"You may not be interested in war, but war is interested in you."

War soon broke out in the Japan sector, but the Liberators did not expect the swift Russian maneuver. Instead of facing the enemy from Korea, the Pacific Fleet and the Eastern Air Force went around, launching the defensive effort from the Philippines and Hawaii. The speed is in itself a thing to reckon with, as it would have been easier to use the Korean peninsula as a launching pad.  After three days of fierce fighting, the Japanese capital of Tokyo lay in ruins, but the Liberators still have strength to spare. They opened a new offensive on the fourth day.

Longinus radioed all remaining troops, "This is the final battle. Liberty or death!"

Barotov turned to his comrade, both in safe distance from the ongoing battle in Tokyo, after coded instructions were sent from their makeshift headquarters.

"Cassini..."

"Yes, Mark?"

"Make or break?"

"MJ... I'm really unsure at this point... These Japanese are not our people, and so, it'd be easier to abandon them. However, I have grown a sort of attachment to these people..."

"The rest of the Liberators propose another retreat. Raise an army again elsewhere."

"No. It'd be harder to raise the spirits of the people, wherever we go, if we carry the banner of defeat. Believe me, this is the final battle."

Barotov was dismayed at Longinus for his pessimistic approach. He left the quarters of Longinus to converse with Kaska, whose troops joined the battle for the first time.

"Servili, we can't survive this!", Barotov said loudly, as if almost crying.

"Woah there!", Kaska interjected, spilling his early morning cup of matcha tea.

Barotov shook Kaska by the shoulders while wailing, "I know we put our lives at stake, but come on! We should regroup and fight another day!"

Kaska pushed Barotov and said with his hands pointing to the ground, "Look what you did to my tea! It doesn't have much of a taste, but still! The incessant battle noise is already enough a nuisance in a morning like this."

"Sorry, but what is tea to me now that our lives are in danger?!"

Kaska's one eyebrow twitched as he looked at Barotov. He took Barotov to an empty tent.

He responded thereafter, "Kid, do you even know how Kaiser was struck his death blow?"

"Huh? Isn't it because he saw me, his own son, among the Liberators?"

Kaska smiled as he brewed another cup of tea and saying, "Look, how did I land the first hit on him? The old man's not that weak. There's reason behind his confidence to take a position never before held in history, Perpetual Dictatorship."

Barotov look more puzzled, "Isn't it because his model was Iskandar al-Akbar?"

Iskandar is the famed warrior king who commanded his armies from the east, conquering as far west as the Arab world. To this day, epics and songs in the island nations of the east, mainly in the Philippines and Indonesia, commemorate Iskandar, the king of the Tagalogs, the conqueror of Java and Champa, the destroyer of Great China, and of course, the builder of Alexandria, now a thriving port city  guarding (or choking, depending on the point of view) vital trading routes in the Indian and Arab worlds.

"Are you really his son? I mean, really, jumping Jupiter?!", Kaska said as he slapped his forehead.

Barotov looked down as Kaska continued making his tea.

"Well, I..."

"Frankly, your guesses are as good as an amateur," Kaska sipped his tea before continuing, "Let's make this a better affair for you... Do you remember the story of Kaiser destroying a ship singlehandedly?"

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"Hmm...," Barotov thought for a moment as Kaska put his feet up on the table between them.

When Kaiser was around 25 years old, he was captured by pirates roaming the Pacific Ocean. Since the Kaiser family was fairly well-off, the pirates thought of exchanging the young Kaiser for a hefty ransom of 4,000 aurei (again, 1 aureus is equivalent to 25 days' wages).

"I won't be doing that if I were you," Kaiser told his captors with an enigmatic smile, "You'd pay fifty times the cost you have put on my head."

The pirates just laughed at him, knowing he cannot do much while he was tied alone in a cell. Some 38 days passed, and the Kaiser family stalled, making the pirates impatient. However, when they decided to make him walk the plank, Kaiser suddenly displayed unbelievable stealth and strength. It was as if he was not fed on meager rations nor weakened by lack of potable water. In a few minutes, the ironclad pirate ship was sunk.

As if this was not enough, it was said that he swam to reach the rest of the pirate ships and sink them, too. A total of five ships were sunk. The total cost of the destroyed ships alone amount to around 200,000 aurei, which is indeed 50 times the ransom asked for his release.

