Author's Notes
Hi to everyone!
Here we are, the final battle is about to begin! We're just three chapters far from the end of this story.
Yes, I said right three chapters far. Unfortunately, the chapter you're about to read has been far more difficult to write and longer than expected. As a result, the idea of completing this story with just two more chapters and a very short epilogue is officially gone.
There will be still two more chapters and the epilogue, but what was originally plannet to be the epilogue will become an "extra" instead, that will be published at the end as the final chapter.
I'm sorry!:(
By the way, enjoy the battle!^^
See you woon!^_^
Cj Spencer
11
«Are you joking me, aren't you?» Lunardi said. «What means that Reich has conquered this city?»
«It's true, Sir. They settled a trap, and we fell like idiots. They captured Major Dante and the others.»
«And what about the city guards?»
«The city's ruler is cooperating with Reich, and so his guards.»
The Falcon-1 couldn't believe to such a bad luck. Honestly, some of them had found quite strange that no one ever appeared during their relatively long staying in the abandoned fort, but how could they imagine that their enemies were planning something like that?
«Did you ask for support?»
«I tried, but my radio broke when I escaped. I also came back to the place where we had hidden our helicopter, but they found it, and now it's strictly surveilled by the Reichians. I fear they're forcing the Major to send fake reports to not alarm anyone in Castria.»
That meant that they couldn't hope for support: again.
«How many Reichians are there in the city?»
«I don't know. Maybe forty. Most of them are regrouped around the palace. Their commander is a very sinister man. They call him Donzark.»
Hearing that name, both Lunardi and all his men felt a shiver along their spine, and Lunardi's mind in particular came back to that fatal night above Hardy's Throne; the first night of that never-ending nightmare. He had clearly heard some of the soldiers call that name, and he knew that the name called Donzark was none other than the one he had seen killing Argento in front of his eyes.
«Let's get back to the helicopter.» Cassetti suggested. «They doesn't expect to find us here. We can try to catch them unprepared and come back to Castria.»
«Impossible.» Mazzega replied. «They took the tanks extra fuel away, and the one still onboard is not enough to come back.»
«But there's the radio.» Wang pointed out. «If we call for help…»
«It may be too late.» Lunardi objected. «Whenever they should decide to send further help, they would take no less than twelve hours to arrive. And by then, Dante and the others could be already dead.»
Everyone took just a second to understand what their Captain had in mind.
«Are you joking, right?» Stefanini said. «You think we can bring them out of there all by ourselves?»
«Is there a way to enter the city unnoticed?» Lunardi asked Mazzega, totally ignoring her
«The same I took to leave. There are many canals passing through the city. I found a grate passing under the walls where the rusted bars are easy to remove.»
«Do you know where Dante and his squad are closed?»
«I think they're kept in the city prison, south of the palace. You can easily reach them unnoticed passing from the canals.»
«Captain, it's a suicide!» Amato said
«They came here to save us. It's even because of us if they're in this situation.» Lunardi replied, calmly but firmly. «Are you really ready to abandon them?»
For a moment everyone were at the blink of putting their own lives in front of their honor as soldiers in the name of all things already faced; but fortunately, a soldier's pride was not something so easy to put apart.
«How should we act, Captain?» Cassetti asked
«You and Mazzega go to the helicopter with Amato. Keep it under eye. Once retrieved Dante and the others, we'll jump on board and leave immediately. At that point, we should be enough to retake it.»
«Yessir.»
«With your permission, Captain» Mazzega said «I would like to ask for a few support.»
«Support from whom?» Valenti asked
«It's a long story, but I made a bit of friends in these past months. They should be still here around, and I know how to call them easily.»
«Can you trust them?» Lunardi demanded.
«Completely, Sir. I can almost call them… a family.»
«All right, try it. Valenti, you take her place and go with Cassetti and Amato. Stefanini and Wang, you come with me and Torrisi. Tymlin, you stay here and wait for us.»
«What!?» the little girl protested. «I want to come with you, Flavio.»
«Tymlin, it's too dangerous inside there. If something goes wrong, I must know that you at least will be able to leave.»
«But…» she said like a child worried to be left alone. «But I could help you…»
«Please.» Lunardi said in a very caretaking way that left everyone speechless.
Tymlin was still doubtful, but at the end she surrendered.
«Ok.» she said, gaining a pat that made her blush.
«Thanks Tymlin.» then Lunardi turned to the others. «Come on, Falcon-1. This will truly be the last task before leaving this fucking hell.»
