Her Majesty’s Swarm - Volume 2 - Chapter 10

The Monster Called the Sea 

Every single one of the 25,000 cavaliers who had accompanied Roland de Lorraine had been slaughtered. 

This news shocked Leopold to the core. He’d been confident the cavalry would turn the tide of this war in their favor. Even if they’d merely served as throwaway pawns, he’d at least expected them to push back the invasion and buy time for Frantz’s reinforcements. However, they hadn’t even managed to do that; Leopold’s scouts had just reported that the monsters’ army was still advancing toward Doris. 

“Your Grace! What are we to do?!” 

“Will our garrison be able to hold them off?!” 

Urgh... My head hurts, Leopold thought. But this isn’t the alcohol. Must be stress... 

“Shut up! Let the generals handle this!” he screeched, slamming his fist on the table. 

“How irresponsible!” 

“There’s no way they’ll hold the line until Frantz’s reinforcements arrive...” 

The surviving congressmen were unanimously opposed to his attitude. 

“Shut up! Shut up! Get out of here this instant, or I’ll have you all hanged!” Leopold roared. 

After that, the men were forced out of his residence. 

“Blast! Blast it all! Why won’t anything go my way?! Where did I go wrong?!” 

Leopold’s life up to this point was little more than a string of failures. He’d failed to run the family business and was forced to depend on his younger brother. As soon as Roland had taken over, everything had suddenly improved, and everyone had seen him as the rightful owner of the business... Despite the fact that Leopold was the rightful, legal heir. 

His married life hadn’t gone smoothly, either. No sooner had he become a husband than he began chasing after other women, provoking the fury of his new wife and her family. While he had been able to silence them with money, he had been forced to divorce his wife. Soon enough, his relationships with his mistresses had soured as well. 

And now this. 

He’d somehow been able to drive his nemesis out of office and take over Caesar’s position. He had even hanged the man. But then the monsters had started flooding in from the west and trampling his cities, and now they were creeping ever closer to Doris. 

His last ray of hope had been the Popedom of Frantz, but they’d effectively abandoned the Dukedom and left it to its fate. Not a single one of Frantz’s troops had yet crossed the border; their last report had said only that they were preparing to set out. 

Nothing ever went right for Leopold. All of his endeavors had ended in failure. 

“Dammit! Why?! Why does nothing I do ever work out?! I know I’m talented! I’m a skilled businessman, politician, and noble! So why, why, why does the world conspire to ruin me?!” 

Leopold would not admit his mistakes. He believed that he was always right and that everyone else was wrong. His failure to run the business wasn’t his fault; it was Roland’s for trying to steal it away. His marriage failed not because of his adultery, but because his wife was prejudiced and prude. 

Naturally, he attributed his failure in this war to multiple factors: the Dukedom’s generals were incompetent, the soldiers were poorly trained, the officers had chosen the wrong strategy, the Popedom of Frantz had not sent their reinforcements as promised... 

But no matter how much he shifted the blame, the Dukedom of Schtraut was still on the verge of collapse, and the enemy was still approaching. Leopold had instructed his generals to gather any remaining troops in the capital, but he’d given them no additional orders. Truthfully, he didn’t know what else could be done. 

Hands shaking, he took a swig of brandy. 

“Your Grace.” 

“Hm? Oh, erm, hello, Sebastian.” Leopold regarded the figure that approached him with a start. “Have the Popedom’s reinforcements finally arrived?” 

The one who approached him was a military marshal by the name of Sebastian de Silhouette. 

“Apologies, Your Grace... They have not.” 

“Dammit! Curse those Frantzian dogs!” 

Sebastian was an experienced soldier who’d served the Dukedom for many years. Leopold had left Doris’ defense strategy entirely up to him, making him the highest-ranked commanding officer when it came to defending the capital. 

“How many men are they sending?” asked Sebastian. 

“I don’t know. The damn charlatans wouldn’t specify. I trusted them, and they betrayed us.” 

“Then we have no choice but to defend the city and force the enemy into a siege. Thankfully, since Doris is coastal, we can have supplies ferried to us at any time. We could hold this position indefinitely.” 

