Athreia and Natuli had only one thing in common: their stubborn determination to pursue their goals to the last.

But if Athreia was a soldier accustomed from birth to considering the hierarchy an absolute bond, in which each individual was part of a chain, Natuli recognized nothing other than her own judgement.

At least this was what Natuli had always believed in, since in her life she had always done her best not to be subjected to anyone's authority.

Despite this, she herself realized that something had changed since her path had crossed with Daemon.

More than once she had found herself disagreeing with him and some of his decisions, but in the end she had always obeyed, most of the time without even raising an objection or exhibiting one of her proverbial displays of impatience.

Maybe it was because she too was now a commander, someone with men whose life was in her hands. That sense of responsibility sometimes weighed on her, but before she realized it, she had almost gotten used to it.

But now she was there, alone, chasing an enemy army in the middle of a storm; and that huntress instinct of her that had remained dormant for many months, put to sleep by a new awareness and respect for her authority, had returned to whisper in her ears.

There was something off.

"The battle has begun." she said, hearing the roar of cannons in the distance

"I hope Lord Daemon knows what he's doing." said Athreia, as worried as she was. "Engaging in a fight in the middle of a storm is a big risk."

An explorer sent ahead returned with bad news.

"The enemy's trail ends three miles from here."

"Damn, we lost them."

"It was inevitable. The rain definitely contributed."

"It's not over yet. We can still find them."

Meanwhile the sounds of the battle became increasingly violent, drowning out the storm.

"Maybe we should go back there and give them a hand."

"We have orders, Natuli. Keep General Basil's army away from the battlefield. We'll just have to search a little and we'll surely find some new tracks."

"Be reasonable Athreia. Further on begins a cultivation area. There are many roads that pass through the fields, and some we don't even know. It would be like looking for dog's horns."

Athreia was torn between what she felt she should do and what she felt intimately; now that she had found a Lord worthy of her services she didn't feel like neglecting her orders in that way just because instinct told her too that there was something strange.

"I... I can't..."

"You command the heavy cavalry, so you're in charge here. I have no problem if you want to continue chasing them; you and your knights are more than enough to keep them at bay should you find them again. But at least let me go back."

"I can't chase them without you, Natuli. You're the hunter between us."

"I will leave you some of my scouts. But now make a decision."

Easier said than done.



Another person Daemon had spent a lot of time with after his conquest of Faria was Marrine, a young alchemist.

Working together, they had developed an improved version of gunpowder, much more resistant and capable of burning even if exposed to water.

It was only thanks to this that the cannons and rifles of the Free State army were able to fire despite the storm. Unfortunately, however, the fact that they could shoot did not mean that they were also effective; especially the cannons, whose projectiles most of the time ended up sinking into the mud without causing any damage.

At least all that rain made even the imperial arrows ineffective, and once the soldiers had managed to cover enough distance along the slope even the siege weapons became almost useless.

As Aria had predicted, immediately after the start of the battle, Daemon's troops had concentrated their efforts towards the center in an attempt to open a passage, but found firm resistance from the legionaries who had managed to contain the charge.

And as Daemon had predicted, Aria's first response was to order a progressive recoil of the center in an attempt to create a pocket and trap the enemy. To this move, Daemon had responded by ordering Oldrick to send three of his brigades to attack the left flank, while the cannons, which had gotten close enough to resort to grapeshot, held off the right one.

"Consul, the flanking maneuver has been stopped!"

"I noticed it. Send orders to Captain Decius. The right wing must move back to the starting position. Instead, tell Captain Hernst to hold his ground and keep pushing."

"Perhaps we could still complete the maneuver by sending some reserves to Decius."

"I have no intention of dispersing my forces at the first sign of trouble. Do as I say."

This did not escape Daemon's notice, who could not help but appreciate his opponent's cold blood.

"She has improved a lot over the years. Once upon a time she would have tried to complete her maneuver, but now she has remained calm."

"What do we do now?" Scalia asked

"Is there any news from Athreia and Natuli?"

"Still nothing." Oldrick replied.

"We can't afford to drag this out too long. Those two won't keep Basil away from here forever."

"Do you want me to go on the attack?"

Daemon hesitated; he wasn't sure that charging his entire army and remaining without reserves was the best idea.

"For now let's leave things as they are. Her soldiers have marched nearly six hundred miles in the last four weeks. Soon they will be tired, and we'll deliver the final blow."

