( Meanwhile Leo )
Leo waited patiently in his manor, with his army assembled and ready outside, awaiting their lord's marching orders.
The air was tense with anticipation, but Leo remained calm, knowing that the time for action was near.
According to the internal chat of the Uprising, the tri-front war was progressing splendidly, with every aspect of the plan unfolding smoothly as of 1:00 PM.
Reports confirmed that the attacks were well-coordinated, and so far, no major setbacks had occurred.
By Leo's calculations, the Duke should have already sent a messenger riding a winged mount to notify all the bannermen.
That messenger was likely soaring through the skies toward his Barony at this very moment, and Leo knew it wouldn't be long before he arrived with the formal summons to march.
"It's good to know that I can count on the loyalty of my army to support me in this war.
They have decided to betray the state not only because I've fed their families and treated them well when no-one else would, but also because all of them loved Ben as their instructor.
Ben has trained many of these NPC men personally and his absence is dearly felt by all–" Leo mused, as he was happy to know that his men had all decided to join him on his rebellion, knowing full well that the consequences of such a decision would be dire.
Out of the 25,000 men under his command, 21,000 had decided to join the rebellion, while a measly 4000 decided to back off from such an operation.
Since Leo had promised that no harm would come to those who walked away, he followed through on that promise and did not persecute them for desertion, however, he also did not let them keep their jobs as active members of the army and fired them all.
He had no use for men who were more loyal to the Empire than to him and hence he felt it best to part ways here.
At 1:10 pm, just as he had anticipated, a winged messenger urgently rushed into his manor, bringing an urgent message from the East Duke.
"My Lord... My Lord!" The winged messenger said, as he stumbled into Leo's office, his voice trembling with urgency as he bowed deeply before Leo.
"What is it? Why do you look so pale?" Leo replied, showing genuine concern, as he looked up from his pile of documents, pretending that he was busy doing administrative work before the messenger arrived.
"My Lord, it's Briarhelm! It's... it's in flames!" The messenger gasped for breath, his hands shaking as he pulled a sealed letter from the Duke's sigil.
"The city burns—fires have erupted across key locations, and the Duke has called for all his bannermen to assemble at once. We need reinforcements, my Lord! The situation is dire."
Leo remained silent for a moment, his expression unreadable. The news of Briarhelm's flames did not come as a surprise—after all, it was part of his plan.
But he had to play his role carefully, and hence, rising slowly from his chair, he took the sealed letter from the messenger's trembling hands and read it with a practiced frown.
"Briarhelm… in flames?" Leo's voice dropped to a dangerous whisper as he looked up from the letter, his gaze cold and fierce. "How could this happen? And under the Duke's watch no less!" He said, slamming the letter onto the table, as he pretended to be enraged.
"I gave my loyalty to the East Duke, and now our greatest city is in grave danger!"
The messenger flinched, dropping to one knee, his eyes wide with fear. "My Lord, please, the Duke needs your support. He calls on you to march at once, the current forces within the city cannot be trusted, we cannot tell friend from foe, making it a bloodbath!"
Leo let the silence stretch, allowing the weight of his false anger to sink in.
His mind, however, was already several steps ahead. This was exactly the moment he had anticipated, the moment when he would be summoned to 'save' the Eastern Duchy.
"Very well," Leo growled. "I will not stand idle while the Eastern Duchy burns"
The messenger's face brightened with relief.
"Thank you, my Lord! The Duke will be forever in your debt for your swift action!" He said, as Leo nodded in acknowledgement of his words.
"How many baronies have you informed already? Are there other messengers deployed?" Leo asked, as the messenger took out a list and began replying to Leo honestly.
"I've informed 2 others and there are 8 more on my list.
There is another messenger as well, with 10 total baronies on his list" The messenger said, as Leo smiled under his mask.
*Kek*
*Thud*
The moment Leo gathered all the information that he needed from the man, he killed him immediately, preventing him from relaying the message further to the eight pending baronies.
"Apologies my friend, I cannot let you run off too the others, it will only make my job of conquering the whole Eastern Barony harder.
Aside from me, 12 other bannermen will answer the Duke's call…. That's enough men to slaughter for sure" Leo said as he squatted next to the dead messenger and took a peek at his list.
Thankfully, out of the 8 baronies left on his list, 5 were genuinely strong ones, making Leo's job even easier, as they were not going to be participating in the upcoming battle anymore.
"The stars have aligned perfectly for me…. Today is going to be the start of my revenge on the Empire!" Leo said, as he clutched his dagger in excitement, swearing to drench it in the blood of a thousand enemies today.
—------
/// A/N - Chapter 4/4 for the day. That's the end of the mass release series!
In just the past six days alone, we have done a total of 24 chapters, 14 normal, +10 sponsored by patron Art, in what's undoubtedly the longest mass release I've done.
I hope you enjoyed it. ///