Several months ago, before the Adders were pushed out of the throne,

At the imperial city of Indra, Lusentra,

Old grey Arthur bowed on all fours as he waited for the Emperor's response.

He was on a mission to send the original book of Sahel to Lusentra and handed it over to the Emperor to get the favour of Indra in the upcoming war.

"Is this book real? Are all its contents true?" The emperor asked Arthur after the wise sages of Indra reviewed the contents of the book of Sahel.

"It is, I am afraid, Your Imperial Majesty. Mordu' isn't the Great Sage the public believes to be. He is no protector of men, nor the son of God. He is a pretender with a devilish plan. Mordu', with his dark magic, collaborated with the man named Sahel to create monsters. Monsters wreak havoc on the land of men and seed fear in their hearts. He exploited that fear to become a god." Arthur answered the Emperor's question.

The grand sages also nodded in unison to his answer. One sage even stepped forward and reminded his emperor about a chilling past, "Your imperial Majesty. This man named Sahel was from Jalhapo, Saudh origin. Annals say he ran away to Indra after he was branded a criminal in Saudh. He was involved in several grave digging, mortifying dead bodies and murdering children. Your great grandfather, a wise and just King he was, banished the man to Midland. That was a hundred years ago, before Mordu' rose in fame and Midland withered with monsters. These events add up. This can't be a lie." The sage showed support for Arthur.

"Your imperial Majesty, I dare not lie. This is all true. Mordu' is an ambitious man with an evil mind. If he got a firm grip on Midland, I am afraid, his next ambition would be world domination. He would condemn all the God and gods you believe in, remove all the norms you practise, destroy all the morals you uphold and replace them with his sick rules. He is a threat to the whole world. Right now, House Adders and Revenant are the only fortresses left defending from his devil carnage."

The Great Emperor sighed. After much contemplation, he decided to support Arthur.

"Tell me what your sire needs, lord Arthur."

"She needs an army, Your Imperial Majesty."

"Then, you shall get one; an army that would shake the ground it marches on. An army that would cover the sea it sails upon. Send 300 ships with 15,000 men, five hundred horses and 30 elephants. I, the Emperor of Great Indra, protector of the realm, and ruler of ten directions shall defeat the devil incarnate called Mordu' for you. Let it be known to the world."

Three days after Adders retook the crown city; a day before Arthur joined Cleo and Louise at Midlake,

At the narrow emerald sea of Indran between the isles of Easton and Portland,

"Have you fed the horses," shouted a sailor to another sailor who came out of the stable inside the hull of the ship in Indrean language.

The latter lifted a bucket full of horse turds and replied, "I am cleaning the stable first, quartermaster."

"Damnit, you dumb bastard. We are about to make landfall. The battle is right in front of us. Who cares about some shit? Feed the horses and ready them for land. Understand!?"

The answer from the latter frustrated the former sailor so he yelled at him. Even after blowing out his frustration, he didn't feel satisfied so he whipped a mast hard to hear a satisfying whip sound. The sound of the whip terrified the dumb sailor along with the rest of the crew rowing the ship.

"Ay...aye sir," Rufah answered stuttering.

It was a big galley carrying Indrean soldiers across the Indran sea on a holy mission of defeating Mordu' and liberating Midland from the carnage of monsters.

Two hundred and ninety-nine more similar ships were also sailing across the narrow sea from the isles of Easton to the shore near Portland.

Soon, the captain on the deck ordered to stop rowing so the quartermaster whipped the mast again to get their attention.

"Stop rowing! You heard me, bastards! Raise your oars! Stop rowing! And lower the sails! Go, go, go! Pull those ropes!!" He shouted his lungs out. His clear commanding voice travelled across the hull and echoed back to him like a roar in a cave.

Right after his command, a uniform shout from the rowing crews appeared as they caught the big wooden oars with their bodies and lifted them with their bodies' weight.

After a few feet forward, the galley was put to a halt behind several ranks of the Flagship by the waves crashing into its bow.

The whole armada came to a halt facing the shore of Easton at several hundreds of meters distance where the arrows and catapults shot from the land would not reach.

