The commoners of Binehus were the first to raise the banner of rebellion. They slew the construction site guards, smashed the portrait busts of the domain's Marquis, torched palatial estates, and emptied the granaries of the nobility. The Lord retaliated with draconian measures, and though he managed to smother local blazes, the sparks of insurrection were already flying in every direction. The fires of the peasantry not only flared up anew but began to leap across borders into neighboring domains.

　　The Frontier Lords crossed the border directly, massing their troops in Sibilis as they awaited final orders from the Alliance high command. Their eastern rivals hurled accusations at the Frontier Alliance, branding them the true instigators behind the rogue uprisings. Meanwhile, the Highland District, long regarded by the rebel armies as a paragon of order, remained chillingly silent. Anxious representatives of the citizenry received summons from their local lords, gathering in haste for clandestine deliberations.

　　The meeting hall was ringed by heavily armed guards; for the sake of absolute secrecy, scribes were forbidden from the proceedings. Those in attendance were defined strictly by their property and titles, each accompanied only by obedient retainers and slaves. Yet, under the jurisdiction of these lords remained a vast multitude of commoners—people possessing neither property nor recognized status.

　　Glader, the leader of the Frontier Alliance, signed the first war order of his tenure. Under the pretext of securing trade routes and stabilizing the region, two Alliance divisions advanced along the main highways: one toward Longedis in the north, and the other toward Ferafea in the east.

　　The latter soon reached the city gates and deployed into a siege formation. The former launched an operation against Pard, shattering the first barrier on the road to Longedis, though they encountered fierce resistance from the local garrison there.

　　The Lord of Ferafea claimed to be under military threat from the frontier, but in truth, he had already resolved to throw open the city gates. Just as the Sirleid army was conducting military operations in Rhine, the Alliance flag ascended over the walls of Ferafea. The brutal fighting at Pard only deepened the mutual animosity of the combatants. Spurred on by their local lord, the defenders embraced a resolve to die, vowing to stand or fall with Pard.

　　In the name of the King and the treaty, Colibian forces first advanced toward Silarence in the west, meeting no obstacles as they marched straight to the gates of the capital. No alarm bells rang; no one even bothered to shut the city gates. Laria entered the capital in total safety and proceeded to the Lord’s opulent manor, where he found the trembling Viscount cowering in a side room.

　　That strange animal skull—the Viscount’s pride—was presented to the sovereign by the Colibian commander as a trophy of victory. Laria rewarded the messenger and his troops, then ordered craftsmen to pry out the inlaid gemstones and black pearls. With a look of utter disdain, he tossed the bone skull into a brazier to be consumed by the flames.

　　After a brief pause, the army turned northward to approach Woldes. A solitary fortress stood guard at the border, a territory belonging to Silarence but currently garrisoned by the troops of Sirleid. Having no desire to intrude upon Sirleid, the eastern forces dispatched a detachment to move northeast for reconnaissance and scouting.

　　Meanwhile, after securing their foothold in Ferafea, the Frontier army departed from Feron, marching southward unhindered. They finally halted in the Kordin region, on the border between Ral and Binehus, where they engaged a rebel force. Following their victory, they rewarded their toil with local grain and sweet wine. Scouting reports soon reached them, warning of a massive army of commoners moving toward the south.

　　At this time, the eastern forces had also come to a halt in the Smir region of Binehus. Upon learning that a rebel army was advancing southward, they fortified their camps and prepared for battle. The rebels previously repelled by the Alliance had merged with another insurgent force from the Keminice region, forming a new and formidable power that looked quite daunting in sheer numbers.

　　Colibia took the initiative, sending envoys to the rebel camp to negotiate with the leaders. After some maneuvering, they decided to drive a wedge between the two rebel commanders. Soon, rumors began to swirl through Riximi’s camp that his ally, Trisos, was planning to make a separate peace with the nobility.

　　Riximi, an illiterate man, had once been a prisoner of war and later a miner living as a vagrant. Because of his boldness, ferocity, and generosity, he had gathered a following. They had raised the banner of rebellion in northern Ral and achieved a string of victories. However, after launching a reckless attack on the Frontier army, they had suffered heavy casualties from their opponent's stiff resistance and counterattacks.

　　His ally Trisos, from Keminice, was quite a different man—versed in music and poetry. He had once won the favor and trust of his master, serving as a personal valet. He had spent years standing respectfully behind his noble master, silently listening to the lords speak freely with their friends and colleagues, which left him intimately familiar with the schemes and stratagems of the aristocracy.

　　Trisos sent word to warn his ally to remain vigilant, while also sensing that Riximi’s straightforward yet explosive temperament could bring disaster to them all. Trisos refused to meet with any further noble envoys and accelerated his war preparations. He distributed captured noble treasures to his soldiers, equipped his troops with seized armor and horses, and even shared a portion of the spoils with his ally.

　　However, his refusal to see the envoys could not stop the noble rumors. The cunning envoys also contacted one of Riximi’s subordinates, Korazan. This man had once been arrested for theft and assault, exiled to the mines to perform backbreaking labor as atonement. A man driven by greed and self-interest, Korazan accepted a bribe and a promise of pardon from the envoys, then went before his leader to muddy the waters with lies.

