An hour earlier, before the shocking news spread across Angaria.
The Head was quietly sitting in his abode in the sky, from where he kept an eye on Angaria and its borders, as was his duty.
This was a location where one could always find him, as at least a clone of his was definitely supposed to be here so that they wouldn't be caught unaware in case something happened.
He monitored each and every formation that protected the Continent, one by one, all while making sure that the core tenet regarding the Central Continent was maintained.
The latter was actually something that didn't need his attention much, usually, but recently, with Lanthanor uniting with the Kingdom of Eldinor, he had had to actively look into it and make sure that the ancient rule was maintained.
True, at least 3 forces were supposed to be present. But why not let more remain so that there would be no risk of less than 3 forming in the first place?
Besides, wanton bloodshed was really something that Angaria could do without in this critical time.
Hence, with all this in mind, the Head was paying quite a bit of attention to the Central Continent- at least, to the parts of it that he could see without much effort.
He did keep a close watch on troop deployments and general actions of each King, and he had actually been a little put off by the propensity of the King of Axelor for random purges.
Well…that was bloodshed, but he didn't see a need to step in when the amount was minor.
Besides, they were all common citizens, who weren't very high in his list of priorities.
In the other Kingdoms, Lanthanor stood out the most, mainly due to the many innovating things that the King kept pulling out from somewhere.
He often mused that with the kid's genius intellect, he would definitely grow into someone terrifying if he put it all into his training.
Yet, he knew that sometimes, forcing things would often have negative consequences. So, all he could do was watch and hope that the King of Lanthanor would get his 'clarity' regarding his Champion Path as soon as possible.
The Head had to admit he was fascinated by the train, the school, the bank, and the Network.
In calmer times, he might even have adopted some of these into the Big 4.
Only, they had no time for that right now.
It was right when he was casually looking into the house of one of the random families on the continent who were in possession of the Network Trinket due to his interest in one of the romantic shows that was currently very popular(which was something he would never admit to any living soul in the continent), that he noticed something wrong with the Kingdom of Axelor.
Axelor had always been the odd one out in the Central Continent. Its armies moved day and night, going to random places to set up multiple training exercises or to carry out the many strange and often bizarre commands of the King.
In fact, the Head was almost sure that the King of Axelor's mind was almost completely lost due to the technique he had foolishly used before to make his power level go down.
Yet… Something was definitely different now.
Axelor had one of the largest Fighter armies is in the entire continent, and if it weren't for the fact that their Mage army was severely underpowered in comparison, they might have swept through the continent whenever they wished until they would have had to be stopped by the Big Four.
Of course, the Head would not have had to step in in that situation, because if that happened, it would definitely be with the express permission of the part of the Big Four that was supposed to be 'backing' this Kingdom.
This was in reference to the connection between the Sect of Hedon and the Axelor - which was actually much less of import than others thought in the Central Continent.
All it was was an agreement of mutual exchange. The Sect of Hedon would choose those whom it wanted from the population of this kingdom, and in return, it would award the Royal Family with certain trivial techniques that were actually quite valuable in the Central Continent.
Oftentimes, the Kings of Axelor would also try to use the name of the Big 4 to scare others, but this never worked out too much because no one was foolish enough to believe that what they were saying was really true, as if it was, they wouldn't still be just one of the many forces in Angaria
In fact, now that he thought about it, since that time during the Olympics of this kid in which they had meddled in because they did not want one person and one Kingdom to obtain so much acclaim, which was something that was happening now anyway, their dealings with the Kingdom of Axelor had reduced quite a bit, and it was almost nil right now.
Now that the head thought back to the Olympics, he couldn't help but chuckle, thinking that even though they had tried, they had failed. And now, along with various other things that had happened, the King of Lanthanor truly was one of the most revered figures when compared to all others in recent history.
Of course, he hadn't had the luxury to keep a close eye on this and even think about stopping him in the process, mainly because of the fact that their Heroes had been injured.
That incident had made something like that no longer seem important, as the only objective behind it would have been to make it easier for them to keep the ancient rule.
Actually, with this line of thought, the Head began to see something just a little bit suspicious - that a lot of things had worked out in the King of Lanthanor's favor. Was he really that lucky?
Only, the thought stopped in its tracks as soon as the Head cracked the mystery regarding what he was seeing in the Kingdom of Axelor.
It was a full-scale army deployment.
Always in a state of readiness, it was actually a thing to be marveled that the Kingdom of Axelor only needed a few hours to assemble their troops and set out to do what they wished.
At this moment, the Head was faced with a tough choice - he could go out to stop them right now, but when he saw the direction in which they were heading, he paused.
They were heading… To the Black Raven Kingdom.
