Okunde had almost capitulated. The Monster was near its west gate. Shortly it would penetrate Ekule through its east gate and subject the village to unbearable pain and ugliness. The Great Batang IV was in danger too. The imperial palace located on the west side, on Baba street was no longer a sanctuary.
Alerted, the Emperor commanded that all men -soldiers and civilians-, of the village, progress in the direction of the east gate and pledged to distinguish and elevate to the highest either military or non-military position whoever would slay the monster's head and bring it to him on a silver platter.
The emperor was an ailing sixty-year-old man. He had been ruling over the empire for twenty years since his father's abdication. He had won battles but they were not as challenging as the war against the Monster of the forbidden mountain. His army was already down by two hundred brave fighters. Only three hundred were remaining to protect the fifty thousand inhabitants of the overall land. Half of the population was concentrated in Ekule.
Men of courage obeyed the order of their Majesty and moved toward the east gate of the village. One of them was the then seventeen-year-old boy Babida who was already endowed with unbelievable mensuration. He was a woods cutter apprentice. He learned the skills of the profession from his uncle Doda who had passed away a year ago suffering from lingering diabetes.
Contrary to most of the men in the troop who were equipped with a sword, Babida held in his right-hand a Herculean steel axe weighing twice the average weight, about five kilograms. Its length went up to a hundred centimeters.
However, as was customary for most warriors, he wore silk trousers on, a steel bracelet on each hand, and a tusk necklace that hung on his naked chest.
He walked proudly amid the men of courage. They chanted in unison war songs to give themselves courage. They defied the Monster of the forbidden mountain to set a leg on Ekule's soil. They were telling how merciless they would be when the time to lay the sharp blade of their weapons on its neck would come. They were singing so many things.
And suddenly, they were rocked by an earthquake. Their enthusiasm was shattered and the east fence crumbled. In the background, the shadow of something yet unidentified became bigger and bigger.
"It's the Monster of the forbidden mountain!" A warrior in the battalion shouted, his finger pointing in the direction of the Beast.