The facts seemed to confirm this hypothesis, because after a few hours the fifth legion deployed in the centre, despite repeated replacements on the front line, began to show obvious signs of weakening, forcing Aria to send reinforcements to prevent a gap from opening.

Almost at the same time, the storm finally ended, leaving room for a practically summer sun which immediately began to dry both the air and the ground.

This had a dual effect on both sides, with long-range weapons once again capable of inflicting significant casualties on the enemy.

"Order the archers to hit the second lines!" was Aria's immediate order

But the rebel guns benefited more than anyone else, initiating a massive enfilade fire from the flanks that opened gaps on the edges of the imperial formation without however risking hitting their allies.

Aria noticed this, and attempted to silence the cannons by throwing some of her cavalry at them.

Daemon responded to that move by deploying the rifle brigade of the Third Corps, - also called the Gael Brigade - who first intercepted and blocked the charge and then advanced with bayonets, attacking the imperial right flank that however managed to resist.

The situation was therefore blocked; on the one hand the attackers were unable to break through, on the other the defenders did not have the strength to counterattack.

Just south of the battlefield there was a small cluster of houses that represented the most peripheral part of Bedburg, the largest of which was a manor house surrounded by a wall.

To keep the rebels out of the village and at the same time create further cover Aria had placed a few hundred soldiers there, who from there could strike at will anyone who attempted to threaten her left flank.

In addition to his own men, Oldrick also had under his command six hundred volunteers from Eirinn, mostly veterans of Misvale and Alois who fought hard and who had behaved brilliantly during the clash with the secondary army.

Daemon ordered Oldrick to hurl them against the manor house, while the Third Corps would take advantage of the enemy's distraction to aim at the left flank undisturbed.

Deploying the entire army into battle when there was still no idea whether Basil and his forces had been successfully removed was undoubtedly risky, especially while Aria could still count on reserves. But Daemon was sure that by properly engaging tired and unmotivated soldiers, making just one front line give way would be more than enough for the entire imperial army to collapse.

The volunteers were certainly very motivated, so much so that as soon as they received the order they immediately launched into the attack, waving both the flag of Eirinn and that of the Free State.

The soldiers barricaded behind the wall welcomed them with arrows, spears and even some spells, and that sort of improvised fort resisted in the end, but the attackers still reached their purpose of keeping the garrison at bay.

The Third Corps was the largest, and although it did not have the same level of experience as the First, it included many competent officers and brave soldiers, especially among the light infantry.

The left flank first suffered two volleys of rifle fire, then a dense bombardment, and finally the frontal charge, retreating almost twenty meters before the hand-to-hand clash even occurred.

Only a few months earlier the Ninth Legion had been made up of recruits, but the Hoselweck Campaign had transformed those eight thousand boys into full-fledged men; and where others would have fallen apart, or even worse would have gone to rout, they resisted, closing ranks and facing soldiers much more experienced than them without hesitation.

"There's nothing we can do, we can't break through anywhere." Adrian said sadly

Not even the attack on Tourelle had required such an effort, and shortly after two o'clock the Free State army also began to show worrying signs of tiredness.

Aria had done her homework well.

Speaking with the survivors, she had come to understand how much Daemon aimed to achieve the quickest possible victory with brutal and coordinated attacks, which forced the opponent into a position of perpetual subjugation, preventing him from resorting to his own strategies.

By holding her ground and minimizing the effort needed to counter her opponent's moves, she had managed to eliminate this advantage, and even if her attacks had been repelled, the battle had crystallized.

Daemon was aware of this, and for this very reason, he had repeatedly tried to open some more cracks in the front line without ever succeeding.

But unfortunately for him, the real reason for this tactic only became clear to him when it was too late.

"Daemon, look over there!" Scalia exclaimed at one point

Everyone then turned behind them, catching a glimpse with horror of an endless line of men who suddenly appeared like an enormous snake from behind a hill.

Daemon and the others didn't want to believe what was happening until, looking through the spyglass, they recognized the banners at the head of the column.

"It's Basil!"

"But how the hell did he get here?"

Even though she hadn't returned for years, Aria knew her land well, certainly better than the rebels. Just as she knew that between winter and spring, it was very common for long periods of rain to be immediately followed by a sudden clearing that dried the ground in a few hours, making a march through the woods much easier.

