Islinda, on another hand, was getting her hands busy dealing with the endless stream of merchants who just came to strike their deals with her. The two hundred planets gained by Rigo previously were almost half completed, and that made her quite anxious when receiving James' message.
"What?! Five hundred more planets?"
She screamed out of shock in front of all these merchants who just looked to each other, before one of them asked with shocked tone:
"Did you just say five hundred planets? Full of monsters?"
The question of this merchant expressed how deep was this shock already. They had just amassed enough troops to secure many spots here, knowing this was already a golden chance for anyone to rise, and anyone to fall.
So, these merchants didn't delay and started fighting even among themselves to secure the mercenaries. Some merchants who were dealing with ex soldiers started transforming them into mercenaries, as their prices soared to the sky right now.
And this news would raise that already extravagant price to another level!
"Yes," she helplessly replied, with a weak smile of tiredness over her face, "spread the word, we have five hundred more planets to sell," she gave the orders to her trusted subordinates, who started to work at once without delay.
The merchants had a stir, as this was a groundbreaking news for them. any merchant managed to secure a place of monsters had his own life changed dramatically, even a new type of trade had already established, the monsters' materials trade.
The news travelled fast, and as James was having his own fun time torturing the sexy body of Luna, other merchants were having hard time dealing with these news.
The news traveled outside the reigns of his growing empire, reaching everywhere, attracting an endless stream of merchants to his own territory, in a grand migration move that would establish the base for his financial backbone in the near future.
Amidst all these, one person who had known him heard the news and felt somehow deep regret for not following him.
It was Dora, the princess of the rebels, once was, and now she was the queen of scattered tattered forces.
As Rigo expected, these hungry wolves after losing their preys started biting inside their ownselves, in a very stupid move that expressed how shallow and pointless their cause was.
They started attacking small forces of them, either submitting them under their wings, or totally exterminating them. their already small number just barely managed to secure their stand on a couple of planets, before they fight between each other, making these planets usher into war ruins.
The once glorious move like the rebels ended up miserably in one corner of the galaxy without anyone knowing or hearing about them anymore. They had no cause, no enemy to fight, and thus they started fighting among themselves.
Until the day came and the news of the mighty battle between Rigo's forces and that nearby mighty kingdom forces reached their ears, then the news traveled fast about the riches hidden deeply in James' territory.
This had finally given them some light, as they still saw themselves worthy to be called rebels, fighting for justice, on the surface, while fighting for themselves in the core.
Dora was now sitting on a small throne that she took out from her mother's ship, the only large ship they now had.
In front of her, many rebel forces' remaining alive leaders stood and waited for her call.
They all asked for one thing, raise the banner high and call for resisting James.
Resisting the man she once loved, the man who risked his life to save hers!
She wasn't approving that! When she first heard about James and his consecutive victories, she was happy for him, but she never expected the day would come and her men would ask her to invade him.
She would never agree on that, even if she had to face them off, despite never having the strength enough to do it, not on land.
So, she was sitting now in front of those five wolves, which she names them wolf one, two, to five. For her, they were only wolves, knew only how to fight and kill, not to build and thrive!
Or else, these three thriving planets they controlled here would be now growing in power, not like James of course, but at least have decent growth!
However, they were all now in ruins, and she would never allow this plague to spread! Not to James!
"We need to prepare our troops for the battle anytime, I have already prepared mine, queen," wolf one said, with much pride in his ready men.
"Mine as well are ready, we need to spread the news fast, send out our men to every corner of that tyrant empire, and start to sprout the sacred seeds of the rebellion there," wolf two said.
"I agree, we should start sending envoys at once, before the people there succumb to this tyrant rule," wolf three said.
"My envoys are the best, they managed to spread the resistance seeds a long time ago, and they will be able to do that now," wolf four said.
"We should act immediately before that tyrant sniffs any news about us," wolf five said, while the five looked towards her, waiting for her orders.
She, on the other hand, was thinking about James. Tyrant?! No way he was a tyrant! Under his reign, a mere black market forgotten place had grown much in power that started to be eyed as one of the main thriving places in the whole grand sector!
That was no easy feat to pull! No tyrant could do that! so, she wasn't on the same vibe with them, instead, she was against them.
She already acted, as she knew how greedy and selfish they were, and sent a warning message to her old friend, Rigo, asking him for help.
Rigo's fleet was nearby, and thus he could reach here fast, rescue her before these wolves would turn their fangs on her and tear her flesh with pleasure.
She was sure they would have much happiness in doing so, and thus she only hoped Rigo could reach here fast enough to save her from her demise, and doomed fate.
"Let's wait and see first how things would end at their end," she said, trying to stall for time.
"What end, queen?" a wolf one asked, "he had already silenced every resisting force that stood against him, he is such a tyrant that should be silenced by us!" he added, with much aggressiveness in his tone.
"It's our sacred mission, our sole purpose of existence," wolf three added, adding more fuel to the existing enraging fire.
'Yes, you only know how to destroy and ruin, not to build and live peacefully,' she thought to herself, before finally nodding, "I want everything to be reported to me, everything," she stressed, as she knew they had already acted behind her back, and this meeting was just a mere formality of a long lost era.
Just as she said that, many soldiers broke into the hall, while their leader, the guard of her entrusted forces, broke out at once, alarming everyone:
"Grave news, that tyrant fleet had arrived here!"
'Even you!' she muttered to herself, as this calling was only limited to these leaders' forces. For her entrusted leader to say the same word meant he was already in their pouch.
'I'm all alone, sigh, I was always alone,' she thought to herself, dejectedly sighing, as this bitter statement was the mere truth of her entire life.
"Prepare battle formations, everyone go now," she bellowed, as she knew Rigo would never take this rebellious idea so lightly.
As for her, she only sat there, inside the massive throne hall, all alone, marveling at the cold meaningless crown that now felt so heavy and desolate, so detached from her true soul.
"I should have gone with you, not let you leave alone," she sighed, as she sadly muttered these words while the sounds of fighting were enraging all over the place.
The fight was one sided, as these wolves were in fact mere sheep. Everyone was either killed or detained, while Rigo, himself, descended to the palace where she stayed, and entered the empty throne hall without any resistance.
The moment he saw Dora, his heart was broken for her. She wasn't the same shining star that once was, instead, she was about to turn to a black hole, die out of desperation and depression, all alone, with no one beside her, no one to love her.
"Sigh," he sighed, helplessly and sadly, "can you come with me now?" he asked.
"As a detained defeated rebel princess?" she asked back, with a dejected tone that broke his heart even more.
Did she think he came here to kill and fight the rebels? She was mistaken, He came here to rescue here!