--This chapter is written in Erik's Pov--
Another city fell today.
Black smoke rose from the buildings as shouts and screams echoed through the streets.
In quick succession, the Army of the Gifted seized the city's military base and hall, taking another decisive step in the long march toward the capital.
Many such steps had already been taken.
Many such steps still remained.
Yet with each passing day, this country awoke to a truth I had long understood.
The moment the Dungeons appeared, the world had entered a new era.
For the past twenty years, what we witnessed was not a valiant struggle to preserve order.
We were instead watching the last days of an empire, desperately clinging to its old glory.
Adapting, rather than embracing, our new reality.
As if their might could triumph over progress itself, they searched for a compromise, thinking it would help them feign their lost control and preserve the established order...
Not the peaceful order.
The hierarchical.
