Marvialasia was a thoroughly guarded country. Full of soldiers patrolling each major city and settlement, biweekly check ups on each minor town and region as well as inspections and closely monitored interrogations with any suspects on any accounts of treason. Their checklist if someone was committing an act of ‘treason’ was awfully vague too. It essentially let anyone with a hint of authority within Marvialasia the ability to ruin someone’s reputation and honour in a matter of minutes. All that was needed was for them to show their shiny badge of power, a badge gifted to soldiers of a high enough rank, and tell the suspect to follow them quietly. Any resistance was thought of as warranting further suspicion, and potentially even evidence for further punishment. The concept of privacy, from a legal perspective, didn't exist here. Much of what happened in a household had to be documented and reported to the nearest soldier outpost within a Marvialasian settlement. It was something that was a necessity on a weekly basis. Failure to do so would warrant the soldiers raiding peoples homes and searching for any incriminating factors. 

If it was deemed that a suspect accused of treason was lying about their day to day life, it would be enough to hold them liable for betraying the Marvialasian government. In other words, this was a safety check. All suspects could easily become guilty of lying on their weekly reports, so they were on thin ice. If anybody was actually planning on betraying the government, whether a revolt or otherwise, it would be easy to pin them down. Creating a large enough revolutionary movement from the inside of Marvialasia was impossible to do so. All their citizens were closely monitored to a large enough scale, and political ideology was strongly shoved down the throats of all peoples within the nation. The only people that were given any sort of leeway, were visitors that didn’t offend the code of ethics here. Even then, they were monitored. As I personally lacked citizenship here as well as being here under the impersonation of someone else, I was gifted a bit of freedom. I just had to act like a typical soldier on my normal shifts and moments I was in public. I wasn’t under much suspicion so to speak, which couldn’t be said for everyone. 

‘Which is why I’ve lost my invisibility cloak to my dwarven friend here today.’ 

I made sure I came into Marvialasia in disguise as a soldier, so it wasn’t like my identity was ever made known here. My whole presence as the king consort of Ranate hasn’t left the information network of Ranate either. Obviously other countries were made aware that the now queen of Ranate had married, but it wasn’t known to what human, or where, or who. The moment I’d taken off my invisibility cloak, I was just another passerby. A common folk. Someone that blended into the masses. I simply happened to be existing within Marvialasian walls, as such there wouldn't be anyone monitoring me as long as I didn’t draw much attention to myself. After all, Marvialasia wouldn’t be aware I was even here to begin with. 

That obviously wasn’t possible for my dwarven friend however. Marvialasians hated all nonhumans, especially the giantesses and the dwarves. Which came to be as a consequence of their war from long ago. Where the dwarves allied with the giantesses momentarily in their fight against the twisted ideology of Marvialasian rule. Hence, I handed over my invisibility cloak to my friend here. To the normal eye, he was just another short human. It would be impossible to discern what and who he was. 

As for me, and what my whole game plan for escaping the Marvialasian capital was. Well I was rather experienced in attempting to escape countries. I had already done something before in Vascar, though to little success. There was however a difference today compared to back then, which was the fact that I had a larger set of skills with me. I had access to basic magic techniques. I had a bow, arrows. I had the equivalent of a steed with me too. Information from the dwarf, along with the invisibility cloak. 

It was enough to formulate a plan, which I did. The dwarf, who I was meant to be keeping watch over in my shift as a guard, was atop my steed along with me. He donned the invisibility cloak. As for me, getting out of the cloak would work as a disguise too, simply due to no one in this country being able to recognise me. The only thing I had to be wary of was not creating a scene. If my identity was found out somehow, it would spell a lot of trouble. That was the whole reason I had it on, but I didn’t have that option anymore with the dwarf.

 I decided it was best to wait for around 2pm the next day. Where it would technically be my second shift on watching over the dwarf, a task I was no longer doing. It was the most traffic heavy time in terms of people lugging in and out with horse and cart in the capital. It made the security much more lax. I couldn’t blame them, there were a lot of people going in and out of the capital. Some of which I imagined were important guests. People the Marvialasian prince would want over. If not, then even then merchants from other cities, other countries and such and such. All I had to do was blend in. Simply as a weary traveller. 

“How long until anybody checks the jail cell you reckon?”  I asked the dwarf seated right behind me on top of the bullorg. The first time I showed him this, he freaked out. Not out of disturbance but instead out of nostalgia. It wasn’t his first time seeing such a thing. 

“The shifts last 12 hours, so maybe in around 11-12 hours someone would come check up on you.”

“That long?” I questioned curiously. 

“For a Marvialasian citizen, the risk is simply not worth it. That being the risk of going against their government. For as many security checks and such there are, in my time here I’ve noticed it's also made the people on top lax and lazy. It’s also why they were too damned lazy to assign you another guard to work with you.” The dwarf explained. I also quickly noted that his mannerisms and such of speaking were slightly different to mine, he possessed an accent or such. Was an interesting detail. 

“Hmm, we’ve already used up 3 hours. And I’ve made it look like a fight occurred…” I recalled back to the jail cell. I exchanged my guards' clothing for some other clothes I had gathered during my time in Marvialasia, and set them ablaze within the jail cell. There were hordes of skeletons and other decaying body parts at the other cells, which I made use of. I donned the guards uniform on one of them, and set it charred. At the very least, I made sure to make it look like the dwarf had killed the guard, stealing his exit keys and escaping. It was a better alternative to Marvialasia becoming aware of me spying on them this whole time.  “The rush will last for 2 hours. Is there any place we should scope out first before we leave the capital?”

