Forcing themselves to focus on the task at hand, Chris and Kyaty dived into the sea of crazed people. They didn’t even stop to consider the possibility that the wave of crazed religious zeal might have affected the Liberators’ own members.
In the Odion Federation, the Liberator village in the mountains was facing a similar crisis.
“All of the federation member states are mobilizing their armies? Do we have any idea why?” Sim asked, his voice echoing throughout the makeshift pavilion that had been set up in an empty plot in the village.
All of the other beastmen generals were in the tent as well, and it was Nirke who replied, saying, “I’m afraid not. Our support branches have all told us that things are normal in the cities.”
“They’re not trying to suppress the new groups that popped up in support of the Liberators...are they?”
“It doesn’t seem so. They’re just all heading east.”
Sim had been receiving reports that numerous groups had started appearing within the federation that had come out in support of the Liberators. He wouldn’t have been surprised if the church had petitioned the federation’s leaders to mobilize their armies to stamp them out, but it seemed that wasn’t the case.
“Hmm... I doubt they’re planning to launch a second invasion of the Pale Forest, but...”
Sim couldn’t figure out what the federation’s intention was, which bugged him.
Everyone else looked similarly confused, and an uneasy silence settled over the tent.
Suddenly, a cheerful voice interrupted the meeting, saying, “Everyone, I’ve brought you some food! Can I come in?”
“Oh, is it already that late? You can come in!”
A young woman in her midtwenties pushed aside the tent flap and walked in. She had originally been a nun, but when she’d reported a priest’s misconduct to the church, she and her family had been branded heretics. She had been about to be executed when the Liberators had saved her. She was a gentle woman with a motherly demeanor, and all of the village’s kids loved her. She was carrying a basket that was giving off a delectable smell.
“Thanks for always making us food.”
“Oh, it’s nothing, really. I just want to do what I can to help.”
As she started deftly handing out food to everyone, Sim smiled. She didn’t despise beastmen the way most humans did, nor did it look like she was forcing herself to be friendly with any of them. She simply treated Sim and the others like she would anyone else. The fact that they were from a different race didn’t bother her at all. Sim truly hoped from the bottom of his heart that the day would eventually come when everyone in the world was as open-minded as her.
“Oh yeah, you went into town yesterday to buy groceries, right?”
For just a moment, the woman’s hands stopped, but then she replied, “Yes. I’m afraid this village can’t completely provide for itself. I occasionally go into town under the guise of a traveling merchant and stock up on supplies. People would start getting suspicious if I stopped making my regular trips, I think.”
“Oh yeah, I’m not saying you need to stop. I was just wondering if you’d heard any useful rumors while in the city.”
“Not particularly,” she said with a shake of her head as she finished handing out food.
“Oh, but something nice did happen,” she stated as she took off the necklace she was wearing and showed it to Sim and the others. “It’s pretty, isn’t it? I got it as a gift. Apparently, it’s called Loyalty’s End.”
“Is that an artifact?” Sim asked. Only he and Nirke, the two beastmen in the room who possessed mana, could see the necklace for what it was.
Nirke’s expression soured, and he stared intently at the woman’s face. Meanwhile, Sim asked, “That’s a rather ominous name for a necklace, don’t you think?”
“Really? I think it’s wonderful. Being loyal to the person you love until the very end sounds so romantic, don’t you think?! I know I’ll be loyal to—”
Smiling, the woman walked over to Sim. A shiver ran down his spine as she got close.
“Commander, something’s wrong! Get away from—”
The moment Nirke tried to hold the woman down, her eyes rolled into the back of her head.
“To Ehit-samaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!”
Her smile grew even wider, and as she screamed, her necklace started to emit a blinding light.
A second later, there was a deafening boom, and the tent was blown apart. The rest of the village’s residents stared at the explosion in shock, pale-faced.
“C-Commander?!”
“What happened?!”
Confused, the residents tried to run over and help Sim and the others.
“Oraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”
Unfortunately, a series of screams echoed throughout the mountains, stopping the people in their tracks. Hordes of people who looked like regular civilians started appearing from all of the secret passages that led to this village. There were more of them than anyone could count.
“H-How did they find out about this place?!”
A new series of screams could be heard from within the village, answering the confused resident’s question. They had traitors in their midst. Without any way of knowing who was friend and who was foe, the Liberators fell into a panic. Plus, the army of enraged commoners didn’t help matters either. Worst of all, their leaders had all been within that tent, and now there was no way of knowing whether they were still alive.
“W-We have to fight them!”
“Don’t be stupid, they’re just civilians!”
“But the way they’re acting isn’t normal!”
“That’s all the more reason not to harm them! Have you forgotten our creed?! Remember why exactly you chose to join the Liberators!”
“Y-You’re right! For now, let’s figure out whether or not General Sim is still alive! We need to find our Skynet and Dark Gate and Dark Key as well!”
Both their means of communication and their escape tools had been in the tent with Sim. If those tools hadn’t survived the explosion, then the Liberators would be completely isolated within this death trap.
The situation was quite grim, so all of the beastmen warriors looked suitably worried.
Further to the east, the Pale Forest had once again become a battlefield. A million soldiers from the Odion Federation had launched a fierce assault on Haltina.
“Report from battalion four! Our defensive lines have been breached!”
“The center can’t hold any longer! We can’t afford to use non-lethal tactics! There are just too many of them!”
“Without Her Majesty’s powers, we can’t hold back a horde this big!”
A series of hysterical voices mingled as they were transmitted through the large Skynet that had been set up in the room behind the throne room within the Haltina Republic’s palace.
Panicking a little, Badd shouted, “Hey, is there still no word from Sim or HQ?!”
“It’s no good! Our transmissions aren’t getting through!”
“Goddammit,” Badd spat.
Three days ago, they’d received an urgent report from Marshal, who’d been hiding in the Liberator village near Agris, the federation’s capital.
“There’s something strange happening in the Odion Federation.”
That was all it had said. The next day, an army composed of both soldiers and civilians had invaded the Haltina Republic. There had been so many of them that they’d covered the northern, central, and southern parts of the forest. It honestly felt like some kind of sick joke, but the reality was that this massive army was on the verge of swallowing the republic whole. In some places, the beastmen were no longer able to stick to non-lethal tactics, so they’d been forced to start killing the invaders. The attacks didn’t stop even at night, and corpses were piling up within the forest at an astonishing rate.
“Parsha! We can’t maintain the front any longer! Have everyone retreat to the capital! We’ll make our stand here!”
Parsha grimaced when she heard Badd say that. The capital was the Haltina Republic’s final stronghold. Over the past three days, many of the republic’s residents had been evacuated here already. Moreover, the Sacred Tree still hadn’t recovered fully. It was nothing more than a giant target at the moment.
Parsha wanted to avoid turning the capital into a battlefield if possible. Unfortunately, she wasn’t left with much of a choice.
“I suppose holding out until Her Majesty returns is the best option... Very well, then. Call everyone back!”
Badd nodded and had the messengers inform everyone at the front lines to retreat.
“Badd!” a familiar voice cried out as Badd was overseeing the retreat. Badd turned to see Marshal, who’d gone missing right after he’d let everyone know that the federation was coming three days ago.