“But those monsters leveled the other cities so quickly. Do you really think we’ll be able to keep them at bay?” 

“It’s possible, Your Grace. Thanks to Doris’ topography.” 

“Hm...?” 

Being a coastal city, Doris had a large port and shipyard, and it served as an economic hub. 

“Doris is essentially an island. Its only connection to the rest of the continent is the great Poitier Bridge. If we destroy the bridge, the monsters shouldn’t be able to enter the city.” 

“Yes... Yes, that’s right! It doesn’t matter how many monsters are out there; they can’t cross rivers or seas. If they could, they’d have attacked Nyrnal by now. The fact that they haven’t means we can protect Doris!” 

Poitier Bridge was usually full of peddlers and trader caravans, but it was closed off and devoid of pedestrians during wartime. 

“But won’t knocking out the bridge be difficult? Not even our mages would be able to destroy it completely.” 

“It would take time, yes, but it would make it much harder for the enemy to invade. If we don’t, I have no doubt the enemy will try to cross.” 

This bridge was an extremely durable structure; no known explosives could put so much as a crack in it. Leopold found it hard to believe that their mages would be able to do much damage. Still, the enemy had to cross the bridge to reach them. It was the only way to enter Doris on land. 

“If we gather our forces on the bridge, we can keep the monsters at bay with ballista fire and magic attacks while holding the gates closed. In doing so, we’ll be able to hold the line. As large as the bridge may be, it does restrict how many monsters can cross at any given time.” 

Poitier Bridge was the width of five Ripper Swarms. The marshal saw this as a chance to force the Swarms into a bottleneck, then rain attacks down upon them—and the bridge itself—before they could reach the city walls. 

“I see! That’s a splendid idea!” Leopold exclaimed, believing this was the path to victory. “Position our army on the bridge and have them hit the enemy with everything they’ve got! Put some ballistas atop the bridge as well!” 

“One moment, Your Grace. We must account for every possible contingency. Gathering all of our troops on the bridge would be dangerous; we should leave at least a few men inside the city.” 

“Sebastian, how else could they enter the city? Do you think those monsters can walk on water? Or that they have ships? Impossible. Their only way of entering Doris is crossing that bridge. Now, hop to it, if you would. I’ll send some scouts later on to confirm we’ve got everyone gathered on Poitier Bridge.” 

“As you wish, Your Grace.” 

Leopold was already beginning to act as if this operation had been his idea. He had all but convinced himself that he was a savior capable of delivering Doris from this crisis. 

Sebastian, on the other hand, was dismayed, as his only strategy—and the city itself—was now in jeopardy. After a bow in the duke’s direction, he left to gather the soldiers. 

“Yes. Yes. I can win this... and I will. This time, I’ll succeed!” Leopold popped open a new bottle of expensive brandy to celebrate his impending victory, filling his glass to the brim. 

“So that’s what Doris looks like,” I mused. 

I already knew of it from the Swarms’ reports, but now I could see firsthand that Doris was like a fortress floating over the sea. Seizing it would be no easy task. Simply rushing over their bridge and through their front gates would result in a... very warm welcome. It would no doubt strike a painful blow to my forces, and our assault would end in failure. 

Still, there was no other way to enter the capital. The bridge was the only route connecting Doris to the rest of the continent. In all other directions, the city was surrounded by nothing but open sea. 

“What should we do, Sérignan?” I asked. 

“My apologies, Your Majesty, but I can’t say. If only we could use ships, we’d be able to sail into the city. But the Swarm can’t operate a ship, nor is it possible for me. It seems like forcing our way across the bridge is our only way in, does it not?” 

Right, the Swarm couldn’t use ships. They had no way of crossing rivers or seas. In the game, the settings made this weakness pretty irrelevant. Reality, unfortunately, wasn’t so kind to us. 

“So, your conundrum is your inability to operate ships, then?” came a young man’s voice from beside us. 

“That’s right, Roland. Ships would allow us to conquer that island with minimal losses. That’s nothing but a dream for us, though.” 