I voiced aloud. Asking the dwarf whether there was anything that needed to be done. 

“Yes, I said so already. The benefactor.” 

“...This benefactor. Who is he? How could he help? We’ve already been through this but it doesn’t look like many people in Marvialasia are able to oppose the ruling class here. It’s a ride or die situation for many civilians.” 

“Well, when you’re high enough in the political landscape, the common rules don’t really apply to you anymore.” The dwarf clarified. 

“Someone like that? A benefactor to us? I’m having some doubts.” 

“ Listen, think carefully. How would you feel if you were in charge of one of the many domains of Marvialasia, as a noble that had accumulated much fortune in your life. Obtaining coin and splendour that could make any peasant dream to be in your position, and find out that your country simply wants more and more power. Simply craving strength. Like an undeniable lust for it.”

“It would feel good? I imagine the political system here is set to profit off of those who fight somehow.”

“Now, how would you feel if one of the few people above you in the political interweb of policies within your country, decided that they wish to fight a foe far stronger than your country was capable of fighting?” The dwarf posed a question. “Knowing that the likelihood of loss is greater than any chance of victory. Knowing that, in the event of a loss of your wealth, your reputation and power would all undeniably sink to a depth unknown to before. That because of your noble status, you would be thrown into the same melting pot of blame that every other wealthy individual would fall under. How would you feel?”

“... I would feel like it's a bad idea.”

“Exactly, it isn’t that complicated. Listen, it's best not to always overcomplicate things. Sometimes it's as simple as hammering an alloy of steel into shape, when it feels right, it's probably right. When we understand where their concerns are coming from, suddenly they become a lot more credible.”

“In the event of Marvialasia losing the war, what would happen to the nobles of the country? I guess I never really thought of that.” I admitted. It was far, far away from any thought coming across my mind. I was naturally viewing things from a Ranate perspective, or even a viewpoint of how brainwashed the populace here was. I never considered the idea that I could potentially find an ally within the nobles themselves. “Although risky, It's worth looking into.”

“Right. I’lll tell you the secret passage I took when I was spying through these parts to get there. I’ll go with you, he already knows who I am. We just need to meet quickly in secret, and in private.” The dwarf concluded. I nodded my head in response. 

– – – 

25 minutes had passed. Roughly so at least. It wasn’t as if we were on a sharp deadline to be out of town by then, but obviously the faster we escaped, the better. The dwarf had taken me to a weird park, with a secret passageway within one of the bushes which was against a wall. As we followed the sparse light on the other side, it led into a peculiar room. It was littered with books everywhere, there was a chandelier, along with a table followed by a fireplace. As I was exiting the passageway, I realised that the passageway exit itself was that fireplace. It appeared that wherever we were, there was a secret escape route through here. Most likely something common in many noble households in this land. Why it could-

“Freeze, state your purpose, your family name and how you got here!” A voice called out. Agitation evident. I made sure to follow their first command, but stayed silent on the rest. The dwarf right behind me removed the upper part of the invisibility cloak, which wasn’t a difficult task as it was far larger than him. 

“Relax, sir Byrul. It is just me, Anglo. We met by accident a week prior if you remember. We made an alliance to not sell each other out on our separate agendas.” Calmly, quietly and to the point, the dwarf spoke. Revealing his name to be Anlgo. 

“Anglo? You were locked up. I thought you were done for. As we agreed, I wouldn’t help you if you were found out. As per our deal. I presume this gentleman behind you is responsible for your jailbreak?” Quickly collecting himself, Byrul spoke with dignity and respect. A trait among noble humans I personally was rather unfamiliar with.

“I-I am. To cut to the chase, I don’t ally myself with Marvialasia.”  I decided to quickly speak the truth. We were short on time, and I didn’t have it in me to dance around the topic. It appeared the dwarf trusted this man, so I would too. “I am from Ranate, I won’t tell you where or what my status is, but I’ve heard something from you in particular that has intrigued me.”

“ …Anglo, I thought we agreed to keep our secrets hidden.” 

“We did agree to keep them hidden, however this human is different. He is not from Marvialasia. You do not lose out on anything from telling him.” The dwarf responded. The nobleman turned his eyes back to me. 

Byrul continued to speak, though slightly worried about me. “Yes, you heard correctly. After many years of this war dragging on, I have gotten sick of our Megalomaniac driven society. I’ve obtained my riches, my rewards. I no longer care for our desire to be the best. In fact, looking at the foe we face, it isn’t possible for us to be the best anymore. The giantesses have grown in strength and numbers tremendously, as is their history, but their recent advancements in magic have had me feeling rather uneasy. I cannot support this war anymore, it just isn’t feasible with the military might we have.” 

Byrul mentioned military might, strength in Ranate and pointed towards the power hierarchy between the two countries. He didn’t once mention anything towards their ideals, specifically, Marvialasia’s corrupt way of propaganda into their civilians. I was forced to consider the possibility of him seeing this through a pragmatic lens via necessity, rather than a genuine belief. Due to this assumption, Ranate couldn’t falter in its military prowess. It would rekindle the confidence people like Byrul had to be this so-called ‘best’.

