Archer cradled the tired Antonia gently in his arms, with Ari walking closely beside him, as they traversed the towering ramparts that sealed off the Draconian quarter of Orienta. The walls stretched across a vast mountain pass, flanked by riversides and crossings that extended for miles, standing as a barrier against the world beyond.
''The lands that we've conquered are already thriving thanks to the government workers flooding the port cities,'' the Elemental woman revealed. ''I heard the poor are praising you in the streets while your soldiers feed them.''
''Nameless kingdoms and empires trode on them and forgot they existed, but not me,'' Archer said, a proud smile crossing his face. ''We will lift everyone until Orienta worships me and our empire. I'll give them so much freedom they'd never want to go back to the way things were.''