Every evening around eight, a couple of Reichian guards used to drag Dante out of the cell where he and the others were closed and took him in another room of the prison, forcing him to make the usual report to Castria, obviously saying that everything was going well and they were still waiting for the Falcon-1.
Of course nothing was stopping him from saying what was really happening and ask for reinforcements, since no one among them seemed to understand Italian, but since he couldn't prevent what kind of consequences they could expect against the city or its people, for now all the Major could do was to obey orders.
Even if they knew somehow that probably being killed was not in their fate for now, the sole idea of ending up as prisoners was enough to make them prefer death. Obviously Reich was anxious to learn more about them and their war technology, and judging from the stories of the locals, they knew how to make someone talk, no matter what.
Deprived of everything apart their uniforms, Dante, his squad and General Agrippa passed whole days closed in that tiny cell, with just a small hole in the wall to watch outside.
That night, everyone were still trying to find enough force to calm their hearts and sleep a bit, when all of a sudden someone shouted in the corridor.
«Who's there!» they heard, a cry followed almost immediately by a strangled cry and noises of a fast and silent killing.
Seconds later the lock was removed, and when the low but really heavy wooden door opened, Dante and the others saw two men and a woman entering into the cell wielding bleeding gladius.
For a moment everyone had problems in recognizing some familiar faces under those unkempt beards, such dirty hair and stinky fur dresses, but in just a few moments Dante's eyes widely opened in disbelief.
«Flavio!? What are you doing here?»
«Isn't obvious?»
While Stefanini carried the corpse of the guard inside, hiding it under a pile of straw, Wang opened his voluminous mantle, taking out some gewehre stolen from other enemies previously killed, in addition to a couple of other swords and daggers taken from the prison's armory.
«Flavio, they've taken our weapons.»
«I know. We saw the Reichians trying to learn how to use them, but they were too much for us to handle. This is all we've been able to find, but it should be enough.»
Dante and the others then equipped the better they could, and at the end, each of them was able to take a weapon.
«Come on, they still don't know we're here. Two of my men are keeping the helicopter under eye, and another one is surveiling the entrance of the prisons. Let's retake it and leave.»
«Wait. We can't leave yet.» Agrippa said
«What!? Why?»
«The Reichians.» Dante answered. «They've captured the Vicequeen Kanaria.»
«Who?» Valenti asked
«She's the ruler of the Northern Empire. We had the order to escort her to Castria for a negotiation.»
«And where she is?» Lunardi demanded
«This is the problem. Until yesterday, she was here in prison, but a few hours ago, we heard them taking her away. I fear they're preparing to send her to Reich.»
«Maybe they've already done it.»
«I doubt it. Because in this case we too wouldn't be still here.»
Lunardi looked around for a long time, and both Wang and Stefanini quickly understood that he was seriously considering Dante's idea.
«Captain, we've been already lucky enough to arrive here unnoticed.»
«Wang's right.» said Stefanini. «We're just fourteen, there's a whole army out there.»
«Maybe not.» Sapri answered. «The city garrison is following the governor, but the Imperial soldiers hate the Reichians, and probably they're obeying orders just for fear. They may choose to fight them if we give them the opportunity.»
«This is just an hypothesis.» Waing said again. «We should leave now!»
«Don't you understand?» Lunardi turned to him. «Right now, one of the most important rulers of the Empire is in Reich's hands. If they succeed in taking her to Reich, the whole North may surrender. What you think will happen to Castria in this case?»
In the whole Falcon-1 probably there was no one less interested in the fate of the mission than Wang, whose main purpose was just to finish his third and final year as a volunteer before going home. However, hearing Lunardi's words, he couldn't avoid thinking to that young farmer she had started dating right before the mission's beginning.
«Where you think they may have taken the Vicequeen?»
«Probably they brought her back to the palace. Its roof is the sole place inside walls where a wyvern can take off.»
«Ok. Me and my men will reach the palace and try to find out if she's really there.»
«And what about us?»
«Take my men at the entrance and just try to divert their attention elsewhere. Make a bit of mess. See if the Imperial army will really choose to change their side. Let's meet at the Great Canal's southern pass under the walls, there's a passage that will take us out of here. If we don't come back in an hour or things turn for worse, just leave without waiting us.»
«Ok. Stay clear, Flavio.»
«You too.»
Lunardi, Wang and Stefanini left for firsts, then Dante turned to his men.