He continued speaking. “More than any other reason, it is my fear that holds me to this position. I shudder to think what the vile giantesses will do to us nobles once this is all over. The Marvialasian prince seems determined to finish our conflicts soon. I for one do not want to even imagine the battle itself nor the aftermath. The hellish sight we humans will be helplessly forced to behold because of his arrogant pride as the prince will doom us all. I’m sure, even you, the one that allied themselves with Ranate would have seen such a hell.” 

I remembered my first couple days in Ranate. The sheer culture shock, the fear ingrained into my heart. I was held and kissed, smothered and sat on. The sheer inability of my own self was a rather harsh reminder of my own powerlessness at the time. And still is when I compare myself to Ana. To see a battle against a horde of magicless humans against a giantess was like seeing a battle of a human against an ant nest. Sure, there was a danger to the behemoth in question, but it was so astronomically slim that it could be ignored. 

I recalled the fake throne room chair, the seat where allegedly Marvialasians were thrown on and tortured. Squashed underneath the weight of just one giantess. Their fate would become nothing more than a mere stain on their behinds. I gulped as I thought about such things. But alas, it was the history between two fiercely warring countries. It wasn’t as if Marvialasia was much cleaner, being the ones to fester the war on, to house their own torture shows for their population to watch.

 I readied my voice to speak. “I admit that there is bloodshed on both sides of our land's history. I also acknowledge now that it's unfair for me to expect forgiveness from your land for what it has done to Ranate, as much as it is completely unfair for you to expect such an apology from me for my land's damages to yours. In the end, it appears one land will have to devour the other, and create some sort of compromise on how our people will live. As of right now though, total extermination and degradation of the giantesses is not something I could ever get behind. In that way, the giantesses have moved on to a far more humane example. At least in my opinion, it looks like the country that's stuck to its past and arrogance will be the one to fall.” I answered, calmly but thoughtfully. 

“... Perhaps you’re right. This is the price of arrogance for what our prince had done. That being said, the atrocities committed in that war by you Ranate scum, and you bootlicker humans are things I will never forgive. Never… I suppose this is what it feels like to be on the losing side, to an unfair war. Things just don’t go your way. I suppose it's what every other culture we’ve fought has thought about us.” Byrul acknowledged. Unsure of what to say. He contemplated in his head. A fierce battle of ideas playing out in his mind, however in the next couple moments he seemed at peace with his decision. “I can leak our war plans, the dates of our planned attacks and such all to you right now. My only request is that once the giantesses win, I will be spared. I expect the honour of the dwarven tribe here to be on the line for you to uphold such a deal.” 

I held in my breath and held up my head. “I’ll hold my end of the bargain. It’ll be the first moment of genuine collaboration between our lands.  Maybe things won’t ever be good between our people, maybe there’ll be a loss of culture and some people’s hopes and dreams. But I don’t see any other way forward.” 

“Lad, as is the nature of war. Whoever wins will get to decide the course of who was right and who was wrong. Naturally, the giantesses and we dwarves want to live. We can’t accept the hard struck deal of killing us all by the Marvialasian prince’s wishes. It just isn’t possible. The moment he refused any option to compromise, he compromised on any hope for his country.” The dwarf argued. Offering a rather black and white, win or lose binary perspective. He was right, as long as the Marvialasian prince wouldn’t compromise on his wish to stop the killing of non-humans. Any thought to even consider negotiation was off the table. The only option left was to win the war, and conquer the country and its ruler. 

“... Here take this insignia, it is a backup one I have that allows people to leave via the main gate of the capital. Just show it to the guards and they’ll let you through, no questions asked. It’ll also show as proof back home for you that we’ve struck some form of deal.” Byrul gave a goldish oval shaped insignia. It had amber crystals inserted into it, giving it an orangish glow. The design of the gold also portrayed a human basked in the figurative light from the amber. 

“No need to worry about the exit route out of the country. I know a shortcut.” Anglo, the dwarf, confidently answered. “We can take the cave system to the east of here, it leads up to another cave entrance to Ranate if memory serves me correctly. That way we can skip the roundabout travel route.” 

“Alright, sounds good. We can do that.” I calmed myself down. It looked like I finally was making some progress in information gathering. With this insignia it didn’t matter when we left, provided it happened before anyone finds out about Anglo escaping from his cell, when security would be on max supply. “Speaking of the cave systems, Anglo. Where are the dwarven people? I’ve heard that you all fled to the great inner cave expanse underneath the eastern continent.”

Anglo sighed. “Lad, it’s a long story. I can go into more detail once we’re back at Ranate. But the gist of it is that the great dwarven leader, our queen, caught an illness. One that caused great worry and ire to our forces. We aren’t sure of the source or where it's from, but if anything it seems like a curse rather than a disease.”

“A curse?” I questioned. 

“Yes, curses. A rather niche section of magic.” Byrul exclaimed. 

“As I was saying, this curse was rather troublesome. It spread to other members of our great dwarven alliance civilization underground and caused an uproar.”

“A curse that can spread from host to host?” Byrul mentioned in shock. 

“We will be leaving for a moment, Byrul.” I waved him goodbye as I didn’t want any Marvialasians to hear more of this story. We exited the way we came from. Anglo also waved bye to Byrul as we both walked away. He started talking again after we reached a suitable distance. 

