And now, secretly, a Cathedral-level invocation ritual ready to activate if needed.
Let's see Demon Lord Seraphina counter that, he thought grimly.
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Dawn - Commander Elric's Speech
The sun broke the eastern horizon, painting the sky orange and pink.
Commander Elric stood on an elevated platform where all assembled soldiers could see him. Nineteen hundred fifty men and women in military formation, their armor catching the dawn light, their weapons ready.
He looked at them—these soldiers who'd fought for four brutal days, who'd lost six hundred forty-seven companions, who'd bled and died to take this settlement.
Today would be the final day. Victory or death.
He needed to give them reason to fight. Needed to channel their exhaustion into determination, their grief into fury, their fear into courage.
He raised his voice, the projection technique learned over forty years allowing him to be heard across the entire assembly.
