"If Twilight is involved... does the treaty still stand?"

Kael questioned after a moment of hesitation. For a moment, there was no answer from the other side. He could practically picture Aurelia narrowing her eyes at that question.

And then—

[The existence of Twilight changes things.]

The answer came.

Kael however, did not smile. Just from her tone alone, he could tell there was more, and he was correct.

[But treaties are not words carved into stone, they are weapons. If you break it openly without proof, the enemy will use that.]

She spoke with a solemn, meaningful tone and Kael understood it.

The Enemy.

He knew she wasn’t talking about the Stormcallers or any other tribe.

Drakthar.

It didn’t matter if Drakthar was behind the Stormcallers’ movement or not, Lavinia was still with him, Lavinia still knew the truth, the King still wanted her dead—

Drakthar was an enemy.

And if they broke the treaty right now...

That would give them the excuse he so desperately wanted.

That made Kael clench his fists. He wanted Aurelia’s support. She was a Ninth Rank Warrior, one of the strongest beings in the world, if she fought together with them, the fight would end with far fewer casualties than it normally would.

It would give him peace of mind as well because he knew if Aurelia came to the frontline, then even if he was a little late, she would be able to hold on without any problems.

That was simply how strong she was.

After all, unlike the Ninth Rank Warriors of the Heights, who had barely grown to this point out of sheer talent, Aurelia was well trained, had all the resources in the world she needed, and had much higher rank beasts than normal.

Her strength was higher than Korvath or even Morvain, not to mention she had artifacts that people of the Heights did not. If she went out, it wouldn’t be surprising if she could take on five Morvains.

But...

With the Treaty in effect, Aurelia couldn’t exactly participate in the battle, at least not directly.

"So what do you advise?"

He asked, trying to see if he had any other option.

Aurelia didn’t sugarcoat it.

[Fight the war with what you already have. If you confirm Twilight’s presence, then we can move differently but in six hours...]

"We don’t have enough time."

Kael understood.

[Yes.]

Aurelia nodded.

If Twilight was involved, they would make sure their existence wouldn’t be obvious. Heck, with what he had, Kael couldn’t even confirm if the enemy beasts were truly corrupted, let alone prove the existence of Twilight.

"Alright, we prepare for War.

There are only about seven hundred enemies—

We will win with as few casualties as possible."

Kael declared as his blue eyes shined with a determined look.

This was it.

This was what they had been preparing for all this time.

But then—

[The tribes listen to you, not me.]

Korvath spoke up and for a moment, Kael paused. His eyes momentarily fell on the army marching behind him and somewhere inside, he knew Korvath was correct.

Every tribe strictly followed their respective leaders, Velmourns would follow Korvath, yes, but the rest wouldn’t be the same.

They would never come under one command, not when he wasn’t there.

Kael’s throat tightened.

This was a bigger issue than he realised but—

[They will listen.]

Lavinia spoke up.

Kael tilted his head and the Princess continued—

[I will make them listen.]

She spoke with a convincing look on her face and Kael—

"Alright."

He decided to put his trust in her. Lavinia had never let him down before, he highly doubted she would start now.

[You return safely, no heroics.]

Lavinia spoke with a serious look on her face. That made Kael smile—

"Are you kidding me? Did you forget? I am the Hero."

[Kael.]

"Yes, yes, I will come back in no time. I’ll leave the more concerning matter in your hands."

[Leave it to me.]

The answer came, Kael nodded.

The call ended.

Kael looked back and stared at the army behind him, they looked back, hundreds of eyes looking at him, waiting for his words and Kael—

"We will not lose. Not today.

MARCH!!"

He roared and—

"YYEAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!"

The Army behind him roared.

...

Back in Korvath’s office, after the call ended, the people in the room turned towards Lavinia.

"How do you plan to make them listen?"

Aurelia asked directly. As someone who was in charge of training these people, she knew how absurdly stubborn they were. It wasn’t just the language barrier that made it difficult, translators helped her with it—

The problem was the inbuilt hatred between them.

Yes, they now shared the same Wall, they willingly came inside for various reasons, knowing others would be here and they would need to march with them, but that didn’t automatically build trust between them.

Any trust-building drill she did failed spectacularly.

These people did not trust each other, not one bit. Let alone trust, it was a miracle they weren’t attacking each other.

Aurelia could sense it, one single mistake, one single mishap was all it needed to make them pounce at each other.

It would take days for them to even stand beside each other without constantly looking at the other with caution.

Lavinia knew that, she knew the situation, Imperia had told her everything but—

"I will use Vandra."

Lavinia answered honestly.

Morvain narrowed her eyes at those words. She did not like the direction this was going in, Lavinia looked at her. She knew what the Velmourn Matriarch was thinking but—

"We have no other choice, Lady Morvain."

"Of course you would say that."

Morvain clicked her tongue.

"Don’t think I don’t know you were already planning to use the Dawn of the Dragon even before you knew about the incoming threat."

"Well, I wasn’t planning to use it this openly."

Lavinia didn’t deny those words.

"So the enemy just helped you push your plans forward."

Morvain snorted.

"You can say that."

Lavinia nodded, then, she looked at Morvain and—

"I am not enjoying this, Matriarch."

She spoke in a convincing, honest tone.

Those words made Morvain look at her.

"I know. That is exactly what makes it difficult for me to stand against you. I know what you are going through, I know why you are doing what you are doing and...

I commend you for it."

"Thank you."

Lavinia smiled.

And with that—

The preparation for the Final War began.