In DreadHaven, it was already midnight. Most citizens were asleep, tucked away in their beds, except for those who didn't need to sleep at night.
Meanwhile, Scarlett was having another meeting. The room was dimly lit, the only light coming from a few magical orbs floating near the ceiling, casting long shadows on the walls.
Kroenen, with his cold, metal-like presence, Semiath, Cryptus, Prez Yumi, Li Feng, and almost everyone else were present there, sitting in their chairs, their expressions serious. Even Irish was there, sitting quietly, her hands folded in her lap.
Scarlett just kept glaring at the newly distributed newspaper in her hands, her knuckles white as she gripped the paper tightly almost ripping it.
"It's the third time you're reading it. The content inside it won't change," Li Feng says.
"Urghh... I hate this guy so muchhhh..." she groans, curling her fingers in anger and frustration. "His narrative warfare is so strong. He can easily manipulate public opinion."
"When did me and Armament join hands? How are people even believing this bullshit? I wanna beat someone up really badly," she groans again, burying her face in the newspaper, her shoulders slumping in defeat.
"Maybe, we should focus on what we can do now instead," Xao Feng says calmly, her voice a steady.
Everyone nods in agreement, their eyes turning to Scarlett, waiting for her to lead them.
"I know," Scarlett sighs, her voice heavy with regret. "I kinda expected it. I should've focused more on making an army rather than those golden apples and competition. Should've made a great wall around DreadHaven like those kingdoms and so many things. Ahhh.... I'm so stupid," she sighs once again, repeatedly calling herself stupid and lazy several times.
She was clearly disappointed in herself. She had long captured Igris, and even if he didn't reveal much, she still had a certain idea that something big would happen. She had enough time to prepare some countermeasures, to increase DreadHaven's security, etc.
Yet all she did was laze around, doing competitions for who'll marry her and having intercourse with Irish, Reiza, and Lunatic. But now she was on her guilt phase, the weight of her poor decisions pressing down on her.
"I'm glad she had a self-realization," Li Feng murmurs to himself but didn't dare to say it out loud.
"If it's the war you are worried about, then I have quite a bit of experience in warfare," Kroenen says.
"Yes, I have learned many things from my father as well," Xao Feng says. She was the future leader of the martial village.
"Sister Xao is right. None of us here is weak. We can definitely handle it. Every citizen of DreadHaven will contribute their all against those humans," Reiza says, her voice passionate and determined.
But Scarlett shakes her head, her expression grim. "No, it's not just about fighting. Even if I were to defeat them and maybe take over their kingdom, all those humans will still see me as a villain. Well, not like I care about my image, but it'll surely disrupt our approach of growing DreadHaven," she says, her voice thoughtful.
"Tch, I hate these humans. Maybe I was right about eradicating their existence," Lunatic sneers, her voice filled with venom.
"That's very racist. Not all humans are like that. It's just part of human nature to have conflicts," Irish says, her tone indicating that she was slightly hurt by Lunatic's statement.
"Ack!-", Lunatic bites her tongue out of surprise. She forgot that Irish was a human as well. She looks between Irish and Scarlett and then sighs. "Sorry, I lose my composure," she apologizes, her voice a little softer.
"It's okay," Irish smiles back faintly.
"Well, back to the topic. There's no need to build much strategies. We have the advantage of being far away from them. Not to forget, they'll even have to cross that huge river before arriving here," Scarlett says, her voice echoing in the room.
"So, all of you will stay here and protect DreadHaven from any kind of sneak attack. I'll go, defeat everyone, and then come back. Happy ending," she says, leaving no room for an argument, her decision made.
"Fighting a whole army alone? Wouldn't it be too risky?" Yumi says, her voice filled with concern. She still had no idea that Scarlett defeated Gwarga's whole army alone, so it was natural for her to be worried.
Still, others were worried too, because unlike the weakest kingdom, this time they were up against the strongest kingdom with another kingdom as an ally.
"Don't worry, I'm a one-man army myself," Scarlett says with a confident smirk.
"But still...", Irish says in a low tone, still hesitating.
At that moment, a gentle but sudden wind brushes past everyone in the room, and a voice comes, clear and cold, cutting through the silence.
"How long are you going to babysit them? I'm pretty sure you can do better than that."