«You heard him? Let's make some mess!»
Fear was a powerful weapon to keep conquered people under control, and probably no one knew how to fill the enemy's heart with fear better than Reich, starting with the same way to appear of its elite soldiers.
Every time a new city or region was conquered, Reich used to send the personal guards of the Triumvirate to patrol the streets and take control over the local troops, the kind of guys that one could die for fear just watching them: they were the Schutzstaffel.
Their uniforms were absolutely scaring; apart for the usual black tone typical of Reich's troops, the black boots and coats with Reich's emblem printed above heart, what made them terrifying were the steel and rounded helmets, with no crests or other garments to decorate, and those sort masks completely covering their faces, where even the eyes were hidden behind a couple of red lenses.
The soldiers of the garrison were so scared by those guys that someone started saying that maybe they were neither humans, because not a single inch of skin was visible, and even when talking their voices sounded terribly creepy, like dead men brought back to life by their God.
Of course the Schutzstaffel were the first ones to know the kind of fear they were able to provoke, and were more than happy to use it at their own advantage, commanding the conquered armies with strong and undisputed firmness. However, while the guards of the garrison had accepted quite quickly their new comrades, at the point of not protesting when the Governor had replaced most of the Commanders and Officers with the newcomers, the Imperial soldiers didn't seem so well disposed with the newcomers. Unfortunately, the mass call ordered by Prince Zorzal to fight the JSDF had dramatically lowered the number of Imperial units assigned to mount guard on the border cities, so even if they hated the Reichians to death, the soldiers knew that they were not many enough to oppose both the enemy and the garrison now supporting them. Not to mention the Schutzstaffel and their infernal weapons.
But even if they used to do their best to appear as more unhuman as possible, they simply couldn't avoid to go bathroom.
At a certain point, while still hidden on the roof of a small house, Dante, Betton, Munaron and a couple of others of the Falcon-9 saw one of Schutzstaffel entering into one of the many public latrines of the city, paying a lot of attention to not be seen and that the building was empty.
«Are you sure about this, Major?» Munaron asked
«We have to make some mess, remember?»
«But if it shouldn't go as you planned…» said a scared Betton.
«What makes a soldier and a guard different?» the Major asked turning to him
The young boy initially didn't know what to say, but the truth is that he knew the answer perfectly.
«Honor.»
«It will work.»
A couple of minutes later, a Schutzstaffel leading a patrol of Imperial soldiers not too far from there heard a powerful cry.
«What was that?» asked the sole petty officer among the Imperials
«Let's go check.»
The unit quickly reached the latrine, and what they saw left them speechless: one of the Schutzstaffel lied dead to the ground, with his back against the wall of the building right at the door's side and the black uniform covered with blood around the neck. Probably the assassin had blindsided him, because he had neither tried to unsheathe his bayonet, while the gewehre was still placed on the shoulder.
Even another unit of Imperial soldiers was present, probably called by the scream just like them: but the Schutzstaffel had a completely different opinion.
«Who did?» he threateningly asked while pointing his gewehre against them without thinking twice. «Answer, you Imperial scum!»
«What do you mean?» asked one of the soldiers of the other unit. «We just heard a scream and went up checking!»
«This street has just two entries, ours and yours! This means that the assassin must be still here, and I suspect it's among you!»
«This is madness! Why should we have killed him?»
But despite everything the Schutzstaffel loaded his weapon, and just hearing the sound of the bullet slipping in the barrel was enough to scare them to death.
«I want the assassin and I want him now, you sons of bitches! Or by Fuhrer, I swear I'll…»
He was not able to speak further, because his dead companion suddenly came back to life behind him, and in less than a second he found himself dead with his neck pierced from side to side.
The officer and all the others remained speechless and stuck for fear, but when the only and true assassin removed his helmet and mask revealing an absolutely human face, everyone's fear turned into shocked wonder.
Seconds passed in the most complete silence; then, the latrine's door opened, and another group of men appeared from inside wielding daggers, swords and even a gewehre.
«Major!» said Sarpi. «Are you all right?»
«I'm fine.»
Seeing them, and even considering what those strangers had just done, the soldiers instinctively raised weapons.
«No, wait!» Dante said «We're not your enemies.» then he pointed his finger to the dead Schutzstaffel. «They are. Look.»
Dante then removed the helmet and mask even from his victim once again revealing a human face, much for the astonishment of the Imperial soldiers.
