“This will be how Operation Ghost Town goes,” the emotionless dictator briefs the troop commanders with him, “Do you understand?”

“My lord,” one of the commanders raised his hand, “What are our chances of winning against the Copper Horde?”

Piso looked at him, “We shouldn’t dwell with how faint the chance is, but on the reality that we have a chance.”

With such chilling words, it only terrified Piso’s commanders. Are they marching towards their slaughter, just as Helmoz had predicted? To be fair, their esteemed master always has the flair with his speech, but it is not encouraging overall. What added to their anxiety is the fact that their subordinates, the soldiers of Dalreida, do not seem to share the same sentiment.

For them, Piso is a living legend who can deliver the desired results. The war against Cingis should be no different. The commanders thought to themselves that their soldiers might be lulled into a powerful illusion, eager to gain promotion, or just plainly lacking in education. But as for Piso, to command as much influence to the lowest ranks of the military is the hallmark of a good leader in the field.

Numbering some 100,000, the Dalreidan forces were camped in a small settlement called Hedah. Once known as the “kind and noble” town, it is no longer marked in any maps. As every Barban would say, no one knows where Hedah is. This is because the settlement was said to be haunted by spirits which Gedraz sent as punishment due to its former inhabitants. Another story revolves around a bloody battle where Tekton lost all its troops. It was believed the Tektonic army which fell there had become ghouls terrorizing the land, much to the horror of everyone who remember the Last Battle of Hedah.

In reality, what happened was a large part of the settlement sunk due to shoddy construction and planning. Many people perished, and this became the probable cause for the rumors surrounding it. This is why Piso only brought the troops which fought with him in Bereta, because no Barban would be willing to go to Hedah. Therefore, the Barban contingent of the Dalreidan armed forces is assigned to defend the line that also protects Kamui.

As for the Cingis, they forged on to the north, intent on bypassing the stretched defense line of Barba and strike fast its weakest point. However, the relative success of their march troubled Sukhotai. Riding his trusted horse, which is also armored with leather, and has special stirrups which made mounting and control easier, the Gahum went cautiously to the Taumanski in the vanguard.

With a loud voice, he asked, “Are you absolutely positive with your scouting report?? There’s no sign of the enemy in that northern passage?!”

The Taumanski nodded, “Affirmative, Gahum. They must have planned to let us go deep, and then encircle us from behind our lines. But not to worry, with our speed, we’ve taken Mustaka before they can succeed with such a basic tactic!”

Sukhotai gave a tight smile and tapped his back with some force, “Remain vigilant. It’s too early for overconfidence. Knowing Piso, he’s the toughest nut to crack. Understood?”

The Taumanski gave him a quick glance, and then uttered a Cingis phrase. The Gahum replied also in Cingis, and then he returned to his position in the middle of the horde. For the Cingis, the middle portion of anything, from the dinner table to the army formation, is regarded as the center of power. Whoever is positioned there possesses the greatest might in the world, the rightful one to be called Gahum of the Copper Horde.

“Still,” Sukhotai thought to himself as he rode on, “it feels like there’s a surprise coming. I can really feel it. But what can I do? Their morale’s sky high.”

He did not have much time to reconsider his options as the Cingis army slows down. The Cingis leader was informed that the vanguard was caught in the swampy areas ahead, slowly swallowing their horses as the warriors hurriedly jump out of them. While delay due to the Three Blessings provided ample time for the Cingis to wait out the rains in order for the swamps to be less wet, not even Sukhotai expected that the area would still be able to hamper their march.

The alerted Gahum immediately called them to order, “Fear not, fellow Cingis! We’ve got spare horses! Center, we’ll take the lead while the vanguard mount on them!”

His troops were quick to recover, and the center group attempts to cross the swamps with greater speed than the vanguard did earlier. Sukhotai’s charge seems to have done the trick, yet before the first of them can get off the swamps, skeletons began to emerge from the land. As these frames of bones began to cling on the horses, the sounds of trumpets being blown, the howling of dogs, the cries for help, and the clashing of metals against each other can be heard.

