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POV: High General Calderon – Eltheria Military Command
Thunder cracked overhead, though the skies were clear.
Inside the Grand War Hall of Eltheria, General Calderon stood over the war map, arms crossed, jaw clenched.
He was a veteran of two monster wars, a seventh-tier knight, and the man called "Shield of the North."
But nothing had prepared him for what had happened to Renteia.
> "Wiped out in a single night. One city. Twelve thousand people. Gone."
The scouts had returned with fractured reports:
> "Angels wielding fire-lances."
"Walls shattered by sound."
"A man who floated like judgment."
"A flag that made soldiers fall to their knees from sheer pressure."
> "They called it… the Fourth Reich."
He'd sent for the Empire's elite. The only one he trusted to face something like this.
---
POV: Commander Kael Raine – Eltheria's "Hero"
He arrived in full armor.
Kael Raine—warrior-mage hybrid, wielder of the flame-lance Solar's End, breaker of giants, and public symbol of Eltherian might.
He was calm, controlled, and quietly irritated.
> "So," Kael said, voice smooth like ice, "we're panicking over a cult?"
Calderon grimaced.
> "Not a cult. A force. A nation."
He gestured to the table.
Painted across it was a map—now with a giant black eagle pinned over Renteia.
Above it, in crimson ink: "New Dresden."
Kael blinked.
> "They renamed the city?"
> "After burning it. Then healing its survivors. Then drafting them into their own system. No taxes. Free food. Daily sermons."
Kael's smile faded.
> "That… takes planning."
> "They're calling the man who leads them the 'King Who Stayed.'"
Kael felt a chill crawl up his spine.
> "And you want me to fight him?"
> "I want you to survive long enough to understand him."
---
POV: Marcus Augustus Victor
Back in Nazarick, Marcus stood before a scrying mirror, hand behind his back, watching Kael Raine's arrival through intercepted magical echoes.
> "So this is their champion."
He sipped dark tea from a mug that said "Democracy is Non-Negotiable."
> "Handsome. Brave. Calm. Thinks he's a protagonist."
> "He's going to break beautifully."
Behind him, Demiurge stepped into the chamber.
> "The psychological warfare plan is ready, my King."
> "Deploy it. Begin Operation: Holy Propaganda."
---
POV: Town of Vestalyn – Border of Eltheria
In a small chapel outside the kingdom's western hills, peasants knelt before their local priest.
> "We pray for safety," one whispered. "We heard the Fourth Reich is coming."
Suddenly, the torches dimmed.
The stained glass depicting the Goddess of Mercy shattered inward—and in its place appeared a single sheet of parchment, glowing gold.
The priest picked it up with trembling hands.
It read:
---
> To the People of Eltheria:
We do not come to conquer.
We come to offer unity. Peace. Safety.
Your kings lie.
Join the King Who Stayed.
Or be washed away.
—The Fourth Reich
---
Outside, four shadows moved past the hills.
One of them looked back, shotgun slung lazily over his shoulder.
Jackson Alpha.
> "Letters delivered. Next stop: fear level 2."
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POV: Kael Raine
That night, Kael stood in his private quarters, staring at a golden scroll that had somehow appeared on his bed.
There were no footsteps. No sound. No broken lock.
He didn't read it.
He burned it.
> "Cowards."
But as the ashes curled, so did a single word, whispered like a lover's breath:
> "Run."
---
POV: Marcus
He stared into the mirror.
> "We don't need to fight the world. Just infect it. One mind at a time."
> "Begin planting modified sermons in enemy churches. Adjust divine spellcasting formulas to require loyalty oaths."
> [Acknowledged. Operation 'Faithfire' launched.]
He turned to Albedo.
> "Prepare the invasion column. We'll give Kael Raine a proper introduction."
---
POV: Albedo
She smiled like a snake dressed in velvet.
> "Shall I release Shalltear as the vanguard?"
> "No. Send Mare. Let them see the shy one first."
> "It will make their failure taste worse."
---
POV: Mare
Mare shuffled behind his golem detachment, nervous as always.
> "U-Um… please surrender? Before we have to… destroy everything?"
The first Eltherian watchtower opened fire.
The next five seconds were a blur of vines, explosions, and continent-level shockwaves.
---
POV: Kael Raine – Day Two of Eltheria Campaign
He stood on a ridge overlooking the destruction of a border town.
His army hadn't even arrived yet.
Nothing remained of the village but ash arranged in concentric circles, as if someone had painted a flower of ruin.
He gritted his teeth.
> "So… this is what we're dealing with."
---
POV: Marcus (Watching)
> "Raphael. Prediction?"
> [Kael will break within three engagements.]
> "Too fast. Slow it down. I want him conscious when his kingdom falls."
---
POV: Demiurge
He stepped onto the plains outside the Kingdom of Eltheria, accompanied by shadow-fiends and psychological specialists from the Pleiades.
> "Begin dream infection. Let the nobles see visions of the King. Let them beg to surrender."
---
POV: Peasant Girl – Eltheria
She dreamed of him.
The man with the wings.
The king.
He stood on the sun itself, arms wide.
> "Come to me," he said.
She awoke crying, but smiling.
> "He'll save us."
---