— EMPIRE OF AZ’DAWN, YEAR: 7298. SEASON: NEW BEGINNING.

  Madria sighed. A hot, heavy sun shone with sparse desert winds tickling her ears. Hot was an understatement for the weather of Az’Dawn— scorching —was a more apt description. The sun scorched the land as it attempted to do to its inhabitants.

  A city was in the distance—besieged under the combined forces of land and air. It would not last much longer under Edryans might. Her thoughts drifted a country away, her mind on her man and his grand ambitions.

  “A two-pronged attack.

  “I will lead a million-strong army to attack the Federation, while we focus a majority of our efforts on the Empire of Az’Dawn.”

  “Isn’t that dangerous,” Madria questioned, a frown on her face. Lawruthian had grown over the years, and his outlandish ideas and beliefs had taken a certain hold over her, but Madria still knew right from wrong. What her man proposed was something that could go very well, or very, very badly.

  “Yes. Extremely. But I believe the Federation will surrender quickly.”

  Madria cocked her head back, slightly confused as she watched him pace his study, a large map of all three nations before him.

  “Why,” she questioned, curious. It wasn’t that she didn’t have a guess, but sometimes Lawruthian just needed a soundboard to ensure his ideas weren’t entirely crazy. They were, of course, but Madria was used to them by now—only when they were extreme would she express concern.

  “Look at their location. Look at how they trade. Our navy doesn’t even need to attack the coastal cities; it only blocks all trade routes to the Federation. Their land doesn’t hold enough resources in terms of ores, produce, and other sources of income, but they hold many, many mana crystal mines. They’ve traded extensively with Edryan for cheap produce resources. Their other trade partners include various tribes of the Warring Beastman Plains. What happens when all that halts? How long can reserves last?”

  Madria smiled, understanding his thoughts while adding her own. “Then all they can do is rely on what they’ve accumulated. Not only that, but they have no allies to support them in the short term. To get to their position on the map is entirely dependent on whether Edryan says so.”

  He turned around, his kind eyes upon her. He smiled, their eyes locking before he turned away.

  Madria sighed, then perked up as a rushing vehicle quickly halted at their infirmary. The first injured arrived. She stood abruptly, glancing over at her mother, who’d practically forced Madria to be by her side since their birth from Genesis. She claimed to be passing on all that was necessary for Madria to take her place as 1st Daughter of Madris, but Madria knew that was a lie.

  A mother’s worry couldn’t be hidden.

  Madria wasn’t certain of her concerns, but since their emergence from G.E.N.E.S.I.S., her mother hadn’t let her out of her sight, figuratively speaking.

  Her mother shook her head. Madria frowned, opening her mouth to ask a question. Her voice was light but held hints of unregistered concern. She wouldn’t admit it to herself, but she was nervous. Not for the situation as they invaded the Az’Dawn border city, but for Lawruthian.

  She’d gotten used to fighting by his side, and in the few times they could, both went dungeon diving to rapidly gain experience and levels. Their leveling had significantly slowed, even with all the training they did. She’d gotten used to watching his back and him hers during the years leading up to the early start of the Game.

  If she could keep her mind occupied with work, then perhaps these thoughts of worry would fade somewhat.

  “Only the lightly injured have returned; leave them for the lower-level clergy—you can’t steal all the experience,” she lectured, her voice nurturing.

  “His Highness Lawruthian will be fine,” Marna continued. “He has grown tremendously over these years—enough that I’m confident he could fight a Path Walker.”

  Madria shook her head and took a deep breath to relax. She knew Lawruthian’s strength better than anyone. Although he was strong, he’d have to transform at least into his half-dragon form to put up a fight.

  “Thats only if he’s attacking the backline—Path Walkers who were once clergy, or spell casters focused on damage—Lawruthian wouldn’t necessarily be able to kill them unless he completely transforms. They would have to have recently broken through—anything else, and he holds no chance.”

  “See—it’s good that you know his strength so well. That allows you to develop fewer worries.”

