Parpaldian Empire, December 6th, 1639

Eshtirant

The throne room of the Imperial Palace within the Parpaldian capital was extravagant. For anyone that laid their eyes on the room, it showed the tremendous national power of this emerging empire. Although it had been a stagnant nation under the hands of the many previous emperors, it was until recently that this sleeping giant started to awake as a new and ambitious emperor kickstarted the empire's modernization. With its tremendous wealth and its large population, it had the potential to even rival the top superpowers of the world and it is now starting to do exactly that.

However, this ambitious emperor is seen to be rather furious once again as a middle aged man bowed kneeled with sweat trickling from the side of his head.

"Raise your head, Kaios."

Kaios raised his head as his face was filled with concern and one full of worry. The reason why he had been summoned to this throne room by Emperor Ludius was due to the Empire's catastrophic failure in Fenn.

"How did our oversight army get defeated?!" Ludius shouted as a tense atmosphere filled the room that it could even choke one to death.

Ludius' anger had shaken the usually calm Kaios and the people that were in the room as well. If Ludius was enraged, it usually never ended well for anyone in the receiving end.

"P-Please accept my sincerest apologies! We never expected Fenn to outsmart us, so please grant me a second chance to assemble a much stronger force!"

Kaios attempted to request for forgiveness as he tried to secure a second chance in dealing with Fenn. For him, the report had caught him by surprise as although Parpaldia sunk more ships, the oversight fleet was still heavily damaged and had been forced to retreat. However, Kaios' request seems to not have changed Ludius' look and attitude.

"Imbecile! It doesn't matter if we assemble another one because our prestige as a Great Power still took a huge blow!"

Ludius is heavily concerned of this defeat as it would be a blow to Parpaldia's reputation as a rising major power. For him, he could not let Parpaldia's enemies see their weakness that would bolster their confidence.

"I expect good news for our upcoming efforts in Altaras. Regarding Fenn, I'll allow you to correct your mistakes and assemble a much stronger force to completely annihilate them. Let the other countries know that the Parpaldian Empire shall not bow in the face of defeat!

Make sure you shall not disappoint!" Ludius said as he glared at the frightened Kaios.

"Y-Yes, your majesty!" Kaios answered with a deep bow.

The shaken Kaios soon left the room as he went to quickly do his job as he was given a second chance which had made him sigh in relief.

Kingdom of Altaras, December 10th, 1639

Royal Capital, Le Brias

The Kingdom of Altaras is an island nation in the south of the Philades Continent and north of Rodenius. The kingdom is a bit separate from Philades, is still located outside the civilized areas. However, due to its national wealth and power, many nations exempted it from the status of a barbarian nation.

The kingdom had a population of around 3 million people and was located strategically between the Rodenius and Philades continent. As a result, this nation prospered from trade. And with the wealth of resources and trade, a powerful navy took shape to protect the nation and its trade routes.

The capital of the Altaran Kingdom, Le Brias, had buildings that had an architecture design similar to Spanish Baroque designs, a highly decorative and theatrical style that seeked to inspire and awe with a highly decorated, dramatic, and grand style. As a country prospered from trade, the people living in Le Brias were all very lively. However, in contrast to the lively commoners of the capital, there is a man that looked distressed in the Altaran royal castle as he faced a Parpaldian diplomat.

"Are they insane?" King Taaras the 14th muttered as he looked at a paper which was held by both of his hands as he sat on his throne.

The paper he is mentioning are documents filled with demands from the Parpaldian Empire. He kept reading it over and over to make sure what he looked at was really true.

The demands on the paper was for Altaras to hand out the Siltras Gem Mine and Princess Lumiess to the Parpaldian Empire.

There were cases where such demands for land by the Parpaldian Empire were completely unused and resulted in a beneficial deal for both sides as Parpaldia received land and the other party receiving investment and aid. However, the demands that were given to Altaras in this very day was the complete opposite of beneficial.

It was utterly incomprehensible for the Altaran king as he never thought Parpaldia would overstep this far. The Siltras Gem Mine is an extremely important national asset and their demands for Princess Lumiess was simply an insult.

As his hand shook as he held the paper filled with demands, he looked at the Parpaldian diplomat which was in front of him.

"Are there really no mistakes in this list?" Taaras said as his face filled with worry.

"It's indeed correct. Everything we demanded is all in the paper."

"The Siltras mine is my country's most important asset."

"So what? Our demands is exactly what is written there."

"Can't we negotiate any form of change in this list? It doesn't seem very beneficial to us."

"Huh?! Are you taking our demands as a joke?!" The Parpaldian ambassador shouted at the king, clearly annoyed.

"Of course not... But what about this one regarding the hand-out of Princess Lumiess?"

"There's no mistake there. Are you saying you want to go against the will of our emperor? Who do you think you're talking to?!"

King Taaras stayed silent as he gathered his thoughts before coming up with an answer as he curled his fingers into his palm tightly.

"Our country cannot accept these demands."

"Tsk, as expected of you barbarians. You can't even choose the best option for your country!"