This frightened many of the Cingis, who hastily left their horses in terror, regardless of what Sukhotai yelled at them. While known for their ferocity and bravery, the Cingis highly feared the spirits, which they believe can make or break their destinies. The confusion mounted as the groups that followed met their fleeing comrades in a ghastly state of panic, some of which got injured, even killed, in the process.

As he tried to rally his troops, Sukhotai dismounted and went on to wade across the swamps on foot. Slashing everything that hinders his way, it inspired a spirited charge from the rear, mostly composed of warriors equipped with the Wergom, to follow their Gahum’s lead. Many of them leaped on the horses trapped in the swamps. While difficult considering they wielded the Wergom, they managed to catch up with Sukhotai, who stood tall after emerging from the swamps.

Nonetheless, it shaved away a significant amount of his troops, along with most of their horses which the deserters used to facilitate their escape from the field. Without minding his own state, Sukhotai checked on the status of what remained from his forces, during which the uncanny sounds began to fade.

“That went too well,” the Cingis leader told his men with a serious look, “I guess we go on foot.”

The Cingis warriors made a strong war cry, and then marched onwards with Sukhotai in their midst. It was night when they decided to rest. Soon enough, the scouts returned with unbelievable reports.

“Are you sure?! This area’s inhabited?!”, Sukhotai exclaimed as he spits his drink.

“As sure as we can see you, Gahum,” one of the scouts answered, “We’ve spotted an encampment near here, but they don’t seem too keen to use lights.”

“It’s true, Gahum,” another scout butted in, “We saw figures walking fast, but they sound too light on their feet. It’s like they’re walking on air!”

Sukhotai put his hand up, “Wait, don’t tell me. You’re not seriously thinking this place is inhabited by the undead?”

“But Gahum, what if they saw it as it is?”, a Taumanski spoke to defend the scouts, “We all saw how our friends were wiped out at the swamps! It’s unnatural!”

“They’re not wiped out! They deserted! This is what happens when you give too much autonomy to the individual commanders!”

“I take offense at that statement, Gahum Sukhotai.”

“Better that than to offend our entire nation. They shan’t be hearing how we lost because of psychological warfare, and I’ll make it sure that the Cingis will forever be remembered for their excellence in the field!”

The scouts looked down, which led the Taumanski to send them outside.

The unit commander then turned back to Sukhotai, “Gahum, I can understand where you’re coming from… but what else can be the logical explanation to our misfortunes?”

The Gahum massaged his forehead, “We’ll raid that camp now.”

“What now?”

“If they’re really roaming spirits, then they shouldn’t be silenced by a few shocks, right?”

“W-w-what if the Wergom doesn’t work?”

“What if it does? We’ve come this far… this far, I tell you… This can’t be the end for Cingis.”

Desperation can be heard from Sukhotai’s mouth, but his eyes show a different sense of drive. It is not desperation out of fear or loss, but a decisiveness to prevail over any obstacle.

The Taumanski grit his teeth and clenched his fists, “Nothing ventured, nothing gained.”

Believing it would be useless to refit the Wergom units with bows, the limited number of archers who remained were ordered to fire a volley of flaming arrows at the enemy camp. The attack was adequate to put the camp ablaze, but the expected reaction was not witnessed. As Sukhotai contemplated on the peculiar event, the Cingis began to be jittery.

“They’re ghosts I tell you!”

“Maybe they’re just used to being burned?”

“Departed spirits who don’t want to depart just yet!”

“What kind of masochist would be ecstatic to be burned alive?”

“I’ve a cousin who had an acquaintance who had a sister who had a lover who saw this before!”

“That’s probably not the type of burned we’re talking about.”

Then, a Taumanski rushed to their leader, “Gahum, I know that smell!”

“What smell?”, the impatient Sukhotai snapped.

