The rebellion's early successes created momentum that pulled in people who had been sitting on the fence waiting to see which side would prevail. When it became clear that Verons was genuinely vulnerable, that the rebellion had competent leadership and actual chances of victory, defections began accelerating.First came junior officers who brought their units over intact. Then mid-level commanders who controlled strategic positions. The trickle became a flood as professional soldiers chose conscience over orders, deciding they would rather fight for their country's freedom than continue supporting tyranny.Jacob established protocols for accepting defectors, recognizing that some would be genuine converts while others were opportunists switching to what looked like the winning side. Each defecting unit was interviewed, their motivations assessed, and their reliability evaluated before being integrated into rebel forces."A colonel from the Northern Army wants to speak with you," Lieut

Jacob gathered his senior commanders and studied maps showing Verons's remaining territory. The tyrant controlled perhaps a third of Argo now—mostly eastern regions with strategic military installations and industrial capacity. But those territories required supplies, reinforcements, and communication networks to remain functional."We stop trying to fight him everywhere at once," Jacob announced. "Instead we isolate his forces systematically. Cut supply lines, destroy logistics hubs, prevent loyalist units from coordinating with each other."Commander Chen approved the shift in strategy. "Classic siege tactics applied to entire regions. Starve them out rather than assault fortified positions directly."They identified three critical supply routes that sustained Verons's military operations. A rail line running north-south that moved ammunition and equipment. A river port that imported food from agricultural regions still under loyalist control. And a network of roads connecting scatt

Jacob managed to pull the artifacts away from Anna before the power consumption killed her completely. She collapsed into his arms, barely conscious, her body trembling from the strain of channeling forces that no single guardian should have wielded alone. But the shadow army was destroyed, evaporated into nothingness by light they could not withstand. That battle set the pattern for what followed. Verons would deploy supernatural creatures. Anna would counter them using multiple artifacts despite the terrible cost to her health. They would win the engagement but lose ground strategically as Anna needed days to recover from each artifact-amplified defense. The civil war devolved into grinding attrition that consumed Argo piece by piece. Cities that had stood for centuries were reduced to rubble as they changed hands repeatedly between rebel and loyalist forces. Farmland was scorched to prevent the enemy from using harvests. Infrastructure was systematically destroyed by whichever s

The battlefield was chosen by mutual inevitability rather than tactical preference. A wide plain between the rebel-held capital district and the approaching loyalist army, open ground that favored neither side particularly but allowed room for the massive forces to deploy properly.Jacob spent two days transforming the plain into a defensible position. Trenches were dug along the rebel front line. Artillery positions established on the few elevated points. Supply depots positioned to sustain prolonged engagement. Every advantage that preparation and fieldworks could provide was implemented with desperate efficiency.General Malik coordinated the Seron troops' integration into the defensive scheme. His forces would anchor the center where the heaviest fighting was expected. Rebel veterans would hold the flanks, their experience compensating for lower numbers. Reserves positioned behind the lines ready to plug gaps or exploit opportunities."We are outnumbered two-to-one," Malik observe

Jacob left the battlefield immediately despite the fighting still raging around him. Commander Chen tried to argue that the battle needed his leadership, that abandoning troops during active combat was tactically insane, but Jacob would not be swayed."You command the battle," Jacob told Chen, pressing the ring artifact into his hand. "Use this if Verons deploys more supernatural forces. Anna and I are ending this now."Anna gathered artifacts three and four while Marcus insisted on coming despite his frailty. "You need someone who understands the ritual," Marcus said. "Someone who can counter whatever Verons attempts at the temple."They took the fastest horses available and rode away from the battlefield while the sun was still high. Behind them the sounds of combat continued—screams, explosions, the clash of weapons that would determine Argo's immediate future. But Jacob's focus was entirely forward, toward the temple and the final confrontation.The ride took two days of punishing