The Witcher: Lord of the Empire

A soldier clad in black armor cautiously came to a halt at the forest's edge, his patrol unit forming up beside him. Before them lay a pitch-dark forest, and under the moonlight, every shadow looked like the gaping maw of a wild beast.

There was not a single birdsong to be heard—nor even the chirping of insects. A strange and eerie silence hung in the air.

The patrolman felt terror tightening around his guts, as if slippery eels were squirming in his intestines—desperately searching for a way out.

An hour ago, they had received their orders to move.

They had hoped that the cold of night and the numb repetition of grueling patrol routines—drilled into them over a hundred times—would suppress their fear.

They had been wrong.

An hour had passed. They had marched roughly 2.5 kilometres into dangerous enemy territory, and still, the fear gnawed at him.

They were afraid of the Cintran guerrillas.

There were rumors… that the Lion of Cintra could command the beasts of the forest.

That he had tamed the serpents and leopards lurking deep within the woods and turned them into humanoid assassins lying in wait for the Black Army.

Because of this, the guerrillas of Cintra were said to be as ferocious as wild animals.

In response to such rumors, educated superior officers had rebuked them—claiming that those guerrilla leaders with beast-like eyes were merely witchers, freaks born of alchemical mutation, and could be slain by five men—maybe even three—if they had swords.

But this did little to ease the patrol unit's fear of the Cintran guerrillas.

For the Black Army stationed in Cintra, these elusive killers had inflicted far too much damage.

"Did you hear?"

Driven by fear, one of the normally disciplined Black Army soldiers couldn't help but speak, hoping that conversation might dull the edge of terror.

"What are you trying to say, Corporal?"

The patrol's commander was a lieutenant. He glanced over at the speaking corporal but didn't stop him—he, too, probably needed something to settle his nerves.

"I heard the Eastern Army Group got crushed."

"Do you want to be made an example of? Speaking like that?"

The lieutenant's tone hardened.

"That's just Cintran trickery! Lies! They don't dare face us on the open battlefield, so they resort to forming guerrilla bands and sneaking attacks. Now they're even using cowardly rumors like this to shake us!"

"…But I also heard that Duke aep Dahy was captured."

"Are you still not going to shut up, Corporal?"

The corporal paused, then muttered, "That's not all I was going to say. I heard… the Cintrans offered to exchange prisoners. They were willing to send Duke aep Dahy back. But His Majesty refused."

The entire patrol stopped in their tracks.

"That's Duke aep Dahy we're talking about," the corporal mumbled.

"Ever since that rumor started spreading, don't you think something's felt off with Duke de Wett?"

The lieutenant fixed the chattering corporal with a hard stare.

"You really do want to be made an example of, don't you."

But the corporal kept grumbling: "Our patrol zones keep getting smaller, our training hours shorter by the day. We're practically the Marshal's logistics crew now…"

The rest of the patrol remained silent.

They could all clearly sense the shift within the Western Army Group.

As their commander, Duke de Wett had long grown lax.

And ever since the news of Duke aep Dahy's capture, that laxity had only deepened.

His attitude had infected the entire Western Group—

Just like this lieutenant, who still barked about 'making examples', but hadn't once raised a fist toward the rambling corporal the whole time.

"If you're so worried about what's happening up top,"

the lieutenant said, "then why not muster some courage and help eliminate the danger for us?"

He pointed toward the deep, shadowy forest ahead.

"Let's fulfill our actual duty—let's stop those Cintran guerrillas."

The corporal mumbled again, vaguely replying, "The forest isn't scary. But—"

"What if there really are guerrillas in there?"

The patrol, which had just begun to move, froze again.

In an instant, images of fellow soldiers who had engaged Cintra's guerrillas—and died—flashed through their minds.

"Well, sir?"

The corporal's voice was hoarse.

"Do you still want to go into that forest?"

"…Our orders were to scout the area within a five-kilometer radius around the camp."

"We've completed the task. No point wasting more time."

"Withdraw."

In the darkness, the Black Sun patrol unit—clad in black armor—hurriedly retreated.

Without their chatter, and with no insects or birds to break the silence, the forest felt even more lifeless.

Suddenly—just twenty paces from where the patrol had stood—a massive tree trunk rippled like water.

With a long exhale, a female mage with flowing black hair stabilized the chaotic energy in her hand.

