“What?” Thneia asked with a dumbfounded expression while I walked towards the edge of the platform atop which we all stood.

I then noticed that even the building we were standing on was floating above a dark chasm.

“Your oath led to this. Inaction led to this.” I said before facing Thneia with a twisted frown.

“I will not risk having you hesitate in protecting Coh, so I’m giving you an option now that you and your men are free. Work alongside me in protecting the Expanse or do whatever else you please.” I said as the sky darkened.

Thneia’s eyes narrowed extremely.

“So my men and I are free to leave?” She asked. Her voice low, like a growl.

“Yes.” I said while looking deep into Thneia’s reptilian eyes.

She nodded before standing alongside Rix.

“Then allow us, the Draconic Knights, to work under you, lord Katsíki, leader of the Expanse.”

I nodded before facing the ledge again.

“Good. Now, let’s discuss how to integrate-“

I stopped as a wide eyed Ower suddenly appeared next to me.

“Sir! The Golden Prince is in Coh!” He yelled.

My heart fell, but this was not the time to panic… I think… I didn’t know-

“What’s he doing?” I asked as my throat painfully tightened.

“He is simply standing in the Kommátia planes with his entourage. The entourage consists of all seven Helma, four Stormhawks, Grandmaster Ferrum and an unknown woman.” Ower reported.

I nodded before facing Thneia who nodded before standing next to Rix.

We all joined the two before teleporting back to Coh in the dead of night.

We quickly arrived and as my people practiced so many times before, they had run into their homes, which I reinforced once more before following Yna to the War room where a panicked Han stood.

“I’ve sent our messengers to inform the other leaders of the situation.” Han said.

I nodded before raising my right hand.

“Ower, gather only the strongest of… everyone on the northern edge of the forest.”

“Yes, Sir!” Ower said from wherever he was.

I then turned to Yna, who’s hair and eyes were already glowing.

We nodded to each other before making our way to the northern edge of the of Niki forest.

We stood alongside the Expanse’s strongest.

Everyone from the scouts, the strongest Eimval Division squads, the strongest Foph Troops, the remnants of the Blood Ravens, the Draconic Knights, the Kommáti, Yna herself and me, although my offensive capabilities were next to useless.

If this, all this, wasn’t enough… if we lost… then It’d be all over.

I looked out into the Kommátia planes and saw a group of people standing atop what appeared to be an invisible platform.

I took a deep breath before walking out of the forest and like my shadows, the defenders of the Expanse followed.

Six of us walked towards the invisible platform where a large man, clad in a silky white robe stood. His hair was messy and short and parts of his skin were covered in still healing burn marks.

He stared at us with his golden eyes and his face remained expressionless.

I looked down and saw that he and his entourage were standing on a platform of distorted space that was about two meters above the ground.

He must have really wanted to keep his feet clean.

I chuckled internally before glancing at his entourage.

Standing next to him was a dark skinned woman who wore a dark grey dress and had a cleanly shaven head. I didn’t recognize her or what legion she might have been a part of and so I instead looked at the titans who were obviously the Helma.

The seven of them stood behind Caligo while holding their Lances.

They all had their golden helmets on and held in their hands large golden lances.

My eyes then shifted to the four Stormhawks. They too all had their helmets on and the beaks of their helmets were pointed at me.

I then glanced at a tall, middle aged man who was dressed in pure white military uniform that had various gold bits here and there. I assumed he was Ferrum.

I eventually stopped about ten meters away from Caligo, who stood up before walking up to the edge of the invisible platform.

His face then twisted as though he was in pain.

“K-Kenos?” He whimpered.

“Yes, kinda.” I said. My face had twisted into a frown, but that was beyond my control.

“Thou hast changed much since we last met.” Caligo said before jumped off the platform.

His feet dug deep into the mud as he walked towards me.

He silently approached and we stared at each other for a moment as the night hung darkly above.

