“That… is a very strong word, general. I would very much mind an explanation.”

  Lady Oisern nodded. “Indulge me with this question first, young lord. How many warriors did your brother muster for this battle?”

  “Disregarding the War Titans and the High Domain Spirit Kings kept in reserve, I'd say a million, roughly.”

  “A million… that's a considerable force. Add the high tier Spirit Kings and the War Titans, and such a force should no doubt be enough to successfully conquer and capture a low tier populated world. Unfortunately, lord Vanis, it will not be enough to repel and take back this world.”

  Vanis sighed, and Keilan could see the grimace that formed on his lips. “I am sorry to say, but we are not here to take back this world.” A fearful silence suffused the room as all eyes turned to him. “You might not know this, but this system is not the only one under attack. Far from it. The alliance is strained enough with the evacuation of the population of the dozens other assaulted worlds, it can't do any more. Overextending will open us up to those unwilling to attack us up-front.”

  Keilan sighed. No doubt, he understood what many of the people here were probably thinking, especially those who grew up on this planet. Lese was forcing them to abandon their homeworld. Lese did not consider them important enough to send a force capable of crushing the Aveanii's assault. Lese was reneging on their deal to protect the sovereignty of the worlds under its umbrella. Honestly, Keilan would have thought the same had he not spent the last few months with members of the top families.

  Sure, the alliance had its share of bad eggs and unscrupulous entities. All governmental bodies did. But he also knew that the alliance was fully committed to protecting those seeking help. Nobody else would, after all.

  The Chirameni, for example, were one of those people to watch out for. It was no secret that they'd attack Lese the moment the alliance overextended in their border skirmish with the Aveanii. If for no other reason than to simply teach Lese never to leave their backs open.

  The Millennial Wardens, a staunch ally, could have moved to take the pressure off of Lese, but the threat of the Black Axe Company stayed their hands. As far as Keilan knew, there were no official agreement between The Dominion and The Mercenary company, but nobody wanted to take the risk.

  The ruling powers of Lese might have been a part of the exalted members of The Millennial Wardens, but they weren't the only ones in it, nor did they have the final say on critical decisions.

  Lese's hands were tied, Keilan now understood. They could repel the Aveanii with overwhelming force, but that would only leave room for the Chirameni as well as the roaming WorldSackers massing in this region of space.

  “I understand your plight, but all we can offer right now is to relocate you all to safer worlds within the alliance. In the future, hopefully a near one, Lese will draw up plans to recover those lost worlds.”

  There were a few murmurs, but nobody moved to contest him.

  “If we won't be taking back this world any time soon, then I'll need to draw up plans to evacuate the rest of the people. Would I be right to assume you also brought shuttles, lord Vanis?” Oisern asked.

  “Yes. They should be touching down any moment soon.”

  “Good,” the woman nodded. “Then all we have left to do is to search and rescue the civilians still in that city.”

  She pointed down at the grand projection that took up a good part of the room. It was a detailed replica of the terrain outside, Keilan immediately knew. From here he could already see how the battle was going, how red dots of the Aveanii were slowly but inevitably pushing the blue dots of Lese out of the city.

  “This city here is the last standing city in the world. The only one we still have a grasp on. We do not know how many people are still hiding inside it, but we estimate a number between fifteen to twenty billion people, including those still awaiting evacuation.”

  “Yes, I was made aware,” Vanis replied. “How close are…”

  Keilan zoned out then, a quiet sigh of resignation slipping through his lips. All this endless back and forth was getting on his nerves. Watching what the Aveanii had done to the people of this planet, Keilan wanted to offload his anger on them.

  He didn't even know when he slipped out of the room, walking out of the building and into the turmoiled atmosphere outside.

  Due to how heavily contested the central continent was, the command station had been moved to one of the closest continents bordering it. This was where rescued civilians were transported to wait for their shuttles. Keilan could even spot the airstrip in the distance, with a line of shuttles and an endless line of people waiting to get in.

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  He'd at first wondered why it hadn't been attacked by the Aveanii until he realized that, unlike the active warzone which was crowded with ordinary soldiers, this place was filled with the top commanders, powerful Spirit Kings with more dreadful powers than those on the field.

  Sure, they might have been restricted from the active battlefield, but Keilan reckoned that anyone stupid enough to attack this makeshift military base was in for a whole lot of trouble should they try.

  He nodded to a few passing warriors heading in and out of the base and then quickly made his way to the east, following a line of soldiers who'd just taken to the sky.

  “Keilan my boy,” a voice said just as a long arm curled around his neck. “Where’re you sneaking off to?”

  Keilan paused and took a deep breath, sucking in a startled breath. “How do you keep doing that?”

  “What?” Huiron asked.

  “Appear suddenly,” he turned to face the other man. “I'm connected to the air around me all the time. I can also sense all living things around me. You shouldn't be able to sneak up on me.”

  “Hmm, those’re some good perception techniques you've got there. Mind trading? State your price.”

