Book 3-6.3 End of the War
“What!”
Abham jumped up out of his seat as he started to shout.
“We have received report that Oklama has crossed the northern border area.”
Abham fell back down at the messenger warrior’s report and Runa tilted his chair back as he rubbed his face with his hands.
It wasn’t a surprise. He had been worried about the northern territory.
But there was nothing he could do. They would not have been able to fend Pareia off with a small number of warriors.
In the beginning, he didn’t think anybody would invade because they still had 15,000 warriors remaining. As long as the majority of the oases remained stable, things should have been fine. But once the central oases was attacked, the remaining warriors had to come battle Pareia’s warriors as well. Of course they would not sit back and watch.
‘This was why I emphasized creating an alliance so much prior to the war. Since Oklama would have been next on Pareia’s radar once we were defeated, they would have welcomed it as well.”
Runa bit his lips. Even he could not come up with a solution as the world started to turn dark around him.
‘This might actually be the end for the Wikaly.’
Abham tried to talk to Runa at that time.
“Runa!”
“......”
“Runa?”
“Yes! Abham-nim.”
Once Runa realized Abham was calling him, he quickly turned to look at him.
“I’m guessing you don’t have a method either since you could not say anything until I called you……”
“......”
Abham put on a bitter smile while seeing that Runa was unable to answer.
If they had listened to Runa’s suggestion from the beginning, the Wikaly might not be this shaken by Pareia’s invasion right now.
“I am sorry Runa. I was unable to create the background for you to show your true abilities.”
Runa shook his head at Abham’s words.
“Not at all, Abham-nim. If Abham-nim was not there, I would just be known as a cheating coward of a man.”
“I’m sure there would have been many people other than me who would have realized your talent. You just did not end up meeting someone like that.”
“......”
“I am a useless person but still one of Wikaly’s Greatest Warriors. I do not want to Wikaly to disappear like this. That is why I must ask you again. What should we do?”
Abham was waiting for an answer from Runa who was biting his lips. If Runa did not have a way to deal with it, that would be the end.
After a long time, Runa finally had an answer.
“Please tell the Glow to make a deal with Pareia and Oklama. Pareia will be given three oases, while Oklama will be given one.”
“Hmm, do you think the Glow will allow that to happen?”
Runa responded in disbelief at Abham’s question.
“If he wants us to all die while fighting, then he doesn’t have to allow it.”
At Runa’s stern words, Abham knew that there was nothing else to be done.
“I will try to convince the Glow, but will Pareia and Oklama agree to it?”
“That is not important. What is important right now is to buy some time. They should forget about fighting for a short moment. We can use that time to merge our unit with the Glow.”
“And once we merge?”
“If they agree to the deal, the Wikaly will restart with three oases. On the other hand, if they decline the deal and push forward, we will need to last as long as we can until they hopefully tire themselves out.”
There was a level of confidence coming out of Runa’s words.
“If we have 30,000 warriors gathered in one location, I am confident that I can defend against 50, no even 100,000 enemies. The question is how much food has been stored in the other oases……”
Runa’s words contained both hope and despair. The fact that they had Runa gave hope that they would not fall until the end, but the despair came from the fact that there were probably no other oases which was prepared for war like his had been.
But they could not just give up.
“I understand. I will immediately contact the Glow. While I do that, you come up with a plan to safely retreat. The question is whether they will let us go.”
“I do not plan on moving forward but hitting the rear first. The moment we take back the oases that they have taken will be the best time to start the negotiations. We need to have the upper hand in order to have any advantages in the deal.”
“What if Greatest Warrior Metro pressures our back? They have already merged with their Glow and the other Greatest Warriors.”
“And behind them is our warriors.They will not be able to send a lot of warriors out.”
“Ah!”
Abram would have normally quickly recognized it. But right now, the pressure was so high that he was not thinking clearly. That was why he couldn’t help but rely on Runa more and more.
Yulian had been paying close attention to where Abham’s army would move. Once he saw them heading for Egane, he quickly called a Greatest Warriors meeting.
