Hearts of Iron 4 Player's Guide to Save the Isekai World

Icarian Hymn: Flight

18 October 1539. Northern Bulwark, Cascadia

Princess Emilia of Salais roused when an explosion thundered the border town Ainsob. The Town Hall bell rang to signal the start of a new assault. She rolled off her bed, and just when she was on her feet, a faint blast echoed, and a sharp whistle emanated, not only the coming of another attack but something sinister and diabolical to tempt her natural instincts of running and hiding.

A second explosion rocked the Keep, sending her to the floor and causing commanders and officers outside to cook a word salad of orders. Emilia fanned her hand in front of her face, and her vision was to the Belosean dove familiar resting on a tree branch outside the town. The noise had sent it flying alongside its natural kin. But Emilia spurred it away from the flock and have a bird's-eye view of the damage.

A crater on the castle bailey formed. A Dark smudge on one section of the inner wall chipped away its gray surface. Emilia groaned; If they can't sortie and take out their siege cannons, the castle will fall through artillery alone. She noticed white smoke rising from the southern section of the circumvallation. Curious, Emilia commanded the fowl to investigate the redoubts first and gasped at the sight of an unknown army numbering a thousand clad in gray and armed with muskets moving through the multiple approaches — trenches — in droves.

"He's here."

Emilia left the bird's vision for a moment, staring at the stone floor with an undeniable nightmare — The rebellion and the Mercenary Legion have failed.

Only one army in Cascadia wore gray, but she won't allow deception to defeat them. She returned. Another puff of smoke appeared from the circumvallation, followed by a blast. A fiery explosion struck the left-side tower leading to the Keep. Impossible, Emilia thought. The range was beyond their own. As the bird neared the weapon, she held her breath after seeing the sheer size of their all-metal siege cannons, the length of their barrel, and the cannonballs proportionate to their size. The crew that took the shot popped the back open, loaded another round, and went into position.

Her spine chilled when the other cannoneers adjusted their weapons. They weren't ranging shots; they were guiding rounds. Clanking noises rang outside her room, followed by a fierce knock and a knight's voice.

"Your Highness!"

"I know!" she slammed the floor and regretted it from the graze on her hand.

She stormed to the wardrobe to don her uniform, then a symphony echoed, a symphony of death and its wind band. Emilia squealed to the ground, shielding her ears from ear-splitting blasts rocking the Keep just as though her sanity had snapped. Each whistle was another attack to which they could not retaliate. Screaming — Endless screaming. The air screamed, the soldiers screamed while coherent voices desperately commanded hysteria from falling to anarchy.

Enduring the pressure was madness beyond reason. Emilia panted, maybe screamed, or groaned endlessly. Her head was spinning in pain. A drool escaped her mouth while her body convulsed to the quake. She could no longer differentiate the whistles from the screams of women and children from the millions of wailing souls that have fought and died because of their and their ancestors' follies that had returned for a day of reckoning, questioning them if this was worth bringing the world's fate a little closer with another insignificant tragedy.

The door handle snapped, and a few knights broke in with horrified faces, clinging to the door frame and wall. Their face flushed as they looked at her in her nightgown. A maid was among them.

"Out. Now!"

The woman shoved the knights out with mature composure despite the barrage, tumbling against the wardrobe, snatching her clothes, and throwing them to her.