Norman stood on a stone podium looking out over Independence Square with Princess by his side. The square took up a large space in front of the Ministry building. The square was full of people, but there was room for many more. It had been designed to accommodate more than thirty thousand. A number that Norman had a hard time fathoming. He thought it was way too much and an awful waste of space, but people had insisted.

He did put his foot down on them making it larger. Who needed a space to house a hundred thousand people? Even this gathering made him feel like those weird dictators who liked to host military parades to show their strength.

The murmur of just over ten thousand people was deafening. But he endured the noise and curious gazes as he stood there. He held his staff in hand and the bone spur crown sat atop his head. The choice to attend in his greykin form had been a good one.

The crown wasn’t sentient but it could act independently, which meant he needed to continuously ensure the tiny golem that the people below were not a threat. While the golem obeyed his mental commands, it would tear through the crowd with glee if given a chance.

After the table debacle, he had reworked his golems slightly. Despite the crown’s tiny size, it was probably the most dangerous creation he had made to date. Minus his spells of course. The crown could change its shape and move much faster than something its size should be able to. It was also made using the same compression technique he used for the Bone Armor, making it pretty resilient. And like with the armor, the inside of the crown contained muscle and tendons, giving the construct more power than its tiny form would suggest.

In one of his tests, it had sawn through a Bone Armor-coated grazer in less than twenty seconds. It could also slingshot itself across vast distances by using its shape-shifting ability. While it was interesting to postulate uses for the crown, Norman put those thoughts aside as a single sharp bong resounded across the square causing everyone to fall silent.

Soon Grobert stepped out and spoke. “Welcome people of Normenia. We have gathered today to witness the coronation of our beloved leader, Lord Norman. And while he has already led our people through tough times, some of our newest citizens may not be aware of his exploits on our behalf.” Norman did his best not to roll his eyes as Grobert detailed all of his exploits to the gathered crowd, his voice ringing loud and clear across the square thanks to the wind mage enhancing it.

After an embarrassing amount of time, Grobert finished. “I present to you, Lord Norman!”

The crowd erupted into cheers and applause as Norman strode forward. He waved at his people and gave them time to celebrate before nodding to Grobert.

There was another loud bong and the crowd once again went quiet.

“Thank you for all your love and support! But I would be remiss as a leader if I didn’t also acknowledge all of you. If it wasn’t for the hard work of my advisors,” he motioned toward the group of people standing off toward the side, “As well as the dedication and drive of every single person here, none of this would be possible.”

With those words, the new flag unfurled behind him and he slapped his hand to his chest, watching as others took up the gesture. Soon most of the crowd had followed his example. Then the new anthem began to play.

Most people were moved to some extent by the words as they highlighted the struggles they had all endured together. As the song came to an end, Norman removed his closed fist from over his heart. “From this day, until our end of days, let this day be known as a day of celebration. Not just for me, but for the people!”

More shouts of joy erupted. Norman spotted a Death Knight swiftly approach Eugene and whisper in his ear. The man’s face took on a dark scowl and he nodded to the knight. After relaying his information to Eugene, the knight rushed off equally as quickly.

That couldn’t be good. Eugene glanced his way and gave a tight nod. Norman looked over the crowd, he didn’t want to leave so soon. This was meant as a celebration for his people and a rare chance they got to see him. Cutting it short meant depriving his people of their joy. Maybe the issue didn’t need his immediate attention.

When he looked back, somehow Eugene had managed to vanish from the stage. That wasn’t good. Eugene wouldn’t simply leave unless it was urgent. Thinking of a way to leave without worrying his people, Norman came up with a plan. Before he implemented it, he leaned down and whispered to Princess. “Go get your brothers and meet me at the barracks.”

She gave a quiet chuff and padded off. He wasn’t sure Eugene had headed to the barracks, but it was the most likely place he could find his Commander. He tapped the end of his staff on the ground and fed mana into it. A compressed sheet of air appeared under his feet and he rose unsteadily into the air an inch or so.

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He took a moment to spread his balance a bit better and then continued to rise while everyone cheered even louder.

This was not how the spell was meant to be used, and he could feel his mana draining faster than normal, but the people below loved it as they cheered even louder.

He kept up the ridiculous faux flight until he was out of sight of the square. Then he let himself drop back down to the street as he hurried to the barracks.

Grobert intercepted him before he got too far. “He went toward the eastern side of the city.”

