Building a Kingdom and Conquering the World

Chapter 67  Zuna's rage

Somewhere in the forest, while Zuna questioned the desperate bleeding man, Henry's silver sword claimed the life of its last victim, severing the man's head in a clean and swift attack, causing the headless body to crumple to the ground and join the countless others that littered on the floor. The heavy scent of iron lingering on the air seemed to wrap around Henry, like an unexpected companion or a long-lost family member. It felt comforting and nauseating at the same time.

Trying to brush off the smell hanging on him, Henry took a brief glance at his soldiers, who were firmly maintaining the formation while awaiting new orders. They were breathing in ragged breaths and some of them even suffered from a few minors injures that would probably take a few days to completely heal, but fortunately, no life under his lead had been lost this time.

Today, Henry had pushed them past their limits, urging them to fight and run to their next target without a single chance to catch their breath. Although most of these soldiers were in the Second Stage and able to fight against dozens of normal soldiers, such strenuous task in this cold weather had taken a toll on their fighting capabilities. It was this fact that created a window for those feeble lambs to desperately strike back and draw out some of their blood.

Looking at the board as a whole, Henry didn't regret his decision. These injures were nothing. He would still have pressed on even if it meant losing a portion of his force, since it meant getting a strategic win over them in the long term.

Henry turned his sight to the grand mountain range spawning on the horizon, casting its shadow on them as the gentle snow slowly covered their vestiges, before finally resting his eyes on the faithful soldiers again as he gave out a simple compliment– "Great work!"

He didn't forget to nod at Grok, Leier and Zahra, the three pearls that shone brightly in this battle.

-x-

Two days later…

Three hundred and fifty corpses laid on top of a funeral pyre, carelessly arranged one on top of the other. There wasn't a single body intact. Most of them had missing heads and limbs, while others had been found completely disfigured by wild animals. It was a scene worse than those found in a normal battlefield, making those not used to such scenes wanting to throw up, especially the normal farmers.

Luak's army gathered around the funeral pyre, their eyes reflecting a mix of fear and unease. The unsettling rumors circulating around the encampment, jumping from mouth to mouth, seemed to instill a common and great panic in their minds, reinforced by the hideous sight of their dead comrades laying on the pyre.

The soldiers who managed to survive through the carnage in the forest held hollow eyes as they came back mumbling meaningless words. Those who were near enough could only hear one word loud and clear, and that was 'Dark Demons'. Those words were repeated over and over by all of them.

The soldiers who managed to survive the carnage inside the forest returned with haunted eyes and quivering voices, muttering meaningless and incoherent words. Yet, one sounded loud and clear to a nearby listener, "Demons". They repeated this word over and over, turning their eyes in fright at any unusual sound, even the slightest crunch of the snow sent shivers down their spine. It didn't take long before those words spread among the soldiers. The ancient legends of evil horned creatures, with red skin and eyes, emerging from the winter winds fueled the panic.

Right in front of the wooden funeral pyre, Zuna was silently holding a lit torch in her hand as the snow slowly piled on top of her disheveled blue hair. Her eyes were absentmindedly looking at the pyre, lingering with a mix of anger, despair, and confusion as she thought about the last events. She was still trying to mentally recover from that mysterious midnight explosion that had taken the lives of a few of her soldiers. And now, she found herself facing another misfortune and losing a significant part of her army, which would probably lead to a delay in her plans.

However, the most concerning fact wasn't the loss of these unskilled soldiers or the small setback in the operation, but the veil of smoke that covered her vision. Zuna couldn't ascertain whether these events were instigated by one of the kingdoms or if it was a mere coincidence.

"It does not make sense" – Zuna murmured to herself, her gaze seemingly lost in thought – "For a bandit group to eliminate so many people without suffering any losses, they would need a Fourth Stage member among their ranks. However, even such a formidable warrior wouldn't be able to kill everyone and still ensure his underlings own safety."

With each passing thought, her heartbeat accelerated giving space to a suffocating desperation welling up within her. In the end, a word constantly repeated by the survivors and by the soldiers in the encampment emerged in her mind.

"Demons?" – She immediately cut off that chain of thought – "There are no demons. They are merely legends created to curse and chain us."

Letting the senseless thought go and returning to the present, Zuna turned her attention to the ten captains standing behind her, each one entrusted with a company of five hundred soldiers. With a commanding tone, she said – "Call the soldiers surveying the mines and assign them to hunting. We need to start preparing for winter. Also, I want one of you to go inside the forest with them. I don't want unnecessary losses."

As the order resonated in the air, a mixture of anger and unwillingness flickered across all captains' faces. Ever since the beginning, they disliked the idea of someone weaker and younger than them to take charge of this mission. They were in the Fourth Stage and were descendants of noble lineages, which gave them a great prestige throughout their society. The only one capable of ordering them around was the king. However, despite that, they still didn't dare to raise a complain.

Zuna was someone personally appointed by the king to lead this mission, and defying her authority wouldn't only invite severe consequences upon them but also bring a great punishment to their families. Although they were powerful, they didn't dare to defy the symbol and power such as the king.

The first one to react was a fat long haired man, whose face was adorned with a bulbous nose and small beady eyes. He rested his hand over his belly as he asked with a tone filled by pride and rudeness – "Who is the one going?" – He didn't mind letting out his dissatisfaction with the situation. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Zuna looked at him with disgust and displeasure, emotions that were soon replaced by a vengeful grin – "You!"

The man's small, beady eyes bulged with anger, ready to shout and curse at the woman. However, clenching his fist, he managed to suppress his emotions and forced a smile instead – "I am afraid I'm not fit for this task…. commander" – He said, his voice dripping with contempt as he addressed the woman – "My feet is sore. I must have injured my feet on the way here, and I need some rest to heal."

With a fake painful smile, the man gently tapped his leg, trying to show the injure. – "See?... I can't even lift it up. You should choose another one." – He looked at his comrades, who looked at him with disgust but remained silent.

"I don't care. You are going!" – Zuna coldly said, the smile leaving her lips, replaced by an emotionless face – "I want ten thousand pounds of meat in the end of this week. Go!"

The man didn't seem to hear her orders and stood firmly on the ground, looking bewildered at her. The anger in his eyes intensified as his hand fell to the sword on his waist. The action didn't go unnoticed by Zuna.

"I dare you!" - Zuna rapidly turned her body and walked in his direction, looking down into his eyes, who remained fiecely looking at her - "I won't say it again. Go!" - The king's power behind her giving her enough strength to face this man.

They maintained eyes contact for a whole minute, before the man finally backed down with a silly smile on his lips - "Sorry! My ears don't seems to be working probably today. Thank you for coming so close. I will be departing."

He looked at his comrades with that same smile, his eyes hiding a cruel look. He turned around and left.

"Burn it!" - Zuna said, throwing the torch towards the pyre.