Han entered the tent with quaking eyes. His body was covered in dark armor and his face was covered in sweat from being out in the sun’s heat.

“They’re here.” He said to me, Yna, Calëb and Anda.

“Well? Spit it out. Who is it?” Yna asked with crossed arms.

“Three Doyennefell knights and what appears to be the entire Zoiquell legion, ma’am.” Han said curtly.

“Only three?” Anda asked.

“Yeah, either they didn’t make or recruit enough knights to fill their empty positions or they’re hiding the others somewhere.” Yna explained.

I nodded before looking at the map.

I pointed at the edge of the forest just north of Coh which had been named Niki, shortly after our encounter with Petrus.

“Niki will be our ally in this battle. But, before any of that, let’s go say hi.” I said as I turned to leave.

“Do you both have to go?” Calëb asked with a concerned expression.

“Well, yes and no. No, we really shouldn’t go because we are the top brass and everything, but I’d like to talk to the knights and see if we can reason with them. This doesn’t have to end in bloodshed.” I said with a deep frown.

Calëb frowned as well before deeply sighing.

“Alright.” I said before leading Yna and Han out of the tent.

We then made our way into the forest to find it was nearly empty.

Only a few soldiers could be seen patrolling here and there.

We eventually exited the forest and found ourselves in an expansive grassy plane.

Standing about a kilometer away was the vanguard.

Twenty five thousand soldiers all raising the Lanceberg banner which depicted the sun rising behind a full moon.

Beyond the vanguard and the grassy plane were the Ukiwa mountains.

There was no way a force of twenty five thousand travelled over the mountains and so I assumed they went round.

This probably meant they’d used up quite a lot of resources.

The soldiers were probably hungry and extremely tired.

Yna placed her hand on my shoulder snapping me into the present.

“Let’s go.” She said, prompting me to follow her toward the vanguard. She held in her hand her black sword which she had named To-Óramátou. It was a weird name, but it was her sword so I didn’t question it. If one looked closely enough, one could see faint wisps of white smoke rising from the solid black blade.

Han had returned to the forest where he was triple checking if out defences were in order.

I spotted several armoured figures standing in front of the Horde of men.

They walked up to us as well as the afternoon sun bathed the plane.

One of them, a golden knight wearing a golden armour which was fitted with a long golden cape, removed his helmet revealing the head of a man with short white hair and like almost all other knights, he was rather handsome. His sun kissed skin, wide jaw and high cheeks gave an intense air.

“By the light of Summus… I cannot believe it.” The man said as he and his entourage came to a stop.

They stood about fifteen meters away from us and they were armed with golden Lance’s and Silver hammers?

“Red Death… it really is a pleasure to meet you.” The foremost knight said with widened eyes.

“I wish I could say the same but alas, we are enemies.” Yna said prompting the knight to nod in agreement.

“That doesn’t have to be the case.” I said, prompting the knight to lower his golden eyes until they locked onto my small self.

“Oh? Are you already surrendering?” The knight asked with a frown.

“No. I simply think that there might be a way for us to sort this all out without drawing blood.”

The knight glanced at Yna with a raised eyebrow.

He then sighed before crossing his arms.

“Alright, lambkin. Speak. What do you propose we do? Because my orders are clear. I am to take that dark town of yours and turn it into a hub which will assist in the continued conquest of the Dark Expanse. I have been also ordered to deal with any resistance accordingly.” The knight said.

I nodded before nervously swallowing what little saliva was in my mouth.

“C-can't you just set up camp near Coh? This’ll give you a suitable hub at the border and then you’ll be able to carry out your other operations without interfering with us.”

The knight glanced at Yna once more before breaking into laughter.

The other knights chuckled alongside him as he placed his hands on his hips.

“Little one, do you not know what a conquest is? By the will of the Sun and Moon, we have been sent here to firmly place out banner in the center of every filthy village, town and the Expanse itself.” The knight said with a smile.

“Alright, I understand. But allow me to say this before it all begins. Every piece of the Expanse you take will be paid for in blood.” I said through gnashed teeth.

