The war raged on, spreading like a cancer in all directions.


    The main camp of the Sword Army was becoming more and more desolate. Every day, new troops were leaving it to head west, where they were meant to participate in the inevitable and dreadful siege of the Crossing Strongholds. Some were being sent to garrison the new extermination outposts as the remains of the Breastbone Reach fell to the might of the King of Swords, instead...


    However, the city-like camp was not being completely abandoned — a considerable force was being left behind to guard it. After all, it was still the most important logistical hub for the Sword Army, both receiving the supply caravans climbing the left arm of the dead deity and housing the Dream Gate.


    Sunny and Nephis spent the last few blissful days together, watching the once-lively avenues of the warcamp grow silent and waiting for the order that would call her back to the frontline. Without having to say anything, they both seemed in a hurry to enjoy each other''s company while there still was time...


    The future was unclear, and there was nothing like the promise of death to make one''s heart beat faster, and make them want to voraciously relish life.


    But to their surprise, the inevitable parting never came.


    Instead, the King''s order was delivered by Saint Tyris personally. He did not simply command Nephis to return — he commanded her to bring the Ivory Island with her, intending to turn it into the cornerstone of the future siege.


    So, they released its seven anchors and started the slow journey to the Western Collarbone Plain, at the precipice of which the decisive battles of the war were going to take place.


    As they traveled across Godgrave on the flying island, blood was being spilled.


    The Sword Army was pursuing the forces of Song across the northern parts of the Breastbone Reach, engaging in frequent skirmishes and battling the spreading scarlet infestation.


    Somewhere else,the conquest expeditions were braving the darkest parts of Godgrave.


    Far in the south, Mordret and Morgan were still locked in a fratricidal battle for control over Bastion.


    The agents Song were not shy when retaliating against the government forces, seeing them as collaborators of the Sword Domain. Government Saints were defending Bastion, after all... the servants of the Queen did not go out of their way to attack the government soldiers, but did not hesitate to act against those of them who became an obstacle either.


    Which, not at all unexpectedly, only pushed the government deeper into the embrace of the Sword Domain. As a result, the forces of Song were being pushed back both in the Dream Realm and in the waking world, losing ground with each day.


    The Song compound in NQCS still stood, protecting the approach to the Dream Gate, but there were already many breaches in its scorched walls.


    Even the Awakened Academy was not spared, a section of its defensive barrier crumbling for the first time since being built decades earlier.


    It was appalling. It was utter madness.


    ...It was war.


    And as if responding to the madness of the human war, the world itself seemed to start coming undone under the pressure.


    The already rapid increase in the number of the Nightmare Gates opening across the territories held by humanity had grown even more. A flood of abominations flowed into the waking world, threatening to overwhelm its already strained defenses. More people were succumbing to the Spell,and therefore more Sleepers were losing their lives while challenging its first trial.


    The process was gradual, and the situation worsened one small step at a time. People of the modern era were well-accustomed to hardships and calamities, and distracted by the tectonic changes caused by the Great Domain War, as well. So, like a frog being boiled in the slowly heating pan, they were slow to notice that the dire reality surrounding them was dreadful even beyond the terrible norm.


    Still, even they were slowly growing aware of how much worse it was than it had ever been... with no indicator that things would eventually grow better, as they had always done before.


    In that tense and heavy atmosphere, the war in Godgrave was swiftly approaching its final stage.