The Witcher: Lord of the Empire

February 12th: Nilfgaard's cavalry occupied the Angren Forest region in northern Lyria, taking Fort Scala and Fort Spalla.

February 15th: All of Lyria fell. One-third of Rivia was surrounded and occupied. Queen Meve retreated north. Meanwhile, Major General Markus Braibant, commander of the Nausicaä Division, began regrouping surviving troops within Rivia.

That same day, one of the Four Great Northern Kingdoms—Kaedwen—suddenly struck. King Henselt, leading his Brown Banner Regiment of light cavalry, crossed the Pontar River and seized the opportunity to invade Aedirn from the north.

February 16th: Upon receiving the news, King Demavend of Aedirn flew into a rage. He immediately redirected 3,000 light cavalry to defend northern Aedirn and ordered the Central Army stationed at Vengerberg to march north to resist Kaedwen. As a result, Aedirn's forces within the southern coalition were drastically weakened.

February 19th: Queen Meve regrouped and launched another offensive, joining Demavend's coalition in a pitched battle against the Nilfgaardians at Aldersberg in Aedirn. The Nausicaä Division, 7th Daerlanian Cavalry Brigade, and Black Infantry Regiment, totaling 17,000 troops, easily crushed the northern coalition forces.

That very same day, King Henselt led the Brown Banner Regiment across the Dyfne River, seizing the town of Gulet in Aedirn.

"That bastard Henselt! That heirless mongrel! What the hell is he doing jumping into this mess now of all times!?"

Lann snapped.

With a sudden, furious blow, he slammed his fist down on the table—crack!—the wood shattered clean in two under the sheer force.

The situation on the Eastern Front had rapidly deteriorated. The Black Army had made an utterly unexpected strategic move, and just when neighboring Aedirn was in trouble, Henselt stabbed them in the back with precision timing.

It was a move so astonishing it left everyone stunned.

And yet, everyone was certain—Henselt hadn't made some secret pact with Nilfgaard. This was simply the impulsive whim of a man whose mind was clearly not right.

Precisely because of that, it made everyone all the more furious—but they had nowhere to vent their rage.

Even Mousesack was swearing furiously alongside Lann. "That plague-ridden, cholera-soaked swine!"

But there was an even more pressing matter at hand.

Radcliffe, having been guided at Brokilon Town, used teleportation to reach Fort Ortagor, where he found Lann and urgently pleaded for help. In that moment, he looked like a dog with nowhere to run, crying out to Lann in desperation: "Duke Lannister, please—you must send reinforcements!"

"If it comes to it... if it comes to that... then please go yourself. Just once more, use that same power you wielded against the Eastern Army back in Rivia…"

Mousesack and Vissegerd both frowned at Aedirn's royal advisor, then turned their gazes toward Lann.

Ciri, clearly anxious, clutched tightly at Lann's cloak.

Lann took a deep breath to calm himself, then offered reassurance to the Aedirnian envoy: "Don't worry, Lord Radcliffe. Cintra will never abandon Aedirn or Queen Meve—our most steadfast allies."

"But as you've seen, we've just finished a major battle. That victory allows Cintra to move forward with the next phase of the plan without worrying about threats from behind—but it also means we need a bit of time to recover."

"I have to consult with my commanders and lay out our next operational strategy before I can make a decision."

Lann promised firmly, "At the latest, I'll give my answer tomorrow. Rest assured—there will be reinforcements. At the very least, I'll go myself."

Radcliffe let out a long sigh of relief and, guided by an attendant, stepped aside to rest for the moment.

Turning back, Lann's expression grew serious. He turned to the elder druid at his side and said, "Uncle Mousesack, I'll have to trouble you again. Please gather everyone—Master Fritjof, Yennefer, Triss—bring them together."

"We need to hold an emergency meeting."

...

For the sake of mobility, every major commander carried a magical item that served as a locator. With the help of portal mages, everyone quickly assembled before Lann.

Once they were briefed on the situation on the Eastern Front, all of their expressions mirrored Lann's—some even reacted with the exact same kind of outraged outburst he had shown earlier.

"Is the Nilfgaardian army really that strong?" asked Commander Adam of the Free Company, frowning in doubt. Since joining Cintra, he had only experienced victories. "Or… are the kings and queens in the East just terrible at warfare?"

"They have no dragons and no Lann. You can see the true strength of Nilfgaard simply by the disparity in equipment," said Eist coldly, casting a sideways glance at Adam. "I expected you to have a more realistic understanding of the enemy."

Adam immediately fell silent. He knew this man was not only the King of Skellige, but also a former King of Cintra—someone even Duke Lannister, the highest-ranking official present, treated with deep respect.

