Amelia and Ophelia: The Former Grand Duchess and Saintess.

In the middle of a field of corpses was a tall and well-built man dressed in a silver suit of plate armor adorned with an orange cape that hung behind him, with his scarred and rough-looking face that made him look like a man who had survived much was Count Leopold Lisperno. He sat atop his horse, his one good eye scanning the battlefield before him, the bastard sword in his right hand was drenched in fresh red blood. He had an unmoving and slightly annoyed face as he looked at the dozen bodies of elves who had sprung from the shadows to attack him and his men. He looked behind him and saw several corpses of these new 'Signatari Soldiers' as they were called by his benefactor Sir Matthew of House Baro who were supposed to be make up the core of a new Dukedom Army that was still in the process of being made. He had seen how they fight firsthand and for a group of C-Rank individuals, they were shit. He saw them flail and fail to kill even a single elf of the same caliber and it was up to him, an A-Rank in power to deal the death blows to these knife-eared freaks who dared to attack him. 

While he was glad that there was no more than six of his own that died, he was still annoyed and greatly disappointed by these new soldiers who were supposed to be a new spear that would save the Dukedom. He watched as these supposed soldiers kicked the corpses he had made and watched as they made it look like they were the ones responsible for their deaths when it could not have been further from the truth. 

[A/N: Small guide of rank for the Signatari Soldiers. 

Rank and File arranged from highest to lowest 

• Signatari Commander (Basically Colonel) 
• Signatari Marshal (Lieutenant Colonel) 
• Signatari Grand Captain (Major) 
• Signatari Captain (Self-Explanatory) (Leopold in this case is a Captain via rank) 
• Signatari Ensign (Lieutenant) 
• Signatari Sentinel Commander (Sergeant) 
• Signatari Sentinel (Corporal) 
• Signatari Initiate (Private) 
• Signatari Novice (Recruit) 

It may seem like a lot....it was when I was making it heheh, but regardless, these are the ranks of the Dukedom Army, if you wanna see a full breakdown of both armies for the upcoming battles, lemme know!] 

"Sentinel Maccard!" Count Leopold called out, looking at a young and lanky man wearing a suit of armor and poking the dead bodies with his long sword akin to a child poking a bug with a stick

 "Yes Count!" Maccard replied as he rushed up to him 

"Give me a status report" Leopold ordered 

"Uh....Six of our men are dead but the rest are all still raring to go...sir" Maccard replied best he could 

"Really?" Leopold looked down at him with annoyance 

"Is there a problem sir?" Maccard asked nervously 

"What do you think Sentinel? You saw how we fared against a small ambush. Do you really believe you lot are ready to be proper knights for the dukedom? Hmm?" The Count asked as his one good eye stared down the nervous wreck of a man looking back up at him as best he could 

"I...I believe with more training we could sir" The Sentinel replied, trying to push down some fear clawing up his throat 

"You lot could use more than just more training, discipline, fighting skills and so much more are lacking from all of you. I find that ironic as I believe that most of you were part of slave searching parties. So what happened to you lot now?" 

"Ahhh...uuh....we always relied on the Dukedom Knights who accompanied us to do the fighting rather than ourselves" 

"So now that you are the ones doing the fighting, you all can't even handle it...great" Count Leopold remarked with a disappointed sigh as he rolled his eyes 

{!} 

But before Maccard could say anything back, there was the sounds of blades punching through armor in behind them and the two looked back at the column of soldiers and they saw several soldiers in the middle of the column skewered from the back and being held up in the air by an arachnia and a dragonkin wearing armor that they had never seen before. The jagged black designs of the armor and the pitch-black color it had gave off an eerie vibe that sent shivers down the spines of the soldiers and the Count who were all too stunned to move and speechless, the bodies of the soldiers impaled through the swords didn't even let out a peep as they died. 

