Hedgehog Upheaval

The Battle of Castle Hedgehog refers to the conflict occurring throughout the Blood Pool Region between the Marlon army and the dead soldiers commanded by Ney Futapie. Spearheaded by an assault on the fortress of Queen Dowager Prim Marlon, Castle Hedgehog, the conflict permanently ended Marlon's imperialistic regime and prompted new changes to the government.

Origins
Following Marlon's annexation of Lucifenia, tensions arose between the country and Beelzenia. On the premise of wishing to capture fugitives hiding in the empire, and with the intention of capturing more mainland territory, Marlon invaded Beelzenia from its Lucifenian territory and ran a second invasion into Asmodean. During the course of the war, King Kyle Marlon continued to push for an occupation of all Evillious.

Following his exorcism of the Demon of Pride, Kyle was alerted to a conspiracy in the Marlon royal family to force Marlon's imperialist agenda. Obeying a summons from the merchant Keel Freesis, Kyle returned to Bariti along with his companions. In response, Queen Dowager Prim Marlon retreated to Castle Hedgehog along with Ney Futapie, who began raising an army of undead in the Blood Pool Region. Arriving at Bariti, Kyle met with the parliamentary official Arkatoir Marlon and Keel; doing so he learned of Prim's motives to build Marlon into the largest country in the history of Evillious using demonic possession.

Preface in Lioness
Preparing to confront the queen dowager, Kyle assembled an army of four thousand and two hundred troops to march on Blood Pool. Seeking the counsel of Elluka Clockworker and Gumillia as well as the aid of Germaine Avadonia, the king moved his troops out to Lioness. After arranging to supply his army with more weapons from an associate of Keel's and having the weapons enchanted by the sorceresses, Kyle divided the army into five units.

The second, third, and fourth units of three thousand and two hundred soldiers were allocated to march on and eventually merge with the Marlon troops stationed at the country's northern garrison, suppressing the undead soldiers and coordinating the defense of each major city in the region. The fifth regiment would continue to defend the fortress at Lioness while the first, an army of four hundred troops, marched on Blood Pool to infiltrate Castle Hedgehog.

After preparations were made and the strategy was coordinated among the soldiers, Kyle transferred command of the army to Germaine Avadonia and the new commander was quickly accepted by the troops. The following morning, the army marched out to lay siege to the castle.

Confrontation in the Castle
During the march, the army was attacked by the undead soldiers and was ordered to charge on to the Castle. On arrival the soldiers breached the Castle Hedgehog's defenses and entered into the main hall while beset by the undead, suffering numerous casualties. Spotting Ney in the battle, Kyle, Germaine, and a number of troops left the main battle to pursue the assassin into the depths of the castle.

After reaching the courtyard, the group was ambushed by the Espionage Task Force. While several soldiers were commanded to pursue and defeat the Lieutenant, Germaine held off the other four agents and Kyle took two troops to pursue Ney. As Kyle's group ascended the clock tower, Germaine battled with the agents and was able to quickly subdue them.

Reaching the top of the spire, Kyle confronted Prim Marlon over her conspiratorial activities and the remaining troops attempted to capture Ney; before apprehending her, the soldiers were killed by the assassin. After revealing everything to her son, Prim then planned to have him again possessed by a Demon of Sin before Ney returned and killed the queen dowager.

Following a battle between Ney and Kyle, the concentration of Gluttony magic on the agent led to the undead soldiers collapsing, and Germaine arrived to bring aid to the king. Working in tandem the two subdued Ney Marlon and, with the undead immobile, the battle was swiftly brought to an end. The undead were then reburied in their proper cemetaries and Prim's, as well as Ney's bodies were buried in the Left Chapel cemetery.

Aftermath
Following the end of his mother's conspiracy, King Kyle worked towards reinstating the idependence of Marlon's Lucifenia territory and improve relations between the Kingdom of Marlon and other countries. During this time he faced opposition by the merchants and nobles invested in trade with the region. By EC 510, however, Lucifenia was restored to its former sovereignty and King Kyle abdicated from the throne. In his place, his half-brother Arkatoir ascended the throne as king.

Civilian Perception
During the span of the event, the public was unaware of Prim Marlon's conspiracy or use of the vessels of sin, few knowing of the vessels' existence. The invasion on Castle Hedgehog was thus regarded as merely an effort to find and stop the cause of the undead soldiers as well as assure the safety of the queen dowager. To prevent further chaos in Marlon's political climate, the conspiracy and undead prowling the country were then publicly credited to an unknown mage who escaped the battle shortly before aid arrived.

In the run-up to the battle and during its course the citizens of Marlon were terrorized by the undead attacks and spread of the Gula disease; following the battle the populace was relieved, although puzzled, at the sudden conclusion to the attacks. Seeing the annexation of Lucifenia as an illegal occupation, the surrounding countries on the Evillious mainland and Lucifenian citizens saw Kyle's restoration of their independence as an end to his tyrannical reign.

Appearances

 * Handbeat Clocktower
 * The Daughter of Evil: Praefacio of Blue (first appearance)
 * Epic of Evil: The Daughter of Evil Fanbook
 * Waltz of Evil: The Deadly Sins of Evil Guidebook (indirect mention only)
 * Heavenly Yard (indirect mention only)
 * Four Melodies of Evil ~The Daughter of Evil Novel Music Collection~
 * The Muzzle of Nemesis (album)