Eist quickly turned back to Lann. "Lann, Demavend and Meve—those two are allies we must save."

Lann took a deep breath. "I know."

He looked down at the sandbox map before him. "The Nilfgaardians are masters of sustaining war through war. After taking Lyria, the Central Army won't have to worry about logistics anymore. The advantage we gained by destroying the Western Army and cutting off their retreat was mostly erased in an instant. And let's not forget—Aedirn is a major agricultural nation. If Nilfgaard's cavalry continues north and takes Aedirn, they won't even need to haul supplies from Nilfgaard anymore—they could feed the southern front from the north instead."

"On top of that, if they fully secure the banks of the Yaruga River, they'll be free to rebuild the bridge and gain a new, safer route north. At that point, Cintra would lose its role as the 'gateway to the North'—our strategic value would drop drastically. We could end up getting squeezed from both the south and east at the same time. The situation around us would become very dangerous."

Lann rubbed his forehead, clearly feeling the pressure. "That's why I have to head to the Eastern Front."

Colonel Barclay from Mahakam furrowed his brow. "How could such a vital strategic passage not be heavily guarded? Why is it that the Nilfgaardians manage to break through so easily every time?"

Mousesack let out a bitter laugh. "Because the so-called 'great powers' don't want to deal with troublesome frontlines. They prefer to lounge in the rear and enjoy their decadent lifestyles."

Barclay shook his head and muttered something under his breath.

But this wasn't the time for lamentation. Eist turned back to Lann and asked again, "So—what's your plan?"

Lann stared at the map in silence for a few moments. "Nilfgaard is strict in its military hierarchy. Marshal Menno would never leave the central front without orders. This must be an order from Emperor Emhyr himself."

"But here's the good news: while their surprise attack caught us off guard, our lightning-fast defeat of the Western Army also caught them by surprise. The battle reports haven't reached them yet. The fact that Nilfgaard is spreading its forces like this... might be our chance to move up the timeline and force an early showdown."

His mind spun rapidly through possible strategies—and within seconds, a battle plan was already taking shape in Lann's mind.

"I'm certain Emhyr has already taken countermeasures against me. If he still dares to make such bold deployments, despite knowing what I did to the Eastern Army, it means he's prepared for the possibility that I might try to repeat my tactic of 'slaying commanders and seizing banners'—he might even have a plan specifically designed to deal with me."

"Cavalry units are also different in nature from the Black Infantry Regiment. It's going to be much harder to achieve the kind of one-sided victory we pulled off last time."

"However," Lann added, "their knowledge of my Elder Blood is still incomplete, so I still have room to maneuver."

"To be safe, I'll be bringing both dragons with me when I head east."

"If necessary," Mousesack added, "you could also bring the ice giant, and other members of the Lion Pride. There are also the trolls, the succubus, and berserkers like Bill. You should be able to summon druids like us or witchers as well."

"I will," Lann nodded. Given the ragtag remnants left on the Eastern Front, it would take these high-level combat units just to stabilize the situation.

"We still need to continue wiping out the scattered enemy forces," Lann continued, "but we can't spare too many troops. That task will have to fall to the forest guerrillas led by you, Letho."

Lann was confident that the guerrilla squads led by a witcher could easily handle the small bands of Nilfgaardian stragglers.

Marshal Vissegerd also spoke up, solemnly assuring him, "Don't worry, Lann. We've fought hard for everything we've achieved to reach this point... I absolutely won't let Nilfgaard ruin it all now."

Lann gave the marshal a slight nod, then turned to Eist.

"Uncle Eist, you'll remain with the fleet on the Yaruga River. Your mobility is unmatched. If the Eastern Front ends up needing reinforcement, our naval forces may be my only hope."

Eist clapped a hand on Lann's shoulder. "Take care of yourself. I'll be keeping an eye on you."

"Colonel Barclay," Lann continued, "the Mahakaman Volunteer Corps won't need to head to Cintra anymore. Station yourselves directly at Lower Sodden—you may be called upon very soon."

Lastly, Lann turned to Ciri.

"Another great battle is coming. Ciri, you must return to Brokilon Town. You are the most important person we have. And I have a bad feeling… After all, Nilfgaard has its own sorcerer corps. I'm worried they'll try to imitate our rear-line surprise tactics. Now that our forces are spread so thin, Brokilon's defenses have become too weak."

"I'll leave Iris behind to protect you in town. No matter what happens, I won't allow her to be teleported away."

Then Lann turned to Coën. "I'll have to trouble you as well—lead the town's guerrilla forces and garrison Brokilon. Protect Ciri."

The knightly witcher of the Griffin School gave a solemn nod. "Leave it to me."

---

I will post some extra Chapters in Patreon, you can check it out. >> patreon.com/TitoVillar

---