Time flowed quietly amidst the unceasing flames of war across the The Nations of Romania.
Winter passed and spring arrived, the ice and snow melting, yet the heat of the war on the plains did not diminish much as temperatures rose.
Early February, Year 346 of the new calendar.
In the royal capital of Rippos, scattered fine snow drifted through the sky.
The snowflakes were tiny, melting as soon as they hit the ground, leaving only a layer of damp traces on the rooftops and streets. A thin frost condensed on the spires and arched windows of the palace complex, gleaming white under the dim sky.
The atmosphere inside the palace was even colder than the weather.
Ever since the Quinn Highlands fell the year before last, the Kingdom of Lothorn had been sweeping forward with unstoppable momentum.
They displayed the profound heritage they once possessed as the center of the Federation.
Well-trained legions, sophisticated equipment, rich war experience, and high morale. A string of victories brought the confidence of the Lothorn army to its peak, while Rippos retreated step by step, losing vast territories and several strategic strongholds.
After defeat upon defeat, the atmosphere within Rippos had become extremely solemn.
Panic began to spread among the populace; merchants hoarded supplies, and civilians from some remote cities began migrating inland. In the royal court, debates between the pro-war and pro-peace factions grew increasingly heated, but no matter how they argued, they could not change the unfavorable facts on the front lines.
At this moment, inside the palace council chamber.
The King of Rippos, Anto Crown, sat on his throne like a silent iron statue.
He looked to be about fifty years old, but that was not his actual age, as he himself was a Legendary existence—though he was not skilled in combat and resided in the palace year-round.
The King's face was resolute with sharp lines, and his deep gray short hair was combed meticulously.
Currently, a pair of gray eyes set in his deep sockets were staring at the battle reports spread out on the long table before him.
One report of military failure after another was presented before his eyes.
"January 15th: The eastern defense line of Iron Valley was breached. The Third Legion suffered over fifty percent casualties and retreated thirty li."
"January 22nd: The Blackwater River crossing fell; the enemy has established a bridgehead."
"January 28th: The flank harassment unit was ambushed and suffered heavy losses."
"..."
Looking at these messages, the King of Rippos showed no expression on his face, though his breathing was somewhat suppressed.
"Your Majesty," a general dressed in heavy armor stood up from his seat, "Lothorn is riding the wave of their great victories. Their morale is peaking, and their military edge is almost unstoppable."
"We must make a decision."
"I suggest immediately issuing urgent orders to the kingdom's two major knight orders, commanding them to abandon their original harassment plans and rush back to provide support."
"We need to reconstruct a defense line on the outskirts of Iron Valley."
"The terrain there is narrow, easy to defend and hard to attack. It might be able to stall the enemy's advance."
Hearing this, a flicker of gloom and anxiety flashed deep within Anto's eyes.
The Iron Valley defense line... once that fell and the Lothorn army broke through a few more subsequent lines, they would strike directly at the capital, leaving no natural barriers to defend with.
But the general was right; this was currently the best option.
"What is the news from the Sack Kingdom and the Kingdom of Cambrook?"
Anto did not directly respond to the general's suggestion, instead turning to the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
A minister dressed in civil official's robes rose: "Your Majesty, the wars in all countries have reached a fever pitch. They are currently unable to look after themselves and cannot spare troops to support us."
Anto's fingers tightened, his knuckles turning slightly white.
Among the various states, only Aura and Xio were now free from war.
And this was because Aura had already won; after a series of tug-of-war negotiations, the talks between the two countries had basically reached their end.
The Kingdom of Xio would likely not raise troops for a counterattack again.
Lothorn's wooing of the Aura Kingdom had truly exerted a massive effect at the critical moment.
That wasteland nation, that Aura which many had privately mocked as a land of barbarians, had actually become the key piece influencing the war!
Damn it, if not for the Aura Kingdom completely pinning down or even crushing Xio's legions, then Rippos, which could have received support from Xio, should have been able to steadily suppress Lothorn.
The reality, however, was that the Red Emperor was simply unbelievable.
He had clearly just become a Legendary and his Rank was not high, but he absolutely could not be treated as an ordinary Legendary. Moreover, the other Legendaries under his kingdom, though few in number, were not to be underestimated.
The fall of the Quinn Highlands was triggered by the support of the fang of aura.
"When Aura was first founded, I should have wooed them at any cost."
"No, even before the flames of war truly ignited, there were opportunities to win over Aura. At that time, they had just established a foothold in the wasteland and needed allies and recognition..."
