It had been nearly two days since the battle of Saguenay, and somehow the atmosphere was even tenser than before.

Victoire only had to take a look at the sky to know why. She had evacuated with most of her fellow Champions and soldiers to Orestown after obtaining guarantees that Valentine would leave the Lady and her servants unbothered, and the city was close enough to Stalheim for the rift above it to be visible in the distance. She hadn't seen the horrible wound in the very fabric of space since Whiro's attack on Verglane, and she wasn't particularly happy to watch history repeat itself.

"I'm afraid we'll have to delay your knighting for a bit," Victoire informed her squire as they observed the horizon from atop the city walls. Their engineers and crafters had done a wonderful job in rebuilding and improving the city's defenses; Valentine and its allies would pay dearly in blood if they tried to attack again. "We must stay on our guard so long as the Incursion remains ongoing."

Victoire would have preferred to knight Filou in Narc, where it all began, but Lord Wepwawet wanted to keep forces in Orestown due to the rift forming above Stalheim. Orestown was the city closest to the border with the andvari's country and thus capable of sending reinforcements in a pinch should they become overrun with monsters like the Wyld.

One front closes, and another opens. Victoire had heard the one above the Wyld had at least closed for the time being, though Goreville had requested reinforcements to deal with titanspawn unleashed on the region. Lord Wepwawet informed her that she might be deployed there should the situation continue to escalate. We truly are besieged.

Sagesse had gathered with other ambassadors in a separate building for a meeting of the gods. The same people who had plotted a world war in Salamandra barely a month earlier were now discussing how to end it and confront the Incursion as a united front. Victoire could only hope an alliance—or at least an end to current hostilities—would follow.

They faced too great an enemy to war among themselves.

"I… I understand, milady," her squire replied with far less frustration in his voice than she would expect.

Victoire raised an eyebrow. "Is it me, Filou, or do you sound almost relieved?"

"No, no, I…" her squire cleared his throat. "Maybe a little bit…"

"I thought becoming a knight was your dream?" His reluctance took Victoire aback. She thought he would be overjoyed with the news of his promotion. "You are more than worthy of the title, if that's what you're afraid of. Your deeds speak for themselves."

"It's not…" Filou gulped. "I'm… it is an honor, Milady, a true honor for which I am thankful, but I…" He lowered his head in shame. "I do not want to leave Milady's side."

Victoire's expression softened. "Filou–"

"I know what Milady will say, that we will continue to fight as equals," Filou cut in. "But our relationship will change. You will find a new squire and I…" He let out a sigh. "I am not comfortable with that."

Victoire observed her squire for a moment. He had grown so much, but like a child watching himself in the mirror, he feared what becoming an adult meant. He feared the loss of a time of innocence and the responsibilities that would follow—so many words of comfort formed at the edge of her lips.

But then a grating voice interrupted the moment.

"Such a good minion, to be so reluctant to leave his princess' side! I am so touched!"

Victoire suppressed a shudder of annoyance and glanced past the walls. Glatisant was observing them beyond their edge, trying to 'hide' behind a hill like a cat in wild grass, which only succeeded in making her look ridiculous on account of her size.

"Why are you still stalking me?!" Victoire snapped at the dragon. The beast had followed them all the way to Orestown. "We're done with Valentine!"

"Exactly, your princessness survived the loss of your kingdom over multiple generations thanks to my impeccable breeding program!" Glatisant nodded to herself. "I must continue to record your progress for the sake of science and future monarchy conservation efforts!

"S-should I throw stones at her, Milady?" Filou suggested.

"No, just ignore her," Victoire replied with annoyance. Glatisant would ignore the projectiles at best and react with deadly force at worst. "Let us just ignore her. Eventually, she'll grow bored and leave."

"I will not!" Glatisant shouted back. "A dragon's patience is golden!"

Victoire face-palmed in response and prayed to her god to free her from this scaled curse. Unfortunately, he only answered back with silence. She guessed Lord Wepwawet was too preoccupied with the Incursion to answer her.

She heard footsteps nearby and glanced to spot Gaspar climb up the city walls. The mage glanced at Glatisant, then back at Victoire. "Is this a bad time, or–"

"No," Victoire replied hurriedly. "What do you want?"

