"Many of you must be curious about the reason for this emergency assembly."
Alice's authoritative voice echoed across the grand tent, making every advisor hone their attention on her.
"I won't keep you guessing. This is regarding the recent Narkal movement reports."
Several faces furrowed their brows, not understanding what the queen was getting at.
"Your Majesty... while the Narkal attacks are indeed vexing, aren't they practically routine at this point?" One of the advisors asked, echoing what was on everyone's mind.
Several others nodded their heads in agreement, and Alice couldn't help but let out a sigh.
"Do you think I'm unaware of such a thing? Since I asked for your presence, it's obvious that something's amiss."
Alice waved her hand dismissively to stop further inquiries and continued, "The Narkals' scale this time will be countless times larger than usual; that is why we must prepare accordingly."
"..."
"..."
Advisors and elders alike kept staring despite the inconceivable fact just dropped by the queen.
The queen herself kept a deliberate silence, allowing them to digest the news.
Finally, the same advisor who had questioned the reason for the meeting spoke again, unable to stand the suffocating atmosphere.
"...Your Majesty, how large are we talking about here?"
"Large enough to block our retreat routes... Large enough to wipe us out if we stand as we are..." Alice's tone was matter-of-fact. She didn't sugarcoat it since the last thing she wanted was for them to underestimate the threat.
The atmosphere in the tent thickened even further at the queen's words. They'd just learned that they were about to be slaughtered with no way out, after all. How could their mood not be heavy?
…And how could they keep their wits about them?
"Your Majesty... with all due respect, are you certain of the validity of this information...?"
A fidgety noble fox man asked, and everyone's gaze fixed on him, the one who dared question the queen in such a manner.
It was akin to saying she was deceiving them, but despite the obvious disrespect, no one seemed to step forward to reprimand him.
This was partly because they simply refused to believe the news or hoped it was indeed false, but another, more hidden part was the dissatisfaction with the queen's move to take a human man as a spouse.
Alice naturally was able to deduce everything from reading between the lines and noticing the cues.
"Since this concerns the survival of everyone, I'll let the disrespect slide this time and explain clearly. Having disobedient subordinates in such a sensitive time would put everyone's lives in danger, after all..." Alice spoke with detachment.
From her perspective, since she wouldn't be staying in this position long-term, it was a waste of effort to pay too much attention to her standing among her court as long as it didn't interfere with her authority.
That was also why she'd pulled that stunt with Ashen when she sat on his lap and played the eager lover.
"I assume everyone already knows about my lover?" She asked the seemingly unrelated question, throwing the listeners off, but they still answered nonetheless.
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"Ash Harth, the dashing young human male, how can we not know after all... that?"
"...Your Majesty made it pretty clear who he was; I reckon no one is unaware of his identity."
Several voices answered her, all of them outwardly subservient and flattering, but Alice could clearly feel the resentment leaking under the smiles.
She continued, unbothered. "All of you might have thought that I was simply infatuated by him, and I don't blame you for that since my actions were for the sole purpose of making you think that way..."
She paused briefly to catch the rapidly changing expressions and continued. "It was all a ruse to hide something much more important... As you might know, some humans possess gifts... or more accurately: innate talents."
Now, everyone was starting to understand where this was going.
"Although the chance is rare, it is never impossible, and Ash was one of the rare few who possessed such a gift. The clever man was able to privately reach me with a proposal..."
Alice allowed a faint smirk to touch her lips at the advisors' anticipation of the powers of the gift that could make even the queen put such an act to hide its existence.
Inwardly, though, she winced. 'Sorry, Ash, you have to take one for the team here.'
"...He wanted me as his lover as he expressed his deep love for me... love that all of us here know is actually lust since humans are forever such lustful creatures..."
The offhanded comment made some of them chuckle. None were strangers to the human men's addiction to their females, after all.
"In exchange for my favor, he would dedicate himself to me… and as you might have guessed, I have accepted... the gift he holds, after all, is future sight."
"Gods!"
"Truly?!"
