"Commander is dead!"

"Avenge the Commander!"

"Screw that! Mommy, I’m going home!"

The Capital Army instantly fell into chaos.

The death of the Head Commander spread throughout the battlefield at an unbelievable speed. Soldiers who had been watching the figh moments ago suddenly lost their will to continue. Some tried to regroup, some attempted to retreat, while others simply stood there in shock.

Without the Commander directing them, the entire army looked lost.

"This is the Commander?" Tyler’s mech tilted its head while looking at the corpse.

Ariel flew beside him and crossed her arms. "Doesn’t that mean we’ve already won half the war? The Head Commander is dead. Their entire chain of command is probably in chaos right now."

"Hmmm."

Tyler didn’t seem particularly excited.

Ariel opened the operation plan and looked at it again. Then she looked at the corpse. Then she looked back at the plan.

Finally, she laughed.

Rose blinked. "Why are you laughing?"

"Look at this."

Ariel projected the operation file for everyone to see.

"Step One: Capture several sectors."

"Step Two: Leave those sectors empty and disappear from radar."

"Step Three: Infiltrate the Capital."

Her finger moved further down.

"Step Seven: Eliminate the Head Commander."

Rose stared at the list.

Then she looked at the corpse.

Then back at the list.

"Wait... what step are we on?"

"Step Three."

"..."

"..."

"Can we skip to the ending?"

Ariel almost laughed again.

Honestly, she still felt like she was dreaming.

The Embers had fought against the Capital for years. The Head Commander was one of the biggest obstacles standing in their way. Countless operations had failed because of him.

Yet somehow, he died before half their plan was completed.

More importantly, their side hadn’t suffered nearly as many casualties as expected.

Ariel was beginning to wonder if Tyler had some kind of hidden luck ability.

"Then let’s skip the remaining steps," Tyler suddenly said.

Ariel immediately had a bad feeling.

"What are you planning now?"

"Simple." Tyler pointed toward the center of the city. "Let’s go to the Golden Palace and kill the King."

Rose immediately nodded.

"Sounds reasonable."

Ariel stared at both of them.

"No. That does not sound reasonable."

Before she could continue—

RUMBLE!

The entire city suddenly shook.

Buildings trembled. Broken glass shattered from nearby windows.

Everyone immediately became alert.

"Earthquake?" Rose asked.

"Impossible," Ariel replied.

The city shook again.

"This entire city is floating in the sky. How does a floating city get an earthquake?"

Nobody had an answer.

The shaking continued for several more seconds before gradually stopping.

Tyler looked toward the center of the city.

For some reason, he had a feeling something was happening there.

┉┈ ◈ ◉ ◈ ┈┉

Meanwhile, near the destroyed Sector Sixteen, thousands of civilians and Ember members had gathered inside a temporary safe zone.

Several combat mechs stood guard around the area while everyone waited for updates from the frontlines.

Suddenly, one of the communication officers received a report.

His expression immediately changed.

"We’ve received news from command."

Everyone looked over.

"The Capital launched nuclear strikes against every occupied sector."

The crowd immediately erupted.

"What?!"

"Nuclear strikes?"

"My land. my house"

"Quiet!"

The officer quickly raised his hand.

"The sectors were already evacuated. Nobody was there. We will build new free cities after capturing the Captial. No more being slave."

The entire crowd froze. Then countless people let out sighs of relief. Some sat down directly on the ground. Others wiped away tears.

If they had remained behind just a little longer, most of them would’ve died. A few minutes later, another report arrived.

The officer listened quietly before his eyes widened. This time, a smile slowly appeared on his face.

"What happened?"

"Tell us!"

The officer looked at everyone.

"Our stealth team successfully infiltrated the Capital."

The crowd immediately became quiet.

"And they killed the Head Commander."

For a brief moment, nobody reacted. Then the entire safe zone exploded into celebration.

"YEAHHHH!"

"THE COMMANDER IS DEAD!"

"WE DID IT!"

"HURRAY!"

People hugged each other. Soldiers cheered. Even some of the older civilians had tears in their eyes. For the first time in years, victory felt real.

┉┈ ◈ ◉ ◈ ┈┉

"Alright. Let’s move."

Tyler led the group toward the center of the Capital.

The road ahead gradually curved upward. As soon as they stepped onto it, everyone’s perception shifted. The street beneath their feet became vertical.

Rose nearly stumbled.

"I hate this city."

"That’s because you failed gravity class," Ariel replied.

"What’s a gravity class?"

"Nothing.. just a Captial joke."

The group continued moving until they finally reached the center of the Capital.

A huge green landscape stretched before them. Golden trees, beautiful gardens, and artificial rivers surrounded the area.

But nobody paid attention to any of that.

Because the Golden Palace was gone.

Everyone stopped.

Ariel stared at the empty space where the palace should have been.

"Impossible..."

"The King lives here," she said. "How does an entire palace disappear?"

Tansy looked around for several seconds before pointing toward the sky.

"Maybe because it’s over there?"

Everyone looked up.

Far above them, a golden object was moving through the night sky.

At first, it looked small.

Then they realized it wasn’t small at all.

It was simply very far away.

The Golden Palace itself was flying away.

"The King is escaping!"

Ariel immediately shouted. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

Tyler pointed toward the sky.

"All mech units, follow me. Everyone else establish a perimeter and stay here."

Thrusters ignited across the battlefield.

One mech after another shot into the air.

Tyler led the charge as they rapidly approached the palace.

The massive structure grew larger and larger.

Golden towers. Floating gardens. Glowing walls.

The entire thing looked ridiculously luxurious.

"Imagine how much resources went into that thing," everyone thought.

Then suddenly, warning alarms erupted inside every cockpit.

A beam of golden light appeared from the center of the palace.

"What is that?" Tyler frowned.

The beam rapidly expanded. The entire palace began shining brighter and brighter.

Every mech pilot immediately felt danger.

"Retreat!"

"Pull back!"

Unfortunately, they were too late.

A flash of golden light swept across the sky.

Inside the hidden base, Tyler suddenly removed his visor.

"What the hell was that?"

The tactical screen in front of him was completely blank.

Every mech that had approached the palace had vanished from the network.

Rose removed her visor as well.

"Did you die."

"Sadly, no, but my mecha did."

"That’s unfortunate."

Tyler ignored her and looked at the main screen.

High above the Capital, the Golden Palace continued drifting away as if nothing had happened.

Nobody knew what weapon had just fired. Nobody knew what happened to the mechs. But one thing was obvious.

It’s not easy to take down the castle.