A wave of regret surged in Anto's heart; this wasn't the first time he had felt this way.
Back then, based on the intelligence sent back by the diplomat Aaron and the personality profile analysis of the Red Emperor by their own specialists, they could have concluded as much.
As long as Rippos paid enough in benefits, even if they couldn't make Aura a firm ally, they could at least have kept it neutral so it wouldn't favor Lothorn at a critical moment.
But, in the end, Rippos looked down somewhat on Aura, this wasteland nation.
Including the King himself, the upper nobility of Rippos generally felt that it was just a motley crew of barbarians and monsters.
The Dragon was certainly powerful, but a country composed of different monsters? It sounded like a joke.
It would be good enough if they could maintain internal order; what key role could they play?
The result, however, exceeded everyone's expectations.
When the news of the Red Emperor destroying satellites in space first reached Rippos, Anto had already felt a faint sense of regret.
Then, news came of the Red Emperor turning into an ominous star to break through passes, counter-killing powerful enemies while surrounded, and displaying undying traits. Anto's sense of regret reached its peak.
However, it was too late for regret now.
Aura had firmly stood on a united front with Lothorn, dealing Rippos a heavy blow on the battlefield.
"Derrick."
Anto suddenly spoke, looking toward a Legendary standing in the corner of the hall.
That was a Shapeshifter wearing deep blue mage robes. He looked young, but his actual age might have exceeded a hundred years.
He had participated in the battle to besiege the Red Emperor and was the only Rippos Legendary who had personally seen Galos's fighting style.
"If you had acted at any cost back then, would there have been a possibility of killing the Red Emperor?"
Anto asked.
The Shapeshifter looked up, recalling that battle.
His gaze became complex, and he eventually shook his head slowly.
"Your Majesty, the most likely outcome would have been my death there. After the Red Emperor paid a relatively heavy price, he would have ultimately achieved victory with his inconceivable resurrection skill. It would have just been a bit more troublesome and time-consuming."
He said in a low voice, still feeling a lingering fear.
Anto narrowed his eyes slightly and changed his line of questioning: "If we had known in advance that the Red Emperor could resurrect, and assuming he could only do so once, with your lineup back then and full preparation, what would the win rate have been?"
Derrick thought seriously for a few seconds.
"If the Red Emperor had no other trump cards and not considering the subsequent influence of his legions, if we had made meticulous arrangements in advance, then there would be a seventy percent probability of surrounding and killing him."
He paused and added, "But, Your Majesty, that is only a theoretical deduction."
"I suspect he has even more skills that he hasn't displayed."
"That Shield of Xio, Rodrigo's judgment was very correct. The Red Emperor is a giant dragon who appears arrogant but is actually very cautious and possesses extraordinary wisdom."
"The fact that he dared to charge through the pass alone back then likely means he had absolute confidence and trump cards we don't know about."
Anto frowned slightly.
He believed Derrick's judgment. This Shapeshifter was experienced and cautious; his assessments were often close to reality.
Because of this, the King regretted even more that he hadn't been able to make the decision to woo the Aura Kingdom back then.
Finally, Anto waved his hand, stopping other ministers who still wanted to speak.
"Today's meeting ends here. All departments are to follow the emergency plans: prioritize stabilizing the rear, mobilize supplies, and strengthen the defenses of the capital and major cities. Now, you are all dismissed."
The ministers and generals looked at each other. Some opened their mouths to say something but eventually swallowed their words.
They rose one after another, bowed, and filed out silently, disappearing at the end of the long corridor.
In the vast council chamber, only Anto remained.
He sat on the throne, motionless, as if he had truly become an iron statue.
Outside the window, the fine snow continued to drift, silent and soundless.
After a long time, the King finally stood up slowly.
He walked down the throne steps and came before an ordinary wall on the inner side of the council chamber.
The wall was made of dark-colored Materials pieced together, with portraits of past kings hanging on it, looking completely unremarkable.
Anto reached out, his fingertips pressing on several inconspicuous wooden knot protrusions in sequence.
The third, the seventh, the second, the fifth. The order was the birth date of the first king.
A flash of magical light passed by, and the wall slid open silently inward, revealing deep, downward-sloping stone steps behind it.
Anto walked in, and the wall closed silently behind him.
The staircase was not long; after about thirty steps, it reached the end.
It was a small secret room. The four walls, ceiling, and floor were all made of a certain light-absorbing dark metal, with dense protective runes engraved on the surface to block all divination, scrying, teleportation, and so on.
The furnishings in the room were very simple.
