A single path wound its way through the deserted plain full of meadows and fields towards the forest and the snow-capped mountains beyond.

This was the plain of Rizar on the outer border of the Kingdom of Rujain.

The withered ears of corn in the fields trembled under the march of hundreds of riflemen with bayonets and muskets, followed by the banner bearers. Branches broke under the heavily armoured knights in shining armour, whose shields bore the emblem of their beloved kingdom.

Fields into which sweat and years of labour had been invested were trampled by gigantic, armoured war golems, born solely for battle.

But even the war golems stood in the shadow of the ten-metre-tall iron giants marching behind them, the Cathéides. These were constructs in the form of giant knights, steered by a helmsman.

They were all on their way to battle when a Cathéide raised his hand and the army came to a halt. The banners bearing the symbol of the Seventh Army fluttered in the wind as everyone looked uncertainly into the distance.

Nervousness spread among the foot soldiers. Very few of them wore leather armour, let alone iron armour, as most knights did. On closer inspection, they were simple peasants who looked as if they had just been working in the fields.

In contrast, there were the knights in their shining armour and the musketeers in their uniforms in the rear ranks of the formation, aswell as the Ridire, simpler versions of the Cathéides.

The formidable formation of twenty thousand men stood in the middle of the meadow and stared into the distance.

‘Look!’ reported one of the commanders standing next to the mighty Cathéides in the middle of the formation, pointing his finger at the sky.

A shadow could be seen in the clouds, growing larger and larger before finally breaking through. A huge airship tore the cloud apart as it descended further and further. The sight of the airship took many people's breath away. Its shape was vaguely reminiscent of a bird, but it was difficult to make out from a distance. Suddenly, three flashes of light sparkled on the airship.

‘Mages!’ one of the generals cried out in panic as a projectile narrowly missed the left flank of the army. Instead, it struck the nearby forest and set it ablaze.

A moment later, two more projectiles followed, hitting the army directly. The first struck the centre, the second the right flank. The first projectile bounced off a magical barrier that allowed the flames to pass over. The second projectile also hit a barrier, but the barrier didn’t protect the entire right flank, so a part of it went up in flames.

Most of the men were burned instantly; those unfortunate enough to be standing at the edge of the barrier were seriously injured or now burning themselves. The men screamed in panic and reached out for help to those who had been lucky enough not to be hit or who were standing under the protection of the barrier. The soldiers standing directly at the edge of the barrier began to panic. Death by fire was so close that the formation began to break down. Most ran away from their burning comrades, others struck them down in a mixture of self-defence and mercy.

‘Dragon fire!’ cried one of the men in panic as one of the burning soldiers collapsed and died.

‘Hold the formation!’ shouted the general on the right flank in his Cathéides, while his officers tried to bring order to the formation. Our mages would be powerless against a dragon attack... thought the general, when the sound of a horn caught his attention.

‘They're coming!’ shouted a scout riding towards them with a horn in his hand.

‘Already?’ wondered the general on the left flank. The airship was still several hours away and over a thousand feet in the air. Then he saw something flying around in the air, and with every moment that passed, it grew larger.

‘We're under attack!’ shouted the general in the middle of the formation. ‘Get ready!’

Two objects shot towards the army. Panic spread, and everyone began to prepare for battle. The musketeers aimed their weapons into the distance, unsure of what was coming their way. The golems moved forward to intercept the targets, and the Ridire readied their swords and shields. The soldiers stretched their lances out in front of them, and the mages began to prepare spells as a precaution.

The crowd was still in the midst of preparations when the two objects appeared before them. The darker of the two shot straight into the right flank and destroyed a golem with a sword stroke. Before it felled another Ridire with the same blow, which fell to the side in two pieces. Meanwhile, the golem crashed into the surrounding soldiers like a stone wall.

As quickly as it had appeared, the darker of the two objects disappeared again. But not before it had torn a huge swath through the right flank.

‘Form up!’ the general of the right flank shouted to his troops when he saw the other object.