The Indrean admiral flippantly walked toward the bow with his head held high. He knew there was no force big enough to stop his armada in the sea of Indran. He took out his telescope and confirmed his belief.

A short line of gallies defending its water near the shore in two ranks. Midland navy paled in comparison to the mighty Indrean armada. The reason Midland was so weak in the navy was their focus had to put more on the army to tackle ravaging monsters. Another reason was Cleo and Louise purposely neglecting on navy. There were a few latest ships such as caravels in Midland but they were mostly owned by traders and merchants, unprepared for big navy battles.

The admiral laughed at the tiny navy awaiting them at the water near the shore. "Aww, look at those ships. They are cute. It is a shame they will all be sleeping at the bottom of the sea soon. Even the forces on land are tiny. General, tell your troops to be ready for land. This won't even take a day."

His voice exuded confidence as he manoeuvred his ships into formation.

The ships, with lowered sails, slowly moved into positions only with the power of rowing. Those with a reinforced ram and front cannons moved front meanwhile those with mounted ballistas on their decks turned 30degree starboard, their missiles targeted toward Midlanders' gallies.

The wind was as soft as a breeze. The waves were as calm as a lake.

The Midlanders saw no advantages at their sides. They cursed at the weather for forsaking them.

"What a perfect day to add one more victory to my chronicle." The Indrean admiral muttered excitedly. Then, he noticed something shiny, something sparkling in the middle of the azure sky.

"A second sun?" He mumbled unsurly. At first, he thought he was seeing it alone as an illusion. When the rest of his crew and the general also joined him, he found out he wasn't seeing an illusion.

They forgot about the enemy in front for a moment. Midlanders were not moving from their spots either.

The whole scene was as serene as stream water.

The shiny spectacle got closer to them, identifying itself to be a human. A grey old man with a very long beard in a gold-laced cloak.

All Indrean gazed in surprise. A human standing in the sky. They couldn't believe their eyes. One by one, even the sailors below the decks moved up to see the enchanting spectacle. Rufah the stable boy was left alone in the stable with unsettling horses.

"Why are you guys getting nervous? Please calm down. Are you angry because you are hungry? I will feed you fast." He tried to calm the horses down but it didn't work. "Where are you trying to run away? Your food is here. You weren't like this a moment ago. Why aren't you listening to me anymore?" Rufah could not understand the sudden change in the behaviour of the animals. It wasn't just horses. The chickens and pigs brought aboard started to act the same.

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"Where is everyone? Why are they so quiet on the deck when I am in this mess?" Rufah bursted out his frustration.

Meanwhile, all the midlanders at the shore kneeled in submission. They raised their hands in a gesture of roof over their forehead, and they yielded, "O' Lord Mordu'! The Lord of Kings. The Saviour of Man and the Protector of Realm. I yield to your greatness. I yield to your protection. Save us!!" The commander of Easton shouted.

As soon as his cry for help ended, the golden sparkling figure spread his arms and claimed, "O' my dear servants, I hear you. I embrace those who submit me with love and those who oppose me with might."

At the end of his speech, a burst of wind ran out of his hands toward the Indrean Armada. The wind was so strong it pushed all ships backwards while some ships were turned in a circle crashing into each other. Several lightweight sailors were thrown off the ships instantly; some of them were crushed between the ships, and some were devoured by the angry sea.

At the stable inside the hull, Rufah was thrown to the mast breaking his head. A stream of blood flowed down his face from the crack at his eyebrow. The horses neighed wild, trying to break free. The pigs rolled on their back and the chicken flew around in stress.

The serenity was gone within a moment. It turned into utter chaos. Nature went mad suddenly, its furiousity only targeted Indrean.

"What in the world did we challenge against?" The general of Indra muttered in utter fear after one rough moment. He had not prepared to fight Mordu' at sea.

Meanwhile, his counterpart at sea had reached his excitement at peak. He thought his role would end after fighting a mediocre battle at sea and transporting troops. The admiral pushed the sailor and took the ballista for himself.