I was speaking to Roland—the new Roland, whom I’d made into a Swarm. He was now the Knight Swarm Roland, as I had christened him. Just like Lysa, he had the lower half of an insect and a tail that hid a venomous stinger. His main difference from Lysa, however, was that he also had another pair of insectile legs growing from his sides. These legs had giant claws, and they were as flexible as human arms. 

“Why not hire sailors to operate the ships for you?” Roland proposed. 

“Sadly, all the cities along the coastline were destroyed by that stupid noble’s army. There’s no one left alive for us to hire.” 

“Then perhaps I can give it a try.” 

“What?” I gaped at him. “You know how to commandeer a ship?” 

“I’ve dabbled in it. I had to sail a few times while helping Leopold with our family’s business, so I’m no stranger to seafaring. I should be able to handle one well enough, assuming a storm doesn’t break out.” 

Well, didn’t I just hit the jackpot? 

On top of being a skilled knight with a fair spirit, Roland could even sail a ship. 

How versatile. I could stand to learn a thing or two from him. 

“Roland, I want you to try operating a ship so that knowledge will circulate through the collective consciousness. That way, the rest of the Swarm will learn how to do it, too.” 

“By your will, Your Majesty. We’ll gather ships from the coastal towns and have a force of Swarms prepare to attack Doris.” With that, Roland mounted his horse and took off. 

“Can we really trust him, Your Majesty?” Sérignan asked, watching him suspiciously. 

“Sure we can. He won’t betray us. Can’t you tell how intense his hatred is through the collective consciousness? I can. He wants to settle the score with his idiotic brother. He won’t stop until Leopold’s dead and the Popedom of Frantz lies in ruins.” 

“I can feel his hatred, yes, but...” 

The emotions emitting from Roland were all negative: hatred, betrayal, and seething rage. He loathed Leopold and the Popedom for driving his country to ruin. We had these two enemies in common now, so I believed we could trust him to help us. 

“Sérignan, he can’t lie to us. We’re all brothers and sisters connected by the same great consciousness. I trust Roland the same way I trust you.” 

“The same way you trust me...? Hmph. Between Roland and myself, who is more trustworthy?” Sérignan asked, a hint of jealousy in her voice. 

“Well, of course that’d be you,” I replied, cracking a small smile. “You’ve been protecting me since the very beginning. You’re my dearest knight, and I trust you more than anyone.” 

“Oh, Your Majesty, I... I’m very grateful!” 

“Oh, here come the waterworks. C’mon, knights shouldn’t bawl at the drop of a hat.” 

To me, the Swarm were like my adorable children. This included all the Ripper Swarms that had fought for me so far, the Worker Swarms that toiled every day to craft things for our army, the Digger Swarms that awaited my orders underground, the Masquerade Swarms working undercover, and Lysa, our resident elf-turned-Swarm... 

Naturally, this meant Sérignan, too. She was my most precious, irreplaceable knight. 

“All right, let’s map out our operation,” I said. “Just popping up with a bunch of ships is really lacking in finesse.” 

It was time to bring down Schtraut’s capital. 

At Poitier Bridge just outside Doris, everything was eerily quiet. It was early morning, and the sun had not yet risen. No birds chirped to fill the air, so the only sound that could be heard was the rolling waves crashing against the cliffs. 

“The enemy is coming, right?” asked one of the soldiers garrisoned at the gate. 

“They’re bound to,” answered another. “This is the capital; it’s the one place they won’t overlook. They’ll definitely attack us, and we’ve got to stop them. It’s all up to us now.” 

There was no telling when the Arachnea might attack. There were bonfires lit over the bridge, providing meager light that licked the city walls. The soldiers could only see parts of the bridge itself, and everything else was covered in a veil of darkness. 

Suddenly, a disturbing metallic clacking sound reached the soldiers’ ears. 

“What was that?” 

“I’ll go check.” 

One of the noncommissioned officers used a pair of binoculars to get a better look. It was then that he saw it: a massive army of insects. They were charging Poitier Bridge in massive numbers, heading straight toward the gates. 

“Enemy sighted! Get ready to intercept them!” 

From the gate, they could see a massive army of Ripper Swarms storming the bridge like a great black wave. The sight was so terrifying, it could drive a man mad. 

