The fire on the horizon burned like an accusation. Its smoke curled high and deliberate, too steady to be chance. Somewhere out there, another Lord was trying to make courage look like a signal.
Lucas stood on the battlements of the Night Castle, watching. The red shadow of the false moon stretched across the plain, bleeding into the bones and the dust. Selena leaned against the parapet beside him, her crimson eyes reflecting the distant blaze as though it belonged to her.
"They think you will wait," she murmured. "That after such slaughter, you will rest, digest, let your dogs sleep."
Her smile widened, hungry and elegant. "But you never rest, do you?"
Lucas didn't answer. His hand rested flat on the cold stone, feeling the castle's hum travel through the marrow of the wall. Below, the feeders shifted uneasily in their barracks, sensing their master's intent. Even silence seemed taut, like a bowstring held too long.
[Ding!]
[Command Options Unlocked.]
[Nearby territories detected:
— Lord Aven (Ash Veil, weak fortifications, 14 km).
— Lord Bereth (Broken Spear, moderate garrison, 17 km).
— Lord Cynra (Pale Gorge, fortified canyon, 21 km).]
[Directive: simultaneous strike possible.
Cost: Sovereign Resonance (moderate), Vile Spark (250).
Risk: army fatigue ↑, Feeder demand ↑.]
Selena tilted her head, red hair spilling over her pale shoulder. "Three directions, three signals. Let the world see how wide your hunger stretches."
Lucas lowered his gaze to the courtyard. Ghouls waited in neat ranks, ropes coiled like language ready to be spoken. Bone Dogs prowled restlessly, tails ticking against stone. The Darkblood Sentinels stood as if carved into the night, shields upright, crimson filigree pulsing faintly like veins. Above, the Blood Moon Archers leaned in their spires, bows quiet but eyes sharp.
The castle had already decided it wanted war. Lucas only had to give it shape.
"Three," he said.
The Command Link snapped taut.
Vicarius, the Death Knight, appeared from shadow, helm bowed. "Which front, my Lord?" His voice was iron poured into cold earth.
"All of them," Lucas replied.
Vicarius did not move for a moment. The frost around him thickened. At last, he knelt. "Then let them drown in their numbers."
The courtyard became a machine.
Chains clattered, orders hissed, the feeders whimpered as ghouls dragged two from the barracks to the altar—blood for blessing, not mercy. Their screams laced into the night, sharp and thin. The Sentinels pounded their shields once, not in rhythm, but as punctuation. The Bone Dogs surged forward, falling into packs with military precision.
Selena stepped into the yard barefoot, her gown brushing the dust. She raised her hands. "Children of the night," she called, her voice smooth as silk pulled taut. "Drink nothing. Eat nothing. Take only what breathes and screams."
Her eyes gleamed as she turned to Lucas. "Three fronts, three banquets. Which first shall I carve?"
"All," Lucas said again.
He raised his hand.
[Ding!]
[Directive Confirmed: Triple Offensive.]
[Targets: Ash Veil, Broken Spear, Pale Gorge.]
[Deployment: Bone Dogs ×60, Ghouls ×140, Sentinels ×10, Archers ×20, Selena Draculea, Vicarius.]
[Cost Deducted: Vile Spark −250, Resonance −8%.]
[Warning: Fatigue scaling after 12h continuous combat.]
The gates opened.
Not with haste. Not with fury. With inevitability.
The Bone Dogs loped out first, skeletons polished by hunger, tails rattling against dust. Their jaws clacked in quiet expectation. Behind them came the ghouls, ropes slung across shoulders, eyes burning faintly with borrowed purpose. The Sentinels marched in silence, shields up, crimson filigree pulsing faintly with every step. The Archers descended the spires in pairs, bone bows strapped to their backs, climbing down the stone like spiders.
Selena walked at their head, her crimson eyes glowing brighter than the torches. She did not shout. She did not need to. The army followed the curve of her smile.
