Chernobog had fallen.
Because a certain Emperor chose to flee at the drop of a hat, Talulah's forces seized control of Ursus's central command hub without expending any real effort. Not only did they occupy the capital, they also absorbed the Central Army Group into their ranks. From start to finish, there were no losses whatsoever—in fact, the size of their army doubled instead.
And all of this had happened in less than ten days since Talulah officially issued the order to march.
Such an outrageous record caused Talulah's name to spread like wildfire across Ursus in a very short time—and it was already beginning to spread beyond Ursus's borders as well.
At the same time, after spending a week stabilizing the situation, an announcement was issued from Chernobog:
Talulah, Grand Duke of Ursus and Commander of the Third Army Group and Central Army Group, will ascend the throne in Chernobog half a month from now, officially succeeding as Emperor of Ursus. A grand military parade will be held in Chernobog on that day.
The moment this news broke, it swept through most of Terra like a gale.
(With the exception of a very small number of countries that, quite literally, still hadn't gotten internet access.)
This was very different from Talulah's initial uprising.
Back then, from Ursus's perspective, a Grand Duke rebelling against the Emperor was a scandal capable of shaking the nation to its core—something that absolutely could not be publicized. As a result, even now, aside from the cities along the route from Kashchey's territory to Chernobog, many Ursus civilians didn't even know such a monumental event had taken place, let alone civilians in other countries.
But now, news of Talulah's coronation was being disseminated through official channels in Chernobog and throughout Ursus's major cities. Naturally, the speed of its spread was terrifying.
In no time at all, virtually everyone in Ursus knew that Talulah was about to ascend the throne. Discussions about this future Empress erupted everywhere.
As for neighboring countries, places with highly developed information networks—such as Lungmen in Yan—were already running related news.
Lungmen
Inside the Governor's Office, Wei Yanhui took a deep drag from his pipe. After a long while, he slowly exhaled, sounding almost wistful.
"So… that child really did succeed."
At present, most ordinary people only knew that Talulah was about to ascend the Ursus throne. They had no idea how the whole affair had unfolded—nor how perilous it had been.
But someone like Wei Yanhui, who sat in a position of great authority and had access to far deeper intelligence, someone who had known the full picture from the very beginning—only he could truly comprehend how absurdly unbelievable it was.
From the moment Talulah ordered the army to march, to the fall of Chernobog in less than ten days, to the complete stabilization of the situation and the public announcement of her impending coronation…
It was nothing short of miraculous.
From that little girl he could only watch helplessly as she was taken away, to the woman now on the verge of becoming Emperor of Ursus—even without witnessing it firsthand, Wei Yanhui could see the effort and sweat Talulah must have poured in behind the scenes.
"Governor Wei."
At that moment, the Black Coats delivered the latest intelligence report. Wei Yanhui put down his pipe, casually accepted the document, and began flipping through it.
Then—
His draconic pupils snapped wide open.
"Cough—cough, cough!"
He choked violently, hacking as he stared at the report.
"What do you mean by a legion composed of at least over a thousand Wendigos?!"
Victoria — Londinium
At almost the exact same time—
"What?! A legion made up of at least a thousand Wendigos?!"
The current Regent of Victoria, Theresis, shot to his feet in shock the moment he read the report. The chair behind him was sent flying, nearly striking the Sanguinarch who had just entered the room.
The Sanguinarch, however, didn't seem to care at all. Instead, he calmly picked up where Theresis left off.
"More than that. Based on the indirect descriptions in the intelligence, it's safe to conclude that these Wendigos are elite even among the Royal Courts. Let alone a thousand—if there were even a few dozen, you and I would likely be no match for them."
Clearly, the Sanguinarch had also learned of the Ursus situation—and had drawn conclusions even more detailed than Theresis's.
But that only made things more baffling.
Where, at this point in time, could Terra possibly produce so many elite Wendigos? Not only were there over a thousand, they were even organized into a legion.
Had the Wendigo clan prospered that well after leaving Kazdel?
Then what about all the intelligence claiming that only a single pureblood Wendigo remained—were they just fooling idiots for fun?
After a moment of thought, Theresis spoke again.
"I'll make arrangements for Londinium during this period. After that Draco named Talulah ascends the throne in half a month, I'll personally attend the military parade."
The Sanguinarch did not object, merely nodding faintly.
"Count me in."
Ursus — Chernobog, Imperial Palace
At this moment, An Xora was standing in a room he had personally selected, studying an octagonal stone talisman engraved with a horse motif.
This was the item he had purchased from the System Shop's discounted section this month:
[Horse Talisman].
Originating from the Jackie Chan Adventures world, it possessed the power to restore any living being or object to its original state.
Original price: 10,000 points.
Discounted price: 5,000 points.
In truth, this wasn't the first time the System Shop had refreshed since An Xora arrived in the Arknights world. It had already refreshed once shortly after his arrival—but the discounted section back then hadn't contained anything he cared about, so he hadn't bought anything.
This time, however, several genuinely interesting items had appeared.
Aside from the Horse Talisman, two others caught his eye:
[Shadow Corps · Ninja Troop] (60% off) — 3,600 points[Elven Corridor · Flügel] (50% off) — 15,000 points
The Shadow Corps also came from Jackie Chan Adventures. Purchasing it granted the ability to summon the Ninja Troop of the Shadow Corps. These shadow ninjas possessed exceptional stealth, could hide within shadows, and move freely through them—making them perfect for infiltration and reconnaissance. They also had decent combat capability.
The number of ninjas that could be summoned depended on the user's strength—the stronger the user, the more ninjas they could summon. Shadow ninjas could not truly die; when they suffered fatal damage, they simply dissolved back into shadows and waited to be summoned again. Their numbers were effectively limitless.
As for the Elven Corridor · Flügel, it originated from the No Game No Life world.
The Flügel were the sixth-ranked race among the Sixteen Races of that world. A powerful race composed entirely of beautiful females, with wings on their backs and irregular halos floating above their heads—resembling angels in appearance.
Every single Flügel was extraordinarily powerful. Even the weakest among them possessed nation-destroying strength.
And the Elven Corridor itself was the source of power for the Flügel—or rather, for most of the races in No Game No Life.
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