142.5 Sidebar — Present Day, Some Military Council

Short one.

Another update scheduled for later today, the 25th.

"Ugh. King’s asking us to deploy our entire force against Neahyume. Really pushing it, aren’t you, everyone?"

A young man in an ornately decorated military uniform grumbles.

He’s seated in the high chair at the head of the table, surveying his assembled subordinates.

"Still, it’s for the defense of our star system. We have no choice, Your Highness."

One of the generals offers reassurance.

He perks up slightly, then resumes speaking.

"Still, Neahyume’s taken care of the second prince’s army—wiped them out. And the third prince, Ethan, is dead.

That part’s been a real help for us."

"Next succession update, your rank’s gonna be skyrocketing, Your Highness."

His subordinates followed along, but those words only lit a fire in his rage.

“Hah? There’s no way that’s true!

Damn it, Akira’s not even here. Why’s he the one getting all the glory, getting the Emperor’s favor?

I tried to rush to the summons myself—yet you lot stopped me, saying it was some ‘tradition’ or another!”

He’d been in a good mood a second ago, then snapped into fury. Unstable. Unpredictable.

His subordinates flinched.

“But this is our chance. The Emperor’s still recovering. The regular forces are spread thin, and every prince is tied up fighting the Niahyūm.

And better yet—the Emperor has kindly sent more fortress ships. We’ll use them to crush each prince one by one!”

“Your Highness! Niahyūm invasion confirmed!”

A messenger burst into the war council, breathless.

The Imperial Capital’s newly deployed Dimensional Radar had already detected the Niahyūm fleet, en route to his dominion.

Hearing the report, he smirked.

“Deploy the entire fleet! Launch the fortress ships too! The enemy’s the Seventh Prince from the neighboring star system! He’s currently diverting forces to counter the Niahyūm threat. This is our chance!”

“But my star system is under Niahyūm threat too!”

“Don’t worry about that. Hey, Black Knight!”

At the end of his gaze stood a man and a woman, both masked in black.

He jerked his chin toward them.

“The annihilation of the Niahyūm is entrusted to the maddest, most reckless of the Black Knights.”

The two called Black Knights snapped to attention, then hurried off at once, obeying his command.

"Did you really think the Seventh Prince would attack us while our forces are already under siege in Neahyume? I'm a genius, right?"

The subordinate general thought of it as a natural disaster for his own people and subjects.

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