
Inside the main estate of House Malintara, Baron Tiberius and Baroness Theodora were in the main study of the estate, the sounds of the fighting in the city had terrified both house heads as neither of them was expecting something of this scale to occur. Their personal bodyguards were scattered across the estate and things were even more terrifying for both of them as their families were inside the main estate of House Theodorus which was quite far from where they were right now, around several hours of westward journeying neither was willing to take as there were reports that a majority of the city was already overrun with freed slaves and turncoat militia.
"What do we do now Tiberius?" The younger Baroness asked as she switched her gaze from looking out the window, seeing smoke rise from several parts of the city to Tiberius
"We wait. I sent some of my knights to gather reinforcements from the nearby fort to provide us with a guard to get us the hell out of here and quash these uncivilized fuckers" Tiberius replied to her, keeping his gaze on the outside and not even sparing a thought to look at his partner in crime
"How long will that take?"
"I have no idea Theodora, but what I do know is that I am quite angry with how this revolt was timed, just in time for our rebellion as well"
"Meaning?"
"Meaning we will have to fight a two-front war. On the one hand, we have to quell this rebellion now and the next, we have to fight off Paderborn's army and house knights when they do come. It does not look good for us. But I believe we can make it out alive if we play our cards right" The old Baron added as he finally turned to face her
"I trust you then. Let's see if your gamble pays off"
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Running through the debris-covered snowy streets of Malintarus, H.I.S.S. agents led by siren Agent Ilara, were heading straight for their mission objective, the main estate of House Malintara. They had been given orders by Takawa to eliminate the heads of House Malinatara and Theodorus as the revolt began and they were all determined to get that job done. There were eight of them in total, including Ilara, and all of them were clad in the jagged black plate armor of the H.I.S.S. with red visors in their helmets, they had all regrouped in a small alley a few blocks away from the estate and they noticed that there was a large contingent of both Theodorus and Malintara Knights surrounding the estate.
"Seems that they are expecting company" A dragonkin agent by the name of Voss joked as he looked past the corner at the numerous knights guarding the main road up to the estate
"I would be too if I heard shouting and fire from a city one random day" Another agent, this one being an orc by the name of Cairo chimed in with a little smile on his face as he shook his head
"Zip it both of you, time to do our job" Ilara told them as she removed her helmet, allowing her jet-black hair to fall down across her armor and allowed herself a breath of fresh air not supplied by her helmet
"Sorry boss" Voss replied as he looked at her
"Mmm, anyway. What are we facing out there Minst?" Ilara asked as she turned to an elven agent who had planted her hands on the ground, using her earth magic to map out the estate and see how many knights were there and where they were stationed
"Eighty knights right outside, a further forty scattered behind those walls. There are still a lot of human servants in the area and I believe that they are all trained to fight and die for their masters" Minst answered her commander as she looked at her through her red visor
"Alright, we will rush and blitz the enemy before any more of their reinforcements arrive. Voss, you, Cairo, Pilt and Minst will assault the outside of the estate while I and the rest will sneak in and deal with the rest. Can you do that?" The siren agent asked as she looked at Voss, Cairo and a kitsune agent named Pilt
"That we can boss" The dragonkin replied, making the others nod in agreement with his assessment
"Good. Me, Tyre, Balkur, and Hideroma will be slipping into the estate from the side. So do make a lot of noise and then meet us inside" She added as she turned to an elven man agent by the name of Tyre, a leo beastkin agent named Balkur, and a human woman agent named Hideroma, all three of them looking back at her and nodding in agreement
"Understood boss. Hope you like the home tour" Cairo joked
"Heh. We will, now. Let's go"
A few moments later, the eight H.I.S.S. agents moved from the alley and split up into two groups. Ilara and her group moved to the rooftops of the buildings while Voss and the rest charged up the road, their wild roars drawing the attention of the knights of both houses that were stationed outside.
"Who the fuck are they?" One knight asked before getting killed via a lightning bolt shot by Cairo
"Enemy attack!" Another knight shouted before he too died as a large earthen spike burst forth from the snowy ground and impaled him through the abdomen fired off by Minst
The mere mention of an enemy attack rallied the other knights around the perimeter who began rushing to their comrade's aid. Their shouts filled the air alongside the heavy clattering of their armored boots on the cobblestone ground as they ran from where they were to the supposed location where there were enemy forces.
