Chester crashing to the ground, Lina remained on her rear, catching her breath. Blood still stained her from her fight with Saff, and once again she'd exerted herself. "I-is it over?" the king asked. Saff and Cerulean still lay defeated on the ground, as did Chester in his victory. From further ahead, Johannes still seemed conscious, though bloody. He panted, "I hear no mortars, or the sounds of soldiers storming the place, meaning your comrades still hold their ground, for now. I would hope the soldiers of the country are beginning to mount a counterattack, but if we can strike at their morale..." Johannes began to stand, but his leg caved out from under him. He nearly fell, and would have had Lina not caught him with her shoulder. Looking to the king and queen, she said, "Keep my idiot safe, we might be able to end this ourselves." In tow with Johannes, the two moved. --- Every breath he caught a valuable one, Macario continued to push back the attackers. Some had already gotten through, and he was getting more tired with every bout, but even Vermilion had taken a few licks by this point., his intimidation leading to cautious, slow burning strategies. In attrition, Vermilion would win out easily. Similarly too cautious to try and end things decisively, Macario laughed, "I'm trusting those idiots after all..." Throwing a Xun just to keep the men rattled, Macario grinned, but before things could continue, a voice rang out, silver shining from the balcony of the castle. "Cerulean is defeated!" Johannes cried. "Melonberry's hero won't stop there as long as you Four Color Companies continue your fight, so lay down your arms or his comrades and I will fight you to your last!" The man stood firm, clearly wounded but confident, he words shaking the hearts of those still stopped. The Azure company mooks were unmatched in the owner of their individual troops in the Blue, but Johannes' Balder Knights still head their ground despite being outnumbered. The Verdant Company had its leader defeated, and their mortars had been taken out on the first go round, its remaining men having already retreated as luck was not on their side. The Quartz Company had not been in the thick of things regardless and had no more stakes beyond logistics, which mattered little as everything fell apart. Vermilion gawked at the announcement, his men tittering in anxiety, some even making a retreat. "No way Cerelu-" The clamoring of footsteps approaching, Macario snarled, Vermilion's guard well dropped. He was only able to let out one "Glack" while Macario went with "Li!" Fist catching flame, Macario's fist slammed into him, the man himself catching fire and bowling into his troops, the heat quickly spreading. Some went went to quench the outbreak, while many simply had no more direction with Vermilion's defeat, scattering like moths. Patting his fist out in the dirt, Macario let out a laugh, flopping to the ground. "What a damn mess..." --- Stepping back, Johannes continued to catch his breath. "'Melonberry's hero?'" Johannes repeated. Lina admitted, "He's going to be infamous one day, so I figure the king and queen wouldn't want to be linked to 'Chester D. Arnold'. He saved my town though, so the Companies would know him for that." Looking back over the battleground, which was beginning to quiet, Johannes hoped, "Let's pray we don't need him again." --- "No conformation on Cerulean yet but Vermilion was beaten!" "What!?" Goldenrod spat, flopping back in his wheelchair. Teeth gnashing, he slammed his fist against his armrest. "And no word from Saff yet?" The messenger shook his head. Goldenrod seethed. Kobicha and Chadwick had the misfortune of running into Kuhn, who'd technically beaten Viridian without taking any damage. Part of Goldenrod wanted to swarm him with the entire army, but he was hardly alone: forces from other islands were mobilizing as it was. If they were inside the castle they'd be defensible but as of now they were in the open, and he was the only executive left standing. "Send some men to retrieve Saff, secretly. We're leaving, let the other armies keep making noise to keep attention off of us in the retreat." The Quartz goon nodded. "Yes sir!" Another taking Goldenrod by the wheelchair, he began to roll off, the man hissing, "Just a bunch of [i]pirates[/i]."