As the Ortanian army made it's way back to Stevenburg, celebrations began across the nation, the first thing that was done after their arrival was the burial of the martyrs of the war, afterwards the soldiers celebrated by sharing drinks, dancing and more, Humzah, Kainaat, Alyne and Nizaam had regrouped in the royal palace where they began sharing their experiences, Nizaam said
Nizaam : I'll be honest, Kainaat really carried us all in Asteronia.
Kainaat : you weren't to bad yourself Nizaam.
Humzah : what about me, I outdid myself, didn't I?
Kainaat : you performed outstandingly well.
Humzah : thanks.
Alyne : look their comes Zulqarnain and the others.
Zulqarnain, Aliza and Hussnain joined the conversation as Hussnain asked
Hussnain : greetings my fair ladies and gentlemen, what did I miss?
Humzah : oh nothing, your dad just came back with the milk.
everybody laughed as Hussnain sarcastically said
Hussnain : haha very funny.
Zulqarnain : how were things in Asteronia?
Nizaam : quite well, we managed to win the fight with relative ease.
Humzah : as usual, I did most of the job.
Hussnain : you were supposed to come with us Humzah, you just got lucky.
Aliza : Nefluk was a brutal battle, had it not been for Asad's quick thinking, we'd probably lose.
Humzah : speaking of Asad, where are those uncle and nephew?
Ashhad was slowly making his way back to the palace, despite being the king of Ortania, he was coming back to the palace without any guards or soldiers, walking back to the palace Ashhad had only one thing going on in his mind
Ashhad : (thinking) I just defeated a country twice as strong as mine and despite them being in an alliance with the global superpower, they didn't came to their help.
Ashhad had reached the palace doors, he entered the lavish estate and made his way straight to the throne room, where he went and sat on the throne and kept thinking to himself in silence, he didn't do this for long as soon all his friends entered the room chatting with one another, when they noticed Ashhad, they stopped talking, Humzah asked
Humzah : oh hey buddy, how's it going?
Ashhad : great, just a bit tired.
Zulqarnain : you outperformed yourself, you deserve some rest.
Ashhad : hmm, by the way how many casualties did we have?
Nizaam : of the 240 soldiers that went to Asteronia, 165 have returned.
Zulqarnain : as for the 300 soldiers that went to Nefluk, 193 have returned.
Ashhad : I see and what about the soldiers that defected to our side?
Nizaam : a total of 442 soldiers have defected to our side, increasing our military strength to 800.
Kainaat : 860 if you count the soldiers stationed in Stevenburg.
Nizaam : we barely outnumber Yandriz by a mere 60 soldiers.
Ashhad : atleast we're not the weakest in the world anymore.
Nizaam : not for long, Aranid is planning an attack on Yandriz, after which we will jointly invade Bardonia.
Ashhad : right, we should immediately begin planning for our next war.
Kainaat : agreed.
Humzah : hey where's Asad?
Ashhad : he was with us, on the way back, I wonder where he is?
outside the palace Asad was standing under the shade of a tree when two soldiers approached him as Asad asked
Asad : did you locate their hideout?
Soldier : yes, they live in a campsite in a secluded region of the forest.
Asad : that's great, but did you pinpoint their exact location?
Soldier : yes sir.
the soldier gave Asad a paper and said
Soldier : in this paper, I have written down the path that will take you directly to their camp.
Asad smiled, gave both the soldiers satchels full of emeralds and said
Asad : you may leave now.
the soldiers left as Asad began to have flashbacks about Andrea, her face had mesmerized him, her beauty left him motionless, with an evil smirk on his face Asad said
Asad : oh fair beauty, though I may not know who you are, where you're from or what you do, but I can say one thing without a speck of doubt, you will be mine.
and with that he strode of to the palace, Kainaat was at the training site, surrounding her were several soldiers, Kainaat said in a cheerful tone
Kainaat : I'm really glad to see you all here, do not mourn the demise of your fellow comrades, they may not be here with us but, their efforts have surely paid of, we stand here niether stalemated nor defeated but rather victorious over a foe much greater than us, this is just the beginning, the day when this whole world shall be Ortanian isn't far away, may this victory be the catalyst to a million more battles, to every sword that struck another and every bow that fired an arrow may you be the guiding light to glory, to grace, to serenity and delight.
hearing this a soldier came forward and said
Soldier : malady, imagine if I told you that their is one soldier amongst us who niether showed any acts of marksmanship nor performed any feat of great archery but infact, he did the exact opposite by running away from the battlefield like a coward.
