A battle's aftermath was always a disturbing sight.

Victoire walked among the flooded remains of Narc's fortifications with her fellow militia members and Lord Wepwawet's spirit-wolves. The water level had lowered low enough for her to step over magmorian corpses and slain wyrms. Small, red lizardlike creatures roughly around a wererabbit's size—whom she assumed were those so-called 'kobolds'—were among the victims too, having been crushed by the dam's collapse or drowned.

Better them than us, I guess, Victoire thought. Her god's spiritual projection oversaw the devastation from above. She couldn't deny that his plan, however brutal, had worked perfectly. Without him, it would be our corpses filling these ditches.

"I've found the magic sword, milady!" Filou proudly raised a burning scimitar to the sky and nearly stumbled from the weight. The sword was longer than he was tall.

"Good," Victoire answered. "Now, let's find its wielder–"

She heard a kobold choke on the ground to her left and immediately drew her spear. The reptilian creature coughed up water, which caused Alpine to immediately check on him.

"I can save this one," Alpine informed Victoire with a hit of concern. "If I treat his wounds now."

"Have you gone mad?!" a militia member replied angrily. "He and his fellows tried to kill us all barely an hour ago! I say we should finish that bastard off while we can!"

"No, treat that one," Lord Wepwawet declared from above. "A greater foe sent those soldiers after us and I wish to investigate."

Victoire nodded in assent. "We should secure a few prisoners for questioning. Other magmorian warbands might lurk around in the region."

"Good." Alpine sighed in relief and then took the kobold into her arms. "I can't resolve myself to watch someone suffer before my eyes, even an enemy."

Howls echoed ahead, causing Victoire and the others to check on its source. Lourson and a few spirit-wolves had gone ahead to check the first fortification layer's ruins, and now surrounded a handful of wounded magmorians and kobolds who had survived the flood. Most of them could barely stand, with the former's flames threatening to fade out from water exposure and the latter having lost their slings to the torrent.

The magmorian leader—a crimson, horned stone humanoid a head taller than his fellows—was among them, struggling not to collapse with a hand pressed against his chest. He nonetheless shielded his wounded soldiers and glared threateningly at the spirit-wolves surrounding them. His eyes flickered with anger upon seeing Filou carry his sword.

"Don't even think about it," Victoire declared. Ice coated her spear the moment the thought crossed her mind. Her god's power dwelling within her empowered her weapon with winter's strength. "Your resilience is commendable, but it won't save you again if you try anything."

"You maniacs…" the magmorian leader rasped through his flaming teeth. Their glow was a pale shadow of the blaze that animated him during the battle. Surviving the water trap had come at a cost. "To flood your own home to take us out… pure madness…"

"I'll do whatever it takes to protect my followers, Jasper of Lavaland," Lord Wepwawet replied without guilt or regret. "I warned you not to fight us and gave you a chance to step away. You have no one to blame but yourself."

"Yes… yes, I see that now." The so-called Jasper lowered his head in shame. "I… I accept defeat."

Lourson squinted in skepticism, his hand gripping his hammer. "So you'll surrender?"

The magmorian nodded slowly. "All I ask in return… is that you spare my remaining men. Their only vice was loyalty, for following their foolish captain to their death."

"Chief–" one of his soldiers opened his mouth, but his superior didn't let him finish.

"Shut up. I led you to defeat, and I'll take responsibility." The magmorian leader shook his head. His kind's stone faces didn't look too expressive, but Victoire easily saw his sorrow and remorse. "Shouldn't have listened to that witch… she tricked us into a doomed fight."

"Why are you people even here?" Victoire asked. The question had bothered her for a while. "Why invade Verglane at all?"

"Because my heart burns with a flame called love," Jasper replied with genuine passion. "There's a woman I desire… a princess shaped by our Fire Sultan's own hand. I thought that if I could claim a glorious prize worthy of her, then… then my proposal would impress her."

"You attacked my followers to impress a woman?" Lord Wepwawet scoffed in disdain. "I expected a better motive than pale glory."

"There's no worthier cause than love!" Jasper retorted with a defiant glare. "I do not regret fighting in its name… only that my foolishness cost my men their lives."