«You see? They're not demons. They're humans. Like you and me. Do you really want to let these men came from nowhere take the Empire without fighting? Is this the legendary pride of the Imperial Army?»
Everyone stayed still observing the Reichian soldier showed as he truly was in the most complete silence, but the uncertainty in their eyes was enough for Dante and the others to keep their hands close to weapons.
«Bastards.» someone suddenly said among the soldiers
«They're invaders.» said another
«We cannot let them take our Country.» said yet another.
Then, in a few seconds, the same feeling spread to the others, with the petty officer ultimately rising his sword.
«Death to the Reichian invaders!»
Everyone shouted in approval, and at that point, the Major and his men relaxed, smiling in satisfaction.
«I can't believe, it worked for true.» Sarpi said
«I told you.»
Then, the petty officer turned to the Major.
«So, what you suggest to do now?»
«Our companions are trying to snatch into the palace to save the Vicequeen. We must divert the traitors' attention elsewhere.»
«But we're just a bunch of soldiers, and most of my men are rookies. How can we hope to face the Reichians and the garrison?»
«Don't worry. Right now, General Agrippa and my other companions are showing the same thing even to the other patrols. And if I'm right, all of them will make your same choice. The important thing is to keep them occupied as long as possible.»
«All right. Did you hear him, my men? It's time for you to show your valor in a true battle! For the Empire!»
«For the Empire!»
While the soldiers were still exulting, Betton went speaking with the officer.
«The fairy that was with us. Do you know where they took her?»
«I heard that Gorlak, a centurion of the First Cohort of the garrison, has won her at dice. Probably she's closed in his dormitory. It's south of here, close to Emroy's temple.»
«Thank you.» and without losing further time the young soldier ran away.
«Where are you going Betton?» Dante asked
«I must retrieve Lily, Major! I'll be back soon!»
«No, wait!» but before Dante could speak further is attendant was already left.
To make things worse, in a few seconds a quite numerous group of guards reached that place called by shouts.
«What's happening here?»
The moment they saw them, the Imperial soldiers immediately raised shields, taking a defensive and threatening position.
«What are you doing?»
«Come on, guys!» the Major shouted. «Let's kick some asses!»
Donzark and Labio were speaking about how to create a safe passage between Reich and Tarvisium across the Plains, using the now conquered Calibria as an exchange point, when a Captain of the garrison entered the library.
«My lord!»
«What's the problem?»
«The Imperial units have rebelled. They're attacking the local garrison in the whole city.»
«What!?»
«I thought you had everything under control, Governor.» threateningly said Donzark
«Don't worry, Lord Donzark.» Labio tried to dissimulate «They're just a bunch of idiots. They will be no match for my men.» then he turned again to the Captain. «Call the alarm. I want every single soldier we have. Crash them idiots completely.»
«Yes, my lord!»
The alarm bells rang all together in the whole city, calling every single guard of the garrison out of their barracks.
Betton was almost caught red-handed while approaching the barrack of the First Cohort, jumping behind a pile of barrels right on time before the soldiers left the building ready for battle. The young soldier waited silently until he saw them scattering in the city, then he snatched inside.
The inside of the barrack was not so different from the a classic dormitory, with dozens of cots placed all together in a single big room, each of them with its personal niche in the wall where soldiers could put their belongings and a wooden mannequin for the armor.
Betton started searching for Lily in the niches, and when he finally found her he remained shocked for disgust: her little friend was tied and chained like an animal, with a small collar made with wire and connected to a nail with an incredibly short string. But the true crime was that those bastards had followed the common way to think, cutting her wings away to prevent her from escaping.
«My God, Lily!» he said running to her.
That poor thing was so exhausted and at her limit that she was almost unable to open eyes, but despite everything her lips moved into a smile when she saw her human friend releasing her from the collar.
«Don't worry, it's all right. You're safe now.»
Betton left her a bit of time to retrieve, but when he was almost ready to put her in his bag and leave, one of the soldiers that had left his dagger behind came back to the barrack.
«What are you doing here?» the guard asked initially, but the moment he saw him close to Lily he attacked without thinking twice.
Caught completely unprepared, Betton found himself defenseless against the enemy's lance; however, in the blink of an eye, Lily called all her remaining strength and jumped the higher she could, moving between Betton and his enemy and creating the stronger magic shield she could.
