“Raaagh! You will not pass!” The soldier who’d been looking forward to seeing his sweetheart aimed a crossbow at Sérignan.
“Not good enough!” She hacked at the crossbow bolt flying toward her, deflecting its trajectory so it only skimmed her cheek.
Sérignan then lunged at the soldier and rapidly closed the distance.
“Ugh...” The soldier sagged as Sérignan’s blade stabbed into his chest. “Ka...ren...”
And with that final word, the soldier breathed his last.
“Your Majesty, we’ve taken over the mountain road and regrouped with the Genocide Swarms,” Sérignan said. “The enemy’s rear guard is in shambles. We should be able to take the road now.”
Frantz’s attempt at a blockade had been thoroughly ruined. The surprise attack from the Genocide Swarms had killed most of the enemy’s rear guard, and the pincer attack had finished off the rest.
“Good work, you two. This war will be over soon.”
The queen of the Arachnea was confident in her victory, but she was unaware how easily that confidence could be wrested away...
♱
After our successful surprise attack on the Indigo Mountains, I had our army cross the mountain at a snail’s pace as we prepared to advance south. With the natural mountain range conquered, all that remained were open fields. There was a paved road leading to Saania, and once the Swarm began its march, it wouldn’t be long before the city—and the Popedom as a whole—lay in ruins.
According to the Parasite Swarms, the army’s operations were mostly managed by Paris and Frantz’s generals. Now that Paris had gained control of the Department of Punition, no one could oppose him anymore. His word was effectively law. I could still use the Parasite Swarms to disrupt the enemy’s chain of command, however. I already had three cardinals and an archbishop under my control.
Paris... I’ll make sure you pay an especially bitter price.
“Your Majesty, there’s trouble!” Sérignan hurried toward me in a panic.
“What’s wrong?”
“The Empire of Nyrnal has launched an invasion on the old Kingdom of Maluk. They’ve declared war on the Popedom of Frantz as well. That country pulled the rug out from under our feet!”
What? We’ve been completely had...
The majority of our army was focused on attacking Frantz. Since I had made sure Nyrnal was completely isolated during the International Council, I’d assumed they wouldn’t be taking up military operations anytime soon. At the very least, I’d expected that they would resolve their tensions with their neighboring countries before doing so.
But reality, as it turned out, wasn’t quite so kind. The Empire of Nyrnal intended to crush the Arachnea and the surrounding countries all at once. I had to bitterly acknowledge their adventurous spirit, if nothing else. They were fighting on two fronts just like we were, but they weren’t afraid to go for it all the same.
Now our situation was turning critical. We only had unreliable walls and Eyeball Spires standing between the former Kingdom of Maluk and the Nyrnal Empire. We didn’t even have any Toxic Swarms stationed there to fend invaders off from a distance.
The enemy’s siege weapons could easily break through those feeble walls and destroy the Eyeball Spires. All we had were 500 or 600 Ripper Swarms, which weren’t effective at dealing with heavily armored foes.
“What should we do, Your Majesty?”
I had to make a decision. Now.
“Defending the Kingdom of Maluk is impossible; we’ll have to abandon it. Have the Swarms engaging them right now buy as much time as they can while the Worker Swarms in the rear cross into Schtraut. Also, have as many of the Ripper Swarms as possible positioned to defend Baumfetter.”
We had no choice but to give up on Maluk. Northern Maluk had mines full of gold deposits, and we had bases all over that territory equipped with an assortment of facilities, but we lacked the numbers to protect them all. Unfortunately, we had to hand the deserted kingdom over to Nyrnal.
But we had to protect Baumfetter. We’d promised to keep them safe, and I couldn’t go back on my word. To that end, I left a small force of Ripper Swarms to hold the border while the rest headed for Baumfetter. I could then use the Fertilization Furnace in my base near the elven forest to produce more Genocide Swarms and keep the village safe. Thankfully, I still had a small store of extra resources set aside in case of emergency. It wasn’t much, though.
“We can’t pick up all our forces and move out fast enough. Especially not after everything we’ve done to cross through the mountains. Losing Maluk is a painful blow, but there’s a chance the enemy might go through Schtraut’s territories to attack us from behind, too.”
“Then I alone shall head out to stop them!”
Marching an army through the Indigo Mountains was a difficult task. The road was only wide enough to accommodate two Swarms at a time. Besides, pulling our army out of Frantz when we essentially had the Popedom at its knees wouldn’t be worth it.
In light of the fact that we had no idea which enemy was the larger threat, turning our backs on Frantz would put our main force at risk. If these troops were to be destroyed, we would find ourselves in a truly hopeless position.
However...
“Sérignan, you’re a seasoned knight and a one-woman army. Even so, you can’t stop an invasion meant to take down a country all by yourself. Everyone has their limits...”
At that moment, I realized that my own limits were staring me right in the face.
“Your Majesty, no one could have imagined this would happen. Nyrnal’s movements were completely unexpected. Do not torment yourself over this.”
“I wish that were true.”
Thinking on it some more, I should have assumed Nyrnal might try to invade. I should have had the Masquerade Swarms infiltrate the Empire and look into what they were up to. Any news of our attacking Frantz would have taken seven to eight days to reach Nyrnal, and Nyrnal had declared war exactly one week after we began our invasion.
I should have moved things along faster. My sluggish actions might have given Nyrnal the impression we were struggling against the Popedom and prompted them to launch an invasion against us.
“No... There’s no point brooding over this now,” I told myself.
Hindsight was 20/20, of course. Right now, I had to focus on looking ahead.
“Have the Fertilization Furnace in our main base produce as many Genocide Swarms as possible, and send them over to Baumfetter. All other facilities in Maluk can be abandoned.”
“Is this defeat, Your Majesty?”
“Have we lost?”