"Arrows—they’re shooting arrows again!"

Compared to his stunned reaction the first time, Beck, after having gone through several rounds of arrow fire in the fighting just now, was far more experienced this time. He hurriedly threw down the stone in his hands and ducked into the shadow by the wall.

The fortress’s magic barrier hadn’t been activated, which meant they were still ordinary arrows, and with this kind of suppressive arc fire, as long as you hid in a blind spot, there was nothing to worry about anymore... that was the trick Beck had just learned. He felt like he was already a veteran now. He didn’t need to embarrass himself by getting dragged around by One-Eye again.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

But this time, One-Eye was strangely slow to move. He remained where he was, straining to listen to something.

"One-Eye?"

"The sound is wrong."

"Huh?"

"The direction the sound’s coming from is wrong. It’s not from the front..."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"I’m saying these arrows aren’t coming from the fucking front this time!"

One-Eye’s expression suddenly twisted. He seized Beck and dragged him the opposite way... but at this distance, there was no way they could make it into proper cover. He could only do his best to shove Beck beneath the base of the giant ballista, while he himself grabbed a shield and slung it over his back.

"Thk."

The sound of a sharp arrow punching through flesh was horribly clear. Beck watched the color drain visibly from the face of ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) the man who could laugh while killing enemies even after having one eye maimed in an ambush.

"One-Eye..."

"Stay the fuck down, there’s more coming!"

"..."

Beck’s eyes widened.

Suddenly, firelight flared, piercing the deep night, and in that glow, countless arrows gathered into a downpour and fell from the sky.

Beck felt as if time had reversed itself. Everything had gone back to the beginning. He was here, and the arrow storm covering the heavens came crashing down like the sea rushing in overhead.

But time had not truly reversed, because those arrows were coming from a direction he had never even imagined possible. He and many of the soldiers were now completely exposed beneath the arrow rain. The high wall could not protect him, the scattered formation had no time to build a joint defense, and that one small shield could not possibly shelter two people at once.

Beck thought he was seeing death.

He did not have One-Eye’s boldness, the kind that could laugh in death’s face. Nor did he have the courage to step out from under the shield’s protection and give that one scrap of hope to the more useful One-Eye.

He was just an ordinary person. Just a cowardly, useless recruit.

So he trembled, trembling as he shut his eyes and, remembering his mother’s instructions before he left home, prayed to the heavens at this moment.

He saw many soldiers around him, equally desperate and lost, praying too.

"Goddess... save us..."

Bzzzz!

Then suddenly there came a piercing hum that swallowed the whistle of the arrows, and a vast golden radiance surged upward, enveloping the entire top of the fortress wall.

Beck opened his eyes blankly. His vision was flooded with gold, warm beyond anything a late-autumn night should have been. The arrows were instantly devoured by the golden light, and just like that, the torrential storm blotting out the sky ended as abruptly as rain giving way to clear weather.

Had the Goddess manifested?

No, that wasn’t it.

"I am the Empire!"

Beck heard that voice, majestic and cold. A silver-white figure stood at the highest point, hair streaming in the wind, radiating the Empire’s authority. With a single raised hand, she erased that deathly rain of arrows completely.

"The Empress—it’s Her Majesty! Her Majesty stepped in herself! One-Eye, did you see that?"

The soldiers who had escaped death cheered loudly. Beck excitedly shoved One-Eye, about to drag him into shouting long live the Empress too, when he suddenly realized that the usually noisiest man around was now unnaturally quiet.

"One-Eye?"

One-Eye’s eyes were closed, and his face was still just as pale.

Right—this guy had gotten hit by an arrow just now. Don’t tell me...

Beck’s expression changed, and he hurriedly caught hold of him. "One-Eye, One-Eye, what’s wrong with you?"

"..."

No answer.

Beck’s face changed too, and all at once he had no idea what to do.

"No way. It was just one arrow... you can’t tell me a wound this small is enough to... enough to... You called yourself an experienced veteran, didn’t you? Didn’t you say you could still laugh and kill even with your eye hurt? It’s only one arrow..."