For a powerful fairy like her these kind of things were nothing in common circumstances, but at that point Lily was in such tremendous state that even a common lance was something difficult to repel; using all her remaining powers, the little fairy made the shield implode in a storm of light, pushing the enemy away and blinding him for a moment.
For a single moment Betton thought that she had made it, but at the end, she saw her falling to the ground, with her sliced wings moving desperately and an expression full of pain marked on her face; at that point, everything became red.
«You, bastard!» he shouted in rage, and once jumped above the still confused soldier he mercilessly started stabbing him.
He kept on stabbing and stabbing for countless seconds, stopping only when that furious rage finally started fading; he had never killed a man with such savagery in his whole life, and the sight of his hands and vests tainted with blood left him speechless and shocked for a long time.
Then, Lily's painful wheezing made him come back to himself, but when he turned again to her, the little fairy's whole body was shining.
«Lily!»
He tried to carefully take her up with a hand, but the moment he touched her, the fairy's body started transforming gradually into dust of light.
«Lily.» Betton said, unable to stop tears. «Please, don't surrender! You're safe now! We're going back! Back home!»
She painfully opened eyes, but it was clear that she knew that what was happening was beyond her control. But despite everything, she still seemed happy.
«Why did you do that? You're so little… You had a whole life to live.»
As if she wanted to answer him, Lily raised her tiny hand, and then Betton put her a bit closer to his face. Lily called her last forces to get up a bit, and the moment she kissed the soldier's nose, her whole body disappeared completely; however, in that same moment, Betton thought to heard a voice right in his mind.
«I will live through you.»
At that point, the light dust started moving all around Betton instead of disappearing, and the young soldier saw all that particles penetrating his dresses and skin, entering right in his body and filling it with energy: the kind of he had never felt before.
Gradually, the garrison's superior numbers started prevailing over the Imperial army's better training.
In all the city, the well prepared but still less numerous groups of soldiers started losing ground, attacked from all direction and with a general knowledge of Tarvisium's streets and passages less accurate than their opponents.
However, despite a general situation gradually becoming more and more dangerous, the "rebels", as they were called by the guards, refused to surrender, quickly regrouping closer to the center of the city and forming proper and true barricades along the most important roads, using everything they found to create walls of debris. The garrison's officers were too much occupied in trying to defeat that unexpected rebellion as soon as possible to note that doing like this, the Imperial army and their allies had been able to form a proper and true enclosure all around the palace, forcing the loyal units closed inside to stay at their place to not leave the Governor unprotected.
Like this, for over a couple of hours the situation remained blocked, with the garrison uselessly trying to conquer the barricades and the defenders firmly on position, but as time passed it was becoming always difficult to keep on resisting.
Dante and most of their men had built barricade close to the Grand Canal, and even if they had been able to retrieve part of their original weapons, they were almost at the point of finishing ammos. And even if the guards of the city were too much scared from their rifles to advance further, the Reichians on the contrary were a far worse threat, even considering that apart for the gewehre their particular shields were made of a very strong metal alloy and built in a way that they could easily divert bullets: something built right to fight the Italians for sure.
«How the fuck are they taking?» Munaron shouted. «We cannot resist any further!»
«Sir, let's fall back while we can!» Sarpi said
«No, we stay! Every minute we resist, it's one more minute we gain for Flavio to save the Vicequeen!»
Suddenly, a cry echoed from the end of the road, and both the guards and the Reichians started moving, as if they were making way for someone else. A few moments passed, then a couple of Reichiand wielding their strong shields appeared; however, what left Dante and the others shocked and stunned for disbelief was what there was behind them.
«Are we motherfucking joking?»
Almost every aspect of Reich's culture, especially under military aspect, came from its legendary founder, that before dying had left behind a certain number of notes and construction projects to create the most unbelievable and powerful war instruments ever seen. Most of them were so far above anything else ever seen in the Special Region that the same Reich's scientists still had problems in understanding them.
The most recent breech-loading gewehre had been just one of the latest results of those notes' translation, but after the devastating defeat faced against the Singing People, the High Priest and the whole nobility had forced the scientists to work even more, in a desperate attempt to make the conflict a bit more bearable, and all this had resulted into the creation of the panzerfaust.
Basically it was nothing more than a portable cannon, a tube containing a single grenade filled with gunpowder and iron balls, theoretically capable of destroying a fortified wall while staying far from the range of almost any other hand weapon.
During the siege of Calibria, Donzark had suggested to make use of the panzerfaust to make the walls of the city crumble, always finding however General Octavia's refusal, due to the fact that being a prototype it was not possible to forecast any eventual danger for the user.
