Divinity form and Divinity died, reformed, died again. Reformed again. A God could die, a Goddess may perish, but they would e back. you old, evolved yet unged, new homes built on a foundations. Some creatures though refused to pass on, whether due to themselves or because of bindings. Neneria’s Legion was ohere were others.

  And in the middle of Arika’s Jungle, lifeless apart from itself, in a pit surrounded by teeth, one chipped. A lion roared, a snake slithered on the ground, a vulture spread its wings. A crocodile crawled out of the water. Small still, but they had plenty to grow on.

  After all, a Divine could bring sod silence, could put hearts at rest, could stop an immi danger. But nothing could defeat humanity’s stro instinct from outside. Terror within could only be defeated by oneself.

  Kassandora stood, arms crossed, Joyeuse on her back, suit and coat and ash-caked boots on her, as the behemoth of a tank underh slowly truhrough the streets of Nanbasa. Sokolowski would take the southern half of the ring-city, Zalewski the northern parts. Both men would then push east, towards the docks as they secured the most important buildings. Her owion, posed of the First and Sed Armoured, was on the western part.

  So they drove through the tall buildings of Nanbasa’s goveral se. In the very western part of the ring, furthest from the o, overlooking the rest of the city. A steel snake, each of its scale a heavily armoured tank as they drove side by side and filled the whole four-ne highway. They had seen a few battles he end of the war, but the war was over by then. Kassandora had read Zalewski’s report ohe man had little to pin about, but he himself admitted that there was little practical testing that he could have doh so few es.

  Range was good, both for the gun and for fuel. Armour was fine, but they came across no mages. Firepower table, but all that was left to shoot at had been reserve squads of Padins that were c Maisara’s retreat. But they were rger than Binturongs, sleeker, more angur, the turret not situated at the back but in the tre. With a ade direct fire rather than artillery support and a mae guo it to not waste shells on men, a predator built for precision. Kassandora had little to ent on them, apart from the he stupid animal scheme had stuck, this model was called the Lynx.

  She stood on that turret of the Lynx as poli front of her pushed men away. Crowds had formed, although that was only natural. This was the first public trial of a Divine... well, ever. Even the White Pantheon would has disputes internally. It would be a spectacle too moal to miss. Only a human could think up of such stupidity as to put a Divine on trial, and the Goddess of War at that. At least against some minor iion, they’d have a ce. The crowds swelled arouhey had been already waiting by the time she crossed the horizon. Now that she was here, only more showed up. And it wasn’t for the parade she had brought, it was for her.

  The line of police officers, all suited up in riot gear, slowly worked pushed the people back. It was why she stood atop the Lynx, to make sure that everyone could get a good few of Kirinyaa’s hero. Kassandora was already te for her own court, but did that matter? What could they even do at this point? She had twenty thousand men iy now. The Sun was rising ahead of her, the end of the highway was marked with a grand pilr to represent the unmoving will of the Kirinyaan people against the Ju had only beeed two months ago.

  And behind it y Kirinyaa’s grand court. The highest judicial institution in the try, a sorry lot who did little but squabble between themselves and turn their nose up at politics. One provision of Pantheon Peace was to not eveion war, so there were ions or ws regarding how men could be scripted, about the limitations of an army, about anything regarding Kassandora. With nothing to bihere was nothing to worry about. The Pantheon’s invasion had put any attempts at limiting the military on hold, and Helenna had done a good job at killing any bill that could even hint at imposing barriers on them.

  Even now, Kassandora wasn’t worried. She felt the eyes of the crowd on her and eyed them iurn. To say she could find a man without a green armband on their sleeve would be a lie. The only people without them were the polid that was because they had it forbidden from them. And even with a show of allegiance forbidden, it was obvious that they shared the crowd’s mihey pushed lethargically, as if they were pushing their own families. Someoarted ting her he crowd soon caught on.

  And the drums in her mind started to py to the beat with a steady beat. Kassandora k well already, it alyed when history started to marwards. They beat as the masses slowly parted, her own soldiers moved to fill in the sides and keep Nanbasa’s highway to the west clear. They beat as police slowly pushed that flood of people back. The asphalt of the road, the heavy tiles of the pavement weren’t even visible through that mass, every jun, every break in the buildings revealed more people. They watched from the ground, they watched from balies, from windows, from rooftops of homes and skyscrapers. Helicopters flew overheard, as did KAF pnes higher still, they slowly circled Nanbasa, trag its ring in the air above them. The former to make her a spectacle, the tter to cast shadows that from above as a reminder.

  Kassandora said nothing. She did not deign to wave. Would not lower herself to aowledge the t. The military had been instituted as an apolitical entity. That would remain true, the military was loyal to Kirinyaa, until it became Kirinyaa. Her eyes sed the side streets fns of ter-protest, it was holy disappointing no one showed up. Arascus had told her Mwai’s popurity was crumbling, that she was only s with the tinued success of the Recmation War. That even he had been struggling to find people to put brave faces and decry her. But she still read his articles and watched Mwai’s speeches. Cameras really could ge reality like that.