“Prepare the ballistas!” 

“Shoot them with crossbows!” 

The soldiers rained down bolts upon the incoming Ripper Swarms. Normal bows simply lacked the penetrating power to be useful; the ballistas and crossbows, on the other hand, could exert much more force. The bolts easily punctured the Swarms’ exoskeletons. 

“Mages, cast your spells! Drown them in fire!” 

As commanded, the mages moved in. They unleashed both simple, silent spells and advanced spells that required chanting to complete, showering the bridge in fireballs. The simpler spells only combusted upon impact, but the advanced spells weren’t so simple; their fire was adhesive, clinging to the target as if it were covered in flammable liquid that burned indefinitely. 

The Ripper Swarms were falling to the flames one by one. Their allies stepped unflinchingly over their bodies as the flames continued to spread. Seeing that the Ripper Swarms were unafraid of fire caused some of the mages to panic. 

“Don’t let up the attacks! They’re planning to overwhelm us with their numbers! Stop them no matter what!” This order came from one of Schtraut’s military commanders, who was in charge of the group. 

Without warning, an explosion rang out from within the city walls. The makeshift fence they had set up along the gates’ second defensive line was blown apart, and the nearby soldiers had been flung to the ground. Some of them had been mangled beyond recognition by the mysterious blast, while others were still writhing painfully on the ground, begging for help. 

“What just happened?!” the commander shouted. 

“I don’t know, sir! We’re still trying to grasp the situation!” cried one of his men. 

The cause of their panic soon became evident. Apparently, a suspicious civilian had run up to the fence and exploded on contact. Any soldiers caught in the blast had been blown several meters away. The shockwaves ruptured their internal organs, and the ones who were still alive were now coughing up blood. 

“There are saboteurs in the city?!” 

“What do we do, sir?!” 

That simply wasn’t possible. Only advanced magic could produce such a powerful blast. It was unthinkable that someone who could silently cast a spell of that caliber would be used as cannon fodder. 

“Aim your crossbows at the walls! Keep an eye out for enemy saboteurs!” 

Even as the commander barked these orders, a group of people emerged from the city and walked right through the ruined fence. The moment the crossbows were about to fire, the strangers’ heads split open, revealing a pair of sharp fangs. Insectile legs burst out from their backs and their own legs morphed into tails tipped with stingers. The five monsters rushed up the walls with frightening speed. 

“Wh-What the...?! What are they?! Oh God, they’re insects! Those monsters can disguise themselves as humans?!” 

Confusion and terror scrambled the minds of the soldiers, and their weapons continually missed their marks. Meanwhile, the insects had moved past the fence and were beginning to self-destruct against the walls. The ramparts shook, nearly knocking the commander and his men onto the ground. Doris’ sturdy metal gates were heavily damaged by the impact, nearly coming off their hinges. 

“The inner gates!” one soldier cried out as the gates fell apart. 

“Calm down, we still have the outer gates!” replied the commander. 

Doris had two sets of gates for its protection. The first set of gates was made of wood and located outside the city. The inner gates were made of sturdy metal... and were now completely destroyed. That only left the wooden gates. Would they be able to hold back an army of Ripper Swarms? 

“Stay alert for enemies within the walls as you repel the attack on the bridge! The enemy is trying to gain momentum! If we don’t defend the walls, Doris is finished! If the city falls, I don’t need to tell you what’ll happen to your families and loved ones!” 

At that very moment, however... 

“Sir!” An unfamiliar soldier approached the commander. 

“What is it? Get to your position already—” 

Before he could finish, the soldier exploded. 

The commander, who was standing only a meter away from the soldier, was blown to bits. The terrified screams of nearby soldiers caught in the blast filled the air. 

“Dammit! Their saboteurs are even mixed in with our soldiers!” cursed one of the officers. “Hey, if any of you detect any soldiers you don’t recognize, report them immediately! They could be enemy spies!” 

As the battle raged on, chaos quickly overwhelmed the men atop the walls. Leopold had ordered for a large—even excessive—number of them to be stationed there, and so the bulk of Doris’ army was struggling to maintain order. 

