118 The first one to fall

"It's a very good wine, very good, Grey Plain, I suppose?" A robust man, near his fifties, was seating in the sumptuous room. Even in that environment, he still had his armor on, only removing his helmet. Behind him, two fully armored soldiers, standing guard in case of any mishap. Facing the overbearing army men, the two civilians in front could only smile and wait.

"Yes, it was a miracle that it survived the previous attack. But, unfortunately, the glass was slightly broken. If you have not arrived, I would have been forced to drink it for no reason. As you can expect, there are currently very few things to celebrate with a glass of good wine." Hearing that, the smile of the face of the general dimmed a bit. No one was happy when they heard something like that, but he nonetheless appreciated the gesture. The wine was still in good condition after all.

"So, Miss Gwendoline, we ..." "Mayor." She interrupted him, not letting herself be retrograded in any way. Even if the one in charge of a city should have been chosen by the High Council of Avenio itself, it was in fact extremely rare. In a sense, all the towns of the republic had a larger autonomy than their equivalents in the other nations. It served as a way to let them grow as they wanted. Of course, if the choice was truly catastrophic, the ruling families could always remove the unwanted human in charge.

"Mayor. You probably know why we are here, right?" The man could not really show how he felt, talking to a woman like she was his equal. Even in those times, where women could enter the army in Massalia or were practically having the same rights in Genablum, some behaviors didn't change. Especially inside the Synnada Empire, where they were treated as a mere commodity or breeding animals. Only a few with exceptional talents could break free of those shackles.

"Yes, you are here because of the Dark Gods." The cup nearly escaped the hand of the general. He did not expect her to truly know the reason why they were here in the first place. Normally, she should have said that they were here to fight the Massalia Kingdom. At least, that was the information that was spreading in the entire republic. Using this as a false argument, it could make the population behave normally.

But if the news was that the potential Fourth Calamity was happening, a wave of unrest would spread among all the civilizations. Still shocked, the general could only blurt out his question. " But how? It was a secret." Gwendoline, as well as the former mayor behind her could only smile. Truth to be told, the White Hand was surprisingly very agreeable to them after the failure that was the defense of Archet.

"Everyone has their ways, why couldn't I have mine? Or, maybe you are looking down on my age?" After all, she was probably the youngest Mayor in the history of Avenio, and one of the few women to obtain that position. Those two factors had made her life very difficult in the last weeks. At first, when it was only dealing with the citizens of Archet, she could use their memories and her charm to reduce their anger. But the outsiders only saw in her a doll, or worst, a pawn.

"Anyway, you know the truth apparently. This shouldn't have happened, meaning something illegal was conducted in that very place.Men, capture Miss Gwendoline right now!" Dodging the questions, he immediately used his position to arrest her. In his mind, only by colluding with external forces could she learn about his goal. Meaning that she was an enemy of the nation. Compared to the shocked state the former mayor was in, Gwendoline was still slightly smiling.

"Andre, can you please give me that letter." By now, he was used to being called by his name and not by his title. Even if at first, he abhorred it, however, the fact that it was said in neither contempt nor mockery made him used to it. Even the other families inside Archet still talked to him with respect. Grabbing the piece of paper he had stored minutes before the visit of the general, he showed it to him.

"Blablabla ... distinguished Mayor Hmpf. More bullshit, blablabla ... the only one to know? Trust you with that secret? Provide anything at your disposal?" Looking at the letter, then at the woman in front of him, then at the letter once more, he was completely shocked. It was supposed to be a complete secret, so why the very men that told him that still sent that letter. Looking at the smiling Gwendoline, he still ordered to let her go. Even if he would rather lie than being embarrassed like that, the seal on the letter could not be counterfeit.

"We will not stay any longer if you know everything. Goodbye Miss Gwendoline." Picking up his helmet, the general left with his two officers, not without throwing a glacial stare at the young lady. After they were sure all the military men had left, Andre crumbled on his seat, quickly followed by Gwendoline. After all, for everyone that has trained their body to the extent of those soldiers, they were all accompanied by that imposing aura.