"Enemy Attack! Repel them!" Count Leopold snapped as he quickly overcame the initial shock and began galloping towards the enemy 

The arachnia and the dragonkin soldiers quickly retracted their blades from the corpses of their fresh kills and began to move. The arachnia turned to her left and swung the four swords she had in each of her arms, slicing a soldier in half with each swing, the swing strong enough to cut through the supposedly new and impenetrable armor they were issued with. 

Meanwhile, the dragonkin quickly leaped into the air and hovered as he let loose a stream of fire from his mouth that scorched a few more soldiers who began screaming and flailing as they burned alive, he fire also scared Count Leopold's horse as he charged to meet the enemy, throwing him off hard before it ran into the woods. 

"Fight back dammit!" Leopold shouted as he got to his feet, looking at his soldiers who were all in disarray 

Unfortunately, his worries weren't ending here as appearing from both sides, more of these intimidating opponents dressed in the same armor charged at them. He saw as three of the soldiers were charged by a kitsune opponent that moved faster than he could track, with the kitsune weaving through the three of them in the blink of an eye and once she was behind the trio of soldiers, their heads rolled off their bodies much t his horror. He also saw another soldier get stabbed through the chest by a pair of blades wielded by another kitsune before being lifted into the air and freezing the face of the soldier with an ice stream coming out of the helmet. The kitsune then retracted her blades and smashed the soldier's head into a hundred fragments. 

His eyes then snapped to a large orc soldier that towered above and was approaching him with a massive iron club, quickly swallowing his fear, he charged at the enemy with a defiant roar. He fired off a quick thrust of his bastard sword but saw that it was easily deflected by the enemy, but he was not dissuaded as he fired off a combination attack this time around, swinging with finesse as he unleashed several slashes that were blocked by the iron club before he fired off another thrust that his enemy failed to block and was soaring straight towards the chest plate of his foe. 

{!} 

To his shock, the tip of his bastard sword shattered into fragments as he tried to drive it through the jet-black chest plate. He was left stunned and speechless as he looked at his sword, now broken into a quarter of what it originally was. His gaze looked back at the towering foe before him, horror on his face that prevented him from blocking the swing that dug the iron club into his gut, lifting him off the ground and sending him flying a few meters before he crashed onto the ground in a heap. His breathing was heavy as he clutched his abdomen which was searing with pain, he picked up a new bastard sword next to the corpse of a soldier with a giant hole in his chest. 

Struggling and grunting as he stood up, Count Leopold kept his gaze on the massive orc soldier who sent him flying and prepared to charge him again but was stunned as the orc looked at something behind him before looking directly at him and snorting as it turned away to attack the other soldiers. The already distressed Count looked behind him and his eyes went wide as his heart dropped. Slithering into view was a lamia the size of which he had never seen before, the lamia soldier towered over him by thrice his height, its long armored tail thumping against the ground as it looked down at him. This lamia easily ripped apart a soldier that charged her, catching the wrist of the soldier before its massive armored tail wrapped around him and then she simply squeezed, crushing and ripping the soldier apart within her grasp.

The screams of the soldier snapped Count Leopold back to his senses and despite the immense pain he was in, he straightened back up and looked the lamia dead in the eyes before blood from the soldier that was in her grasp was crushed. 

"Vile beast! I will kill you myself!" He shouted as he charged the lamia, letting loose a battle cry as he held his sword high, seeing that the lamia was not even reacting to his charge except for tossing the corpse in her grasp to the side 

{!} 

Suddenly, Leopold found himself suspended in the air, his breathing coming in ragged breaths. He felt the bitter taste of iron and blood in his mouth and his eyes were wide as he could not believe what had just happened to him. The massive lamia moved faster than him despite his size and skewered him through his chest with the tip of a massive halberd that was holding him up in the air. His gasps came in with his breaths and he could feel blood flowing down his mouth and his hands. 

"You....monster" He said as the light drained from his eyes, the last thing he saw was his blood falling on the helmet of the lamia that had killed him. 

