Arhaven (Normal)

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*The resistance commander has intel on most of the imperial army's organization, which will greatly accelerate your operations. The empire's elite forces are difficult to deal with, but not impossible.*

## Summary

The Knights discuss the homunculusized soldiers and the citizens' blind fealty to Emperor Kartis.

## Character List

### Major

* Olivia Pavlichenko (Earth)
* Charlotte Grace (Earth)
* Fram Berge (Water)

### Minor

* Lord of Avillon
* Astrid Remond (Earth)
* Zaira (Fire)
* Helga Schmitt (Water)
* Schneider (Earth)
* Johan Talede (Light)
* Mei Ling Qiao (Fire)

### Mentioned

* Nine (Dark)
* Kartis Claudith
* Cesaire Alteon

## Content

Olivia: "This is the entrance to Arhaven. As one of the empire's bases, it boasts heavy defenses and, as such, had always been out of reach of our forces."

"Lord": "Is there anything we should look out for?"

Olivia: "Our spies report that the base is filled with elite imperial agents."

Charlotte: "Imperial agents? What're those?"

Olivia: "They are artificially created soldiers who've undergone partial homunculusization, trained specifically for assassination and espionage. They're difficult to fight."

Charlotte: "Wasn't that Nine person we fought a homunculus? Are they like him?"

Astrid: "Nine's a complete homunculus, whereas the agents have only undergone partial surgery. Due to that, we were told their cells were unstable, but it seems they've been deployed to the front lines. You gotta watch out if you fight one, since they can disappear and then reappear behind you. I'll protect you, Charlotte. I know you've got a hard time with close-range combat."

Charlotte: "Oh, thank you! But perhaps you should focus on protecting Highness!"

Zaira: "I will be by Highness' side."

Olivia: "...Your loyalty is remarkable. 'Lord' must be quite the individual."

Helga: "Heh, if you stick around long enough, I'm sure you'll see what we see."

[The knights defeat the wave partially homunculusized soldiers]

"Lord": "We're almost at the end, everyone. Keep up the good work."

Olivia: "This should have been harder... You all are amazing."

Fram: "It's not been easy, but it hasn't been all that hard, either!"

[The knights take the base]

Schneider: "The base is ours!"

Johan: "Many of the soldiers seem to sing the emperor's praises to the very end."

Fram: "What kinda person do you think the emperor is to inspire such loyalty?"

Olivia: "After observing the maniacal loyalty the imperials have for Emperor Kartis, I believe they may have been brainwashed."

"Lord": "I've been thinking the same thing. An empire that rules with fear and bloodshed can't command this kind of loyalty, at least not this widely spread. I wouldn't put it past them to have done the same thing here as they did in Lumisade."

Zaira: "In which case, we will have to defeat that mage and the emperor to fully break the spell..."

"Lord": "Indeed."

Olivia: "The Avillon Alliance is power, and you're even driving back the empire..."

Fram: "But...?"

Olivia: "But I have heard reports that Emperor Kartis has reached the state of a demigod. There is even a story that, at the beginning of the empire's conquest, he drew his sword and destroyed an entire city in a single strike."

Fram: "That's probably just a story, right? There's no way that's true."

Astrid: "Yeah, I'm not sure if that's true or not, but I've heard a lotta people talk about how powerful a guy the emperor is. They say all the Fangs of the Empire together wouldn't be able to lay a finger on him."

Mei Ling: "Rumors are bound to become exaggerated, especially when accompanied by mass brainwashing. It's natural they would come to think of him as a god."

Olivia: "Hopefully you're right, and that's all those stories are."

"Lord": "Even assuming the stories are true, if we can't defeat the emperor, then we'll face the same fate the imperial army has faced against us. That's not a future I can accept."

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