Beck kept shaking him. That man who had always seemed so solid and towering now felt horrifyingly limp, like a lump of rotting mud slowly going soft.

"One-Eye..."

Beck’s eyes burned.

"You can’t die. If you die, who’s gonna cover me? If you don’t die... I... I’ll give you all my jerky from now on!"

"Really?"

"Of course really. As long as you don’t die, it’s just jerky, I—"

Beck froze and slowly lowered his head.

Then he saw that guy who had looked like he was about to melt into a corpse a second ago now waggling his brows at him with his one good eye.

"That’s a promise, then. No taking it back."

"You!"

Beck shoved him away hard, teeth grinding. "You were messing with me again!"

"Ow, ow, ow, ow... how is that messing with you? I’m collecting a debt. I just saved your life again. Won’t you at least part with a little jerky?"

One-Eye bared his teeth and shivered from the pain.

Beck looked down and saw an arrow stuck through One-Eye’s calf, blood pouring nonstop.

"Are you okay?"

Thinking that this nasty-minded guy who loved tormenting him, the new recruit, had gotten hurt because of him, Beck’s heart softened. The anger from a moment ago vanished, and he quickly helped One-Eye up again.

"Hang on. I’ll take you to the medics to get that treated."

"Wait."

Even though cold sweat was already covering his forehead from the pain, One-Eye still stopped Beck for the moment.

"Don’t rush. Go look at the other side of the wall first."

"The other side?"

"Quit talking and go."

"Oh..."

Beck had still not fully recovered from the shock just now. His head was still buzzing. But One-Eye had always been much clearer-headed than Beck, and those arrows coming from the opposite direction had already given him a very bad suspicion.

So Beck, supporting One-Eye, limped with him to the other side of the fortress wall.

The two of them lowered their heads at the same time.

The fire that had flared into the sky just now had not yet fully died out, illuminating the night, and so in their eyes there was a scene unfolding at the other end of the fortress just like the one they had only recently endured—and even more terrifying.

Flags whipped through the smoke and fire. They were the Kingdom’s flags.

Another Kingdom army had appeared from nowhere. Their shouts covered the mountains and plains, and the black mass of their forces stretched endlessly into the night.

They launched their attack without hesitation. There were no siege engines and no thundering cavalry, but the Imperial side here had fallen into danger almost instantly.

Because this was the Empire’s interior. This was the rear of the fortress.

There were no prearranged ditches and deadly obstacles here, no magitech cannons already aimed and braced, no strong walls, no iron defenses. And because this was the rear, the Empire’s supply depots, troop encampments, and temporary hospitals for the wounded had all been set up here.

And now those vital facilities lay exposed to the Kingdom’s attack like pitiful girls about to be sacrificed to an evil god—helpless and frail.

"Wh-what is this..."

Beck was so frightened he nearly collapsed to the ground. His not-very-brilliant brain simply could not understand how the rear of the fortress could suddenly be under enemy attack.

"Shit."

Leaning on the wall, One-Eye snapped off the arrow shaft in his calf and let out a cold laugh.

"Looks like our medics won’t have time for us. They’re busier than we are... busy enough to die."

...

...

"So this was Aurier’s scheme?"

Celicia stood at the highest point of the wall, letting the cold wind brush through her hair. The pretty, icy face lit by the fire burning in the camps below showed not the slightest trace of anger. It was calm to a terrifying degree.

But it was exactly that calm that made everyone present unconsciously hold their breath. No one even dared breathe too loudly. Some were already trembling. A thin frost began to spread across the ground, as if time itself had suddenly sped forward into a bitter winter.

"Count Tern."

"Present."

A white-haired old man stepped out from the group.

"Do you have anything to say for yourself?"

"I... don’t know how to say it."