A square metal table, two chairs of the same material, and nothing on the table except for a fist-sized dark gold crystal ball.
Anto sat down at the table, not moving immediately, calming his inner emotions.
A few seconds later, he reached out his right hand, his palm completely covering the crystal ball.
The crystal ball vibrated slightly, and light emanated from within, growing brighter and brighter.
Anto released his palm and stared at it.
The halo gradually diffused, and finally, at a position about a foot above the sphere, it projected a clear light and shadow, revealing the silhouette of a person's upper body.
It was a middle-aged man wearing a dark civil official's formal dress; the fabric appeared to be high-quality silk, and the collar and cuffs had complex crests embroidered with silver thread.
His face was lean with slightly high cheekbones, and a delicate monocle rested on the bridge of his nose.
The eyes behind the lens were narrow, and his gaze was calm and gentle.
His background seemed to be a study, where tall bookshelves were faintly visible, and the gold-stamped titles on the book spines were blurred.
"Your Majesty Anto."
The man in the light and shadow spoke first, his voice steady and polite.
"It seems not much time has passed since our last contact; it appears the war on your front is not optimistic, otherwise you would not have activated this channel at this time."
"Minister Winston."
Anto spoke in a deep voice, identifying the other party.
Winston was a minister in the Holden Empire who managed diplomatic affairs, a key figure in charge of relations with neighboring states.
Anto skipped the needless pleasantries and went straight to the point: "After the fall of the Quinn Highlands, Lothorn has achieved consecutive major victories and has now advanced to the outskirts of Iron Valley. I need the Empire to provide more support."
During the first civil war, the Rippos Kingdom was able to gain the upper hand largely thanks to the secret support of the Holden Empire.
Those secret weapons, and even strategic-level weapons, originated precisely from the Holden Empire.
Minister Winston listened quietly, without any change in expression on his face.
After Anto finished speaking, he remained silent for a moment before slowly opening his mouth.
"Your Majesty Anto, the Empire expresses regret for the setbacks your country has encountered. War always has its ups and downs; a temporary loss does not represent the final outcome."
"However, regarding the support you requested, please forgive my bluntness, but at this stage, the Empire may find it difficult to satisfy."
Anto's heart sank abruptly.
He controlled his tone, not letting his disappointment show, and asked, "Why?"
"Our original agreement was based on the foundation of jointly containing Lothorn's expansion and maintaining the Empire's influence in the Romanian Plain."
"Now that Lothorn's offensive is fierce, if the national strength of Rippos is greatly diminished, or even... destroyed, it will be difficult to effectively counterbalance Lothorn again."
"Does a Lothorn kingdom that has unified the Romanian Plain truly align with the Empire's interests?"
Minister Winston gently pushed the monocle on the bridge of his nose.
"Your Majesty Anto, please understand that the Empire's strategic considerations are dynamic and not set in stone."
"One of the important reasons for supporting your country back then lay in the existence of that Holy King of the Lothorn Kingdom."
"We were unable to determine whether he was dead or alive."
"Moreover, the Lossern Federation at that time was not small in scale and had high potential."
"In the Empire's risk assessment, the Lossern Federation was marked as an unstable factor that needed to be contained in advance; therefore, for your Rippos Kingdom, the Empire was willing to invest resources to provide support to balance the power on the plain."
"But," Winston's tone shifted, "the situation has now changed."
"We can now be certain that the Holy King of Lossern is dead, completely dead. He did indeed transform into a Holy Spirit, but that is an irreversible transformation, equivalent to announcing that he can never return as a human, much less achieve immortality."
"A Legendary with no chance of achieving immortality naturally has its threat Rank drop significantly."
"As for your Romanean States Federation, it also disintegrated and fell apart in the previous war."
"Currently, no kingdom possesses the potential, prestige, and power to reintegrate it. This place has been downgraded by several Ranks in the Empire's overall evaluation system."
He looked at Anto, whose expression was shifting in the light and shadow, and said, "Therefore, the level of support for your country naturally needs to be adjusted accordingly."
"The Empire will not invest too many resources into meaningless matters."
"In fact, our vision has never been limited to just a corner of the Romanean region."
"The Atlantis Continent, even the entire Bernardo Planet, and even the Outer Planes are where our true focus lies. There are more opportunities there, as well as more challenges."
Hearing these words, Anto felt a surge of anger churning in his chest, but more than that, he felt a sense of powerlessness.
He knew that what Winston said was the truth.
To an Empire of Holden's scale, the Romanian Plain was indeed just a small corner.
