Chapter 46: The Prince and the day of reckoning (2)

The state of inactivity and purposeless is the worst situation that could happen to an army if only death is not a thing.

That state of inactivity and purposeless could be said to have a worse effect on a horde of brainless worms of Bloodbeard.

That was one of the reasons Fearless gave the worms a proper assignment and deadline. He wanted to keep them busy with a sense of purpose through the assignment. The deadline served as the deterrent against procrastination, empowering the sense of purpose in the worms.

Bloodbeard’s worms were creatures that only lived in the moment, in that aspect, Fearless could relate to them. However, they had no brain to think for themselves regarding the consequences of their actions or their future paths or the capacity to think of the greater picture. They had no regard for human’s life. They can only see what is in front of them and act on their desires. They can only listen to orders from their leaders and they are not even good at that. They were worse than a pack of hungry wolves.

Despite all of that, six thousand was not a small number by any mean. The original number of Bloodbeard’s horde was even greater than that. And still, Bloodbeard was able to manage them. There must be an explanation for why Bloodbeard can manage such a large number of worms.

Fearless has only summed up the reason behind why this horde of worms, all chose to follow Bloodbeard and not their own selfish desire had something to do with Bloodbeard’s and Ekar’s capacity for cruelness. However, he has never dissected that because all the spontaneous things that kept flying in his direction. He killed Ekar without thinking twice about the consequences. He took in the burdens that were Erinys and those broken women. And then, there was Clariciel and probably one of her blood relatives who stalked Fearless in his sleep. Fearless has never had the time to deal with his problems one at the time. He tried to deal with them all at the same time just like taking multiple quests at the same time in an RPG game.

As he observed at the worms from the opened windows of the war room, Fearless began to understand more about the nature of this horde.

In a way, Ekar and Bloodbeard were the perfect kinds of personnel to lead these worms, more so than One-eye and the other commanders. These two commanded respect through fear and force.

Bloodbeard was the lawmaker. He just dominated them through sheer physical strength and cunnings. Without either one of the two, this entire horde could never function. They could not stick together to form a horde of worms the way they were. They would follow their small groups and bands, doing whatever they desired.

Ekar, on the other hand, taught the worms the consequences of not listening to orders through his twisted sadism and he had the strength and thoroughness to impose his will on them. His twisted sadism and cruelty have ironically made Ekar into something of a law enforcer for these worms. He was the keeper of order for this horde. He kept them in place, preventing them from being indulged in their own selfishness, preventing them from deserting and all.

Bloodbeard was the chain that bound this horde together and Ekar was the glue that solidified it.

That explained why Bloodbeard was so freak-out when he received news that Fearless has executed Ekar. Ekar was not just Bloodbeard’s Ajax or Achilles. He was more important than that.

The longer Fearless observed and listened to the worms, the more he understood them and their horde.

Back when the world of ROC was still a fictional world, a game, a world of fantasy, Fearless did not think much about why Bloodbeard and Ekar were cruel and twisted as they were. He simply did not care. He never made the effort to ask himself those kinds of questions. He trashed that cruelness as being a common trope, a setting, no more. Fearless has never dwelled deep into that.

Yet, with that new understanding, nothing has really changed. Fearless found his goal remained unaltered, his plan similar. The only difference was the amount of disgust he had for these worms.

That’s great, because while I lack the capacity for gore and horror that Ekar has, Ekar’s capacity for commanding fear is far from reaching my level.

Clariciel, you know what? I did not run into these worms. They ran into me.

Fearless scoffed as he removed his gaze from the worms. Erinys watched him with round eyes. Her expression betrayed her confusion, unsure of the nature of Fearless’ smirk. Fearless patted Erinys’ head, “This is going to be a long day,” he said, standing up and ended his short break.

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Fearless collected a piece of firewood, a strand of straw, and a small rock as he toured the courtyard. He sent one of One-eye’s men to deliver the items to Bloodbeard.

“You need these to win against Hyrios. This is your second hint, just in case you are too stupid to figure out with only one hint.” Fearless said, “Pass my words exactly as they are, without missing a single word, without any alteration to my nephew,” and shushed the pallid looking worm away.

The poor worm, his face was completely drained of colors. He should be happier. After all, Fearless just gave him the only opportunity in his entire life to trash talk his fearsome leader right in front of his face and walk away intact.

Fearless fought hard, preventing himself from breaking into a hysteric laughter when he imagined the confusion on Bloodbeard’s face the moment the bandit lord saw those items.

Bloodbeard was told that he could not face against Hyrios’ army. He could not run or hide. How else could he fight Hyrios?

Taking the plain away from Hyrios.

