Jamie sat alone in the room he had been given. Despite his dissatisfaction with the direction the meeting took, his ultimate goal was still met. Jamie speaking to no one in particular looked at the ceiling of the guest room and said, "Joseph Keller is a pain in the ass, but the real surprise today came from the King. King James is no fool. He directed the flow of the meeting despite only adding a comment here or there. He led the way. Interesting. I have a lot of changes to make."

Jamie's followers had already been sent to various places around the continent to further his scheme, but as most plans never went the way they were supposed to, Jamie simply had to make the corrections accordingly. "The Red Tower Master is the crux here. It seems like all the twists and turns on this side of the continent, are happening around his whims."

Jamie meditated on all the players on this side of the continent as he went over his plan in his mind. "I'll need to talk to, Darien to get an idea of who I'm dealing with." Smiling, Jamie took a bottle of wine he had received as a guest and took a big swig. "This is far more interesting than the Dil Republic. Argon has made the entire continent the stage. I haven't had this much fun since I was still a child learning about the world. Awwww! Refreshing!"

Princess Emily was sitting in an office directly across from Duke Mayweather and Ann Winbeary. The Duke tapped his cane a few times before saying, "Ann is my most competent and well-established mage. It is difficult to let her go."

The Princess looked down, "I'm sorry, Duke. I know, I was being unreasonable, but Miss Ann has been so nice to me. She saved my life, and I consider her my f-friend!"

Duke Mayweather could only shake his head as he looked at the two young women, "Well, Prince Emily, It's during trying times when you need to learn to be unreasonable. Ann, are you confident in your ability to chaperone, Princess Emily?"

Ann gave Duke Mayweather a look of determination before saying, "Yes!"

The Duke sighed, "If Ann wants to help you, I won't stop her. Being greedy right now is a fool's errand. It doesn't matter what the future holds or whether or not we will be enemies or allies. Right now, we are under threat, and we must come together whether we like it or not."

Ann smiled at the Princess and said, "As long as you are in Elion, I'll do my best to make sure you're safe. You can count on me."

Emily beamed a beautiful smile as she said, "Duke Mayweather, I have to disagree with you on one thing."

He raised an eyebrow and said, "Go right ahead, Princess."

"I don't believe we will be enemies after we rout Argon. As long as I live, I swear I'll uphold the friendship between our two powers; until the day I die!"

"I hope so, Princess. I pray that idiots on both sides don't cause any trouble." He could see the incredulous look on Princess Emily's face as he said, "It's not that I don't believe we can be friends or allies, Princess Emily. It's just Elion is filled with all kinds of troublesome nobles. Unlike Ayes, we have a lot of trouble reigning in our nobility. King James has done remarkably well in alleviating some pressure, but there's still a lot of internal cleaning up to do."

Duke Mayweather looked at the Princess' concerned eyes and changed the subject, "We all have our own problems to deal with, so don't worry too much about it. It's nothing to be concerned about. In the meantime, you'll be escorted to the Red Tower with Vice Tower Master, Joseph Keller. He'll inform you of the Ayes attack strategy, and will provide you with all of the most relevant information. I got word an hour ago that the Northwoods have returned home, so you should get to meet them...under different circumstances this time."

Emily's eyebrows shot down in an almost comically quick frown, "Red Tower Master... I hope I don't have to see his ugly face again! What an absolute menace!" The Duke scratched his head before saying, "If you have any further questions please feel free to ask, Joseph Keller. He's remarkably easy to talk to once you get to know him, so don't be afraid to get acquainted."

"Alright. Thank you, Duke Mayweather! It was a pleasure talking to you. I just hope I don't meet the Red Tower Monster again! Hmph!"

Darien and his group had successfully crossed the border. Elaine Northwood had rushed into Ayes without a plan, and she paid the price for it. She had remained unconscious for hours in Darien's arms. Her eyes and ears had stopped bleeding, and after taking the elixir, her complexion had improved drastically. Her breathing was still shallow, and her heartbeat; was at a steady rhythm. He was lucky he could feed her the medicine so quickly to prevent the worst possible scenario from happening.

The now free men and women of Elion were home. They cheered as they walked through the bustling streets of Renee. "Yip, Yip! We're home!" They scattered in every direction as they headed to their homes.

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Some continued on the road as they went to other cities, but more than a third had a home in Renee. Darien watched as the escaped prisoners thanked him in tears before heading off in all sorts of directions. Darien went over to Sir Vin and shook his hand. "Sir Vin, please get Caspian to a healer as quickly as possible. I need to do the same for my wife, but I hope to hear from you after everything is over. The Red Tower needs competent leaders like yourself, so please return when you're ready to talk."

Sir Vin smiled, "I've never been in a leadership position before. I've always been in the front lines charging forward, but never the one giving the commands. When you asked me to lead the way home, I was shocked, but I didn't question it. There was no time to question it. Everyone there, all of us, worked together to get back home. We did everything we could to survive. I'm just happy most of us arrived here alive and well."

Sir Vin started running towards the Red Tower as he waved goodbye, "I'll see you around, Tower Master!" Darien waved back as he headed his own way home. He needed to get his wife to a healer before going to the Tower and seeing his son.

