News that Selan had fallen and Ironthorn was under attack from both front and rear reached Tear Knight late at night.
The Sacred Flame in the Governor's Mansion's central Assembly Hall had never gone out. Recorders responsible for Sacred Flame communications came and went, placing freshly decoded Short Codes on the long table before Shien.
Ironthorn relied on the existing Sacred Flame Echo Nodes along the Eternal Night Wall. Even after several relays, its messages were only a few hours old at most.
Selan and the Inland Kingdoms, however, still relied heavily on Alchemical Carrier Pigeons. An urgent report went from the provinces to the Holy City, where it was compiled and forwarded to Tear Knight. By the time it reached their hands, two or three days had passed.
Two or three days would not normally have been fatal, but now a city in Selan could go from discovering large numbers of patients to losing control in half a day.
So the so-called latest intelligence from the Holy City had been outdated from the start.
Shien scanned it quickly and ordered, "Notify the Tear Knight Leadership. Convene an emergency war council."
Those who died of the Red Plague underwent mutations resembling Gray Blood. That fact alone was enough to force Tear Knight to rethink and reorganize its war preparations.
Less than half an hour later, the central Assembly Hall was full again.
Raymond had come straight from the Legion barracks without even removing his outer armor.
Edwin brought the latest contamination records compiled by Sacred Affairs.
Maren sat to Shien's right, clutching three wartime ledgers.
The Tear Knight Leadership responsible for supplies, roads, transport, the Workshop, and other matters had also arrived.
Recorders distributed copies of the Ironthorn and Selan battle reports. At first, pages rustled. As everyone read on,