The Eclipsed Order

Chapter 10: Chapter 10: The War Was Supposed to Be a Victory, Until Four Unknown Women Appeared

The news spread through the surrounding territories within days.

What had begun as a conflict between the D’Averon and Velmorne territories had ended far sooner than anyone had expected. The Count of Velmorne had been forced to withdraw his forces after nearly the entire group sent toward the D’Averon border was annihilated in a single night.

More disturbing than the defeat itself was the identity of those responsible.

Four young women.

No one knew where they had come from, who they served, or what organization they belonged to.

Inside the main hall of the Velmorne estate, Count Velmorne sat at the head of the table with an expression that had grown increasingly furious as the reports continued.

"Say it again."

The knight standing before him swallowed nervously.

"My lord, the surviving knights have confirmed that there were four attackers."

"Four?"

"Yes, my lord."

"So you’re telling me that four young women entered our military camp, slaughtered our knights, and left without suffering a single serious injury?"

Count Velmorne’s voice was low, but the anger behind it was unmistakable.

The knight standing before him lowered his head.

"Yes, my lord."

"Four."

The count repeated the number as though he could not believe what he had just heard.

"Four people."

His hand tightened around the armrest of his chair.

"We sent hundreds of soldiers to that camp. Experienced knights. Battle-tested men who have served this territory for years, and you’re standing here telling me that four young women destroyed them in a single night?"

"My lord, we—"

"Don’t tell me what you did."

The count suddenly rose from his seat, his voice echoing throughout the hall.

"Tell me how it happened!"

The knight flinched before forcing himself to continue.

"The attack began without warning. We initially believed it was a small group of infiltrators, but that assumption was proven wrong almost immediately. The first attacker caused massive destruction outside the camp. Her attacks were powerful enough to scatter entire formations before the knights could properly respond."

"Then what?"

"Another one entered the command area. She confronted one of our knight captains directly."

The count’s expression became darker.

"And?"

"He was killed."

The words fell heavily into the room.

"How?"

"We don’t know exactly. Witnesses reported that his movements became strangely slow, as though an invisible force was weighing down his body. Before he could recover, she attacked him from several directions almost simultaneously."

The count stared at him.

"And the others?"

"One used some kind of invisible cutting technique. The surviving knights described it as threads, although none of them could properly identify what they were seeing. Men were cut down before they even realized they had been attacked."

The knight hesitated.

"The last one was even more difficult to understand. She appeared among the soldiers without warning and killed them before they could react."

Count Velmorne’s face had become red with anger.

"Enough."

He slammed his fist onto the table.

Bang!

Several knights in the room lowered their heads.

"How many?"

The question was quieter this time.

The knight swallowed.

"Almost the entire force."

The count froze.

"Almost?"

"Yes, my lord."

"And the survivors?"

"Scattered. Most of them are still too frightened to give a proper account of what happened."

For several seconds, nobody spoke.

Count Velmorne slowly looked around the room.

The men standing before him were knights who had survived battles, men who had faced monsters and bandits without hesitation.

Yet none of them looked confident now.

They looked afraid.

"Four young women..."

The count muttered the words under his breath.

"Who are they?"

"We don’t know."

"Where did they come from?"

"We don’t know."

"Who sent them?"

"We don’t know."

His expression twisted with frustration.

"Then what exactly do you know?"

The knight clenched his jaw.

"We know that they possessed abilities completely beyond our understanding. None of our knights could get close enough to properly fight them, and ordinary magic was ineffective against their attacks."

Another knight finally stepped forward.

"My lord, continuing the war would be dangerous."

The count immediately turned toward him.

"Dangerous?"

"Yes. We have already lost most of our forces sent toward the D’Averon territory. If those four are connected to Count D’Averon, we cannot assume that they were the only ones capable of fighting."

The count’s anger remained, but the words had clearly struck something deeper.

He looked down at the map spread across the table.

The D’Averon territory had been expected to fall quickly.

Instead, his army had been almost completely erased.

And now the neighboring territories would hear about it.

"If this information spreads..."

"It already has, my lord."

The count’s expression darkened.

He slowly sat back down.

For the first time, there was something besides anger in his eyes.

Fear.

"We’re ending the war."

No knight questioned his decision.

There was simply nothing left to send.

And by the following morning, the rumors had already begun spreading from territory to territory.

D’Averon Territory

The atmosphere within the D’Averon estate was considerably different.

Unlike Velmorne, where anger and fear had taken hold of the household, the news of Count Velmorne’s withdrawal had brought a sense of relief to the D’Averon territory. The war that everyone had expected to continue for weeks had ended almost as suddenly as it had begun.

Inside the dining hall, Count D’Averon sat with his family while several knights stood nearby, reporting the latest information.

"So the Velmorne forces have completely withdrawn?" his wife asked.

"Yes, my lady," one of the knights replied. "Their army has suffered enormous losses. According to the reports we’ve received, they no longer have enough forces to continue the campaign."

Count D’Averon remained silent for a moment.

"That was faster than expected."

"Indeed, my lord."

One of the knights placed several reports on the table.

"There is something else."

The count looked toward him.

"What is it?"

"The reports concerning the attackers."

His expression changed slightly.

"The four women?"

"Yes."

The knight opened one of the reports.

"We still haven’t identified them. The survivors claim that all four possessed abilities unlike anything they had encountered before. Their appearances were also unusual. They appeared to be young, yet they were capable of overwhelming experienced knights without difficulty."

Count D’Averon frowned.

"Did they say anything?"

"Nothing that could identify them. They simply fought and disappeared."

His wife looked concerned.

"Then why would they attack Velmorne?"

"We don’t know."

The dining hall fell quiet.

The count leaned back in his chair, his expression thoughtful.

"If they were sent by someone, then the question becomes who."

No one had an answer.

The four mysterious women had appeared at exactly the moment the D’Averon territory had been threatened, destroyed most of Velmorne’s forces, and then vanished without asking for recognition or reward.

It was almost as though they had never existed.

Almost.

"Keep our knights on alert," Count D’Averon finally said. "The war may be over, but I don’t want anyone becoming careless."

"Understood, my lord."

The knights bowed and left the hall.

The conversation gradually returned to quieter matters, but the strange report remained in everyone’s mind.

Especially the question that none of them could answer.

Who were those four women?

Several corridors away, Ares happened to be passing through the estate.

He had already heard the entire conversation.

Naturally, he had no reason to be surprised.

He simply continued walking, keeping his expression as innocent as possible.

The four had done exactly what he expected.

More importantly, their first mission had succeeded.

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