Voices broke across each other. Ancient battlefields, shared blood against the Dimensional Demons, accusations of cowardice and shortsightedness. Someone pointed out that once the Light Empire fell, every other empire would be next in line, couldn't they see it?
"They see it fine." A quieter voice cut through, "The Throneveil Shrine has fallen from Kronforge. Endless Continent's walls are loosening. The Battle of Planets is coming, and after that, the battle for the God King's Throne. Every Empire is hoarding strength for what follows. They've calculated that the Great Aetherium won't have time to turn on them before the Demons arrive, so why bleed for us now?"
He didn't sound angry. Just tired, "We're not abandoned out of cowardice. The arithmetic just doesn't favor us."
The outrage in the room didn't disappear. It curdled into something harder to bear.
Asher tried another angle, "The Lich and Darkness Pantheon. His Majesty Kazehaya killed their masters, surely they must want revenge, right?"
"They've hidden inside their own Divine Kingdoms, Your Majesty. Waiting to see which way the wind blows." A bitter pause, "They're not going to move for an empire that's already losing."
Someone added, "In the Ancient Era, we served under the Goddess of Light Pandora. Would the Light Pantheon—"
"Your Majesty." An old looking man said in a gentle but firm tone, "Her Holiness Pandora hasn't retaliated against us for abandoning her faith, that alone is more grace than we deserved. And even if she wanted to help, her closest friend, Her Holiness Elunara, is already allied with the Great Aetherium. That door isn't just closed. It was never open to begin with."
Asher said nothing.
Every path led to the same wall.
…
Then the second messenger arrived.
"Your Majesty, the Dark Empire has mobilized. Four cities on the southeastern border, all besieged simultaneously. No warning. Garrisons took immediate heavy losses. Without reinforcements, all four will fall within two hours."
The hall went completely still.
Then, someone added flatly, "Webster wouldn't dare claim territory the Great Aetherium intends to take, unless he already made a deal with them."
That explained the executed messengers too. Webster hadn't been refusing diplomacy. He'd been closing a loose end. One jaw of a trap, closing from both sides.
Every face turned to Asher.
He sat with it. Then said, "Recall all Imperial Gods to the capital. Deploy the full mortal army westwards. The Great Aetherium and the Castle forces are the primary front. We fight them hard." A pause, "The southeast, we abandon it entirely."
"Your Majesty, if we leave it open, the Dark Empire walks straight through—"
"Yes. They do. Easily. They take city after city, grow fat on our territory, and do the hardest work of conquest for free, while the Great Aetherium's forces bleed against our western defenses. The Great Aetherium fights the most brutal war and claims the least ground. The Dark Empire fights no war at all and claims the most."
He let them follow it to the end, "When those two armies finally meet each other, the dispute settles itself. We hold the Imperial Capital until the battle of planets begins, and when the Abyssal Army arrives, the Great Aetherium redirects. The war transfers and we survive."
Abandoning the capital was never an option. Without the empire's national fortune, Asher would lose his status as an Emperor, and everyone in that room would lose the imperial shroud that sustained their strength. They would become factionless, adrift in the Truth Faction. With no empire behind them, their cultivation would grind to nothing.
They would stand, or they would have nothing worth standing for.
…
The orders went out within the hour. Cities across the eastern, southern, and central Light Empire evacuated. Southeastern border cities were stripped and abandoned. Every soldier, every citizen pulled back without a fight offered.
The Dark Empire's legions rode in to find empty streets.
"Lord commander, there's not a single person here."
"Occupy it and keep moving." A grin spread wide on the Commander's face.
They swept through the territory like a tide with no shore to break against.
In the west, on the other hand, it was a different story.
The Castle Faction and the Light Empire's army were tearing into each other at full strength. Every city contested, every meter of ground paid for in blood.
The trap was set. Now came the waiting.
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