You Will Return Like Lightning

Lothar, having returned to Semannud, quickly chose to begin a simulated battle scenario.

Small words slowly appeared in his mind.

You have selected the high-difficulty simulated battle scenario, 1453: The Fall of the Ottomans.

Clear requirement: Defeat the Ottoman "Conqueror" and his army, shattering "Conqueror" Mahmud II's ambition to conquer Constantinople.

Warning: This scenario is a six-star template trial. It is extremely difficult and allows only one attempt. Proceed with caution.

As light and shadow flickered.

A stirring cello melody faintly rose beside Lothar's ears.

It was like thunder erupting, iron cavalry crossing frozen rivers.

A moment later, it seemed countless people were calling out, praying, and singing at the top of their lungs.

"You will return like lightning.

The whole nation will feast in celebration.

Sea, land, and sky shall lie beneath your lightning.

I will wear white and touch you once more.

Your light and my heart.

Constantine Dragases Palaiologos.

By God's grace, Emperor of the Romans.

At the Gate of Saint Romanus, upon a white-legged mare.

Four betas, show mercy."

By the time the song gradually faded, Lothar opened his eyes again and found himself in a desolate city.

An emperor clad in purple stood before more than a dozen Varangian guards, in front of a ruined statue of Emperor Manuel. He gazed upon the bleak, dilapidated streets, where the traces of plunder remained unrepaired even now.

Weeds grew wildly amid the collapsed stone ruins.

On the once-prosperous streets, only a few farmers remained, efficiently fertilizing the fields they had reclaimed by the roadside.

He looked at the poorly equipped militiamen, then at Constantinople, which now resembled nothing more than a vast countryside village, and a bitter smile appeared on his face.

"This is Constantinople now—the Empress of the Cities..."

Having taken Constantine XI's place and inherited