Norman came to a stop. “The eastern side?” There wasn’t even a gate on that side, and what lands lay to the east? As far as he knew, that entire side was covered by the fog lands and the Imatti. The only threats they currently faced came from the southwest.

Grobert must have seen his confusion. “Best to see it for yourself.”

Norman changed course and headed for the eastern wall. He wasn’t worried about Princess being able to find him, the hellhounds always seemed to know where he was.

As he neared one of the towers in the wall, he could see a beehive of activity as enhanced guards and Death Knights were rushing along to their positions.

He hurried up the stairs to the overlook and found Eugene there along with Grobert. He didn’t need the pair of binoculars to see the massive cloud of dust in the distance.

“What is it?”

“An army.”

Norman took a look again at the cloud. “How big?” he asked quietly.

“Impossible to tell from here. I already have scouts out trying to get numbers. But it's big. Larger than the force the Brotherhood rallied against us when they sacked Ashvale.”

Just the mention of the Brotherhood and their actions made Norman’s blood boil. Without thinking, he activated the air shield again and flew off toward this threat. He heard the shouts of surprise from behind him, and Eugene yelling at him to return, but he ignored them. His rage was piqued now. He was not going to sit back and wait for another force to take or destroy what he built, what his people built!

The only possible way this force could have gotten this close was if they had killed the sentries they had stationed around the country. Otherwise one of them would have warned the city of this invading army long ago. That made them an enemy.

As he flew over the farms, he could see his people fleeing for the safety of the city. Watching his people run scared, only made him more furious. He channeled that anger and flew even faster.

Eventually, he got close enough that he could see the extent of this army. It was massive, dwarfing the scale of the gathering he had just witnessed inside the city. For a moment, Norman’s anger wavered as fear gripped him. He snuffed out this fear and set down a fair distance in front of this army to prepare.

The flight had used up around half his mana if he gauged it correctly. Not great, but he should still have enough to do what he wished to do. He pressed the symbol on the back of his amulet and Scar appeared next to him. The terror bird chirped a few times before scenting the air and letting out a dangerous hiss.

Norman rubbed the terror bird to calm him. “Yes, uninvited guests. But don’t worry.”

There were a few ways Norman could handle this. On the bottom of that list was diplomacy. You didn’t invade a country if you wished for a peaceful resolution.

First things first, his armor appeared on his body and he mounted Scar. Then he prepared Flaming Skull, letting the spell form in his mind. He could feel blood leak from his nose but his practice and constant deaths had finally paid off as the spell seemed to snap into place in his mind. He knew it worked because he could feel the drain on his mana.

He tried to prepare another spell, but as soon as he tried, he could feel the first spell waver slightly in his mind so he stopped.

Soon he spotted the enemy scouts, and they spotted him. Hard not to considering he was stopped on the crest of a hill, sitting on a ten-foot-tall terror bird and staring at them.

The scouts didn’t approach, or attempt to attack. Three kept an eye on him while the fourth zipped back to the army almost faster than Norman could follow. He frowned under his bone helm at that. It meant this army wasn’t just large, it also had people with callings. Not that he was surprised, just annoyed.

Shortly after the scout vanished, he saw a change in the enemy force. It was hard to spot at first due to its large size, but soon the dust kicked up by this massive force of people started to settle. The pounding sound that he just recently realized was the stomp of uncountable feet also ceased, leaving a droning silence in its wake.

The scouts remained far enough away that they couldn’t hit him with most attacks. But Norman knew if he could strike them from where he stood, it was likely they could as well.

One thing he did notice, was that they didn’t look much like soldiers. They had armor, that he could tell, but each looked unique. They looked more like a band of mercenaries than anything. The only other thing he could tell was that they appeared humanoid. That didn’t say much though. He didn’t think they were from Earth, based on the strange armor they wore.

Soon a resonant beat of drums broke the silence. This was quickly followed by what he thought were horns. But he couldn’t be too certain.

In the distance, the army seemed to split down the middle like a zipper as something traveled through its center.

He couldn’t quite believe his eyes as he realized what it was. It was a covered palanquin. Going by how much it shined in the sun, it was covered in gold and other precious metals. Hell, maybe even jewels.

Then he spotted the source of the drums and horns.

In front of this massive palanquin, was a group of people playing instruments.

“Are you fucking kidding me!” Norman groaned and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Why do I always get all the fucking weirdos?”