The city loomed in the distance.

"Rockhelm... how many days have it been? Or has it been weeks?" Bonar wondered to himself

He was in the dark coffin for such along time with Selena, taking, giving, fighting for control, and imprinting himself onto her body. 

He wanted to make sure she never forget him, just as she tried to control and win him over. 

At the end, he got the better part of the deal. 

Then he spent days with Shiva in her coils. How many days did that make?

Bonar was sure Daphne was fine. She had Manty and Pokey with her.

He wondered what kind of face she would make when she sees Shiva.

Maybe he should hunt her some meat or something first.

But as they got closer, he saw that the ground was covered with rotting corpses.

Even now, the soldiers were taking the bodies away to burn in piles outside the city.

But there were just so many of them.

"Ho! Is that you Voltar?" a loud voice called

"Astalan!" he waved and smiled

"Is that...Boner?" Astalan said and started running to them

"Hey big guy" Bonar said, as Astalan shook his arm.

"I knew you would somehow survive" Astalan said

"What happened here? Was there a war I didn't know about?" Voltar asked

"Yeah. An army of orcs attacked" Astalan answered

"An army? How many?" Voltar asked in shock.

Orcs usually attacked in groups from their villages, which numbered a hundred at most. 

Orcs gathering into an army would be a catastrophe. 

"They numbered in the tens of thousands. Closer to twenty thousand" Astalan said

"Twenty thousand...Incredible... and we won?" Voltar asked

"Yes.... well.. it was your... ah....sister who gave us the victory" Astalan said

"Daphne? Is she alright?" Bonar asked

"She was worn out, but fine. She somehow caused a beast horde to attack, plus a huge army of rats from the city.. it was a scary sight" Astalan said

"Yes, I've seen the rat tsunami" Bonar said. Voltar shivered but Shiva licked her lips at the thought. 

"So.. where is she? She must be worried about me" Bonar said

"She lost consciousness, but recovered after a few days. She cried endlessly after that" Astalan said

"Oh... I assumed as much. I better see her. Where is she?" Bonar asked

"We... well they didn't know if you were alive or not. So that merchant.. Carolyn Goldsomething .. took her back to Gloryshine. She says if you are alive, to look for Daphne there. But otherwise, she will take your sister under her wing." Astalan said

"Then I'll be going to Gloryshine then" Bonar said

"Wait. Why don't we have a drink to celebrate your safe return? We haven't spent time together since Hallmark. The brothel here is pretty famous too. On me!" Astalan said

Bonar smiled and patted Astalan on his back. He surely knew how to make him feel appreciated. 

--

Bonar lay on the bed next to a pretty prostitute. Her belly was expanded, looking pregnant due to him filling her up so much.

Shiva lay naked nearby, having been in a threesome with both of them. 

The prostitute's name was Aisia, and as she kissed him and looked him in the eye seriously. 

"You should report back to the boss once in a while you know. She is always looking for you" she suddenly said

"Huh? You mean.... Morgan? She's the boss here too?" Bonar asked

"Don't you know, she is the boss of all of us, in every city. We are the most efficient information network in the country" Aisia said

"She never told me" Bonar replied

"You really are a block head. She assumed that you would be going city to city, town to town, entering all the brothels. That way, she could keep an eye on you without telling you anything. But you disappeared without visiting a brothel at all since Hallmark" Aisia said

"She isn't mad, is she?" Bonar asked

"Of course she's mad. But I think her anger will subside now that she knows where you are" Aisia said

"Er.. can you apologize to her for me? I am still looking for the giant eagle, but I hunted the wrong giant birds by mistake so far" Bonar said

"Ok. I will include it in my report. But remember, from now on, you should visit the brothels in all the towns or cities you go though. You can even stay for free" Aisia said

"That's great!" Bonar smiled happily. 

However, Bonar's happiness didn't last very long. 

In the morning, he brought Shiva to have a meal with Astalan and Voltar, preparing to leave for Gloryshine when Lochland joined them. 

Again he wanted to talk about Daphne again when a messenger entered and rushed to him

Lochland read the note and frowned his brow. 

"What is it?" Voltar asked

"It is the Emperor's decree. All men, all mercenaries 16 years and above are conscripted to go to fight for the country" Lochland said

"What happened?" Astalan asked

"Valdoor has invaded Aldergard. We are now at war!" Lochland said

--

Bonar was not "allowed" to leave the city as they gathered the men in the city. 

If he left, it would be counted as treason and there would be a bounty on his head. 

He had wanted to go and find Daphne, but that was impossible. 

So he went back to the brothel and talked to Aisia

Aisia was to inform Morgan about him joining the war. She was also to get someone to look for Daphne and informed her that he was alright, but will be fighting as a soldier in the war. 

With that, he joined the rest of the soldiers in the camp set up in Rockhold. 

Astalan was with his Strength Metal team. 

Voltar was given command of his own squad of 5000 soldiers too. 

Lochland had wanted to assign Bonar and Shiva to other squads, but once Bonar showed him his mithril token, indicating he was a S Ranker, he was also assigned a 5000 men squad. 

With that, an army of 20,000, including civilian recruits under Voltar and Bonar, marched to the east, to meet with the armies of Valdoor.