Queen Meve gazed at the bustling movements within the capital city of Lyria, feeling as though she had stepped onto the set of a stage play rather than a battlefield.
Three massive trolls were rumbling through the streets, rolling around with thunderous noise and curiously peering in every direction while shouting things like 'little humans' and 'pointy sticks'. It wasn't until they had smashed through several walls that they finally stopped—sheepishly—after a chorus of furious yells from Lyria's soldiers.
Unlike the wariness stirred by the trolls, most soldiers seemed far more distracted by a single tent, one that had been set apart from the rest. Every formation marching past it would turn their heads toward it in unison, like some kind of military parade.
From the silhouette inside the tent, it was clear only one person occupied it—a woman. Yet she bore horns and a tail.
In a far corner near the city wall, an even more isolated area lay dominated by a creature the size of a fortress: a slumbering red dragon.
Meve swallowed hard and turned her gaze to Lann, who had just returned from the front. More flashes of light sparked beside him, and from them stepped sorcerers, druids, and witchers one after another.
Only when Lann finally ceased casting spells did Meve step forward after a brief pause and ask, "Lann, how are your wounds? Did you resolve things in Cintra?"
Truth be told, the only reason the allied forces had managed to hang on this long was because of Lann's countless teleportation strikes into enemy camps.
He had nearly decapitated the leadership of every Nilfgaardian division, crippling the Central Army Group's ability to organize any meaningful cavalry charge.
But a few days earlier, Lann had aimed for something bigger—he attempted to assassinate the enemy's marshal, Menno Coehoorn, in one bold move. Yet for the first time, he came back empty-handed, and badly wounded at that.
According to Lann, Marshal Menno had laid a trap well in advance. When Lann teleported into the enemy camp using a unique spatial spell, he was immediately targeted by a coordinated barrage led by three high-ranking sorcerers and over forty other mages.
Even more terrifying, Nilfgaard had dispatched suicide squads wielding dimeritium weapons to seal off Lann's Signs, effectively stripping him of his ability to unleash mass destruction.
Worse still, his teleportation—derived from Elder Blood and powered by chaos energy—was also disabled, cutting off his retreat.
As if that weren't enough, the Nilfgaardians sent in over ten golems in a single wave to try and capture him.
Fortunately, Lann's swordsmanship was nothing short of legendary. Augmented by skills driven purely by witcher physiology and system enhancements—like Adrenaline Boost, Fleet Footed's invulnerability through rolls, and the armor-piercing Rend strike—he was able to counter even without Signs.
And so, the Nilfgaardians witnessed the Lion of Cintra, armed with the Lady of the Lake's longsword and a nomadic scimitar, slice through more than half the golems. He evaded nearly every spell with rolls and exchanged blows to cut down several of the enemy spellcasters.
At one point, a high-level sorcerer, losing patience, unleashed a lethal spell on Lann—enraging Marshal Menno, who had wanted him alive.
But Lann, who had just taken a fatal hit, suddenly sprang back to life with vigor and promptly sliced down the sorcerer who had 'killed' him.
[Undying]: When vitality reaches zero, if Adrenaline Points remain, they can be used to restore life. The amount restored depends on the points spent.
It was a skill Lann had unlocked early on purely for survival. Long forgotten, it finally triggered that day.
After wreaking havoc in the camp, the two dragons circling above—who had yet to be summoned via teleportation for a suspiciously long time—realized something was wrong and swooped down.
Keltullis set fires everywhere to draw attention, while Saskia flew straight to Lann and rescued him.
Both dragons took heavy hits from spells and bolts and were nearly shot out of the sky. Now, a group of druids was gathered around them, casting healing spells in hopes they'd be fit to return to the next battle soon.
When Lann returned covered in blood, he gave Queen Meve quite a scare.
And not long after, when Lann summoned trolls and a succubus in an attempt to launch another assault on the Nilfgaardian main camp, a message arrived from Cintra—one of grave urgency.
Queen Meve found herself completely at a loss.
By this point in the war, she had come to fully grasp the situation: without Lann, how could the fight possibly continue?