"That is the question," Gaspar confessed, "I am not certain myself."

The mage had barely managed to keep his head after the disaster in Saguenay. His treason and actions to free Archon ought to have spelled his death, but his contribution in saving the city couldn't be understated.

In the end, Epona had settled on simply stripping Gaspar of his titles, including his Champion status, and exiling him. She barely gave him enough time to gather his research in Saguenay and leave with Verglane's forces, or face summary execution.

"Why did you take me in?" Gaspar inquired. "After everything, why give me shelter? You certainly didn't do so out of the goodness of your heart."

"It would have been wrong to slay you, Sir Gaspar," Filou argued. "Your mistakes have cost many lives, but you decided to rectify them. Death would have been too great a punishment, and prevented you from making up for your crimes in truth."

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

"Haven't you heard?" Victoire raised an eyebrow. "Verglane has been in the business of welcoming Valentinian exiles since the civil war."

"Mmm." The mage scoffed. "A dedicated republican forced into banishment with royalists. The irony is not lost on me."

"Most cities in Verglane are autonomous republics and democracies, so you will feel right at home," Victoire replied. "Anyway, you are right about one thing: Lord Wepwawet has a use for you."

Gaspar squinted at her. "Is it about the lunarians?"

"Yes. We've done extensive research on the subject, and our crafters are currently working on a countermeasure against the creatures. Moreover…" Victoire straightened up. "Archon mentioned something that piqued my interest during our battle. He spoke of a 'betrayer.'"

"A betrayer?" Gaspar's eyes lit up with interest. "To the lunarians?"

"Something has been bothering me for quite a while," Victoire said. "We know that the lunarian civilization likely collapsed due to a slave revolt led by werelings, but even the likes of demons were engineered to be psychically subservient to them. I can imagine a handful inevitably learning how to resist their control, but enough to raise a rebellion? This would seem impossible, unless–"

"Unless they received help from another party," Gaspar guessed. "And if it was a betrayer from a lunarian's point of view–"

"Then it was likely a lunarian itself." Victoire raised her shield. "This is one of the anti-lunarian wereling relics that we managed to recover. I suspect they might hold a clue to the truth of what happened then. I want you to study them in case you can find answers."

And if she was right, then the result of their war against the lunarians would depend on them.

Waiting for the results was nerve-wracking.

All gods on Elphion—with the obvious exception of Beelzebub—had gathered in a shared Realm of Influence sustained by their Champion ambassadors' circle. While they had officially gathered to discuss both the Zoramesh-Valentine ceasefire and a global task force to deal with Tiamat's brood, making some progress on both subjects, talks immediately grew quiet when Horus and his teammates vanished to battle the Third Incursion. The gods had no way to observe what happened inside the rift and could only wait.

"It's been a few minutes since they left," Artemis said. "Do you think they'll be trapped in there for a year, too?"

"I doubt that," Ishtar replied. "None of my ambassadors in our classmates' nations reported their territories being abducted to form a board. Only a handful of Champions vanished."

"Only Champions disappeared?" Wepwawet stroked his chin. "Then Hastur must have chosen the 'kill all enemy Commanders' format. That's the only one where the board doesn't draw Altars or Idols from the native world as building blocks to ensure no outside Champion or creature can slip through."

"The Commander format would be quite the odd choice," Epona commented. "That format reduces overall casualties since the players are limited in the number of units they can field and would leave territories unscathed."

"This King in Yellow must have instadeath Miracles like mine," Hel suggested. "Fewer troops would make fewer targets."

Wepwawet nodded in agreement. Unlike Tiamat, who worked to sabotage Elphion's defenses and bleed out their armies, Hastur was likely playing to win. The format had to accommodate his battle strategy somehow.

Only Sun Wukong took the news in stride. "That's good for me!" he boasted. "If I don't have to risk too many troops, I could participate in the next round if the others mess up! One-on-one duels are my speci–"

A ripple of power spread through their shared Influences before he could finish his sentence, signaling the current match's conclusion.

Wepwawet immediately knew something had gone wrong. Although Horus, Axomamma, and Watatsumi had left for the battle, their ambassadors provided a faint link to their lingering Influences on Elphion. The connection with Horus remained, but both of Axomamma and Watatsumi's tethers snapped and shattered. Wepwawet could feel their presence for a second, and then a void remained the next.

