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 144 JAYLAH
Oceana was being assaulted. Again.
It had been a week and a half since the Navrikan army landed in the east and took Antyrgos in a matter of hours. Like the Kalingi, their numbers were staggering. But they were controlled under strict patterns, which made them more formidable on the battlefield. They did not attack targets at random as the Kalingi did—they calculated their targets and struck with the full might of their forces each time. It had won them three major cities so far as they gained momentum eastward.
Jaylah could do nothing but hurl soldiers at them in hopes of slowing them down. What other option did she have that would not destroy Oceana in the process? Godfire would send them all to hell. Poisoning the land would lead to her own starvation. She just needed to buy time. Her firearms were almost ready. If she could just hold the enemy off from Naxaros long enough, they would die under a hurricane of iron bullets.
Jaylah paced along the cavernous hall in the mountain city of Leontespiae, a two day's travel by horseback from the capital. Her men were fighting the brunt of the Navrikan army a few kilometers away. She could imagine their cries.
Her troops were stretched so thin with the many things she was working to accomplish all at once. The enemy was too energized, too confident compared to her own troops, whose high morale from the Kalingi decimation was quickly ripped to shreds as more of their countrymen were destroyed in front of their eyes with each passing day.
It was becoming clear that despite her preparations, she was not ready for a long-term war. All she could do was take losses until she swelled her energy into one massive burst of carnage. What if she only had one? What if she had already used it up?
She yanked a hand through the roots of her hair. The pain did not even help. What was she meant to do?
The tighter she held onto the things that needed protecting, the more of a target she put on them. That was the problem with power: it could so easily be stripped away. She had so much and so little. Did that make her vulnerable enough to need more, or did she need to stop before she had too much to hold onto? How could she know which it was until it was too late?
A scream rose in her throat, but she held it back. She had to pull herself together. It was difficult when she was just so tired...
A knock at the door.
Jaylah took a deep breath and straightened her spine. She allowed the tension coiled in every nerve to melt away as she answered it. It was Kostos, looking grave. "General Stephanopulous was forced to retreat behind the walls of Gonella. One fourth of our original numbers are gone."
Jaylah was going to be sick.
"And the Navrikans?"
"They were dealt more significant damage than ever before, but it is nothing they cannot overcome in a few days' time." He clasped his hands. "What is your next call?"
