He insisted that I follow the traditions and become the Empress. To make that happen, he killed a lot of people.”

Adam was silent. General Flores was killed in action during a mission where he and Adams led an attack on a lone Voyager. The Voyager’s dying strike cut Flores into two.

“During the first year of being the Empress, I was frightened. I felt like there are a lot of people who could’ve done a better job than I did, and this pushed me to keep being better, to keep improving myself. Perhaps that’s what made me loved by everyone.”

“Before I knew it, I have been the Empress for nine years.”

“I don’t know what you have done in the past, Adam, but there is no need to linger over it. Rather, use it as something to push yourself forward and keep yourself moving. What’s done is done.”

Adam sighed and finally nodded.

“In that case, as you wish, your grace.”

The Empress let out a gentle grin, but Adam’s concern didn't disappear.