　　Riximi did not believe his subordinate’s claims and ordered him never to speak of it again. The following morning, the commoner army, traveling light, prepared to launch an attack. Just as tensions reached a breaking point, a noble envoy holding a green flag rode alone to the front of the rebel lines, loudly demanding to know why Trisos had gone back on his word.

　　Trisos drew his sword and cut the envoy down, then immediately gave the signal to attack. The bravery of the rebel army was admirable, yet they failed to break the tight noble formations. At dusk, a Ral army arrived on the battlefield and joined the eastern ranks. Guided by the traitor Korazan, the noble forces launched a night raid on Riximi’s main camp. In the chaos of the battle, a stray arrow nearly struck the leader Riximi in the face.

　　Caught in a swirl of panic and doubt, and further poisoned by the traitor’s whispers, Riximi mistook Trisos’s relief efforts for an assault. He retreated in haste, pulling back a considerable distance. While resting in a thatched hut, word reached him that his forces were being harassed by local lords; this news solidified his conviction that he had been utterly betrayed. Meanwhile, the Frontier Alliance, calculating how best to reap the rewards of this chaos, was marching rapidly toward the south.

　　Riximi’s withdrawal secured the safety of southern Ral. Under the pretext of offering protection, the forces of Ral remained in place, effectively detaching themselves from the eastern coalition. They then joined the Sirleid army, which had already crossed the border, and raced toward Binehus without a moment's pause.

　　With no path of retreat and his supplies exhausted, Riximi was left with only two choices: wait for annihilation or carve out a bloody path to survival. He declined the envoys sent by Trisos and continued his retreat until he reached Gormor, near the Binehus border. On that open plain, he drew up his battle lines, intent on a final showdown with the fast-approaching Frontier army.

　　During the ensuing battle, Korazan turned his coat once more, launching a direct attack on his former leader. He hoped to present Riximi’s corpse as a trophy to win favor and rewards, but his attempt failed under the protection of Riximi’s loyal inner circle. His comrades, disgusted by his treachery, moved to seize him, forcing him to flee in desperation to the eastern army’s camp for sanctuary.

　　Meanwhile, Trisos had been forced back to the edge of the Heralim thickets. The eastern army challenged his forces the following day. Trisos and his insurgents fought with the desperate courage of cornered beasts, ultimately forcing the eastern lords to admit they could not decisively crush this rebellion before their northern rivals arrived.

　　The Frontier army launched its assault on Riximi’s remnants. They expected to easily scatter a force that had suffered repeated defeats and was half-starved, yet they met with fierce, unyielding resistance. Riximi, his powerful frame always at the very front, swung a massive wooden mallet—the tool of a builder—becoming a beacon of defiance for his brothers-in-arms.

　　The Frontier commanders issued a bounty for his capture, but after many of their own soldiers fell, they were forced to bring him down with a rain of arrows. Riximi’s companions, bound by a vow of death, followed their leader into the grave. The traitor Korazan escaped his fate under the guise of being a "secret agent," eventually receiving gold and land from the Earl of Colibia.

　　Wishing to avoid a prolonged entanglement, the eastern forces dispatched a detachment through a night march into the Lucalea region, where they were welcomed by the local lord. This highly vigilant force, supported by local authorities, served both to threaten Trisos’s flank and to monitor the movements of the northern rivals.

　　Trisos met his end either by his own hand or through the betrayal of his men. His closest companions were paraded through the streets and executed; the rest of his followers became subjects of Colibia. Laria pardoned their crimes, relocating them to conquered lands to work alongside veterans and locals in farming and border defense.

　　Representatives of the Frontier Alliance and the eastern forces finally met beneath the walls of Glostir. Eastern Binehus, the cradle of the rebellion, was now the next objective. Both sides seemed eager to exert their influence there, so they hastily struck a verbal agreement, demarcated their temporary spheres of influence, and pressed southwest.

　　However, envoys from Ral, speaking in the name of the "Royal Army," soon appeared in the Alliance’s camp. Representing Ral, Sirleid, Binehus, and several other lords, they brought a dire warning: they demanded the Alliance withdraw not only from the lands of Ral but from the entire royal territory, or be branded as invaders.

　　By this time, the forces of Sirleid and Ral, joined by several lords of Binehus, had occupied Glirit and seized control of shipping on Lake Luco. They successfully extinguished the fires of war south of the lake, and the capital, Meldes, was finally out of danger.

　　The eastern army intentionally slowed its pace, but the Alliance ignored the warnings and raced to Diers, where they deployed for battle. The local castellan had maintained a vigilant posture and had gathered some scattered rebel remnants under his banner by promising them pardons. However, two days later, the rebels stationed outside the city abandoned their camp and fled; the cause was attributed to the castellan’s broken promises.

