In the depths of the capital city. Within the basement of a house.

A bloodied middle-aged man stood in front of a tortured dead body of a soldier with an ugly expression on his face. Snorting wrathfully, he spat on the corpse before turning around and walking away.

Upon exiting the dingy room, he threw away the bloodied knife in his hand and received the wet towel from his subordinate. Just as he was wiping away the filth from his hands and face, he heard the worried inquiry of his subordinate.

"Was your interrogation fruitful, Lord Regent?"

The Regent of the South Aislan Empire, Rodriguez Centinni, Paternal Uncle to the boy emperor Alexandros, replied in a calm voice. "The servants of the Auberville Duke have tight grips and even tighter lips." Sighing to himself, he revealed, "The man revealed nothing."

Throwing the now-bloody towel to his subordinate, the Regent ordered calmly. "Clean the room and bury the body. He might have been a traitor to the nation but was at least loyal to his master. That deserves at least some respect."

"Understood." The subordinate bowed and went away to make arrangements.

Meanwhile, Rodriguez performed a change of clothes and went away to the tall citadel that was attached adjacent to the building that he was currently in. After a brief ascent, he arrived at the top of the citadel tower and looked at the distant scene on the horizon.

At the very edge of the horizon, a few dozen kilometres away from where he stood, Rodriguez caught glimpses of explosions, collapsed buildings and streets, raging fires, towering smoke, and many other scenes of destruction. At the sight of this scene, a deep pain was felt within the Regent's heart.

"Bastards!" He hissed with gritted teeth. "They've almost broken through the Fifth Outer Circle and are about to arrive at the Fourth." His eyes then checked the sky for the sun's position. "Only four hours have passed!"

Turning back to look at the chaos, Rodriguez darkly cursed, "You want to topple the central pillar of our glorious empire? Alright, try it! I shall make you bleed for every inch of land that you take."

"The glory of the empire will not be tarnished by the likes of you!"

---

On the Duke of Auberville's side.

Chaos and great clamour surrounded the Duke's company as they ventured deep into the depths of the capital city. The sound of wood breaking, the cries of soldiers, the roars of the fearless civilians, and the eventual boom! This macabre symphony repeated again and again and again... endlessly.

"Reporting to the commander! The Outer Fifth has been cleared and secured. Captain Lorrenz's men are moving deeper into the city."

"Reporting to the commander! Captain Lorrenz's troops have met with heavy retaliation. Losses are slowly mounting on our side."

"Reporting to the commander!! The street underneath two of the Captain's squads has unexpectedly caved in! We have sustained heavy causalities!"

"Co—Commander! Th-these crazy bastards have lost their minds!! They're strapping black powder onto their bodies and are jumping into the middle of our men before detonating themselves!!"

"DUKE!! CAPTAIN LORRENZ HAS BEEN KILLED!! THESE BASTARDS ARE WORSE THAN BEASTS! THEY ARE USING THEIR CHILDREN TO KILL OUR MEN!!"

Everyone's hearts chilled after hearing that final report. Even the Duke had a grim and wrathful expression. Taking a deep breath, he coldly ordered, "These conscienceless beasts are beyond redemption. Spare no quarter. Kill them all."

The orders were immediately passed and the soldiers instantly became heavy-handed in their actions. Initially, there used to be some hesitation in the actions of the invading soldiers stemming from the fact that they were forcefully subjugating their countrymen. Now, however, any and all such reservations completely disappeared.

In regards to people who used their own flesh and blood –used ignorant children— to resist, no mercy was to be awarded. Even the heavens spurned such acts.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

With the soldiers' assaults having grown more heavy-handed and brutal so did the people's resistance. More buildings collapsed, more streets caved in, and more suicide bombers jumped into a flock of soldiers and detonated. Still, in the broader perspective, the Duke's forces held the overall advantage. That being said, his losses were also rapidly mounting.

The burning sun completed a lap in the sky and the cool moon was set to rise. A day had passed, and the Duke's forces only managed to subjugate up to the Outer Second ring. A few thousand of his men had died in exchange for five-six times that number. Overall, it was an extremely brutal affair.

That night, within the temporary command tent established by the Duke's forces, a tense meeting occurred between the Duke and his various officers and advisors.

"At the rate at which events are progressing, we will have to pay an unbearable price to take this city. Even if we win, it will only be a pyrrhic victory."

