Chapter 911: The Gleaming Star of Doom
Four days after the encrypted letter arrived, Roland had assembled every senior officer from the Hermes campaign and the Northern operation. They gathered in the First Army’s command tent at the edge of the Holy City’s suburbs — a canvas room that smelled of lamp oil and cold stone and the particular anxiety of people who do not yet know what they are anxious about.
Nobody panicked. The General Staff murmured theories to one another; the Western campaign officers made guesses about new orders. The low conversation only stopped when Roland entered with a face that offered no encouragement.
He tapped the desk once.
“I call this meeting for one purpose. We return to Neverwinter at once.”
The tent erupted.
He had spent the four days since the first letter trying to determine whether he could afford to doubt it. The source was questionable — Lorgar Burnflame, a wolf girl who had gone into the Barbarian Land to sharpen herself against demons, whose account contained not a single verifiable detail about when or how she had found the army, or how large it was. A threat that enormous, unsupported by any corroborating evidence, should have been easy to discount.
But the animal messengers had not stopped coming.
They had arrived rattled and exhausted, flung from the Western Region one after another, and when he read them in order he had to piece the timeline backward: the birds that traveled farthest had been given to the largest animals, so the most urgent letters arrived first and the earliest ones last. The sequence that should have been chronological ran in reverse. Working through it was like reassembling a shattered window.
What he reconstructed: Lorgar had used Lightning’s map to locate the Taquila ruins, intending to train herself by fighting demons and large demonic beasts alone. She had survived — barely — with the help of Nightfall’s Seed of Symbiosis. If Roland did not return to Neverwinter before late autumn, the demons would have had time to establish themselves on the Fertile Plains.
He had spoken with Lightning directly to confirm it. The news was real.
She deserves something more than a thank-you. A Special Award for the Service of Neverwinter. And something practical — a weapon built to her particular shape of fighting, since standard equipment was designed around bodies she did not have in either of her forms.
“That is the situation.” He laid out the key facts from the letters, kept his voice level, watched the room absorb it. “All companies begin preparations for retreat today. I will withdraw first and restore order in Neverwinter as quickly as possible.”
The silence afterward had a different quality than the earlier noise — heavier, more deliberate. Most of them had heard of demons. None of them had faced one. The knowledge and the experience were not the same thing, and standing at the gap between the two was making the senior staff very still.
Sir Eltek raised his hand. “Your Majesty — can we trust the information?”
“Soraya’s mark cannot be forged. Neither can Honey’s animal messengers.” Roland held the officer’s gaze. “I haven’t verified every detail, but given the nature of what we’re dealing with, I’d rather treat an uncertain threat as real than learn I was wrong after the fact.”
“What about the Kingdom of Dawn?” The Duke of Evernight asked what everyone else had been calculating toward.
Roland glanced at Andrea, who was doing the careful work of keeping her face composed. “We will not abandon our allies. The King of Dawn will answer for what he has done — the wrath of Wimbledon is slow, but it arrives. I will make other arrangements. The First Army will not be involved.”
No one raised an objection.
The general staff was ordered to draft a retreat proposal. The First Army knew how to move: launch, hold, fall back in order. He trusted the machine he had built.
Duke Kant’s secondary city hall in the Northern Region would handle supply provisions and staff allocation between the new and old Holy Cities. Isabella, along with the New Committee of Nuns and the Northern garrison, would remain until the transfer was complete — enough of a presence that the church’s remnants would find no opening to resurge. The Hermes Plateau was now, in every practical sense, Roland’s territory.
As for the New Committee: he had filled it with a doctrine oriented toward loyalty to the crown and toward accommodation of witches. Whether it could eventually replace the old church as a tool of political coherence was something for a future assessment. His immediate concern was keeping the Holy City from becoming a deserted ruin before the Battle of Divine Will had a reason to use it.
Most of those policies had been in motion before the letter arrived. Now he simply accelerated them. The war against the Kingdom of Dawn would continue — by different means.
After the meeting, he asked Andrea to stay.
“Without the First Army, the plan changes.” He said it plainly, without prelude.
“Please don’t worry.” She was doing her best to sound steady. “Princess Tilly and the witches from Sleeping Island will hold Neverwinter. You’ve done everything you can. No one expects more.”
“You’ve misread me.” Roland shook his head. “Without the First Army, we have another option — one I’d been holding in reserve. If I aim for Appen Moya’s head instead of his army, if we abandon the pitched battle entirely, we might save Otto Luoxi as well. We might take control of the region faster than the original plan ever allowed.”
“Faster?” She blinked. “You’re planning to use…”
“Yes.” The corner of his mouth moved. “Fifty God’s Punishment Witches. Even in the age of the Union, no one dismissed fifty Extraordinaries on a battlefield. God’s Stones of Retaliation don’t stop them. Knights’ swords don’t reach them. Appen Moya is living on borrowed time regardless — this only shortens the debt.”
Chapter 911: The Gleaming Star of Doom
Translator: TransN Editor: TransN
Four days later, Roland had assembled all the leading staff that was campaigning Hermes and the Northern region. An emergency meeting was held in the First Army’s campground within the suburbs of the Holy City.
Despite everyone feeling the great urgency of the meeting, no one panicked. Both the General Staff and the military officers of the Western campaign were making conjectures as to whether His Majesty had had new plans in mind. The murmuring of the discussion did not cease until the king entered the tent with a long face.
“I call a meeting, to those present.” Roland tapped the desk. “We must return to Neverwinter at once.”
A commotion between the staff instantly broke out after this curt announcement.