It stood directly in front of the army: a massive structure vaguely reminiscent of a Cathéides, but towering far above it. The shape of the white monster was also unlike anything the soldiers had ever seen before. The strange structure pulsated with energy, and the material appeared to have not a single weld. A sword larger than the regular Ridire hung from the colossus's hip, and in its hand it carried a purple banner bearing the image of a black raven with swords.

‘The traitor of Avalon...’ looked the general at the banner.

The construct stood before the army, making no move to attack. The bombardment of the airship and the attack by the darker construct had broken most of the fighting spirit.

‘Surrender!’ echoed a voice to the farthest corners of the army. ‘We do not want unnecessary bloodshed. Surrender, and we will welcome you to Neo Avalon.’

A murmur went through the crowd. The ordinary soldiers were unsure what to do. Joining Neo Avalon was tantamount to desertion, although many of the peasants did not care under whose rule they served.

But the general in his Cathéides dispelled their uncertainties instantly.

‘We appreciate your offer, but we must decline.’ Disappointed, the first soldiers lowered their weapons. ‘We are proud soldiers of the Kingdom of Rujain. We do not submit to conquerors from distant worlds!’

‘I understand.’ It seemed as if the construct wanted to turn away.

‘However, I cannot simply let you go!’ cried the general in his Cathéides, marching towards the construct. ‘As a general and soldier of the king, I must challenge you.’ He drew his three-metre-long sword from its sheath.

The construct stuck the flag into the ground and turned to face the general.

‘I accept the challenge.’ The construct also drew its sword, which was twice as long as the general's.

The two colossi stood facing each other.

The soldiers and knights had cleared a large area so as not to be accidentally trampled by the two opponents, and watched the duel with bated breath.

The battle already seemed lost for the men. They had seen the power of the darker construct, which hovered menacingly above them and also seemed to be watching the duel. In the distance, the airship was getting closer and closer, and the general's mighty Cathéides looked like a toy compared to his opponent's construct.

For a few moments, they stood motionless facing each other, then the general made the first move. With all the power of his Cathéides, he swung his blade at the construct, aiming for the thin connecting piece between its upper body and pelvis.

But the construct blocked the attack with its blade. The counterattack was so strong that the general's sword was thrown back and the Cathéides began to stagger. He regained his balance, only to see the blade rushing towards him. With difficulty, he managed to get his blade between himself and the sword before the impact threw him backwards again.

I mustn't get defensive! The general prepared to launch his next attack. Once again, he swung his blade, but once again it was blocked. He tried again and again to land a blow, but each time he was repelled.

This cannot be... He struck again. But before his blade could reach the construct's body, the construct's blade shattered his sword. Not only that, but the blade's reach was so great that it severed his sword, his forearm, and his shoulder at the same time.

The Cathéides fell, his right arm hit to the ground in two pieces along with the splinters of his sword.

The Cathéides tried to get up as the general saw the construct's blade in front of his machine's head.

‘You have lost,’ the construct's voice boomed over him.

‘So it seems...’ said the general, opening the chest area of hos cathéides to climb out. He jumped to the ground in front of his defeated machine and knelt before the construct.

‘I beg you, spare my man.’ He looked down at the ground. The shadow of the airship was already over him.

‘We are not here to shed blood unnecessarily,’ the construct replied. The general looked up hopefully. ‘All of you,’ the construct turned to the soldiers. ‘Whoever lays down his arms, no harm shall come to them!’

‘I am indebted to you.’ The general, who was still on his knees, replied.

On the right flank, things looked different. Although they had lost some soldiers, a ridire and a golem, the general had managed to regroup his troops in the course of the duel. Now he sensed his chance.

‘General Robinson has betrayed us!’ he cried out. ‘For the glory of Rujain!’ he gave the order to attack, and the right flank marched forward.

They all rushed towards the white construct. Was it national pride or fear that drove the soldiers? Some had already lost loved ones in the fight with Neo-Avalon, others feared oppression by new rulers, and still others feared the consequences of disobeying orders. The Musketeers were the first to open fire, followed by the mages, who fired fireballs and arcane projectiles at it.

But the projectiles bounced off a barrier. Each hit seemed to set off waves on the barrier that slid over them before disappearing. No matter how many attacks hit the barrier of the construct – they did not penetrate.

