by Cobyboy
...
Garudia Kingdom's Capital.
Within the throne hall was an infuriated figure that kept walking back and forth. His hands were fidgeting as the man started biting his fingernails. It has been 2 weeks since the deployment of the winged troops that were assigned for the initial attack on the Wolfenstein Kingdom.
"What's taking them so long to return?!"
King Ivan was now in a panic as it seems that the attack might have failed. There were only three possibilities that could have happened during the attack.
First is that the general that was assigned for the attack had suddenly betrayed the Garudia Kingdom and had usurped the throne of the Wolfenstein Kingdom for himself. This was highly unlikely as the general was one of the generals most loyal to the throne of the Garudia.
Second is that they were successful in the destruction of the western district, yet they had severe wounds and were still recuperating along their return. This was seemingly viable, but the fact that it had already been 2 weeks now made it clear that there was only one other result.
The attack had utterly failed and none escaped to do the report what had happened...
"Damn it!"
King Ivan cursed as a figure went into the throne hall, smiling towards him.
"Oh? It seems that your plan has failed? What's the matter? Why can't you get hold of an already dead kingdom?" Louie mockingly spoke to Ivan as he laughed maniacally.
"You... You definitely did not tell the truth!" Ivan retorted as Louie continued...
"Hmm.... I did say that they have a new king. I don't believe I ever said he was weak? Oh, just so you know, he was the one responsible for the death of the 80,000 soldiers of the Wolfenstein Kingdom back then." Louie added as he continued laughing.
The figure of King Ivan streaked forth as a saber with a reasonable length pierced through Louie's chest. Everything happened so fast that it was barely a split second!
"You... dare!" King Ivan mocked as he pierced the saber deeper.
"Heh... Really? Then it is too bad that you're this pathetic... Glad that my grandpa taught me this 'Dark art' a while back... Can't believe I would meet someone even more foolish than I am... hahaha"
With his dying breath, Louie muttered these words as his body started dispersing into a thick black smoke...
King Ivan took a few steps back as the smoke covered the throne hall. Within the next moment, the smoke started invading Ivan's body. Forcefully inserting itself through his mouth, ears, nostrils, and even the tiny gaps of his tear ducts... King Ivan screamed in terror as the smoke slowly snuck itself into every fiber of his being.
Falling flat on the floor, the body of King Ivan shook multiple times before he stood up again... His eyes glowed with ominous red, as he cracked his neck back into its 'proper' shape.
"Ah... It feels good... to be King again!"
Chapter 64: Soon Enough
The Garudia Kingdom, Eastern Breeding Grounds.
It had been occurring for the past four nights in a row. Something mysterious would occur within these grounds as a thousand of the winged beasts would suddenly be killed overnight. There was not a single trace of any of the infiltrators. It was as if these beasts died from illness, but the bloodstains on the floor could be taken as proof that they were somehow slaughtered.
Every time they started gathering the dead corpses of these winged beasts, the next morning, all those bodies would inexplicably disappear as another batch of a thousand beasts would die! This was on the scale of a sudden epidemic and it had caught the attention of the people from the capital, including the king, who was now secretly a puppet of Louie.
He was now nothing more than an empty soulless bag of meat that is being used by the retained consciousness of Louie. Although this problem could be easily solved through night surveillance and increasing the guard on methods that outsiders could use to get in and out of the breeding grounds, the incompetence of Louie in being a king was showing. It was even more evident within a kingdom that was marginally larger than that of the Wolfenstein Kingdom.
It took over a week before they made a move on actually relocating the beasts that are already well trained to the barracks in the capital. They also began maintaining high security for those beasts that are still premature in their training. But all of this was a tad bit too late. Over 7,000 of these beasts had already died, not including those that had attacked the Wolfenstein Kingdom. It totaled one-third of the entire fleet that is capable of fighting. This obviously excludes those beasts that are not yet fit for knight riders to use.
The raw manpower within the military forces of the Garudia Kingdom only amounted to 120,000 soldiers, which are heavily lacking against the Wolfenstein Army, both in quality and in quantity. It was looking pretty pathetic. It seems that the plotting of Louie had short-circuited and nothing seems to have changed.
Although the kingdom was still working, it was now basically defenseless. Unfortunately, this did not seem to penetrate the thick skull of Louie, who had issued the deployment of those premature beasts to try and include them in their fighting force as plain meat shields. Luckily enough, it seems that Louie hadn't found out about the statue of the great Garuda, which was the source of the kingdom's 'miracle'.
The military officers and the Senate Council had been in deep thought as it seemed that their king had not been himself lately. They had blamed all this on the initial attack that they had hurriedly deployed. Yet now it had still not returned. It was 4 weeks already! Although this was all they had concluded, it seems that it was necessary to deploy the second one, even if only to find out the truth.
