Angel Monarch

For hours, they talked through all the Angelic Order's defenses and fighting capabilities.

The number of regular soldiers was around five million, while the Evolved count went above three hundred thousand.

Among the Evolved, two hundred thousand held the lowest Rank, while about ninety thousand were already Ascended.

Currently, they only had a few hundred Transcended. They mostly stayed in outposts all over the other continents.

These figures represent offensive troops only. Each city-state has its own defenders, which the purposefully left out from counting.

While preparing for war, the problem everyone failed to solve arose once more… They didn't have an appropriate command structure!

It fell on Henry to find a viable solution; however, until now, he remained unsuccessful. Sadly, the looming war necessitated increased effort on his part.

During the long discussions, Henry spent most of his time working out a command structure with David's and Damien's help.

When a preliminary defense plan was ready, the command structure's framework became complete as well.

First, the main problem arose when regular soldiers stood above Evolved, commanding them. Even though both Vicky and Henry tried preaching the importance of humbleness and order, Evolved were prideful by nature.

With this in mind, only one option remained. He desperately sought to avoid it; however, time constraints and impending war forced his hands… He need to separate the regular and Evolved command structure!

Since the regular troop count vastly exceeded the Evolved soldiers, and they didn't want to be commanded by someone with less power, Henry chose this solution.

For the regular soldiers, he just used some older ranking system. 5 generals led the army, each commanding ten colonels, who in turn commanded 20 capitans, then 10 lieutenants, and finally 5 sergeants.

A pretty basic command structure, and the different war machines like tanks, APCs, or self-propelled artilleries, needed specific commanding officers.

With five million soldiers, each general had one million under their command. Their vehicle and weaponry counts were identical, giving them equal chances on the battlefield.

The Evolved soldiers didn't need such an intricate command structure, since their numbers vastly differed.

50 commanders led the army all together, each one a Transcended with commanding experience from the previous war. Vicky and her group didn't count into this 50, since their commanding power outvoted even the regular army's generals!

Their command got structured into units. Each unit consisted of 2000 troops. Below the unit, the army's structure further decreased into cohorts. An Ascended cohort leader commanded them, each comprising 20 Evolved soldiers.

Regarding Evolved, only hippogryphs presented a structural issue. Despite a dramatic increase over the last two years, sufficient quantities remained unavailable for every soldier.

Another issue came in the form of 300 Transcended. They had no commanding experience, but their fighting capabilities couldn't be ignored.

Henry decided to create a third group for these soldiers. They were outside the main command structures, and only Vicky's group could give them orders. He named them Lone Operatives, even though they worked in groups too!

By the time he finished the command structure, they had to move on to a different war council.

Since conveniently, the envoys were inside the Cathedral when the bomb threat happened, they now eagerly awaited to join the war effort.

Unlike Europe, neither continent suffered from inside conflicts, but that didn't make them weak.

Mass Gate Openings plagued entire Antarctica, until its citizens became strong enough to defeat the monsters, and establish safe havens in the form of city-states.

Antarctica had the highest Evolved count from every continent, since not many regular humans could survive the onslaught.

South America suffered from a different, and in a way much more horrible, issue… Goblins!

Many of their cities were raided, their citizens kidnapped. They might have little experience fighting humans, but most of their soldiers already killed thousands of goblins!

Before leaving to the meeting with the envoys, Henry sent out messages to each of the chosen Commanders and Generals. They each received the new command structure's template, then left everything in their capable hands.

The news of the upcoming war already reached the public, so none of the new or old leaders felt surprised.

As the army started working across Europe, Vicky, Henry, and a couple of others teleported into a lounge with a few occupants.

Kim and Astrid still stood guard, while Sam kept everyone company. Only two of the twenty-four envoys remained in the lounge.

Henry easily judged, which was the South American envoy, and not just because of the obvious difference in skin tone. The South American envoys all had a deep tan on their bodies, while the Antarcticans were white as snow.

But even if the two envoys would've been identical twins, Henry could've easily guessed their origin by their expressions.

Strangely, the Antarcticans had little exposure to goblins, so the envoy joyously enjoyed the conversation with Sam.

The South American envoy, on the other hand, possessed deep hatred towards goblins. His face showed his disgust at sharing a room with Sam. The goblin turned human.

Even after he heard Sam's story, it only ignited the spark of a pity inside his heart.

Luckily, Sam didn't take his hate seriously. He understood it more than the envoy realized.