“Ooh, that smell. Can’t you smell that smell?”

“Spill it out already!”

“They’re not burning corpses. They’re burning meat.”

Sukhotai draws his sword and plants it on the ground, “We’ve been screwed!”

As soon as the Gahum realized the setup, Piso and the Konnenite unit springs up behind their lines. The blazing camp provided just about enough illumination for them to engage. The Cingis slash away with their Wergom, but the Konnenite proved helpful in keeping the Dalreidans from being electrocuted. While it still left scratches on their armor, the latter did not allow the more numerous enemy to recover as they take them out. If not, they cut away the backpack powering the Wergom, albeit one has to be hasty enough to get behind a Cingis warrior.

Slowly, Piso and his troops are gaining, leading Sukhotai to have his archers fire another volley, even if it meant sacrificing his own forces who were caught in the crossfire. Many of the Dalreidans managed to defend themselves from the arrows, but for those who were shot, they found out soon enough the weakness of Konnenite. High temperature caused by a penetrating arrow of fire can melt the armor.

Seeing this, Piso figured he cannot drag the fight longer than he earlier hoped. Dashing through enemy lines, he immediately brought hundreds of deaths among the Cingis, until he can reach the archers’ positions. Upon his arrival, he is met by Sukhotai and the Cingis archers already aiming at him, with flaming arrows no less.

Holding his own bow, the confident Gahum scowled, “We’re the best in the world at archery! Let’s see you survive this wave!”

Displaying their skill, the Cingis were able to nock and fire three arrows in rapid succession. Since their distance from the dictator is shorter than that of his troops which engaged the Wergom units, they expected that the dictator would finally meet his quick demise. There is only a moment to act, and so Piso turned around, making a reverse slash that put the flames out. However, the arrows remained steady on their trajectory.

He turns again to complete a full circle, and then make another slash against the arrows. The shockwave caused by his move was strong enough to create a vacuum that took away any force pushing the arrows toward him. Sukhotai and his archers were astonished with how Piso countered their famed threefold maneuver. In theory, no man should be fast enough to react to the speed of their arrows. But then here is a man, older than any of them, who accomplished this feat, and was unscathed.

The archers trembled, causing some to even drop their bows, but Sukhotai recovered from the shock. He throws away his bow, and rushes to Piso with his backsword. The dictator saw it coming, but his aging frame almost froze after his counterattack. He cannot act on deflecting it. What jumpstarted his reflexes was Sukhotai’s slash, which cut across the Konnenite armor like it was butter. The other half falls on the ground, while the dictator prevented further damage by jumping away from the advancing Gahum.

“I heard how you destroyed Excalator in Bereta,” Sukhotai said as he checked his grip, “There’ll be no replay of that here. I’m telling you now, the Copper Horde will devour this land.”

As he removes his armor, Piso replies, “God opposes the proud, but he exalts the humble.”

“I’ve got no time to listen to your preaching about gods and men!”

Sukhotai lunges against his opponent, but what he thought was a direct hit did not have any feedback. He then realized that he stabbed an image, which only meant one thing. The dictator began to move quick enough to create three figures of himself.

The Gahum scoffed as his eyes followed the afterimages, “Wall of Death? Don’t you have any tricks left?”

Without a word, Piso launches his Seventy-Two Apostles. The attack was too fast to be caught by the naked eye, but when they saw Sukhotai standing, the Cingis who witnessed them roared even when they did not exactly understand what just transpired. As for Piso, his face reflected the annoyance and disappointment.

For the first time in a long time, someone managed to deflect the 72 simultaneous strikes that felled countless opponents. For a while, his movement lagged. Since Sukhotai has been watching closely, he spotted the real one among the three, and acted as soon as he laid his eyes on it. It made no difference when Piso regained his speed. The Gahum already has the real figure locked on, and it showed. At point blank range, it clashed against the Raja Ikinen, but Sukhotai’s strength exceeded Piso’s for a split second.

