83.11 Reflection

I actually flinched at her words. All around me, those who were present during the fall all visibly looked affected by the hard truth. Yikes.

"That might be true, but this time will be different," I pressed on, trying my best to project confidence in an effort to regain my lost momentum. "The Empire's overwhelming forces weren't preoccupied with war back then. Last time, we didn't have the help of more than one Primzahl to defend ourselves. Last time, we were already planning on losing from the start."

Alset looked ready to cut me off, but I raised my hand to continue, "We relied too much on our inventions to leverage our advantage. It crumbled under overwhelming force then. But now, we're using the Empire's people against it. And surely the Emperor won't harm his own citizens."