"I cannot allow this insult to go on for any longer! Take him away, guards!"

As the Parpaldian diplomat was surrounded by Altaran guards, he would protest.

"Hey! We're not done here!" He shouted as he was apprehended by the guards.

"You will pay for going against a Great Power!" He protested once again as he was taken away from the throne room.

As the Parpaldian ambassador was kicked out the room, a moment of silence ensued as King Taaras tried to calm down, however the insult he had received had infuriated him greatly.

"That damn ambassador!! I cannot allow our nation to give up its most important asset and its princess!"

The furious king looked at his aides who all watched the chaos that had just happened. They all looked to themselves, seemingly concerned on what will happen next.

"Freeze all Parpaldians assets in Altaras and sever diplomatic ties with them! At the same time, assemble the army and tighten up our defenses! I want to show these Parpaldians scums that we still have pride in ourselves!" The king ordered.

If he had gave in and handed out his daughter and the Siltras mine, he might as well just hand out his entire country. For him, it was clear that there's no way any sane ruler would accept such a demands, especially when their nation does not rely on a foreign power. He knew that the Parpaldian military is formidable, however he knew that they shouldn't be unbeatable due to what happened in Fenn.

Kingdom of Topa, December 10th, 1639

Tormis

Although the demon lord's invasion had been delayed, the citizens of the Kingdom of Topa were still anxious and wary. The Topan soldiers had dealt a considerable amount of damage to their army before they were overwhelmed, but the demon lord's army were still formidable due to the presence of the Red and Blue ogre.

In front of the southern gate of the fortress city of Tormis, soldiers stood in lines on the side of the road. They were preparing to welcome the Indonesian reinforcements which were coming and were instructed to be hospitable to their allies.

Moah and Gai were also near the gate as they engaged in a conversation while they waited for the Indonesians.

Gai looked to the sky and asked Moah a question, "Hey, Moah. Are these Indonesians really that great? I've never even heard of a country with that kind of name."

"I've heard they're an emerging country from the east of Philades. They also won against the Kingdom of Louria within a few weeks and rumors even say they suffered only a handful of casualties."

"Really? That must be propaganda! Even our nation would suffer quite a bit of casualties against them."

"We'll leave it as simple rumors, but please mind your manners when theu arrive."

As they continued their conversation, a knight would be seen running as he approached the two from one of the towers of the city walls.

"Sir Moah, we've spotted the Indonesians reinforcements! It seems they've finally arrived."

Moah nodded as he listened to the report, "Understood. Please prepare their welcoming ceremony."

The knight went to inform the soldiers to prepare their welcoming ceremony for the Indonesians. However, as Gai and Moah waited, expecting an army of elegant and majestic knights, they were met by a loud rumble which threw them off.

"What is that sound?!" Gai asked.

As the both of them looked at the long road in front of them, green metal carriages would appear and looked different from each other. There were a number of carriages that had 3 wheels and a long rectangular shape, a carriage which had a trapezoid shape, and a big one that had a long cylinder barrel on the top. The vehicles in question were the Indonesian Pindad Anoas, Marder, and Leopard 2A4.

While the Anoa and Marder was a normal choice, the Leopard 2A4 was deployed due to reports on how tough the stronger demons such as Nosgorath were. In the chance that the Marder's 20mm Rh 202 autocannon is ineffective, the 120mm gun of the Leopard 2 would surely punch through.

As the Indonesian convoy stopped, trumpets would be played by the soldiers beside the road. They would play a beautiful but majestic composition of music.

After that, an Indonesian soldier hopped outside. He wore a uniform in camoflauge, a helmet, and a bulletproof vest.

Gai would comment on his appearance with a face filled with disappointment, "I thought they were knights in shining armor, but the clothes they're wearing makes them look like bandits."

Moah noticed the rude remarks of his friend and quickly shut Gai's mouth with his hand, "Oi, Gai! Mind your manners!" He whispered.

The Indonesian soldier stopped in front of the two and saluted them as he introduced himself, "Indonesian National Army Special Deployment Platoon. My name is Joko Wicaksono."

Even though the strange clothes the soldiers wore were not like the knights in shining armor they imagined, it seemed that the Indonesian soldiers were professional judging from their first impressions.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Joko. I am Moah, a knight of the Kingdom of Topa and this is Gai, a mercenary."

"Pleasure to meet you, Joko. I may be a mercenary but I can definitely take on the likes of Moah." Gai said with a smirk on his face.

Moah rolled his eyes as he heard Gai's remark, "Now that you are all here, we shall lead you to our commander."

As the Indonesians entered the city of Tormis through the Southern Gate, citizens would gather and look at the odd but amazing Indonesian convoy. For them, they had never seen anything like it and the Leopard 2A4 would stand out from the group as the citizens marvelled at the sight of the German tank.

For them, the Indonesian convoy resembled the description of the Emmissaries of the Sun God, however, the Indonesians did not bore any emblem that resembled these legendary Emmisaries. It was still enough for them to be confident that the demon lord may once again be pushed back to Grameus.