Although his condition was not as good as before, thanks to Leonora's help, Tobias was able to maintain his consciousness and not faint after using the divine power. Tobias' strength was beyond the expectation of Norman and his soldiers. They never thought King Jiyu had abilities beyond human reason. Jiyu's soldiers began to take thousands of Norman soldiers into custody. The number of Norman soldiers reaching thousands of people made it difficult for the Jiyu soldiers to imprison them in the city prison. The best option was to gather them in a large field. One of the soldiers seemed to be in charge of bringing King Lucius to be held in the city prison, along with the five troop commanders who were with him. The man could only sit listlessly, striding handcuffed like a criminal towards Valestria. Adrian walked up to Tobias with King Lucius' coat and crown. Tobias told Adrian to do that so that the townspeople of Valestria would not give wild speculations about the man's identity. "
"What should we do now?" asked Leonora, curious.Tobias looked at Leonora and then at Karin. As the King of the Jiyu Kingdom, Tobias had to immediately convey his orders to address the current events. Leonora was worried that if Jiyu gave orders late, the mythological army would continue to push in and invade Atrea's territory."Send a message to Stratham. Concentrate all of Jiyu's troops at the border gate, withdraw troops from the kingdom's borders and focus on holding back the mythological kingdom's advance," Tobias explained.Karin listened carefully. She went alone out of the throne room to reach the palace post room, where she had originally gotten the letter from Liam sent to him."Our focus is now split between Norman, Equestria, and Mythology. We can't withdraw the invading forces in the three cities of Equestria, nor can we use the Norman forces we've been holding back," Tobias explained."So, what should we do?" asked Leonora, curious.
"Where are you going, Your Majesty?" someone asked.The man arrived at the palace to collect a file containing the soldiers' personal data, along with the exact number of Norman soldiers that Jiyu captured. It was Adrian, the man who was about to deliver the documents to the city administration office, which was now working near the White Palace of Valestria.Tobias was caught in the middle of preparing his equipment and strapping it onto the black horse that would be his mount. His appearance that night was much different than before. He wore a noble shirt covered by a knee-length black coat, with a black hood covering his head and face.However, Adrian could easily figure it out, apart from posture also behavior. After Karin's news that the Mythology army was trying to push through in the Western region, the man's attention was immediately drawn to Tobias.Tobias' actions were in line with what Adrian had expected. The man would act alone amid Jiyu's di
***The next day.Leonora woke up from her sleep with a feeling of happiness covering her heart. Her eyes opened, turning to the side where she couldn't find Tobias. The woman only saw sunlight coming in through the open window, warming her body and the mattress where she lay last night."Tobias?" call Leonora.No response at all. Leonora didn't suspect anything, perhaps Tobias had woken up early to take care of matters related to the invasion of the Mythology Kingdom. Leonora pulled out the bathrobe hanging on the clothes hanger, putting it on gracefully as she stood up.The room door was open, looking to the right and left where there was no one there. The atmosphere was pretty quiet and deserted, as if everyone was doing something according to their respective duties.Leonora decided to walk down the stairs, trying to find someone, whether it was a maid or a guard. Leonora's eyes saw a maid who was turning off one by one the oil lamps that had been lighting up the corridors of the
"Cut off their heads? But they are Norman soldiers. I'm afraid if we do that, they'll turn against us," Karin said."I don't care whether they invade us or not. I'm in charge now. You can't argue with me," Leonora said.Although the woman seemed to be giving such cruel orders, there was no denying the friendliness on her face. A wide smile still stretched across Leonora's beautiful face. At first glance, people would consider her kind and thoughtful with such an expression."I don't—""Very well, Your Grace. We will carry out your orders," Adrian interrupted, the man's words shocking Karin."Do you agree with her?" asked Karin, looking annoyed."We'll talk about it outside," Adrian replied.The captain of the engineer troop seemed to be pulling Karin's hand strongly to get away from the throne area of the King and Queen in the White Palace. Karin rebelled several times, not wanting to be taken by Adrian, her heart still not happy with the decision Leonora had just made.Arriving at th
"Alright. I will follow your plan," said Lucius, finally agreeing with Adrian regarding his plan to free the Norman soldiers.Karin looked worried, her face which usually showed a serious expression, now looked full of sadness that Adrian would do something dangerous for her. Adrian had no choice, this was the only way that could be used to maintain the relationship between Norman and Jiyu, in accordance with what Tobias Archibald wanted.Lucius was ordered to return to the cage, to discuss this matter with his commanders. Right when the old man said it, none of them denied it."We can use this to take down Jiyu and take Valestria," replied one of Jiyu's commanders."I made enough mistakes when I came here. I don't want to repeat the same thing," said Lucius.
***Ten days later.From a distance, Tobias could clearly see the city gates of Stratham protected by a high wall. At first glance, there didn't seem to be any panic among the townspeople who passed by the place, many of them were busy taking care of matters related to their activities.Two soldiers in dark blue armour stood guard in front of the gate, their job was to check on people coming in and out of the city, especially newcomers. For those townspeople, the two soldiers already knew so it was only a short check.Tobias began to spur his horse quickly, leaving the hilly area to reach the eastern gate of Stratham. Tobias' horse came to a halt when a soldier stopped him, right after seeing the different appearance Tobias was showing at the moment.
With Tobias in the vanguard, the command center was now in Tobias' hands. Liam was reluctant to take command of the troops if the leader of the Jiyu Kingdom was already nearby.Tobias accepted the transfer of command. He immediately gave a breakthrough in the defense strategy at that place. The human troops were struggling when they had to face an army of monsters with the considerable size of the monsters.Now, Tobias and Liam, along with the other captains of the troops, were gathered in the tent of the commander of the border guard troops. The number of people gathered reached ten, consisting of eight troop captains, and the remaining two people were Liam and Tobias."When do they usually attack?" asked Tobias.He started the discussion before a round table containing