  Madria pouted, her eyes on the unloading of injured soldiers. The clergy rushed to them, taking them within tents to provide light healing. Most of these injuries would have a healing solvent applied to reduce the mana expenditure. The healers needed to stay as close to full as possible for the serious cases. These men would be fine to return to the battlefield after an hour or so; if necessary, they would rotate back in when called.

  The Edryan Army, led by General Alexander, swiftly took control of the border outpost the stationed by the nation. Unlike the Federation, the clans of the Empire were in charge of their territories, which meant the only ones defending the border were the men of Ruifall under the command of Tian Ni’Raiku. Likely, it would take a larger advancement for the clans to rally under the banner of the Emperor, depending on how quickly the Heavenly Father wished to respond. And, according to the intelligence, he was under the affliction of a debuff powerful enough to affect demigods.

  His temperament was erratic, and dark storm clouds continuously covered the capital of the nation. The location of Demigod Ra and Demigoddess Dawn, the progenitor of the Yorimen, was unknown.

  Madria shook her head in acknowledgment. Her mother was right, even if the young woman didn’t want to admit it.

  She knew his strength better than anyone. Those long, muscular arms and lickable, chiseled pecs. She couldn’t wait to wrap her arms around him.

  “Well…,” she shook her head, clearing her thoughts. This was a battlefield; Madria had to stay focused. “We should at least observe how the armies are doing. I want to check up on Simra—this is the first time her army marches into battle.

  The Order of Hope —reestablished underneath the Light of Hope’s banner was one of the largest knight orders in the nation. It attracted all manner of clergy men and those wishing to fall underneath her neigh-immortal banner. Paladins, Templars of all three disciplines, rushed to follow her as she was nearly an embodiment of Edryan justice. Perhaps she could use the battle to distract her thoughts further.

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  Marna’s eyes lit up. She’d been observing the battle to a degree—even at over ten kilometers away, her Intent could perceive the area. She took out a mirror, its light slightly holy. Ancient artifacts sprang from the depths of the church and the Gamal family. Things that hadn’t seen the light of day in centuries, if not millennia. If this would help her daughter relax her mind, then it was a small price to pay.

  She activated the device and viewed the area directly above them. Madria drew close, curious, and looked up, not seeing anything in the sky. She looked back down, catching a glimpse of her face as she peered above.

  Her eyes lit up. “This is…?”

  “This is the Mirror World —a Mythical Artifact from ancient Edryan times. It’s been kept hidden by the Church for centuries, only to be pulled out now. The method of production is long lost alongside the understanding of the runes that form its power, but the instructions, quite simple, remain.”

  The powerful scrying artifact showcased a large area above them. Marna pinched with her fingers, and the mirror quickly zoomed out. Madria placed a finger underneath her chin. This seemed like one of those smart devices Lawruthian always raved about. She removed a large rectangular stone with a crystal screen surface—k-Pads, as named by Lawruthian. Its official name is Kubrat Pads, a device that connects directly to the Illision-net. These devices were currently just rolling out to government officials of the Constitutional Monarchy after several years of exploration and tweaking, working alongside mages of the North America Research Center.

  They were… fascinating, if Madria was asked to describe them. These devices contained few functions, but each was quickly becoming a vital part of the nation. The first was their ability to communicate with one another. Madria found it incredible that she could send a message and Amaya would receive it within a few minutes. It wasn’t instant, as Lawruthian wanted, but it significantly reduced communication times between parties.

  Coupled with the built-in Moore-Talkers, which allowed voice transmission, the k-pads were becoming a necessity in all government spaces. Lawruthian already held a general public version that he stated: “…will revolutionize the way this world works—it will enhance the communication and community between a Citizen in Oni-land and a Citizen in Drumia.”

  Madria clicked on a publicly available app called a ‘radio’. Soft music played in the background, a twenty-four-hour live performance constantly running on the Imperius Radio Station. She felt it suited their current environment perfectly.

  Marna dragged her finger on the mirror’s surface, and the view changed from directly above them to the area directly ahead and continuing. It was only when she was above the city of Ruifall that she halted. They were quite high in the sky, but when Madria looked closely, she was able to see the appropriate banners and distinguish who was who.