“Wait… thou aren’t he who I met on that fateful day. Although…” Caligo said while tilting his head in confusion.

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I sighed before explained my circumstances.

“Oh my!” Caligo gasped lightly while his eyes glowed brightly.

“Thou hast led quite the life since thine arrival.” He said with a gentle smile.

“Yes and I plan on protecting everything me and my people have worked so hard to build.” I said through gnashed teeth.

Caligo then frowned and the air trembled as the world was baked by waves of heat.

This angered me to an extreme level and so I engulfed the sky above Coh in darkness protecting the land below from the light Caligo was sending down.

I also positioned the Anti Caligo Ordinate above us all while reinforcing the armours of Yna, Nel and Anhai.

Caligo looked up into the now ink black sky as the flares of light began rising from the amours of the Helma and Hawks.

“Thou… art willing to sacrifice even yourself… for the people of another world-“

“I don’t care. This place is my home and I won’t let you do as you please.” I snapped.

Caligo’s eyes narrowed while brightening even further.

This caused the air to sizzle, but I stood in front of him regardless.

“One of two things are going to happen, Caligo. Either you return to Lanceberg and we both try our hardest to build two prosperous counties or you condemn us all to a senseless war.” I snapped.

“INSOLENT WORM!”

I heard someone yell and before I could even blink, the tip of a spear appeared a few inches in front of my face.

Nel and Yna stood by sides while releasing so much energy, their once black armour burnt red.

However, it wasn’t them who stopped the lance from splitting my head open.

My eyes widened upon noticing that Caligo had grabbed the Lance’s blade with his hand which now bled.

The Helma knight wielding the Lance let out a wild screech before letting go of the spear.

She then fell to her knees and pressed her head into the mud all while letting out bright flares of light.

Caligo and I locked eyes as he dropped the spear.

He then knelt down to face me.

“Rendaya will be conquered. That is the will of the Moon King. Doest thou understand what this means?” Caligo asked.

“I don’t know and I don’t care. Go north and conquer Araena. A lot of lives could be saved if you just-“

“If I disobeyed my father?” Caligo asked.

“Mmm… sometimes you need to think for yourself, no?”

Caligo winced before looking up at the sky which twisted and turned as the light and dark from both of us fought endlessly. Countless bolts of blue lightning shot across they sky while flares of light were absorbed by the black smoke creating bright plasma.

I could feel him trying to practically bake Coh, but I shielded us from the worst of it.

“Mmm…” Caligo droned as he stood up.

He then raised his hand and a certain dark sword appeared above it.

He grabbed it before coating its edge in his blood.

“The son must never go against the father’s wishes. Especially if he owes his father his life twice over.” Caligo said before offering me the dark great sword. The strong winds caused by the maelstrom above blew dry grass across the muddy plane.

“We… must never be allowed to clash in battle for the sake of this world. That being said, neither of us can back down. So I swear to not participate in this coming war.” Caligo said.

I accepted the extremely heavy sword before realizing it was made of darkness, so I raised it and after biting my teeth, I slid the blade across my left palm, drawing blood as I did.

“Our people will be the one’s who decide how this ends.” I said before floating the sword back to Caligo who nodded.

“When shall it begin?” He asked.

“As soon as your armies arrive.”

Caligo nodded before raising his hand.

A low, deep rumble then filled the air.

I glanced behind Caligo and my eyes narrowed upon seeing a dark mass seated just north of the Kauretia Valley.

I returned my gaze to Caligo, who no longer had the dark sword in hand.

“Seven days. My men will attack in seven days. I wish thee luck- oh and if thou’st should change thine mind about accompanying me to the capital, the offer stand’s still.” He said before turning to leave.

“And if you ever want to stop the war, come talk.” I said as the storm above slowly died, allowing the pale grey morning light to pierce through.

“Understood. Come, Astír.” Caligo said prompting the knight next to him to pick up her weapon and follow him with her head lowered.

The two returned to the platform and they all disappeared shortly afterward.

