Yo! Exam time!

A certain village, far, far away from Athena. The atmosphere was deathly silent. The gloominess looming all over the village. The clouds dyed in the shade of black overwhelmed the skies. No sign of any life form could be sensed in the area surrounding the village.

It was a dead village scarred with war. Despair and anguish etched on every inch of the rotten land. One could still experience chills creeping down their spines when entering this village. Suddenly, two streaks of silver lights flashed. Sounds of wind moving at high speeds filled the surroundings and broke the initial deathly silence.

"It"s quite the scene, isn"t it?"

There was a voice, a deep and indifferent one. Heavy, to the point of startling.

"Those little b.a.s.t.a.r.ds from Miakhen are quite energetic. Destroying villages once they called their own, raping the women they once ate from the hands of, making slaves of children who once ran up to them with smiles… Truly, what internal strife it is."

It was a voice filled with pain. Mockery, some would call it. His figure wasn"t visible, but just from the voice, one could tell that he was someone who was filled with scars, both emotional and superficial.

"The information isn"t going out. The world doesn"t know. The two long-distance communication devices in all of Ares have been destroyed. Even those from Demeter are unaware."

The heavy voice resounded throughout the village.

"Hmph! An inter-continental war is approaching and they"re just sitting by. Ignorant of their impending doom."

"What is the progress on that matter?"

"It is done. The Dragon Order is ready to help… They demand just one thing."

"What is it?"

"They wish to be excluded from this struggle. They would love to see the five glorious nations fall, another generation being annihilated and born anew, just like the previous one. They are beings that are indifferent to the matters of the world, some of their members have seen the rise and fall of the world more than once. However, it seems like nothing would be more pleasurable for them than to incite the war. They"ve been working behind the scenes for the last two hundred years, just to see the world at its peak being ruined and burned into nothing."

"They are some twisted humans... Aren"t they?"

The heavy voice seemed amused as it lost its icy-coldness for a bit.

"If they were humans… Wouldn"t this fragile world lose its fun aspect?"

It was a golden hall, adorned with all the wealth and beauty of the world. A throne stood with pride, lion-like ent.i.ties for armrests, stairs covered with a red carpet leading to the highest seat in the whole nation. On which, a man in his late forties sat with his eyes closed. His body the definition of muscular, his presence overbearing, his aura radiating superiority of a monarch, and his crown signifying his position in the world.

"Royal Father… The western region has been taken care of. Do you have any more orders?"

A woman who still adorned the mantle of youth kneeled at the bottom of the stairs, not daring to look into her father"s eyes. She was clad in a robe similar to her father"s, but of course, the difference between a monarch and a princess was clear with a single glance.

"Yes. Soldiers. Prepare them for battle. From today, they should receive ample rest and food. Go and get the best women we"ve procured from the ma.s.sacred villages and distribute them among the forces. Let them enjoy themselves for a bit, they are going to be extremely busy soon."

Listening to her father"s command, her head sunk further as she immediately replied.

"This child heeds Royal Father"s orders."

In a certain room, around a round table covered in a velvet cloth, two women with superfluous appearances of whom could only be called earth-shaking enjoyed their little chat while drinking what seemed like high-quality wine.

"Did you hear? Dragon Order is inciting the grand-scale war this time around."

The woman with violet hair and a similar colored thigh-split dress said while taking a sip of her wine. Her seductive lavender-colored lips smacked as she amused herself with trifles of the world.

"Heh… If that p.a.w.n of an organization can throw the world into chaos, then this world is not worth existing."

The blond woman with a scarlet gown said while covering her lips with her fingers.

"Fufu, you are right. If a p.a.w.n can cause this much disturbance, then imagine what the Queen and the King can do..."

The violet-haired woman said while brushing her long hair with her slender fingers.

"Fufufu, truly…"

"How are they planning to conduct the attack?"

A man clad in a green-colored robe asked while tapping his fingers on the table by his side. His expression seemed calm, but his signature gesture displayed his anxiousness.

"It doesn"t matter, does it? Question is, how are they planning to defend…"

There was another man in exact same robe, however, white hair reaching his waist and his white beard swaying with the wind gave him an old appearance which was in complete contrast with the youthful appearance of the one in front of him.

"Both the King and the Crown Prince are extremely strong and crafty, I believe that they are already aware of this unprecedented development and are planning countermeasures. If not, then they don"t deserve the widespread reputation they have."

"If they can stall the forces, then it"d be all the more advantageous for us, however, if they fall under one year and the forces turn their blades towards us, then we"re finished. We are a merchant nation, the power we wield is money, raising a sufficient army to repel such horrendous forces under one year is nigh impossible."

"I hope they can either cancel each other out or Athena destroys them. I"d hope for the former. Anything else and we"ll be the victims of a crossfire between nations."

"I just hope that people don"t die for nothing."

"Father, what is our next move? The soldiers and mages from the various cities have been called back. Soon, our forces would cross five-million, and including the adventurers and n.o.bles we"ve called in for the Athena Festival, we"ll have a strong army, however, our enemies have been preparing for this for quite some time, their forces are at ready, and their people are aware. On the contrary, all the n.o.ble houses except the Royal Family are ignorant as to our current predicament. Should we call back all the forces and citizens from the border and allow them to take all the cities except the Royal Capital to have a last stand, or should we continue as we are and dispatch our forces to the border as soon as the invasion begins?"

Vernyx asked while sitting on a chair beside his father. His expression showed anxiousness and urgency, but only he knows what he truly feels.

"Hmm… Continue monitoring the situation. Gather all the forces in the nearest city and pa.s.s my royal decree that no information should go beyond the city walls. Let the border forces be. As soon as the invasion begins, pinpoint their location and send our army in for a battle. We have a very limited number of mages, do keep the numbers in mind."

Silbinas said while cupping and cheeks.

"Understood."

"So, the day of chaos isn"t far Toru."

Toru sat on a certain cloud in the sky. Naturally, he was using wind magic to support himself.

"Yes, well, for someone who hasn"t seen war since he was born, this will be quite interesting."

Celice sat by his side, her cheeks in her palms, a bored expression etched on to her face.

"Fufu, and for someone who has been a witness of wars for many centuries, I would love to see your role in it."

Toru teased while sneering.

"Hey! You can"t talk about a lady"s age!"

Celice pointed her finger towards Toru and exclaimed with a wronged expression.

"Why are you here again? Shouldn"t you be at Sylvia"s side?"

"Ugh. All she does is talk about you or work. I"d rather spend my time with you than with a six-hundred years younger lovestruck fool."

"Celice is admitting to her age, that"s new. Didn"t you scold me like fifteen seconds ago?"

"Do you want a beating? Whatever, tell me, have you planned something grand for this so-called "war"?"

"Not much honestly. Just some explosions…"

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