“Fight on in the name of the Dukedom! Stop those monsters!” The officer who’d spoken up just before took on the role of the dead commander. 

“Yeeeaaah!” The soldiers met his words of encouragement with a war cry. 

Incidentally, the Ripper Swarms’ rush was slowing down—no, it was coming to a halt entirely. They had pushed beyond the charred remains of their comrades to close in on the gates, but the crossbow and ballista fire had forced them to evade, then finally retreat. 

“Ahaha! The monsters are fleeing! Serves you right, cockroaches!” 

“Victory is ours!” 

The soldiers at the gates rejoiced at the sight of the Ripper Swarms falling back. 

“Did we win...?” the officer wondered aloud. 

After trampling countless cities across the Dukedom, the Ripper Swarms were retreating for the very first time. The officer found it hard to believe as he watched the monsters scurry away. Had they truly won? Yes, that had to be it. The enemy had accepted defeat. The gates had taken a lot of damage, but in the end, they had held fast in the face of the invasion. 

“We did it! We won!” 

“Yeaaah! Victory is ours!” 

The soldiers cheered, throwing away their helmets and lifting up their crossbows. They were overjoyed, as they believed that they had at last vanquished the insectile scourge. 

Their blissful celebration, however, did not even last five minutes. 

“Where’s your commander?! I need him right this instant!” Sebastian de Silhouette bellowed from atop the walls. 

“He died in the line of duty, sir. I’m currently the one in charge,” the officer answered. 

“Hmm, right,” Sebastian nodded. “Then prepare to move into the city at once! We must hurry!” 

“What do you mean, sir? Is there a riot?” 

“A riot? You really don’t understand, do you?” Sebastian sighed. “I suppose I can’t blame you, since you were fighting on the front lines until now. Listen up: this was a diversion. That wasn’t the enemy’s main force, and that’s why you were able to push them back. The enemy’s army invaded us from the sea, and they currently have control of the city center. They’re heading this way right now. We need to intercept them, hence the urgency. They’re smarter than we ever could’ve imagined. Anything could happen from this point on.” 

“From the sea? That’s absurd. How were they able to cross??” 

Before he could hear the answer, screaming broke out in the distance. 

“The real fight is about to begin. Leave a small detachment here and move out. Now!” 

“Y-Yes, sir!” 

The screaming was gradually becoming louder as the officer hurriedly gathered his subordinates. They armed themselves with melee weapons and got off the ramparts, forming a line as they made their way into the streets. 

“That’s why I told him to leave a platoon in the city,” Sebastian whispered as he watched black smoke rise in the distance. 

The Arachnea had completed its landing and was now beginning its rampage. The battle had turned on its head, and now the soldiers were plummeting toward defeat. 

Less than thirty minutes until sunrise, we boarded a wooden ship to make our way to Doris. Roland said he’d picked the finest ship for us, but honestly, it was a pretty rough ride. I was so seasick I thought I might die, and Lysa was pretty pale, too. Roland and Sérignan were the only ones that looked fine. 

Well, the Swarms did too, of course. I loved my babies to pieces, but they had no way of understanding how much I was suffering. 

“We’ll be there soon,” Roland told me. 

“Okay. Urgh... I can’t wait to get back on solid ground,” I replied wearily. 

I had ridden ferries before, but this was, without a doubt, the worst cruise I had ever taken. It swayed, squeaked, shuddered, and shook. It was as though everything about this ship was designed to kill its passengers. I felt like it might capsize at any moment, and I wanted nothing more than to get back to the sweet embrace of solid ground ASAP. 

“Roland, how soon is ‘soon’?” 

“Hmm, I’d say about thirty minutes.” 

To distract myself, I accessed the collective consciousness and confirmed the situation of the battle on the walls. The Swarms endured severe damage as they stormed Poitier Bridge. They were assailed by bolts and fire, and the gates seemed to loom ever farther away, but still they charged onward. 

I’m sorry. I’m so sorry for using you like disposable pawns in this operation. But this is necessary for our victory. Forgive me. In exchange, I’ll make sure we win. 

