"The Prince is coming?" Ao's tired voice echoed within the chambers. For the past few days, all of his attention had been focused on Junius and Junius only. The World Serpent hadn't had the time to catch up with the latest affairs and was mostly out of touch. Luckily for the Tier 9 Spirit Beast, he had a master that would be glad to fill in the details.
"This time, you messed up," The Allfather said with a derisive tone. "You should have killed that Spirit Venerate… He brought that brat's corpse back to the Lantis Republic for the Prince of Water. You've killed the friend of the Prince; naturally, you can expect that he'll come for vengeance."
"What?" Ao thought back to the scene back at the Tree of Illusions. He had to make a choice, save Junius and let Venerate Maurice go free, or kill the intruder, leaving the young man to bleed to death on his own. Choosing the later, Ao had allowed the Spirit Venerate to blow the whistle.
"Shin Iofiel, the man that brought the Celestial Dragon back to life… He's coming with eleven Spirit Venerates, four Tier 9 Spirit Beasts and a few dozen Spirit Emperors and Tier 8 Spirit Beasts."
"NO WAY!!!" Ao slammed his palm on the bed, and the ground shook as a consequence. Miraculously, the bed frame remained standing, giving Junius the same peace that he'd always had to recuperate. Realising his folly, the blue-haired man moved over to the nearby chair, with wobbly legs, of course. Who could blame him? Ignoring the Spirit Emperors and Tier 8 Spirit Beasts, fifteen Spirit Venerates and Tier 9 Spirit Beasts were a force capable of taking down any nation's capital without the protection of their Spirit Saint. To commit all of that firepower on one single battle… Shin was serious about killing Junius.
"Yes way," the Allfather coldly replied. "As you know, other than the Tree of Darkness at the centre of the world, there's no other Black Mask base that could withstand an attack of that magnitude. Even if I were to send the other Eight Coloured Noble Beasts over, there's no guarantee that you'll win."
"Allfather, what are you saying?" Ao fearfully asked.
Though the cloaked shadow was faceless, the World Serpent could tell that he's sighing. "We had meant to develop the West as our trump card to demolish the Kori Federation at the right time. However, because of the Prince, we can no longer commit to this region…" The Allfather touched the brick walls of the mansion as if he was mourning its loss. They had spent a considerable amount of resources on building the West to their liking, and just one paltry mistake had sent it crashing into oblivion.
"Ao, do you remember of the Siege of Elton Hall?" Suddenly, the Allfather changed the topic.
The blue-haired man took some time to ponder before finally answering as if a lightbulb had been turned on above his head. "Wasn't it one of the final battles before the three Superpowers came to be? I've heard many humans during that time mention it, but I'd never bothered to remember the details."
It was a tale long passed. Before the three major superpowers came to be, there were numerous warring kingdoms and mercenary clans. The ancestors of the Himmel Empire, Kori Federation and the Lantis Republic all fought against those smaller adversaries, hoping to consolidate their power to establish the new world order. The savage battles were no less violent than that of the Great War hundreds of thousands of years ago, that created three Spirit Immortals from the first true unified civilisation.
During those times, there was a Kingdom just north of the Himmel Empire. It was called the Windsor Kingdom, run by a long lineage of valiant warriors and guarded by Spirit Emperors and Venerates. They had been mostly left untouched due to their warrior-like mentality. Legend has it that all children were filtered according to their prospects based on their Spirits and physical conditions. Anyone with defects was cast aside while those that were in the pink of health were sent through barbaric training routines that killed almost half of those that entered. In the end, only the most powerful of the lot remained.
For the most part, the Himmel Clan co-existed with the Kingdom peacefully, sometimes even hiring their services to deal with the threats up north. However, there was no such thing as an eternal alliance. In a desperate attempt to protect their borders, the Himmel Clan launched one of the most vicious crusades in modern memory, just to secure the north for their own. And it all began with one simple battle.
"The Siege of Elton Hall, it's a legendary battle that still stimulates the songs of bards and the writing of poets..." The Allfather thought back to the first time he'd read the details of the battle, back in the most expansive library to have ever existed. He was just a young boy then, and the words that fell out of the papyrus blew his mind into another dimension. "The Himmel Clan, now the Himmel Empire, held all the cards. They had the larger armies, Spirit Saints that could move mountains with just a thought, and they even had better resources and strategists. In every sense of the word, the Windsor Kingdom were the underdogs."
"..." Ao listened attentively, not willing to miss a single word. The Allfather wasn't one to spin stories for no reason whatsoever. There must be a point for him to bring up the Siege of Elton Hall in this darkest hour.
"It was apparent from the start that Elton Hall was going to fall. The Himmel Clan had a hundred thousand troops while Elton Hall only had four thousand. They were outnumbered 25:1, and not only that… The Himmel Clan had sent one of their Imperials that had awakened the Spirit of Himmel. It was a definite loss for the Windsor Kingdom, but..."
"They won?" The World Serpent interjected, bringing out his own hypothesis.