  “Can you zoom in?”

  Marna shook her head and responded. “There will be too much magical interference, causing the Mirror World to fail.”

  “Then can you center it around here,” Madria questioned, pointing to the location of Simra’s banner.

  It was a simple knighting shield and sword with wings aflame—a standard that represented protection and strength alongside the belief from an old mythical creature called a phoenix. Like dragons, they were supposed to have incredible powers and possessed the ability of rebirth through flames. Simra’s standard was rebirth through flames to symbolize her ‘rebirth’ after becoming the Light of the End.

  They fought on the western front of the city, facing an army of a similar size. Ruifall was a vast city in which only its inner city area was walled. A vast majority was spread throughout the land, inhabiting the oasis upon which the city was built upon.

  The Ni’Raiku clan gathered its subordinate clans and called upon their allied forces, but Madria knew this battle would not last long.

  The Magi, as were the True Elves, were known and feared for a single reason.

  The mirror distorted. Madria gasped, her body vibrating as a bright light appeared in the air.

  Flaming stars fell from the sky—grand ritual magic performed by the mages of the Edryan Army.

  Magic.

  It was the most destructive attribute of those still present in the Elrunian continent. It could not be resisted with the physical body, nor could it be stopped by mundane objects. It could only be countered by Energy, Chi, or Divine. And that was in single combat. The only two energies that could cause mass-scale destruction as such were Mind and Divine. Perhaps there were more in the Lesser Six Attributes, but Madria did not know them. Her understanding of the heritages lost when Elrunian battled against Oblivion was subpar when compared with Lawruthian and Minerva, even more so for the latter.

  “Veil your eyes,” Marna ordered. “You are still mortal, and the light will blind you.”

  Madria gazed away. She looked toward her mother, who stood there watching. She wore a red hijab-like shawl that fell nearly to her knees, covering most of her body like a niqab. She appeared like an ascetic nun of the church who withdrew from mortal desires rather than its leading figure. Her mother had changed, not drastically, but to Madria, her presence seemed more . The divinity of the Goddess that radiated from her was enough to match Lawruthian’s nearly. It held Marna’s own unique twist, but its presence could not be denied. Madria wouldn’t be surprised if her mother could heal an entire army with her power and connection to the Goddess alone.

  Madria’s body shook, and light bled through even as she turned around. The reason Madria believed this attack would not last long was that General Alexander was known for his ruthless tactics. If there was an advantage and a quick method, he would use it. And, Lawruthian desired all wars to end as soon as possible, with a limit of a single year. Alexander promised to finish by midsummer’s eve—less than five months away.

  “How many lives…,” Madria whispered. “How many lives will have been lost?”

  Her mother seemed to hear her even over the roar of the explosions.

  “For magi? Not many, perhaps a few thousand. And not from the explosion.”

  Madria shook her head as she began to speak. She knew General Alexander wasn’t desperate or stupid enough to drop meteors on his own troops. What she was concerned with was the waste of lives lost by the defenders.

  “Lawruthian wants to minimize the loss of life as much as possible,” she softly uttered. “He would prefer commanders to be captured and armies forced to surrender if possible.”

  Marna smiled, although Madria couldn’t see it, she could hear it in her mother’s voice. “Lawruthian’s benevolence will be written in history, but some of his ideals are hard even for the church to complete. What General Alexander is doing now is sending a message-”

  Madria opened her eyes, looking toward her mother as the flames of war lit her face.

  “-resist and you will die. Surrender now for a chance at survival. Besides, he did announce Lawruthian’s terms and benefits from an early surrender. I’m sure you know them better than anyone,” Marna responded, turning to her daughter with a knowing smile.

  Madria pursed her lips and responded, annoyed by her mother’s teasing.

  “Preservation of heritage under Edryan law. Accession to the Pantheon of Imperius for those worthy. And the perpetuation of rule for any state wise enough to kneel in accordance with the Class-Based Constitution Monarchy.”

  There was more, but those were the core three principles.

  Madria sighed. This was going to be a long day.