One group, of knights that were on patrol nearby, were able to rush quickly to where Voss and his group were and immediately engaged them without a second thought. The lead knight charged straight at Voss who quickly closed the distance between him and the charging knight much to the latter's confusion and before the knight could do anything, he grabbed the knight by the neck and then flew upward. The knight could only scream in confusion as the dragonkin agent then dropped him from a considerable height, causing the knight to fall to his death and die upon impact on the cold cobblestone ground. The rest of the patrol was also dealt with pretty quickly thanks to the rest of Voss' group descending upon the enemy with speed the latter had never seen before. Cairo killed one knight via a fireball at close range, Minst used her earth magic to grab several of them and bury them alive while Pilt moved in between the remaining few faster than they could act and slashed away at their necks with her bastard sword.
Crouching on a nearby rooftop across the estate while the sounds of fighting intensified, Ilara and her group watched as a group of knights passed below them toward the sound of the fighting. Once the group had passed, she and the rest leaped onto the roof of the estate and now it was their turn to have fun. She looked at her group and they all nodded to the commands she spoke into her communication crystal, a few moments later, Balkur took a deep breath as he then channeled his magic to form an anti-magic barrier that shrouded the house, carefully making sure that it did not affect his allies.
"Let's do this then"
The first ones in were Tyre and Hideroma who had breached through the roof of the estate, stomping hard enough for the roof to collapse over the room they were standing on. The collapsed roof killed several knights who were in the room and didn't even notice the H.I.S.S. agents landing on the roof above them. Once that was done, the pair moved to clear out the lower floors of the estate. The elven and human woman agent ran into a pair of knights, both of them unable to react fast enough to defend themselves as Tyre ran his spear through the chest of one and Hideroma used her armored claws to dig into the abdomen of the other.
Ilara then dropped down into the same hole and for fun, tossed a stone at a nearby window, she had a feeling and the intel that the targets were still here and now it was time to find them. But as she was about to leave, a single knight ran into the room and once he saw her, moved in to attack.
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Standing inside the main study of the estate, Theodora and Tiberius were shaken as they heard fighting outside. They could hear the fighting and the shouting but they had no idea who or how many attackers there were. Neither of them wanted to leave this room as it was the safest one in all of the building and with their small guard, they would be dead meat and surrounded by whatever enemy that was currently trying to bash down their doors. What's worse, they could no longer feel their magic coursing through them as if an invisible force was restricting them from doing anything, adding to their anxiety and horror.
"What the fuck should we do?!" Theodora asked as she tried and tried to get her teleportation magic to work, it had finally finished recharging and she was desperate to use it again to get them both the hell out of here
"I don't know?! What the hell is happening?!" The old patriarch of House Malintara shouted in reply as he too was trying to use his own magic to get them out of here
{!}
Just then, the sounds of a part of the building collapsing followed by the sounds of windows breaking, and the screams of servants and knights from somewhere else in the estate spooked the duo who quickly moved over to a nearby table and equipped themselves with family heirlooms in the form of weapons, a large emerald-colored spear for Theodora and a bastard sword for the old man. Then there was a loud crashing sound right outside the door leading into the room, it sounded as if a knight in full armor was chucked around and crashed into the wall right outside and landed next to the door. The two of them cautiously moved to the door and when Tiberius slowly opened it, the two of them then recoiled as they saw a bloodied knight slumped next to the door, his right hand holding onto a large spike made of some black substance that protruded from his chest.
"What in the-"
"Your grace.....run" The knight squeezed out before slumping and dying on the spot
{!}
Before either house head could react, a figure suddenly appeared out of nowhere and landed a front kick that sent Theodora flying and crashing onto a table with a scream. Tiberius was barely able to raise his own sword to block a trident's swing that also sent him flying back into the study, crashing into a nearby bookshelf that toppled over and brought others down behind it with it.
Despite neither of them having access to their magic, the two house heads quickly scrambled to their feet even as the pain was coursing through them faster than they liked, Tiberius was the first to act as he charged the figure straight on with his sword, he fired off a downward slash moving from his upper right to his lower left but the armored figure before him simply took one step back with her right foot to dodge the slash before using the butt of her trident to strike the old man in the chest, sending him staggering back and clutching his chest in pain as the air was driven from his lungs due to the blow. Theodora then charged at the armored figure, thrusting her spear forward but the tip bounced off the shoulder pauldron of the armored figure much to her surprise, forcing the head of House Theodorus to try again with another thrust attack but this time, the spear was caught in-between one of the prongs off the trident as the armored figure deflected her attack and made it strike the ground. Before she could do anything however, the armored figure got closer and struck her face with a fast right hook that sent her stumbling back with her weapon in her hand, her head spinning and eyes blurry as she did not expect an armored fist to slam into her left cheek.