  Keilan sighed. “Don't deflect, Huiron. You accused Sareina earlier of deflecting attention from her ‘deviousness’, but we all know you were simply using her as a beacon to draw prying eyes away from the real devious person: you.”

  He waited for the other man to reply, standing patiently as Huiron's expression suddenly turned blank. Keilan's breath hitched when the other man's eyes narrowed, his dark eyes taking a much darker hue. Meeting his eyes was like staring into a haunted graveyard.

  Huiron leaned forward, forehead stopping just a few inches away from Keilan's. “Err, what’re you talking about? Is everything okay? Didn't your parents tell you not to believe in conspiracy theorists?”

  Keilan leaned back, dodging the knuckles aiming for his forehead. He sighed. “If you don't have anything meaningful to say, then I have nothing to say to you,” he said and then took to the skies, trailing another line of warriors heading toward the central continent.

  “Hey! Where’re you going?! Wait up!”

  “Leave me alone, Huiron, I've got things to do.”

  “Like what? Diving headfirst into a horde of Winged Chickens? Did you tell Vanis you were heading out?”

  “Vanis is not the boss of me. I can do whatever I want, I don't need anyone's permission.”

  “True,” the other man caught up, shrugging. “But we're a team, teams should stick together.”

  “I'm not running away, airhead,” Keilan rolled his eyes. “I'm simply done with all those meetings and the sorts. I want to punch something.”

  “Oof, aren't you a violent one today. Don't you know violence is never the answer?”

  Keilan paused, glanced at the other man, and then snorted. “I’d believe this if it came from another person.”

  ***

  Crossing the small sea separating both continent went surprisingly safe. Their side had set up a near airtight defence around the airway, with dozens of high-tier Spirit Kings monitoring the environment. Keilan frowned as they drew nearer to the other continent. The hairs on his skin rose and he felt goosebumps all over his skin.

  “Wow, that's some charged up battle right there,” Huiron commented. “‘could power up a construct or two with how much energy is running wild here.”

  Keilan couldn't agree more. As they moved deeper, they started encountering more and more battles; bird faced humanoids clashing furiously against beings of other races.

  In the distance, a city—no doubt a great one—stood. Its walls rose hundreds of meters into the sky, and its width were so vast that Keilan couldn't see the end of them. Coming out from Ra, he'd have been struck mute with awe. Now? He simply nodded and turned his face away. He'd seen bigger cities.

  A surge of energy, near enough to draw his attention, was all the warning he got before a volley of flaming javelins rained down on him.

  Keilan dodged one side while Huiron went the other. Mid motion, he raised a powerful gust of wind that slapped aside many of those javelins, snuffing them out into tiny sparks.

  Those who got near Huiron got swallowed up into a domain of darkness that covered the man.

  Spear in hand, Keilan turned his gaze up into the distance, catching an Aveanii half a mile away from him. It was just like its species, a crow. Red beady eyes stared down at him with visible disdain, even though its facial features couldn't be discerned. Its black wings flapped gently in the air, keeping it in a stationary position. Red veins of burning energy ran down both wingspan, pulsing with power.

  The Aveanii wore an emerald armor, with trails of black running down its length.

  Before it could speak, Keilan growled. “That's my color,” and then he attacked.

  The creature was a Spirit lord, no doubt. Rising over eight feet tall, it towered over Keilan like a parent to a child, staring down at him intimidatingly, but Keilan wasn't fazed. He dashed through the air, wind howling around him like he was in the center of a tornado.

  Keilan couldn't explain how, but he got the feeling that the creature was sneering at him as it flapped backwards, keeping itself farther out of his reach. Another hail of flaming spears tore through the skies towards him and this time, instead of dodging, Keilan punched through.

  Wind energy constricted around him to form a perfect suit of emerald defense, with the nascent tornado still howling around him.

  An explosion tore across the sky as the javelins met his advance, the conclusion of which resulted in a massive jarring fiery mushroom. The Aveanii likely expected him to have taken a grievous injury—that explosion had been extremely powerful. Instead, what happened was Keilan emerging on the other side, suit of armor already dissolving from sustained damage. He didn't mind, it had already done its work.

  Master of the sky, the Aveanii moved to escape his reaching grasp, flapping its massive wings to take it farther away. He saw the moment its eyes widened as the wind constricted around it, depriving it of its flight and holding it stationary in a vice grip in mid air.

  He felt it as the bird triggered its movement technique, heat rising as space began twisting, but it was already too late.

  Arm encased in a gauntlet of furious wind energy, Keilan punched down so hard with his spear that when the creature’s technique finally came to fruition, its body was the only thing that moved, disappearing into a burning haze.

  Its head hung from his spear, eyes unseeing as blood poured from its ripped throat.

  Keilan swiped his spear, dislodging the carcass. He turned around to search for Huiron, only to find him in battle with a small squad of Peak tier bird men.

  “Let's go bird hunting.”