  Her troops must have noticed it too. The journey here had been dour and silent, with barely a word exged. Men had ridden slumped over in the backs of trucks, their heads low, a few had even cried. No one reprimahem for it. It wasn’t just the rank and file either, oeam of officers had even e to Kassandora and told her the situation ft out: they did not care if she was guilty. They would draons if she told them to.

  But no ons o be drawn. Men were walking straight-backed with the fidenly a pleasant surprise could give. The drums started to py louder as Kassandora’s Lynx he steps of the grand court. The police had already formed a liwo men thick at the base of those steps, although the flood of masses around them was orderly. They simply stood, stood and ted.

  The troops who were clearing a path for Kassandora pushed onwards as Kassandora’s Lynx stopped before the tral square. That huge pilr cast its shadow straight at them. Kassandora merely stood on it, hers arms dropped to her side, the ting died down. Maybe they thought she was going to give a speech. Give them the and to seize power. She looked over at the people again.

  Frankly, there was troops. She had do because it was her. Because she alrepared for the worst case sario. The pn was going to work even if the ey had to be razed to the ground. Yet now she looked at those sorry eyes.

  And she watched them retreat. It wasn’t fear. It wasn’t devotion. It wasn’t awe or love or lust or anything else she would have expected. It was shame. And Kassandora stood there as the crowd gave olice moved to clear the entire pza. Bouquets of flowers were left behind as if they were some apology. Some attempt at fiveness from her, that even though she had made the try stand once against the dreaded Juand again against the Pantheon, and stand a third time with her victory, this is how the situation was ending.

  Kassandora stood there, on top of that Lynx, and tained her smile. There was nothing to smile about in a situation like this of course. She was going to be tried as a traitainst the nation she was serving. But the smile was a battering trying to breach her defehese people were already an excellent fighting force. Kassandora’s success guaraheir loyalty. But now their shame, her seeming acceptance of that shame. The judgement, the trial that everyone knew was only Mwai’s attempt at her removal, was simply a terrible move. Too early, the high of victory had not worn off yet, nor were victories in this nd so plentiful that men could build up discipliolerance.

  That shame was fuel to add to the fires of loyalty. The cure to it, their redemption in her eyes, would turn it into a bohat bzed with the infernos of fanaticism. Arascus had pyed the eion like a damn fiddle. And it sang an ever so beautifully whimsical tune. A melody that pyed over the orchestra in her head. It didn’t promise a renewal, no, that was too little. This wasn’t merely repg the furniture, repg the cracked windows iving the home a new yer of paint. The entire building would be torn down, the foundations themselves would be rebuilt. And the Divines in Kirinyaa would make sure those foundations would be used to sure up a fortress.

  Kassandora added more reinforts to the gate as she took a step off the Lynx’s turret and onto its chassis. More barriers were added to that defence as she touched the ground. She took the first step. Helenna’s team was ready, they would be waiting inside. Kassandora wished the proceedings could start without her frankly. She would do it of course, she did everything. She managed logistics, she made the strategies, she worked with politis, she taught men. And wheime called for it, she pyed the fool.

  Kassandora walked out of that shadow as the Sun above made it ways way over the grand court. She sometimes grew paranoid thoughts that Alkom could see through the Sun. That wasn’t true of course, the fear had beeed several times already. He could not. But today, just once, she wished he could watch. That he could stao Fortia and Maisara and Zerus and Sceo ahem all. Tell them of her victory, how final, how overp, how annihiting it was. She slowly crossed the pza as people watched.

  Oep. Two. Ten. All one hueps exactly. This building had been designed by Maisara no doubt, only she would be so fickle as to make the number so specific. Kassandora killed her smile again. She should give a speech, shouldn’t she? Arascus said not to, that rallying the popution for her could and would only give credeo Mwai’s entire scheme. She stopped, looked up at the building, and turned around o time.

  Arascus was correct, but it was simply a matter of personal pride. Before the Pantheon Invasion, she could have do, but not now. During the Great War, when Legions were sent off on suicidal orders, they all received a speech too. And she wouldn’t take long. Arascus was correct, she shouldn’t give them a speech, but she simply could not leave them in silence. “Whatever happens.” Kassandora cried out. “Know that I have served Kirinyaa to the best of my ability. I hope you will let me serve you until the future.” She pulled a salute.

  Her army saluted with her. The entire army did, the men in the green who had just e from the west, the riot police, those in the clothing of civilians, they all pulled a salute. Kassandora turned and looked up at that scorg Sun as it crawled over the roof of the grand court. It better be looking down on her, because be carving this day into its memory. Battles were won or lost before they were started and now, as she could practically feel the adoration flood over her. The whole world better remember this day.

  Because when it woke up tomorrow, Kirinyaa would not be here.