“Yes, it causes their host to possess a great incurable hunger. As it spread, many people in the upper sections of our collective hierarchy told us to enter a state of lockdown. A fear that with our supplies dwindling, our forces weakening and less people working that we wouldn’t be able to handle an attack from outside. If Marvialasia ever found a way to enter our cave system, it would mean an uphill war for our forces. Worse yet, if the curse were to spread to a giantess, it would spell disaster on many fronts. Back then, Jade the Cruel was in charge. Of all people, we didn’t want her to get the curse. Disaster would be an understatement for what could have happened.” The dwarf spoke with a somewhat serious air to him. His slight pronunciations of words that were different to mine no longer stood out as much. I didn’t pay them any heed earlier as everyone speaks a little different to one another. However the sudden removal of that factor put me a little on edge. It was something that only highlighted how severe the situation was, and even worse could have been. 

The dwarven people ultimately decided to quarantine. In hopes of preventing the curse from spreading even further. From creating something beyond help. 

“So, I’m guessing the dwarven alliance was sending scouts like you all over the place to survey the surroundings to the outside world and getting some supplies where possible?” I asked. 

“Correct. We feared that the curse came from a country that may have been allied with Marvialasia in the past. But we aren’t so sure. There aren’t many people out there that can inflict curses. As we mentioned before, it's a rather niche skill. The only tribe of people that I know that could inflict curses were the witches of old. They died out against the giantesses from long, long ago.” Anglo explained.

“How long are we talking? 100, 200 years?” 

“Lad, I’m not sure. Its records are not clear in our history. It’s an event that happened many centuries ago, I’m sure of that at least.” Anglo answered. I sighed in return before looking back toward Byrul. 

“In any case, let's head back to Byrul and hear out his plans.” 

“Yes, let's do so. Afterwards I presume it is straight to Ranate?” Anglo agreed. We both stepped back toward the benefactor as I nodded at his question. After a brief few moments of awkward chatter with Byrul, we returned to the topic at hand. About the insider plans of Marvialasia. Of what they had been plotting. 

– – –

(Few days later)

“Miranda, how many Vascar soldiers have you spotted?” A voice asked. Full of confidence and authority. 

“It would seem to be an army of around 2000 right in front of us. A rather large number of Vascarian men on the front lines of our border. We haven’t seen a number this high against us from them before. The closest they got to this was at a little scuffle we had with them way back when.” Miranda, owner of the prideful and stern voice responded. 

“How annoying. They’ve approached us it seems. This is all happening a fair bit faster than I’d anticipated. I’d gotten our preparations started but they’re not quite done for such a large scale offensive. It would spell disaster if these soldiers raided the human sized settlements we’ve spent so much to build. The lives of many former war mongers would become so meaningless too.” Ana explained. 

“Captain, our forces have built a line of giantesses each around 4 km (2.5 miles) from one another. We’re covering as much ground for the border here as we can per a soldier. It’s going to be hard spotting each Vascar soldier if they were to all come charging in through the lush grass. Though I don’t doubt that the majority of them would end up as nothing more than stains on our soil.” The second in command of Miranda’s squadron shouted. Offering a report on the situation from Ranate’s perspective. 

“We’re a little low on giantesses here. I understand her highness has sent a request for reinforcements across the border, but diverting too much of our forces here makes the eastern border much weaker. It makes our defences look more appealing to penetrate.” Miranda replied.

“They’ve requested a talk. I will give them one. Though I do not plan on letting them get any mercy if they dare promise violence upon our lands.” Ana proudly declared. She stood on a hilly area, right next to a small mountain which was on the side of Vascar’s border. She was instead on flat land. Which normally would give the Vascarians the advantage, but the sheer titanic and overwhelming size of the giantesses barely made it a point of concern. If anything it allowed Ana and the king of Vascar to have any form of stable conversation at all. 

Ana looked forward. Eyes annoyed. Upset. Irritated that she was here when she could be at the castle. It was obvious what this was. It was something anyone could tell. However the pompous fools of Vascar dared to challenge Ranate anyway. Their arrogance was something she knew from firsthand in her studies. But this was something else entirely. Her impression of Vascar’s nobility seemed to match what Leon always described them to her as. 

‘Foolish, rich, arrogant, entitled.’ She thought. A shame as if they’d left her land alone, she would merely try to build up a relationship with their land. They politely gifted her Leon, her now married husband. All she would request of them in return was the execution and imprisonment of all that made him suffer. Now though, if they waged war against her. She would have to deal away with their entire noble class. She would take on and absorb their land and take in their people as her own. Offering them peace and protection, but not for the nobles. Who’s wealth she would strip away and instead instate new noble class individuals in their place. As was a common practice that would happen to those that would lose in wars. They’d be stripped of their status and authority, and be in the whims of the cruelty of those around them. 

“It appears the king of Vascar is here. I see him on the mountain in the distance. I’ll be heading forward now. I trust you ladies will act on your own the moment something out of line happens.” Ana proclaimed as she stood forward. The ground, the very earth beneath her footsteps broke apart and created a footprint. All life that existed beneath her simply ceased to be. Any insect, any bug, any animal or plant would perish under her immense strength. Simply flattened. Stuck to the ground and to her sole. 

“Yes, my queen.” Miranda’s squadron replied. Their answer in unison and followed with a small bow. They remained standing, and watching guard behind Ana except for Miranda who followed behind the queen. She was her watchful guard. 