Immediately after the defeat of the secondary army, she had sent Basil a letter with detailed instructions, suggesting he follow a route not shown on the maps; thanks to the bad weather, this would have allowed him to shake off his pursuers and reappear right behind the hill where he was sure Daemon would position himself.

"They'll be here within an hour at most!" Oldrick declared without leaving room for optimism

Now Daemon understood the reason for Aria's passive attitude.

"She did it on purpose. She pushed me to send all my forces into the field so that I would have no reserves to cover a retreat, or prepare a defense."

Realizing that her plan had succeeded, Aria then ordered all of her troops to begin pushing. In a short time, the news of the imminent arrival of reinforcements reinvigorated the imperial forces, while on the other hand the Free State troops, however determined, felt the pinch.

"Daemon, we must order a retreat." Jack said

"Retreating under these conditions means losing at least half the army." Adrian replied. "No one on the front lines would make it out alive."

"Half an army is better than a whole army!" Oldrick said. "If we wait too long, the secondary army will lock us in a pocket, and we will end up like trapped mice!"

For the first time, Daemon gave the impression of a person who didn't know what to do.

"If only the cavalry were here we could attempt a coordinated retreat."

It was truly a dead-end situation.

Even they managed to maintain control of the battle, it was impossible to hope to win before the reinforcements arrived, while retreating meant sacrificing a large portion of the army, with the almost absolute certainty of no longer have the strength nor the numbers to carry ahead of the war.

But then, when it seemed that the situation was destined to collapse before he could try to recover it, the unthinkable happened.

Aria felt so sure of her victory that she ordered her entire army to advance to increase the pressure on the enemy and rout them as quickly as possible.

"Well done, Consul. Now victory is virtually certain."

"I don't intend to celebrate until we know for sure."

Suddenly, unmistakable noises came from behind them.

One of the few things Aria had agreed on about the tactical teachings at the Academy was that even when you have the upper hand, you should never be too sure of yourself.

For this reason, before the battle she had left a small garrison to guard the forest that surrounded the village on three sides. Their purpose was above all to act as lookouts and a barrier in case some enemy unit attempted to outflank and surprise them from behind, giving the main army time to organize a counter-move.

Aria was confident that the forest was too dense, and its terrain too uneven to allow anyone to travel through it easily. However, she hadn't reckoned with a stubborn elf who had been riding in the woods all her life, and who would be able to find a passage even inside an erupting volcano.

The vanguard was wiped out in a few minutes, and in the same time hundreds of knights appeared from beyond the trees, heading at full speed towards the imperial camp like a swarm of angry wasps.

"They're attacking us!"

The reaction of Daemon and his companions was no less surprised.

"It's the Murat! It's Natuli!"

The imperial rearguard deployed just in time to prevent the rebel cavalrymen from breaking into the camp, but were immediately hit by clouds of arrows to which they could not respond except by raising their shields.

"This is our chance. Sound the retreat!"

"Retreat!?" Scalia said. "But Daemon, we can still win."

"I have no intention of wasting this stroke of luck! Not with another twelve thousand soldiers who will soon descend on us! Do as I say!"

The main problem was the volunteers, who, despite having finally managed to take the manor house, with the retreat of the front line had found themselves isolated from the rest of the army.

"And what do we do with them?" asked Richard

"We can't do anything. Signal them to surrender."

"They are civilians and volunteers. They could all be executed." Adrian observed funereally

"No, Aria won't do that. She won't kill her people. Unless she wants the entire country to turn against her. Give orders to the artillery. Let them shoot everything they have. Come on, quickly!"

Imperial soldiers were trained not to pursue a fleeing enemy unless ordered to do so. Since the officers were initially too busy trying to understand what was going on in the base camp to be able to give or receive orders, when the rebel soldiers began to retreat all the legions remained stationary and maintained their formation.

Then, when everyone finally realized that the enemy light cavalry was too weak to pose a real threat, Aria attempted to take control of the situation and ordered a pursuit. At that point, however, the rebels had already moved at least a hundred meters away, and the Imperials suffered the most frightening cannonade they had ever seen.

The artillerymen did exactly what they were ordered: they fired every shot they had, holding the enemy back until the entire army had completed the evacuation. Then, before leaving, they hammered nails into the firing holes of the cannons they were unable to carry, making them useless.

Daemon left last, after he was sure that everyone, including Natuli and her knights, were safe.

The battle was over. And for the first time, the Grand Revolutionary Army had been defeated.