“I thought they would pincer attack us, but they have headed toward Egane.”
Once Yulian started speaking, Vibli answered.
“He must have been scared of you and Egane’s army attacking from the rear if they hit us. However, if they give up on the pincer attack and hit Egane first, since we have their other warriors behind us, they would not face much pressure. Furthermore, Egane only has 10,000 warriors with him.”
“It is dangerous.”
“Egane must hold on for a long time.”
Once Yulian heard Vibli’s words, something sparked in his mind.
‘Must hold on for a long time? For what?’
He felt like he could almost figure out why but he could not do so.
“How should we move?”
Yulian quickly asked the Greatest Warriors. He felt like he might be able to figure it out if someone else had a similar idea.
“We have two choices. First, we ignore the enemy behind us and chase after Abham’s unit. Since Oklama is behind them as well, they should not be able to easily move the northern warriors behind us.”
Metro did not agree with Vibli.
“If I was in the Wikaly’s shoes, I would ignore the Oklama and attack us. Once Oklama takes control of an empty oasis, they will not move any further. But since our goal is to destroy the Wikaly, they will absolutely pincer us.”
“And if we attack the north?”
“Egane will need to fend Abham off.”
“Hold on.”
Yulian stretched out his hand to make the Greatest Warriors stop talking as he settled his thoughts.
His mind started to clear up.
“Wouldn’t the war come to an end if we can catch the enemy Glow? Since the warriors are spread around everywhere, it would be difficult for them to select a new Glow.”
“That is true.”
As the Greatest Warriors agreed with his statement, Yulian continued on.
“Why do we need Greatest Warrior Egane to fend them off? Tell them to retreat. He would only need to defend the oasis, but it will be difficult to defeat Abham and Runa on his own.”
“Egane is the best when it comes to defending in an oasis. Even Venersis could not break his defense.”
Yulian shook his head at Vibli’s response.
“Our main goal is to keep at least one extra warrior alive. If their Glow and their oases have fallen, why would they continue to fight? We will wait until Abham’s warriors get further away from us before we quickly move north to attack the north where their Glow is residing. We have a similar number of warriors and they will be pressured from the back as well.”
Yulian felt a burning passion inside of him as he continued to speak.
“We need to take them down before Abham’s unit figures out what is going on. We need to quickly capture the Wikaly Glow.”
Once everything was determined, the warriors started to become busy once again.
Yulian quickly started to move his troops toward where Glow Gomai Mao, the Wikaly’s Glow, was located.
Egane was already informed and moved further south to avoid Abham and Runa’s unit, and only sent scouts to figure out how they were moving. They did not engage in a battle at all.
After a few days, Abham and Runa heard that Yulian’s side chose to attack the north and quickly headed back north to unite with Gomai Mao’s unit.
Unfortunately, Egane slowed Abham and Runa down with his 10,000 warriors like Yulian had done before, and once Yulian’s unit quickly overwhelmed Gomai Mao’s unit, they could start to feel like victory was near.
During that time, the Wikaly sent a messenger with a request for peace. Yulian and the Greatest Warriors had to gather once more to discuss this option.
The warriors were tired after a long war. In addition, they would minimally be able to gain four oases that was on the border between Wikaly and Pareia. But most importantly they could not help but debate this because the deal that the Wikaly offered was too good to turn down.
But while they were debating this, Abham and Runa’s unit managed to unite with Gomai Mai, and Egane united back with the rest of Pareia’s troops. The negotiations started while the enemy had 30,000 and Pareia’ had 20,000 warriors standing by.
After discussing it with the Greatest Warriors for a long time, Yulian decided to accept the deal.
With Abham and Runa having arrived up here, it would be difficult to defeat them again.
Yulian’s request were the following.
The three oases that were first suggested were changed to the four southern oases that were currently empty.
In addition, the Wikaly will need to pay a certain level of tribute each year.
Finally, they needed to hand over Abham and Runa.
Yulian explained that he could not just let them go as Pareia had received too much damage because of the two of them, and sent a reply indicating that if they did not hand over Abham and Runa, there would be no deal.
