Vallius took a deep breath to steady himself, then looked at the double doors in front of him. Intricate carvings of hawks and eagles covered their surface, but he was in no mood to admire them. He clenched his jaw. After taking another deep breath, he slowly pushed them open. Beyond, a wide room extended itself.

The pristine, white stone walls rose for several meters before almost seamlessly turning into a concave ceiling, which was covered by a great painting of a knight sitting on a throne, surrounded by destruction. Vallius resisted the urge to frown and lowered his gaze to the round table a few meters ahead of him. It was made of a special type of dark wood, and there wasn't a single blemish on its surface. Sitting on the small thrones around the table were men and women, all dressed in white-and-red armor or blood-red robes with golden insignias in the shape of hawks.

All of them turned to look at him. Without missing a beat, Vallius bowed deeply.

"I'm here, Commanders," he said in a low tone.

"Raise your head, Vallius," a deep voice ordered, making Vallius nod and raise his body, then look at the speaker. The handsome man was tall and well-built, with short black hair and green eyes, his chiseled jawline not covered by a beard. He was grinning at Vallius with a warm expression. "You were the first to arrive. Come, stand next to me. The others should be here shortly."

Vallius nodded, not daring to smile back, and quietly made his way to the space behind his commander, where Nikolas already stood. On the way, he ran his gaze past the faces of the other commanders. All figures he'd heard about, but had never met. Right now, they were together in the same room. The Crimson Rose, Armenia; the Inferno, Messenio; and of course, his commander, the Golden Wing, Virgo. All of them and more were sitting by the table, ready to discuss their course of action.

But the conquest of Mar is just that important.

Finally, Vallius threw a glance at the man at the head of the table with his head low.

The man had blonde hair and violet eyes, and just like Virgo, was tall and muscular. He would've been considered even more handsome than Virgo if it weren't for his ice-cold expression. Harpas, the High Commander of their entire stretch of the Gaidar Empire. Suddenly, Harpas met his gaze, making Vallius flinch and hurriedly look away. Vallius had to stop himself from taking a step back. After that, he only kept his gaze fixed on the ground as time started to pass.

One by one, the commanders of various cities arrived, then moved to stand behind their respective, even greater commanders. This continued for minutes on end. Finally, once there were almost fifty people in the room, Harpas waved his hand. The doors slammed shut with a loud noise.

"Now," Harpas said calmly, his voice as deep as usual. "Let's begin."

Everyone else nodded almost at the same time.

"As you all know," Harpas continued as his gaze ran past everyone else. "This conversation will be about the Kingdom of Mar."

Vallius looked at the man as the others nodded again. The sole reason for this reunion was to discuss what to do with Mar and why it hadn't been conquered yet. Naturally, the reasons should be great enough to pull even a man like Harpas into the fray, but Vallius didn't know much at all, regardless of how high his position was in the city he ruled. He let out a low sigh.

"Can I get something out of the way?" Armenia said after raising her hand and receiving a nod from Harpas. "Assassinating the queen is beyond our scope. We need ways to break them from inside."

Vallius looked at her. She was a beautiful woman with skin as white as snow and hair blacker than any other in stark contrast. Her brown eyes were calm as they looked at Harpas, who simply nodded.

"I agree," he replied. "And I don't think anyone here disagrees."

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Vallius blinked in surprise.

She's that powerful?

Of course, he knew that Mar's queen was a powerful Mage in her own right, but to the point of making even a man like Harpas admit to it?

…So, that's why.

Truthfully, he'd fully expected the war to end once the various commanders got involved. Even Harpas' participation had been mere conjecture on his part, and surprising once it actually happened. But they couldn't defeat Mar even then? Just how little did he know as a City Commander?

"So," Armenia continued. "We should start with the nobility."

"That would be difficult," Virgo replied after a second, making Vallius look at him. "The nobility has rallied under one banner because of the war. Those who didn't want to be part of it were forced out of the kingdom as a wartime measure. It was heavy-handed, but it worked. Right now, there isn't a single noble house that would be willing to go against the kingdom, even in the face of great benefits."

