"Emperor on the bridge!" The slightly shocked voice of one of the officers made everyone snap to attention.

  "At ease." The grim voice of Theon Avalon, who saluted them back, dismissing the soldiers who had turned and were facing his direction. "What's the fleet's status, Admiral?"

  "We need to drop new rescues, my Lord, but we don't really need anything." Edward Teach replied in an official tone.

  "Very well. Everyone!" The enormous hologram covered the bridge with a detailed map of the battlefront. The Emperor looked at them with an emotionless gaze of an officer who was used to conveying grim messages. "Yesterday, Galahad's forces broke through all seven major incursion points. I assume it was your doing because Vestargo’s forces couldn't decide what to do. Some of his bugs retreated deeper into the forest while just a handful of defenders tried to stop the Immortal Legions. They failed. Currently, our Titans are engaged in a battle with a hastily assembled reinforcement consisting of nearly twenty bug Titans. Your orders are as follows: the task force will traverse alongside the coastline beginning from the northmost point of the battlefront until you circle the entirety of the Ancient Forest. You will support the ground forces, however, you must not split your forces. You are allowed to destroy any and all targets of your choosing. Any questions?"

  "What happened, my Lord?" Blackbeard asked with his eyes narrowed in shock. It was the first time he had seen his Lord so angry.

  "I am getting to that. We lost the Poplar City." The Emperor admitted with an angry grimace. "The civilians were evacuated a few months ago but we lost an entire Guardsmen battalion."

  There was a painful silence on the bridge, one of shock, disbelief, and helplessness.

  "But... Poplar City was a fortress. The most heavily defended city of Arcadia outside of the Dungeon Cities." Blackbeard paled.

  "It looks like we underestimated Vestargo." The Emperor slowly shook his head with his hands leaning against the edge of the tactical console. "He threw a new kind of bug at us that managed to simply dig under our positions. The reports from Poplar City speak about the man-sized ants that dug the tunnels for Vespids, Arachnids, and those new beetles you encountered. It was a slaughter. The enemy didn't even try to occupy the city. They spread across it, used some self-destruct spell and erased the fortress. When the corvettes reached it just fifteen minutes after the first distress signals, the battle was already over. Without Poplar, the road to the heart of Arcadia lies wide open."

  The map updated before their eyes. With Westwood nestled against the northern hills, the formidable capital of the western province couldn't protect the wide valley that had previously been guarded by the border city. The entirety of the remaining destroyers from the Home Fleet were already stationed over the breach, while nearly half of the corvettes were patrolling the area. The Westwood Legion was dispatched by the Lord General, leaving the Dungeon City severely weakened.

  "We can't rebuild the city but we can raise a citadel that would, at least, alarm us upon the enemy's approach. Unfortunately, we don't know how the ants managed to bypass our detection systems so we may also lose the citadel. Galahad is currently aggressively scouting the available paths but we need to pin down Vestargo in his forest." The Emperor raised his gaze towards Edward and slowly scanned the faces filling the bridge. "That's why you will traverse the edges of the Ancient Forest looking for any Dungeon we can take over. Both sides in this conflict are running out of time. If Vestargo realises that, he will abandon all attempts to defend himself and will launch a full-scale invasion in hopes of finding me. The side that finds the enemy capital first will most likely win this war."

  ???

  I was standing over the war table in my office running dozens of simulations in my mind. Vestargo forces used the annoying abilities of the tunnel-boring ants and attacked Westwood, where the entire enemy army was annihilated, and Quaia, which surprisingly held well against the attack. Why was their ability annoying? Because they somehow sealed the passage behind them, leaving no single trace for us to follow.

  "Fucking little shits!" I slammed my hands on a massive table making it shudder. "How the fuck did they bypass everything we set up between the Ancient Forest and Arcadia?!"

  Eva, who was standing nearby with the notepad in her hands, looked at me with a worried gaze. Aoi and Luna flinched but said nothing. Even Cahrona was trembling slightly overwhelmed by my wrath. Tia only grit her teeth, but by the whitened knuckles on her tightly clenched fists, I saw that she was as furious as I was. The doors suddenly opened with force and slammed against the enchanted stone wall. Both the doors and the impact zone were reinforced because I very often slammed them. I should probably install a punching bag instead.

  "I know how the ants bypassed our detection," Amber said with a voice dripping with fury. "I verified the reports from the moment the last civilians left the city. Simply put, it was a series of small mistakes that accumulated and created the ground for that tragedy. Or at least that was at first glance in the reports. However, after I read them again and again I realised that the tone of the reports changed from disciplined and crisp to something nearly lazy. I think that our people became complacent, Theon."

  I looked at her and very slowly nodded. I went through the same reports and reached the same conclusions. In my attempts to protect the Mortal soldiers as much as possible, I forgot they needed challenges and hardships to go through to truly become the elite I wanted them to be.

