At the entrance of the Stardust forest, Alexander stood, musing about how the invasion was going, no armor neither shirt on, only boots, belts and leather pants. A hand to his chin, chest push out, he has been seeing the push that the large army has managed to accomplish. The stern expression on his face betrayed his thoughts.

The attack is going smoothly. Even so, never thought that they would be so prepared against an invasion like this one… This is odd. We are pushing in, but it is going a bit too slow for my liking.

Seeing over the city, the push through the main street was going well until a building fell over the leading soldiers in the attack, blocking the access in the process. It took some time, but they had already found another route, while there’s a team working on breaking through the fallen building to restore the most direct access to the main plaza of the city.

“Lord Alexander, Sir!” on soldier clad in steel armor comes closer.

“Speak.”

“Yes, My Lord. We managed to find other access points through which we could squeeze some extra soldiers, and proceeded to do so.”

“Good. Flood every street with them, focusing on a perimeter around their command camp. A pincer attack should do it.”

“Yes, My Lord” the soldier says, as he goes back down the farmlands.

Still… They are really well prepared. Can we, at this point, be able to stop them before the hole themselves in the citadel?, that would make the conquer of the Aquamarine state way harder than it should be… maybe we should use more bombs to push them back.

As Alexander is thinking this, from the river to his left that comes down to the city bordering the farmlands, light comes out, followed by the water rising about thirty meters up in the air.

Alexander’s arms fall to his sides, surprise being drawn on his face. A particular sensation he knows too well ran through his body.

Old magic?... How?

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He gives the city another look, only to see how, in the city itself, multiple water walls rise from the many water channels the city has, creating multiple barriers all over the place, stopping the forward momentum the invasion had into a halt.

Who… who could have known about Old magic at this age? No one alive should know how to use the old broken magic system… but, what about…

Alexander takes another hand to his chin, thinking more deeply.

Yes, it would be possible if we assume that the woman has the blessings of Lionheart. That would make sense of this land full of life. Living three hundred years is also possible… Have I met her before?

Coming from his back, Alexander hears someone running, full speed ahead.

“Lord Alexander, sir!”

Turning to the soldiers, he says “Speak.”

“Yes, my Lord. We have a problem back at the camp beside the lake. Some magic beasts have come out of the forest and started attacking the soldiers. There are too many magic beasts and we don’t have enough strength to face them. Please, My Lord, assist us.”

Taking a moment to think, seeing how suddenly things have turned, feeling anxious, he closes his eyes. Now that this water wall is here, the attack is going to be delayed by a lot, enough that the Aquamarines can have enough time to reach the citadel and hole themselves up there. If this is so…

I know exactly what to do.

Opening his eyes, he directs “Let us go back. We can’t have any more deaths on us right now, we might need them later on.”

“Yes, My Lord.”

As Alexander starts to go back, he gives the city another look. Somewhere in there, Falco is fighting, trying to push further down the line.

Don’t worry Falco, even if you happen to fall, your dream of a united Aeris will come true… everything will be as it should have been three hundred years ago.

With these thoughts, Alexander enters back into the forest, his back towering over the city, foes and allies alike.