Lurking in the shadows was a smiling king... The abundance of General Exp, and this mysterious "High-grade Wyvern Scale" and "High-grade Griffon Feathers" from all these night raids, Feihren was satisfied with all that he had gathered, and he could smell the sweet revenge he was hoping for his kingdom.
...
The Great City of Bacumion, Capital of the Bainzen Empire.
It was a city unlike any other within the Shodan Continent. It had been secretly prosperous through trade outside the boundaries and into the kingdoms from the Omod Continent.
The entirety of the Bainzen Empire had been covertly undermining the prosperity of the other kingdoms, especially the Ranustin Kingdom. This was all to strengthen their already well established empire by stopping any pathways for merchants and traders to arrive at the other kingdoms without them using the western route, which leads directly to the Bainzen Empire.
Trade and other types of business that were venturing into the Shodan Continents from other kingdoms would then be monopolized by the Bainzen Empire, resulting in its fast-paced growth. It hadn't been like this a couple years ago. This was a tricky and devious plot laid out by the young emperor Jason back when he was still a prince. These barren plots of land within their territory had then become business barriers for them to abuse.
The city was bustling as peace was evident under the ruling of their new emperor, Jason.
As opposed to the lively city that surrounding it, the king's castle was eerily quiet tonight. It was as if no one was living in it in the first place. Atop one of the towers within this enormous castle, two figures could be seen secretively talking.
"It seems that the king of the Garudia Kingdom has found a new playmate..." One of the figures reported with a low laugh as he continued. "Although it seems that king of the Wolfenstein Kingdom isn't someone that could easily be broken, one of my spies had reported from Garudia. It seems that it has been weeks since they heard any report from their 'playful' adventure against the newly crowned king."
"Hmm... What else?" The other figure replied as he pondered the report.
"Ahh, it seems that the informant of that foolish King Ivan was the other foolish king of the Wolfenstein Kingdom, ah former king at the least... Louie the 3rd if I remember correctly?" The informant replied as he held a rolled parchment out towards the figure, "This is the comprehensive report
s regarding the issue between those two? I guess it would be the best time to meddle with these things? They are both 'injured' at the moment."
Moving out of the shadows as he lit one of the lamps with a spark of fire magic, Emperor Jason then inspected said parchment as he shook his head.
"No, I doubt that it is wise to meddle this early. We should still deal with this pesky natural boundary. Find an efficient way to traverse through these mountainous regions." Jason replied as he continued in a low voice. "It seems that my friend also brought a few tricks up his sleeves..."
"Should we send spies to the Wolfenstein Kingdom too? It seems that our previous scouting mission failed due them meeting their doom within a certain dwarven village just past those forests? But we could plot another route for them to reach the Wolfenstein Kingdom soon." The mysterious figure replied.
"The Wolfenstein Kingdom would be on high alert from the attack of the Garudia Kingdom. Sending spies right now would be utter foolishness. It seems that I have to remind you and the other 12 again. Be careful about anything that relates to that kingdom from now on. Tread lightly as much as possible. Their new king is not someone you can easily push around..." Emperor Jason answered with an uncharacteristically straight face.
"It seems that you know this new king personally? But I don't remember you hanging out with any middle-aged men, even back when you were younger?"
The man pondered this as it seems that Jason had been acting differently when it was in regards to the topic of this new king.
"No... But it would not do any harm if we would just stay vigilant and not attract any large adversaries until we can guarantee that we are strong enough. Strong enough to trample even an entire continent..." Jason started smiling as he lightly snorted, looking at the horizon within this cloudy night sky.
Chapter 65: Interference
"Damn it! Damn it! That guy dared to butt in here and interfere with my plans somehow..."
Loud cursing was heard within the throne hall of the Garudia Kingdom. Louie, who was still in disguise as King Ivan, cussed with all his heart at the news of this sudden 'epidemic' that crippled the forces of their kingdom.
This was way too suspicious to be a simple coincidence. He knew within his heart that Feihren had something to do with all this. He could not put his finger on how he could do it right under his nose though. It was akin to being fooled by some sort of magic trick.
As if he was alone in this room spitting all these words, Louie hadn't paid any attention to the people who were at this roundtable meeting. They stared at each other dumbfoundedly as they silently rebuked this childish act of their king. Instead of properly handling the problem and tackling it from the roots, all they could hear within his angry rant is the bantering of a child-like monarch.
One of the older members of the Senate could not hold it off for any longer as he spoke up, "Your Majesty, if I may interrupt this tirade! We should plan out how to deal with these matters instead of pondering on it nonsensically!"
Another one of the members of the council added, "It would be best if we ask for help from the closest kingdoms of Omod Continent as soon as possible. We can't even launch a proper plan of attack, let alone enough forces to defend ourselves."