However, even though Lanceberg’s deadliest individuals were gone, I couldn’t help but glare at the mass in the distance.

Those men, those… invaders, were here to take what was mine.

I would make sure that every inch of land they took was paid for with their blood-

“Katsíki.” Yna called and I looked at her as she removed her helmet.

“Let’s go.” She said while offering me her hand.

I accepted it and followed everyone to the new war room.

A dark building that was one of three just in case another aerial attacks happened.

The enemy wouldn’t know which one to target at first glance.

We all stood around a much larger table where a large map depicting the Expanse and Coh sat.

It was illuminated by a bright orb that hung above.

No one said anything while I glared at the map.

“Nel, how strong are you compared to a Helma?” I asked with crossed arms.

“I’m as strong as all of them except for Astír in a one V one situation. She has control over three aspects, namely light, life and space. That’s why both Yna and I stepped forward back then. I could’ve stopped the attack, but we didn’t wanna take any chances.” Nel explained.

“And you, Thneia?”

“Same as sir Nel-“

“Hey, we’re comrades now. Call me Nel.” Nel said with his usual grin.

“Err… yes. The only one that would definitely kill me in a one of one fight is Astír. Rix and I were part of a large group of dragons during the battle between the Dragon Prince and Golden Prince and she tore through us like we were made of paper. That being said, I have attained a new form, so maybe something has changed, although it’s probably a miniscule increase in strength compared to her.” Thneia explained, but Yna let out a hum in response.

“You’re all forgetting that the Helma never fight alone.” She said.

Everyone let out pained groans.

“So we’ll do the same. How many Kommáti do you think it’d take to kill a Helma?” I asked.

“Ten, at least.” Yna said.

“Then assign five to every person here.”

“No can’t do. When Primair knights class, the area around us usually turns into an inhospitable wasteland. Having a Kommáti anywhere near there guarantees their death. I’ll distribute Kommáti depending on the situation but no matter what happens, they mustn’t be anywhere near us when we fight. I suggest that all Kommáti wait until the fights are over to deal killing blows.” Yna suggested and everyone nodded in agreement.

I then turned to Colonel Koráki who stood attentively by the table.

“We are fighting on the defensive and so your men will have to be placed at strategic points across the border.”

Koráki nodded.

I then turned to Thneia once more.

“Thneia, Yna will instruct you and your men on how to integrate best into our army, but don’t be afraid to ask me anything, ok?”

She nodded.

I then finally sighed before raising my right hand.

“You have your orders and duties, execute them.” I said and almost instantly after, Nel, Thneia, Rix and Koráki disappeared.

Everyone else just left the building leaving me alone with Yna.

“This is it, huh?” She asked while leaning against the table.

“I guess so.” I said although my words came out as a pained groan.

Yna placed her hand on top of mine.

Her golden sword then floated into the room and this prompted me to lift her dark one.

The two swords met above the centre of the table where the floated while crossed.

A thin circle of light formed around the swords and I sent out a thin string of smoke which intertwined with the light.

I then looked into Yna’s glowing eyes.

“To our second chance.” Yna said while gently squeezing my hand.

“To our future!”

TO BE CONTINUED!

Afterword

Wow… just… wow.

It has been three volumes of sheer unpredictability with this story for me.

What started out as forty pages of lore for a gag story, has turned into three hundred pages of world details that I cherish with all my heart.

The world of Goat Isekai… it’s characters. All of them have become so dear to me that not a day goes by when I’m not thinking about them.

I’m in a constant state of asking myself “How could I improve this story or its characters” and this just leads to more writing.

All this joy, all of it is thanks to you.

If an unprecedented amount of readers hadn’t read the first chapters I published as a joke, I would have simply left the chapters to catch dust, but thanks to your support I was able to create the biggest world I’ve ever written.

So, once again, from the bottom of my heart, thank you!

Oh yeah! The next Arc will be titled “The Kindling War”, look forward to it!