Of course, the night was active in the enemy ranks too. The units stationed to defend the Golden City, as they had previously decided, were waiting in the areas of their own responsibility. It wouldn't be wrong to say that the most interesting of these for the city residents were the mages wandering around with their robes radiating light even at midnight.
The members of the Companions of Light Society, undertaking the duty to defend the northern part, the opposite direction of where they came from, were here in all their majesty, not minding their de facto exile. Father Bouillon was hosting his staff in his tent covered with a sphere of light so bright that not a single speck of darkness could enter; it was the exact time to determine what would happen on the first day.
"Is there anyone who wants to take the floor?"
The former Third Elder of the Companions of Light Society wanted to ask the opinions of those who came here with him before exercising his authority. After all, being here wasn't a duty given to them by their civilization; they had only volunteered in the path of their master's own cause.
"Sir, we will face a challenge on the first day. I say let the Mercenaries, who have chosen the Golden City as their capital, undertake this part!"
Ever since the Orc Empire grew strong and began to fight other civilizations, it had taught the tradition of challenging on the first day of war to the whole continent. The light mage woman knew this very well too, and she proposed to keep their own forces out of the situation.
"Generally, they challenge by choosing three people from within their own forces. Have you ever thought about what kind of situation we would fall into if the Machine Empire doesn't stand back?"
The leader of the exiles expressed his view against his subordinate's proposal, and he understood the woman was prepared for such a question when he received his answer in the duration of taking a breath.
"Even if those freaks are masters at making all kinds of weapons, equipment, and things beyond imagination, one-on-one battles are the area they are weakest at. Unless their arrogance overrides their logic, they won't make such a mistake; especially, I am absolutely sure that the man they sent here will pay no heed to a duel call!"
As of the moment, the mage woman possessed a comprehensive foresight about another civilization that they were allies with but could fall out with at any time. Godfrey de Bouillon's father thought for a short while after listening to his subordinate; judging by him nodding his head downwards, they had met on the same idea with the woman.
"Is there anyone else who has something to say?"
The conversations inside the sphere of light were continuing and would continue until morning, but complete silence reigned on the other side of the city. The part where the engineers mentioned in the meeting of the Companions of Light mages resided for the last six months had surrendered to darkness.
The windows of the houses were closed, the curtains stood guard in front of them in order not to let out even a beam of light. There was no one on the streets; the guards on the metallic wall separating this section of the city from the other part ensured the continuity of this with the lights in their hands.
Inside an underground bunker, however, there was a rush; hundreds of people were running in the corridors where only two people side by side could barely walk. The address of all of them was the same; they were hurrying to reach their seats extending upwards from the platform on the floor.
Minutes later, the men blessed with hair colors possessing every shade of yellow on earth had fixed their green and blue eyes on a single point. They were waiting for the words that would come out from between the two lips of that person standing alone, above them all.
"Tomorrow is the day we will experience the simulation of the first war our superior race will wage against one of the most despicable lineages on our world, and repelling the barbarism they will bring to our door in the future."
The applause, starting first like water droplets dripping from a thin crack, turned into a torrential rain within a few breaths and reached all the way to the high ceiling of the bunker. The floor was shaking from the intensity of the sound produced; the engineers getting up from their seats continued to applaud standing until the man standing above everyone extended the palm of his right hand towards them.
At that moment, the sound ceased! The men, sitting in their places like pre-wound toys, waited for the golden-haired man standing above them to continue speaking without showing any sign of emotion.
"The necessary preparations for the weapons we positioned on the bastions are completed, and the field experiments of the latest invention of our engineering school begin tomorrow. Keep your eyes open, your gazes sharp, and your heads held high! May the glory of science and our race illuminate these barbarian lands along with the sun!"
All the engineers stood up, raised their heads, and greeted by extending their right arms towards their leader. The Machine Empire forces were ready for war; the aura radiated by the men filling the hall and resembling each other was the greatest proof of this.
The real owners of the city, squeezed in the section between the brightly shining north and the south left in darkness, weren't sleeping either. The most important reason for this wasn't just the situation inside but the enemy horde outside.
The orc warriors, who began to enter their continent in raider groups a few years ago, had now formed a wall of fire in front of their capital. Their campgrounds stretched as far as the eye could see, and it was impossible to sleep from the noise they made.
"When did we come to this state?"
Someone whose whole body was wrapped in bandages spoke while emerging from the shadows. Except for a pair of golden-colored eyes, every part of him was under the captivity of dark gray.
"I guess we were always like this, but we didn't have a real enemy!"
The woman extending her hair, resembling three thick ropes, along her back by intertwining them, let out a deep sigh before answering.
"What do you mean? What about the Hell Realm dogs we've been fighting for years then?"
Another man suddenly appearing next to the duo seemed not to have liked the woman's answer. Even though he didn't show his face, his words were heard quite clearly; it was impossible not to hear such a shrill voice.
"Equating people wounded by someone else, even split in two, with orcs whose numbers exceed billions and have real warriors at their head, could only be realized by someone as stupid as you."
A breath after the words were heard, the wall preventing the four people from seeing each other comfortably collapsed loudly. While stone, earth, and dust mixed into the air, a head illuminated as a result of the moonlight's reflection entered everyone's field of vision.
"Look at the things coming out of the mouth of a man who abandoned his leader to death! It's as if besides your giant head, your mouth has grown unnecessarily large too!"
"Your tongue is as sharp as always, but you know very well too that it won't work on me. Just because a fool is going to drag himself to death, I can't sink to the bottom with him, Tongue!"
The man whose head was almost twice as large as even Alyon's head wore an arrogant smile on his face like a mask while looking at the other general he addressed as Tongue.
"Head, it's not the time to argue among ourselves. What do you think about tomorrow's challenge?"
The only woman among the four people tossed her hair, and the remnants the wind carried towards her were smashed to pieces and set off towards the floor.
"What do you mean what do you think, Hair? Of course, we will wait behind the walls and watch them yell and scream to themselves!"
Even if the man whose body was covered in bandages wasn't the direct addressee of the question, he didn't get in line to answer. Head's gazes turned to him, and the other two generals followed him.
"Eye speaks the truth; as the defending side, we can't make such a foolish move!"
"We will wait!"
"We will wait!"
"We will wait!"