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With the enemy commander dead, Erhet threw the corpse of Count Leopold aside and looked at the rest of the Black Guard. Her massive height allowed her to survey the entire battle happening and needless to say, she was satisfied with the performance of her troops against these Dukedom soldiers. She saw one of her elven comrades cut down three of the bastards as they tried to charge her, skewering the first soldier before rapidly pulling her sword back and then decapitating the other two with a swift horizontal slash. There was also another arachnia soldier chasing down four more soldiers who were fleeing, slashing open their backs with the battleaxes in each of her four hands. 

Erhet also saw one of her soldiers incinerate a few more dukedom soldiers with a <Heat Blast> spell that cooked the soldiers alive as they were struck by the intense heat wave fired from the hands of the Black Guard and their screams filled the air as they burned to death. The battle was chaotic for the enemy that was for sure, with some of them brave enough to try and attempt to fight back as their comrades died around them in droves. 

One such soldier charged Erhet from behind, his lungs carrying out a loud defiant shout as he charged down the large lamia with his spear. But despite his heroics, Erhet batted away the spear with her armored tail before wrapping it around the poor soul who struggled to break free. Erhet brought the young soldier up to her face and through the slits in her helmet for her eyes, she could see fear dripping down his face as he was up close to her. 

"Pitiful" She remarked as she threw the soldier down to the ground at full force, shattering his body and killing him instantly.  

She then turned to the rest of the fighting and brought out her halberd to help finish the job. Once she did, however, seven soldiers rallied to a man named Maccard who then charged her in a crescent moon formation from the front. The first three soldiers on the far left were killed before they got into range as Erhet used her armored tail to send them flying far away from her, shattering their bodies with the pure kinetic impact of her tail. Then the remaining four were cut down in a single slash with her halberd, the horizontal slash creating a huge and deep cut across their chests, punching through the thick iron plate and chainmail lining underneath without much difficulty. 

The fighting continued on for a few more minutes as Signatari Soldiers fled into the woods to escape, despite their best attempts, all of them were found, caught, and then killed by the Black Guard who left none alive as per orders. All of the corpses were brought back to the battle site and they were all laid before Erhet. 

"Strip them of their weapons and armor, then burn the bodies" She commanded as she looked at the pile of corpses 

"Understood Ma'am" One of the Black Guards replied as he looked over to his comrades who nodded and then carried out their orders. 

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Meanwhile, back in the Great Hall of the Florinian Clan, all were watching a magic crystal display of what was going on thanks to some floating eye projectors sent out by Ophelia to show off the strength of their personal bodyguards against the soldiers of the Dukedom. The dual monarchs watched the entire thing with satisfaction while the rest of the room was left speechless and a mix of emotions filled their hearts as they saw these intimidating soldiers in black rip and tear their way through forces that had killed their own with ease. 

"By the Gods...what monsters they are" Ahinari remarked as he watched Erhet killing several more soldiers attempting to flee from her 

"And these are the standard soldiers your armies employ?" Fallon asked as she turned to the dual monarchs who were nodding back at her 

"Your people could also benefit from this. You could all benefit from having safety in unity with one another" Ophelia told them as she closed the magic crystal projection, turning all eyes towards her 

"What do you mean by that Your Majesty?" The old elf asked 

"Well, what if we were to say, that there was a choice for you, your loved ones and your entire clan, to be part of something greater" Ophelia began 

"Something that will not only provide safety, but an increasingly better life for all...a life where they no longer have to cower day and night against slavers from the south" Amelia added

"A life where they get to live their lives in peace, prosperity and most importantly, safely" The raven-haired empress finished 

"What would you say to that?" The blonde empress asked 

Ahinari looked at his daughter and then at his clan elders who had been here since Amelia had cured him and heard the whole thing. Their expressions were that of concern initially but after understanding the words being said to them, they all shared the same nod of agreement as they all turned back to the dual monarchs before them. 

