A few days earlier, ten Imperial Guards of Ursus had infiltrated the territory to assassinate Talulah. However, they were intercepted midway by Patriot, who was leading the Shieldguards on patrol. Shortly after, FrostNova and Talulah herself arrived at the scene, and the three of them pressed the ten Imperial Guards into a one-sided beating.
After consuming the improved monster cells, Talulah, FrostNova, and Patriot had all experienced explosive growth in strength. Even FrostNova, the weakest among them, now possessed combat power equivalent to two Imperial Guards. Talulah, who had yet to reach her original peak from the canon timeline, could still fight four Imperial Guards at once. As for Patriot, the strongest of the three, he could currently handle six Imperial Guards alone.
However, considering that the Imperial Guards still had their ultimate trump card—self-destruction—Mebius, who was also within the territory at the time, directly called Makima over.
Once Makima deployed her Binding Domain, the ten Imperial Guards—who had never encountered such power before—were annihilated on the spot. Not a single one managed to send back any information before dying.
This was precisely why, back in Chernobog, Emperor Fyodor waited day after day without receiving even the slightest news.
Losing ten Imperial Guards in one go—even for the Emperor of Ursus—was painful enough to make his heart stop. In the short term, it was impossible for him to make any major moves.
And that window of time was exactly what Mebius needed to massively expand her forces in preparation for the coming war.
Time passed quickly.
In the blink of an eye, a month and a half went by.
With the Third Army Group—now effectively under Talulah's, or rather Mebius's, control—continuously mobilizing, the atmosphere across Ursus grew increasingly tense. The air itself seemed saturated with the smell of gunpowder, oppressive enough to make people feel short of breath.
The noble territories near Kashchey's domain and along the route toward Chernobog all strengthened their defenses. Even nobles in more remote regions, outside the immediate danger zone, began behaving far more cautiously, fearing they might be dragged into the conflict between a grand duke and the emperor.
This situation had already drawn attention beyond Ursus.
Across Terra, various nations and powers had caught wind of what was happening.
Yan, Victoria, Kazimierz, Columbia, Leithania…
Aside from a few isolated backwater states that practically didn't even have access to information networks, nearly everyone knew that a rebellion was brewing within Ursus.
As the instigator and leader of the uprising, Talulah's identity and background were placed squarely on the desks of many high-ranking figures.
Lungmen
Holding the intelligence report delivered by the Black Cloaks, Wei Yenwu wore a complicated expression.
So the girl who had once been about the same age as Ch'en Hui-chieh had now reached the point of attempting something so earth-shattering.
Leading the Third Army Group in open rebellion against the Emperor of Ursus—this was nothing short of dancing on the edge of a blade. One misstep, and it would be a plunge into the abyss.
Wei Yenwu didn't know what Talulah had gone through over the years, nor how she had reached this point. But if he could choose, he truly wished she wouldn't take such a dangerous path.
Unfortunately, even as the Chief of Lungmen, there was nothing he could do.
All he could do was lean back in his office chair, sighing softly from time to time.
Ursus — Kashchey's Domain
If anyone were able to infiltrate this place now, they would likely pass out on the spot from sheer shock.
Two thousand Wendigos, divided into several formations, stood in neat ranks before the domain.
Alongside them was Reunion, expanded under Talulah's leadership—thousands of infected gathered together, forming an army of nearly ten thousand.
Add to that the fully mobilized Third Army Group, already entrenched around Kashchey's domain after weeks of preparation.
Mebius judged that the time was ripe.
It was time to discard all formalities and let Ursus feel what a real heavy punch looked like.
Talulah stepped onto the stage in full view. She spent an entire day delivering an impassioned speech before the three armies, igniting morale.
The next day, following the pre-established battle plan, she commanded the army to march—straight toward Chernobog.
At that moment, the war officially began.
The first to sense that something was wrong were the nobles and lords governing cities near Kashchey's domain.
They had been on guard against a sudden strike by the Third Army Group for some time now. To that end, they had reinforced city walls, bolstered defenses, and dispatched large numbers of scouts toward Kashchey's domain, ensuring they would receive news the moment anything happened.
Now, upon learning that the Third Army Group stationed outside Kashchey's domain had begun moving, these lords immediately ordered their garrisons to heighten alert levels.
The Third Army Group was indeed terrifying.
But even excluding it, Ursus still possessed six army groups, including the Central Army Group. Even though not all of them were fully under the Emperor's direct control, few believed that Talulah's rebellion could succeed.
The reason was simple—
Talulah had been far too obvious.
If she had remained quiet for a period after inheriting Kashchey's title and acquiring the Third Army Group—waiting for Ursus to lower its guard—then launched a lightning assault straight to Chernobog to seize Fyodor, the rebellion might have had a real chance.
But instead, after mobilizing the Third Army Group, she failed to strike immediately.
She gave the cities along the route a month and a half to prepare.
That was more than enough time for them to stockpile supplies, reinforce defenses, and muster troops capable of resisting the Third Army Group.
Though only a month and a half had passed, the difficulty of reaching Chernobog now was several times greater than it would have been at the start.
Unless the Nightmare Khagan himself returned from the dead, once Talulah failed to break through quickly, the Emperor would have time to negotiate with the other grand dukes who controlled army groups.
At that point, once the armies closed in from all sides, Talulah and the Third Army Group would become fish on a chopping block—ready to be carved up.
And if these lords performed well now, perhaps they could even share in the spoils when the victors divided the corpse.
With such pleasant thoughts in mind, the nobles near Kashchey's domain began smiling, already fantasizing about a bright future.
Unfortunately, before they could indulge for long, a panicked voice rang out.
"My lord, this is bad! Wendigos are attacking the city!"
Inside one such domain, a lord who had been daydreaming about his prospects turned around in irritation.
"So what if there are Wendigos? Even if the enemy army has some, with our walls and defenses, are you telling me all of you are afraid of a single one? Can it smash through the walls? Bunch of useless trash!"
"My—my lord, it's not one Wendigo! It's at least several hundred! The city is completely surrounded—there are Wendigos everywhere outside the walls, and it looks like they're about to force their way in!"
"W-What?! How many?! Several hundred?!"
In that instant, the lord sprang up from his recliner as if he had just sat on a red-hot branding iron.
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