Ana continued stepping forward. Approaching the mountain. Her mere presence caused the guards of Vascar to tighten up their lungs, their knees to weaken. 

“I see you’re doing well, king of Vascar, Cambiltoh.” Ana greeted him. 

“I’m delighted to see you remain in great health too, Queen of Ranate. It appears you’ve found a suitable partner for yourself. Ana.” Cambiltoh responded.

“Let’s skip to the heart of the matter. I would like to know what's going on.”

“Whatever is going on? We simply wanted to chat.” 

“I’m well aware. What is the subject for our little chat?” Her voice wavered slightly. Her rather annoyed heart let out for a moment and she accidently spoke slightly too harshly. The novice soldiers who stood at the back of Vascar’s army seemed to shake in fear from that. 

“To be honest, I wasn’t expecting you to actually appear. You’ve made our job a little easier.” Cambiltoh answered.

“You’ve allied yourself with Marvialasia. I’m well aware. The act of doing so is enough for us to consider declaring war on your puny land too.” 

“However, it would weaken your own defences. So you simply won’t. Not enough resources to deal with an invasion from both sides.”

‘This old man has gotten rather annoying since I last saw him. Why? There has to be something up his sleeve.’ Ana deduced. ‘Possibly the inclusion of magic. It isn’t something Vascar is known for. They’ve probably set some deal with Marvialasia to learn more about it.’ 

“I’ll remind you. Cambiltoh. Those who fight against the giantesses of Ranate do not forget their fights. We are civilised to those we deem our civility worthy to. And we tear apart those we see as not much more than an enemy. Perhaps your judgement has clouded you, I’ll ask you once for clarity’s sake. Who’s side are you on?” Ana questioned. Wanting to know the answer. She is fully aware of who the king sides with, what his intentions are and why he has such intentions. However it doesn’t matter. As her soul wanted to provide this king with an out. A way out from a massacre. Only a fool would still choose to fight. She wanted to know if her enemy was a person, or a fool. She would not regret stomping down on the valour of a fool. 

“We side with Marvialasia. We plan to fight.” 

Ana signals to Miranda’s squadron to prepare themselves. They all began to remove their footwear, their helm and excess armors. It was per tradition for giantess women. Savage, rough and downright terrifying was a way to describe fighting against the giantesses of Ranate. Like the forces of nature itself. These ladies traditionally fought with no footwear, with no weapon but their bodies as well as no mercy. It was per their customs that the blood of the enemy would nourish their skin, that the screams and cries of the enemy would provide sustenance to their battle and the look of horror of watching someone tower you, would give them their joys. It was war, in its purest form. For the giantesses of Miranda’s squadron who still chose to fight following tradition, it left a lasting impression on their enemies. The choice to have their armors on them was only in case a battle got too serious or one sided. For example, a battle against Marvialasia would be such a case where their armour and protections would be warranted. Vascar however were not Marvialasia. Their threat was literally comparable to a puny ant nest in the face of giantesses. 

“We will extinguish any life that walks across our border from yours starting as of this moment. The people we have here now are more than capable of defending against you meagre humans.” 

“Marvialasia will be pleased with such an arrangement. Anything to keep our border preoccupied” 

Upon hearing such, Miranda, one of the few giantesses that carried a weapon with her, stood in place. Ready for action. She carried a hammer. A traditional weapon for the giantesses. Though as the queen's guard, she did not prepare herself for battle, but for guarding the queen. As Ana made her intentions clear, this was a defensive battle. Not a conquest. Not for now at least. 

“I will be stepping back now. Not that you would have the gall to set foot into our land, but be warned, if I ever catch you on our soil. You will come to regret the decision you’ve made today. We will defend ourselves for now.” 

'We can’t afford to send too many forces this way. We should be fine with just this many defending. But an offensive is out of the question. Capturing the king will only perpetuate this war and cause our western border to become that much more of a bloodbath. It's best if we do not engage here as much and leave it in a defensive position. Our main concern is the east. I doubt the people of Vascar have mastered magic to a degree that warrants any worry.’ Ana examined the situation within her head. Coming to a conclusion. ‘Oh well, it is-’ Her thoughts were interrupted by something she came to notice at her feet. Something squirming around and trying to hide itself. However her eyes were too well trained, it appeared Miranda too noticed this.

“A human soldier. Vascarian. How unfortunate you were noticed.” She examined his body and saw him build up some magic, fire magic specifically. “Well, this is war. I feel bad that you’re  a soldier, with your own history and reasons for fighting here. But I did lay out my promise. Anyone who sets foot here from Vascar will be disposed of. If I forgave you in front of the enemy, it’ll only perpetuate the enemy's advances. They’ll think of us as pushovers and send even more of you. I don’t want that.” She steps over to the soldier. Squatting down at him. As Miranda stands behind her, keeping guard. She knew that a mere single human wouldn’t amount to much against Ana. For as kind and gentle as she was. She would be as cruel as needed if the situation called for it. She was keeping and helping the soldiers of Marvialasia, she had a whole program dedicated to it. She didn’t enjoy killing like other giantesses did. That being said, that program still had people that never fixed or helped themselves. That never saw any improvement. Such people were disposed of. If Ana couldn’t help them, she didn’t need them. Her kindness only extended so far. 