After that, all he could do was wait for their response.
If they declined the offer, they would set up a strong defense in the northern oasis they were currently at, and wait for Oklama to attack. They would use that opening to attack at the same time. But surprisingly, the Wikaly’s response was shocking. In fact, it was extremely stupid. Agree to all terms.
The fact that Gomai Mao did not hesitate at all to hand over Abham and Runa, the two best tacticians left in Wikaly, made Yulian and the other Greatest Warriors click their tongues.
“I have not done anything shameful as a warrior. Although I am disappointed that I was not stronger, I ask that you give me a warrior’s death as the Glow is a warrior as well.”
Abham closed his eyes as he kneeled in front of Yulian.
Runa, who was next to him, did not say anything as he kneeled their with his eyes closed as well.
“You are my prisoner. What desert tribe kills the warriors they take as prisoners?”
The two warriors opened their eyes at Yuilan’s answer.
“You are both amazing warriors. You are not warriors who should kneel. Stand up.”
Even Pareia’s Greatest Warriors, with the exception of Egane, looked at Yulian with surprised expressions.
“I told you to get up and sit down.”
The warriors around Abham and Runa stood them up and sat them down.
“If you are going to kill us, please do it swiftly. I do not wish to be toyed with.”
Seeing Runa glare at him while speaking, Yulian responded with an angry expression.
“Do you know how many of Pareia’s warriors were sacrificed because of the two of you?”
“I did my duty as a warrior to protect my tribe. There is nothing else to say. Just kill us now.”
“Who said I was going to kill you? I like warriors and I respect extremely talented warriors. Do the two of you not consider yourselves to be warriors?”
Abham and Runa looked toward each other. Abham’s eyes had a look of confusion, while Runa’s eyes had a look of resignation.
“I will use the two of you as Pareia’s warriors from here on. I will not tolerate any disobedience. The two of you are my prisoners, and the Wikaly, who would need to pay your ransom, has thrown you away.”
Everyone was shocked at Yulian’s words.
“We need to take their heads to resolve the souls of our dead warriors.”
As a couple Greatest Warriors and lead warriors shouted, Yulian looked around before answering.
“Nobody will make me change my mind.”
Sensing that there was a majestic tone that made them feel like they could not object, all of them could only look back and forth at Yulian and the two warriors.
There were some who understood Yulian’s decision, while others, who were clouded with a sense of revenge, could not believe it at all.
“Greatest Warrior Egane, please take care of the details to make sure the two of them are treated as Greatest Warriors.”
“I understand, Glow.”
Once Egane answered, Yulian looked toward Abham and asked.
“Abham.”
“......”
“Do not think this is shameful. Your tribe, your Glow, has thrown you away because of fear. There is no reason you cannot continue to be a warrior.”
“Runa!”
As Yulian called Runa this time, Runa lifted up his head and looked at Yulian.
“It was thrilling for me the first time I met you. Did you not feel the same way?”
Runa should not have forgotten about it. The monster swinging his two greatswords and proving that Man Boo Boo Dang was possible. As well as that eerie feeling and the thrill he felt when that monster looked toward him and smiled.
“I will promise you. Use your brain for me. I will make those ideas in your head become reality.”
Runa could feel his heart tremble once again.
The sixth month of year 255. While Pareia was preparing to return, they heard the news that Okalama had conquered WIkaly’s remaining three oases.
In addition, a large number of Wikaly warriors brought their families and crossed over to Pareia’s territory.
Once the Wikaly perished, Pareia started to move to take over the oases that Oklama had taken.
It was because a large number of the families of the Wikaly warriors who were now Pareia’s warriors were still remaining at the oases. Oklama urgently made a deal with Pareia to hand over two oases and retreated back.
The seventh month in the year 255 of the continental calendar. Yulian had conquered six of the Wikaly oases and received the pledges of loyalty from the individual oasis chiefs before quickly returning to Pareia.
End of Chapter 6.
Next up:
Project: Strengthen the Tribe
Pareia needed to get stronger.