Halbrecht's line

Halbrecht makes his last stand in a district containing the military hospital and the road to the palace. He refuses to abandon wounded soldiers to forces he regards as rebels. Mira can verify their treatment guarantees through neutral surgeons, creating a genuine chance for limited surrender. Officers on both sides object because accepting it lets experienced enemies survive.

Ciro asks to speak to the marshal before the battle. Halbrecht tells him that an army cannot survive if every officer decides which orders deserve obedience. Ciro answers that an army which cannot refuse a criminal order has already surrendered its judgment to one man. The scene should acknowledge that Ciro did not always act according to this conviction. Halbrecht can cite the settlement burned under his command, and Ciro must answer without pretending that his later testimony erased it.

If negotiations fail, the battle centers on breaking command positions and securing evacuation lanes. Halbrecht's defeat is human and costly. He does not transform, reveal a supernatural master, or explain the world's future calamity. Depending on choices and battlefield events, he can surrender, die fighting, or be captured after refusing a retreat. His soldiers' treatment establishes what victory will mean for the defeated.

Afterward, Ciro walks through the hospital without his crimson cloak. A wounded soldier calls him a traitor. Another asks whether their pay will reach their families. The second question hurts more because it returns him to a duty he can still perform. He orders the accounts preserved before anyone raises a new banner.