He arrived home in only a few minutes traveling at the top speed he could manage without disturbing his sleeping wife. Running past all of his guards and servants, Darien yelled, "Healer! Bring Melissa to check on Elaine!" The Northwood family healer arrived in less time than it took to boil a pot of tea. She was a heavy-set woman and was in charge of the health care for everyone at the Northwood manor. Heavy breaths and sweat dotted the healer's face and body. "L-Lord, w-welcome back! Heave! Huff! Let me check on her!"

Darien moved out of her way and asked, "Lady Melissa, please make sure she's alright."

The Northwood healer, Melissa, closed her eyes as she placed her palm on Elaine's chest. She took a deep breath as she concentrated. "It looks like she overburdened her mana heart. There are clear signs of trauma, strain, and even fractures lining all around it." She moved her hand and pressed it to different points on her body before continuing, "Her body and soul are inflamed."

Darien furrowed his brow as he held Elaine's hand, "How bad is it?"

Melissa opened her eyes and said, "It's pretty bad. Though nothing permanent or life-threatening. Her mana heart could take weeks to heal, even with my help, or possibly longer. The microfractures don't appear serious enough to be permanent, but you never know for certain with these kinds of injuries."

"What does that mean exactly?"

"It means she won't be casting magic any time soon. To be absolutely certain, she shouldn't use any magic for the next four weeks. She can start using 1st Circle magic after that as a form of rehabilitation, but nothing beyond that. If Lady Elaine is as stubborn as she usually is and uses magic before that, she could easily destroy her mana heart, and trust me that isn't a simple injury. That won't just make someone magicless. It could put someone in a permanent coma or worse."

Darien sighed, "So she should recover?"

"Tower Master, I'll know for certain in a few weeks, but she should be as good as new in a couple of months. In this scenario, she may even end up stronger than before, as long as she doesn't use any magic in the meantime."

He nodded his head before asking, "Do you know when she will wake up?"

"It depends. She might wake up tonight with her chest feeling like a rat is trying to dig its way out of it, or in a few days with even more intense pain. Though I've only seen a Mana Burden case once before, I'm guessing she'll be awake within a few days."

"Thank you, Melissa. I'll have Rhea watch over her. Can you please check on her every chance you get?"

Melissa wiped the sweat off her brow and gave Darien a thumbs up, "That's what I was planning, Lord. I'll be setting my office up in the guest room across from your room in the meantime, so I can check on her throughout the day."

Darien heaved a sigh of relief. "I need to go out and see my son. I'll try to keep him away from home for the next few days until his mother wakes up. I'd prefer he doesn't see her like this."

"Young Master is a bit too smart. He'll probably figure out that something is wrong right away, but I agree he doesn't need this kind of added insecurity. Especially after your last stunt, Lord." Melissa glared at him, "How can I expect to keep a good job if my hosts keep trying to get themselves killed."

Darien laughed, "Haha! You're right. We aren't trying to get killed, Melissa, and we won't get killed any time soon. We have a son to raise, so please don't worry."

Melissa snorted, "Oh, I worry, Lord. You don't have to worry about that. I worry."

Darien didn't have time to rest as he quickly made his way to the Tower. He needed to see his son. Darius must've been sick with worry.

Cole sat across a communication crystal. The image was fuzzy, and the voice was unclear due to distance. "I-In-ter-stin. S-skk you pl-an t-o skk stri-ke skk we-ek af-te skk tomm-morow."

The Emperor sat on this throne, head on his palm and as arrogant as always. The connection was terrible; it took Cole half an hour to get his message across. A letter was easier to deal with at this range, or at least less of a headache. "Imperial Majesty, we strike before they do, and we win? Am I wrong?"

The Emperor looked annoyed by the communication crystal as well as he tried to make his message short, "A-a-act skkk accor-skk- ly."

Cole nodded his head, and the communication crystal went blank.

He could see his own reflection.

The Emperor had grown exhausted from using the crystal for far too long, and cut the communication without any goodbyes.

With their plan in motion, Cole went to check on Zephaias.

He lay in bed wheezing in agony. Zephaias' rib cage had sunk in, and most of his organs had been scorched and pierced by his own ribs. It was brutal. Cole was honestly shocked he was even alive with injuries as severe as they were, especially at his age. Those types of injuries usually meant certain death for the elderly. "They do say the meaner and grouchier someone is, the longer they live."

"Bastard!"

They had managed to get a healer to him in time and had to use some emergency potions, but he was still alive and kicking. Though he looked like he was going to; be useless for the next couple of weeks, if not longer.

"That bitch! Ughhhhh! Owww! I'll kill her! I swear I'll kill her."

Cole sat next to him. "It looks like you'll be fine if your screaming like this."

"Tower M-Master! That bitch! Please bring her back alive if you get the chance!"

"We are attacking Ayes, not Elion. So your revenge will have to wait a bit. The battle will be in a week, it would have been better if you weren't injured, but Ayes will probably try to take advantage of your absence. There is no way they don't know you're injured."

"Bastards! Ughhh! All of them!"

"I don't know Zephaias, it's just an idea, but if you focus on resting a bit, you might recover faster.

"Fuck you! Oww! Ughhhhh!"

Cole left while shaking his head. Whether or not he had all the pieces he needed, he still needed to make his move. With Zephaias down, he had a limited amount of time to act.

It was time to crush Ayes for good.