Kainaat : impossible you were all trained under harsh circumstances, a coward within our ranks can only be a wolf in sheeps clothing.
to this the soldier replied
Soldier : more like a black sheep malady, one who knows nothing about combat yet still made it into the army.
Kainaat : until you give me solid evidence of this soldier's supposed acts of negligence, I cannot give a final statement.
just then another soldier came forward and said
Soldier : what my comrade said is true malady, their indeed was such a soldier, he was with us during the attack on Nefluk.
Kainaat : do you know his name?
the soldier who had started this conversation said
Soldier : no malady, but I'm sure, our highness knows his name and maybe even his whereabouts after all, he took that soldier with him for some special job.
hearing this Kainaat got confused, as she thought to herself
Kainaat : (thinking) Ashhad gave him a special job, but why?
with this thought in mind Kainaat went back into the palace, in a matter of seconds she was at Ashhad's bedroom door, inside Ashhad was resting on his bed when he heard a knock on his door, Ashhad politely said
Ashhad : come in.
Kainaat came in as Ashhad sat up and asked
Ashhad : yes Kainaat, you need my help with something?
Kainaat : why yes, infact I believe that only you can help me now.
Kainaat sat down on a nearby chair as Ashhad asked
Ashhad : if it's regarding military tactics then I'm sorry, cause I'm really ...
Kainaat cut Ashhad off by asking
Kainaat : where is he?
Ashhad : who, who are you talking about?
Kainaat : soldiers from our army have reported about a certain negligent soldier, who deliberately ran away from the battlefield like a coward and you instead of terminating him on sight gave him a special job.
Ashhad realized who Kainaat was talking about so he said
Ashhad : listen Kainaat he's ....
Kainaat again cut Ashhad off by saying
Kainaat : before you say any word in his defense keep in mind that he's a soldier of our army.
Ashhad : listen, not all soldiers suffer from rare diseases.
Kainaat : then why did he join the army if he was physically unfit?
Ashhad : if you were in his place raising a family of five, what would you do?
Kainaat : resign and find a job that suits me best.
Ashhad : and if you lived hand to mouth?
Kainaat : why are you so worried about a damn soldier?
Ashhad : he's not just a soldier.
Kainaat : oh yeah then who is he, your newfound love?
Ashhad : what the ... what the heck are you crazy or what?
Kainaat : listen Ashhad, let me run the military my way, as King you have no right to intervene in military affairs.
Ashhad : is the military not a part of my kingdom?
Kainaat : it is but ....
Kainaat went silent as Ashhad said
Ashhad : meet him in person once, I promise he'll clarify everything much better than me.
Kainaat : he's literally useless if he can't fight?
Ashhad : I'll invite him over for tea today, you'll see yourself.
Kainaat : I don't want to meet him.
Ashhad : fine then, unless you meet him yourself, niether am I telling you his name nor his whereabouts.
Kainaat : why can't you .... actually you know what forget it, pretend like I said nothing, ok?
Ashhad : fine let's talk about something positive, like you and Humzah.
Kainaat : wait, what?
Ashhad : I had been meaning to talk to you about him, I wanted to know you're opinion on Humzah, because these relations are often quite fragile and can easily fall apart over minor misconceptions.
Kainaat : truth be told, I don't mind Humzah at all, I mean he's humble, funny and most importantly he's very loyal, which is quite rare in people nowadays.
Ashhad : loyalty is one of his key traits, it's what makes different from everybody else, everybody that I ever met left me at some point, Humzah is the only one who has been with me from the very start, he always stayed the same, humble, kind and a bit goofy.