The Allfather shook his head. "No, they lost."
"Huh?"
"Well, that's what the history books say," the cloaked figure shrugged his shoulders. "The battle lasted only three days. In just three days, the armies that the Himmel Clan had proved to be too much for the Windsor Kingdom to handle and the walls were sieged. As if it were their own backyard, the troops from the Himmel Clan stormed the castle and planted their flag right in the middle of it all."
"Wait… So why?"
"Why is the Siege of Elton Hall so famous?" The Allfather completed Ao's question for him. If the Himmel Empire scored a comfortable victory, why would the whole world still remember the Siege of Elton Hall amongst all of the legendary battles that took place during the War to End all Wars?
"It's quite simple, actually… See, the Earl of Elton Hall knew that their defeat was imminent right after the first day. Reinforcements were far away, and the overwhelming force of the Himmel Clan was too much for the men of his castle… So, he came up with an ingenious plan… A plan that only those born and bred by the Windsor system could think of… They decided, to burn themselves down."
"What?!" The blue-haired man's eyes widened, evidently taken aback by the sudden revelation.
"That's right… The Earl of Elton Hall ordered his men… No, his entire population to give themselves up to the vile evils of the raiders. He knew that many were going to suffer as prisoners. So, instead of waiting for reinforcements to arrive, he laced Elton Hall with explosives, all capable of burning through skin and tearing flesh with just one detonation. To lull the invaders into a false sense of security, the Earl gave up the battle in a mere three days, allowing the Himmel Clan to run amok within his walls. And when their guard was lowered all the way… That was when disaster struck." The Allfather narrated the story as if he had witnessed the horrors firsthand.
"Flames the size of volcanoes erupted from the barren earth, and billions of spirit particles were sent flying all around. Not a single soul inside of Elton Hall survived that immense explosion. Not hundred-thousand strong army that sieged the walls, not the Earl that ordered the attack and not even the innocent children and women that were just living their lives. The Himmel Clan had even lost one of their prized Imperials, as scarce as they were. It was a tremendous blow for the nascent superpower… One that took decades for them to recover from… And it all began, with the Earl's willingness to sacrifice his entire population just to preserve the greater good for just a few more months..."
The Allfather glanced out of the window, turning his head towards the gaping hole that was meant to be the gate between the Uncharted Wilderness and the Kori Federation. He had spent far too long developing this region, and losing this base would unquestionably set his plans back fifty years. However, the force that Shin was bringing along was just far too immense. Just like the Earl of Elton Hall, the Allfather was facing a tremendous decision. Could he burn down his hard work for the greater good? Well…
"Ao… Do you get what I'm trying to say?"
"..." The World Serpent kept silent. Of course, he knew! Alongside Kuro, the World Serpent was one of the Allfather's longest followers.
For the first time since the war began, the Black Masks found themselves in a true underdog situation. They were bound to lose the battle, and the West would once again return to the Alliance's control. So… If they were going to go out, why not do it with a loud boom?
"I'm going to send some minor reinforcements, to help you kill as many Spirit Venerates as you possibly can. If you could, take out that pesky Seraphim. She gets on my nerves more than any other Spirit Venerate out there." Due to her ardent belief in research that mirrors that of Spirit Immortal Dream, the Allfather found Lady Seph to be quite unbearable. "Ah, and remember that order I had, telling you to leave Shin Iofiel alone to grow? Scratch that… At this point, he'd grow too fast, and all of my plans would fail because of his meddling. Your priority is to kill Seraphim and Shin, I'm sure you can do that?"
"Ha!!!" Ao struck his chest in a salute.
The Allfather paused. He turned around, shifting his attention from the outside to the World Serpent. In his weakened state, Ao felt that the Allfahter's presence was far more distinguished and incomprehensible. A heavy pressure mounted on his chest, and his head was forced to remain down.
"Ao, you have failed me once… Don't fail me again..."
"I-I… Won't fail again!!!" The World Serpent hurriedly said, fearing the wrath of the most powerful being in the entire world.
"Good," the Allfather nodded. Reaching into his hollow cloak, the shadow took out a beautiful Black Mask, with a golden tree imbued upon its forehead. It shone with the radiance of a thousand melting stars and emitted out a sinister black aura that would suffocate any weak cultivator that stood near it. "This is a gift for Junius… Should he advance into the Spirit King realm, give him the mask. He'll officially become a commander of the Tree."
"You're too kind..." Ao held his two hands up and accepted the Brahmin's mask on Junius' behalf. "I'll be sure to train Junius to a Brahmin that lives up to your standard."
"Hahaha, you've really changed… My old friend..." The Allfather chuckled, shifting his tone from coldness to harmony once again. "No matter, time will tell whether this change would be good or bad… For now..."
The darkness began to dissipate as the cloaked individual turned into an illusory mist. It was as if the man wasn't there to begin with. All that remained was the sound of the Allfather's voice beckoning within the empty chambers.
"Do your job..."
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