When Amon and Yue's month-long retreat finally drew to a close, the Solaris Commanders and the Eldorin Knights returned to Solfea and attempted to resume their former routines.
Attempted… because their absence had not frozen the world in place. It had merely allowed its wounds to fester. Reports, petitions, and emergency summons awaited them in suffocating stacks, and for the Commanders and Eldorin's leadership, rest became a distant memory.
Solfea itself remained standing beneath the banner of peace, yet that peace felt increasingly fragile—an island of calm surrounded by a world in slow collapse.
Beyond its borders, the Hyades Republic was being worn down by relentless pressure from the Demon Empire. Not through grand invasions, but through constant raids, scorched settlements, and the calculated erosion of morale.
Each week brought new casualty lists, new refugee convoys, and fresh pleas for assistance that arrived faster than they could be answered.