Ever since Roland had first received the encrypted letter, he had his doubts. The source of this information was questionable at best. Although the news was shocking, there was not a single shred of solid evidence corroborating Lorgar Burnflame’s statement. There weren’t even any details about when and how she encountered these demons. The threat of an entire demon army couldn’t be ignored, however their whereabouts are still unknown and there would still be unrest in this region if the current operation changed dramatically. Roland remained hesitant.
Waiting a few days however, Roland received no shortage of rattled animal messengers that directly flew from the Western region. There must be no doubt a state of emergency has been declared in Neverwinter.
The letters confirmed this. He had details about Lorgar’s injuries, the demon in delirium and the problems extended to internal conflict with the arrival of Sleeping Island witches. These letters should have been arriving at his desk chronologically, where the most recent mail should have been the last to reach him. The reality however, was a complete reverse.
The messages that had the most urgency also used some of the largest birds. As a consequence, he had received the most recent encrypted mail first.
After reading all the letters, Roland had developed a rough idea of what had happened. He had learned from the third encrypted letter that Lorgar had actually used Lightning’s map to locate Taquila ruins, intending to train herself and improve her combat skills by fighting demons and large demonic beats.
After talking to Lightning, he had confirmed the validity of the news.
And at the same time showed a favorable impression towards the wolf girl’s persistence.
Roland wondered if he had been too harsh on her when they first met.
Fortunately, Lorgar had survived with the help of Nightfall’s Seed of Symbiosis. With the statements Lorgar has given. If he returned to Neverwinter in late autumn, his enemies would have already established themselves on the Barbarian Land.
This is indeed a great piece of intelligence. Roland thought she even deserved a Special Award for the Service of Neverwinter. Maybe he should also fulfill her dream of becoming a top-notch warrior and equip her with a full set of heavy weapons. That sort of support would further her combat development immensely.
“That’s the situation we’re in now.” Roland relayed the key information of the encrypted letters to the people on the floor and surveyed the audience gravely. “We have to suspend our current plans in this region. As of today, all companies should start making preparations for a retreat. I’ll withdraw first and restore the situation in Neverwinter as fast as possible.”
Tensions in the room increased dramatically. Most of the people on the floor had heard about demons and knew full well that they were the biggest enemies to the entirety of Graycastle and a threat to mankind. Despite being knowledgeable about the rumors, none of them actually faced a demon. The leading staff was not quite sure on how deal with the current situation and the whole tent fell deadly silent.
Roland understood that the news caught everyone off guard, they needed time to adjust to the matter at hand.
After quite a long silence, one of the officers of the General Staff, Sir Eltek, raised his hand. “Your Majesty, can we trust the information we’re getting?”
“It isn’t easy to forge Soraya’s mark or Honey’s animal messenger,” Roland answered positively. “Although I haven’t double checked yet, I think we can treat the situation as a special case because after all, it isn’t easy to handle matters with demons.”
“True… but what about matters with the Kingdom of Dawn?” The Duke of Evernight asked the most important question.
“We’ll save him for sure. Graycastle won’t abandon any of its allies.” Roland cast a glance at Andrea who looked pretty worried. “The King of Dawn will have to pay for what he’s done. The wrath of Wimbledon might be late, but it’ll come sure enough. I’ll make other arrangements, however the First Army won’t be involved.”
Nobody raised objections after seeing Roland’s determination. The general staff was thus ordered to draft a proposal for the troops.
The First Army was familiar with an emergency operation. The troops knew the objective at hand. They could launch an attack and retreat in an orderly manner. Therefore, Roland wasn’t too worried that he’s leaving control.
The secondary city hall in the Northern Region supervised by Duke Kant would be responsible for the provision of supplies and allocate staff to the new and old Holy Cities. Isabella, together with the New Committee of Nuns and the garrison in the Northern Region, would stay behind until the transfer
was completed so that the dregs of the church would not have the opportunity to resurge. The Hermes Plateau had been thus, successfully annexed to Roland’s territory.
As to the New Committee named by Roland. He had it had been instilled with a new doctrine of ideas that pushed for loyalty towards him and ease pressure off the witches. Roland believed he would leave the assessment of the organization to the future and decide whether it could replace the previous church and function as a tool of political propaganda to help with his ruling at some point later. His current top priority was to re-establish the order in the Holy City so that it would not be a deserted land before the arrival of the Battle of Divine Will.
These policies had indeed been more or less implemented before he had received the encrypted letters. Now he just had to expedite the process. The only thing he needed to do now was to continue the war against the Kingdom of Dawn, but with different means.
After the meeting, Roland asked Andrea to stay.
“Without the support of the First Army, we’ll need a change of plan.” He went straight to the point.
“Please don’t worry. Princess Tilly and the witches from Sleeping Island will make sure nothing happens to Neverwinter.” The blonde witch comforted him, although she looked a little apprehensive. “You’ve done your best. You don’t need to force yourself if you really can’t.”
“You’re wrong…” Roland shook his head. “Without the First Army, we can opt for another solution I had in mind. Do you think Appen Moya’s castle and knights can save him if I aim for his head? And, If we forego the open battle, we can even probably save Otto Luoxi as well. If this goes to plan, we can overthrow the king and take control the region much quicker than we had originally anticipated.”
“Faster?” Andrea was confused. “Are you planning to…”
“I am.” Roland curled up his lips. “It won’t be easy to persuade them, for they’re now so close to having their final confrontation with their lifetime enemies, the demons.” Roland paused for a moment. “50 God Punishment Witches are as powerful as 50 Extraordinaries. You can never underestimate them even in the age of the Union. Nobody but I can stop their effectiveness in a battle. Neither God’s Stones of Retaliation nor the swords of knights can effectively protect them. Appen is living on borrowed time.”