The news about The Second Battle of Rome spread through Europe like a wildfire. Within a day, everyone was talking about the recent Anglic Order victory.


    As their popularity grew, it was time to use the strongest weapon in Sera''s arsenal... Information.


    All the hidden members of the Angelic Order came further into the light. The recruitment process in each city-state started, and using them, the religion became more favoured than ever.@@@@


    Both the Federal Alliance and the United Front tried pushing their propaganda on the general populace, but they failed miserably.


    They built their propaganda upon Sera''s barbaric, warmonger nature, and the Angelic Order''s suppressive behavior. They told everyone that Sera wanted to rule above everyone, because she has a god complex.


    These arguments fell apart quickly. The news of how the battle ended spread as well. The Sisters and Brothers of the Angelic Order were responsible for revealing the truth.


    They preached how gracious Sera was, because even though two armies came to take her life, she spared everyone who stopped fighting. This alone made most doubt the truthfulness of the propaganda.


    It didn''t help that Sera treated all prisoners well. They had the same treatment as her normal citizens, with the only difference being the constant guards and segregation from everyone else.


    The propagandas fell apart, since there was no merit in either. The main populace of many cities became unruly, especially in the Federal Alliance.


    They demanded to know why they sent two armies against Rome, if Sera wasn''t a threat to either nation. The Central Command stayed silent in all this uproar.


    The unrest in both nations caused the fighting in the west to halt. Soldier desertion became a lot higher, and even civilians began leaving the city-states.


    Sera couldn''t let that happen. The Wild would kill most Evolved, not to speak about regular soldiers or citizens. Instead, she had another idea.


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    A few days after the siege, every hidden Angelic Order member received a detailed plan about evacuating anyone who didn''t want to stay in those cities.


    It was a simple plan. Every week, on a specific day, Vicky would open a portal to New Constantinople. The citizens, soldiers, anyone who wanted to could use it. The portal would stay open for an hour, then it would close, and another would open in a different city.


    They chose New Constantinople because almost half the city lay abandoned. The space could accommodate tens of millions. It also overproduced a lot in food, clothing, raw materials, all essentials for living a normal life. It can easily support a larger population.


    Although not yet implemented, the plan had already attracted thousands of volunteers for relocation. Most were normal citizens with families, but every deserted soldier wanted to escape prosecution, too.


    The people who stayed either had nobody to lose, or wanted to help the Angelic Order by joining their ranks. They found hundreds of new Evolved among tens of thousands of candidates.


    But New Paris wasn''t the only place that felt threatened. Many city-states within the United Front felt things turn for the worse. They began recalling their soldiers, which lead to mass desertion.


    In just one day, they executed millions. It took that many people for all the protesting to stop. But it didn''t stop, instead it became silent. The support for the Angelic Order grew exponentially within every United Front settlement.


    There was another big change, which nobody was prepared for. With Napoleon''s aggressive move towards his own people, the unaligned cities reconsidered their stance in this whole ordeal.


    Not even a day passed after the news of the executions reached them, but all their leaders and representatives were in a meeting. What they talked about was a mystery to all, but the conclusion of their talks was obvious.


    Following this, the Queen of London issued a decree. She denounced Napoleon''s claim as an Emperor and ridiculed the chosen name of his nation.


    She also vowed to support every city-state who wanted to exit the United Front, and the other unaligned city-states supported this as well.


    And last but not least, she spoke directly towards the Angelic Order and Sera. She congratulated her victory in Rome and offered to open discussions about the future of Europe.


    The next day, Sera graciously accepted the offer on live, and she also denounced everything Napoleon and the Central Command had done to keep people in line.


    Later, the discussions began, or more like the planning for the discussions began. Every hour, another city-state leader did something similar to Sera and the Queen. They criticized the Federal Alliance and the United Front, then asked to be part of the planning for the future.


    It took them half a week just to get everything in order. The meeting was going to be held virtually, even though Sera offered everyone to teleport together.


    For obvious reasons, nobody really trusted Sera, so they all respectfully denied. Sera took no offense, either. She knew none of them would accept, but by offering, she made her intentions more clear. She was serious and fully committed to a bountiful collaboration.


    They just had to wait for Otto. He left for Castleburg a week after the battle, and if rumors were true, Bea travelled with him.


    After everyone learned about her ''cheating'', many people stopped talking to her. Lucy, Sarah, Leslie, and a few others stayed by her side, but even they felt conflicted.


    Eventually, the pain of her actions became too much to bear. The only person who stayed with her, comforted her, was Otto. Their closeness caused even more people to turn away, and eventually, only Sarah remained by her side.


    Otto was her brother, and Bea was her close friend. She couldn''t dismiss either, even though she really wanted to. Leslie didn''t blame her for supporting Bea, but he told Sarah outright that until Bea remained friends with Otto, he would keep his distance.


    Others told Bea this as well, but since she never stopped her friendship with Otto, everyone left her. She had nobody in Rome, or New Athens, or anywhere else. Vicky and Sera hadn''t spoken to her since the ''banishment''.


    It pained her heart, but she needed a new perspective on life, and moving seemed like the best option for that.


    It took two weeks for everything to change. Europe''s power dynamic was in a state of flux, and this next meeting would decide the fate of the war.