The Iceborne next to Jay froze before looking at him, previously they had heard him speak, and once they realized the voice in the sky was actually his some of them looked at him in hatred. A moment later Geralt and general Green appeared on either side of them. They held their weapons calmly and stayed composed the entire time.
A few moments later the situation changed once more. An army of over a hundred humans had appeared not far from the Iceborne army, causing them to immediately become nervous. Because of this, their previous excitement died down and when another small group of zombies came closer casualties appeared once more.
Jay looked calmly at the Iceborne around him, and they looked back. Some of them were genuinely angry and looked like they were about to growl. While some others were conflicted once more, unsure of what they should do at this point.
A few more moments passed before one of the Iceborne yelled out, "The-they have Iceborne!"
While sizing up the human army he noticed that in reality, they didn't consist of just humans, there were Iceborne amongst their ranks too.
Noticing that many of the Iceborne looked over rather confused Jay took the opportunity to speak, "My empire doesn't just consist of humans. I accept all races! You have always been forbidden from entering the grasslands and using magic by those you protect. Why do you think you get forced to stay in these barren wastelands? It is so that you do not know how those to the south have it better than you!"
Jay spoke with a mask of conviction while in reality, he was extremely nervous. He had truly taken a shot into the dark this time. He had no idea why the Iceborne weren't allowed in the grasslands but there was likely a good reason for it on their home planet, but for those that were spawned this wouldn't truly matter. And as for magic, some of the other Iceborne he had previously defeated had already learned some basic magic and there were no side effects.
It was likely it was said to be some sort of devilish power, but without the existence of something such as a church, a conviction such as that could quickly falter. Seeing doubt appear on some of the Iceborne's faces Jay spoke once more.
"Magic isn't good or evil, it is a tool to be used by all living beings. If you all knew magic these despicable undead would be unable to even get close to you, that is the reality of the situation!"
As if to enforce his words an icicle suddenly appeared above his hand before piercing through the head of a faraway zombie.
"These creatures have already taken out your king and even your two commanders have chosen to follow me. Look at the army before you. Humans and Iceborne united, fighting against their enemies. Follow me and prosper, taking out all our enemies with ease!"
After he said these things he raised the king's scepter which had now appeared in his hands. And so, this speech which would be called incredibly cliche on earth actually managed to convince most of the Iceborne. The part concerning magic in particular spouted doubts in many of them. They had never been told why magic was evil, just that it was. And so, a notification appeared.
Rakhshi city's army had submitted |
Seeing this notification appear Jay's previously benevolent smile quickly disappeared.
"Kill all the undead, kill all the nobles!"
Seeing that the army had submitted but not the city itself Jay didn't wish to take any chances. Submitting and surrendering were also different things. Those that submit did so because they want to and so they wouldn't lose any of their memories. Other than this the temporary 'Blind Follower' status would remain for an entire month.
Now that the Iceborne were under his control the army kept moving. Now that he was guaranteed to be safe he remained in the middle of the army, not taking any risks. The group had gotten used to fighting the undead at this point and since the combined army wasn't used to said thing Jay ordered them to take care of the sidestreets while his current group would go down the main street.
The zombies were no longer the threat they once were and were slowly being eradicated. As for the Iceborne nobles that had managed to properly block their doors and hide, they were then also eliminated by the armies.
There was one thing that was extremely troubling. There was still a separate Iceborne army that had left the city a while earlier. These ones hadn't submitted and most likely believed the city had fallen and hence were considered deserters.
But after thinking for a bit, Jay decided not to pursue them. It was rather unlikely they knew that he was behind it and even if they told other Iceborne cities about the situation, nobody would send out troops to an area with such a dangerous virus.
When the sun rose onto the city once more, the fighting had subsided. Blood and corpses stained the streets while many sick were tended to. Despite their best efforts, it was difficult to avoid touching blood.
But before he could call his victory, there were still a couple of things Jay had to do.
Within the mansion, there were still a multitude of matters left unsettled. The yellow misty orb was still laying on the floor, shining menacingly. As for the two commanders, when the army submitted they weren't included, something that meant they probably weren't spawned.
These commanders were gagged and would be taken back to First City before he would decide what to do with them. But the misty orb was something of a way higher importance.
After talking to Geralt and bodyguard Gustel for a long while he had finally decided what to do. He used magic to encage the misty orb before bodyguard Gustel picked it up. If the yellow orb did something they didn't notice and hence they could keep going.
Jay didn't want to destroy it in case it was similar to the blue orb he had encountered easier, but obviously, he also couldn't just leave the orb here since his enemies could then easily grab a hold of it.
While he wasn't confident of the current solution, it was the best they could come up with. And so, after getting a golden territory token for defeating the Iceborne capital, the group headed back to First City. Jay's personal event had nearly finished and Jay was anticipating the rewards.