This resulted to Sukhotai successfully landing a single powerful strike on the dictator's right chest, which caused the disappearance of his two other figures. Then, the Gahum quickly pushes a button on his sword handle, releasing electricity through the blade that sent shocks all over Piso’s body. It turns out to be a modified Wergom. With an internal battery smaller than that of the original, Sukhotai’s weapon can make a one-shot electrocuting experience for the enemy, but of course, in this instance it proved to be enough. As Sukhotai pulls out his sword, blood gushed out of Piso’s chest, and tiny sparks can be seen as the body falls hard on the ground.

As he wipes his sweat, the triumphant Gahum smiles, “I did it… I ended Piso’s legend…”

He then turns to his troops with a raised sword, “No… we did it! We did it, men!”

The Cingis wildly cheered, raising their morale and causing serious concern among the Dalreidan forces. None of them saw what happened so deep into the enemy lines, but surely something incredible must have occurred. This sapped away the momentum of their charge against the Cingis, and the Wergom units began to push them back, slowly yet surely.

Sukhotai stares at the lifeless body for a few more minutes before returning to the archers, who were ecstatic enough to aimlessly fire their arrows. A wasteful display as the battle rages on, but it is also an ample manifestation of the gravity of Piso’s downfall. The Cingis leader himself was met with the warm embraces and strong handshakes of his fellow warriors, but even with this welcome, his victorious smile soon began to fade. Easily ignoring the crowds around him, he brings out the photograph of Piso he possesses. As he looks at it intently, he soon becomes absorbed in his thoughts.

“What did you say your name is again? Sukho?”

“For the ninth time, yes! It means comfortable, you hear?”

“It’s my bad, I admit.”

“Pfft,” Sukho throws his hands to the air, “What about your name, Dalreidan soldier? Piso? Sounds lame. Why not Procyon? Or Sirius? Betelgeuse?”

Piso laughs and pats the boy's head, “That may be the reason why I’m sent here.”

“What? Because you’re lame? It’s an insult, you know?”

“How come?”

“Like, you’re saying your country’s sending its worst people to us! Unacceptable. No way.”

“Look out,” Piso suddenly throws his body to cover Sukho.

Cingis archers fired arrows against them, and it does not look like they just had a bad aim. As they shout to each other in their vernacular, it appears that they are after Sukho’s head after all. Thus, the Dalreidan soldier takes off his leather armor and puts it on Sukho, albeit it proved to be quite oversized for the latter’s young body. The armor looked more like a hiding spot for Sukho, who peeked to see what Piso is about to do.

With unmatched agility, the soldier changed gears as he runs to the archers, slicing every arrow that comes his way. And what volume of arrows Piso had to face. The Cingis were excellent archers, and with their skill set, they can fire as fast as automatic bows. Soon enough, they find themselves out of arrows. It was Piso’s move. With his sword, he takes down all fifty archers. Sukho did not even catch him do it. Piso was a blur, and the Cingis never knew what hit them.

Sheathing his sword, the Dalreidan soldier turns, “Are you alright, Sukho?”

The amazed boy was initially at a loss of words, and then he booms, “That was cool! Do it again! Again! This time, do it in slow motion!”

Piso smiles, “You’ll learn the way when time comes.”

Sukho leaps from the armor and takes a wooden sword, “Then, will I be learning from you? Will you be my new mentor?”

The soldier raises his eyebrows, “Hmm? I thought you disliked me for being lame?”

“You’re just making excuses! How can I someday lead this country with my poor ability?”

“You seek to rule the Cingis?”

Sukho points the wooden sword at him, “I know, it’s presumptuous now. My father’s just a chief among many others, and Cingis isn’t anything more than a collection of clans… But when you told me how Dalreida was formed by your mentor, I began to have a dream, too. When I succeed my father, I will ride all around, and tell the people to fall behind me!”

