The Greatest Sin [Progression Fantasy][Kingdom Building]
Chapter 389 – Charging Straight In

There is a grand irony in the fact that it is Kassandora who stopped Fer’s incursions in the past. Both Divines now plague our thoughts and need a thousand contingencies individually, and then another thousand for what to do if both are together.

The first warherd was came in from the east, it was eight terrible years of Fer’s terror, and then two more once the tides finally turned. At first they were utterly unstoppable. It did not matter whether Fer was engaged on the open field or in the thick forest. Like a flood, the beastmen tore through fortresses as if they were sandcastles and they rolled over cities as if they were mere toy models. It was not until the Epan Pantheon approached Kassandora and begged for help.

Kassandora agreed. She approached Elassa. Elassa was given the chance to rehabilitate her magicians after the Era of Worldbreaking. Suddenly exiled men of power returned as saviours. Looking back now, that is when we should have started realising that Kassandora’s demesne of War did not reduce her to a mere mercenary. The woman, over the span of a single war, turned the most cursed souls on this world into heroes that were revered. There are excuses of course, with the fact mages were once again allowed into civilized society, all nations scrambled to set up their national colleges of magic and hire as many out. I can recall two nations accidentally bankrupting themselves in an attempt to secure as many magicians as possible.

Yet the real prize faded into the background. Kassandora herself once again retreated from the world stage. She came out for other conflicts, but I remember the women pre-Fer’s incursion and post-Fer’s incursion. The Epan Pantheon approached Kassandora for the second and third incursions too, six and seven years respectively. The second ended in the first mass mobilizations of serfs, the third ended in the efficient production of crossbows. When it became the Pantheon of Rhomaion, then simply repeating Kassandora’s tactics and improving the crossbow was enough to repel Fer’s fourth incursion.

The second time, great cities started to go up once lords realised that manpower in itself was a resource to be used. As long as men were compensated, men would build great cathedrals and monuments and statues willingly. Kassandora retreated once again. The third time, with the massed crossbow, destroyed the Epan Pantheon and replaced it with the Pantheon of Rhomaion. And Kassandora retreated back to her lair once again.

The fourth incursion was repelled without the Goddess of War’s assistance, although there was no glory in it. The only reason the various nations could withstand Fer was thanks to the advancement Kassandora had foisted upon them. The First Hunt for Beasthood was organized in response to the fourth incursion. Kassandora was approached.

Maybe she felt humiliated? Maybe she simply hated the Pantheon at that point? Maybe three incursions won directly by her and one indirectly with nothing to show for it soured her opinion. Kassandora turned the Pantheon of Rhomaion down.

I am sure it would have turned out differently if she was there. That is not even a question. But Kassandora was not there. The First Hunt for Beasthood lasted four months. It was such a humiliation that there never was a Second Hunt.

- Excerpt from “The History of Arascus’ Family”, from the section “Beasthood.” Written by Goddess Maisara, of Order.

Edmonton stared at Fleur for a few moments as ideas formed in his mind on what to do. Of course he shouldn’t have let Fleur take initiative. It had been a stupid move from the very beginning. The girl was not a commander. There was a reason she had the highest burnout rate back during the Kirinyaan Invasion. And it wasn’t even because she trained her men particularly well. The best sorcerers consistently came out of the squads Lyca and Edmonton himself led. Fleur was wonderful, he wished he could spend more time with her than he already did, but only a fool or a man in denial could admit to themselves that the girl knew how to lead.

Edmonton sighed heavily. This may be Fleur’s manor, and they may on a mission to rescue her family, and this very obviously was important to her, but this was not her mission anymore. Edmonton pointed to the phone Fleur had put down on the desk. A small rectangle, there was no reason for it to be so scary and unsettling. Not whatsoever, but it was, because it had very obviously been Anarchia on the other side. “Fleur, where would they have left a note for you to find?” Edmonton asked in a cold manner that demanded an answer.

Fleur’s face finally cracked. Ed stared at the girl for a moment as he processed the sight he was looking at. Fleur, in her dark shirt and skirt, shaking and with tears streaming down her cheeks. Edmonton felt dirty he didn’t move faster. Lyca and Eliza would have both moved instantly. But then would Fleur herself? Probably not thinking about it. “I’ve got you Fleur. I’ve got you.” Edmonton put his arms around the girl and gently stroked her head. It was his fault she had been reduced to this state. His fault entirely. Why did he even allow her to enter her home here? For what reason exactly? There was no other way this could have turned out. And would Lyca ever allow Eliza to go through this situation?

Edmonton should have put his foot down outside, when he had the chance. He couldn’t then. Now, there was no choice but to put his foot down. “Fleur.” Edmonton said gently as he held the crying girl in his arms. His bolt of water circled around him and he felt the condensation in the air. It was hot summer and dry, but inside the house there was still enough odd droplets to sense disturbances in the corridor. They were safe for now. “Fleur, do you know where they would have left a note for you to find?”

And Fleur kept on crying harder. If this wasn’t Fleur. If it was just some girl Edmonton spotted on the street. If it was one of the sorcerers he had back in Kirinyaa under his command… But then, she was, wasn’t she? This was the same Fleur that got chosen by Anassa, this was the same Fleur that participated in Operation Misfortune. This was the Fleur that helped break Lyca out of prison, this was the dreaded Fleur that existed so that the others would have a way to scare their undisciplined men: if you keep acting like children, you will be sent to Fleur’s team. “Fleur, I’m sorry.” Edmonton said.

