The Castle in the middle of nowhere.

I read the report from Berna and sadly lowered my head. I looked at all the intel we gathered about the ruler of the Holy Kingdom of Berna. Patriarch Dolren Igaris, often called Dolrus, a name that indicated his deep connection with the Bernan Pantheon. There was enough to make me sick. He was a sadistic and cruel man who was deeply convinced that he was destined to save the world. The fact that he was... Hmmm. Racist? I don't know if that term is valid. Maybe specist? Anyway. He deeply hated non-humans, especially the Beastkin species. That hatred wasn't even driven by his gods' commandments but by deep conviction about the superiority of Humans. At least that wasn't particularly original on the continent. The Ibrevell Kingdom sincerely believed in the superiority of the Elves. I was sure that there were other supremacist Kingdoms out there.

Irene and Hestia sat with me, silently studying various materials about Berna. Their faces were angry, but from time to time, they closed their eyes or covered their lips in dread. Luna's ears twitched angrily as she entered the office. Without saying a word, she dropped another pile of folders on the desk and heavily sat in her customary chair. The three of them looked at me simultaneously with a piercing gaze.

"We should end this, Theon. Allow us..."

"No. You can't go. Any of you." I interrupted Irene, making her pout with her cheeks puffing outward. "We must not forget about the Dragon's Gate. If we fail to protect it, it will be over for all of us. Remember that it's not the question of if but when the Devilkins arrive."

"Even so, we should do something about the Bernans. We can't let them do something like that without consequences." Hestia put her hands together, seemingly calm, but I saw how furious she was.

"Theon, I can't sit and do nothing while so many people suffer!" Irene slammed her hand on the table.

"Irene, you can't go," I replied firmly. "I will try to use my magic to fix Victory. If that succeeds, Janet will lead the task force to finish that war. But you can't go."

"Theon..." She lowered her voice and started begging me with her gaze.

"If you go, I will have to send at least a full battalion of Praetorians with you, accompanied by one S-tier party of the Adventures Guild or the Flower Girls party. If you think I will let you go without such minimal forces to protect you, you are woefully wrong." I sighed and lowered my head but suddenly perked up and studied the maps carefully. "Why now...? Devilkins...? Hestia, has Cahrona told you where they arrived from?"

"No. They weren't following any fixed route. The last place she remembers was in the north-east." Hestia slowly shook her head. "Why do you ask?"

"Because the Bernan’s behaviour has changed. It's as if they wanted to provoke us..." I rubbed my cheek.

"Do you think the Devilkins contacted them?" Irene hesitated and took a deep breath. "It's a bit far-fetched to me."

"Maybe. But the Bernans are fully aware they can't beat us like this. They probably could have done that at the beginning of the war if they had committed their entire army and used their slaves. But their advantage had already melted like an ice cube in hot water." I ruffled my hair. "However, their chances would change drastically if they had some ally we had no idea existed."

"That's plausible." Luna nodded after considering it for a moment. "If they plan to drive away our forces from Avalon, we can expect them to do even more outrageous things."

"Theon, we must do something before that happens." Irene looked me straight in the eyes pleadingly.

"All right... I'll do something, but be aware that no one can tell how that would end."

"Doing something is always better than doing nothing." She smiled at me with gratitude.

•••

The order came unexpectedly. The King very rarely gave him direct orders, so he was a bit torn. He wanted to refuse just for giggles, but that would be boring. Instead, he listened, and the more he learned about his new mission, the more excited he became. But what convinced him was the fact that he had been fully unleashed. He was allowed to kill however he pleased, and there was only one rule. His targets must belong to Berna's military branches. He smiled wickedly and looked at the woman who combed her hair.

"I got an interesting order... Hahahaha!"

"Interesting?" She ignored his mad laughter but was more concerned about that single, particular word.

"Yes, yes, yes!" He grinned madly; suddenly, his voice changed, and his face softened. "But the mission is a one-way trip, so I would be happy if you stayed."

"Nope. I won't let you go alone."

"Child, you know what I am." His voice was firm and patient. The skeletal arm reached out towards the ceiling as he assumed his true form.