Fearless has told Bloodbeard these words to confuse him and kept him occupied. Now with these three items, Bloodbeard could only use all of his intelligence to find the link between the first and the second hint. However, the more he thinks, the more confused the bandit lord would be.

This was Fearless’ biggest practical joke yet, and yet, he could not show it to Fantasy.

Only Fantasy can appreciate this kind of practical joke.

Fantasy has always been an imp, a real prankster. That one time when Fearless found himself deserted on a tropical island was the result of one of Fantasy’s pranks went extremely wrong.

Fantasy was the kind of person who needed his daily dosage of pranks as much as Fearless needed his alcohols. Fantasy always found a way to prank people even though they were expecting his pranks and kept their guard up all the time. He was the kind of person who would switch the entire content of Fearless’ wardrobe with women clothes. He installed an extendable boxing glove into the working table inside the office of the team owner. He was the one who rigged that one dart game and sent FY to North Korea for his winter adventure.

When shits happened, everyone can always count on Fantasy’s ability to make them laugh.

I wish you could see this Fantasy.

The thought of Fantasy brought a small chuckle to Fearless.

While it was a practical joke, those items, which Fearless sent to Bloodbeard, would keep the bandit lord away from the matter, the only matter that really mattered.

Those three items would incense Bloodbeard as though rubbing salt to injury. They would make Bloodbeard invested all of his cunningness and attention in the wrong direction. Those three items, meaningless to everybody, insignificant to the world, would be important to Bloodbeard and Bloodbeard alone.

Their existence alone injured Bloodbeard’ stubborn pride. They existed to prove that Fearless, his esteemed uncle did not have a complete trust in his cunning and ability as a leader. Thus, Bloodbeard would try to prove Fearless’ wrong, desperately.

Those three insignificant items would blind Bloodbeard, in the same way, those promises of wealth and power that the Empire used to blind Bloodbeard.

Bloodbeard was proud of his ability as a leader and everything Fearless has ever done was pointing out how terrible a leader Bloodbeard was. Bloodbeard was confident of his cunning. Yet, Fearless pointed out that he was merely a sacrificial pawn on a bigger chessboard, someone’s pawn, and yet Bloodbeard did not even realize that without being shown.

His identity as a leader was being questioned. His cunning was being doubted. The only thing Bloodbeard has left with him was his strength, his purpose and his faith in Wonten.

In turn, they, too, would be tested.

Ekar was thorough, wasn’t he? I am more thorough than him, Ashtorá. But you don’t know that yet.

You should have washed your hands when I gave you the chance to do so.

Fearless passed through the quiet courtyard, Erinys with him. There was no snow today as well, just like yesterday. Yesterday, at this time, it was rowdy and noisy, packed with worms. Now, it was just Fearless and Erinys, and a few of One-eye’s henchmen running around with logs on their shoulders, trying to build a stage on top of the rampart according to Fearless’ order. Fearless’ eyes inadvertently attracted to the two pikes he planted in the middle of the courtyard. Ekar’s head mounted on one of the pikes, swarmed by a cloud of buzzing insects.

That sight nearly made Fearless doubled from his gag reflex. But, Fearless pretended to act normally.

As soon as he has walked to the other side of the rampart, there stood Ekar’s unit in a big square, looking stupid and terrified. Their new leader stood in attention, waiting.

The other units were given assignments, all of them. They were all busy with their respective assignment. Yet, Ekar’s unit alone was told to stand and wait in front of the rampart, doing nothing.

Being treated differently like that terrified them, extremely so.

They were the unit of the fool who challenged Fearless and died. They were the unit, the only unit that was stupid enough to even thinking about avenging Ekar. With that in mind, they received a different treatment from the other unit. They were being treated differently by Fearless, that made them terrified.

Fearless ignored them. He would make them wait and doing nothing. The longer he made them wait, the more ominous the situation would become for these worms of Ekar.

Fearless would make them questions the reasons they were being treated like this and what kind of orders he intended to give them. He would let them scare themselves.

In the meanwhile, these fools would serve as a warning to the other units. The state of inactivity of these worms of Ekar scared them.

By now, they had learned that Fearless was capable of indiscriminately killing them if they upset him. With that in mind, when they looked at these worms of Ekar being forced to stand and wait, doing nothing whereas everyone else had their jobs, they would feel a sense of foreboding. They would work hard to complete the assignments Fearless gave them.

If that is not what a sense of purpose is, I don’t know what is.

Fearless hid his smile, strolling with Erinys followed him like his shadow.

He did not realize that outside the weathered rampart of the Bundor Bastion were a gather of villages, their remains to be exact. In reality, he was too absorbed in his schemes to even process that information when he looked out from the arrowslits of the watchtower.

