The stars emerge, and twilight descends.

Tonight in Maniya is destined to be a sleepless night.

Dots of light illuminate the city, near and far.

But more brilliant than the lights are the burning torches.

Torchlights gather like endless fireflies, spreading along the crisscrossing streets, extending into the distance.

They are the angry crowds and the rebels entering Maniya.

They brandish vibrant flags in the vast night, moving southeast across the city.

And at the end of the road, a towering castle stands in the darkness, like a monster looming over the ancient Royal City.

That is Dorolia Castle, known as the "Immortal Fortress".

Dorolia means border fortress in ancient Seggese.

This towering castle, with walls twenty meters high and towers fifty meters tall, is the tallest structure in all of Maniya, aside from the Eternal Cathedral, and it’s the highest point in Maniya City.

When the Holy Mania Empire was merely a slave city-state alliance, this castle already stood in Maniya City.

At that time, the Maniya city-state alliance was just Maniya, a city built by escaping slaves, and Dorolia Castle was a military fortress constructed by the people of Maniya to resist their former slave masters.

Later, Carl I, the founder of Holy Mania, who was chosen as the consul, expanded the fortress, made it his castle, and converted the city-state republic into a hereditary monarchy.

He expanded from Maniya City, eventually creating the miraculous achievement of an emperor from a slave.

And Dorolia Castle thus became one of the symbols of imperial authority in the Holy Mania Empire.

Of course, time has passed, over a millennium.

Times are changing, and magic technology continues to advance.

To date, many nobles are no longer content to live in old, dark castles, preferring instead the beautiful manors equipped with magical defense barriers.

The defensive role of Dorolia Castle, due to the Empire’s continuous expansion, gradually lost its significance and value in resisting external enemies.

Because of this, this impregnable castle gradually transformed from royal territory into a royal prison, specifically used to detain political prisoners who opposed the royal family and nobility, and heretics against the Eternal Church.

From then on, Dorolia Castle Prison became a terrifying legendary place for the people of the Empire, feared and revered...

It feels like a giant mountain weighing on the hearts of the people of Maniya City, suffocating them; it also seems like a devil watching over the entire city, a mention of which sends shivers down their spines.

On ordinary days, even the streets near Dorolia Castle Prison rarely see pedestrians, only soldiers patrolling back and forth.

But today is different.

Outside Dorolia Castle, the fortress.

Smoke and fire rolls, sometimes obscuring the sky, sometimes revealing the starlight.

On the streets, points of fire can be seen, and even in the night, one can see the dense crowd illuminated by the flames.

There are fully armed imperial soldiers, impressive mercenary knights, civilians holding banners, and wanderers wearing clothes patched who knows how many times.

The people vary, old and young, men and women, but the only commonality is the golden armband tied to their right arm, shining brightly under the starlight and torches.

They wave different weapons, shouting the same slogan, rushing toward Dorolia Castle Prison in the dark...

"Long live life! Capture Dorolia!"

"Long live life! Capture Dorolia!"

The shouts, like a tsunami, drown out the darkness.

On the tall towers of Dorolia, watching the crowd like an ocean, the noble officers and soldiers guarding the castle are astounded.

"Prison Director! The outer city’s gates have been seized by the rioters! The rebels have entered the city and are rushing here with the mob!"

The courier soldier, rolling and crawling, reached the Prison Director who stood on the tower, gazing into the distance, and exclaimed in a panic. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"Rebels? Where did the rebels come from?"

The Prison Director, of noble birth, looked bewildered.

"Guard Corps! It’s the Guard Corps! They’re wearing the Guard Corps standard equipment, it’s probably the Seventh Guard Corps outside the city that has rebelled! Not only that, it seems there are mercenaries among them too!"

The courier hurriedly said.

Upon hearing this, the Prison Director’s eyes widened in disbelief.

He took a deep breath, picked up the telescope from Elf Forest, and gazed outside the castle.

Under the starlight and flames, when the Prison Director saw the Seventh Guard Corps’ iconic silver armor and the mercenaries and citizens rushing toward him, his expression quickly changed, and he gasped.

For a moment, his expression grew increasingly solemn.

"Everyone, listen up! Enter highest alert status! Have Lord Daniel activate defensive magic! Archers and Magic Crystal Cannon Gunners prepare, do not let these rebels in!"

The Prison Director glanced toward the inner city, then at the sky, drew his command sword, and shouted.

With his order, the guards set up the deep-barreled Magic Crystal Cannons, aiming at the streets outside the castle, at the crowd surging on the streets.

The archers also tightened their bowstrings, set their arrows, aiming at the citizens and soldiers gradually surrounding the castle.