Three months passed in the blink of an eye. In late autumn, Karl held a grand oath-taking assembly outside Frosgard.
That day, the sky stretched clear for miles, and the autumn sun shone brightly. On the vast parade ground outside Frosgard, eighty thousand troops stood in neat formations that stretched beyond sight. Their dark blue uniforms gleamed beneath the sun, and their gleaming bayonets flashed with icy light. Banners billowed, blotting out the sky and covering the earth; warhorses neighed, and the army's momentum soared like a rainbow.
At the center of the parade ground stood a raised platform. Wearing brand-new armor and a longsword at his waist, Karl strode up onto it. He swept his gaze over the dense mass of soldiers below, and towering resolve surged in his heart.
He raised his right hand high, and the entire field fell silent at once. Eighty thousand pairs of eyes fixed upon him in unison.
"Soldiers!" Karl's voice, amplified by magic, carried across the entire parade ground. "Today, we gather here for a sacred mission—march south, eradicate the demon empress, welcome back the Princess, and save the people of the realm!"
"Among you are many from the Northern Territory, as well as many migrants from the south. You have all experienced the Empress Dowager's tyranny firsthand. You all know what kind of person she is. She altered the Former King's Royal Decree, imprisoned the Princess, murdered the loyal and the good, imposed endless levies and exactions, and turned the entire Goldflower Kingdom into a foul miasma where the people could barely survive!"
"Our Northern Territory was once a land of suffering as well. The Sauron invaded our homes and slaughtered our loved ones. We rose in resistance and fought blood-soaked battles, finally reclaiming our lost lands. With our own two