The ridires and golems advanced on the construct when a huge, dark blue cathéides slammed down on one of the ridires from above. He rammed his blade into its arm, before both slammed into the ground.

The blue Cathéides rose above the ruined Ridire. It was similar to those of the generals, but was much more elaborately processed. In terms of size, it also towered over that of the generals, although not that of the construct. His shiny, dark blue armor was reminiscent of a classic knight's armor, with the shoulder blades in the colors of the banner of Neo-Avalon.

The golems immediately attacked the new Cathéides, but he felled them with simple sword strokes. In panic, the surrounding soldiers fled, unable to do anything against the colossal Cathéides with their picks and swords.

To make matters worse, this was not the only one.

‘Enemy reinforcements!’ shouted one of the officers. Everyone looked up at the sky, where the airship hovered above them, from which more Cathéides jumped out.

With each landing, they smashed soldiers. The ground shook and swayed entire formations. It was not a moment before one of the Cathéides struck down one of the advancing ridires. The right flank began to disintegrate, while the airship dropped more troops. Among them were some Iron Knight units, which were significantly smaller than Neo Avalon's other Cathéides, but just as large as the Generals' Cathéides.

‘Behind me!’ shouted the voice from the white construct. The general immediately rushed behind the construct and called his soldiers to him.

Everyone who heard the general's voice left everything behind and ran to him behind the white construct that protected them from the magicians and musket shooters. However, the shelling had dissipated with the arrival of reinforcements. The mages were busy with the mighty Iron Knights, the Ridire of Neo-Avalon. Their legs alone terrified the soldiers.

In the meantime, soldiers of Neo-Avalon had also arrived on the battlefield. Each of them wore elaborate armor. Several soldiers rushed towards one of the Neo-Avalon soldiers. But their lances shattered against his armor before he overcame the distance to them and slaughtered them with his sword. Another soldier towered over rujain's troops and knocked down several soldiers with his warhammer.

‘Hold formation!’ shouted the general on the right flank as he watched his troops break apart and flee in all directions.

‘Stand firm!’ he shouted as the darker of the two constructs appeared in front of him. Several ridires who stood by his side and golems rushed towards the intruder, but he struck them down with a single sword blow.

Now the general realized his mistake. Cold sweat ran down his forehead as the colossus slowly ran towards him.

‘Wait!’ his voice rang out from the Cathéides, but it couldn't get past the roar of the battlefield. In the next moment, the blade of the construct fell on the general and his Cathéides.

…

‘My king!’ cried a messenger and hurried into the throne room, where the king sat on a throne surrounded by advisors and examined a huge map at his feet.

‘What is it?

‘My lord, the Seventh Army has fallen.’

‘What!? Cursed be you, Neo-Avalon!’ it shot out of the king completely suddenly. He slammed his fist on the back of the throne. Meanwhile, the advisors rearranged the figures that were placed on the map and discussed with each other. The desperation was clearly visible to everyone in the throne room.

…

A group of children between the ages of eight and fifteen stood on the edge of the village square of Asiras, which lay on the border of the kingdom. The village, surrounded by palisades, consisted of almost 20 wooden houses. In front of the palisades stretched withered fields, and a path led into the nearby mountains.

‘Did you hear. The kingdom has been defeated.’ one boy told the group.

‘What?!’

‘When?’

‘The Battle of Ertian Pass.’ He explained further.

‘They lost?’ another child startled.

‘How do you know that?’ asked an older girl.

‘My mother heard it from my uncle!’ he defended himself.

‘I heard the rumor too.’

‘It won't be long before we are one of them,’ said another boy depressedly.

‘The pass is not far from here...’

‘Damn!’

Hopefully father is well...’ a girl said to herself, lost in thought, and the conversation stopped.

The village was deserted. Despite the late hour, hardly anyone was on the road. Normally, the fathers would return from the fields and the mine, but not recently.

All men aged 16 and over who were fit for military service had been drafted, so that only the old, women and children remained in the village.

Even the guards who usually stayed behind to protect the village had been withdrawn.