These villages were probably one of the many reasons that Bloodbeard chose the Bundor Bastion as his base of operation. These villages provided an abundant source of provision for Bloodbeard’s worms.

As Fearless stared at the destruction that Bloodbeard and his horde wrought, he began to understand more about the reason why the Empire chose this moment to invade Zard.

Autumn is the season of harvest, which means it is the perfect season for war.

The granaries across the territory of Zard were filled through the months of autumn, which make it easier for the Empire to steal the grains in large bulks. Also, the people of Zard are concentrated on their important harvest and became lax with their defense.

Fearless has never really questioned the reason why Bloodbeard chose the Bundor Bastion as his base of operation, nether Misery, and his fans. They all knew that Bloodbeard was told to use this place as his base and they saw the Bundor Bastion as a place that is easy to fortify and defend, and no further. They did not look beyond that.

What else?

Fearless swept his eyes through the villages from the hill where the Bundor Bastion located, counting over hundreds of houses. He estimated the populations of these villages had, over thousands.

Fearless started to sweat. He double-checked the images he was looking at with the map of Zard. His magic coins started spinning within his palm. Fearless had no idea if Bloodbeard was able to see what he was seeing when the bandit lord raided these villages.

Bloodbeard was treated as if he was a vanguard of the Empire, a general in all but recognition.

Bloodbeard was given the easiest slice of the cake and the juiciest, Madukat and the entire Golden Triangle Region.

That was why the fool was so blinded.

Fearless listened to the famous roaring winds that came out of the Dragonfell Canyon. They were loud as thunder strikes, but primal and haunting as the roars of a dragon. These winds have kept Fearless awake through yesterday night. These winds were not just loud; they were strong, strong enough to toss any fool dared to venture into the Canyon into the sky. A tiny pebble carried by these winds had enough force to shatter armors. Unless people used the secret pathway, the one that Craxus used to invade the lair of the dragon Karijard, nobody can cross the Dragonfell Canyon and the Karijard Corridors.

According to the lore of ROC, the locals believed that these winds were born from the wandering soul of the last dragon who could not find its way to the great hall of Mistress Death. They believed that the soul of last dragon Karijard haunted this Canyon, crying out for Craxus’ name for vengeance still. However, according to the speculation of fans, this phenomenon might be the side effect of the “magic” that caused the warm snow phenomenon unique to Zard. Since the Karijard Corridors spread from the Northern territory of Zard to the Western Territory, it became a natural borderline to fend off any potential invasion from White Winter.

Fearless has just learned of another layer of the invasion plan of the Empire.

If Bloodbeard were really treated a general of the Empire, he would be tasked to set up a domain in this place. He would be tasked to fortify and set up footholds across this region for the Empire.

For fuck sake, he had enough manpower to do that with this horde, if only the Empire would support him with their Judgment Army and Imperial Army.

That would cut off the entire Golden Triangle Region from Zard. Then, slowly, the Empire can choke the life out of Madukat and freely invade Zard without fear of being trapped by a pincer attack.

But of course, Bloodbeard did not know that. He saw Madukat as his target, as he was told.

In his mind, Fearless instantly thought of the 14th Prince of the Empire, a sickly person, the one that the fans of ROC dubbed as the Zombie Dragon of the Empire, Lanxer de Craxus Aurus Ertònios.

Lanxer, The golden son of Craxus.

His face was pallid as snow and devoid of color. His frame lanky, only skin and bone. His eyes were sunken in purple bags, sleepless. He was the strategist and the brain of Warlord Patocli’s Imperial Army. He was unanimously believed by the fans to be the smartest person in the Empire’s history, one of the Broken Thirteen, a prodigy in the art of war, a master of espionage and counter-espionage.

“Tiger, you have disappointed me greatly. Is that all of your talent amount to?”

“I only curse the gods that they did not give me enough time…”

“Patocli, don’t be me, don’t be our father, don’t be Craxus. Be wiser, be better than all of us.”

“Promise me, Regan…”

By the time he died, the Zombie Dragon has nearly united the entire Northern Continent into the Empire’s land. The fans believed that if only he had more time, he could have conquered more land than Craxus ever did.

So this is what’s that he has envisioned.

The Zombie Dragon leaked the information of White Winter’s coffer to Hyrios on purpose. He made it looked like he has uncovered the secret pathway through the Karijard Corridors. The constant bandit raids on the Western borders, the siege of Madukat, all of this preparation, all of this effort was merely used as a feint. He did not want just a slice of a cake. He wanted the entire cake. I have already known all of these but… wow WOW.