The knight’s smile dimmed ever so slightly before instantly disappearing.

“Alright. Now that we have sorted that out, men, capture her.” The knight said as he pointed his Lance at Yna.

Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

Yna was supposed to grab me and teleport away but she instead crossed her arms.

I nearly jumped out of myself as several bright flashes of light bathed the plane.

I gasped upon seeing ten tall warriors clad in dark armor which had the crest of Coh proudly sitting atop of chest piece.

Strangely enough, I remember helping Farin to design it, but I never allowed its use.

It was a full body suit of armor made from countless small dark plates that fit into each other kinda like a Pangolin. It was cool, but I didn’t allow soldiers to wear it because it was far too heavy for even a trained Rendaro to move in it. Their round, almost featureless helmets headed further to their menacing aura.

The dark warriors also wielded swords that looked similar to Yna’s.

The knights all raised their weapons, but the dark warriors didn’t move.

“Do you honestly think the mud crawlers will change anything?” The knight asked prompting Yna to point her sword at him.

“Wanna find out? The choice is yours. Either we fight here or we settle this with our armies.” Yna said as he eyes glowed.

The knight looked at the dark warriors before clicking his tongue.

He then turned around and walked back towards the Horde of soldiers with the other knights in tow.

“Open warfare it is.” Yna said and just like that, the dark warriors disappeared without a sound.

One of the silver knights stopped to speak with the first golden one and the two got into an argument over something.

“Please, captain Lunësse. Think about it this way, if I win, we would have successfully defeated Red Death and if I lose, you can simply finish her off.” The silver knight said. His face hidden behind his helmet.

“Mmm… do you really want to die that badly? Or are you that stupid?” Lunësse asked, but the silver knight didn’t respond.

“Fine. This will be the spot where the great Gruff dies, I suppose.” Lunësse said before walking back towards us with Gruff in tow.

“I apologize but may I ask you for a favor?” Lunësse asked.

Yna placed her sword on her shoulder and walked up to them.

“Don’t worry. I heard.” She said.

“Alright. Who will be the next captain of the Zoiquell?” Lunësse asked but this only made Gruff chuckle loudly.

“You speak as though my death is certain. Oh well, if I happen to die, leadership will fall onto Maligo’s strong shoulders!” Gruff declared as he adjusted his hold on his hammer.

Did some silver knight’s use hammers?

“Alright. Oh- and one more thing. Could you not damage his face too much?” Lunësse asked but Yna rolled her eyes.

“Sheesh! All these requests. Fine, but I’m taking that hammer.”

Lunësse nodded before walking back towards the group of knights.

They then stood in waiting a few meters away.

Gruff chuckled again before taking off his helmet and throwing it to the side.

He wasn’t necessarily bad looking. It’s just that his face was covered in scars and he even had some teeth missing.

What’s with this Legion and its captain? I wondered.

“Haha! I feel nothing but fear right now but with this hammer I will crush both you and that fear, for the glory of Lanceberg!” Gruff yelled.

“Go on, captain!”

“Kick her ass!”

“Take her alive! That will raise our name even higher!”

The hammer wielding silver knights yelled.

Gruff nodded to himself before dashing towards Yna while screaming at the top of his lungs.

I noticed that the space around his hammer was distorted. It looked like it was continuously spinning or twisting.

He raised his hammer to strike Yna, but she kicked him in the chest with her foot, sending him flying straight into the ground.

My face twisted upon seeing that his chest piece had been crushed inward and his face was covered in blood and other fluids that had been forced out of his nose and mouth.

Yna then walked up to him before grabbing his hammer from his unmoving body.

Lunësse and the silver knights cautiously approached Yna before grabbing Gruff’s body.

They then took it with them as they returned to the main force although none of the silver knights hid their animosity towards Yna.

She sighed before nodding towards the forest.

“Come on.”

I followed her back into the forest where Han awaited.

“What in the world was that?” He asked.

“That’s my question.” I said while glancing at Yna.

“Which part?” She asked.