"Another one..."
Alice let the lie sink in before commanding, "Silence."
The room returned to its heavy stillness, making Alice nod in satisfaction.
"Unlike the Astrologer's variant of looking at the future, which is still largely unconfirmed, this one is personally verified by me, and Ash obeys my every word, making the ability practically mine..."
As Alice's explanation sank in, everyone was able to connect the dots.
"Your Majesty, does this mean that you have confirmed our demise with Ash Harth's gift?" Someone asked the obvious for confirmation, and the queen naturally nodded.
"Indeed. But for such a grave matter, I used various other means to confirm, including trying to contact the empire, but there was no response."
She narrowed her eyes. "I'm sure everyone here has their own means of communication to our home. You can try them later; if you still disbelieve your queen, you are welcome to verify it yourselves."
"No! Your Majesty! We would never dare..."
Now that the possibility of the Narkal invasion being real was much higher, no one dared to raise their heads. They knew their best chance of survival was by following their queen.
She had the might of nine tails, the purest bloodline, the army that obeyed her first, and now, lastly, the human who could glimpse into the future.
Bowing their heads was the obvious outcome.
"Good," Alice nodded once and got to the main subject. "From my lover's visions, we know that the Pride army will be crushed in less than two days, and it will be our turn five days later. What are your thoughts?"
The tent erupted into overlapping voices. Proposals flew thick and fast, but one rose above the others.
"Your Majesty, if the Narkals will be preoccupied with the human army, could we not strike at a weak point in their encirclement and break through?"
"Yes! While they're focused on the Pride forces, we slip past!"
"We could preserve our strength and regroup with the empire's reinforcements—"
Alice raised a single hand, and silence fell.
"That strategy," she said coldly, "was already seen in Ash's visions. It ended with our army overwhelmed and torn apart as we ran. The Narkals are not mindless beasts—they will leave forces specifically to intercept any retreat attempt."
She let that settle before continuing. "There is only one path forward that offers survival: alliance with the Pride army."
The reaction was immediate and explosive.
"Alliance?! With them?!"
"Your Majesty, you cannot be serious—"
"Those humans enslaved our kin! Tortured them! Sold them like cattle!"
"They've killed thousands of our soldiers! How many widows mourn because of human blades?!"
"They are vile! Treacherous! They will stab us in the back the moment we lower our guard!"
The tent descended into chaos, voices rising in fury and fear. Alice stood at the center of it, expression unchanged, waiting.
When the noise finally began to ebb, she spoke. Her voice was not loud, but it cut through the remnants of shouting.
"Are we done?"
The advisors fell silent, chastened but still simmering.
Alice's golden eyes coldly swept across them. "You speak of their crimes as if we are innocent. You hide behind righteousness as if it absolves you. So let me ask you plainly—"
She stepped forward, and several advisors involuntarily stepped back.
"They enslaved us?" Her voice remained level. "Have we not done the same? How many human prisoners have we taken? How many have we used for our own purposes?"
"They killed us?" She continued, relentless. "Have we not killed twice as many? Do you think human mothers do not weep for their sons? Do you believe their pain is somehow less than ours?"
Her tails flared behind her, nine golden banners of authority.
"Are they vile and treacherous? How many of our kind have used seduction as a weapon? How many human men have we broken with honeyed words and empty promises? How many times have we struck from the shadows?"
The tent was utterly silent now.
"You want to believe we are victims," Alice said quietly. "That we are the wronged party. That their evil justifies ours."
She shook her head slowly.
"We are not victims. We are as vile as they are. The only difference is that they do not pretend otherwise."
One of the elder nobles found his voice, though it shook. "Your Majesty... even if that is true... how can we trust them not to betray us?"
"Because," Alice replied simply, "they need us as much as we need them. The Narkals will not stop at our army or theirs. They will sweep across this entire domain like a plague, and everyone—human and demi-human alike—will die screaming."
She let that image linger before delivering her final point.
