After the allied forces of the Rulson Kingdom and the Xinfei Merchant Guild breached Saint Antonis City, almost everyone thought they would press their advantage, advancing all the way to Wimbledon City as they had when overrunning those provinces of the Candel Empire, then try to take Wimbledon City in one fell swoop as well.
Wimbledon City was the Candel Empire's capital, after all. If it fell too, the blow to the entire empire would naturally be devastating-enough, even, to declare that the Candel Empire was on the verge of destruction.
Yet the Rulson-Xinfei Allied Forces defied everyone's expectations. At that moment, they chose to stand down and halt their advance, actually entering into formal peace talks with the Candel Empire.
Ever since the Two Great Empires had fallen out with the Xinfei Merchant Guild the previous year, the entire continent had been in turmoil. Now, the Xinfei Merchant Guild's sudden decision to negotiate with the Candel Empire unexpectedly brought the whole continent a rare stretch of peace.
The entire continent turned its attention to these peace talks.
Whatever the outcome, everyone was certain it would shape the situation across the continent in the days to come.
If the talks succeeded, the Candel Empire would clearly have to pay a painful price to persuade the Xinfei Merchant Guild and the Rulson Kingdom to stop.
Just how painful that price would be, and exactly what it would entail, would determine the attitudes and strategies many nations and factions adopted toward the Candel Empire and the Xinfei Merchant Guild afterward.
If the talks failed and fighting resumed, everything would depend on whether the Rulson-Xinfei Allied Forces could truly capture Wimbledon City and push the Candel Empire to the brink of destruction.
Although the Rulson-Xinfei Allied Forces had proved unstoppable in their earlier