For the soldier in front of her, who cowered in fear as his heart knew it was over for him. She simply donned a bittersweet smile. One not of happiness or enjoyment. But of someone fulfilling her duty. She needed to kill this man and show his corpse to the enemy. It would significantly impact the morale of Vascar. It would eventually lead to less death with less soldiers being sent in like this. If less soldiers were sent in, it would lower the chance of such soldiers discovering human settlements and killing scores of healthy Ranate humans. She needed to prevent that. Settling for perfection, for simply taking the soldier away for ‘training’, where his fighting tendencies would be washed away would not work. For one, unlike Marvialasia which employed propaganda and brainwashing to their citizens to increase their military and hatred, Vascar was instead different. Vascar was more akin to having a class of oppressors and the oppressed via the control of wealth. There was a high likelihood that Ana was aware that many of the soldiers of Vascar gathered here today did so not of their own choice. It was a subtle, yet important distinction to make for it made her current program of helping enemy soldiers less impactful. There was little evidence that it would even change anything for them.

“I feel for you. But alas this is more important.” She said, her eyes no longer shared that same empathy in them like they had only a minute prior. “I don’t partake in the rough culture of fighting like they do in Miranda’s squadron. So your death will be quick, hopefully painless too.”  

She raised her shoe on top of the man as she stood herself back up. Who was on his knees watching an incomprehensibly large behemoth tower over him. Tears ran down his face, he didn’t even know he was crying. His body simply acted on its own. His last act of defiance was to shoot fire back to the bottoms of her shoe, as if it scorch her and cause her to fall back. Such a thing could never happen. The pathetic amount of mastery a Vascarian soldier had over magic made it impossible. What more, even if his entire lifetime supply of mana was released to shoot fire back to her heel, it is up for debate if Ana would feel anything at all. She was wearing shoes. She had a layer of protection. His fire would scorch her footwear, but not her. She could hardly even tell if he did anything to her. 

She simply lowered her leg, along with her foot and her shoe. The man stared up in horror, at what was going to happen to him. He was among the first batch to be roaming around in Ranate soil, and now he was going to become a part of that very soil itself. 

**Thump** 

A red stain. Ana stomped the ground as hard as she could within reason. Making sure to put the man out of his misery if even by some miracle he’d survive. The endless potential of his humanity was reduced to a mere red stain against the titaness known as Ana Darlington-Bliss. Against the power of sheer overwhelming size, there was little that could be done with brawn alone. 

“Do you fools see? This is the fate of the criminals that trespass onto our land. Have no mistake, what I did to this soldier was an act of mercy. There are far worse ways to go.” She mustered up a confident tone. She was well versed in such acts. Being a ruler gave her the ability to practise her voice, her tone and mannerisms proficiently. The act of effortlessly killing a man wasn’t what was rough on her, it was the idea that she may be killing someone who was coerced into invading Ranate. That was what made her angry. It mixed in with the anger she had for Vascar for treating her husband in such bad conditions before. 

Despite that anger, more soldiers would invade. Other humans from her own land would be threatened. If enough Vascarian soldiers were built up in one area, they may prove troublesome for the giantesses too. In the face of their own lives and well being at stake, as well as the well beings everyone and everything Ana had been building towards, she could crush the human soldiers that stood in her way. The reasoning may be cruel and perhaps even one sided. But it was necessary. 

“Miranda, your unit is free to act as it may. Please keep the casualties as civil as possible.” Was Ana’s only request. She was well aware of the horrors that Miranda’s squadron were capable of. 

“With pleasure, your majesty.” Miranda answered. 

Her ladies in the squadron went down. Each hunting for their prey, for any humans that were squandering around in the bushes. Like a group of felines hunting for their prey, the giantesses searched and scouted. Using their hands to uncover trees; trees that would have been at the height of some medium sized grass to them.

“Found one!” A giantess shouted, only minutes later. 

“N-No, Please-” A man begged beneath the trees. But it was too late. One of Miranda’s women stood up, only to throw her whole body weight down through the force behind her foot falling upon the man. The terror in the man’s voice would last all but a moment before being reduced to eternal bliss as his horrors would soon become reality, watching the foot as it fell down, as it would become bigger and bigger. Its size became more and more apparent on how large a mere small part of the giantess’ body really was. 

“H-huh?” The man expected it. To exist for a moment only to be reduced to nothing in the next. However that mercy never came. The foot rested just barely above the figure of the little human man. Slowly but surely it descended down. Coming with it an overwhelming force. An indescribable amount of fear. A surefire demise. There were bruises beneath the foot, on its underside. Dirt and rubble existed too. Mud on the lower most part. He, the soldier, would be joining that rubble, that mud, that dirt. Soon. He would be indistinguishable from the rest. No one could once tell a man would be crushed beneath such a thing. Like an insect that one kills in utter ignorant bliss. To the giantesses, he was no different. 

