The war council chamber felt smaller than Julius remembered.

Not physically—the vaulted ceiling still arched high overhead, banners still hung in disciplined symmetry, the great continental map still dominated the far wall—but the air felt tighter.

Heavier.

Information had a habit of doing that.

It compressed possibility into inevitability.

Julius stood at the center of the long stone table while the Foreign Minister concluded his report.

Markers had been placed across the map—red for Visigothic forces, blue for the Eastern Coalition, grey for uncertain movements, and now a fresh green line pressing down from the north.

"The Slavic Federation’s vanguard crossed the northern passes two weeks ago," the minister said, tapping the map with a slender rod. "Initial resistance was minimal. Visigoth appears to have underestimated their willingness to commit."

"Or overestimated their own deterrence," Julius replied evenly.

A low murmur rippled around the table.

He studied the shifting lines.

The former Honour Kingdom territory was nearly cleared of red markers denoting the Visigothic Imperial forces. The Eastern Coalition had advanced farther than most generals observing predicted, reclaiming territory with surprising speed almost suspiciously so. Reports indicated volunteer militias swelling their ranks—citizens turned soldiers, fueled by vengeance.

Honour Kingdom Partisans who failed to defend their kingdom the first time around and were now rising up alongside the Coalition forces to liberate their homeland...

Predictable... and Dangerous.

"They’re celebrating too early," Julius said at last.

General Sabellus, seated at his right, folded his arms. "Victories breed confidence, adding in their string of victories recently and it’s no wonder ignorance is setting in."

"And complacency," Julius countered. "Visigoth hasn’t mobilized fully, they are only facing the dregs, the garrison forces left behind to simply maintain the land, when the real army arrives... the Coalition forces will be obliterated in a straight-up fight."

A few of the younger advisors exchanged uncertain looks.

One finally spoke.

"With respect, my Emperor, the Visigothic Wolf is still bogged down in Egyptus. Their supply lines are strained. Now with the Slavs press from the north, the Eastern Coalition from the east. If there was ever a moment—"

"To strike?" Julius finished.

"Yes."

Silence settled.

He walked slowly around the table, hands clasped behind his back.

"You see a moment," he said calmly. "Meanwhile... i see a trap."

He stopped before the map and placed a hand over the central Visigothic territories—dense with cities, fortresses, and internal supply routes.

This continent had Rome previously situated in the center as well, the reason for this is because the population density was greatest in the middle, plenty of arable land, and with it ample ability to feed a massive population.

When it comes to the coastal regions, their ten million citizens were just a mere pittance compared to the overall population of Visigoth.

They were a nation who aside from the Warlords, performed wars with Quanity not quality.

"The Visigothic empire only has sent a single of their armies to war," he continued. "The one under the command of their wolf. But beyond her forces they still have many more full fledged armies, only three of which are required to maintain their borders, that means at any given time of the emperors choosing millions of men can be pushed into any battlefield of his choosing, with millions more easily able to be called up for service to replace the fallen."

The Emperors words rang through the meeting room, but even still knowing this, the young advisors still wanted to usher their emperor on into war.

If the Visigothic Empire was engaged on all sides, fighting four different fronts at the same time, surely they would be ground down right?

Wrong...

This was the trap that would capture many a player back in the day when this was just a game.

Taking on the Visigothic empire was considered the grand goal for a reason.

It was among the last things you would do during a campaign, the reason being that not only did Visigoth have the largest population and by way of that the largest fieldable army possible.

They also had the greatest number of Heroic figures within their ranks.

At the outbreak of war these were the Warlords, minus a single one from the man who fell to Hubris as Julius’s blade smote him upon the mountainside.

But as the wars continue to rage, new figures are sure to rise up, just like how Zeff had been discovered a man on the cusp of becoming a true heroic figure himself.

But in comparison, even if he included himself the Romanus empire only had three of such Heroic personages, compared to the 10 known within the Visigothic ranks... they would not be able to hold out even if they managed to eliminate a single one, that would just have the others appear to eliminate the threat, or worse yet the Visigothic emperor himself coming to fight a true heroic who served as the effective final boss of this game/world.

Rather than throw away the lives of his people, he would instead opt to train them, raise their quality and training levels such that they could collectively stand against a Heroic warrior without being swept at least until their commander could arrive to save the day.

Not only that but also having the quality to fight outnumbers all the time, and being provided with commanders to understand how to deal with the mass assault doctrine being employed by their enemy.

Lastly is the fact that the newly emerged Romanus is still technically behind the Visigoths.

We were part way through the third tech rank, but Visigoth would already be midway through Rank four, possibly already entering the fifth rank considering it had already been a number of years since the tutorial had begun.

"When it comes to the Empire... sadly we are not capable of contending with them, the coalition and the Slavic federation will distract their focus for a few months, perhaps years as they fight their hardest but..." Julius began to explain his tone getting more and more grim, "Their sacrifice though foolish... is to our benefit, the longer they can hold out the more time they buy for our own empire to prepare for the war to come after, once the combined forces of the Visigothic empire, have claimed their spoils and their Emperor turns his greedy eyes towards our own lands."

"But..."

"Yes, don’t worry just because we wont be participating in the war itself does not mean we cannot support those who do, nor does it mean we wont be slowing down the Visigoths as much as we can to foricbly prolong the war to buy us time."