With a flick of her hair, the scent of lilac and gooseberries permeated the forest air.

Two men emerged behind her.

One of them was massive, his bare arms thicker than the mage's waist. His bald scalp gleamed with folds of muscle and fat, and his eyes were sharp as a viper's.

The other had long silver-white hair, like an old man's. His build was well-proportioned, his face expressionless.

Geralt stood behind Yennefer, and as the sorceress raised an eyebrow, he took a deep breath.

Even as he did so, his face remained blank, his gaze cold and fixed tightly on the departing Nilfgaardian patrol.

"Well, Letho?" the White Wolf turned to look at him. "At this range, could you see their faces clearly? Can we do it tonight?"

In the darkness, Letho's amber, snake-like pupils gleamed.

He flashed a look that could only be described as that of a predator spotting its prey.

"Kolgrim's poison has already taken effect. Gather the others. We move tonight."

...

Since returning from Novigrad, only Kolgrim had remained by Lann's side among the Viper School witchers. As for the school's leader, Letho, along with Auckes and Serrit, the three of them stayed behind in Cintra.

The Witcher Order was to be rebuilt in Cintra, and since the Viper School had been the first to align with Lann's cause, it would've been foolish for Letho not to use that advantage to fully revitalize his school.

After all, in the original timeline, Letho had been the most proactive among all the schools in seeking their revival. He had even once accepted a contract from Emperor Emhyr to assassinate King Demavend III of Aedirn and King Foltest of Temeria.

Now, as Letho looked upon Cintra—a land waiting to be rebuilt—and its citizens, who, thanks to Lann, held an innate fondness for witchers, he realized that this might be the best chance for the witcher brotherhood to rise again since its very creation.

And he intended to seize that chance, as the head of the Viper School, by taking part in the nation's restoration.

It wasn't like this was the first time a Viper School witcher had taken on a new role anyway. After evaluating his own strengths and expertise, Letho had decisively reported his plan to form a guerrilla unit to Mousesack and Vissegerd—and received their full support.

At first, the guerrilla force was small. Letho served as commander, with Auckes and Serrit each leading their own squads. Every witcher led a unit of about a hundred men. But once the Wolf School joined in, the guerrilla force gradually grew to over a thousand fighters.

Normally, the force operated as independent squads, targeting Nilfgaard's supply convoys and ambushing patrols or scouting parties. Whenever they found an isolated Nilfgaardian company or a small unit of about a hundred men, the guerrilla squads could regroup and organize a full engagement.

Strangely enough, the Nilfgaardian army stationed in Cintra didn't show the usual aggressive edge that had once carried them through their conquests of the South and the marches into the Northern Kingdoms. This made things surprisingly smooth for Letho and his fighters.

Their mobility only improved once the Skellige fleet opened up a water route.

Before long, Nilfgaard stopped stationing smaller forces in the field altogether. Their troops were now regrouped by battalions and divisions, stationed within major towns and fortified strongholds.

So, Letho was forced into a stalemate with them.

Until now.

Lann had returned—bringing fresh reinforcements with him—and issued a full-scale mobilization order.

Kolgrim and Geralt joined the guerrilla force, and the mercenaries from Kovir helped replenish their manpower. This gave Letho the freedom to finally fight without restraints.

Their current position was Hochebuz, in the north-central region of Cintra—Nilfgaard's primary granary. However, as Cintra's counteroffensive pushed forward, this depot had become far too close to the front lines. With constant harassment from guerrilla raids, Nilfgaard was already planning a strategic relocation.

To protect their supply convoys from ambush, Duke de Wett had dispatched a unit to the front line to tie down Cintra's forces and those of Skellige. At the same time, he sent out numerous scouting parties, regardless of losses, to prevent enemy infiltration.

Finally, the Western Army Group sent an additional 5,000 troops to reinforce Hochebuz and secure the granary's defense—making it nearly impregnable.

In such conditions, only the guerrilla forces could hope to infiltrate the area.

Even then, despite being led by witchers—and even with Yennefer agreeing to leave her country manor to lend a hand for Geralt's sake—it was still difficult for the guerrillas to go up against an enemy that outnumbered them several times over.

They had to rely on clever tactics to achieve their objectives.

Fortunately, it seemed the Western Army Group lacked a unit of mages. If they had one, Letho and his fighters would have no choice but to stay hidden in the jungle.

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