In the past two years, everyone had gotten used to his green skin and goblin-like features, but he still carried the regret of being alive.

He would've probably already killed himself without Kim's and Vicky's support.

While looking at the young Princess, he didn't have the heart to make her sad, even if it meant suffering in this miserable green skin!

Kim was a different topic. He didn't want her to get sad either, but deep down, there was also something more when thinking about Kim... Like an aching in his heart…

He always banished these feelings, since he didn't understand them. It was similar to lust, but also much pure… Either way, as a goblin, it was in his nature to feel lust towards everyone, so he never acted upon these feelings…

Upon entering the lounge room, both envoys stood up and bowed before Vicky and Henry.

"It's nice to see you in good health, Lady Victoria! We heard the news about your kidnapping, and that awful affliction they used on you… Truly despicable!"

The Antarctican envoy sounded angry, even though she tried hiding her real emotions.

"Indeed, Lady Victoria! Glad you spared time, so we can discuss our next move… I'm Fabiano, by the way, nice to meet you both!"

Suddenly, the other envoy's light blue eyes became excited, and a small blush appeared on her pale skin.

"Oh, I forgot! My name is Inari! I'm Antarctica's representative during our upcoming discussions!"

Both Henry and Vicky nodded in acknowledgement, and together they sat before the representatives.

Damien, David, and Melinda were with them as well. David and Damien were the best war strategists the Angelic Order had, while Melinda had excellent skills managing the citizens.

When everyone made themselves comfortable around the small table, Vicky sighed and played with the raven feather, which caused so much pain for her.

"Thank you for your concern, but it's unwarranted. I was never in actual danger, but it was still an awful experience… Also, I apologize for today, even though we expected something similar to happen!"

Both Fabiano and Inari nodded in agreement. While a bomb threat during the Peacemaking Celebrations caught them off-guard, every envoy already knew something could very likely happen.

Their three continents worked well together, and by how Asia's leaders acted, whenever Melinda approached them. It was quite obvious they wouldn't take kindly to Vicky's attempt at a unified Earth.

All of them seen footages about those Masters. They were all powerful Stellar, who wanted nothing more than control over everyone.

"They already sent their official declaration of war. Their casus belli was, I quote: 'Those despicable fanatics in Europe kidnapped one of our benevolent Master's grandson! Luckily, our operatives managed to rescue him!'"

The white-haired, pale woman from Antarctica couldn't hold herself back and burst into laughter.

"Did they really use our casus belli to declare war? How brazen and vile! Their greed truly knows no bounds!"

Vicky nodded at Inari's words with a small smile, while Henry brought the conversation to the main topic.

"Their casus belli doesn't matter. For now, we should focus on our defenses! Did your city-states bring the Gate Tracking Matrix online, and are the Gateway outlines ready?"

The Gate Tracking Matrix was the name of James's and Mary's device, which tracked potential Gate Openings in advance, and it also showed any regular portal openings like the ones Vicky and Xinya uses.

Europe's coverage was incomplete given the Matrix's limited tracking range of a few hundred kilometers. But using the device would prevent any surprise attack from Asia!

The Gateway outline was a simple gigantic doorway, which would connect every city-state under the Angelic Order's control with the other continents!

With the Gateways, their armies would gain extreme mobility. In case of an attack on any city, millions of soldiers could instantly teleport to offer assistance!

Both envoys glanced at each other, then nodded at Henry's question.

"While waiting, we contacted our leaders and they should've brought everything online by now!"

At Fabiano's words, Vicky opened her mouth to speak, but suddenly her silver watch came alight with a new emergency message.

It caught Henry's attention too, and they both read the brief message. Afterward, they looked at each other, confused and full of doubt.

The envoys watched in awe, as both of the regal couple's faces changed extremely fast, while high-pitched whispering noises filled the air.

Henry enveloped them in a miniature time bubble. They engaged in an hourlong conversation while only a few seconds passed outside.

When their discussion ended, Henry turned back towards the envoys, while Vicky opened a portal and furiously typed on her holo-screen.

"Unfortunately, something urgent came up… It seems the other independent European city-states decided to have a meeting this very moment, probably about the upcoming war! We will crash this meeting, and afterward, we can discuss our options to go forward!"

Henry's words surprised both envoys, but they both understood the importance of attending that meeting.

Soon both Henry and Vicky left through the portal, leaving David, Damien, and Melinda to continue discussing their continents' defenses.