The two A-Rank house heads didn't give up though as they both charged the armored figure again. Despite their lack of magic, both of them were trained to fight and the two of them fired off attack after attack simultaneously to try and kill their armored assailant. Said assailant was silent as the two of them attacked, ducking and dodging their blows, and even if she didn't dodge or duck, the armored figure's jagged plate armor simply absorbed their blows, causing sparks to fly as the weapons bounced or glanced off harmlessly despite the best efforts of both house heads. Tiberius' sword and Theodora's spear repeatedly bounced or glanced off the armor of the foe they were fighting and despite it being visible to them that their attacks weren't doing anything, neither of them was giving up just yet as they believed that they could finally find an opening and exploit it.
Tiberius tried running his blade through the neck of the armored figure but the tip of his blade glanced off and broke apart, leaving him shocked and open to a shoulder bash that made him let out a strained gasp as air was driven from his lungs. Before he could do anything else, the armored figure grabbed him by the throat and turned him around and placed him in a headlock, using him as a meat shield to block Theodora's spear thrust that punched through his armor and embedded itself deep into his chest, making the old man spurt out blood from his mouth as he felt the cold metal within his chest.
"Wait no!" Theodora shouted in disbelief as she was left frozen in shock
Her state of shock was all the armored figure needed as she tossed Tiberius' lifeless body to the side with the spear still attached and then swiftly moved to grab Theodora by the neck, lifting her off the ground and then slowly tightening the grip around her target's neck. The head of House Theodorus tried speaking but found herself unable to, she desperately clawed and kicked at the person crushing the life out of her, her eyes glued to the red visor of the armored figure's helmet which reflected it back into her sight. A sense of dread washed over her as she could feel her life slipping away farther and farther,
"Who...are...you?!" She growled as she clasped the armored gauntlets of the person strangling her
{!}
Suddenly, the sounds of bone snapping filled the air for only a brief moment before Theodora's body went limp and was tossed to the side unceremoniously. The room was once more bathed in silence except for the screams and shouting outside, the armored figure simply stood silent as she looked at both bodies, one pooling blood under his body and another draped over an overturned table, neither of them looking to get up any time soon, or ever.
"This is Ilara to command. The lion and the eagle are both dead" She stated as she activated her communication crystal
"Understood. Nicely done Ilara, your new orders are to hold the city until relieved. The Imperial Army is marching to our aid and we need to hold the army arrives and once that is done, you will receive new orders"
"Understood Command. Out"
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Inside the territory of House Fluchet, the knight order of the house and the various citizens of the territory watched as groups of freed slaves entered them without resistance. For years now, many within the territory had upheld the secret values of the former matriarch of House Fluchet, Flavius' mother, Baroness Ticonderoga Fluchet, and her stance of anti-slavery, further spurred on by Flavius himself. Though they kept the slave pools to show that they were still loyal to the dukedom, the slave pools in the Fluchet territory were much greater than the ones in other territories, it also helped that unlike in other territories of the Dukedom, House Fluchet forbade anyone other than their own people to help transport slaves during the rotation period, it even became local law for the people of the territory to show respect to the slaves in their care and treat them as people and not property, though it was also common knowledge to show a front if someone from another territory showed up, to keep up the illusion of loyalty. This foundation of deceit was the perfect bedrock for the revolt and when the sights of bloodied and battered slaves carrying weapons and moving from other territories dawned on the people of the territory, they knew that the hour had come to do their part.
Many citizens rushed from their homes to help those slaves who had escaped the territories of Baro and Abernath, giving them food, water, and proper clothing before helping them settle in to wait for further orders from higher up the chain. There were a few attempts here and there by small skirmishing forces of Abernath knights and conscripted militia to attack these groups when they were on the border of the Fluchet territory, only to be met by the fury of the Black Guard, their massive hulking forms, Erhet's in particular, driving fear into their hearts as they died at their hands without even a chance to fight back.
Takawa herself had arrived in the territory alongside Flavius and once they reached his estate, it became the local HQ for the ongoing revolt and the dispatches she received from the H.I.S.S. agents in the field painted a very good picture of the whole situation before her.
