CHAPTER 301: PLANS OF BATTLE

"They have already begun expanding," she said, her voice calm but edged with restrained fury. "My kingdom was only the first. The usurpers did not stop after seizing Lechia. They moved swiftly..too swiftly for it to be simple ambition."

The King’s brows drew together. "Reports have reached us of northern cities falling silent, but... we thought it was due to the boundary corruption spreading."

"No," the Empress replied quietly. "It is deliberate. They are destroying cities that resist and enslaving those that surrender. Villages near the borders are already empty. Those who were not killed have been taken."

Lucas clenched his fists, feeling cold bloom instinctively along his palms. "They are consolidating their rule."

"More than that," she said, turning to him. "They are gathering resources...cultivators, Qi stones, relics, rare elemental beasts, anything that could strengthen their growing army. But the worst part is the influence behind them."

The King leaned forward. "The ones you mentioned... the unseen schemers?"

She nodded slowly. "I have sensed their hand again. Their presence is faint, hidden, but the pattern of conquest is too precise. They do not simply attack. They cleanse." Her voice dropped. "Every region taken falls eerily silent afterward. No messages. No survivors escaping. No Qi signatures left behind."

Lucas frowned. "Wiped clean?"

"Yes," she murmured. "As if existence itself is being rewritten in those places."

Silence settled for a beat, thick and stifling.

The Empress continued, folding her hands in her lap. "I fear the usurpers intend to rebuild Lechia into a faction capable of challenging other realms. And if that is the case, Valerion and others will be next."

The King’s jaw tightened. "We have already increased border patrols, but if what you say is true, conventional defenses won’t matter."

"They will not," she agreed. "The usurpers now command demonic cultivators and corrupted beasts. Their strength multiplies every time they conquer another region."

Lucas exhaled slowly. "Then we’re already behind."

Her gaze softened as it fell on him. "Not helpless. Not yet. But if we do nothing, Valerion will fall within a year."

The King’s silence spoke volumes. The weight he bore as ruler pressed visibly into his shoulders.

After a moment, the Empress continued, her voice steadying. "This is why reclaiming Lechia must be the first step. If we cut out the rot at its heart, the spread will weaken. If we fail..." She shook her head slightly. "The continent will be lost."

Her eyes, sharp beneath the veil, turned from the King to Lucas with a clarity that felt like a command.

"That is why time is no longer a luxury we have."

The King released a weary breath before speaking, his voice low and shadowed by worry.

"There is something else you both need to hear," he said, leaning back as if the very weight of the news pressed against his ribs. "Word reached us this morning through a covert channel. Rus... is collapsing."

The Empress lifted her chin slightly beneath her veil. "Collapsing?"

He nodded. "Most of the Rus provinces have already fallen. Entire territories have been overtaken the same way Lechia was...swiftly, without warning, without survivors making it out. But the worst part... is the fate of their capital."

Lucas’s expression darkened. "What happened to it?"

"The capital has been forced into a siege," the King replied. "A complete siege. No one is allowed to enter, and no one has been able to leave. Messages cannot get in or out, not by bird, not by spiritual transmission, not even by long-range artifacts. Every attempt has failed."

The room chilled at those words, as if Lucas’s newly strengthened ice affinity had stirred at the bleakness of the situation.

The Empress frowned, but it was the frown of someone who had seen calamities and could still be surprised. "A city as fortified as the Rus capital should withstand armies for years. For it to be isolated so absolutely..." She paused, her voice turning sharper. "It means the usurpers have deployed something...someone...beyond the ordinary corrupted forces."

The King nodded grimly. "The few fragments of reports we received before the silence began claimed that the enemy used forbidden mystic barriers. Not physical walls. Not siege weapons. A confinement formation sealing the capital from all sides...sky, ground, and spirit."

Lucas felt a cold shiver race down his spine. "A confinement formation that powerful shouldn’t exist on this continent."

"It shouldn’t," the Empress agreed softly. "And yet... the real schemers behind the usurpers are rewriting what is possible."

The King rubbed his temples, fatigue showing through his composure. "Rus is a mighty empire. If they are cornered like this... then we must accept that the war has already spread farther than we imagined."

Silence settled again, thick with dread.

The Empress finally broke it. "If Rus falls completely, the usurpers will gain access to their vast weapon forges, their ancient armories, and their elite cultivator corps. Valerion will be squeezed from both sides."

Lucas inhaled deeply, the air seeming colder with every word spoken. "So the situation is worse than we thought."

"It is," the King replied. "Much worse. Our allies are not merely weakened. They are on the verge of extinction."

The Empress folded her hands, her tone now solemn but resolute. "Then we can no longer wait. The longer we hesitate, the more ground we lose."

She paused before adding, "If the Rus capital truly cannot send messages anymore... it may already be too late for them."

The King and the Empress both turned toward Lucas the moment he spoke, and though his voice was steady, the weight of his reasoning settled over the chamber like a stone.

Lucas continued, "We have to face reality. Lechia... is gone for now. The usurpers have full control of the cities, the borders, the military commands, the formations, even the treasury. Reclaiming it would take a fully united continent. And we are far from united."

The Empress lowered her gaze, her veil pressing lightly against her lips. She didn’t contradict him. She couldn’t. Her silence was heavy, filled with a grief she had long swallowed.

Lucas pressed on. "But Rus still stands. Not destroyed. Not fallen. Cornered, yes, but alive. Their capital is under siege, not conquered. That means there are still people fighting in there. There are still survivors. Leaders. Cultivators. Armies." He leaned forward slightly. "We have a chance to save them."

The King exhaled slowly, absorbing every word. "You mean to abandon Lechia for now."

"Not abandon," Lucas corrected. "Delay. Prioritize. If the Rus capital falls, then the usurpers will command the Rus weapon forges, the ancient formation blueprints, the continent’s largest production of spiritual alloys and artillery. And combined with Lechia’s celestial-grade formation archives, which they already possess..."

He paused, allowing the magnitude to settle.

"...they will be unstoppable."

A thick silence followed, punctuated only by the slow, heavy breath of the Empress.

Lucas continued in a calmer tone, "If we act now, we can cut off their momentum. Saving Rus keeps the northern line alive. It gives us allies. It keeps the usurpers from gaining an overwhelming advantage. If we march on Lechia first, Rus will fall... and the entire continent will fall with it."

The King finally spoke, and for a moment he sounded older than his years. "You are saying the survival of Rus is the survival of us all."

Lucas nodded. "Yes. If Rus falls... then Valerion becomes the next target. And after Valerion, the smaller kingdoms will be swallowed one after another. We will be fighting a losing war."

The Empress closed her eyes for a moment, gathering herself. When she opened them again, her voice was quiet but resolute.

"Xavier is right. As painful as it is... Lechia cannot be reclaimed now. The usurpers prepared for my return. They may even be waiting for it. But Rus is fighting for its last breath. If we strike there, we may still sever the usurpers’ advance."

For the first time in a long while, the King looked not burdened...but determined.

"Then it is decided," he said firmly. "Our first priority is to save Rus. We will gather our forces, send word to our trusted allies, and prepare a path through the siege. If there is even the faintest hope of breaking it, we will act."

Lucas nodded. "And with the Ice Belle... the impassable boundaries become passable. That gives us a hidden advantage."

The Empress added softly, "Then let the battle for the continent begin not with the fall of a kingdom... but with its salvation."