"Survival is not a matter of pride or grudges. It is a matter of mathematics. Two armies fighting together have a chance. Two armies fighting separately have none."
She turned her gaze to each of them in turn.
"So I ask you now: will you swallow your pride and live? Or will you cling to your righteousness and die?"
No one answered.
Alice nodded once, satisfied. "Then it is decided. We march to join the Pride army at their fortress. Prepare the troops."
⛧
⛧
⛧
General Rowan Vance stood atop the command platform, watching as the last beacon blazed to life on the distant ridge.
All across the sprawling encampments that made up the Pride army's forward positions, soldiers saw the signal and moved.
No one questioned, hesitated, or debated. Even if the signal appeared out of nowhere, they weren't confused.
They simply obeyed.
Unlike the demi-human queen saddled by advisors and nobility, Rowan had no such hindrances. The army—two million strong—obeyed only one will: his will.
Within hours, tents were struck. Supply wagons loaded. Formations organized. The scattered forces that had been spread across dozens of kilometers of territory consolidated with mechanical efficiency, each unit falling into place like pieces of a well-oiled machine.
Rowan watched it all as if such a thing were an obvious outcome.
This coordination was not accomplished solely by mere discipline. There was a deep element—Trust.
A trust built over years of blood and survival. Every soldier here had seen Rowan lead from the front. Every one of them had watched him bleed alongside them, fight alongside them, and bury their dead with his own hands.
Duty was only one of the reasons they followed him… belief was the other half of the equation.
"Impressive as always," Morikawa said, appearing at his side. "Two million men moving like a single organism. I don't think even the empire's vaunted legions could match this coordination."
"They trust the system," Rowan replied. "And they trust each other. That's all it takes."
"That, and a leader they'd follow into hell itself."
Rowan said nothing, but the faint curve of his lips suggested he didn't entirely disagree.
The retreat began at dawn.
Two million soldiers marching in coordinated columns, supply trains protected in the center, scouts ranging ahead and on the flanks. It was a textbook withdrawal… just brought to an insane level of control, order, and devastating efficiency.
By midday of the second day, the fortress was visible on the horizon, its rising walls giving the illusion of safety.
And that was when they saw it.
⛧
The soldiers at the rear of the column noticed it first.
…A growing dark line on the horizon.
Within minutes, the word had spread up and down the entire army, and men began craning their necks to see.
What they saw stole the breath from their lungs.
The horizon was black.
It was not the black of storm clouds or night… No, it was the black of bodies.
It was a living tide that stretched from one edge of sight to the other, a mass so vast that it seemed to swallow the world itself.
…And it was moving.
Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.
A constant, relentless rhythm echoed faintly and was progressively getting louder, like the heartbeat of some colossal beast. Even from hundreds of kilometers away, the sound reached them—millions upon millions of feet striking the earth at the same time.
Soldiers who had fought Narkals for years stood frozen, staring.
"Gods above..." someone whispered.
Comparing the familiar shock troops they'd faced in skirmishes and raids, or the war bands that occasionally massed for larger assaults… wasn't even funny.
This was something else entirely. But if it were only that…
Among the endless tide of regular Narkals, new, massive, and towering shapes moved.
Easily over a hundred meters tall, their forms were grotesque mockeries of musculature and bone. Each one looked like it could level a fortress wall with a single step. Their skin was mottled and thick, their limbs corded with strength that looked ready to defy natural law.
And there were dozens of them. Maybe hundreds. It was impossible to tell where one ended and another began in the seething mass.
"Great Beasts," Morikawa breathed, his usual lazy demeanor nowhere to be found. "I've heard stories, but I always thought they were myth."
Humans had their own classification for beasts and anything not human.
It went from first to seventh stages. But they had never seen any beast aside from the first two stages, Wild Beasts, and Gorefiends.
…That is, until now.
Rowan's jaw tightened, his knuckles white where they gripped the reins of his horse.
He'd seen hordes before. He'd fought desperate battles against overwhelming numbers.
But this…
Instead of a battle, it felt more like an extinction event.