"Status?" She asked a freed slave who had come from the Baro Barony
"We burnt everything we could as we escaped. Crops, farmland, and even the small towns and villages" The slave answered her, cradling his broken arm with his other arm
"Casualties?"
"We lost a few here and there during our running battle with the Baro and Abernath knights. But we ran with the bodies and they are laid down together with the rest, ready to be revived as per your instructions"
"Good. Rally who you can and head off to shore up our eastern defenses. We have a long fight ahead of us. Now go"
The freed orc slave replied with a nod before moving out of the small room where Takawa had set up her HQ. She took a deep breath as she steeled herself and calmed down, it was the endgame now and there was no time to slip up and toss everything away now.
"I take it you have good news about the two traitors?" Flavius asked as he entered the room, looking at the kitsune agent with a sort of admirable gaze
"Ilara informed me she just took care of it. So we have nothing to fear from the West. Our problem now lies in the east. With what we have done, I don't think Abernath is going to take this lightly. We have scorched most of Baro and Abernath so they are probably going to gear up for an all-out attack towards us here" The kitsune answered him as she moved over to a map of the nation with markings on it
"Abernath will have no choice but to fight. Hell, I am sure he is going to muster everything he has for one attack. Be it by land or by sea. He still has the bulk of the Dukedom's navy with him in that regard"
"I don't think they will be a problem soon. As we speak, I believe the Imperial Navy is sailing down from the up north to take care of them"
"Huh, that is convenient. But regardless, we will have to pick our battle area. He will be coming to us"
"I think our Empresses have a plan for that. For now, we just have to hold until they get here
{!}
Just then, the communications crystal in her armor lit up and she activated it, taking a deep breath and awaiting the voice on the other end to speak
"Takawa, the army is on its way. Sit tight" A familiar voice sounded, making the kitsune agent's eyes widen in joy
"Understood Your Majesty Ophelia. We will hold the line until you are here"
"You won't have to wait long for that, just give them a bloody nose while waiting" Another familiar voice sounded
"That we will Your Majesty. That we will"
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With the winter sun now passing noon and the entire Dukedom in utter tatters as the revolution was in full swing, the Imperial Army which had long been on standby was finally marshaled for the final march to unite the continent. The spirits of each Imperial Soldier were high as they were filled with the sense that after this, the entire continent would be theirs, and a peace unlike ever seen before would finally come, a peace, where they no longer feared the coming slavers and the feelings of powerlessness that had once held them by the throat.
Their banners beholding the Imperial Flag fluttered in the cold and bitter winter wind that did not affect them due to their armor, a wind that was blowing hard all the way southward, a wind that was just like them, unrelenting, unfeeling and unstoppable.
"All soldiers! March!" Ophelia's voice bellowed as she hovered above the armies, her jet-black wings keeping her aloft as an ominous black halo hovered above her head
"March for your friends! March for your family! March for that New Dawn that is meant for us!" Amelia added as she too roared at the crowd below her, her angel-like appearance a stark contrast to her lover's as her white angel wings and her golden halo shone brightly in the winter sky
Their orders were broadcasted from end to end of the front and at the behest of their orders, over 450,000 soldiers of the Imperial Army, the largest concentration it has ever mustered so far, marched in unison. The rhythmic beats of their iron-clad boots crunching on the freshly laid snow echoed from end to end and the near drum-like tune of the banners and pikes slowly moving side to side gave the entire mass of soldiers and iron a eerily steady beat to march to.
Many soldiers and officers cheered to as they marched southward,
"It's time to finish this!"
"Let's send them running into the sea!"
"One Continent! One Empire!"
Were some of the phrases shouted by the soldiers as they marched on to the final campaign to finally unite this continent, a year and a half in the making was about to come to fruition and they could all taste it. Others were silent as they heard their comrades cheer, electing to say a silent prayer to themselves for good fortune in the coming battles ahead and some began to sing small clan tunes and rhymes that they had learned growing up. Despite the mixed reactions as they marched southward, all of them understood that this was the Grand Finale of their final march and by the Gods, they were going to see it through to the very end, for a united continent that bowed to no one but the monarchs in the north, a continent-spanning empire, The Halkare Empire.
A/N: We have reached the endgame chapters now. The end is in sight!
The dukedom just falling apart in like a week is quite satisfying
They never saw it coming hehehe

And then across the sea they will go for some major payback. Bhahahahaha!
All in due time heheheeh


Tftc


Thanks for enjoying it!
