Chapter 262: Interlude: Chaos Descends

Gorgon had a headache. 

He was in charge of the left-wing and a ceremonial battle would start soon. 

Though it was called a ceremonial battle, even he knew today's battle would be a devastating one. After all, humans were here to make it clear to the dwarves that they weren't backing down. 

But it was his job to make sure things didn't become too ugly. After all, he'd already promised her. And if he couldn't even keep a promise then what kind of a man would he be? At least not the kind he wanted to.

So while in his tent, looking at the map, all he could do was sigh. Why did it have to come to this? Why did they have to go to war? He already knew the answers and yet, there was nothing he could do about them. There was nothing left to do. 

Everything was already set in place. And now all he could do was see how it all played out. 

'Even if we win this, then what?'

After all, if humans won the war, the dwarves would fall under them and that in turn would make them the largest power on the continent which in turn would directly threaten the Alfeim Empire. So, what if the elves foresaw this and decided to aid the dwarves?

No, he already knew that wasn't possible. Just the other day he heard a rather peculiar rumor of a human getting engaged to an elven princess. Soon after that, he heard another rumor about the human claiming the throne of an Archduke. 

Most of the royals poked fun at the rumors, but he knew, this wasn't just a rumor. After all, his sworn friend was in Alfeime and he had faith in him. He knew for a fact his friend wasn't stupid and do something reckless. 

But there was a problem with that too. If the elves did not aid the dwarves and the humans won, what then? Wouldn't humans get drunk on their victory and target elves next? After all, they were engaged in a long war even just a year ago. 

And if they did, that'd cause another great war. Thousands, no millions would die, and in the end, what will be left? More forests?

As the worries just kept piling up and up, Gorgon's headache only worsened. 'If only-'

His thoughts abruptly stopped as someone cleared his throat just outside. 

"My lord, may I come in?" A soldier stood just outside the tent. His voice was shaking. 

"Yes, what is it?"

The soldier entered.  "The battle has begun my lord."

"How many soldiers have they sent?"

It was tradition to send out some soldiers from either country and have a small battle with no killing. The dwarves were the weakest in the city they were attacking, so the army was probably going to be small. And because of that, many human soldiers could feel the need to forget about the ceremony and just try to conquer the city in one go. Gorgon knew that and he was going to try to stop it as best as he could. After all, he had to stick by something. If he discarded all his honor, how was he going to claim himself to be human?

"Ju-ju-"

Gorgon furrowed his bows. "What!? Spit it out." He was already in a foul mood.

"Four. Just four my lord." The soldier's head was down.

"Are you joking? What kind of retarded-"

And then a small realization hit Gorgon. 'Wait, didn't-" His friend had mentioned before that he wanted to travel the world. 

As the thought ran across Gorgon's mind, his blood became a bit cooler. "It can't be him.' He immediately dismissed the possibility. After all, surely his friend was this stupid to attack an army of 150 thousand soldiers?

"Do we know their names, faces, anything?" Gorgon quickly grabbed his spear and helmet. 

"They claim to be demigods, my lord, at least three of them does. And the leader claims to be the apostle of Xerphas."

Gorgon's breathing became erratic. This wasn't good. And if it was just as he feared, this really wasn't good. 

"Give the command to form ranks! We march, now!"

"My lord!" The soldier saluted and immediately ran outside. 

Gorgon took a deep breath and headed out himself. 'Demigods of all things.'

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***

Once outside, Gorgon met chaos. There was something in the distance, raining down fire. 

"A dragon." As the faint words escaped his lips, he realized, this really was bad. 

"Prepare my stead!"

Soldiers were lying across the whole battlefield. Since there wasn't going to be a real battle today, they were taking it easy and now they were caught unguarded. Even the other commanders' tents were left to ruins. And yet he didn't see a single commander standing. Was it possible they already fell? No, that was absurd.

One side was literally in flames while the other side of the battlefield was frozen and then there was the middle which had nothing but lightning strikes. This wasn't good and there was no going around it. 

"My stead!" Gorgon screamed again.

But it was too late. The soldiers around him were paralyzed and once he looked up at the sky, he knew why. 

The dragon was flying this way. There was one thing Gorgon's father had told him before he became a knight. "Never fight a dragon. Always run." At the time Gorgon thought it was a joke but now that he saw the magnificence with his own eyes, he didn't doubt his father. His guts told him to run, but his pride didn't allow that. After all, if the commander ran, then what of the rest?

Gorgon took a deep breath. He had a blessed life. But now it was coming to an end. He didn't have many regrets but he did have one. That one being, he never got to tell her how he felt. 

As Gorgon prepared himself to be burned alive, he heard some faint words. "That's him, let's go down."

The dragon shrank in size and two men, no, one woman, and one man descended. 

Gorgon knew one of them.

"Hey, long time no see," the man said. "This is where you were huh? I tell ya, those fatheads were too thickheaded to even tell me the location you were in."

"You-" Gorgon stared in disbelief. "But why?" For a second there Gorgon almost pinched his cheeks in disbelief. All this time he thought it was impossible, and yet, how did this happen?

The man had a smile and it didn't falter. "I have my reasons. I was told to not kill anyone as this was supposed to be a ceremonial something. So yeah. I respected that. This was just a warning by the way. Oh, and you're the leader?"

Gorgon's throat dried but his resolve did not. "I'm the commander of the left wings." He pointed his spear at the man he once called friend. "And I will avenge my brethren!" But he had hesitation in his eyes. Could he really win against his friend and the girl next to him? He didn't know and he didn't want to fight him. 

But he couldn't fail the army and he couldn't fail the soldiers hiding behind him.

"Which part of I didn't kill them didn't you get, moron!"

Gorgon almost felt hurt at those words. Even his mother never called him a moron. He was often praised for his intelligence, but a moron?

"But why do this? If the elves get involved-"

"Well, technically, Daarc Green the apostle of Xerphas is involved not the Duke or the Archduke. So don't worry about it." The man looked behind, raised his voice a little. "And that's a wrap folks!"

And with those words, two other girls headed this way. The soldiers all stayed at a fair distance. Most of the soldiers were behind Gorgon. 

"I actually didn't think humans were this weak in the recent days." The smaller girl was a bit disappointed. Mist was pouring off her body and cooling the surrounding. 

An elf descended from the sky, almost like thunder. There was a thunderous sound as she fell. "Humans were always like this. However, some did have skill for mere mortals." The elf, however, wasn't even concerned. 

"They- they are?"

"These three are the demigods. My companions." The man smiled. "Anyway, now to my point. Do withdraw, or retreat, whatever you want to call it. Where's your king? Back at the capital?"

"And you expect me to listen to you and tell you the whereabouts of my king?"

Gorgon was prepared to lay down his life for his country. No, for his princess would be more accurate.

"Yes, I do expect that. And I just want to have a talk. You and I both know, I can find him easily if I started burning down all the tents and the nearby cities."

Gorgon grimaced. He knew for a fact it wasn't impossible. "He's back at the northern capital city, half a day's journey away from here."

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