　　The fall of Diers meant that a vast stretch of open territory was now defenseless, allowing for rapid maneuvers. Yet, the castellan of Diers clearly did not intend to wait for death. Simultaneously, the Frontier army remained in a tense standoff with the defenders of Pard near Longedis. The Alliance decided to pause its operations there, keeping a close eye on the "Royal Army" while guarding against their eastern rivals.

　　Only when they learned that the Sirleid and Binehus forces had reached Diers did the Frontier units immediately retreat northward. The eastern army left a light detachment to monitor the situation, though the arrogance and carelessness of its commander nearly resulted in his capture.

　　The Marquis of Sirleid issued a proclamation, declaring as a sovereign lord that the rebels and their families would find amnesty within Sirleid. He used this to gather the scattered and hidden insurgents under his own banner, significantly bolstering his strength.

　　Some time later, the eastern army met with the forces of Sibilis, Ral, Binehus, and other lords at the border of Feron. In an atmosphere of apparent harmony, the lords sat together once more. After their deliberations, they turned their march toward Ferafea once again.

　　Facing the surging tide of the coalition forces, the Lord of Ferafea struck a defiant pose of steadfast defense. Earlier, to prevent the city from falling into a state of total encirclement, the Frontier Alliance had dispatched another army to garrison the Morasa region. Taking advantage of the southern focus on the conflict, they constructed a line of fortified camps along the supply route connecting Ferafea to Morasa, serving as a screen for both vigilance and defense.

　　The eastern army, meanwhile, assumed a posture ready for a decisive battle, though they engaged in only symbolic activities alongside their temporary allies. The representative of Binehus informed the assembled leaders that his state was no longer capable of sustained military operations. However, his liege was more than willing to express his gratitude for their intervention through grants of land.

　　Ral was granted the neighboring territory of Borfenis to compensate for its losses in the campaign. Previously, under the guise of assistance and protection, the Earl of Ral had sent troops into the Borfenis region of Binehus to prevent rebel remnants or eastern forces from encroaching upon his own borders.

　　Yet, this army had neither encountered rebels nor blocked the eastern forces from entering Ral. Instead, after the eastern lords had passed behind them, they encountered a scouting unit from the Frontier Alliance at Glostir, which left them so paralyzed with terror that they dared not move.

　　During the conflict between Suwillis and Sirleid, Binehus had stood idly by; nevertheless, during the peasant wars, Sirleid had still dispatched a limited force to assist them. In the aftermath, the Baron of Sirleid received the Wimoretis region, a rugged terrain where many survivors of the rebel army had taken refuge. These people received the Baron's merciful amnesty and settled in Wimoretis as legal subjects—an act that stirred resentment and vigilance in Ral.

　　In exchange, Laria of Colibia, through his connections with the royal house, successfully secured a decree granting Colibia ownership of the Lakas salt mines. To secure this prize, he hurriedly departed under the pretext of internal affairs and instability on his eastern borders. As for the Lord of Silarence, who so loved his collection of animal skulls, the Lord of Colibia returned his occupied lands. Though he retained his title, his actual status was reduced to something less than that of a minor local lord.

　　The Earl of Ral faced a constant stream of protests from his subordinate lords, who were no longer able to mobilize troops or provide supplies to support his military ambitions. Ultimately, he was forced to feebly announce his withdrawal. In the period that followed, the Frontier army was able to funnel reinforcements and supplies to the front lines almost without hindrance. After many days of siege, the walls of Pard were finally breached.

　　Meanwhile, Laria, the self-proclaimed "Arbiter of Colibia," watched the wars in the west and the violation of royal kin with the cold detachment of a spectator. Citing the great distance and unrest on his own eastern frontier, he rejected Sirleid's pleas for help. Consequently, some suggested to the Marquis that he should feign the abandonment of Longedis to the enemy. The hope was that the seemingly solid Frontier Alliance would turn on itself in a scramble for spoils, shattering their unity and creating an opening to strike.

　　Bilbus rejected this counsel. Instead, he dispatched a capable general to lead the combined forces of Sirleid and its allies to face the Frontier army on an open plain in Sibilis. After a crushing defeat characterized by a rout of the troops and the death of their commander, Sirleid was forced to abandon Longedis to the foe.

　　Upon hearing news of the victory, Glader once again issued the call for total war, launching a full-scale offensive against Longedis. Officers sent by the Frontier Alliance, hoisting the Alliance banner, ruthlessly extorted grain and coin from the local lords in the Sibilis area to fund the northern campaign.

　　The people of Longedis did not abandon their resistance until the very last moment. Even as their supplies were exhausted, the locals held firm behind their ramparts and walls, vowing to stand or fall with their homeland. The besieged, unable to bury their fallen comrades, had no choice but to pile the corpses in the barracks. They faced not only a savage enemy but also the horrors of famine and the stench of decay.

　　The valor of the defenders earned no respect from their Frontier opponents; instead, it incited a violent thirst for revenge. The exasperated Frontier lords issued cruel orders to their frontline units, allowing the Alliance soldiers to vent their frustrations and hatred upon everything in their path. The final result was a landscape of ruins and scorched earth.