The two armies studied each other from the distance for a long while. Then came King Deniz with the remainder of the troops. Heavy dust engulfed the atmosphere as the mammoth fleet arrived on the battlefield.

Bihanzin and his troops stood on one side, and the allied Kings of jinzidal stood on the other.

Bihanzin gave his first order, "Protect the princess."

The two people guarding the carriage removed their helmets and nodded. They were none other than princes Kiru and Hasanu.

"Stay with her no matter how bad this battle gets," Bihanzin emphasized. He turned to his back and said, "Damjinu, Nakata, and Dinandul, you are staying with me. The Ten, each of you is going to lead five thousand soldiers under your command."

As soon as he said this, Damjinu and the two men standing with him went and stood at Bihanzin's back. Some ten men came out from the first row of soldiers and each of them led some five thousand men, and together they surrounded the carriage in a circle.

Bihanzin stayed at the frontline of the army together with his top three commanders.

On the other side of the battlefield, King Rafiyan Daljari commanded, " Uznu Ururu, Deniz Iluru, Dandil, you are to have my back. Niyashi, Bizaya, and the rest of your group, you are to capture that carriage. But stay aside for now and wait for an opportunity."

And then ten people were quickly selected from the elite soldiers and Daljari gave them new orders, "Divide the first fleet into a group of ten thousand. Each group is to be led by one of you."

This left behind around 990 elite soldiers and over one hundred thousand foot soldiers. Daljari turned to them and said, "The rest of you will stay aside and await orders. Our formation is simple: when Bihanzin attacks, I or King Deniz will confront him; if the ten divisions attack," he pointed to the groups of ten thousand soldiers, "you'll face them. Elite soldiers will tackle elite soldiers. Low-ranking soldiers should tackle other low-ranking soldiers." And then he sent a silent message to his son. "Niyashi, your job to capture the princess is the most important. We'll serve as a distraction for you while you approach the carriage. Lead the team well. You know what you must do."

He paused and swept his gaze over the crowd. Then with a thunderous voice, he said, "We are four times their size. Victory is ours already. But we will surely win with little to no casualties if we follow the plan."

"We heard and we shall obey," said a chorus of thousand voices.

They assembled themselves after that.

King Rafiya and King Bihanzin stood facing down each other. Both nursed a secret hatred for the other.

Bihanzin broke the silence after a while, "It has been a long time since we last met, old man Dalja. It's not befitting for a father to meet his son as enemies after a long time, and less savory still that you want to kill your granddaughter, Nostalgia. That surely is belittling of you. You were more sensible and conscientious when you were younger."

The way Bihanzin talked was full of sarcasm. Raphael Daljari made a fist and ground his teeth. His dying wish was to do away with Bihanzin. The two of them had an unsavory history that happened more than ninety years ago. It was something that couldn't go away with time.

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Daljari gave a bitter smile but swallowed his thoughts and replied, "It is the good that is cherished, not the bad. Who would want to meet with your kind? Just let me capture you already. I shall happily tell the world what your tribe and roots are after I forced your face to the ground and cut your head off."

Bihanzin's face darkened as soon as he heard those words. The soldiers started to whisper among themselves, trying to guess what Daljari meant by 'Bihanzin's tribe and roots'

Bihanzin was so enraged that he unstrapped his sword and attacked Daljari right away. The way he handled the sword with minimal movements showed great swordsmanship and a long time of practice. A cloudy smoke that looked like a raven's feathers emerged from the tip of the sword and jetted toward Daljari.

The cloudy smoke took the shape of a sword and the air surrounding it boomed and scattered like broken glass. In a matter of seconds, everything standing between the flying sword and its target gave way. Only Daljari remained. The surrounding ground screamed and shook. Craters began to appear around the battlefield wherever the sword passed.

Uznu Ururu, who was standing in the distance, frowned. He thought, "So this is the famous perpetual damage. This is the first time I'm seeing it."

"So this is the sword that frightened King Miki Abbas and stopped him from participating in this war - perpetual damage!" King Deniz exclaimed.

Dandil moved back a bit to further distance himself from the path of the slash and said, "King Han'ibal once told me about this cloudy smoke emitted by perpetual damage. It's rumored that even death is afraid of it! I don't blame King Han'ibal for wanting this Bend so badly."

By the side, King Daljari clapped his hands in a gesture and uttered some silent incantations.

"Grave sand," he intoned. An endless presentation of graves appeared in the air. The sand covering the graves came together to form a large wall.

Everyone thought the same thing: sure, the 'grave presentation' was cute, but what would an image do against the rumored perpetual damage?

King Daljari's eyes turned cold.

Bihanzin's smoky sword struck the wall and cut it in half. But another wall emerged just behind the first one before the flying sword could reach its target. The second wall was cut again in half, but at the same time diminishing the smoke blowing from the sword. Another wall appeared and the sword cut through it while, at the same time, losing its speed and size. A total of four walls perished before the sword died down. Another five seconds passed before the ground stopped shaking.

With this, the first war of this century had begun.

When it calmed down again, Daljari's soldiers cheered. There was nothing they feared more than the perpetual damage. But they'd just seen it being defeated by an image.

"We are going to win."

"We have the jinzidal Kings on our side."

***

Meanwhile, on the northern wall, at the borders between the third and fourth worlds, a boat docked. On the boat were Ikenga, Kana, Daddara, and the boy with the black eyes that they rescued from Pseudo-Ururu island. The group went directly to the Eycigan portal as soon as they disembarked.

"We are going to Bayajidda Route, how much is the payment?" Kana asked the guard in charge of the portal.

The guard looked bewildered when he heard where they were going. "Bayajidda Route?" He asked. "Are you not aware of the war going on there?"

None of them replied, but the boy opened his black eyes and glared at the guard. The guard felt his chest tighten, making him vomit blood without warning.

"F...forgive me, my lord. I didn't know you were from above." The rules were simple: the inhabitants of the lower worlds had no right to question those from the first world. The guard quickly opened the portal for them and let them in. No more questions were asked.

"This war baffles me," the boy said after they emerged from the other side of the portal. "I know we are just going there as onlookers. But thinking about it, King Deniz needs to kill Armad for his ability to share a lightning element with others. So he has his reason for joining the fight. As does King Han'ibal who wants to have Bihanzin's sword. But why would King Daljari and Uznu Ururu join the war?" The boy said to Ikenga.

Ikenga smiled when he heard that. "I was told that your cousin brother, Uznu, has a strange relationship with Armad Wilberforce because of the Book-sword. But I ain't sure if that is true. However, there is an ugly history between Rafiyan Daljari and Bihanzin, something that happens ninety-two years back. Let me tell you the story as we walk to our destination."