But wasn't the Black Raven Kingdom ruled by a person who was very close to the King of Lanthanor? Wouldn't he come out in full support, causing a stalemate anyway, which would result in a war that will only see both sides losing and with no one emerging as a clear winner?
Everyone knew that such wars should never be fought, as it would only give an opportunity for others waiting in the wings to jump in and reap the rewards.
So, expecting such a situation to happen where there might only be flexing, the Head decided to watch on, as if this was another show on the Network Trinket.
He would only step in if there was a threat of loss of life in the range of hundreds of thousands of people, as the Big Four really was not supposed to interfere much, or at all, in the Central Continent, which was another rule written right alongside that other tenet that there should only be three forces.
Often, he wondered just what the Emperor might have been thinking while setting down these rules, and why this was all supposed to be so.
Of course, he knew that he could no longer find out the answer, so, splitting his consciousness between this live-action drama between the Kingdoms and the other one on the Network Trinket, the Head conjured a plate of food from one of the finest restaurants in Arafell and settled down comfortably in his chair.
…
Jalan was truly perplexed.
He had gone to play with his friends in the morning, but his mother had called him back with an extreme look of panic on her face that he had only seen a few times.
And in those times, very bad things had happened, and they had had to move their house as they might have been killed otherwise.
Now, as he returned to the house with his hand being pulled by his mother, he saw her run towards the table where the Network Trinket was placed and activated it so that the voice of the announcer could be heard throughout the house.
Initially, the regular morning show which was usually a series of soothing songs meant to allow one to begin their day with a calm mind played, but after a few seconds, it was interrupted by someone speaking urgently.
"This is an update regarding the situation of the army that has headed out to the Black Raven Kingdom. The King of Axelor has not made any attempt to keep their invasion secret, so the Black Raven Kingdom has also begun to assemble their troops in order to meet the other army in open combat, rather than near the border which would present a risk of the whole Kingdom being overrun if there is the dire situation that the ranks of the Army are broken through. Also, our steadfast ally, the Kingdom of Lanthanor, which is currently in an alliance with the Kingdom of Eldinor, has agreed to lend us all the help possible. Mage and Fighter armies will be setting out soon to unite with those of the Black Raven Kingdom. Retired lieutenants from both the Kingdoms of Lanthanor and Eldinor say that this will result in a stalemate with a few skirmishes, after which the Kingdom of Axelor will have no option but to return to its home, with its tail between its legs, just like the last time it dared to come out. Still, the Black Raven Kingdom has asked us to announce to all the citizens that they should head to their local military garrison so that they can be protected. As of right now, the Black Raven Kingdom is still under high alert. This is 'Breaking News of Angaria', signing off for the moment, and I promise that we will be back as soon as we know something new. Now, you can return to -"
His mother switched off the trinket at this point, following which she began to quickly pack a small bag with all the food they had, along with their most precious possessions, which were three trinkets that helped in farming that they used to till the small patch of ground near their house.
After that strange incident during which they had been visited by those two men who had left behind quite a bit of silver, a lot had happened in their Kingdom, and their lives had changed for the better due to the many helpful policies implemented by the current King, as opposed to the former one who only liked to raise the taxes.
That silver had allowed them to buy these trinkets, and the extra income from the farm had allowed them to live quite a happy life.
Yet, now, with the flames of war on the horizon, Jalan didn't know what would happen. He heard the others often gossiping that times of war were the cruelest for citizens, and that they all wished that another war would not come upon them as long as they were alive. But if one did come, they wanted the Black Raven to soar high, unlike recent times during which they had had no option but to lose time and time again.
Without speaking, Jalan helped his mom, and after a few minutes, they were quickly heading towards the garrison which was a kilometer away, where his father was waiting.
Along the way, they came across the families of many of his friends, too, who were also hurrying in that direction.
Jalan had a lot on his mind, but he was remaining quiet. Yet, right before they reached, a very iconic sound made him look up and drop his jaw in awe.
DUN DUN! DUN DUN! DUN DUN!
The rhythmic sound of a troop of soldiers marching out to battle.
In front of him, accompanied by a dust cloud that was growing larger and larger, 2000 soldiers were marching in the direction of the border with grim expressions on their faces.
The citizens who were heading to the garrison paused and moved to the side to let them through, and when this happened, little Jalan heard the leader, who was standing at the front with a Black Raven on his shoulder, say something to them that he would remember throughout his life.
"If we do not return, please remember us as those who did not hesitate even though we knew that our weakened Kingdom has hardly a chance of standing up against the behemoth that is Axelor. Even if our bodies rot in the ground, we shall soar forever with the Divine Ancestor. All hail the mighty Black Raven!"