  "Not all, not even most, but enough of them started to believe they were invincible." She said bitterly and fell silent as she shook her head.

  "I can't believe that," Tia whispered with her eyes closed and a face full of disappointment, sadness, and guilt. "I didn't want to believe my eyes when I looked through the reports. I chose to deceive myself that I was wrong and the soldiers in Poplar City were just being brief..."

  "Tia-"

  "No, Amber. This is entirely my fault. I failed as the commander of the Guardsmen Corp!" Tia's eyes snapped wide open as she interrupted Amber, who clearly tried to console her, judging by her voice.

  "Calm down, Tia," I said as I shook my head. "I saw the same reports you saw and did nothing. There wasn't really anything overly concerning about the situation in the city. I also assumed that Vestargo was too focused on defending his forest that he would abandon the offence. There is no point in taking blame. Shit happens. This is war and war by definition is unpredictable."

  "You might be right but you trusted me with-"

  "And my trust remains unshaken." I looked at her and smiled calmly. It was already enough that she needlessly blamed herself. "Don't get me wrong. I don't want you to become indifferent or ignore the problems, but I'm not delusional. I know that everyone makes mistakes. I do and did a lot of them. But every mistake we make is a learning opportunity."

  "A single city, no matter how well fortified, couldn't stop the advance of Vestargo's minions. The number of bugs he is throwing at us at any given time varies from a few thousand to a million. The automated defence towers of Poplar City are still working." Luna pointed out and crossed her arms in front of her for a moment. "I agree with you, Theon, that we can't rebuild that city. But not because we shouldn't, but because we don't need a city there."

  This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

  "Luna is right." Amber quickly nodded. "Keeping most of the former Cridian cities intact was a necessity. I assumed that people would relocate on their own but the power of habit was too strong. West of our borders are scarcely populated flatlands inhabited mostly by the various groups of nomads. A border city? What for? The cities must fulfil more roles than just being convenient stop points on the map. Poplar City never truly had any role that would justify the resources spent on maintaining it. They produced nothing and traded with no one because the scarce visits of nomads weren't a sufficient excuse to maintain a city the size of Poplar. Originally it was founded as the settlement supporting the garrison of the border fortress. Somewhere between then and now the settlement bloated needlessly. It's actually good that this particular city was destroyed. It freed a lot of people who previously refused to change their way of life. It was bad enough that we lost time and resources to connect Poplar City with the magi train network. As your Prime Minister, I can't approve wasting our precious time on pointless endeavours like Poplar any longer. Especially now, when we have an excellent reason to simply cross it out from the list of problems."

  I opened and closed my mouth. She was, of course, right in her reasoning. There was nothing worth mentioning west of Arcadia. A slightly barren, dry steppe claimed by no one, inhabited by groups of nomads considered harmless barbarians by the neighbouring nations. It was a no-man's land with truly no one wanting to claim it. For a while, it puzzled me why, but I was too busy with the internal problems, and then I was focused on the east, to truly analyse the phenomenon of the unclaimed lands west of my country. But now, it was obvious. Vestargo in the northern forests, the land itself was barren and had little to no resources. There wasn't even a single Dungeon anyone knew about. So who would want such land?

  "All right. We will use the standard fortifications to secure the border." I slowly nodded.

  "Excellent!" Amber brightened.

  ???

  The overwhelming darkness surrounded her and pressed over her skin as if she were submerged in deep water. Around her, the myriads of scattered lights shone like stars over the night sky. Her attention was brought to one of them. It was the biggest and brightest shard of light in this strange abyss. She was surrounded by thousands of voices chittering happily. Suddenly the strange stars started to vanish. One by one they were swallowed by the darkness spreading like a droplet of ink in the water. At first, the happy voices seemed not to notice the spreading darkness until some of them fell silent. The voices weren't happy anymore. Instead, they trembled with fear and despair. The repulsive tendrils of darkness reached across the abyss between the stars, and soon, only the biggest and the brightest star remained.

  For a reason she couldn't tell, it was a terrifying sight. The stars that were fading out, replaced by the unnatural darkness, filled her heart with sorrow and a feeling of encroaching doom. She somehow knew that she had watched something that took centuries in a span of a few heartbeats. Yet, the feeling of sadness remained. She wanted to somehow save the lonely star.

  "No..." She reached out and froze, suddenly uncertain.

  Why did she even want to save it? Her mind was drifting and she suddenly realised that she was dreaming.

  "We are sorry..." A fearful voice called, seemingly from everywhere.

  "What is it? Why are you sorry?" She asked, with her gaze fixed on the last star in the endless ocean of darkness.

  "This was how our worlds died." A sad and lonely voice said from behind her. "Only that one place is still holding but the defenders are few and we lost all hope until recently."

  "What happened? Where am I? Who are you..." She paused with her mind clouded and she looked around. "Who am I?"

