naaapseattle Chapter 552:Empires Making A Move
Chapter 552:Empires Making A Move
The conversation slowed after that, and although a few more words were exchanged, none of them carried as much weight as what had already been said.
Ethan bowed once more.
"Thank you for your time, Your Majesty," he said.
Queen Lyria gave a slight nod.
"You may leave," she replied.
Ethan did not linger, and he turned around before walking out of the hall while the massive doors behind him closed slowly with a soft sound.
The moment he stepped out of that space, the suppression on his body disappeared, and his power returned instantly, but his expression did not ease because his mind was still occupied.
Carrion led him back quietly, and the journey through the palace felt shorter this time.
.....
Soon, Ethan returned to the guest house.
Hale was already waiting there, and the moment he saw Ethan, he stood up.
"What's going on?" Hale asked, and his brows furrowed.
"Why are you so worried?"
Ethan did not answer immediately, and he walked inside before sitting down slowly.
He exhaled, and then he looked at Hale.
"The Queen knows more than we thought," he said.
Hale frowned.
"About what?"
Ethan leaned back slightly and spoke.
"She warned me," he said. "She said my days in Arcadia won't be good once I return."
Hale's expression changed instantly.
"…What?" he said.
Ethan nodded slightly.
"I asked her why, but she didn't explain," he continued. "She just smiled and told me to be careful."
Hale stayed silent for a moment, and then he clenched his jaw slightly.
"…So something is wrong," he muttered.
Ethan nodded again.
"Yes," he said.
The room fell quiet, and the peaceful atmosphere of the elven land no longer felt as comforting as before because now there was something waiting for them back home, and it did not feel good.
...….
Meanwhile, on the Arcadia side, things were not going well at all.
After the initial defeat, another force of nearly a million troops was assembled, and they were sent again toward the Demon lands with urgency and pressure from the higher command.
But the result was another catastrophic defeat.
This time, the situation was even worse because it was not just the demons fighting.
The Orcs and the Beastmen had joined hands, and their coordination was far more brutal and effective than expected.
The Arcadian army was hit from multiple sides, and while they tried to push forward, they were suddenly surrounded and forced into a pincer attack.
Frontline pressure came from the demons, and at the same time, Orc and Beastman forces struck from the flanks and rear, and the formation collapsed quickly under that pressure.
Command chains broke.
Signals were delayed.
And units were separated.
What followed was chaos.
Thousands died before they could even regroup, and even the stronger divisions could not hold for long because they were constantly being pushed from all directions.
The battlefield had already turned into a slaughter once, but this time it was far worse, and there was no chance to recover or regroup because every attempt to stabilize the situation was crushed before it could take shape.
The losses kept increasing, and reports from different fronts came in one after another, and each report carried the same thing.
Defeat.
Heavy casualties.
Broken formations.
The combined losses that Arcadia suffered began to reach an insane level, and it was no longer something that could be hidden behind reports or controlled statements.
Even the higher command could not suppress it anymore.
News spread quickly across the empire, and whispers turned into open discussion as people started to realize how bad things had become.
And this time, it did not stay within Arcadia.
The information leaked beyond its borders, and other Empires began to take notice.
At first, many of them treated it as a usual war between humans and demons, and such conflicts were not uncommon, so they did not pay much attention.
But soon, more details came out.
The involvement of Orcs.
The presence of Beastmen.
The coordination between different races.
That changed everything.
This was no longer a simple war.
It had turned into a multi-front conflict, and the scale of it was growing rapidly.
Reports described how Arcadian forces were being attacked from multiple directions, and how their armies were getting trapped between advancing demon forces and flanking Orc and Beastman troops.
Supply lines were cut.
Retreat paths were blocked.
And entire divisions were wiped out before they could even understand what was happening.
Other Empires started to reassess the situation, and their attitude shifted from passive observation to cautious attention.
They began to see the threat clearly.
If Arcadia fell completely, it would not stop with them.
The alliance of Demons, Orcs, and Beastmen would not simply halt after one victory.
The balance between races would break, and once that happened, the entire region would be thrown into chaos.
No Empire would remain untouched.
Still, their thoughts were not driven by goodwill.
They did not care about Arcadia's survival out of kindness.
In fact, many of them wanted Arcadia to suffer, and they wanted it to weaken because a weaker Arcadia meant less competition and more opportunities.
But there was a limit to that thinking.
They did not want Arcadia to be completely destroyed by another species.If Arcadia was to fall, it had to fall by their hands, not by the hands of Demons or Orcs or Beastmen.
Because if another race gained that much power, it would become a threat to all of them.
So their intentions remained calculated.
Because of that, the situation reached a point where they could no longer ignore it.
The time had come for the Empires to step in.
Discussions began quietly behind closed doors, and envoys were sent while messages were exchanged between rulers and councils.
There was no public declaration yet, but movements had already started.
Plans were being formed and options were being weighed.
And soon, what began as cautious observation turned into active consideration.
A joint effort.
A shared decision.
To take control of the situation before it went beyond anyone's reach.