As the victorious war cries gradually faded, reality began to settle over the battlefield.
The war was over.
The conflict that had defined an entire generation had finally reached its conclusion. And now came the difficult part.
The living had to bury the dead.
Across Solfea, soldiers laid down their weapons and picked up shovels. Funeral pyres burned day and night as countless fallen warriors were given their final rites.
Priests recited prayers. Families searched desperately for familiar faces among the survivors. Some found them.
Many did not.
Victory had come at a terrible price.
The scars of the war would remain long after the blood had been washed from the earth.
With the destruction of the Demon Empire, there was no longer any reason for the armies of the Hyades Republic to remain in Solfea. Whether it would continue to be called the Hyades Republic was another matter entirely.
