However, the fortress was lost once again during the interregnum after the premature death of Theodore Svetoslav's son George II Terter in 1322. It was recovered by the new emperor Michael Shishman (r. 1323–1330) in 1324. After another brief Byzantine occupation between 1330 and 1332, it was once again in Bulgarian hands in the aftermath of the Battle of Rusokastro on 18 July 1332. In 1373, the Ottomans captured the important city of Diampolis and the surrounding fortresses including Lardea.