"Do you have terms?" Ahinari asked

"We do" Ophelia smiled as she answered him, while Amelia brought out some pens and a stack of papers in a folder from her personal item box 

After an hour of negotiations and listening to the same speeches that the dual monarchs had used on the clans before the Great River and in the central portion of the continent, Ahinari and the rest of the Florinian Clan were convinced wholesale to join the empire. Agreeing to the same currency, the same taxes, the same laws and the same values that they were now to adopt and embrace as their own. The dual monarchs were kind and listened to the special requests of the Florinian Clan, such as their cultural identity and their adjustment time before they were properly integrated into the empire as like all of the clans before them, wished to lay some foundations before they became part of Imperia. 

"Do not worry, your clan identity will be protected under the Cultural Autonomy Law, and all clans have a two-week grace period which they can use to lay foundations amongst themselves in preparation for becoming part of the empire. Such as making a small election for the new mayor of the village who will be accompanying your Clan Leader into the Imperial Council, regardless, by the end of the two weeks, you will all be welcomed into the empire" Amelia told them as they sat across from one another in a table in the Great Hall

"We are grateful for this gracious acceptance of our requests Your Majesties" Ahinari said as he, his daughter and the clan elders all signed the papers before them before handing them over to the dual monarchs across the table

Ophelia stamped each of these papers with the seal of the dual monarchs which was basically the flag of the nation, cementing their commitment to their agreement in joining them. 

"With this, we welcome you to the empire" The raven-haired empress said with a small smile and a nod as she held up the papers 

"Glory to Halkare, Glory to Your Majesties" The room sounded as they bowed their heads

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Standing outside the Great Hall, Doctor Baden stood before the dual monarchs alongside Chief Ahinari as they had a more private topic the doctor wished to discuss with the dual monarchs personally. He had observed everything that had just happened with his very eyes and he knew that if his clan and others down here in the south of the continent were to survive against the dukedom that had been taking away their people for so long and seemingly looked to finally expand northward, they needed to join the Halkare Empire. 

"I will do my best to arrange a meeting between you and my chief, Your Majesties" The blu-ish orc doctor said with a small nod 

"And I will do my best to organize an event where you can meet the rest all in one location" Ahinari added 

"Alright, just keep us informed through a runner from your clan Ahinari, once we get word from your clans, we will personally meet them and hopefully sort all of this out before we begin our advance onto the dukedom" Ophelia replied to them 

"Till then, we will be moving some our scouts ahead to make outposts to warn us of further dukedom incursions. If you wish, they can cooperate with your own people to maximize efficiency" Amelia added, with the two tribals nodding in agreement 

"Good. If that is all, we shall be on our way then" Tha raven-haired empress stated as she saw Erhet and the rest of the Black Guard return 

"Of course, thank you and safe travels Your Majesties" They replied with bowed heads as they saw them on their way out

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As the dual monarchs were walking back northward, Ophelia turned to Erhet who stopped in her tracks, the lamia bowed her head before the monarch and awaited her orders. 

"Did you secure their armor as instructed?" Ophelia asked 

"We have Your Majesties. All of the bodies were stripped of their weapons and armor, we even found magi-collars in some sachels" Erhet answered 

"Good. I want them sent to Vaeron for study, if there is anything useful in them, I wish for us to find out. Understood?" The raven-haired empress ordered 

"Understood Your Majesty" 

"And Erhet" Amelia chimed in 

"Yes Your Majesty?" 

"Give some of those armor sets and weapons to the Adventurer's Guild, I wish for them to try and make models for our own adventurers as well" The blonde empress ordered 

"Understood Your Majesty" The lamia commander replied with another nod

"Good. Then let us get back on our way" Ophelia finished as she and her beloved turned back and began walking northward with their bodyguards following close behind 

A/N: Hello! So the next few chapters are gonna be set-up chapters heheh, if you have questions and the like, leave em below for me to see and answer and as always, Stay Safe and Enjoy Your Day!