Count Tern, who was in charge of military intelligence, let out a bitter laugh and said,

"We were already on passive defense, so it was difficult enough just to send scouts out at all. I truly did my utmost to improve our intelligence work, but I never imagined... that the Kingdom’s army would appear behind our backs."

"There was no advance warning?"

"Who sends scouts behind themselves?"

"..."

The atmosphere froze for a moment. Everyone looked at each other. They all knew that with something like this happening, Count Tern, who was responsible for related matters, could not possibly escape blame—but at the same time, no one could truly bring themselves to accuse him.

That was right. This was the Empire’s interior. Who would be on guard against what should have been the safest ground at their backs?

"I will accept responsibility for this."

Count Tern bowed his head. "I ask that Your Majesty strip me of my noble status and punish me according to Imperial law."

"Raise your head."

"Your Majesty, at a time like this someone needs to take responsibility, so the men can be calmed—"

"The battle isn’t even over yet, and already it’s time to divide up the blame?"

Celicia’s tone suddenly sharpened, her voice cold as frost. "If you want to die that badly, save your head for the battlefield. Right now I do not wish to dirty my hands with the blood of my own people."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Count Tern raised a hand and said in a trembling voice, "Next, I will personally lead a force to meet those Kingdom bastards."

"Good."

Celicia turned around and once more faced the flames burning in the night at the weakest point in their position.

Her fingertips tapped lightly as she thought for a moment.

"Viscount Diyur."

"Present."

"Take my guard and stabilize the situation. Do not let our rear collapse completely."

"Yes!"

"Viscount Bivis."

"Present."

"Lead a cavalry force straight into the Kingdom’s formation and check their advance."

"Yes!"

"Baron Derik."

"Present."

"Continue commanding the defense of the fortress’s front wall. We cannot neglect one side for the other."

"Understood!"

Those orderly commands scattered through every part of the fortress on the night wind. The soldiers who had been restless and panicked gradually steadied themselves under Celicia’s cold, ruthless words, gripped their weapons again, and prepared to meet the enemy now almost upon them.

But Celicia kept looking toward the rear of the fortress.

That vast Kingdom formation had struck under cover of night and had now fully crashed into the Empire’s position. The two sides were like two wholly different great rivers slamming together and mingling in blood.

This won’t work, Celicia thought.

They had truly been caught off guard, forced to meet the enemy’s fiercest offensive with their most vulnerable point. Celicia’s response had already been swift, but if they could not carve out even a little breathing room, then no matter how fast her reaction was, it would not matter. The rear of the fortress would still be strangled to death by the Kingdom.

Aurier’s move was vicious beyond question. One moment’s carelessness, and he would checkmate them completely.

So she had to do something.

Celicia took a step forward.

"No!"

Count Tern, who had not yet left, moved in front of her.

"Your Majesty, you cannot take the field personally again."

"Move."

"Your Majesty, intercepting that arrow storm just now already cost you greatly. If you act again, it will surely damage your body. Please—"

"Move."

Celicia lowered her eyes slightly, and terrifying cold descended at once, making Count Tern shiver on the spot.

His lips trembled. Shaking frost from his beard, he moved aside helplessly.

"I know what you are worried about, Count Tern. But I am the Emperor of the Empire, not that self-important old fool from the Kingdom. I am not so fragile as that."

Celicia rose above the fortress and looked down upon the two armies in the night. The raging wind swept her hair and the hem of her clothes into motion, making the majesty of the Empire’s ruler seem like sudden daylight falling from the heavens.

"Anna."

"Ah, all right, all right. Since I’m the older sister here, I suppose working a little harder is only natural."

That helpless yet playful sigh sounded only by Celicia’s ear. Behind her, a bright full moon rose at some unknown moment.

Under the moonlight, many of the Kingdom’s soldiers suddenly found their shadows dancing wildly—and then attacking them. For a moment, chaos spread through their ranks and briefly delayed the onward surge of that tide.

Taking that opportunity, Celicia stretched out one finger and lightly traced it across the boundary where those two "great rivers" met...

And a single inconspicuous silver line split the earth.