"Hmm yes yes, we could do that!" Louie hurriedly replied as if his memories were jogged. "Oh, how about the Draconian Empire to the North? We should ask them for assistance!"
"..."
"I think that would be a bit too much Your Majesty. What would the Draconian Empire gain if they were to help us? I mean, what would they get from lending any kind of assistance?" One of the generals immediately interrupted.
"And even more so... We should not show any weakness as of now, even more so to these 'neighboring' kingdoms within the Omod Continent. These greedy bastards would immediately swallow us whole if we let them see us like this!" One of the elders within the council added.
"..."
The room grew silent. It seems that this discussion had led to some serious issues. Not just regarding the Wolfenstein Kingdom, even the other kingdoms and empires within the same continent they were in suddenly became a threat. Luckily, none of the said kingdoms and empires was close enough to the Garudia Kingdom to become a threat too soon.
"...How about you ask for some assistance from the Bainzen Empire?" A sudden voice from an unknown source interjected as it broke the silence.
An unknown figure with a considerably tall and thin stature cloaked in bright yellow robes walked inside the throne hall as he immediately continued,
"Ah do not worry. I am not of the enemy. In fact, I am one of the nobles within this kingdom, although you might barely know me as I reside at the westernmost part of this pathetic kingdom..."
"What did you just say...?" One of the generals stood up, as rage could clearly be seen in his eyes.
"Ah, did I hurt your fragile feelings?" The man laughed as he continued, "It is true though. You all are just pathetic. Succumbing to all this from just a little pressure? This kingdom deserves to fall."
Although all of his statements were the painful truth, Louie could not be directly bothered by it. In the first place, this was not really his kingdom.
"And what do you propose for us to use to ask for assistance from the Bainzen Empire?" Louie answered coldly as he intently gazed towards this yellow-robed man.
In truth, this noble that had suddenly appeared was a member of the 14 Night Crows, Adrian Gaunt. He was someone assigned to keep tabs on the happenings within the Garudia Kingdom. He was akin to a planted seed that grew eyes and ears from within.
Although he was told to 'do nothing for now,' and just 'Observe and do not anger the new king of the Wolfenstein Kingdom', he could not disperse the thought that the young emperor Jason was just chickening out from all these minor wars. For Adrian, this is all just nonsense propaganda of a newly crowned king to 'assert' his dominance and nothing else.
For him, this King Feihren should be taught a lesson... a little slice of the humble pie.
"Hmmm... I could ask them to lend you some of their military forces, in exchange for a percentage of the kingdom's tax if ever you successfully conquered Wolfenstein?" Adrian replied with a devious smile, "Around 70% or so?"
"Don't be ridiculous! This man is just..." One of the Senate members immediately retorted but was cut short as Louie interrupted.
"And does the Emperor of Bainzen approve of any of this?"
"Ah yes, the young emperor Jason... Of course he is? Why would he not lend 'friendly' assistance to this kingdom? This place is already akin to us being neighbors, you know?" Adrian grinned as he added.
"Hmmm, so be it. I agree with your proposal, but only if we successfully conquer Wolfenstein..." Louie then answered in a low voice as the people around him looked to the ground with dismay. They could not easily refute this decision as they themselves knew the cost of not accepting it.
It could be said that currently, with the sudden disappearance of the beast and riders alike that numbered over 7,000 in pairs, and the death of another 7,000 from the breeding sites. The Garudia Kingdom was obviously in its weakest state. It was now not a matter of how much they could risk from attacking, but how much they could afford to lose while both attacking, and defending.
Although it was already approved that the 120,000 knight would be divided into 30,000 defending and the rest to be sent towards the Wolfenstein, they could not just risk a half-assed attack and end up utterly beaten. They had to guarantee their 'victory' somehow...
And that's where the Bainzen Empire's assistance comes into play...
Chapter 66: Towering
Sacred Mountains of the Garuda Statue.
There is an old cavern within this district of the mountainous area where one could see a wide tunnel secretly connecting the Shodan Continent and the western part of the Garudia Kingdom. This area is currently bustling with activity as it is being repaired and cleared.
This passageway hadn't been in use for over four year
s, and could only be accessed by a few people at a time. However, because of their temporary alliance of one of the kingdoms in the Bainzen Empire, a number of imperial troops were going to be deployed in order to assist with the campaign of conquering the Wolfenstein Kingdom. This naturally led to the re-opening of the tunnel.
The Imperial troops of the Mejuzo Kingdom which were led by Adrian, the yellow-robed man who acted as a 'middleman' for these affairs, had gathered at the tunnel as they crossed the borders of the two continents. In truth, as one of the founding fathers of the 14 Night Crows organization, Adrian holds a significant amount of power and influence. So much influence that he was strong enough to deploy 150,000 imperial soldiers under the nose of the Bainzen Emperor.