DAMN.

“For fifteen years, I have prepared for this moment.”

DAMN, he wasn’t kidding.

A feint within a feint within a feint, a triple-threat. DAMN

Fearless was just a gamer, a player, so was Misery and the other. None of them could see this even if they have learned the campaign and the lore by the heart. That was because they only saw Escana as a fictional land and ROC as a game. They took in the information provided to them by the campaign as it is. They did not analyze deeper into it. They were more interested in the story and the character of the warlords and the fantastical aspect of the game.

As players, they saw the land of Escana through bird's-eye view. They saw the topography of the lands, not as the lands for what they are. They did not see farmlands as farmlands or villages as villages. They only saw what the game wanted them to see, territories and battlegrounds. The economy system implemented in the game did this no justice. The campaigns Fearless played, the lore and the comic pages they have read did not reflect this kind of information either.

They had to see this land with their own eyes and linked that information with the bird’s-eye view map to really see what’s going on.

With this many layers, no wonder the like of Hyrios was deceived. He thought that the countless attacks on his land were a feint to mask the real finishing blow. He thought the siege of Madukat was, too, a feint. He thought that the Empire’s real intention was the entire Golden Triangle Region. But this, too, was a feint.

This is the real reason why he planned a joint attack with the king and the Eastern Warden with such speed. That’s why he raided this place first. He wanted to secure this place all along. Madukat was the second priority

“Interesting,” Fearless inadvertently let his true thought leak out. His magic coins were spinning like a top. His respect for the Zombie Dragon deepened.

FY, you definitely have to see this for yourself. We know he is broken, but not this broken. FY, the Zombie Dragon is probably smarter than you are. We might have been wrong…

Shit, Ashtorá, you are fighting in a wrong league. This is beyond your capacity and level. You are like a kindergarten and these guys are like professional working adults.

How in the hell Hyrios could not see through this scheme when he first raided this place? Why did he keep chasing after Bloodbeard? What did the Zombie Dragon do to mask this information?

Then, Fearless noticed Erinys’ expression. He blinked his eyes, clearing the dark clouds inside his head, squeezing on her pale fingers. He scanned his surroundings and a thought promptly propped into his head.

Shit, I was careless.

“Were you from this region?” Fearless asked. He should have realized it in the beginning.

Yet, Erinys shook her head. Fearless did not expect this result.

What? I am wrong? How is that even possible?

Fearless was surprised that he has arrived at the wrong destination. He looked deep into Erinys’ eyes while searing for an answer that explained the disturbance on her face.

“Ah.” A small sound leaked when the realization hit Fearless.

She is afraid because… of me?

Fearless used Erinys’ clear eyes like mirrors. He was smiling. That was nothing new. He has always been smiling.

But, it was not one of the smiles he employed against Bloodbeard and his worms. It was not one of the smiles he used to make women swoon over him either.

It was the one that his fans knew very well.

This is no longer a game. Don’t think about it. Don’t think about it. This is not a fucking game.

Fearless told himself the very words that he kept repeatedly telling himself while he was inside the Mangora Forest. He breathed deeply to recompose himself. He then pulled Erinys close to kiss her brows. “Don’t worry. This matter does not concern us. We are fine.” He reassured her.

Who wins, who loses, this is not my problem. This is not even my world.

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Fearless did not doubt the reason he inspected the state of the villages that was sacked by Bloodbeard and his worms. He did not look for survivors. He had no hope to save more people. He wanted a justification for the judgment he was about to pass down on these worms of Bloodbeard.

Bloodbeard and his horde had done a number to these villages. It was only now that Fearless could clearly see the volume of destruction that Bloodbeard’s horde possessed.

He has seen Erinys and the other women who suffered the same fate. He has seen Ekar’s abode. He has seen that caravan, all dead. He cried for them and performed a burial cremate for them. But, they were just a small number, insignificant on the grander scale.

Six thousands of worms in total, that was not a small number. When such a horde of worms gathered, the destruction they brought with them rose exponentially according to their numbers.

The reason Fearless has realized that this site was a gather of villages and not a single big village was due to the wooden enclosures around these villages. Each of these villages had their own enclosure, a wooden fence, built by pikes or planks at adult’s height to fend off wild animals and perhaps their neighbored villagers.

These villages were built around a large reservoir and a monastery like flower petals.

According to the event of Bloodbeard’s campaign, Fearless remembered that Bloodbeard has attacked this Bundor Bastion at night to set up his base.

This event happened before Bloodbeard launched the attack on Madukat. From that knowledge, Fearless estimated that it has been around two months since Bloodbeard occupied this place as his own base.

