A few months passed, a brief, deceptive lull in the continental storm.
Within the icy sanctuary of the Mystic Ice Sect, Alaric's influence was absolute. The Sect, now a formidable fighting force armed with his artifacts and trained in Royal-level techniques, served as his unbreachable northern fortress.
In Jorailia, his hand moved unseen, guiding the kingdom through the delicate fingers of his puppet queen, Ondine Bellerose. The civil war had ended almost as abruptly as it began. With Noah's faction shattered and the King's most loyal general, Tauron, having fled east to the Celestial Dragon Empire, Ondine's rise to power was swift and uncontested.
Under her "wise and stable" rule, and with a steady, discreet flow of Steele-tech artifacts, the Jorailian legions began to push back the demonic incursions on their eastern borders, their successes earning Queen Ondine the adoration of her people.