Kainaat : what about Asad, isn't he the same as Humzah?
Ashhad : I don't really feel the same when I'm around Asad, he and I both experienced the loss of all our loved ones, for a long time we both thought that the other was dead and I had accepted that reality, I'm sure that he did to, even though we live under the same roof now, it just doesn't feel the same, you know.
Kainaat : I understand.
Ashhad : anyways back to the topic, so you're content with yours and Humzah's relationship?
Kainaat : definitely, I mean I see no downside when a literal king is guaranteeing his loyalty.
Ashhad : he's the last memory of my life as a normal human, a happy and successful neurologist.
Ashhad looked over to the window and said whilst remembering his old life
Ashhad : those were good days.
Kainaat : forget your past, even greater days are ahead of us.
Ashhad : no they aren't.
Kainaat : come on, don't be such a killjoy, we've already defeated one of our main enemies.
Kainaat held Ashhad's hand and said
Kainaat : it won't hurt if you smiled a little, try to be charming like Humzah.
Ashhad smiled and said
Ashhad : the only thing worse than crying is a sad smile.
Kainaat didn't knew what to say, with that said Ashhad went back and sat on his bed, Kainaat turned around and left, as evening approached, the friends gathered in the throne room, they were discussing plans regarding the invasion of Bardonia as well as their experiences from the war they just fought, Humzah said
Humzah : and as I entered into Asteronia I shouted loudly and proudly, Glory to Ashhad Glory to Ortania!
Hussnain : the fact that you had the time to scream gives undeniable evidence of how easy your invasion must've been.
Nizaam : indeed, just minutes after our arrival the city fell into complete chaos.
Kainaat : I've heard that Bardonia and Ortania have switched territories several times, I bet that their's a big chance that when we go to war with them, a large group of people will rise up in favor.
Ashhad : similarly a large group of people could also rise up in their favor as well.
Kainaat : in that case, I say we hunt down and eradicate all Bardonian loyalists so they don't become hindrances in the future.
Nizaam : speaking of eradicate, Crystonia also got eradicated of the face of the map.
Ashhad : what but, didn't they have a third town.
Nizaam : the surviving leadership of Crystonia fled to Abison, there they held a meeting with Navarres minister of defense Richard Griffin, in that meeting Crystonia was officially dissolved and it's people and remaining lands became part of Navarre.
Ashhad : so now we share an even longer border with Navarre.
Nizaam : mmmm hmmm.
Zulqarnain noticed how Asad was sitting quietly so he asked him
Zulqarnain : Asad you seem awfully quiet, everything ok?
hearing this Humzah decided to pull his leg
Humzah : he's just too shy to tell you how ineffective he was during the war.
Asad : I fought and saved Ashhad in an ambush, mapped out a foreign countries capital in 5 minutes, bombed that capital in 4 minutes, entered it in 3 minutes, made it to their royal palace in 2 minutes and you wanna know what happened the next minute the war was over.
Humzah : oh for goodness sake stop lying.
Zulqarnain : he's not lying, I was their, I saw it with my own eyes.
Aliza : Asad's performance was quite remarkable.
Hussnain : yeah the dude's a killing machine.
Asad : thankyou Zulqarnain, Hussnain and Aliza, for being key eyewitnesses to my glory but, it appears that some people are always jealous of others success.
Humzah : not me, I'm not even listening to your stupid blabber.
Zulqarnain : Asad you sent two of your soldiers after Andrea, did they find her whereabouts?
Asad : no she managed to escape for now.
Humzah : like leader like army.
Asad was getting pissed but he kept his chill as Zulqarnain replied
Zulqarnain : don't worry, she can't hide forever.
Asad : (thinking) let's hope so.
Ashhad : anyways guys, now that their is some time between our next invasion, I decided I wanted to settle something.
Alyne : what?