What happened here, unless it involved major interests, would find it difficult to attract the sustained attention of the Empire's high-level officials.
But he was still unwilling to give up.
"After this war ends, if Lothorn wins, they will surely usher in a period of great development. Their national strength will increase, their prestige will rise, and they might even rebuild the Federation. Is that not a threat?"
Winston shook his head slightly.
"That would be a matter for the future, Your Majesty Anto."
"Perhaps in a hundred years, perhaps a thousand, or perhaps even longer. Meanwhile, the Empire currently has more important matters to deal with."
After speaking, the minister pondered for a few seconds.
He was making some kind of trade-off, and finally decided to reveal some information in order to make the King of Rippos completely abandon his illusions and accept reality.
"Since you insist on an explanation..."
"Then I can tell you that the Empire's Abyss Development Project has recently encountered some unexpected small problems."
Anto's brow furrowed: "Small problems?"
His voice carried a hint of doubt.
Something that could cause the Holden Empire to adjust its strategic layout was unlikely to be a small problem.
"Yes, by the Empire's standards, they are considered small problems."
Winston's tone remained calm as he said, "To solve this problem and ensure the development project is not interfered with, a significant number of Legendary existences have been dispatched to the Abyss front, so we currently have no time to attend to other matters."
"The Empire's main focus is currently placed on handling Abyss affairs."
This did not sound like small problems at all.
Anto's heart shook slightly.
He naturally knew about the Holden Empire's ambitious Abyss Development Project.
It was a quite grand undertaking aimed at establishing a stable passage between the Material Plane and the Abyss to extract endless resources and power from it, thereby competing with the Nauxier Elven Empire.
The Empire had invested massive resources, top-tier experts, and countless manpower into it.
If something went wrong there... the King of Rippos suddenly felt a bout of palpitations and did not dare to think further.
The Abyss was one of the most dangerous and chaotic places in the Multiverse, connecting to countless planes and filled with demons, devils, and various unspeakable horrors.
Once the Abyss passage lost control, the consequences would be unimaginable.
But the Holden Empire is so powerful, they should be able to solve the trouble... Anto thought to himself.
On the other side, Winston reached a conclusion.
"So, that is the situation."
"Time may bring new variables; perhaps Lothorn will make mistakes after victory, or perhaps a new balance of power will appear on the plain, but at least in the foreseeable future—at least until the Empire completely solves the Abyss problem—please do not hold too many expectations for the Empire's support."
His words were polite, but the meaning was clear.
—Rippos can only rely on itself.
Anto fell silent.
After a long while, Winston's voice sounded again, breaking the silence.
"May you and your kingdom weather the difficulties before you."
He nodded slightly, and the light and shadow began to blur. "Your Majesty Anto, please take care. The Empire expects to see a resilient Rippos continue to exist upon the plain as an important link in regional stability."
As his voice fell, the light and shadow completely vanished.
Inside the secret room, there was a deathly silence.
Anto sat alone on the cold metal chair, not rising immediately.
He stared at the crystal ball with empty eyes.
"A resilient Rippos..."
He repeated Winston's final words in a low voice, revealing a bitter smile.
The other party's meaning was actually more than obvious.
They hoped Rippos would continue to fight Lothorn, fighting to the very last soldier, to exhaust Lothorn's strength to the maximum extent.
That way, no matter who finally won, the winner would have their Origin Qi severely damaged and would be unable to pose a threat to the Empire.
As for whether Rippos would be destroyed because of this?
That was not within the Empire's scope of consideration.
A destroyed Rippos and a weak but existing Rippos made little difference to the Empire.
Either way, neither was a threat.
But Anto felt a deep sense of fatigue.
It was not physical fatigue, but a mental exhaustion.
This war had been fought twice, draining the kingdom's wealth, sacrificing the lives of countless soldiers, and turning much land into scorched earth.
And before him, he saw no hope of victory.
He did not want to waste the lives of the people of Rippos any further.
Not out of mercy, but because logic told him that continuing to fight, besides letting the kingdom shed its last drop of blood, would yield no good results.
"Failure can no longer be changed..."
"Since that is the case, let us swallow this bitter fruit first, preserve our strength as much as possible, and wait for the future."
The King of Rippos gave a sigh and decided to seek peace talks.
Proposing peace talks now would undoubtedly come at a huge price, but it was still better than making the request when Lothorn had fought its way to the capital and the army was at the city gates.
PS: It's double monthly tickets after midnight; asking for them in advance.