𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐈𝐒 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐀 𝐒𝐔𝐂𝐂𝐄𝐒𝐒 𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘. 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐈𝐒 𝐀 𝐑𝐔𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍.
It's the beginning of a new age when Jaylah Imperatrix seemingly returns from the dead to reclaim her throne. And in perfect timing.
In her absence, evil has be...
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Act 4 Chapter 143 JAYLAH
It was not enough. Complete obliteration of the Kalingi navy was not enough.
Jaylah's father had done the same thing. And yet here the Kalingi were twenty years later, throwing themselves at the foundations of Jaylah's empire. Across the sea, they still had boys who wished to become soldiers—even more so now that they had been beaten so badly. They still had weapons and a will to fight. A will to slaughter her people and call it their Gods-given right.
They were like a relentless weed; both she and her father had merely plucked off its blossoms with this naval defeat. Whether it was because Aegeus was only Prince at the time and did not hold complete military power or because he was simply not courageous enough, he had stopped there. Jaylah intended to yank the poisonous weed up from the root. She needed to go farther than he ever dared.
That was why she sent ten of the original ships back to Oceana two days ago. There would be an attack from the north any moment now, so she would need all the men on ground to meet it as possible. What good would destroying the Kalingi be if she was instantly overthrown by someone as paltry as Ermalai?
The water was smooth as Jaylah's remaining fleet kept sailing east. Sunset had just passed, so the darkening world made the lights in the villages on the mainland glow a brighter gold. So much life to be extinguished before the night was over.
Beyond the nearest village, kilometers of farmland caught dusk's final light. Wheat stood tall and motionless in the still air, nearly ready to be harvested. They were so foolishly arrogant to plant crops so close to the coast where anyone could attack and burn their livelihood. Did they truly believe that hundreds of years of peace within their borders would simply carry on into the future? Without its formidable navy to act as an iron gate, the land had simply been lying in wait for a reckoning.
That reckoning happened tonight.
"Fire," Jaylah said. The Admiral had left for Naxaros. Besides, she felt like giving the orders herself from now on.
The archers—a few huntresses she was not extremely familiar with—raised their bows and let their Godfire-tipped arrows fly. For a moment, everything was dark. Then: light. A burst of light as the arrow's tip detonated. Fire raged through the fields and they were ash in mere seconds. Jaylah would never be tired of seeing it.
The whole damn nation would starve. Even that was too good for them.
A commotion sounded as the villagers scrambled from their flaming houses and jumped around the grass to put out their clothing, leaving trails of orange in their wake. They did not see the ships just off the coast, as Jaylah instructed them to put out every light aboard to keep the element of surprise. They were only guided by the light of the half moon.
They moved north to more villages, gliding seamlessly through the water as the horizon burned behind them. The night sky had turned a pinkish red, like the inside of a dark chest cavity. Smoke made Jaylah's nose and eye khol run, but she was beginning to enjoy the smell.