Ashhad : for quite some time Humzah and Kainaat have shown how much they like eachother so, I've decided to marry them both in a small ceremony that will be held on the day after tomorrow.
hearing this news a big smile appeared on Humzah's face, he looked over to Kainaat and she began blushing, seeing this Hussnain said
Hussnain : oooh Kainaat's blushing!
Humzah held Kainaat's hands and said
Humzah : thankyou Kainaat, I promise I'll fill your life with all the happiness you deserve.
Kainaat : after what happened after my last marriage and all the horrors I endured, I had became hopeless that I would ever fall in love with anyone, thankyou for this chance Humzah, this will be a new start for me.
Humzah : forget about the past, the future is brighter than the sun, I will be your romeo and you will be my Joliet.
Hussnain : now now romeo don't get so hasty.
Ashhad : yeah Humzah, you too aren't married yet, so wait a little.
the friends continued their conversation about Humzah and Kainaat's marriage, Asad just sat their, to him this news was quite literally the worst thing that could ever happen, infuriated Asad said
Asad : you do realize this is a game, right?
the room became quiet as Asad continued his sentence
Asad : this is a game, a facade of graphics, a mirage of pixels, nothing here is real.
Zulqarnain : what do you mean?
Asad : what do I mean?
Asad chuckled and said
Asad : Zulqarnain, you're literally the smartest of our group, yet still you don't see how this marriage cannot and should not happen.
Hussnain : and why is that?
Asad : marriage is a sacred ritual of the living and the real.
Asad looked over to the side and said
Asad : and to be frank, niether is this world real nor am I sure about us being alive.
for a minute everyone was silent but, then Kainaat said
Kainaat : well Mr Asad, I have something to say to you.
Asad : what?
Kainaat : I don't care if this world is real or not, my feelings for Humzah and his feelings for me are very real and will remain until the day we die and about the whole being alive or dead thing, I don't know about you but ever since Humzah proposed me I've never felt more alive.
Ashhad smiled as he looked over to Zulqarnain who had a similar expression on his face, Asad rolled his eyes and said
Asad : fine then do whatever you want, but know one thing, I am not partaking in this disrespect of marriage infact, I'm boycotting it.
Ashhad : fine then.
Asad's eyes went wide as he asked in shock
Asad : excuse me?
Ashhad : if you're not partaking in this marriage, then their's nothing I will do to appease you but know one thing, this marriage is happening and their's nothing you can do to change that.
Asad was both enraged and alarmed by Ashhad's firm stance, without saying another word he left the throne room and as he left Humzah looked at Ashhad and asked
Humzah : you sure he won't cause any problems?
Ashhad smirked and said
Ashhad : Hussnain controls the economy, Kainaat controls the military, Alyne controls the farmers and I control all of you so no, he won't cause any problems.
Humzah still seemed worried about his marriage so, Ashhad placed his hand on Humzah's shoulder and began comforting him
Ashhad : bro your getting married atleast show some signs of joy.
Humzah smiled as Ashhad said
Ashhad : I said joy not lust.
Humzah : you little.
Ashhad chuckled, just then a soldier entered the room, he said
Soldier : your highness, your guest has arrived.
Ashhad : take him to the dining hall, I'll be there in a second.
the soldier shook his head and left, Hussnain asked
Hussnain : guest?
Ashhad : a friend of mine, he's a soldier of our army.
Humzah : then in that case I'd love to meet him.
Ashhad : no, only me and Kainaat will greet him.
Kainaat : I'll ask him personally whose army he was in then that person will also be called in.
Ashhad : agreed, let's go.
Ashhad and Kainaat left, Zulqarnain said
Zulqarnain : I find it hard to believe sometimes that a man of such good nature can have such an awful nephew.
Aliza : a few days ago we were making plans of overthrowing a corrupt regime and today we've taken over an entire nation.
Zulqarnain : time doesn't stay the same always, we've lost so many great people on the way.
Hussnain : Huzaifa, Ahad, Basit.
Aliza : Fize, Junaid.
