The mechanized army reached Elenor like a moving apocalypse.
Steel shadows stretched across the horizon—endless rows of mechs marching in perfect formation, their footsteps shaking the coastline itself.
For the first time in a long while…
Jhonathan stood as a city's final shield.
The Swords were mostly unconscious or recovering.
That left only him—and what remained of his party—to defend the capital.
Jhonathan wore the armor of Elenor's royal guards.
It didn't shine like a king's armor.
It looked simple.
Heavy.
Real.
Then the invasion began.
Missiles launched.
The sky lit up.
Jhonathan raised a hand.
The projectiles stopped mid-air—
then crumpled like paper under invisible pressure.
Laser fire followed.
A wall of light swept across the city.
Floating swords appeared around Jhonathan instantly.
They rotated like a defensive storm, absorbing and deflecting every beam before it could touch the ground.
Gunfire erupted from multiple directions.
But every bullet either shattered mid-flight…
or was redirected by impossible timing.
Around him—
his party moved like a coordinated defense system.
Arrows pierced helicopter cores mid-air.
Smaller drones were split apart before they could even lock targets.
Energy barriers collapsed the moment they formed—broken by stones thrown with divine force or simple strikes imbued with raw godly intent.
It wasn't a battle.
It was a dismantling.
One by one—
millions of mechs fell across a single day.
By sunset, the ocean was silent again.
Elenor still stood.
The next day, the city gathered.
A ceremony was held in the central plaza.
A medal of honor was prepared for Jhonathan.
Kings, nobles, soldiers—all present.
For once…
there was hope.
King Alfred stood awkwardly at the podium.
"…Today we honor—"
SHINK.
A knife flew through the air.
Straight toward him.
Chaos erupted instantly.
And then—
a familiar presence appeared.
Goja.
She stood on the shattered edge of the plaza, smiling faintly.
The celebration froze.
The air turned heavy.
"…I came back," she whispered.
The awarding ceremony was over in an instant.
Elenor, which had just survived a war with machines…
was about to face something far worse again.