I mourned the Ripper and Masquerade Swarms that were being sacrificed in this battle, but I steeled my resolve in the name of victory. My nausea died down a bit, and the churning feeling was replaced with a strong desire to succeed. 

I have to win no matter what. I’ve sacrificed too much already. Losing anything more isn’t an option. 

I still had hundreds of thousands of Swarms under my command, but even still, I cared for each and every Ripper Swarm. I couldn’t let them die in vain. 

“Your Majesty, the enemy is gathering its forces to defend the walls,” Sérignan reported. 

“Yeah. The Ripper and Masquerade Swarms gave their lives to give us this opening. We can’t let it go to waste.” 

“We absolutely won’t. Our brethren made great contributions to ensure our victory.” 

“They sure did. Whatever it takes, we’re going to win this.” 

Sérignan and I were filled with the determination to end this war. 

“We’ll be reaching land soon, Your Majesty!” Roland called out. “When we do, it’s going to be a little rough!” 

“I’m used to it by now! It can jostle me around as much as it needs to!” I shouted back. 

In the moonlight, we caught sight of all the ships sailing alongside our vessel. They were all wooden ships we’d gathered from Schtraut’s harbors. Some of them were so old that they looked like they might sink at any moment, while others were newer but smaller in size. 

All of these ships were full of Ripper Swarms. 

“Soldiers tend to be weak after sailing, so I hope the Ripper Swarms at the gate do a good job distracting the bulk of their forces.” 

Landing operations were risky. We’d be sitting ducks if the enemy were to take up positions at our landing point; they’d wipe us out before we knew it. They could also just hit our ships with magic from afar and send us to a watery grave. Still, we had to take a leap of faith if we wanted to win. 

“Five minutes to land!” 

At Roland’s shout, the other ships accelerated, making a beeline for Doris’ shores. 

“The Ripper Swarms are surprisingly good sailors,” Roland said, visibly impressed. 

“They move as part of a collective consciousness,” I explained. “When one of them learns something, the others learn it as well. If each of them were to learn one piece of information, they would all gain that information at once. They’re a much smarter, more efficient form of life than humans.” 

Yes, the Swarms were extraordinarily fast learners. One of them could learn biology and the rest would gain that knowledge immediately, despite never opening a biology book. If I asked a handful of them to study biology, physics, chemistry, math, and music, the entirety of the Swarm would absorb all those topics at once. That was the strength of the collective consciousness. 

In the game, this mechanic only really extended to the Swarms gaining experience without taking part in a battle. When applied to a more realistic setting, however, this ability showed a startling range of applications. The Swarm could very well be the smartest, most efficient life form in this world. 

“Landing in just a few seconds! Brace for impact!” 

Our ships blitzed through the sea and rammed onto the shore. 

“The enemy hasn’t noticed us yet! Begin the operation!” I called out. 

On my order, the Swarms flowed out of their ships and hopped onto the wharf, beginning their charge into the city. One group broke off to storm the lighthouse and the docked warships to exterminate the soldiers inside. 

“Your Majesty, we’ve landed successfully!” Sérignan reported. 

“Yeah. I couldn’t have asked for anything more. Good work, everyone.” 

My bugs were currently running through Doris’ streets, the first warm rays of sunlight reflecting off their claws. After our successful landing, victory was close at hand. Now that our enemies had been pushed to the edge, sending them flying down into the abyss of despair would be easy. We would light fires of panic and fear into their hearts and rightfully enact our vengeance for all that had happened. 

“Sérignan, Lysa, and Roland—make way for the Duke’s residence. It should be at the highest point of this island. I’m sure you’ll find it soon enough.” 

“I’ll lead the way,” Roland said with a nod. 

“All right, Roland. Let’s go.” 

The Swarms had two objectives upon landing on Doris. The first was overtaking the duke’s residence; we had to take out Leopold if we were to win this war. Plus, I had a whole laundry list of grudges to settle with him. Letting him die easily wasn’t an option. 

Secondly, we needed to take out the second gate. Opening it from the inside would allow the Swarms outside the walls to regroup with us. Once the gates were open, the enemy would be rendered helpless. They could pray as much as they wanted, but the Swarm would overrun them just the same. 