Edmonton let go of the girl and treated her just like every other soldier. Edmonton lifted his hand and slapped her across the cheek. And immediately, Fleur blinked and rubbed her reddening. Those blue eyes stared up at Edmonton with awe and fear and surprise and a whole other host of emotions Edmonton had never seen in the girl. He wanted to lean in and hug her and apologize immediately. He did nothing of the sort, instead standing straight and meeting her gaze beat for beat. “Fleur, do you know where you would have a note hidden for you? If you had to search right now?”

“No…” Fleur said quietly as she rubbed her cheek. “Did…” She shook her head. “No Ed. I don’t.”

“Do any of you keep a journal? Does your father have a calendar? Any of the servants?”

“I’m…” Fleur took a deep breath as she looked around the office. “My father keeps one.”

“Where is it?” Edmonton wasn’t going to look for it, even if Fleur told him it was in so-and-so room, he had no idea how this house was laid out. But that didn’t matter, the girl needed to have her hand held at this point. “Do you know?”

“It should be here.” Fleur said. “Somewhere in his office.” Immediately she started running around. From one end of the room, over the bleeding and broken bodies, and then back again. Edmonton watched her panic for a few moments before grabbing her arm.

“Fleur.” He said coldly. “Calm down. Where are we looking? In his desk? In a secret compartment? Where?” Fleur’s mouth opened, her eyes sparkled with tears, she blinked them away, and she nodded.

“It’s in his desk. Definitely! It’s in his desk!” Fleur had to say it twice, as if to convince herself it really was true. “It’ll be here.” Edmonton watched Fleur running around to the back of the desk and pull open a cabinet at the bottom. Then another one. Then another. Her expression faded each time she inspected something else. At the top shelf, she pulled out a small blue pen. “This was his.”

“Mmh.” Edmonton didn’t know what to say to that, but the clock in his mind started to tick. If it was Anarchia on the phone… How long would it take a Goddess to get here? She would only be in Rancais, Iliyal had said Anarchia rarely left Aris.

Aris was two hours by train. A flight was less than forty minutes. If the Goddess was fast… An hour? Edmonton would not give it anymore than that. “We know they’re safe.” Edmonton said. “That’s what matters Fleur, we know they’re safe.” They couldn’t stay here. That would be a death sentence. They had faced Fortia on the field before and the difference between a Goddess and a sorcerer was even greater than the difference between a sorcerer and a mundane human. “Fleur, we know they’re safe. Anarchia will be coming.”

“I’ll just search quickly!” Fleur shouted in a panicked reply as she waved her hands. Her rings flashed with white light and the desk exploded. Edmonton’s ball of water expanded around the man to a thin barrier that was as hard as steel. He had abandoned be impaled by the various shards of wood. He sighed as the girl scurried around.

“It’s not here.” Edmonton’s voice boomed across the room. “It’s not here Fleur. Anarchia is coming.”

“She’s…” Fleur cut herself off. “I’ll find it! I will Ed!”

But she wouldn’t. Edmonton knew she wouldn’t. Fleur herself most likely knew that they were searching for a needle in a haystack. “Fleur, your house is massive, it would take days to search in its entirety. We don’t have an hour.” And Edmonton grabbed her wrist again. He pulled her out of the room, although Edmonton could tell Fleur was allowing herself to be pulled. Her legs gave no resistance whatsoever. Edmonton pulled her out, through the same carpeted corridor they came.

The walk turned into a jog, then a sprint. By the time they reached the windows, Edmonton could see and hear Lyca and Eliza chasing Anarchia’s men who were trying to escape from the manor. Spines of rock and snakes of fire devastated the garden as Anarchia’s men fled. Those who stood and tried to fight were simply incinerated on the spot or devoured by sudden jaws of earth swallowing them whole. And then, on the second floor, Fleur pulled her hand out of Edmonton’s grip. She stopped by a door. “Not now Fleur.” Edmonton said as he skidded to a stop and turned around.

“One minute, please.” She opened the door and Edmonton jogged back to peer in. The room had obviously been a girl’s room in the past. There was an artisan desk with a huge mirror which took up an entire corner of the room. A coffee table. A fireplace. A huge bed with four posts and curtains. Fleur stepped inside as Edmonton leaned back out the corridor. They were safe still, no one was following them. But they should stay moving. Every second Edmonton let pass was a second that Anarchia was getting closer to them. It wasn’t simply a case of running away from Fleur’s home, it was a case of putting enough distance between themselves and this place that Anarchia wouldn’t catch them quickly. He…

Lyca would just grab Eliza and run out, wouldn’t he? Lyca was that sort of person who didn’t let possessions and sentimentality get in the way of survival. Edmonton had once thought he was like that. He supposed he still was, with everyone but Fleur. The girl stepped in and fell to her knees. “This is my room.” Her voice was sad and hollow. She pointed to a corner next to the bed. “The bear I slept with was always there.”

Edmonton stared at Fleur and felt his own heart weep. “I’ll give you a minute. Fleur, a minute only. Then we really have to go.”