No wonder Hyrios was so hasty. He thought that he was running out of time. Two months are enough for Bloodbeard to set up multiple fortifications across this region.

If only that Teddy Bear were not so grief-stricken and were more useful…

Fearless saw many things as he trotted through the ghostly villages. A strip of wool tightened around his nose and Erinys’, saving their noses from the punishment of the stench of death.

Bloodbeard must have allowed his worms to freely sack this place to heighten their morale.

Houses burnt and sacked, the local monastery of the four patron deities defiled. The houses of the Faceless God alone were spared from destruction, but they were abandoned and filled with cobweb and dust. The streets were filled with rotten corpses and bones, dried blood and the evidence of the carnage.

Fearless was filled with disgust. He thought he has seen enough and turned his attention elsewhere.

Bloodbeard has chosen one of the many granaries among the ghostly villages to store his rations, probably because it was the nearest to the Bastion’s rampart, easier to transport rations and easier to defend. There, Fearless met one of Bloodbeard’s commanders, the one Fearless has previously ordered to report to him of the amount of ration Bloodbeard had.

The worm and his henchmen instantly stopped what they were doing and kneeled the moment they saw Fearless and Erinys approaching them.

The worm’s name was Ironback if Fearless remembered correctly.

Ironback, did this worm take a knife to his back and still unhurt or something?

Fearless had that thought when he first listened to the worm’s introduction. He can’t remember if the worm existed back in the game.

Fearless asked the worm of his job progression. The worm replied that he has counted over 440 stones of grains and still counting.

Fearless has no idea how to work his math with the “stone” unit that this world’s men used to calculate weight.

Men used “Pebble,” “Brick” and “Stone” as their standard units of mass. The dwarves, elves and the high elves also had their respective systems and units. That, Fearless knew. However…

How many kilograms is one “Stone”?

Why have I never asked myself this basic question?

Fearless stared at the apparatuses that Ironback’s worms used to weight the stored grains, square stones around Fearless’ own head and a bronze scale large enough to carry a grown bison.

Fearless mysteriously nodded his head. He did not ask the worm “how many months those 440 stones of grains could feed 6000 hungry mouths?” knowing that if the worm could not answer that question, Fearless would make a fool of himself.

The worm heaved a sigh of relief, patting his own chest.

Too soon, fool.

Fearless pointed his finger at one village in particular, the one that had Bloodbeard’s worms stood guard around its enclosure. “Is that where the captives are being kept?”

Ironback confirmed.

“How many people are being kept inside that village?

“How many men?”

“How many women?”

“Why are they being kept?”

“What is their purpose?”

“How are they fed?”

Ironback’s spine became crook and more crook with every question he was unable to answer. He started to sweat heavily.

“Why don’t you know the answer?”

“Aren’t you a commander of a one thousand man unit?”

“Who knows the answer?”

With the exception of the last question, Ironback could only shake his head with a begging look pasted in his eyes to Fearless.

“Of course, Ashtorá should know the answer. He’s the leader. But why don’t you know the answer to these basic questions? You are a commander. You command a thousand man unit, not five hundred, not one hundred, ONE FUCKING THOUSAND. This kind of basic questions, you must know.” Fearless thundered.

“Master Advisor, please spare me. I’m stupid.” Ironback melted his own spine into molten iron, hitting his forehead against the round, crying.

“Leave the rest of your job here to your second in command and come with me,” Fearless gritted his teeth angrily.

Ironback stood up in a hurry. But, he slipped, fell flat, hitting his face against the ground.

“Are you testing my patience?” Fearless asked.

The worm shook his drained face and ran. He took his anger and terror on his second in command, shouting, telling the other worm to take over his job. He then promptly returned to Fearless.

Fearless ordered Ironback to lead the way to that village and the worm immediately did just that.

As soon as Fearless reached that village’s entrance, he found that his worries were unnecessary. He thought that these worms since they were stationed all the way here from the rampart; they must have not known the incident with Ekar. Thus, he brought Ironback with him.

However, these worms, they knewn who he was. They did. They obviously did.

The worms dropped to their knees, worshiping Fearless as though he was a god, “Merciful Master Advisor. O Avatar of Sinintee, your greatness has no boundary…” the worms chanted their praises in complete unison as though they have practiced this.

Fearless did his best to hide the amount of disgust he had for their shameless attempt to flatter him. Their expression made Fearless imagined all sort of stories that Bloodbeard’s worms were weaving about him. They probably imagined that Fearless was just about as cruel as Ekar, if not more.

That suits me just fine.

Fear is the perfect instrument to rule these worms.

“Open the gate,” Fearless shouted and the wooden bars in front of the village entrance lifted slowly.