"Hahahaha." He laughed a maniac cry as he turned the missile toward Mordu'. "I will kill him myself. My name will be mentioned as god slayer in the annals." He pointed the arrow and shot.

The tension of the big string propelled the iron rod in full force, launching it to the sky powerfully. However, before it reached Mordu', the blue flame surrounding the Mordu' melted the iron rod into molten.

"A mere mortal, thinking his human weapon would reach heaven. A vain attempt."

Mordu' snapped his finger and a wave of wind slashed the ballista in half. He proved his superiority, the power of an immortal.

But it just excited the admiral more. He ordered his men to turn every missile, from ballistas to bows, toward Mordu'.

"Loose!!" The admiral ordered. Instantly, the missiles from all three hundred ships covered the sky like a black cloud. The barrage was so massive, that it cast a dark shadow over the water, completely blocking the light reaching the sea.

Yet again, the attack failed to even reach its target similarly as the blue flame acted like a living guardian devouring everything which came to harm its master.

"Interesting," muttered the admiral after his attack failed. The more challenging it seemed, the more madly excited he became. "Then how about this?" The admiral tried out another way again. He ordered his men to shoot one by one. After the prior attack, he noticed Mordu's breath had become rapid and shallow.

"It must be exhausting to conjure a high-level flame spell even for a brief moment. So, can you maintain it for a long time?"

Just as the admiral expected, Mordu' dodged the missiles rather than burning them.

The stray missiles landed on the Midlanders' ships stationed behind, breaking the mast. If such powerful missiles landed on a human, they would cut the man in half.

"Hehe, I am right. You can't maintain it, can you? That flame is no living being of its own mind. You are full of pretentious tricks, Mr Mordu," laughed the admiral like a crazy man while watching Mordu' skillfully dodge all attacks by floating around in the air. He waited for his ballista until Mordu' was exhausted. He believed he was getting the upper hand with his never-ending attacks.

He was wrong.

"Insolent fool. Enough with the play. This has become quite boring. If you have no card left, let me show my end card."

All of a sudden, Mordu' stopped running and waved his hand. As if the wind had become his servant, it moved according to his dance. It carried the arrows and returned them to where they came from. The soldiers dropped like flies one by one until none of them dared to shoot another arrow.

With another dance, Mordu' raised the sea like a flying serpent. It magnificently twirled over the sky until it crushed back down to sea taking Indrean ships along with it to the bottom of the sea.

Only Rufah, who was under the deck, managed to stay alive as he hid inside an oak barrel during the chaos. The barrel would float around the sea for several weeks till it was brought out of the water by a passing merchant ship.

The next few days after the incident at Easton,

At the war council at the palace, the shocking news of their allies from the east was like a rock thrown into an already stirred lake.

"Is the source trustworthy?" Louise questioned the authenticity of the news as he still couldn't believe it.

"All the sources say the same thing, Your Majesty."

"They are coming from two sides with ten thousand strong. All experienced soldiers. How will we defend against that?"

A lord spoke out his concern. The commanders lowered their heads as the same heavy feeling had been holding down their hearts.

"Well, don't be so down, my lords. Our numbers are increasing every second as we speak too. We have eight thousand men, half of them highly trained professional soldiers, garrisoned up on the wall. They are the ones scaling up the wall. I say, let them come. These walls aren't mere decorations. They will need twice that size to go over the wall." Arthur gave a pep talk to his men. He was an old man yet he showed the most energy in the council.

"You are right, uncle. That we are the ones behind the wall. We still have the upper hand. But we can't ignore the fact that all ten thousand enemies are well-disciplined soldiers unlike most of ours. Not to mention one hundred and fifty Templers aiding that monstrous army. The moment our men suspected that the tide had changed, they will desert their positions and we will lose the wall."

"Got it. I shall train our recruits on discipline very harshly, Your Highness." Luther gave his word to Cleo that he would take care of it. He felt that he had been little of worth to Cleo lately so he took the role of training recruits instead of staying near her at the palace.

Unfortunately, Cleo didn't grasp the complex feeling Luther was having. She let him go.

And so another day was over at Midlake with rising worries and fear each day as their future turned bleak.