Piso hurriedly leads Sukho away from the fallen bodies of his enemies.

As they ran, he said, “What I think, we’ve got a lot of leadership, but not much followership.”

The boy frowned, “What are you talking about?”

“Have you ever felt that you’re following something, even though you don’t really know what you’re following?”

“Those philosophical conjectures again! I’ve had enough of them, okay?”

“Hear me out. Before we had leaders among ourselves, people are inherent followers. This is how we progressed. We follow god. We follow animals and insects. We follow the sun and the stars. We follow the waves and the wind. Men leading over their fellow men, that’s a recent phenomenon.”

“So what?”

The soldier subtly decelerates to let Sukho be placed in front of him, “A leader is no more than a follower who knows where the others are going. They look for something which the people already follow, and then goes in front of it. Look at how you’re already leading me in this walk.”

The boy stops and turns around, “But you just put me in front. What difference does it make?”

Piso stops running as well, and then kneels with one knee, “Followership builds leadership, not the other way around. You can’t order them to fall behind you, but if they find you worthy to be followed, they’ll eventually put you in front, just as I did for you now.”

“It doesn’t make any sense to me. Nothing at all.”

The soldier rose and walks once more, this time holding Sukho’s hand, “I share your dream, Sukho. I really do. But now, you see me as a soldier posted far away from my homeland. That’s alright. Look at the world. It’s a ball, but when you look at the horizon, it’s plain straight.”

Sukho squinted, “Damn straight!”

“In the same way, we shouldn’t look at life with a limited view. And I’m glad that you also have that dream. When we aspire, why not make it big? I’d be looking forward to see you on top.”

“Yeah, sure. But don’t you forget teaching me those sword moves, okay?!”

However, Piso never returned to Cingis, and he did not get to teach Sukho his magistrate’s technique. He was recalled without Sukho’s knowledge, and this event the latter held with a heavy heart. Beyond the Cingis boy, Dalreida only meant to demonstrate its power to the Cingis clans through such foreign missions, much to the chagrin of Bayan, who has been consolidating its gains in what is now Dulong Bayan. As a soldier of relatively low position by this time, Piso was just another expendable, designated to be a bodyguard for an unknown clan chief for a limited time. Generally speaking, he was supposed to go wherever he was assigned, regardless of his feelings on the matter. This is the professionalism of the Dalreidan military.

Photographs originally meant for propaganda purposes were taken by the Dalreidan contingent before leaving, but Sukho did not submit his only photograph with Piso. Despite his ill feelings about the foreign soldier's sudden departure, a small part of him still cherished the days they spent together. He did not really mind if Piso was not the best Dalreida has to offer, because he was already the best for him. Nevertheless, even without Sukho’s photograph, Dalreida sending a goodwill mission to Cingis became an excellent media spin at home. Meanwhile, it also helped keep their distance from each other that the republic began to reduce foreign missions and redirect its focus to campaigns of conquest.

As time passed, Piso did not know that the boy he protected in the distant past would become Gahum Sukhotai, the leader of the Copper Horde, and the latter did not intend to reveal himself as his dream was fulfilled. After all, Piso ascended as the dictator of Dalreida, but he did not bother looking for the young Sukho in Cingis to share their dream come true. Then again, seeing his erstwhile mentor slain by his own hands, the feelings which he thought have been extinguished were rekindled. He was supposed to be overjoyed by their resounding victory, but somehow, it no longer seemed as enjoyable as he first thought it would be. He searched his inner being, even for that short while in the midst of a rejoicing army, to reaffirm his ideals and principles, as well as his dreams and his ambitions.

Why does Sukhotai have conflicted emotions even as the battle continued to tilt to their favor? With a prospective new standing in the international arena, what future awaits the Cingis? How will Dalreida cope in the event of their dictator’s demise, and what of the extraordinary succession pledge fueling the longest term? Has the Countdown to Inferno been halted on its tracks, or accelerated beyond comprehension?