"Yes, I know. But this is probably an excellent opportunity to save more of my kind," she said, shrugging.

Even the first time she saw his true form, Pyonta wasn't scared. She was dead inside long before she met him, and every day back then just brought her closer to final death. But now, after she had obtained the power to save her people and a powerful but insane ally, she had to try.

"Don't complain about it if you die then..." He lowered his head, and a bell from his red and blue hat let out a single, almost sad ring.

"I won't, Mr Jester." She faintly smiled and looked back at him. "So what's the plan?"

"Nothing funny at the moment, unfortunately... They are not quite ready yet to be harvested yet." He sighed and turned back into a handsome Bard. "We will continue to drive that wedge between Berna's highest Lords and the Patriarch until they jump at each other’s throats. I know it's boring but wait a bit longer. Just a bit longer..."

"Mhm..." She shrugged and returned to combing her hair.

•••

"I don't understand..." Dolren looked at the maps.

"We don't have the means to fight much longer, my Lord," the general sighed. "Berna wasn't prepared to wage a war of this scale. We haven't mobilised and trained enough soldiers. We haven't gathered supplies, and even if we had, our logistics couldn't keep up with wartime demands."

"But that brat wasn't prepared, either!" The Patriarch slapped the open palm of his hand across his desk.

"That's a very wrong assumption, my Lord." Correcting the supreme leader of the Holy Kingdom wasn't the most comfortable thing to do, but he didn't care that much at this point. "He was still at war. With the cities that backed him, producing the goods needed during wartime... I hate to say this, but Berna has never waged a war on the scale like this one."

Not so long ago, being the general of the Holy Army of Berna was a prestigious assignment, one that was directly connected with power, wealth, and even obtaining a noble title. Right now, however, it was a death sentence. He was the eighth General this month. His predecessor was executed this morning for incompetence. The young officer was bitter about the fact that he, himself, was probably not going to see the end of next week. Contrary to his predecessors, however, he wasn't delusional about Berna's odds in this war.

"How so?" The Patriarch demanded angrily.

"That man... Theon Avalon fought with Josla Cridia in what effectively was a full-scale war. I won't even try to guess what kind of resources it required and how many generations of his predecessors gathered them, but you know the effect. Cridia is no more." The general looked at the Patriarch, whose patience was rapidly evaporating. "Avalon was objectively at the peak of his power when the war between Arcadia and Berna broke out. He had everything we lacked: an expanded army, working logistics, his own supplies, as well as everything that once belonged to Cridia."

There was much more to it, but explaining the nuances of his craft to someone like Patriarch Dolrus was pointless. He lowered his gaze and wondered how King Theon had amassed such wealth. The Holy Kingdom of Berna never faced such a foe or even a threat of fighting a full-scale war. The mighty Holy Fleet was not only a perfect deterrent to scare off any potential enemy, but usually, it was enough to win every major battle. But the Holy Fleet was now only a memory, and rumour had it that the Arcadians used just a single ship to effectively destroy the Bernan Navy...

"Even so... What is troubling you, Lord General?" The Patriarch looked at him calmly and asked in a friendly tone. "You have access to scores of disposable soldiers after the recent changes."

"What could trouble a dead man, my Lord?" he replied, surprising even himself. But the damage was already done, so at least he could be honest. "Using slaves as frontline warriors won't even entertain our enemies nor slow them down. If anything, it's wasteful, my Lord. Those slaves should have been working instead, helping to produce food, mine for more ore, or work in the metalworks and forges to replace the lost equipment."

"Hmmm... Perhaps. Are you questioning my orders?" The Patriarch looked at the young soldier.

"No, my Lord. We will use them to serve as best as they can." He sighed again.

"What can you say about the enemy soldiers? Their morale should be awful by now." The old man smiled wickedly at him.

"Even if their morale is poor, we can't spot any signs of it. I never heard about warriors like them before. Even our most devoted Paladins would be troubled after killing so many slaves. According to our assessment, the Arcadians should be much more compassionate than that, and their morale should be so low that they shouldn't be able to fight anymore," the General's voice trembled. "Yet, they have not been affected by this at all. What's more, your Majesty, the province of Akosta has been shaken by numerous slave rebellions... We..."