"This doesn't add up," Victoire said. This magmorian might have been a foolish glory hound, but it didn't explain the broader Lavaland raids. "Your people have invaded Verglane long before Lord Wepwawet appeared to guide us. What glory can there be in attacking us?"

"Our country is over…" Jasper struggled to find the right word for a second. "Overpopulous."

"Overpopulated?" Filou corrected him.

"Yes," Jasper confirmed. "We're overpopulated, so Fire Sultan Onyx ordered us to find and seize more magma chambers. All those in Lavaland are already crowded."

"Magma chambers?" Lourson exchanged glances with the others, but not even Victoire knew anything about those. "What's that?"

"Underground pockets of lava," Lord Wepwawet replied with a pensive look. "Now that I'm checking, there's one beneath this very mountain."

"Didn't you feel the fire in your waters?" Jasper asked. "The flame stirring under the mountain, waiting to explode?"

Victoire blinked at the implications. "Montfroid Peak is a volcano?"

"A sleeping one, which won't wake up under my purview," Lord Wepwawet reassured her. "I do wonder why you choose to attack my land in particular, however. Surely there were richer and warmer countries to assault in the south."

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The magmorian leader growled at the wolf-god. "Do you think Fire Sultan Onyx is stupid? We trade with southern lands, and you don't go to war with your customers!"

"You didn't have to go to war at all!" Victoire sneered with contempt at this thoughtless brute. "You could have simply asked to settle under our mountain and we would have welcomed you… but instead of negotiating and compromising, you choose to take."

Jasper looked at her in silence. Victoire could tell he and his kind hadn't even considered a peaceful approach. They simply thought that they could walk all over Verglane by force without consequences. Violence came easy to them.

And if he spoke the truth about the magmorians' expansion… then all of Verglane would soon descend into war.

Wepwawet accepted Jasper's surrender, and the Second Raid on Narc finally came to an end.

Battle Quest: Cold Shower of Love has been completed! You've gained the Geyser Tribute Ritual!

Geyser Tribute

Rank 4 Ritual

You can cause a hundred-foot tall boiling geyser to violently erupt from any surface, inflicting medium Water and Fire damage to everyone affected. The chosen surface must have a radius of at least five feet for the Miracle to trigger.

Filou, Brave Heart has earned enough experience to rank up!

Wepwawet allowed himself a small sigh of relief at the notification before discarding a Longstrider I copy for his new Miracle. He had been wondering why the quest didn't complete upon wiping out the magmorians and feared a second wave's attack. Thankfully, the delay was simply the result of Jasper's survival. At least he didn't have to slaughter them all to complete the objective.

The new Miracle looked highly useful too, both offensively and defensively! It felt nice to obtain something stronger than Smite!

Wepwawet had his followers restrain their captives and confiscate their weapons. The magmorians' obsidian weapons paled in quality compared to metal ones and the slings would require a lot of training to be effective, but better bad equipment than none. He would also interrogate his prisoners to learn more about this 'witch' who masterminded the attack. Wepwawet would bet half his mana that she was a titan agent.

Why choose a foolhardy commander like Jasper to take him out? A wiser planner would have prepared longer, unless… unless they were unrelated to the magmorian military and Jasper had been the only catspaw available.

If they're really searching for magma chambers, then the Lavaland military is probably stretched thin across Verglane looking for them, Wepwawet thought. The region's map he examined in Thibeau's home showed that his village was far away from Lavaland's frontier. Jasper's warband was probably the only one sent so far up north for reconnaissance.

Wepwawet had been lucky that this moron was the best the titans could send after him, and hoped that his teammates fared as well as he did. Their enemies might have struck them too with better troops. He could only hope the titans either failed to locate their Idols or couldn't muster enough forces to assault them.

The magma chamber's presence made another attack on Narc inevitable, but Wepwawet's gut told him he had bought himself some time. It would take a while for Jasper's superior to learn of his defeat and even longer to muster a counterattack, if they even bothered with one. This 'General Peridot' might choose to focus on easier targets after losing a hundred men for nothing.

Wepwawet wondered if a few magmorians would be open to a peaceful solution. If they truly suffered from overpopulation and their military was stretched thin, some might be willing to serve in return for settling his mountain's magma chamber. It wasn't like he had any use for it, and a true god did not discriminate.