"I warned you that he was never known for being kind with woman, but that was at another level. Who would have known that the General Avirus would still lose against you? But be careful, if I know one thing about him, it is that he never accepts defeat. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been called the Butcher of the North."

Remembering the reports she read about him, she could only agree. Shortly after they had received the letter from the High Council, and therefore learned that the General Avirus would arrive, an agent of the White Hand graciously offered what they knew about him. The least she could say after hearing everything was that whoever was with or against him will have a big chance of dying.

After fighting for decades against the goblins, that man had changed drastically the way each battle were conducted. If previously, each side retreated after a certain number of dead was reached, now, it was a fight to the last man. As terrible as it sounded, it was still brutally efficient, because the morale amongst the goblins will never be higher than the one amongst the humans. If it greatly increased the number of dead and injured, it still allowed Avenio to repel the ever advancing green skins.

Thanks to this, the number of goblins was dwindling, allowing them to in return reduce their own casualties. It was predicted that if it kept going for at least a decade, all traces of goblins inside Avenio will be completely destroyed. Compared to the stalemate that the eastern front, with Massalia, and the southern front, with the undead of Pankow, were in, the General Avirus was often rewarded for his success.

At the same time, pulling him out of that war would only mean something very dreadful was happening somewhere else. They could not conceal his departure, so instead, they used the excuse of him finally acting against Massalia. Even if everyone knowing the true situation between Synnada, Massalia and Avenio was certain that the kingdom could not be fought until that monstrous man was finally buried. And will have to wait a few years after he died, to be certain he was truly dead this time.

"I know. But that's only if he survives." Her soft voice that turned into a murmur made Andre not understand what she meant. "What?" "Nothing." Since the moment she heard from Meridiana that an attack was coming against them, the two adventurers that saved Archet accepted a request from the Adventurer Guild making them leave the city. It was obviously a trap to lure them away from a crowd, but they were confident that they would still underestimate them.

"Make sure they are lacking nothing, otherwise, I am certain he will find a way to do something against me. With some hope, by dawn, they will already be gone and well on their way." Looking at the number of papers stacked on the nearby table, she pinched a bit her right cheek and got up. Right before Andre left, he could not help but turn around to ask something.

"Do you think they will win?" Thanks to the help of the White Hand, they had a far broader vision of what was happening. Not only Avenio, but nearly everyone, even the elves were on the move. However, even with such a large coalition, he could not help but remember the siege of Archet. When he woke up, his friends, thousands of families, they were all gone. And that was probably not the full extent of their powers.

"Do not worry, nothing will happen to us anymore. After all, if what they are doing is not enough to handle that problem, aren't we all doomed?" Faced with this curious way of seeing the future, the man could only pray for the success of that war. Finally being alone, Gwendoline began to see what this day will bring to her. Some old foxes managed to have pieces of information about the purpose of the visit of the General Avirus, but they still missed his true motive. Therefore, they began to swarm her, hoping to obtain what they wanted.

But against her perpetual smile and her charm, they could only reluctantly calm down and admit defeat. With everything pressing done, she left her office and roamed in the streets nearby. Looking at the children happily playing, the still tired faces of the adults, filled with uncertainty about what will happen tomorrow, she wondered how everything will be in the following days. All she knew was that the moment Meridiana will arrive will be a new beginning for Archet.

The humans in the region slept safe and soundly, except the few sentries guarding the military encampment nearby. Even in such a safe area Avirus took no risk at all. He was even willing to stay up with another guard, just in case. Since the moment he left that damned woman, he felt something weird in his stomach, like a bad feeling. That prevented him from sleeping, so he would prefer to let one man sleep instead. Trusting their superior, a few officers did the same, for they had survived the war against the goblins thanks to him. For others, he was a butcher, but in truth, he was only merciless in his plan. He would not sacrifice his men for barely anything, but he would gladly cause the death of hundreds if he could slay thousands.

So, in this ambiance, not even the General himself could have known that a few kilometers away from here, an army was approaching. It was only when the sun began to rise that he was awoken by the sound of a horn. After managing to force himself to sleep only hours ago, he could not forget to curse the one that made that sound. But after seeing what was in front of him, he forgave that nameless soldier.