"What did you just say about Akosta?" The Patriarch's angry outburst was replaced by a worried voice. "I wasn't told about any slave rebellions! The governor will pay dearly for this."

"He is already dead."

"Excellent job..."

"No! We lost Akosta! The province authorities and their families were slain by their own slaves. Treacherous Count Nova supplied the rebels, and they were rapidly trained. All the Faithful in that province were enslaved or outright killed."

The Patriarch paled and sat heavily on his chair. He looked at the general with an empty gaze that scared the young man more than his previous anger.

"Oh, Gods... No one has told you, my Lord?" The General would have pitied the Patriarch, but he was too occupied by the thought of his own encroaching death. "In that case, I must inform you about the rebellions in every single major city, facilities using slaves, and every slave camp in the entire country."

"How could that have happened?" Dolren continued to stare unseeingly at the soldier. "Those animals shouldn't have dared raise their hands on the good people who..."

"It was you who gave the order to force the slaves to fight the Arcadians! Wasn't it you who ordered to hold a relative of each such slave warrior and kill them once they die in battle or refuse to fight at all?" The general started yelling. He no longer cared if he died today or tomorrow. "And they died by thousands. But guess what? The people of Berna start whispering behind your back, great Patriarch. They lost their faith that you can stop the war you provoked."

"What are you talking about..." Dolren was so shocked by the young man's attitude that he simply listened and responded, "Arcadia started that war!"

"Isn't it true that our forces captured some completely insignificant border city during the civil war when Josla Cridia was still a Queen? You know, as well as we all, that it was Berna that provoked all of this. I was there when you and General Paval laughed at the Emissary of King Theon when he pleaded for peace." The young man felt a wrath like never before in his life. He looked at the man who was once considered a Holy Man and chosen of the Gods with contempt. "I can't hear you laughing now..."

A sudden internal impulse made the young General tear away the Holy Marshal's insignia from his uniform and toss it in front of the Patriarch. "I beg your pardon, but I said too much. You can choose another general, my Lord, since I will probably die today."

He simply left the room, and since no one chased after him or even yelled, he started running for his life. Everything he believed in his entire life was a lie, and he wouldn't die for lies. Dolren, however, was in shock. He sat silently in the room for a long time, actually grateful for the young man's outburst as he mulled over everything. While the general's punishment could wait, the thing that absorbed his thoughts was of the utmost importance. He hadn’t been informed about most of the things that were apparent for a just-nominated general. That could have only meant one thing: one of the Holy Lords of Berna, one of the country's four most influential figures, was a traitor. Dolren cradled his face in his hands, gritting his teeth in silent frustration, but finally, an angry roar escaped his throat.

"Dolrus? What is going on here?"

"Tell me, Hagon... Have you seen the Master of Spies lately?" he inquired while looking at his old friend.

"I can't say I saw him... Fagnar is probably trying to... Trying to..." The older man scratched his head and hummed, concerned. "To be honest, I have no idea what he is doing."

"I think that he betrayed us."

"What you are saying, Dolrus?! I can't believe it. Fagnar wouldn't... N-no... Could he?" Hagon Ras-daia sat heavily at the Patriarch's table and covered his face. "But that would explain how our enemies know everything about us..."

"Indeed... General... What was his name...? Ah, General Verter, before he ran away, had told me about the numerous rebellions and that we lost Akosta. I wasn't informed about that. Do you have something to tell me?"

"What?! I sent you the reports, in fact, sometimes a few a day."

"And you never wondered why I wasn't responding to any of them?" Dolren raised his voice.

"Only lately, when you hadn't replied to the last few reports, did I start worrying," the man admitted, but when the silence extended, he looked at the Patriarch, whose face was almost purple.

"You dumb..." he started but took a deep breath to calm himself. "The damage has been done... I order you to arrest Fagnar Ras-daia, and hereby I strip him of his titles and his office. We must get from him everything he knows."