Events similar to those in Lamask Province and Merinda Province continued to unfold, one after another, across the provinces of the former Candel Empire.
Some went smoothly, while others did not.
But whether things went smoothly or not, the situation was gradually changing all the same.
The Malo Empire, which had occupied Wimbledon City for several months, naturally sensed these subtle changes as well.
If it had only been unrest among local powers that had once belonged to the Candel Empire, the Malo Empire would not have worried in the slightest.
But now that the Xinfei Merchant Guild was involved, even the Malo Empire, which had defeated the Candel Empire and seemed poised to dominate the entire Sains Continent, had to grow wary.
Yet the first to actually make a move was not the Xinfei Merchant Guild, but the Lampari Kingdom.
The winter of Continent Calendar year 3830 had barely passed when the Lampari Kingdom brazenly sent troops into Kamal Province, a province of the former Candel Empire that bordered the kingdom.
The Lampari Kingdom publicly claimed that it was protecting its citizens within the Candel Empire.
Yet after entering Kamal Province, the Lampari Kingdom's army immediately clashed with local armed forces and the Malo Empire's troops stationed there, engaging in fierce exchanges of fire.
The Lampari Kingdom had clearly prepared thoroughly and sent elite troops, while the Malo Empire was caught completely off guard. Its forces collapsed at the first clash.
Within just one week, a vast stretch of more than five hundred square kilometers in western Kamal Province fell entirely under the Lampari Kingdom's control, including one of the province's most important magic industry cities.
The Malo Empire reacted swiftly.
Half a month later, the Malo Empire publicly demanded that the Lampari Kingdom's army withdraw from Kamal Province