Lucas remained at the gate. His hand pressed against the stone, and the castle pressed back. Through the Command Link, he felt every soldier like a finger, every formation like a rib. He knew where the weakest knees trembled, where the ropes hung slack, where the arrows would fall. He breathed once, and the army breathed with him.
"No rest," he murmured.
The night carried the words forward.
The march split at the dry riverbed. Selena veered left, her Bone Dogs spreading like ink through dust, heading toward Ash Veil. Vicarius turned right, leading Sentinels and ghouls toward Broken Spear. The Archers climbed the ridge and angled toward Pale Gorge, their silhouettes sharp against the false moon's glow.
Lucas did not ride with them. He did not need to. The Command Link was sharper than presence, heavier than eyes. He watched through dozens of perspectives at once—the gallop of bone legs, the shuffle of ropes, the cold clarity of arrows. His silence bound them. His will fed them.
The system whispered in his vision.
[Ding!]
[March Progress:
— Selena → Ash Veil, ETA 2h.
— Vicarius → Broken Spear, ETA 3h.
— Archers → Pale Gorge, ETA 4h.]
[Enemy alert levels: rising.]
In villages along the way, peasants peered from cracked doors. They saw crimson eyes glowing through mist, skeletal jaws snapping at the air, banners stitched with blood. Some screamed. Some prayed. Some fled.
None mattered.
The Bone Dogs trotted past without slowing. The ghouls did not look sideways. The Archers kept climbing, their bows humming softly against their spines.
The Night Castle had no need for villages. It wanted thrones.
Selena reached Ash Veil first.
It was no fortress—just a palisade of wood and a ditch meant to look serious. Lord Aven's men scrambled along the walls, torches sputtering, voices cracking. They had heard the global announcement. They knew death was coming. They still tried to believe wood and fear could hold.
Selena smiled up at the wall, her teeth white in the dark.
"Open your mouths," she called. "I'll fill them with screams."
Her Bone Dogs surged forward, tails rattling, jaws snapping. The ghouls followed with ropes and hooks, climbing the palisade like ants scaling bark. Torches fell. Arrows hissed. Men shouted. Selena only laughed, the sound cutting through the chaos, sweet and merciless.
[Ding!]
[Combat Initiated: Ash Veil.]
[Projected outcome: extermination within 30 minutes.]
At Broken Spear, Vicarius stood before the gate, frost aura chilling the wood. The defenders braced with spears, their commander shouting orders that trembled at the edges.
Vicarius lifted his shield slowly, deliberately. The Crimson Aegis pulsed once. His sword fell. The gate cracked on the first blow.
"Forward," he rumbled.
The Sentinels obeyed. Ghouls followed, ropes dragging defenders down. The air filled with the grind of frost and the sound of men begging.
[Ding!]
[Combat Initiated: Broken Spear.]
[Projected outcome: extermination within 1h.]
At Pale Gorge, the Archers reached their vantage. They strung their bows, Bloodthread strings humming faintly.
Below, Lord Cynra's fortress crouched in the canyon, torches glowing along battlements carved into stone. Stronger than the others. Wider. Deeper.
The Archers did not speak. They drew as one.
Lunar Volley fell into the gorge, red lines stitching the night. Arrows found throats before men could shout. Torches shattered. Patrols fell without knowing where death had come from.
[Ding!]
[Combat Initiated: Pale Gorge.]
[Projected outcome: prolonged siege. Estimated duration: 6h.]
Back at the Night Castle, Lucas stood at the gate, his hand pressed against the stone. Through the Command Link, he felt each battle unfolding at once: Selena laughing as she cut through men on wooden walls, Vicarius grinding spears into dust beneath his shield, Archers turning a canyon into a graveyard.
The feeders in their barracks trembled in unison, whispering prayers no one would answer. The system chimed.
[Ding!]
[Triple Offensive Status: active.]
[Sovereign strain: moderate. Feeder demand ↑.]
[Audit probability: 76%.]
Lucas did not close his eyes. He did not rest.
"No rest," he whispered again, voice flat as iron.
Selena's laughter answered across the Link: "For the wicked, my King."