Armad saw the information on his essence board and he felt even worse.

The group of two princes, three commanders, and the twin executioners jumped onto the altar and surrounded him. They didn't want to take any chances with him.

Meanwhile, Fasumu went directly to Han'Dandil, who was Han'ibal's deputy and narrated all that had happened in the capital to the deputy. Dandil shared the news with the Kings. The news sent the alliance to chaos and evoked uncertainty among them.

To save his wife, Armad had kidnapped King Han'ibal's entire family. And he had somehow replaced his wife with himself. Killing him now would endanger King Han'ibal's family. Dandil wouldn't allow that. If the others insisted, then he would have to break away from the alliance to save the King's family.

King Daljari stopped the princes and commanders from slaying the unconscious Armad. He called an emergency meeting with his fellow Kings in one of the tents. Dandil, who wasn't usually invited to such meetings, was also invited.

Meanwhile, Armad was still vomiting blood and couldn't even stand on his shivering legs. The group surrounding him was ready to pounce at the slightest chance. The whole place was a chaos of noises calling for Armad's head.

Inside the tent, deputy Dandil was speaking. "We must put the royal family first, as I am sure we would if the King is here. I suggest we draw an agreement to free Armad if he would let go of the royal family."

"But you are aware that letting him go is not a surety that he will free them without harm, right?" Uznu interrupted. "Our focus should be on maintaining our advantage and finding out how Nostalgia escaped. All our attention must be on these two people, Armad and Nostalgia. They are the winning cards in this war. Losing both of them to the enemy would be a major setback to us."

King Deniz and Daljari exchanged looks and sighed. They were in a real dilemma: Uznu was right, but allowing the Han'ibal Royal family to perish would also be a major setback both in the short and long terms.

Seeing the hesitation in the King's eyes, Uznu and Dandil kept defending their views. One side wanted to sacrifice the royal family to win the war while the other wanted to save the family even if it meant losing the war. The argument became so heated that it took a lot of effort from Rafiyan Daljari to calm them down.

"War is deceit. We are all in the same boat. We shall rescue the royal family and also release Armad, but that doesn't mean we have lost them both. You mustn't forget that we originally meant to fight Bihanzin one-on-one without using his daughter as bait. This current situation means we should just revert to that original plan. You must also not forget we have an alliance of four armies, each of which is an equal match to Bihanzin. Why are we even held up by hostage situation?"

This explanation from Daljari brought them back to their senses. Capturing Nostalgia was Uznu's idea, in the first place. It had failed, but that didn't mean they were without a plan.

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King Deniz exhaled deeply and said, "I suspect Bihanzin used Soul Substitution to replace Nostalgia with Armad. The same technique is been passed down in my family. It has a short-distance effect. The longest distance ever achieved with it was a day's journey. From here to Bihanzin's capital is a year ride even on the fastest horse. So I think we still have a chance to recapture the princess before she reaches Sisiya."

Uznu narrowed his eyes in thought before he nodded. Since the Kings had decided to let Armad go, then there was nothing he could do about it. But he still had a chance to prevent the war from reaching Sisiya. "If that's the case then we should get going as soon as possible. As I said earlier, taking the war to Jekis would be most challenging for us. They know the secrets of their city better than us. We would have easily won if the war had taken place here in Jaljus. We lost that advantage since we no longer have any hostage. So we must try our best to stop taking the war to their doorstep. I will consult the stars to see where the girl is," Uznu explained. His voice carried a bit of bitterness in it. After all, kidnapping the princess from Jekis wasn't easy. It might have seemed effortless from a viewer's perspective, but they spent countless priceless resources to make it happen.

They agreed on this. Being the group's leader, Daljari shared out tasks.

"Uznu, your job is to find out where the girl is and to stop her from reaching Sisiya.

"Deniz, you're to wait here until Uznu finds the target. When that happens, you are to lead our soldiers to kill the Sisiyan soldiers that may be protecting her. I believe the princess will be closer to this island than to Sisiya. So it will be better if you just remain here and save your energy.

"'Dandil, you are to take Armad to the dungeons and rescue the royal family. After that, you should do whatever you can to make sure nobody else kidnaps Han'ibal's family again. I expect you and the Twins to join us later.

"I will lead our elite warriors to intercept the Sisiyan highways. I'll make sure Bihanzin doesn't leave Sisiya before we are set. For now, everyone should try to get things done in an hour. We don't know where this war is taking place and we should be prepared for every possibility."

Everyone nodded. They left for their respective tasks on that note. Uznu was first to disappear. Dandil, along with the Twin Executioners took hold of Armad to the dungeon. Armad had fallen deeply unconscious.

King Daljari, his two commanders, Asifu and Red Rider, and his son, prince Niyashi led the troops of the thousand elite soldiers to guard the borders of Sisiya. All the Eycigan gates in the third world northern hemisphere had been banned because of the war. So anyone leaving Sisiya to Han would have to pass through them.

Meanwhile, King Deniz, together with his son, Bizaya, and his commander, Kalhari, rounded up the remaining troops and remained in the arena, awaiting orders.

~5 hours later...

Along the Bayajidda Route, on the borders between the third and fourth worlds, an army of fifty thousand men waited. A careful look revealed they were the troops of King Bihanzin from Sisiya. They were dressed in yellow uniforms with prominent black stripes around their shoulders. All of them waited silently.

A little ahead of them was a group of three cloaked figures.

One of the cloaked figures was the first division commander, Damjinu Djinn, but the other two were new. One was tall and had a broad bearded face, while the other had a small catlike face that made him look like an owl.

Bihanzin sat on his mount in front of them. He was clad in a long, black dress embroidered with raven's feathers. Strapped to his shoulder was the famous sword that was dubbed as the 'perpetual damage'. It was unsheathed and its blade yearned for the blood of the strong.

Soon, a small group of ten people escorting a carriage approached the fleet. Bihanzin welcomed them and opened the carriage door to see his daughter, Nostalgia. The young woman was peacefully sleeping inside. She was even stronger than he thought.

Bihanzin smiled. He was the victor, after all.

"Men, let's go back to Sisiya and celebrate..."

When he turned around, his words suddenly stuck in his throat as he saw the enemy fleet suddenly blocking their escape. It was Daljari's army that was supposed to guard the Sisiyan borders.

Just when he was planning an escape...