-

POV Eden Civillis, Emperor

The world burns. It hurts to watch it all go.

What I heard from the fronts of my allies is that the war goes well for them. Dalka is overrun, Northspire is neutered, and the east holds. My side was going well at first, with the river secured by mermaid strike teams, and heavy weapons coming in from Crystalspear things were good for a while.

However, this wasn't enough in the end. It was pretty obvious my position in the capital wasn't one I could hold. Magnus stopped an uncountable number of assassination attempts on my life. Many of those attempts were desperate citizenry that feared the alliance, including the Empire's former greatest enemies. It does gladden me greatly that while those people were many, those who sided with the Coalition were in greater count.

"The path is clear mi'lord, those scouts you sent were right." No, what eventually destroyed our position weren't the incompetent nobles or internal strife.

"Excellent, from this point on we could use every bit of fortune bestowed upon us by either of the goddesses."

The defense of Beirlitz quickly devolved into a disaster in the making when an organized attack came from squid-faced interdimensional forces. They rapidly took the walls while sending monsters into urban area's. Many of my generals said that we could repel them with time and effort, but it would cost us dearly. Not to mention, the noble faction would not doubt use the moment to take the capital. So instead, I ordered the complete evacuation of the capital. There were protests of course, but the capital is its people. As long as the people survive, we can rebuild. The invaders seemed more than happy seeing us leave.

"How is our caravan looking?" I direct the question to the governor of the capital, who is now in charge of the people on the move. It is fascinating to learn so much from nomadic travel from a short conversation with some greenskins.

"Food is dwindling, but moving across the river and forest is keeping it plenty stable for now, and while spare parts are in high demand to fix the wagons, the storage of parts is still plenty higher." Good news on that front then. Once we began the evacuation, we took everything with us that wasn't nailed down, and I also took command of the mermaid expeditionary force to cover our flank while also providing fish for the fleeing city. We effectively sacked Beirlitz, and if all goes well, my enemies will find a surprise left.

"Your majesty, your order has been fulfilled successfully, glory to the Empire." A member of the Shadow Hand says it through the thin fabric of the wagon. He probably intended for the message to be only heard by him, but the thick walls of the palace are no more, and my council overhears it. I suppose the time for hiding has now passed.

Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

"Look! The capital!" One of the escorts points behind us as we ascend a small hill, from here everyone can see what happened there, and my council can see what I ordered.

The Beirlitz palace can be clearly seen at this distance, especially considering it is on fire right now. Nearly all of our explosives were used to set traps at vital locations, and many of those bombs were incendiary. Invading forces would simply find themselves in a ruined city. A city that those damn squid-heads and the nobles can fight to the death over all they like. The governor and the general of the vanguard stare at me wide-eyed. Seemingly at odds with believing I could burn our own capital.

"I think congratulations are in order for me, I am not only the first emperor to sack Beirlitz, I am also the first to raze the largest city in the world." It is fascinating to learn so much about nasty tricks from a short conversation with an otherworlder.

I'm surprised that people still get shocked so easily from stuff like this. They know we are 'heading west to rally with allies', which can only mean The Demon Lord. My other allies are dwarven bandits, mermaid pirates, barbarian cultists, and the undead.

After a minute, the first few sparks of comprehension dawns on the men. I don't want to be here to hear their questions that they themselves can easily answer, so I take the time to get a horse, and move closer to the river. The pirate ship sailing with us mostly carries supplies, and while its guns are mostly for show, what is below the ship is certainly the real threat. Moving closer to the water, a shadow appears from under it, and a mermaid carrying a crossbow emerges from the water.

"Greetings Emperor Civillis, what do you need?" The mermaid looks around in suspicion. It really doesn't take a genius to figure out they take after their leader.

"What has Esstrey been doing to all of you to get such... disciplined troops? I wasn't expecting pirates to have any guards, let alone a rotation." They have been patrolling the river even at night, like we get attacked every night from the river.

"She mostly just has us locked up with some of the starving mongrels commonly found on the streets in Quintillius. I think she said something about making people desensitized to close quarters combat, but our ship bound comrades tend to jump at shadows from the training. They seem to think there is a threat lurking under the water wherever they are." The mermaid gives a large smile as she says the last bit, thoroughly enjoying seeing humans scared, no doubt.

"Right, I'm going to go see if I can talk to someone more mentally stable." I move my horse away from the water, and slightly more to the center of the caravan. Some dwarven smiths have made mobile smithies in the wagons, and are constantly replenishing ammo for our foraging parties to use.

"Hello lads, how goes work?" I pick up a small metal globe next to an anvil. Urist's people sure make some weird stuff.

"Careful yer majesty, yer nae wanna lose yer fingers, aye?"

"Why? It doesn't look too dangerous." It kind of looks like artwork of a fruit that was all the hype some years back among the nobles.

"It be a bomb, ye push tha' lil thingy right there and kaplooey!" I carefully put the death-fruit back where I found it. Alright, the sanity isn't here either.

I look back to my capital, the capital I burned down. Do I even deserve sane company?

As I start to ponder the legitimacy of my rule, I am interrupted by the flapping of bird wings, and a harpy lands on top of a nearby wagon.

"Massage for uhhh... Eddy Civilian? It's from scary fish!"

Goddess, I could use a massage right about now.