Nizaam : let's hope we don't lose anybody else.
meanwhile in Rathnire, Griffin entered the royal palace and immediately headed to the throne room, both Alexander and Isabell were in the throne room when Griffin arrived, seeing him Alexander stood up, Griffin stopped a few steps away from Alexander, the expression on Alexander's face made it all clear that he was unhappy with how the war had turned out, Griffin sarcastically said
Griffin : seems like we got ourselves a new town.
Alexander replied in a calm but angry tone
Alexander : at the cost of a functional and strong ally.
Griffin stood there eyeing Alexander, Alexander walked upto Griffin and said in his face
Alexander : do you any idea, how big of a loss that was, we could've easily crushed Ortania, but you were determined to make Crystonia self sufficient.
Griffin : had I gotten involved, our neighbors the Prothenians would've attacked us and in all honesty you can never fight a two front war, cause your a weak piece of shit.
Alexander : I don't have time for your nonsense, I have already sent our delegates to Devonia, so they can work out a peaceful annexation of the state.
Griffin : you should've sent me as well, I would've ensured that we annexed their lands.
Isabell : see I told you he'd say that.
Alexander looked over to Isabell, looked back at Griffin and said
Alexander : this long tongue of yours has done niether me nor you any favor, you had one job and you messed up.
Griffin : when I became minister of defense, 4 states were against Navarres very existence, today only one of them exists.
Alexander rolled his eyes, as Griffin continued his sentence
Griffin : you can call me whatever you want, but it is undeniably true that I'm the only reason you and this kingdom exist.
Alexander began to chuckle, Griffin was confused to see this reaction from Alexander, then all of a sudden Alexander became silent, he then said
Alexander : do you know that when I became king, I quite literally had a thousand options to choose from, your only redeeming quality was your skill in combat and at that time we were in a war and I had no choice.
Griffin's eyes went wide as Alexander continued his sentence
Alexander : but now I do, consider this as your last warning Griffin, cause if you slip up one more time, I will personally make sure that you don't slip up again.
Griffin : well you can fu*k off then!
Griffin stormed out of the room, Isabell said with a smirk on her face
Isabell : don't worry, he'll get over it.
Griffin went straight to his room and locked himself inside, Griffin sat down on his bed and began weeping, a few seconds later he started crying, just then a light began illuminating his face and soon a voice of a girl echoed in his room
? : what happened my child?
Griffin's eyes went wide, with his eyes still teary he asked
Griffin : mother .... is that .... is that you?
? : yes my child, tell me what's wrong, who has broken your heart?
Griffin : mother I did everything, everything I could have possibly done to appease these dissatisfied rats, yet still I'm not appreciated, always being told that I must do better, why mother, why must I suffer like this.
? : this is all a facade my love, you have lived this life a million times, every time you made a mistake I was their, I was watching, I was learning, I was understanding, I'm always here for you, I'm divine.
Griffin had now stopped crying, he sulked and said
Griffin : it's him isn't he mother, he has entered this world hasn't he?
? : yes and you have already met him.
Griffin : what, when?
? : you attacked him and he escaped you.
Griffin went in a deep thought, thinking to himself
Griffin : (thinking) everyone I ever fought died, no one managed to escape the wrath of my scythe, no one was ... wait a minute oh no.
Griffin looked at the light illuminating his face and said
Griffin : it's him isn't it?
no reply came, Griffin continued his sentence
Griffin : the King of Ortania, Ashhad Khan, it's him isn't it?!
for a while the room was silent, Griffin sat down on his bed, he was enraged, he was confused and most importantly he wanted to know the truth, just then the voice replied
? : I have been watching him, he can't do anything, he has a million weaknesses but only one strength.
Griffin stood back up and angrily shouted
Griffin : what, tell me?!
? : his friends, they are his only strength.
Griffin : well then if that's the case, then I'll end them myself.
? : do not make a emotional blunder, any move you make will have consequences beyond your expectations.
Griffin : I don't care about consequences, once we get the result we want, we forget all the pain in the world.
? : as you wish, don't say I didn't warn you.
soon both the voice and the light dissapeared, Griffin took out his scythe and said whilst looking at its blade
Griffin : Ashhad Khan, here I come.