Moreover, the rift had begun to increase in size. His Champions on the ground saw it expand in the skies above Stalheim until it blanketed the entire country in shadows. It would likely reach the borders of Megaloria and Lavaland at this rate.

"Axo?!" Ishtar called out, showing genuine concern for another being for the first time since Wepwawet met her. "Axo!"

"We've lost Watatsumi, too!" Epona warned, her jaw clenching. "This is bad!"

Wepwawet almost expected his cousin to suffer the same fate, but to his surprise, the falcon god's Influence remained strong. A notification appeared in front of them, showcasing the Third Incursion's surprising results.

Draw! Horus, Falcon of Light, and Hastur, King in Yellow, have tied!

Axomamma, Mother of Potatoes, and Watatsumi, Ocean Dragonlord, have been defeated and expelled from Elphion!

The Third Incursion will resume in 24:00:00 hours! Invading Titan: Hastur, King in Yellow.

Maximum number of divine challengers: Set to 3. Should no gods take up the challenge, the System will automatically select the contestants based on geographic proximity to the breach.

Reward: Hastur, King in Yellow, will be permanently expelled from Elphion, and surviving gods may pick any one card from his deck.

Losing Penalty: Losing gods will be permanently expelled from Elphion, and new challengers must immediately replace them. Should all gods be defeated, then Titan Hastur will destroy the world.

"What the… a draw?" Anansi choked upon rereading the notification. "Is that outcome even possible?"

Horus' spirit materialized among them upon escaping the rift. While Wepwawet's cousin looked nowhere near as exhausted as Artemis had been after concluding her own Incursion, his entire being radiated fury and frustration.

Whatever happened inside the Incursion pissed him off.

"He's strong," Horus said on arrival. "He's… strong."

And from the way he uttered the word, it hurt to even say it.

"What happened?!" Hel immediately asked the moment he showed up. "How are you still here while Watatsumi and Axomamma lost?"

"I'm sorry, I couldn't…" Horus shook his head. "He picked the 'kill all enemy Commanders' format. We were each allowed one, and he three. We tried to win, but he defeated the others, and he was about to complete his combo, so I…" Horus looked away. "I used a… last resort. A board nuke that killed all of our Commanders."

"Including yours?" Ganesha choked. "You… you slew your own Champion?"

"It was the only way to save her soul," Horus grunted in fury and disappointment. "I will revive her once I find a resurrection Miracle."

"Some sacrifices must be made for victory's sake," Anansi mused. "A pity it was all for nothing in this case."

"I have no lesson to receive from you," Horus replied while glaring at the spider god. Wepwawet had the feeling that his cousin wasn't the kind to sacrifice his own Champions unless he had literally exhausted all other options. Hastur must have pushed him into a corner. "I don't understand why it didn't work. I had hoped taking Hastur's Champions out would result in his banishment from Elphion, but since both our Commanders died at the same time, it seems the System went for a third option."

"So we've lost Axo and Watatsumi since their Commanders perished before you could force a tie, but Hastur will return for round two in a day," Ishtar summarized. "That is… not optimal."

"This is a disaster, yes!" Hel complained. "None of our remaining armies are fresh and at full strength! We've all taken losses in the war or Second Incursion!"

"And whose fault is that?!" Artemis glared at her and Anansi. "Your stupid schemes led us to this!"

"As much as I wish to join in with the recriminations, let us focus on the enemy at the door before we tear each other apart," Ishtar said. "At least we know the enemy's strategy now. If Hastur plans to kill our Commanders, we can plot around–"

"He didn't," Horus cut in.

Ishtar blinked. "Come again?"

"He didn't try to kill our Commanders. Not directly. They perished as a side effect of his strategy, but Miss Athena was right." Horus clenched his fist. "Hastur doesn't play by the rules."

Wepwawet quickly put two and two together. "Are you saying that–"

"Hastur used the End Comes For You Miracle Miss Athena warned us about. He's an alternative win condition player." Horus then looked Wepwawet and Epona dead in the eyes. What he was about to say physically hurt him. "And I think… I think the two of you might be the only ones capable of countering his strategy."

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