But now Octavia was not there, and the same Schutzstaffel were overexcited to test their new and destructive instruments.
Well protected by their companions, the two SS wielding the panzerfaust reached the optimal position to fire, and the moment they appeared from behind the shields, everyone became pale for fear.
«Rocket launcher!» Dante shouted
The Major and his men jumped off the barricade just on time to not be blown away, but the explosions left them so confused and numbed that by the time Dante managed to recover, the SS and their local allies were about to storm against them for the coup de grace.
«We need a miracle…»
And a miracle occurred for true.
First, a shining wall appeared from nowhere in front of Dante and his men diverting arrows, then some sort of magical spheres came down from the sky, exploding the moment they touched something and killing dozens of enemies in a few seconds.
«What the…» Dante said.
A moment later, someone appeared from a narrow passage between two houses, someone that the Major and the others immediately recognized, remaining even more shocked.
«Betton!?»
The eyes of the young soldiers were shining, and his whole body was covered with strange blue tattoos; but the most incredible thing was that light surrounding him, that scared both the SS and the garrison to death.
«A mage…» someone said. «They have a mage!»
Betton raised both hands, and a new wave of spheres came down over the enemies' heads; at that point, the few ones left ran away without further hesitation.
Then, the light around Betton's body vanished, together with the tattoos and the blue of the eyes, and the young soldier finally turned to his shocked companions.
«Are you all right?»
«Betton…» Munaron said. «What the fuck was that?»
«It was Lily. Her final gift.»
Almost at the same time, a flare appeared of nowhere north of the city.
«What's that?» Sarpi asked.
«What I was hoping to see!» Dante shouted. «Come on, follow me! We must reach the northern gate! Betton, can I entrust you this barricade?»
«Of course, Sir. Don't worry, they will not pass as long as I'm here.»
Fearing that the rebels could receive further support from the outside, the Governor had given orders to not leave the walls unprotected, leaving enough soldiers to defend from an eventual assault long enough to allow the arrive of reinforcements.
But there were things that even the better trained wall defenders were simply unable to stop.
While the entire city was still burning for the skirmished fought everywhere along the streets, the guards over the walls saw a flare rising from the forests close to the lake, and even before they could try to understand what it meant, a massive cloud of dust covered everything, followed by noises of a cavalry charge so powerful that the same walls seemed trembling.
In a matter of seconds, a true army of centaurs reached the northern walls, then one of the two young women that was riding one of them jumped down and literally destroyed the doors smashing them with her enormous hammer.
The soldiers of the garrison placed to protect the entry tried a desperate stand, but they were mowed away like blades of grass, and the bullets shot from behind their backs from Dante and the others arrived in meantime did the rest.
«Major!» Mazzega said coming down from Herera's back. «Thank God you're alive!»
«Same for you, my dear.»
«Fortunately we were still around here, Master Dante. I'm glad we made on time.»
«It's nice to see you, Herera.»
«My tribe is at your command. We're here to assist you.»
«Thanks. Point your attacks against the city guards. Don't touch the Imperial soldiers, they too are fighting with us.»
«As you wish.» then Herera turned to her companions. «Come on, my fellows! It's time to pay our debt with the Singing People!»
The mere fact that the fires all over the city were increasing instead of decreasing, and noises of battles coming from opened window were becoming closer, was enough for Labio to understand that situation was going out of control.
Nervously, he kept on going up and down across the room, and every time he looked at Donzark he felt a wave of fear across the spine.
And when the same Johan came to make report, it became clear that things had reached a point of no return.
«General Donzark, the rebels have received help from the outside. There are a mage and a small centaur's army, and it seems that the population too is starting to rebel. I'm afraid that our men and the garrison will not resist for still much long.»
«What!?» Labio said, but almost immediately, his thoughts moved to Donzark. «Don't worry, Lord Donzark. There's still a way to leave. There are two wyverns on the roof of the palace, and the guard surveilling them is absolutely loyal to me. We can take them and…»
The bullet hit him right in the stomach, and the Governor had barely the time to understand what had just happened before collapsing to the ground.
«With this city no more under your control, your utility is officially over. Die as the idiot you are.» Donzark said while putting his one-hand gewehre away and heading to the door. «I'll take her majesty out of here, you stand guard here until we're gone.»
«Yes, General.» and then they both left, leaving Labio alone while his blood started covering the parquet.