Eleanor had been burned to ash.

Borbonsi had died

But Etaceh wasn’t happy, she was pissed beyond belief.

The flawless victory she had worked for had been ruined by that loser of a Lord. Worst, Hecate’s defensive barrier and her greatest weapon, the Prime Flash, had been fried by his final suicide attack.

Etaceh surveyed the auto-generated damage report and slammed her fist on her golden throne.

To rub salt in the wound, she just destroyed her main supplier, so the repair work would be a real pain down her neck. Etaceh sighed. If she had known this, she would rather mount an assault on Montgomery. It appeared the easier fruit had a real bitter taste. 

6,324,005,089 pieces of metal scattered across Eleanor for this?

Damn it all. 

…

The old-man turned his back from the smoldering city, trying to digest what Nuan Yulong had told him.

The amputee watched the disaster going down in all its catatonic length. All of those times, he tried to find a way to defeat the enemy Nuan Yulong had painted.

How could he defeat a transcendental monster with unique powers and power drawn directly from the faith of million worshipers?

Hunter Westerna strutted away, trying to find a way to do something — anything to beat this obstacle ahead of him.

…

The Montgomery's fleet sailed away from Eleanor with Apolline leading them.

The Red Archangel mulled in her conflict but quickly regathered herself. Someone landed on board her ship, right behind her. She knew who it was, but she was far from prepared for the headaches.

“Nuan,” Apolline said without turning to meet the Martial Queen.

“Apolline-chan,” Nuan winked. “Glad to see you make it out too, ehe.”

Apolline snorted, “Quit the cutesy talk. We know you are anything but harmless. I’m not in a mood to act according to your script.” She got onto business. “How is the other Dragon Maiden mobilizing?”

Nuan’s face scrunched a little, “Fine, my sister will enter the ring sooner or later, now that it is clear things will be between Etaceh and you guys.”

“As expected,” Apolline sighed, but replied with determination. “Just tell them not to even bother. Montgomery can take on both them and Etaceh.”

“I agree,” Nuan concurred despite being an opposing party. “Montgomery is heavily fortified as Lord Yume’s former territory and Maximus’ current one. However, your enthusiasm might die down a little once you realize the ‘how’ behind Maximus’ security.”

Apolline finally turned to face Nuan and found no one behind her. The Dragon Maiden had left after dropping that bomb behind and left Apolline’s curiosity in turmoil.

…

Inside the Residence of Lord, the Harriett House nestled nicely in its new comfy position. As Hikari’s new Domain, it gained the power to be an infinite hotel room, permanently solving their capacity problem, while giving the place additional power to accelerate healing and advanced recreation.

Inside, Ciel, Amy and Caislean were discussing where to proceed over a game of cards with Hikari as a dealer. As for Hikari and Betty, they were enjoying the Harriett House’s new spa.

“So another failure?” Caislean tossed a chip down.

“Not exactly,” Ciel said. “Borbonsi’s last attack broke the Hecate’s barrier.” He beckoned for a card. “According to Pruina’s assessment, it meant her impenetrable defense is now surmountable for us.”

Hikari dealt Ciel a card and joined the conversation, “That doesn’t mean we can fight her head on.”

“Yup,” Ciel nodded. “We simply don’t have the number to tickle Etaceh.” Ciel frowned at his hand and forked over more chips. “But I’m not worrying about that to be honest. Etaceh is the master at picking an ill-thought fight.”

Amy smiled at her hand — three-of-a-kind — and said, “You mean she is going to pick a fight with either Montgomery or Yulong next,” she beamed, “I raised.”

“Call,” Caislean said, showing her hand—a two-pair. She sighed and forked over the chip to Amy.

“I win,” Amy said.

“Not so fast,” Ciel revealed his hand — a straight.

Amy looked in horror, “Aren’t your hands horrible?”

“Poker face, Amy,” Ciel said. “To answer Caislean’s question, it will be Montgomery. Mandrake isn’t stupid. He will wait for the two to fight it out and beat the winner piecemeal. Etaceh will be enough of a smartass to fight Maximus, and unlike Eleanor and Curtis, Montgomery would be a stumbling block in her conquest.”

Hikari found herself with a question, “If Montgomery is such a fortress, why are you so adamant about staying away from it?” She shrugged. “I know you and Maximus are enemies, but there must be more to that.”

Ciel clicked his finger.

“Exactly,” he congratulated Hikari for working out the math. “The reason we’re avoiding Montgomery is Maximus’ Authority—The Lord of Worship. It is also a reason Etaceh had no hope of repeating her favorite infiltrate-and-subvert tactic.” Ciel sighed. “Montgomery is a fortress and a prison. You had to be a special variety of ambitious and stupid to believe you can carve your place in an isolated  of steel where Maximus sat as the king of the Zeitgeist.”

…

Ahchoo!

Elsewhere,  Carolina — the recently unemployed Gold Leader — sneezed. Again she was on her way for an ambitious alternative career in a new nation.

And given the two-out-of-three nations she had been to already burn, she was down to only one choice — Montgomery.

Would it surprise you to know that Carolina had no idea what was waiting for her?

###

United(?) We Stand: Burning Port’s Reaper ended

Now, let’s see how we romance the ‘villain’ in...

United(?) We Stand: Agent of Black