Thankfully, Lann returned soon afterward—and brought with him even more reinforcements.
…
Lann glanced at Queen Meve and offered her a gentle smile.
His wounds weren't a big deal. After all, once he activated Active Shield and took a round of attacks, he'd be back on his feet again in no time.
As for everything else…
"You know, Meve," Lann said, "I think we're about to win."
A question mark practically appeared above Meve's head. She began to wonder if the Lion's injuries were worse than she'd imagined—if his brain had been damaged, that would be a far more serious problem.
Noticing her hesitant, conflicted expression, Lann chuckled softly.
"Menno leading the Central Army northward really threw off a lot of our plans. At their pace, I originally thought we'd have to retreat all the way to Vengerberg in Aedirn and use the city walls there to slow their cavalry. That would've also bought time for reinforcements from Cintra to arrive."
"But lately, some very fortunate things have happened, Meve."
"The flow of the Yaruga River suddenly changed. Skellige's warships and supply vessels are now traveling at far greater speeds than expected, and they'll arrive much sooner to provide support."
"Temeria unexpectedly sent word that they're willing to dispatch a force from Lower Sodden to rendezvous with us. Together with Cintra's main troops and the Free Company mercenaries, they'll clear out the Nilfgaardian infantry still occupying Upper Sodden—then move north to encircle the Nilfgaardians."
Meve voiced her concern: "But even so, we still won't have enough strength on the front line to withstand their heavy cavalry. Even if these new... helpers of yours could assist you in assassinating their marshal and all their sorcerers, it wouldn't be enough."
Once the battle began, tens of thousands of charging cavalry would no longer need a commander's orders to continue. And if the Central Army's command post were taken out before battle, it would scatter a large, elite but uncoordinated force across Lyria—creating utter chaos. Restoring order afterward could take years.
In that scenario, the coalition might win a battle, but they would suffer a defeat in the broader strategic picture. Even if they retook Upper Sodden, losing all of Lyria in the process would be too high a price. Control over the Yaruga would also slip from their grasp.
That's why they needed to launch one decisive pitched battle—to crush the enemy head-on. Only then would Menno, eager to preserve his forces, begin pulling his troops out of the Northern Realms. Then, according to Lann's plan, they could ambush the retreating army at the northern border and eliminate it entirely.
"That would require significant troop strength on the front line," Meve admitted, lowering her head in spite of her pride. "Demavend is no longer focused on the front, and the joint forces of Lyria and Rivia alone can't hope to stop that heavy cavalry. Not even the first wave."
Lann shook his head. "I'm not done—aside from the river, there's something else going on. A change you might not have noticed. A magical change."
Meve, who hadn't appointed any royal court sorcerers, was visibly caught off guard by the answer.
"According to the mages and druids on my side, there's been a shift in celestial phenomena recently. Combined with the previously reawakened Conjunction of the Spheres… basically, teleportation magic has become much easier over the past few days."
Lann spoke with gravity: "We can set up a fixed teleportation gate in Lower Sodden—and another one here. Mages can take turns maintaining them around the clock. The gate will be small, only allowing one person through at a time, and will require rest periods, so it'll take about ten hours total…"
"But this way, we can teleport in the heavy dwarf infantry I requested from Mahakam!"
Queen Meve's eyes widened as her body began to tremble uncontrollably.
This was a strategy the Continent had never seen before.
Had anyone else explained this plan to her, Meve would have dismissed it as sheer nonsense. But coming from Lann, she couldn't help but believe it.
"This will require a large open space," Lann continued. "And keeping a long-duration, fixed teleportation gate running will consume a significant amount of magical materials. So I'll need your cooperation, Meve…"
"This is the capital of Lyria," Queen Meve declared firmly. "The royal treasury can be opened to your mages at once. Compared to the survival of our nation, those materials are meaningless—even if you empty it entirely, it's worth it."
"You've been the one holding the line almost single-handedly up to now. I have no reason not to trust you, Lann."
"Whatever you plan to do next, I will support you fully!"
Lann nodded. With the decisive battle looming, unwavering support from his allies was more valuable than anything else.
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