War of 505

The War of 505 refers to the conflict between the Kingdom of Marlon, Beelzenian Empire, and Asmodean in the titular year EC 505. After years of growing tension between Marlon and its neighbors, fighting broke out across the region as a pretext for the expansion of Marlon's imperialist regime.

Origins
"Do you intend to unify the whole of Evillious?" "We will come to that sooner or later."

- General George Ausdin and King Kyle

Following the revolution in the Kingdom of Lucifenia, the territory was occupied by the Marlon military by decree of its king, Kyle Marlon, to serve as a temporary government for the weakened country. Within the following year, Kyle declared the Witch Hunting Order on the leader of the Lucifenian Resistance, Germaine Avadonia, and attempted to eradicate its members from the false government. The former revolutionaries opposed Kyle's policies and the conflict was exacerbated when Lucifenia was annexed as part of Marlon. Declared enemies of the state, fighting broke out throughout EC 501 as the Resistance maintained Breck Mountain as its base of operations.

In EC 502, the former revolutionaries occupied Retasan Fortess and held it during the struggle with the Marlon army. After the former Lucifenian court mage, Elluka Clockworker and her apprentice Gumillia were discovered to be spying on the palace the following year, their names were added to the Witch Hunt list. Enforcing his Witch Hunt, Kyle petitioned his mother, Queen Dowager Prim, for aid with her Espionage Task Force and she complied. Per Prim's conditions, the task force was given absolute authority over the matter and names continued to be added throughout the period.

In EC 503, Commander Riliane Mouchet was tasked for recapturing the forts lost to the reformed Resistance and soon devised a means to counter the Lucifenian Resistance. Overwhelming them, Restasan Fortress was recaptured for the Kingdom of Marlon; as a result, the members of the Resistance fled to the Beelzenian Empire. Marlon immediately ordered Beelzenia to surrender the troops, but the Emperor, under advisement of Gumillia, refused and harbored the "criminals". In response, Riliane Mouchet's forces were stationed at Retasan in preparation for potential conflict and traffick between countries became increasingly restricted as the threat of war loomed overhead.

Armistice and Invasion
"That. Is. Why! I’ve come to announce that the armistice has been annulled!"

- Head of Espionage Ney Futapie

The Lucifenian Resistance was incorporated into Beelzenia's army and stationed along the border in case of invasion; in EC 504, Chartette Langley and Germaine Avadonia entered Beelzenia and the former was appointed captain of the Resistance, now named the Langley Troops, to replace the injured former commander.

In EC 505, Marlon ordered an invasion of Asmodean and fighting quickly ensued. During this time, the Head of Espionage Ney Futapie was appointed the new commander of Retasan Fortress; along with the Espionage Task Force and Nantes troops, Ney arrived at the forest and then personally infiltrated Beelzenia in preparation for a first strike, killing the border guards. At a nearby cemetery within the country, Ney raised an army of undead soldiers, using the bodies of the former Emperor as the legion's commander.

With her undead hordes, Ney officially declared the armistice between Marlon and Beelzenia annulled and directed her troops in an assault on Rockbane, as well as other areas in the region. Beelzenian soldiers were quickly deployed to combat the sudden threat but were quickly overwhelmed and forced to retreat. In response, the Emperor of Beelzenia declared an emergency state and put the Imperial City on lockdown, while the army was redeployed to defend the Empire.

Over the next several days, the Langley Troops attempted to eradicate the undead soldiers in Rockbane. In the course of the assault, the former Retasan commander Riliane defected, defeating the former Emperor commanding of the undead army and bringing its head to the Beelzenian Emperor. After meeting with Riliane, the Emperor promised her protection in exchange for the information she supplied; after meeting with his military commanders and advisers, the decision was made to launch a counter-attack the next day.

Counterattack
"Well anyway, it’s useless to leave the country... The next step is to usher in a real war." "So it’s true?" "The Emperor has made up his mind. Tomorrow we will begin an attack on Retasan Fortress."

- Riliane Mouchet and Yukina Freesis

Twenty thousand Beelzenian soldiers were divided into four divisions for the attack; three were sent to raid Retasan, and the fourth was sent to surround the fortress after the defeat of its soldiers. Although Ney requested reinforcements, only a scant three thousand were sent due to both the reluctance of former Lucifenian generals and the delay of troops returning from Asmodean. Due to the advantage of numbers for Beelzenia and the geographical advantages for Retasan, the two armies became locked in a stalemate. In an effort to break this stalemate, a second strike was planned on the fortress.

Following Germaine Avadonia's advice, the Langley troops conducted nightly raids on Retasan, as well as spread rumors to sow chaos among the Marlon army. When Ney attempted to raise more undead soldiers to bolster their defense, the chaos among the soldiers increased, and the army suffered significant setbacks. Due to this, the fortress was almost completely recaptured by Beelzenia over the course of several days and Ney fled to Lucifenian. Around this time on the Asmodean front, the Marlon army also faced an assault from their forces, which were suppressed by General George Ausdin; with the death of their commander, Asmodean's military retreated.

Continuation and End
After the defeat at Retasan, Marlon troops were instructed to continue to fight in the region while forces returned from Asmodean. After they regrouped, King Kyle intended to launch another invasion on Beelzenia en masse, taking the country by storm and conquering it entirely. From there, it was planned to sweep over the weakened Asmodean and the rest of the Evillious region, taking control of the entire west side of the continent. Though the fighting continued for a short time, the war was ultimately ended sometime after King Kyle was purged of the Demon of Pride and Marlon's forces were repelled from both countries.

Aftermath
After the war was put to an end, King Kyle abdicated the throne in EC 510 and his country's imperialist agenda halted with him. Lucifenia's former sovereignty was restored, while the Kingdom of Marlon came under the rule of Kyle's half-brother, Arkatoir Marlon.

Civilian Perception
"Damn it, they'd better stop randomly waging war just for their own interests! The criminal is an excuse anyway, all they want is to expand their own territory!"

- Yukina Freesis

Aside from the Lucifenian Resistance, many among the former Lucifenian military expressed disapproval over Marlon's imperialist policies both before and during the war, in some cases deciding resulting in defections from within the ranks. Due to this, the Beelzenian front suffered greatly from chaos among the troops and fear of the undead soldiers conjured as their reinforcements. Although at first effective in striking terror among the citizens, the reanimated warriors were soon brushed off as a much more minor threat once a means to combat them was discovered.

The citizens of Retasan expressed dissatisfaction with their constant change in government as the area became more and more heavily contested during the war. Kyle's abdication was thus seen by many as, partially, a result of his tyranny; many of the events during and directly following the war were left unknown to the general public. Due to the conflict, both Beelzenia and Asmodean experienced increased resentment towards Marlon, tensions building between the three countries.

Conceptualization and Origins

 * The War of 505 and its related motivations may draw inspiration from British imperialism, characterized by extensive global colonization and competition with other European countries.

Appearances

 * Handbeat Clocktower (appears in flashback(s))
 * The Daughter of Evil: Praeludium of Red (first appearance)
 * The Daughter of Evil: Praefacio of Blue
 * Epic of Evil: The Daughter of Evil Fanbook
 * The Daughter of Evil: Illustration Story (indirect mention only)
 * Her Reason
 * Four Melodies of Evil ~The Daughter of Evil Novel Music Collection~ (appears in flashback(s))
 * The Muzzle of Nemesis (album) (appears in flashback(s))