NOVEL WEB Chapter 266: 264
The morning mist hung low over the shattered port city of Ulstera, the once-proud jewel of Ramie's southern coast.
Now?
Smoke and ash rose from the burnt-out remains of watchtowers.
The screams of the defeated had faded into an eerie silence, as the oppressed Carthaginians sought their revenge against the Ramie citizens who had supported the invasion of their own kingdom, who had endorsed the prejudice, and hate enough to enslave their people.
Romanus banners fluttered in the coastal wind atop the walls, as the Legionaires stood idly by, watching the chaos below as the Carthaginians brought down their own brand of justice.
Red.
Gold.
Unyielding.
Serena stood atop the ruined battlements, her emerald eyes reflecting the charred remains of Ramie's coastal defences.
Behind her, the Grand Fleet loomed in the harbour, sails billowing with the winds of victory.
Thousands of Carthaginian rebels, now armed and emboldened, filled the streets—cheering, looting, and burning the estates of their former oppressors.
Her blade dripped with fresh blood.
"Ulstera falls, Emperor."
She whispered the words into the wind, hoping beyond hope he message would reach Julius and give him some simple form of comfort..
The southern flame of Romanus conquest had been lit, and Ramie was like dry tinder quickly being set ablaze.
~
Ramie Royal Capital – Throne Room
King Aled of Ramie sat slumped on his throne, his crown tilted, his robes dishevelled.
Reports flooded the marble floor before him:
Ulstera: Taken.
Malek Port: Sacked.
Southern Garrisons: Routed.
Northern Fortresses: Collapsing.
And worst of all—
Carthaginian Rebellion: Gaining Strength.
His trembling hand slammed onto the table.
"How?!"
he bellowed.
"They came from both ends! How did this… Romanus force… strike so fast?!"
No answers came.
His generals stood silent, eyes downcast.
The whispers from the court had started.
"Serena… returned."
"The exiled queen leads them."
"Romanus marches like the old Empire reborn."
Fear had come to Ramie's halls.
~
Northern Ramie
The northern invasion moved with ruthless efficiency.
The Legion commander led 20,000 Romanus legionnaires across the Parthian highlands, driving straight into the heart of Ramie, opening a wide front, from which Ramie was not prepared to take on, having started to divert forces south to meet the Carthaginian raiding forces, and even put down the uprisings that had already begun.
The fortress of Durhan, believed by Ramie to be impregnable, had already fallen—its walls were torn asunder by Romanus siege engines.
No mercy.
No hesitation.
The hammer from the north was descending quickly driving towards the anvil forming in the south.
The commander's voice carryied over the roar of marching troops.
"Onward! The southern coast burns with Romanus fire! We will crush the Ramie dogs between the flame and the iron!"
The soldiers roared back:
"For Romanus! For the King!"
~
Back in the south
Serena's coastal forces now numbered 30,000 strong.
Not just Romanus soldiers— Carthaginian rebels who had risen at her call for liberty from Ramie rule, along with Former Ramie levies, eager to switch sides for survival and a chance at a better life being touted by Serena during her impassioned speeches.
The only ones left out were Mercenaries, drawn by the promise of spoils and glory, they were not allowed to join the march, unless they operated as part of the army rather than as a mercenary band, since nothing was worse than having a force that was only loyal to the paycheck and would just as easily turn on you if offered a better price.
What began as a fleet-borne invasion had become a true liberation army.
Serena, adorned in her Carthaginian royal armor—gold-trimmed and crimson-sashed—addressed the growing force outside the reclaimed city of Malek that now lay once more in Carthaginian hands after months of occupation.
"Brothers and sisters of Carthage!"
she called.
"The Ramie tyrants took our homes, our freedom—our lives! But today, WE take it back! Under Romanus, we rise! Under MY banner, we reclaim our destiny! Today we take back our Kingdom, and our Freedom!"
The crowd erupted in cheers:
"Queen SERENA! Queen SERENA!"
But amid their chants, Serena's emerald eyes flickered with ambition—her gaze shifting northward.
Ramie's capital awaited, but it was not her prize to take.
~
Northern Stronghold of Rhyda
While Serena stirred rebellion in the south, Berta's forces crushed Ramie's northern defences hard.
Rhyda, a vital stronghold guarding the approach to the capital, fell without a fight.
How?
By using the same tactics that Visigoth had once tried to employ against Lunan before they were thwarted by Julius
Romanus leaves had infiltrated the city walls.
Supplies burned.
Commanders assassinated.
Morale shattered.
And even impersonations leading to the misrouting of reinforcements that could have possibly changed the result of the battle and allowing for Romanus to pick Ramie apart one bite at a time.
By dawn, the Romanus banners flew over Rhyda, and the Southern road to the capital lay open.
Berta reported directly through pigeon:
"Majesty. The north is ours. The Ramie capital lies less than a week's march away."
~
When Julius received the news he was pleased but not enough to break him out of the dark mood he'd dropped into.
"Good. The hammer stands ready. The anvil moves from the south. Their king will soon kneel, and Serena will have the head she needs to adorn her mantle."
~
Ramie Royal Capital
Panic now reigned in Ramie's hearts, they were getting news daily about more of the north falling to the unstoppable might of Romanus, all the while their new holdings were in deep revolt, causing them to almost completely have fallen into civil war, while looking at a map it would instead look like the kingdom was engaged in a war on two fronts and completely unprepared to fight such a war.
The southern cities were in open revolt.
The northern defences had collapsed.
The Carthaginian banners flew once more in 25% of their former kingdom.
King Aled, desperate, sent envoys begging the nearby countries for aid—promising gold, land, and oaths of loyalty.
But no reply came.
Not even one saying negotiations fell through, since the envoys never made it, having been assassinated before they could even leave the Ramie kingdom itself.
The Ramie king stared out from his balcony, watching as if he could see the fires burn across the horizon, as the northern portions of his kingdom were stolen away from his grasp by this upstart Duke who now fashioned himself as a king.
But even still he could not help but shudder, at the thought, that Romanus was coming.
~
As Serena's Liberation force continued to march almost unimpeded further south, reclaiming villages, and town.
Larger detachments started to infiltrate cities and inciting rebellion in conjunction with the liberation forces arrival leading to the gates being opened to invite the army inside to expell the foreign occupiers.
Meanwhile the systematic takeover of the north had the Ramie nobility crying tears of blood as their holdings and wealth were taken from them, while the civilians were welcoming and accepting of their new masters, since the Legion advanced with morals and honor, not harming the unarmed and even properly paying for supplies to refill rations, or giving gifts that had been looted from the nobles that clearly did not belong to them.
As such only a token garrison force needed to remain behind.
Allowing for the bulk of the legion to continue on marching day by day.
~
Carthage would be reclaimed under their own blood and sweat, what came after was up to Serena, how she would convince her people to bow down to a different foreign ruler after having only just reclaimed their nation.
Meanwhile Ramie would fall in a few more weeks, giving Romus even greater numbers and swathes of territory.
At the same time, finally the Greccian war had come to a close, The Germanians were already on their way home, while the Romanus legions had started their return and would arrive in the former Roserun ports in just a few days, allowing them to join the preparing legions that would march on Francia, as soon as Yuri's final destination was known.