Chapter 271: The Fractured Coalition
Derek stumbled back as the mental grip finally let go. He gasped for breath, his heavy plate armor suddenly feeling twice as heavy. Beside him, Regina immediately placed a hand on his shoulder, her silver battle-robes glowing faintly as she channeled healing magic to steady him.
The other eighteen Heralds backed away quickly. Even Julian and Julia Vance remained completely silent. They finally understood the massive power disparity in the room.
Soros stepped out from behind Voranthar. He raised his hands to draw the attention of the foreign rulers.
"Infighting will only guarantee mutual destruction," Soros stated. He walked to the center of the war table and unrolled a massive parchment blueprint. "Tarnstead summoned you to coordinate a decapitation strike."
Emperor Kronos leaned forward. His star-iron armor scraped against the wooden table. "You cannot even hold your own borders, Soros. How do you plan to decapitate an army of a million soldiers?"
"By targeting their god directly," Voranthar answered. He stood up to join his advisor.
Soros tapped the center of the blueprint. The ink depicted a colossal runic array spanning the entire subterranean level of the capital. "The Vanguard relies on localized magical buffs provided by their commanders. We repurposed the original Aethelgard execution engines and built a continental disruption pulse. Once fully charged, it will instantly sever the connection between The Spiral and his followers."
The three Morval kings exchanged a silent, psychic glance.
"It requires an immense amount of mana to activate," Soros continued. He looked directly at Emperor Kronos. "We need the combined magical reserves of Gildreath and Morval to fuel the pulse. If we fire it, the Vanguard armies will collapse in the field, rendering them entirely mortal."
Far across the Fourth Continent, the reality of the war painted a very different picture.
Dravox waded through the waist-deep muck of the southern swamps. The dense canopy blocked out the moonlight entirely. One hundred thousand Vanguard beasts followed silently behind him.
They navigated the treacherous terrain with ease, completely bypassing the Gildreath border patrols stationed on the main roads.
The treeline broke to reveal the first major obstacle. A towering fortress of black stone blocked the southern valley to guard the interior of the Gildreath Empire. Iron cannons lined the battlements.
Dravox raised his fist to halt the marching column. He studied the reinforced steel gates.
"They focused all their artillery on the northern passes," Dravox observed. He turned to his battalion captains. "The southern garrison is completely unprepared for a siege."
He unhooked a massive iron cleaver from his back and lunged out of the swamp. He sprinted directly across the open mud flats before the sun could rise.
The Gildreath sentries sounded the alarm bells wildly. Cannons fired into the darkness to send explosive shells crashing into the swamp water. Dravox ignored the concussive blasts. He closed the distance in seconds and slammed his shoulder into the steel gates.
The metal buckled inward. Dravox swung his iron cleaver to tear the hinges right out of the stone frame. The gates crashed to the ground. The fortress stood entirely exposed.
The Vanguard beasts flooded through the breach like a violent tide. They swarmed the battlements and overwhelmed the terrified Gildreath defenders before the soldiers could even draw their swords.
Dravox stood in the center of the ruined courtyard, wiping blood from his face.
The western invasion was officially underway. Emperor Kronos had already lost his southern flank.
Soros stood at the head of the war table, his hands resting on the blueprint of the disruption pulse. He looked around the grand hall, waiting for the foreign leaders to process the sheer scale of the proposed superweapon.
"If we combine our magical reserves, we can render the Vanguard entirely mortal," Soros repeated, locking eyes with Emperor Kronos. "We can win this war today."
Before Kronos could answer, a sharp, piercing chime shattered the silence in the room.
The sound emanated from a small, faceted crystal resting on the table directly in front of the Emperor.
The communication stone glowed a violent, urgent red. Kronos frowned deeply. He picked up the crystal and pressed his thumb against the flat surface, absorbing the magical transmission directly into his mind.
The temperature in the room plummeted instantly.
Novus watched from the cracked kitchen doors as the massive Emperor slowly stood up. The star-iron armor hummed with a terrifying resonance.
The gravitational pressure in the grand hall spiked, forcing the Tarnstead guards to their knees. Even Marcus Thorne and the other Heralds took a step backward in sheer alarm.
Kronos slammed the communication crystal onto the table, shattering it into dust.
"You promised us time, Voranthar!" Kronos roared. His voice shook the massive chandeliers hanging from the vaulted ceiling. "You claimed your eastern buffer would stall the Vanguard for months! You brought me here under the guise of strategy!"
"Emperor Valer, calm yourself," Voranthar pleaded, holding up his hands.
"My name is Kronos!" the Emperor thundered, his face twisting in absolute fury. He pointed a massive armored finger at the Tarnstead king. "And my southern flank is gone!"
A murmur of panic ripped through the Tarnstead nobility. Soros stared at the Emperor in shock.
"The Vanguard just breached the black stone fortress in the southern swamps," Kronos revealed to the entire room. "They did not cross your eastern borders, Voranthar. They circumvented the entire continent. Five hundred thousand soldiers are currently marching through Gildreath!"
The three Morval kings immediately stood up. Their crimson robes rippled as their psychic dread intensified.
"You lied to us," the center Morval king stated. His voice echoed directly inside Voranthar’s skull, laced with terrifying venom. "You gathered us in this room to steal our mana for your pulse because you already lost the war."
"No!" Voranthar shouted desperately. "The pulse is our only hope! We must activate it now!"
"I am returning to Gildreath," Kronos declared. He turned his massive back on the Tarnstead king. "I will defend my own empire. If your Vanguard comes for me, I will crush them in the mountains."
"You cannot leave!" Marcus Thorne suddenly yelled, drawing his golden broadsword. The blinding light illuminated the grand hall. "We need your magic to power the pulse! If you run, you doom us all!"
Kronos paused mid-stride. He slowly turned his head to look at the young Earthling. The Emperor did not draw a weapon. He simply raised his hand.
A crushing wave of kinetic force slammed into Marcus. The Vanguard Champion was launched backward, crashing violently against the marble pillars. The golden broadsword skittered across the floor. Elena Ross screamed and ran to heal him, throwing her body over his heavy plate armor.
"Keep your stolen dogs on a leash, Voranthar," Kronos threatened. He looked around the room, his eyes burning with absolute contempt. "The Gildreath Empire fights alone."