  "You are the Guardian of the Tree of Hope. We don't know your name..." The voice explained with hesitation and uncertainty. "We hoped that you could help us, because it was you who gave us hope so far. That's why we gathered what was left of our power in an attempt to summon you, but we couldn't...We shouldn't!"

  "Indeed. You shouldn't have done that." She said coldly.

  A shadowy being slowly coalesced but she still couldn't recognise it. However, she tried to focus and break free. The more she focused the more certain she was that she wasn't in any danger. However, the world around her became less real with every moment. The thing that somehow summoned her trembled and seemed to lower itself.

  "Once we began the ritual, the Tree of Hope immediately stopped supporting our world; however, it was too late to stop it. That's why we only summoned your consciousness and it will soon return to your body and world." The featureless shadow responded with shame. "We were desperate. We still are. Without the power granted by your Tree, Lady of the Forest, the darkness would have swallowed our last star... Please, forgive us."

  "Yes... I am Lady of the Forest." She closed her eyes for a moment and shook off the strange dizziness. As soon as she heard the familiar title, she instantly remembered everything. The Dryad straightened in her full glory. "My name is Lavender va'Theon, the Sixth Empress of Arcadia, the Guardian of Yggdrasil, the Lady of the Forest, the Caretaker of the Plains. Who are you?"

  The strange murkiness disappeared and she clearly saw everything. Before her stood a massive, white Dragon. At first, she was shocked and startled but she wasn't afraid. The Dragon was majestic and powerful and, yet, she knew that right here, and now, she eclipsed him with the power at her disposal. It wasn't a wishful belief but a strange kind of certainty that somehow stemmed from Yggdrasil. In fact, even now, her mind was flooded with the knowledge of this realm and combined with her own knowledge. She knew how desperate those beings were in their hopeless fight for survival and how ruthless the Enemies were. The mere presence of her Echo in this universe scattered their forces and forced them to withdraw. If only fending off the Enemies in her own world were so easy... The darkness started filling the space between her and the Dragon.

  "I'm Aurus, the King of beings that you could call Spirits. I recognise that you are not part of our realm and you can't stay here, nor can we escape to your world." He said with great effort but Lavender extended her slender arm and touched the darkness between them. Immediately, the branches of Yggdrasil shot towards the inky darkness and destroyed it.

  Meanwhile, the knowledge of this world she obtained from Yggdrasil resurfaced, allowing her to realise that he was, sort of, correct.

  "You are wrong. At least if you are like the spirits from the legends I know..." Lavender trailed off thoughtfully, gathering her strength and shooing away the encroaching darkness as if it were nothing. While she still wasn't entirely sure how much of this strange dream was a truth, she realised that somehow the people of one of the realms attacked by the Enemies had managed to contact her. As much as she was angry about the fact that they tried to, basically, abduct her, she couldn't deny it was a chance. However, the more lucid she was, the less time she had in this place. "If you are truly spirits, you can stay safely in my world as long as you find yourself a companion to summon you."

  "Incredible!" Aurus exclaimed in awe. "Then we must save what remains of my people."

  "But if you permanently leave this realm, that would mean another plane lost to the Enemies." She said firmly and felt that she was waking up. "I don't have much time, Spirit King Aurus. If you want your reality to survive, give me your hand."

  ???

  "I need your help." Lavender entered Rose's office with a tense facial expression.

  "What are you doing here, Mom... I mean, Lady Lavender!?" Rose blushed awkwardly.

  "We might not have seen each other for a long time but I still consider you my daughter, Rose." The Dryad smiled warmly but she got serious. "As you know, Theon is currently busy and I honestly doubt that he could help me anyway. You, on the other hand, are the only known Summoner in the entire Empire."

  "Well, except for the Necromancers..." Rose interjected.

  "They only kind of count as Summoners." Lavender nodded. "I need you to train me to become an Astral Summoner like you."

  "Wouldn't it be quicker to ask Dad for the subclass quest?" Rose tilted her head. It wasn't like she didn't want to help the Dryad but following the tedious apprenticeship system was... Well, tedious.

  "Well, it is quicker, but not necessarily better. I need to learn the basics and I hope that the World's Words guidance will help me as well as your knowledge." The Dryad explained.

  "But why?" Rose's astonishment grew.

  "Because I think that Yggdrasil managed to bridge our world with the world of creatures similar to your Astrals or the legendary Spirits. If I figure out a way to summon their Echoes, we would gain not only a new potent class, but also the first allies in our fight against the Enemies." Lavender smiled sourly. "But I need to confirm a few things first."

  Rose tilted her head and wondered about only one thing... "Does Dad know about it?"

  Thank you all for reading.

  I wish you all a great day and as always I wait for your comments.

  A big thanks to who edited the chapter!

  The map of Aderon is on my Discord :)

  https://discord.gg/G6SVrBeDdG