“In our culture, during war times. Y’know, there's a lot of talk about death and the after life. What happens after we die, that sort of thing. In our culture, do you wanna know what we think happens when we crush you?” The giantess teased. The man simply curled up, and awaited his demise. He had no choice but to listen. It was something out of his control. “It’s said in our culture, that the way you’re killed determines where your soul spends the rest of eternity. That’s why a lot of us warriors use our own bodies. So that the humans we kill, their souls find salvation in our bodies. Pretty neat right? That means you’ll be joining the afterlife as a little remnant on my foot! Whenever I walk, or crush other humans, you’ll always be there cheering me on.” She coldly explained. The giantess was not speaking in a definitive tone. Nothing she said was factual. It was merely the conjecture of her war torn culture. She knew this too, however the feeling of thinking that each ‘kill’ on the battlefield was like another soul to be collected left her feeling ecstatic. “Bye, bye now.”

**Crunch**

Slowly, she grinded her foot down. She could feel the crackling and breaking of bones. Until eventually there was nothing left. What was left beneath her foot could hardly be called as a person that once lived. 

‘Onto the next. Keep 'em coming!’ She excitedly thought. Sadly, such a way of thinking was far too common in Miranda’s squadron. It was full of fighters. Of warriors. People that believed in the glory of the battlefield. As the giantesses that were the most popular group or unit, they rarely knew defeat. The soul crushing sensation of what it felt to be on the losing side was not known to them. The feeling of being humiliated by your enemy was completely lost on them. They simply killed and teased in their gleeful bliss. A showcase of cruelty. One Ana could not afford to criticise right now with their current situation. 

Onto Miranda's fight, she uncovered 3 soldiers working together setting up a contraption. ‘Is this some form of magecraft?’ She deduced as she spotted something resembling a catapult but instead of a boulder or rock, it utilised magically made flame balls. 

“FIRE!” The soldiers screamed in unison as they activated the device. Hurling a fireball the size of Miranda’s eye toward her right leg. Specifically toward her thigh. 

“King of Vascar, I understand that you know that we will not be entering your lands to pick a fight. But these pathetic displays… They only convince me more so that we have the resources to fight you. They fail to convince me of your country’s might. Instead I see the inept understanding of magic within your ranks.” Miranda shouted. To no one in particular. Her gigantic frame could speak to no one directly and her words targeted at the king would be delivered anyway. She was near Ana, who had stepped further back toward Ranate territory as she was protected by two giantesses of her squadron. Everyone else was at the front lines of the border, uncovering soldiers and guarding the territories. 

She simply held her hand out, as if to catch the fireball. As it gently touched her body… It disappeared? 

“W-What?” 

“Impossible.”

“That can’t be!” 

The 3 soldiers of Ranate cried out. But to no avail. Miranda readied herself to stand right in front of them, however with a little bit of distance. She turned away and placed her left hand right on her hip. She had left her weapon behind and was also fighting with her body. 

“Too bad for all of you, you don’t seem to be aware of who I am.” She said aloud. Switching the rest of her thoughts to be voiced in her head. ‘Simply put, my prowess is in mana absorption. Where most unconcentrated techniques involving mana and magecraft are simply absorbed into my body as mana to use. A group of amateurs like you three could never hurt me using magic. Instead you all only fueled me up instead.’ She remarked in the realm of her thoughts. Who didn’t know of Miranda? Captain of Ana’s highest ranked unit of fighters. She exhibited fighting ability and aptitude so strongly that she has been taken into consideration of being given a council seat. That seat however had fallen into the seats of Elysia. As Miranda had no interest in being away from the battlefield, along with Ana not wanting Miranda as a councilwoman to begin with. 

Miranda was one of Ranate’s aces in a fight. Namely, her reputation as the mana negator was what allowed it to be. Where all other forces would have to take cover from magic attacks, most attacks from amateurs could not harm her, and more advanced attacks that boasted concentrated mana did less harm to her compared to a normal person. It was her signature ability, though it came with its own weaknesses. That being that Miranda was incapable of organically mustering up mana on her own. She had to steal it from other attacks. Despite that weakness, Miranda’s ability made her into a fighter in a league of her own. Having her stationed here with Ana was what made Ana so sure that she had little to fear from Vascar’s newly found magical arsenal. It was also a double edged sword as her being removed from the western side of the country made that border more vulnerable however. 

She, as she looked away from the fighters, sighed. She gave them all one final look. As if to validate their existences before losing interest. She then fell backwards, ass first down. 

The men, standing with their magecrafted device all stared in horror. At the rear end that was falling down. It was equivalent to saying the sky was falling, the world was ending. Their worlds were ending. 

Impending doom. To say it like that was to downplay the monstrosity descending down upon them. However, it was fate. Against the titanic sized ass, they were but little helpless bugs in comparison. Akin to ants marching on a parkside bench that would be crushed without further thought.  As stains of blood to be bled onto clothes, eventually patted away and forgotten. Their very existences lost to first existential terror and then hurled to the utter bliss of purgatory, of the void, of death itself. To say Miranda would remember these poor fighters was a far fetched idea. The moment she decided to sit down on them, at that very moment it could be argued that she thought to pay their existence no mind. To let gravity do the rest, to let nature correct itself and put the men out of their misery.

Out of the three men, one of them thought of his lousy country, to how he was forcefully conscripted to service. To die in vain as a foot soldier. A mere distraction. His final moments were watching Miranda’s rear end come and flatten him. Like a scene out of a melodramatic play. The act came as if in slow motion. His life was flashing before his eyes. 

“N-No.” Was the last word he could muster. An outright denial of what was to come. Sadly, as anyone could guess, as Miranda herself, the king of Vascar and the men themselves could guess, they weren’t going to be heard. Their lives would soon be disregarded as casualties. As a loss of war. 