"I tell you," Kaska said, "Kaiser didn't have the brute force required to do such a feat. Still, even at 55, he can easily do to us what he did when he was 25. You know why?"

"Tell me, for Juno's sake! We're at war here!"

"Simply put, he has the power of god."

"Power of god?"

Just then, an enormous explosion was heard. When the two came out to witness what happened, they saw a vast white cloud coming up from the city. Up to 144 square kilometers were immediately suffered severe conflagration, while the adjacent areas are not spared from spreading flames. The blowing southeast wind did not help the situation. Even after the huge cloud cleared, military and civilian people alike are dying not only from the surrounding fire... but from something else. Something invisible, yet evidently deadly.

"Radiation?" Antony asked to his aide Canuid Krassa while they were aboard the Russian bomber Tupolev Tu-95.

Krassa peers to the window, and then replied, "Yes, sir. The blast size is just a bonus. What makes the weapon lethal is the radiation dose it gives. Unfortunately..."

Antony made a sharp look at Krassa, "... I know... Such are the sacrifices of conflict..."

"We can't order a general retreat... Otherwise, the surprise effect fails..."

"The bigger the risk, the bigger the returns."

"Do you actually believe that principle, sir?"

"Above all, try something... I only hope in my heart that we could've come up with a less painless way. Maybe in the future."

"Sir...," Krassa can only utter this softly as he seemed conflicted with the ends and the means.

"Anyway, we must get to work. Full speed towards Okinawa!"

Krassa pulled a radio from the front of his seat, and then ordering the crew to fly to a certain set of coordinates. After giving the necessary commands, he turned back to Antony.

"You purposely chose a long-range bomber for this mission, sir?"

The Tu-95 has a maximum range of 15,000 kilometers.

"Yes," Antony answered, this time refraining from looking at his aide as he spoke.

Seemingly understanding of Antony's determined mood, he attempted to shift the conversation to the mission they are undertaking.

"Sir, you say this is the key to the assassination?"

"Yes. Okinawa is nothing more than a small stretch of an island in the Pacific. It's very name means "rope at sea" or "rope to catch fish." It is as much of an island as any other in the West Pacific. However, KGB records say he frequented this island. Why do you think it is so?"

"Um... To confuse spies spying the KGB?"

Antony smiled at the educated guess, "Close, but not close enough, my candid Canuid."

"Sir! Please stop saying my name with candid!"

"Alright, alright. The thing is... Kaiser had this secret power... the power of god."

"God, sir? Which god?"

Russia has at least 12 major gods: Jupiter, Juno, Neptune, Minerva, Mars, Venus, Apollo, Diana, Vulcan, Vesta, Mercury, and Ceres. However, as the republic expanded, so did their pantheon of gods. For example, Russia began to selectively assimilate Japan's eight million gods.

"Oh. Of course," Antony said with a quick laugh, "You see, while I'm studying here, in Japan, I was told of an old epic, which says that there were immortals residing with us... What keeps them alive is the power of god..."

"Wait, sir! Didn't Kaiser die?"

"Obvious argument. The supposed answer is because Kaiser's power inherited an incomplete power," Antony calmly responded, still gazing nowhere near his companion.

"Incomplete power?", the more confused Krassa asked.

"Imagine power as a system. All of us have power, and all of us are supposed to have equal portions of it. There are ways to disrupt this system. When a man gains power over the other, then it is a zero-sum relationship. However, the power coming from god gives a man additional power, without necessarily reducing the power of the other. Simply, one's power gain is not necessarily the other's loss. The latter disrupts the system more, because this adds much power while it is active, but reduces much when it becomes inactive. Kaiser is case in point."

"I can very well imagine that, sir. However, how come Kaiser's power is incomplete?"

Antony sighed, and said, "Unfortunately, all of these lay mostly in theory. I'm also trying to sort out the difference between the god and the immortals, and between the immortals and Kaiser. Hopefully, we can find our lead in the rope at sea."

Nevertheless, Antony and Krassa were not the only ones rushing to reach Okinawa. After seeing the massive explosion, Kaska and Barotov brought whoever they can muster, and proceeded to the place as well, abandoning the rest of the Liberators in the process. Kaska led the way, as he exposed whatever he knew of the power of god to Barotov. What is the potent weapon used to obliterate Tokyo? Is it potent enough to end the war with the Liberators? What is the power of god, and how does Okinawa complete the puzzle about it?