“The part where dark warriors appeared out of thin air.” Han said.

“Oh, those guys were my backup.” Yna said with a wink.

Han and I stared at her for a moment but I concluded that Yna probably had a good reason for her secrecy, so I silently walked into the forest deep.

Yna followed closely behind and Han eventually followed as well.

The forest was dark and silent, but I knew more than anyone just what waited here.

Within almost every tree was a dark canister filled with shrapnel. These canisters were extremely pressurized and they could be detonated by a space magician who knew where the weak spot at the top was.

I looked down as I walked.

The very forest floor itself was a lie.

Beneath the inch or so of soil was a sheet of darkness that was divided into segments that could be dissolved by a darkness magician, revealing the ten meter deep hole filled with spikes below.

This was the first barrier.

.

..

We eventually returned to the camp just in front of Coh where Anda and Calëb awaited.

“How did it go?” Anda asked with a stressed out expression. Being High Elder had really done a number on him.

“The battle will soon begin.” I said as I sat on my elevated chair.

“I see… and you still don’t plan on killing them all, right?”

“Anda… we are not monsters. Those who surrender will be spared, those who are injured and survive the battle will be treated and taken to Site C.” I said.

Site C was a holding area I had built specifically for the purpose of keeping prisoners of war.

Anda lowered his head.

I sighed before looking at Yna, who’s eyes still glowed.

“How do you think the knights are going to attack?”

“They will teleport behind our lines once our forces clash. They’ll then try to kill as many of our men as possible before regrouping and coming for us. Fortunately, my backup is ready for just such a situation. When they teleport behind our lines, they’ll be greeted by cold dark blades. The goal is to kill them or keep them still so that I can come in for the finishing blow.”

We all silently stared at Yna as we digested what she said.

“Backup? What are you referring to, lady Yna?” Calëb asked.

“I can’t tell you too much just yet but I want you to know that they are a group capable of holding back even a golden knight for a bit. I call them the Black Legion.” Yna said with a grin, but this filled the tent with nothing but dread.

.

..

“Captain Han!”

Someone called from outside.

“Excuse me.” Han said before leaving the tent.

I returned my gaze to the map, but before I could even think of anything, Han burst back into the tent.

“They’ve reached the forest. Katsíki, the captains would like to hear a few words from you.” He said.

I nodded before following him outside along with everyone else.

We walked towards the southern edge of the forest to a spot where the captains of the Rendaro squads and troops awaited.

I stood on a wooden platform along side Yna and the others.

I then looked into the eyes of the men and women who’d soon be risking their lives for the Expanse.

They all stood attentively and wore the crest of Coh with pride.

They were the second barrier with Yna and I being the last.

This filled me with a pleasant feeling that was immediately snuffed out by the fact that they’d also have to kill countless people soon.

“We’ve spent the last year preparing for this moment and throughout that entire period I watched you all become the fine men and women standing before me today.” I said while avoiding looking at any one person’s face for too long.

“I’m going to be honest. If we fail, we guarantee the suffering of the denizens of the Expanse. So go out there and fight with all you have because the lives of countless Rendaro depend on it.” I said while biting my teeth.

No one said anything and the Captains all stared at me as I stood before them.

Yna walked up to my side.

“You heard him, go out there and kick some ass!” She barked.

“Yes, ma’am!”

The Captains all said before making their way into the forest.

I sighed before turning to face Anda and Calëb.

“You know the plan. If we lose, well… that’s it. The reserves will do their best but this place, the people here represent the best that the Expanse has to offer, so if we win, you both head back home and await further instructions, OK?”

Anda and Calëb nodded once.

I then looked at Han.

“Everyone is in the throne room, right?”

“Yes. The only people in Coh’s streets right now are the Black Blades.”

“Good and remember, if I die… Coh will be your responsibility, but Coh is not just a place. It is simply hope’s Cradle. If things get too bad, take everyone and run.” I said.

Han nodded before accompanying me and everyone else back to the war room where we patiently waited for the scouts to feed us information on the battle as it progressed.