It was a complete rout. The soldiers who were still loyal started retreating, starting a continuous withdrawal. And it wasn't long before they were being invaded.
Velgrynd started her return to the capital. She had to get there as soon as she could and stop this entire war. It was very fast for her, but as she got near the capital, she noticed that everything seemed to be burning. Tall buildings were reduced to rubble, homes were destroyed and on fire, and countless people lay dead on the street. It was an apocalyptic scene. And it only got worse. Slight tremors constantly happened in fast intervals. When she saw what was happening, she noticed that it was literally raining tank shells. She knew that only came from their own tanks.
She looked further out and saw the numerous tanks constantly firing, and she also saw the flag. It was reminiscent of the Eastern Empire's flag, but certain symbols were taken out, replaced with something that represented them better. This was the revolutionary army, and it was clear that they were forcing a surrender of the city.
The fact that they got this far only made defeat more of a certainty than it already was. But now wasn't the time to get distracted. She had to go, announce the surrender to everyone, and deal with any dissenters. She needed to assert her authority as the new empress and then formally conclude the surrender before Artoria's army arrived and backed up the revolutionary army.
It shouldn't be too hard. Such a barrage must've already reduced the hope and will to fight of the people in the city.
She landed at the palace, seeing how it's lost its grandeur and imposing appearance. It was still standing, but large parts of it were severely damaged, and other parts were gone, reduced to rubble. Another one of the Eastern Empire's symbols of power was basically destroyed.
'Where did it all go so wrong?'
Velgrynd thought to herself as she stepped in, ready to do the only thing she could as the new empress.
/\\//\\//\
The counter-invasion was an overwhelming success. The entire army was blazing through large swaths of the Eastern Empire at speeds that shouldn't seem possible. Most of the work was done by the revolutionary army, but they still came across towns and cities that weren't attacked. Those were swiftly conquered, the Tempest flag flying over them.
It wouldn't be long before they also reached the capital.
Most times, there wasn't even a fight; the enemy would just surrender, knowing they couldn't do anything. And when there was a fight, it would be a one-sided confrontation for the ages. Masayuki had really dismantled seemingly everything and thrown everything into disorganization. News about his exploits spread fast in the Eastern Empire.
And where was Artoria in all this? She decided to give herself leave. She applied for leave, approved it herself, and was happy to see that she was approved. Something was clearly wrong with her at the moment. But her reason was…subpar. She wrote down, "I need to go solidify a bond even further than it already is." Whatever that meant.
So, now she was home. But it wouldn't be for long, maybe two days at most. That should be enough time for her to accomplish her goal. It was time to put Hero Creation to use.
"Shuna, I'm home!"
Artoria yelled as she walked in. But she stopped a little when she smelled food. She picked up the pace quickly and went to the kitchen, where she saw a spread of multiple dishes. In fact, it was a spread of all her favorite dishes. There were steaks, ribs, briskets, burritos, hamburgers, hot dogs, loaded baked potatoes, mac and cheese, sweet bread rolls, cornbread, apple pie, pecan pie, and more.
Artoria's eyes widened at the spread. This only made her more determined for these two days before she had to go back. And it was great timing. She would need a lot of energy for what she wanted to do. Not that she needed it.
"Shuna, did you make all this now?"
"Yes. I was expecting you either today or tomorrow."
Shuna responded as she laid out the last tray of food on the table.
"Why do you say that?"
Shuna looked at Artoria with a little glint in her eyes and a small smile.
"I've noticed your tendencies, and when you seem to reach what I call your 'peak'."
Artoria raised an eyebrow, not knowing what she was talking about. If she had a tendency that happened so much that Shuna could track it and expect it, shouldn't she also know? What happened frequently? It only took a second for her to realize.
"Really? Come on, I'm not some kind of person who only thinks like that."
"Then why did you return from fighting?"
"Becasue I wanted to see you."
"And why did you want to see me?"
Artoria tried to come up with an answer, something believable, but she gave up. She feels that she's already been caught. She decided to change he subject and went to take a seat at the table.
"Can we eat?"
"Yes. I made a lot for you. And we can see what we'll do later." Shuna said with a smile as she sat down across from Artoria.
"Uh, yeah, yeah."
Artoria absentmindedly said as she started to serve herself and eat. Perhaps a bit faster than usual, given her little internal panic.
'It can't be that obvious, right?' Artoria thought to herself as she kept eating.
"I have to say, you seem more, energetic and eager than usual," Shuna commented as she looked at Artoria's behavior. She had been with her long enough to know how and what she feels. And this now different. Artoria might as well have been an open book to Shuna.
'Okay, it is that obvious.'
"Why do you say that, Shuna?" Artoria asked, but she looked down, and she saw that she had already gone through four plates of food, it wasn't exactly helping her case. "Oh. You see…what had happened was…that I got a surrender agreement."
"Sure. That's why you feel like that. You sure there's no other reason?"
'She knows. Her intuition is just too strong. It has to be an Ultimate Skill or something.'
"Nope, no other reason,." Artoria started to panic a little. She didn't even know why. That's how bad it was for her. She scarfed down an entire tray of mac and cheese as if she were a vacuum. She got up, trying to leave, but Shuna stopped her by grabbing her hand.
"No, you're staying. I'm want to see just how eager you are."
'What? Huh? Hold on a second. That doesn't right. Is she…is she like me right now? Wait, did she turn the tables on me? I should've declined my own application.'
Artoria could find out what was going to happen as she was dragged by Shuna into their bedroom.
/\\//\\//\
Masayuki was still having the tanks barrage the capital city. Sure enough, some tanks started to feel the intense wear on the barrels. They weren't blown out, but the accuracy was dropping off.
"Where's Artoria at?"
Masayuki asked himself as he was wondering when her army or she would arrive.