"That is the overall situation we find ourselves in." Kristof, the butler of Duke Vicar, head butler of the house of Tania, said.
After gathering all the information at hand, he had departed from Taurtania to the capital. To inform the king of what was happening throughout the kingdom according to the reports they had received through the Chosen and also their own men.
"Because of the infiltration of the devils, Elomir and Blenar received substantial damage in the night's attack. Elomir came out of this relatively unscathed compared to Blenar, thanks to the aid of the Chosen, who happened to be in the city."
"However, both cities have lost many of their strongest owing to cloaked daggers. As for the situation in the southeast, our last communication with Trigora was four hours ago. We do not know if the mayor escaped in the chaos, died, or has been taken captive."
"Tripeak still stands, but from the news we have heard, they are struggling despite reinforcements. Unlike in the north, the attack by the undead came with its full force. We have dispatched our elite to offer support, but it might not be enough..."
The house of Tania had taken the burden for the south since the house of Beleuo was still recovering from the orc invasion. The house of Ustan, on the other hand, was focusing on the north and west.
The reason Kristof spoke for the north, too, was because Erik served as a direct line for the duke with the front lines. Thus he, as butler to Duke Vicar, was better informed than everyone else present.
From here, the representative for the house of Ustan spoke. "We have confirmed with the Volvren dwarves that there indeed is a horde of monsters passing over the mountains. They apologized, saying they could not spare the men to halt their advance..." Refraining from spouting profanities, the representative continued as best he could.
"We expect the Dvereka and Govina regions to suffer heavy damage. We have already relayed messages to evacuate all the villages and towns. The house of Ustan is gathering our soldiers to deal with the horde."
"However, troubling news also says that an army is moving around the mountains. From which they can strike either at the recently recaptured Livadi, or the lesser defended Naraan."
Farest nodded, his heart heavy as he heard all these reports. Sadly, the kingdom was too wide for them to protect all sides. They had already started evacuation in the south and east, but they had believed the north to be safe, as well as what remained in the west.
After all, the massive Vol mountain range should make it impossible for an army to come from there.
While not an army, the horde of monsters being left unchecked was a terrible blow to the kingdom. It would hardly damage the cities, but it would devastate the many villages and towns surrounding the cities.
"Is there any positive news?" The king asked, wishing dearly that his father had not abdicated the throne early.
He understood the necessity of it. His father needed to be free to move and use his strength where needed, but dealing with the kingship was no simple task. Especially since all that came forth was calamity after calamity. And the king had lost his closest confidant, Sodren, in the defense of Vlisia, a loss that still weighed down his heart.
"It might not be much..." This time it was not one of the ducal representatives that spoke, but a noble woman from Kynigo.
She had worked closely with Eldrian when he had gone to organize trade with the dwarves of Ganalin and had been dispatched to explain the situation that Kynigo found itself in.
"But we believe Kynigo will stay strong. We have the Verleuo lake and river keeping us safe with the fall of Trigora. Pelaros has already sent craftsmen to build an array of watchtowers from Kynigo to Verest. In time, we will erect a wall following along the river."
"We have also formed a dialogue with the vampires of the drylands. Thus far, we cannot call them allies. But we have confirmed that they will not turn enemy without an outside influence. And should they do so, we believe we will be capable of halting their march..."
"That is all swell. However, if you are too sturdy of a wall, would they not simply turn to the west and attack Juzna or the still recovering Pediades?" A noble centaur of the royal bloodline questioned. His figure was rather big for a centaur, years of fat weighing him down.
"We cannot do much should that come to pass." Sanja admitted.
The city could only look after itself. While their numbers had increased with the refugees from Diades, they were still struggling to feed everyone. Luckily, for now, they had managed thanks to the Chosen's imports from distant kingdoms and also the vertical farms.
—
"I'm not sure why you appear so frightened. Please be at ease." Eldrian said as he and Vitko entered the tower. The pristine white stone was almost blinding, the arrays crafted into the floor and onto the support pillars still clear. The wear of time not having dulled the contrast that the arrays birthed onto the stone.
"Ah y-yes. It is just..."
"I can confirm that you are safe here. The only foreign entity within the fort is Levana, and she is being kept under watch."
"R-right."
Looking at the centaur, Eldrian continued to fail to find the reason why the man was so nervous. 'Hopefully, he isn't a spy or something. But I don't detect any malice from him...'
Moving to the center of the bottom floor, the centaur started taking out item after item from his dimensional necklace. Soon, an altar appeared right where a rather large circle had been left in the arrays. Atop this altar he placed a Mov Crystal, which shone in purple light as it flooded mana into the shrine and surrounding arrays.
Eldrian watched on with curiosity, refraining from asking questions that might distract the formation master as he worked. After some time, the centaur added a second Mov Crystal. Which abruptly disappeared when he did.
"R-right. If you w-would stand here." Moving to the place the centaur had pointed at, Eldrian was enveloped by a familiar feeling.
Seconds later, he found himself in an empty room with no visible entrance. Where normally floated a Magic Crystal, Eldrian saw the previous Mov Crystal—etched into the center of the room's floor.
"Please wait as I secure the room." Vitko said, appearing much more confident now that they were isolated. He moved to the Mov Crystal and took out a special type of pen, mana oozing out of it. With it, he drew an extremely intricate formation from the crystal to the floor.
After around an hour or two, the centaur took out a magic crystal. As soon as he did, the formation around the Mov Crystal shone brightly, and the magic crystal floated to the center. Where it gave off the familiar slight light to the room.
As soon as this happened, Eldrian got a message from Ziraili. Or rather, a system prompt.
[Tower formation detected, connect to city building system?]
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