essed by the rapid progress of the magic/science combination.

The structure of the dam was done and solid but nothing was ready in terms of technology.

I was exhausted and to be on the safe side, I returned to the capital.

The troops were running around, busy following my orders, especially as time was running out.

For them, I was in a hurry or a monster in a hurry to kill everyone to better devour them.

The water flowed in and out of the structure but nothing as a mechanism was yet in place.

It was, from the spies' point of view, a structural oddity.

The enchantress watched the structure from her crystal ball but interference was disrupting her magical signal. Something was not right for her.

She turned to her new general, Maximus. "What is the situation?"

"Your majesty, the countries traditionally allied with the empire will be joining us, they cannot accept a Demon Lord near their borders.

The empire is in its last throes, but what worries me is the recent appearance of monsters and a sort of migration.

As if undead, goblin lords and the like are migrating east. There are thousands of them. They're heading for the empire. The siege of the capital will be much more complicated if these monsters form a combined Empire/Demon Lord army. According to our spies, Empress Chlorophyll has become an enchantress like you, but no one has yet been able to prove her powers.

She bit her nails. "My plan went awry with Zalar betraying me. But why? What did the dragon promise to make him change his mind.. He almost killed him with the crystal enchanted sword!"

Maximus: "I know the heroes are in a tight group with the Demon Lord... which is nonsense! They should kill him on sight but something is wrong, your highness! Ah yes there are rumours that the princess is sleeping with the wyvern..."

Enchantress: "In her place, I would have done the same... Only the dragon didn't abandon her! "

"What am I going to do with the hostage wyverns? Killing them would increase his anger tenfold.

"What do you think about negotiating a truce with the empire?"

"We actually know very little about the Empress. We are the executioners of her parents, we did a failed coup and precipitated the worst for ourselves: She inherited the powers instead of them being returned to us and worse, we caused the Demon Lord to appear. Their combined powers are beyond comprehension, and with each passing day our advantage disappears a little more.

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If we attack now, the imperial troops will collapse, but the Demon Lord remains. Will the monsters fight alongside the empire's soldiers? I doubt it and a demon revolt is also possible. With 2 enchantresses and the imperial troops, you could have crushed the monsters. The only possibility is to have heroes deal with the Demon Lord while our troops crush the remaining imperial troops. Then, if the timing is right, we have a chance of beating the monster armies that are currently forming. They are only small groups at the moment. History repeats itself except that this is not poor, barren demon territory but the rich, fertile lands of the empire!

A funeral and enthronement will take place in 3 days. But many nobles resent you and the empress for the loss of their respective family members. They hate you too.

Oh yes, strangely enough, they are recruiting all the technicians even before the soldiers... This is a serious strategic mistake. Probably, they will want to fortify even more and produce weapons but they don't have the numbers. For the moment.

A delegation of amnestied but banished guards is arriving. They have a message for you."

"Maximus... "Why aren't they using mana coms?

The general laughed. "I think they suck at magic! You will crush them and then you have the Celestial Tear in your possession, Majesty!"

She snapped her fingers and found herself in a huge cathedral-like room to face the defeated guards.

Four soldiers were kneeling, heads down.

With her great red cloak, she twirled her scarves around as if by show, and her dress magically took the imprint of the most appropriate chair: Her Throne.

Held vertically by magic, her sceptre shone with a pinkish fire and worried the occupants of the room.

Her elbow resting on the armrest and her hand holding a crystal glass filled with a wine-like liquid she looked at the guards as an eagle would at its prey.

"You may speak!"

"Majesty, we are sorry... the monster was pulverizing everything in its path. He took us by surprise. And he was casting spells and talking! "

The witch frowned, clearly annoyed.

"The message?"

"Ah... yes..." he pulled out a parchment written carefully with ink and a claw, obviously.

"Enchantress, Witch of the West, whatever. I know you were at war with the Empire. And I don't care about that. I am a wyvern before I am a Dragon Lord.

Your actions precipitated this. No matter.

You hold my family and my loved ones. Every day without them deprives them of the happiness that every animal has a right to on this planet. So you harbour a resentment and rage directed at you and all that you represent because every day without them is a day lost forever. You are stealing family love and stealing the childhood of the little ones who have asked for nothing from your conflict.

So I give you an ultimatum to give ME back MY family. So maybe a good neighbourly relationship could be started again by setting the record straight."

She did not read the next part, where I threatened to pulverize every town and village in her kingdom.

She turned on her heels, forgetting the order to execute the defeated guards. The next moment Maximus picked up the ball of paper from the ground and understood the message.