It would be a question for another day, however. He doubted his worshipers would easily forgive the people who tried to kill them, and all magmorians so far acted with hostile intentions. He knew too little about their culture to make that call yet.

For now, Wepwawet would focus on rebuilding the village better than before. The flood had damaged the few houses that survived the first raid besides those built on the cliffs themselves. He had always planned to rearrange Narc's layout to turn it into a fortress town and put that plan into practice soon.

First of all, Wepwawet checked if Filou could rank up in a useful class for that purpose.

Filou, Brave Heart can rank up in the Wererabbit or Squire Classes.

Wererabbit: Monster. A frail and willy rabbit whose speed and luck help them avoid danger. Strength (C), Agility (S), Vitality (E), Skill (A), Magic (D), Intelligence (C), Charisma (C), Luck (A).

Squire: Fighter. An apprentice with the potential to grow into a mighty knight one day. Strength (C), Agility (C), Vitality (C), Skill (C), Magic (C), Intelligence (C), Charisma (C), Luck (C).

Nothing that can help with construction, but interesting either way. Squire sounded like a jack-of-all-trades with potential, and Wererabbit like a class focusing on evasion. On one hand, the former might evolve into a stronger knight over time, but on the other hand, a good dodge tank could work wonders too… Should he go with a specialist or a generalist?

His father always said that a Champion served as a piece of their god's strategy. "A tool for every task!" he used to all but shout in his son's ear. "You were born to win, and mortals are born to serve!"

By contrast, Miss Athena always advocated fostering a Champion's innate talents. "There is no right or wrong path, but some mortals take longer to find their own without guidance."

Argh, too many mixed signals!

After hesitating for many, many minutes, Wepwawet figured he should just ask Filou himself. That way he would both look open to his supporters' suggestions and he wouldn't have to blame himself if he screwed up!

Wepwawet manifested his spirit next to Filou as he struggled to practice a swing with Jasper's scimitar. He tried his best to play it cool, but only managed to look clumsily cute.

"Filou!" Wepwawet said, causing the easily startled wererabbit to nearly fall onto his back in surprise. "You have performed well today, and I shall bless you with greater power for your valor."

"Lord Wepwawet?" Filou hastily planted the scimitar in the muddy earth to better kneel. "I'm… I'm honored by this gift, though I do not think I excelled today…"

"Nonsense. I've watched your deeds in battle, and you did not falter once when facing the enemy." The frost boost Wepwawet empowered him with certainly helped, but the young wererabbit had shown great courage nonetheless. "Two paths await ahead of you: the path of the beast, and that of the knight. Which one would you rather take?"

Filou pondered his question for a moment, then nodded to himself. "All I seek is to be a good squire to Milady and serve her to the best of my abilities, Lord Wepwawet."

Squire it was then! Wepwawet imbued Filou with his mana and a knight's radiance.

Filou has ranked up in Squire! +3 STR, +3 AGI, +3 VIT, +3 SKI, +3 MAG, +3 INT, +3 CHA, +3 LCK! He gained the Warrior Student I Perk!

Warrior Student I: All melee Weapon Artifacts equipped inflict +1 Damage.

Same gains all across the board, Wepwawet observed. Since Filou's innate perk grants him an additional stat on each rank-up, then C in a stat brings two points.

This confirmed Wepwawet's assessment that each letter added a certain amount of points to a given stat. By that logic, E brought no stat point, D brought one, C two, and so on until S, which should grant a maximum of five; assuming there was no higher-ranking letter to be found.

"I feel so much stronger already, my lord," Filou said upon grabbing the scimitar. His newfound strength points gains let him shoulder the weapon's weight more easily, and his Perk helped him swing it with much greater skill. "I swear that I shall not disappoint you!"

"I know you won't," Wepwawet reassured him, before his attention drifted elsewhere. He had sensed many new presences at the edge of his Influence.

He turned his gaze east and saw a large group approaching from that direction. Wepwawet relaxed a bit; instead of another magmorian attack, he counted dozens of werelings, mostly werewolves, and even a handful of humans. A familiar werecat was at their helm, pointing a paw at his statue overlooking the region.

Mistouffe had brought him new worshipers.

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