Armenia clicked her tongue.

"It's true," Harpas said. "Regardless of her methods, Catherina succeeded. The nobles that remain are either extremely loyal or were thoroughly convinced by her words."

Vallius' eyebrow twitched.

As if the Empire hasn't done things even more extreme to dissidents.

The discussion went on. First, they talked about ways to cripple Mar's army, but because the queen herself was so powerful, such tactics' efficacy was bound to be limited. There was no need to talk about the nation's people; the Empire would devour and assimilate them, as it always did. Next, they discussed the effectiveness of the sanctions the Empire had imposed. As expected, even though the vast majority of Mar's allies had turned their backs on it, a few remained. Once the discussion reached this point, Vallius was reminded of the small, isolated kingdom that Nikolas had talked to him about before.

Ceotha, was it?

The sole kingdom that was both weak and still an active supporter of Mar, to the point of foolishness. Still, Vallius found it to be valiant instead. Brave, even. However, that was not the direction the conversation was going.

"…What?" Messenio asked with a tilted head. "Why are they still supporting Mar? Can't we just conquer it to the ground and use it against Mar?"

Vallius fought back the urge to frown at the man. To Messenio, 'conquer' meant 'raze to the ground,' but this wasn't the kind of place where Vallius could bare his fangs. Not to someone like that.

"I don't see why not," Armenia replied with a nod. "Given how Ceotha is still standing with Mar, the queen and this nation's king are bound to have some kind of relationship. It would be an effective weapon."

The others nodded as the people behind each commander exchanged looks and gestures.

"On that note," one commander said loudly, making everyone look at him. He had dark hair and chestnut eyes, and donned a serious expression. Abelus, the commander of a city to the east. "Something about Ceotha has come to my attention through one of the noble houses there."

Harpas tilted his head.

"You have connections to a noble house from Ceotha?" he asked.

"No," the man replied simply. "They have connections to me."

Harpas smiled and gestured for Abelus to continue.

"There's someone there who might be too dangerous to be left unchecked," Abelus continued after nodding. "It's an eighteen-year-old by the name of Rylan Flameheart."

A few of the commanders and many of the people behind them blinked to themselves, then started chuckling. Once Harpas raised his hand, however, most sounds stopped. Meanwhile, Vallius strained his memory, quickly finding what he was looking for. Rylan Flameheart, a prodigy who could one day surpass the Sixth Circle. A bad feeling wormed its way inside his heart.

"I take it this teenager must be quite impressive," Harpas said slowly.

Abelus nodded.

"He killed a Fourth Circle Mage when he was only in the First Circle, a short while after recovering from a whole life of addiction to several substances. At that point, I imagine he had less than a year of training's worth of battle experience."

This time, the room went completely silent. But Abelus only kept going.

"Apparently, he wields both magic and sword to great effectiveness, to the point where he used both to defeat a Third Circle talent who could dual cast. He was only in the Second Circle once he did this. He also cleared a Dungeon at the level of the Fifth Circle with his only his father, a Fifth Circle Mage, as support. Once he came out of the Dungeon, he was in the Third Circle. All of that happened in less than a year from the time he killed the Fourth Circle Mage."

"…He went from the First Circle to the Third Circle in less than a year? On top of everything else?" Harpas asked slowly, his expression unreadable.

The room remained silent as Abelus nodded with a furrowed brow.

"Honestly, it all sounds a bit outlandish for someone outside the Empire to achieve all that, but I've verified it with several sources."

More silence.

"Can he be persuaded to join us?" Armenia asked after almost ten seconds.

Abelus shook his head.

"The heir of the noble house connected to me tried, as did many others. Rylan seems to be loyal to his kingdom," he looked at Harpas. "Which is why I think it would be better to kill him."

Harpas slowly nodded.

"Tell me everything you know about him. Everything."

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