I left the second gate to the Ripper Swarms, and set out with my squad to raid the duke’s residence. I felt bad for the people of Marine. They had treated me so well, only to become casualties of this war. 

But I’ll be taking revenge for you now. 

I wanted to bring unimaginable pain upon Leopold and have his head stuck on a pike at the city gates. Resolved to make him suffer, I hopped onto a Ripper Swarm’s back and followed Sérignan, Lysa, and Roland to find Leopold. 

“What’s going, Sebastian?! Didn’t we push back the enemy assault at the gates?!” Leopold snarled. 

The duke had just received a report that his soldiers at Poitier Bridge had crushed the enemy’s charge, so he had been confident that they’d won the war. However, he had just heard that a large army of Swarms had seized Doris and killed their troops, and that it was marching on the gates from within the city itself. 

“It seems the enemy has staged a landing operation. We didn’t anticipate they’d be able to use ships... Apparently, they’re more than just monsters.” 

“Are you kidding me?! Stage a counterattack and retake the city at once! I thought you planned for every contingency, you incompetent buffoon!” Leopold’s shout echoed through the manor. Around them, the windows flickered with distant fires from the burning city. 

“You call me incompetent? I was against stationing all our forces at the gates. I told you we should leave a reserve force behind. You are the one who rejected my proposal, Duke Lorraine. The responsibility for this falls on you!” 

Indeed, Sebastian had been opposed to sending all of their soldiers to Poitier Bridge. He’d assumed the chances of a surprise attack were slim, but he had suggested they leave a force behind just in case. Leopold was the one to refuse his counsel. 

“You imbecile! What right do you have to speak back to your leader?!” Leopold bellowed, spittle flying from the corners of his mouth. “I’m the Duke of Schtraut! You dare criticize me?! The responsibility for this falls on you, sir!” 

“The very fact you were ever appointed Duke was a mistake. If you hadn’t impeached Duke Sharon, none of this would have happened. Your blind belief in Frantz’s double-dealing ways makes you the worst possible leader.” 

“Dismissed! You’re dismissed from your post! I’ll have you stripped of every rank and medal you’ve ever gotten! You’ll regret insulting me when you rot in the dungeon for the rest of your life!” 

“I don’t think you quite understand the situation, Duke Lorraine. Doris will fall within mere hours. Considering what happened to the other cities, the only thing waiting for both of us is death. Dismiss me now if it makes you feel any better; I can certainly say your threats don’t make me feel any worse.” 

Yes, the city of Doris was on the verge of collapse. A militia was being rapidly organized in the city streets to try to stop the Swarms’ advance, but they had no armor and were equipped with feeble weapons. They would be easy pickings for the Ripper Swarms. 

The Swarms were gaining control of the city at a steady pace. As soon as my seafaring Swarms had left their ships and moved to ransack the city, the Swarms outside had doubled back down on the outer gates, which were now nearly destroyed. The soldiers on the walls had been torn apart, and the mages’ heads had been ripped off before they could resume firing their spells. 

The capital of Schtraut was fated to fall. It was only a matter of an hour or two. 

“There has to be some way to win... Some way to survive this. An idea that a lunkheaded soldier like yourself didn’t have the brainpower to come up with. Come on, Leopold, think! It wouldn’t make sense otherwise... I always succeed in the end, after all.” 

Leopold took another swig of brandy and started pacing around his room like a restless tiger. 

“Give it up. We have no more cards to play. If only you had acted more prudently, things might have ended in our favor.” 

“Shut up! I did not lose! I will win and survive this! Go off and die for all I care!” 

All of this could have been avoided. If only he hadn’t used the nobles’ army as sacrificial pawns, or if only he’d had the diplomatic sense to see through the Popedom’s intentions... Or if he had simply chosen a course of action that wouldn’t have provoked the Arachnea. 

It was one “what if” after another. But the past had no place for possibilities, only facts. There was no going back in time to take back one’s mistakes; one had no choice but to accept reality as it was. 

“Your Grace! The enemy! They’re headed this way!” 

The voice alerting Leopold of his imposing doom had arrived, all too soon and all too mercilessly.