Chapter 261: A Million Soldiers at the Border

While Max and Aragon remained occupied with their battle, Valeria and Lucius continued rushing toward the imperial capital and sending orders through every town, village, and military garrison they passed. Messengers traveled ahead of them, commanding every available soldier to abandon their current duties and gather around Roma.

By the time the two commanders finally reached the capital, the main imperial forces had already assembled outside its walls. Additional armies continued arriving from the empire’s controlled kingdoms until nearly one million warriors stood together, their armor and weapons covering the land for as far as the eye could see.

"Today, we march toward the Kingdom of Voidstar!" Valeria roared as she stood before the massive army. "Spare no one. Even if they surrender, whether they are children, women, or the elderly, we will slaughter every dragon and anyone else who dares oppose the might of the Imperial Court Empire!"

The gathered warriors raised their weapons as her voice spread through their ranks.

"When our emperor returns, we will present him with the heads of our enemies!"

Lucius watched Valeria lower her weapons before approaching her from behind. "Was ordering the slaughter of their children truly necessary?"

Valeria turned toward him, the excitement in her expression immediately replaced by irritation. "After everything Maximus has done to our empire, you still intend to worry about his people?"

"I am worried about ours," Lucius answered as he glanced toward the soldiers belonging to the controlled kingdoms. Many had raised their weapons with everyone else, but their voices had been noticeably quieter. "Those kingdoms surrendered because they believed obedience would protect their families. If they hear that we slaughter people after they surrender, some of them may decide that rebellion is their only remaining choice."

"Then we will deal with them after Voidstar has been reduced to ash," Valeria said as she turned away from him. "For now, I need warriors willing to march, not another lecture about how frightened our vassals may feel."

Before Lucius could continue arguing, a mounted scout forced his exhausted lion beast through the gathered army. Blood covered one side of his face, while white foam dripped from the creature’s mouth after being pushed far beyond its limits.

The man dismounted several steps away and immediately dropped to one knee. "Commanders, the eastern observation towers have stopped responding. Their final message reported that the Crimson Horde Emperor was still fighting Maximus near the southern hills."

Valeria stared at him with disbelief. "Are you saying neither of them has fallen yet?"

"The battle has already continued for nearly half a day," the scout answered, keeping his head lowered. "The shockwaves are still spreading through the surrounding lands, but nobody has been able to approach close enough to determine which one of them holds the advantage."

Uneasiness spread through the soldiers standing close enough to hear him. Valeria maintained her composure, but her fingers tightened around the hilts of her spears.

Lucius unfolded a map and stepped closer to Valeria. The Imperial Court Empire occupied the far northwestern lands, while Voidstar lay far to the southeast. The shortest road between them passed directly through the territories controlled by the orc tribes, but moving one million armed soldiers across their borders would be treated as an invasion.

"We cannot travel directly east," Lucius said as he traced the route with one finger. "Even if some of the orc tribes allow us to pass, the others will attack before our rear legions cross the border. We would become trapped in a war before coming anywhere near Voidstar."

Valeria leaned toward the map and studied the surrounding territories. "Then we will march south and use Frankindia Pass. The Crimson Horde controls it now, so their soldiers should allow us through once they learn that Aragon is fighting on our side."

"That route will take us through Frankindia and then east toward Britana before we can reach the Voidstar border," Lucius warned her while moving his finger along the much longer path. "Keeping an army this large supplied throughout the journey will become difficult, especially after Maximus drained so much of our western territory."

"Take whatever food we require from every settlement along the way," Valeria replied without showing the slightest concern. "If the villages cannot provide enough, slaughter their livestock and empty their warehouses. I will not allow Maximus more time to strengthen his kingdom because peasants are worried about surviving the winter."

Valeria lifted her short spears again and began issuing orders. "The First through Twelfth Legions will lead the army south. Place the siege divisions and battle mages behind them, while the forces belonging to our controlled kingdoms protect the supplies. Anyone who falls behind will be abandoned, and any soldier who deserts will be executed together with the members of his unit who allowed him to escape."

The first legions departed Roma before midday. Their footsteps shook the southern road and filled the surrounding air with dust. People gathered outside their homes to watch them pass, but few celebrated after hearing Valeria’s orders. Mothers pulled their children away from the roadside, while elderly villagers lowered their heads as imperial soldiers seized their carts, livestock and sacks of grain.

The march continued for a day before the imperial army reached Frankindia Pass. Crimson Horde warriors occupied the fortifications on both sides of the road, watching the approaching legions with axes resting across their shoulders. Their commander initially refused to open the gates.

Still, several messages carrying the seals of the Imperial Court and Aragon’s subordinates eventually convinced him that the army intended to attack Voidstar rather than claim Frankindia.

Once the gates opened, the imperial forces moved through the pass and entered the lands that had once belonged to King Clovis III. Burned villages and shattered fortifications still carried the scars of the previous invasion, while the people living near the road locked themselves inside their homes as another army crossed their kingdom.

Valeria allowed her soldiers to take whatever supplies they found. Anyone who attempted to protect his property was beaten or killed, leaving abandoned carts and bodies scattered behind the army as it continued east.

The journey through Britana brought even less resistance. News of King Caratacus’s death and the destruction left behind by Maximus had already broken what remained of the kingdom’s authority. Local soldiers abandoned their posts after seeing the imperial banners, while civilians fled from the roads long before the first legions reached them.

Two days later, the leading scouts finally reported that they were approaching the western border of Voidstar near the volcanic lands. Valeria expected to find black mountains, rivers of lava and endless fields covered by ash, but the land began changing before the army even crossed the border.

Green plants grew between cracks in the old volcanic stone. The farther east they traveled, the thicker the vegetation became. Small bushes soon reached the height of the soldiers’ waists, while vines wrapped around black rocks and climbed the slopes of mountains that should have remained lifeless.

"Are you certain we have not taken the wrong road?" Valeria asked as she pulled on the reins of her golden lion beast. Ahead of her, imperial soldiers were already using their weapons to clear plants from a road that had nearly disappeared beneath them.

Lucius opened the map and compared it to the mountains rising in the distance. "This is the correct territory. Those formations along the ridge once marked the western boundary of the volcanic lands, and that split mountain is drawn here as well."

Valeria looked from the map toward the wall of greenery ahead. "Then where did this forest come from?"

"I do not know," Lucius admitted as he reached toward a broad leaf hanging beside the road. Mana flowed through its veins so strongly that he could sense it without touching the plant. "However, this growth is not natural. Someone has been pouring an enormous amount of mana into the land."

As the army continued east, the remaining volcanic fields gradually disappeared. Trees rose higher with every mile until their branches joined above the road and covered the marching soldiers beneath a ceiling of green. Humid air replaced the dry heat, rain began falling through the leaves, and unfamiliar beasts watched from inside the vegetation without approaching the enormous army.

The soldiers who had prepared themselves to cross a lifeless volcanic wasteland soon found themselves marching through a rainforest dense enough to conceal entire legions. Their siege platforms struggled between the trees, forcing engineers to widen the road, while the long formation stretched farther apart with every obstacle.

Valeria stared into the endless forest as rain flowed down her golden armor. She had expected Max to build walls around his kingdom and hide his people behind them, yet Voidstar had changed so much that even the maps belonging to the Imperial Court Empire could no longer be trusted.

Far from the advancing imperial army, the ashen-faced dragon scouts rushed back toward Blackspire with their bodies trembling from what they had witnessed. They landed before the citadel and immediately returned to their human forms before hurrying toward the throne room, where Rosalia and Agnia sat waiting with solemn expressions.