Infinite Paths: The Raging Phoenix

The suspicious inaction of the beast people had become more than a mere coincidence at that point. It was evident that they were waiting for something to happen, and this realization sent ripples of unease through everyone's bodies. As the news reached their ears that the magic people were marching towards their territory, a collective connection of dots was made…

It became clear that someone, a puppet master behind the scenes, was orchestrating a deliberate campaign to bring about the downfall of the human kingdom. The feeling of being trapped in a grand and intricate plot was unsettling and annoying, and it raised questions about the identity and motives of this puppet master. The game had become more complex, and the stakes had grown significantly higher.

"... Where are they?" Rain asked.

"They crossed the border, our friends guarding the area tried to talk with them, but they were attacked and thought to move away or face them as well. Their numbers weren't high enough to slow them down," Sears explained. "Right now, they should be right on the previous border."

It seemed that Josar could no longer contain the anger of his allies… or maybe something else happened to them, and they weren't aware of… either way, it was hard to imagine that things could be stopped with talks now that the magic people raised such an army.

"... We can't move all of the people here through the tunnel. It is pretty clear that the beast people will attack soon enough as well," Rain rubbed his chin thoughtfully and then looked at his friends and family. "I guess I will go and see what I can do to buy some time for the people in Teria to evacuate or prepare for a siege. You all should stay here and fight the beast people."

Everyone wanted to sigh and say that Rain's idea was insane, but they didn't have many other options. At least he was going to have the support of the sea folk.

"That seems to be the best option in the short term, but we need something better for the long run," Sears said. "Maybe we should ask father directly for help…"

"No, we can't ask him to join this fight. You guys don't have anything in this war to use so many people yet, or someone of importance like him," Rain said. "Besides, that will only make the magic people more pissed, and we don't have to enrage them further… as for what we should do in the long run… I guess we can only wait and see."

"What?" Seara frowned in utter disbelief.

"Think about it: we don't even know where the real enemy is, and we don't have enough information to plan that much," Rain explained. "We need to keep gathering intel in order to avoid falling into the enemy's plans. The only thing I can think of right now is that they are trying to make us waste time by playing defensively while they do something else."

"... They also might want both sides to go at each other and lose their forces… although I find it hard to think of any forces in the world right now that would need such tactics to accomplish anything against the humans, beast people, and the magic people," Roan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "The dragons don't need that kind of roundabout path if they want our lands."

"That leaves the demi-humans, but they live too far away, and they prefer to live in isolation as well…" Seara added.

"Anyway, I am going to talk with Branden and Esmeralda before flying to Terra. If something happens, I will ask one of the sea folk to come and pass the message," Rain said, and then he flew onto an ice platform just like that.

The group watched Rain disappearing in the distance while showing complicated expressions… at that point in time, no one could tell when all that conflict was going to end. Everyone thought that the age of strife had ended, but the roots of war left behind by the former enemies were hard to get rid of, apparently.

Branden and Esmeralda were already waiting for Rain when he arrived at the castle, but they had no idea what they could do… the only military force that they had was the one that Rain was training… they were basically receiving taxes because the whole kingdom knew how Rain was rumored to bury his enemies alive and they didn't want to experience the same thing.

As such, both of them looked like they were aging weeks every minute.

"You guys worry too much. I can at least buy time for Teria to be evacuated," Rain said. "It isn't like we didn't lose that city once in the past, after all…"

"It must be nice to have your confidence, Rain," Branden said while rubbing his eyes. "You need to see the bigger picture… if things go south too much, the population might join the other side and attack all of us."

"Well, that would be something, but that is why we have the underground tunnels. It is used for that kind of emergency," Rain shrugged. "Just focus on doing your best and coming up with the best options when it comes to the development of this country. If you guys fall, I might as well take over the country and become a tyrant."

"I can't think of a worse thing to happen," Branden said and then sighed.

"... I thought that I could rebuild my family's name and be more fair to the whole country, but I am starting to regret all this," Esmeralda said while looking to the side. "Being all nice doesn't cut it out when people refuse to see how hard we are working to be nice. Maybe Rain's idea of becoming a tyrant isn't so bad…"

Esmeralda was really tired… one could tell that she wasn't joking completely. For a moment, Rain considered becoming a bit of a tyrant, but that would be too troublesome.