Lilith was standing inside the room calmly, still in her maid costume, her expressionless face a stark contrast to the tension in the room. She was just there, as if she had been there all along.
Almost everyone in the room stood up instinctively by her sudden arrival, their hearts leaping in their chests, thinking it was some enemy. But when they saw it was just Lilith, they slowly sat down again, their bodies relaxing, though their eyes were still slightly wide with surprise.
Irish felt slightly confused. It was her first time seeing Lilith, but since everyone else was calm about it, she just lay low as well, her eyes darting around, trying to understand what was happening.
"Fuck, I didn't sense her coming again," Scarlett thinks to herself. She turns to look at the door. It was still closed from inside, yet somehow, Lilith was here in the blink of an eye. It was like she just walked through the walls.
"It's not babysitting. I'm trying to protect as much people as I can," Scarlett replies, her voice a little defensive, her pride stung by Lilith's words.
"For how long? You can certainly guess this will not be your final battle. There's still so many things yet to come," Lilith says, her tone emotionless yet heavy with meaning.
This time, Lilith was leaving no room for argument. Scarlett could only sigh, her shoulders slumping in defeat.
She knew Lilith was right.
"You had some qualities to be a leader. That's why we sent you here. And you certainly showed it by doing everything to resurrect your people. That dark side of you is more befitting," she adds, her words a strange mix of praise and criticism.
"Besides, to be a proper leader, you need to have trust in your subordinates. Even elementary grade kids know that unity is strength," she exclaims, lecturing Scarlett, her voice flat but her message clear.
Scarlett could only narrow her eyes behind her blindfold and looks between Lilith and the others, her mind racing. She saw the determination on their faces.
"Okay, we'll fight together," she says with a sigh.
Everyone else in the room clenches their fists and nods in determination, feeling a surge of motivation by Scarlett's change in decision.
"But did you only come here to lecture me about unity?" Scarlett sneers.
"Of course not. I actually got some information," she says, her voice as serious as before. "Actually, this war is just a distraction. They are using it as a chance to carry out a massive ritual."
"Massive ritual? For what?" Li Feng asks, leaning forward, his curiosity piqued.
"I'm not certainly sure, but most likely for power. What's important is that if they succeed, it won't be good for you or anyone," she explains, her words sending a chill down everyone's spine.
Others were both shocked and happy to hear that Miss Lilith came out of nowhere and gave them such crucial information regarding the situation.
"Thank Avion from my side," Scarlett says, feeling grateful, her voice sincere.
"Master Avion doesn't like to disclose information so openly, but I thought I should help you out a bit in this situation," Lilith says, her body unmoving like a statue, but there was a hint of a flicker in her tone that wanted the credit for herself rather than Avion.
"Oh, thanks, Miss Lilith," Scarlett thanks her immediately, catching on to her subtle hint. "So all we have to do is disrupt their ritual to fail their plans, right?" she asks, her mind already working on a plan.
"Most likely yes," Lilith says and then bows down lightly, a gesture of respect.
"I'll be going then," she says.
But before she disappears, Scarlett raises her hand, her voice urgent. "Any advice?"
Lilith pauses for a second before saying, "We already told you last time," she says, her voice a reminder of their previous conversation.
A wind brushes inside the room once again, and Lilith disappears without anyone seeing her, as if she were never there, leaving behind only the scent of a cool night breeze.
"Start from Armament, huh?" Scarlett mutters the advice she was given last time, her voice low and thoughtful.
Scarlett takes her seat and sits down, her body sinking into the, ornate chair. For a moment, she just sits there, her head bowed, her fingers tapping lightly on the armrests.
At that moment, before anyone could ask what was on her mind, a sudden realization comes to her, Her head snaps up, and she immediately leans forward, her movements quick and purposeful, grabbing the newspaper from the table once again.
A small smug smile appears on her face, a slow, confident curve of her lips, as she reads about all the statements given by Vladimir in his speech, which the newspapers had printed in bold letters.
"'Successfully assassinating the King of Almeida and Gwarga'? Heh!... Leonidas is alive though," she murmurs.
She looks towards everyone, Still smiling faintly.
"Since this war is inevitable anyway, why don't we play some narrative games as well?" she says.