**Smoosh!** 

The earth shook. The trees around the men, the very environment around these poor fools was flattened beyond recognition. Grassy plains, forested denselands all reduced to a dirt crater in the shape of an ass. Any animals, prey or monsters in the way that could have possibly been present were sure to not be anymore. No one could survive such an attack. No creature deserved to be a victim to such a pitiful display of power. Yet, in the face of absolute size dominance, no one could argue. Miranda was without question the victor of their little squabble. The battle here was so one sided it could hardly be called a fight.

‘To die on the battlefield, how lucky they must be.’  Miranda concluded in her head. Offering a final thought to these fighters before moving on to the next target. As she stood up, not even a bloody stain remained of the 3 men. Dirt and debris had already covered their loss up. Something quite typical when fighting in the outer areas of Ranate. 

As for Ana, she simply kept observing her surroundings. She had a larger responsibility on her shoulders than to fall into the temptation of relishing her kills. For one it was never something that appealed that strongly to her anyway. It was largely a part of the reason why she was so ecstatic about Leon when he first arrived in Ranate, at her castle. Unlike the giantesses who were victim to the societal expectation of hurting and breaking humans around them, Ana found someone she could be with in a much safer way. With the enchantments employed onto Leon, she was free to act out her much repressed fantasies without fear, without that existential dread of hurting someone innocent. Being with him meant having a reason to act kind with a mere human, it was like lifting a sort of pressure off her shoulders . It was why their first couple days were filled with so much ‘couple bonding’ activities as Ana would dub them as such in her head. In reality, it was just acts of skinship she wanted to share with a lover on more equal footing. Not of a human so horribly afraid for their life that they couldn’t even argue against her. 

So as time would pass, she would eventually find a way to fill the void in her heart. Ana would find love for her heart. Despite it being a rushed marriage, a quick shotgun wedding; whatever anyone could call it wouldn’t stop her from living out her life and what she wanted to do with it. So she was grateful to Leon, for being someone that could accept the love of someone very much not human. Of someone far greater and titanic, of someone that was from a species that hunted humans. She loved Leon being someone that would allow her to express her love in a way she never could before. As such, more so than ever before, she wanted a country where giantesses and humans could get along. So that she could let her little man feel comfortable with her. 

That was all she wanted. That was her current motivation. 

So, despite how logic minded she was, despite how she knew she needed to divy up her forces between the east and west and play a conservation-esque style of warfare to minimise risk. She let her emotions control her, her excitement for her married life with Leon. Her enthusiasm for letting this war finally end. Ana placed her faith in Leon returning as quickly as possible as she yelled out, what she would have deemed to be an irrational decision, to Miranda’s squadron. 

“Bring me Vascar’s king!” She shouted. For all forces to hear, for her fighters and the soon to be terrified king to hear. A decision he could never expect as he himself expected better of Ana. If key intel could be gathered by Leon, then this step as risky as it could be would end up worth it. She gathered her courage and remained strong willed on her decision. “Ladies. I want him alive and in position to be begging for his life!” When it came to the rulers of other countries that actively encouraged the suffering of their citizens, Ana would find it hard to employ that same empathy she had for the earlier soldiers. Even then, the straw that broke the camel’s back was the fact that Vascar had made Leon’s life a living hell. She wouldn’t forgive them for that.

Miranda and her squadron however let out a small chuckle, as their defensive position shattered and soon assumed an offensive line. “It appears our princess has finally started acting like a true queen.” One of the squadron members nonchalantly said. No hesitance was found in any of their forces. In fact such a blatant disregard of fear, was something Vascar’s king never anticipated. He took a step back… And another. One more. However it was too late. A line of giantesses came running in, their collective running motion would be enough to cause an earthquake as they all purposely ran with enough force, stomping their feet down to completely disrupt the landscape. 

“N-no, stay back. Stay away! You fiends! Men! Quick, take me away. Gather your horses, We need to retreat!” The Vascar king howled to no avail. The speed at which Miranda’s squadron could run was something far greater than a horse and chariot could even manage. 

To put it softly, at the cost of many soldiers of Ranate being no longer stationed on the western border due to Ana’s decision, Vascar had no chance of winning. There was no possible outcome where Vascar could outclass Ranate’s elite squadron with their current formation. However, this also meant that war on the western border was guaranteed. Fights would constantly be breaking out here now, at least until Marvialasia was also subdued. It would become a bastion that needed defending. With enough humans, the fight could even prove dangerous to the giantesses. As of present, only small numbers of humans were invading. They were so small and pathetic on their own that their presence could only be described as small as an ant. However, much like ants, a whole colony of them proved dangerous. The population of Vascar gravely outnumbered the giantesses. If all of Vascar’s soldiers were to charge, it would be questionable if Miranda’s squadron could all walk away unscathed. As such, some of Ana’s forces that could have been stationed away to aid in the fight against Marvialaisa would have to remain here to aid Miranda’s squadron. But that was fine, as long as Ana could take the leader of Vascar, she was content with her plan. She trusted Leon to arrive back with key information regarding Marvialasia. Without it, this may have been the wrong move…

‘Oh Leon, this may be the conclusion of the first trial of our love. Please let it be successful.’ She prayed silently in her head. Waiting for the outcome of her declaration. Waiting for good news. For her husband's eventual return.