The largest country in the western continent and its most powerful player was the Argon Empire. The Empire had four magic towers, seven 4th circle Generals, and an Imperial family made and bred for war. The Emperor was one of only two Archmages on the continent, the other being a wanderer unaffiliated with any of the western countries. Argon had built tension with multiple nations over twenty years and was always on the verge of war, always on the brink of eruption.

A council of thirteen sat in a large conference hall in the Imperial Palace. In the middle of the conference hall was a chair slightly elevated above all the other chairs in the room. There were no guards or protections in place for the one who sat on the throne above all others. He was blond and appeared to be no more than twenty years old with green eyes deeper than the Emerald Forest. His head lay on his fist as he sat unamused during the grand meeting. "Are we ready?"

A man with gray eyes and ash-colored hair quickly responded, "Of course! Imperial Majesty we have prepared our armies and are ready to strike at any time!"

"Thank you Rowan for telling me something I was already aware of." The Emperor sighed before saying, "Our Empire has prepared for this war for over a decade, please share with me something new."

The ash-colored man tried to speak again but was interrupted by an older man sitting directly across from him. He had a long white beard and was bald with hair sparsely populating the top of his head, "Imperial Majesty, I suggest we strike Ayes first with half of our total forces. The rest of our armies will guard our borders, ensuring the other nations are unable to take advantage of any opening that may.." A middle-aged woman with black eyes and silky black hair interrupted. "Imperial Majesty! I must disagree, we should strike our rival Lome! Destroying our greatest threat first would ensure a total victory over the other nation-states!" The old man frowned before retorting, "Luna, the wisdom of age speaks the truth, if you take the tried and true path, more roads will open up to you. We should strike Ayes, the weakest nation on the continent. Once our forces gain victory, we can build on the confidence from our success and sweep away all of our rivals one by one!" A beautiful blonde woman who radiated pure light spoke loud enough to cover the entire hall and its noise, "Imperial Brother, I believe we should strike Elion first! Their growth provides the greatest danger to our plans." The chambers grew loud and heated as the council debated when and who they should strike first.

Tap... Tap... Tap... The Emperor whispered one word, "Silence." The boisterous yelling and squawking instantly grew silent as everyone turned to meet the eyes of the crown.

"Should we strike Elion? Hmmm?... Should we strike our rival the Lome Empire?... Or maybe we should strike Ayes the weakest power giving us a strategic location for our battle with Elion? Or shall we just strike one of the Allied beast nations if all we want is a victory to boost our fragile egos?" He looked around the hall as everyone bowed their heads to his gaze.

The Emperor stood up and spoke, "Strike them all."

The hall grew so quiet you'd have difficulty hearing the sound of breathing. A younger man with jet-black hair and eyes was the first to recover and respond, "Excuse me?" The beautiful blonde woman was similar in age to the younger man, but not so similar in appearance yelled, "Imperial brother? What are you saying?"

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"I don't like to repeat myself. Strike them all. Use our armies to guard against the attacks of other lesser nations? The armies we've built for decades should be used as mere guards? No! Strike them all! We strike with all the force we can muster, and conquer whoever is the first to show weakness in this game of ours! Why worry about guarding? Strike them all! We can recover whatever we lose from the remains of our enemies." The hall grew heated.

The old man was the first to respond to the order, "My Lord! We would run out of resources quickly if we went into a prolonged war with all of our enemies!"

"Zephias, if we run out of resources let us take whatever we need from our enemies. However, Zephias I don't intend for our first battle to be prolonged."

A teenager whose appearance was very similar to the Emperor shouted, "Imperial brother! Why must we be in such a hurry? Brother, we have the advantage from the start! We don't need to rush!"

"Enough!" Electricity shot in every direction. The Emperor's eyes shone blue with power before going innate once more.

"Caelus Galebright, you are to strike Lome with two of the generals and their armies. Kill the Water Tower Master, and you'll have reached victory." Caelus had brown hair and golden eyes. He appeared to be a reliable and loyal servant as he answered, "Yes, Imperial Majesty!"

"Alina! My dear sister you shall take one of the generals to strike the Dil Republic! Bring to me the head of their plump cockroach, General Jamie Vallas!" "Yes! Imperial Brother!"

"To guarantee victory against our weakest enemy, I'll let you take the lead in conquering Ayes, General Zephias! Take two of the other Generals with you, and don't dare return without the head of their monarch!" "Yes, Imperial Majesty!"

"You ask why I'm in a hurry, dear Nova? I'm in a hurry because we aren't the only ones on the continent gathering our strength. Our enemies are getting stronger slowly but surely. Elion is on the verge of producing their own Archmage, and Lome will have working war golems within two years. If we don't strike within the next year we won't be able to conquer any rival power without facing a severe backlash. So dear brother, you are to go with Tower Master Peter Sternbright and with all three Imperial Knight Corps to Elion. Your one and only mission is to kill Elion's future Archmage. I don't care if we lose our entire army as long as you can return with Darien Northwood's head!" The Emperor stood up, "Do all of you understand?"

"Yes, Emperor!"

"We strike when our armies are ready!"

Everyone rose from their seats, the council had come together divided, and now they left with crystal clear goals in mind.

Lucius called out to Rowan as everyone was exiting the room, "Rowan, stay."

He looked at the Emperor in confusion but obeyed. When the two of them were the only ones left in the room a barrier of wind surrounded them as the Emperor said, "Red, I have a mission for you."

Rowan's eyes immediately narrowed as he said, "Yes, Imperial Majesty!"