"I agree. Right now, the rate of exchange between casualties is 5:1, that is, for every five civilians; one soldier of ours is being exchanged. Given the recorded population of this city; if every single civilian is dead-set on resisting us, I'm afraid that our victory will be miserable."

"Apologies for saying this but your considerations are still too shallow. The life exchange rate calculated by you is in regard to the current situation. However, as you can see from the map before us, the city grows narrower and more concentrated the deeper we venture in. This means..."

"Ah, I see. I apologize. It seems that my mind has grown clouded with rage after witnessing today's events. Who would've expected these bastards to suddenly lose their minds and go crazy?"

"It must be the work of that two-faced snake Rodriguez! He must've used some sort of demonic magic to twist the minds of these people."

"Sir Practitioner, have you noticed any sort of mind-manipulating magic within the city?" An advisor asked.

A middle-aged man dressed in long flowing robes quickly replied. "There is no such thing plaguing this city, Sir Advisor. Earlier, under Lord Duke's requests, I even tested the water wells of this city to check whether any mind drug was mixed within them to confuse the people. Fortunately, my checks ended negatively. The air and water in the city are safe."

"This is not the work of any drug or magic," the Duke, who had stayed quiet, all this time, suddenly intervened. "This is the result of a man."

Everyone within the command tent looked surprised by his words. They then turned to look at the solemn-looking Duke and humbly asked, "We ask Lord Commander/ Duke to explain."

"Lord Rodriguez Centinni," the Duke began with a heavy sigh, "the current Regent to the Empire and the Royal Uncle to the legitimate emperor is a man of frightening talent and disposition. He possesses a special talent for words. A talent which allows him to entrap and enthral whomever he wishes."

"Entrap and enthral? How?" asked the others.

"Rodriguez has an exacting grasp on people's personalities and emotions. He understands exactly how to induce hatred, grow fervour, and spread paranoia. He does this, not with the help of drugs and magic, but with mere speech."

"I'm afraid," the Duke sighed resignedly, "we have terribly underestimated the difficulty of this siege."

In an instant, the gloomy mood inside the tent had been cemented. Everyone cast furtive glances towards the others all while thinking about increasingly worse scenarios within their hearts.

"Pass my words," the Duke ordered. "All soldiers are to pull back and cement our previous positions. Haste will make waste. I've lost enough men already and am not willing to be causal with the rest."

"Inform the armies camping outside the city to form a supply line with us. We are going to take this slow and engage in a war of attrition."

"Post scouts at the specified ranges and have them keep a lookout for any incoming reinforcements. While there shouldn't be any, it still helps to be cautious. The last thing we want is to be pincered on both sides."

"That is all. Let us begin!" With a resounding shout, everyone began their work.

---

"My fellow subjects." Inside a dark underground room, the deep, steady voice of a richly dressed Regent spread evenly. "Loyal citizens of the Empire."

Rodriguez stood atop a hastily built stone stage that somewhat resembled an altar. Lined up beneath him was a motley crew of people, prior residents of Caroxtel City, of varying builds, genders, and ages.

While the Regent wore a calm expression on his face, the expressions of the crowd were far from placid. Manic faces, wrathful faces, crying faces, pleading faces... a myriad of different expressions coloured the faces of the crowd.

"The enemy, the traitorous dog that once guarded the south, has broken through our walls. The sorcery of demons and devils aid him in his profane affairs, weakening, nay, poisoning the protection granted to us by our ancestors."

"These demons, being the savage beasts that they are, roam our beloved city akin to ravenous ghosts. They are ripping apart the throats of our brothers, violating the honour of our sisters, and feasting upon the flesh of our children. I have seen the scenes of their brutal doings and I believe some of you within the crowd have seen them too."

At his words, many within the crowd immediately began nodding their heads. Their eyes were filled with much anguish, pain, tears, and irresolvable hatred.

"Tell me, my fellow people, are we to continue letting these demons do as they please?"

"NO!"

"Are we going to sit, as another one of our brother's souls gets snatched by the devils and another one of our sister's body becomes the plaything of the demons?"

"NO!!"

"Are we going to resign ourselves to watching our children be brutally slaughtered!?"

"NO!!!"

"What are we going to do!?"

"KILL THEM ALL!!!" A deafening scream filled the underground chambers.

"Yes," Rodriguez's voice turned low and soft. A gentle smile occupied his face. Then, in a tone that was akin to placating a crying child, he finished, "We shall kill them all."