Ignoring Alexander, Aditya observed the state of the battlefield. Greenwood saw Aditya and immediately got on one knee and greeted him.
"Stand up Greenwood." He looked in the direction of the South. He can sense many enemy troops running away. This was something unacceptable to Aditya. Even if 100,000 troops managed to return, the enemy would gain additional 100,000 troops for their next fight. This is why he wanted either all of the troops to be killed or to be captured and turned into war prisoners.
"Hunt them down." Just three words were enough.
Greenwood nodded his head. He bent his legs slightly before jumping into the sky. The next second, his entire body morphed into something bigger. He turned into a giant Dragon that was over 15 meters in size.
Swoosh!
The giant Dragon's roar was heard as he disappeared into the distance.
Aditya then turned his attention to Alexander.
"Your Majesty!" Alexander greeted Aditya with a small bow.
"I want to know what happened here?" Aditya could sense Amber a little bit far away from his. He can sense that most of the Istarin Soldiers were alright. Only a small percentage of the 500,000 soldiers were injured. The injured troops can easily recover using the healing pills that every Istarin Troop was given before being sent to War. And the healing pills that Julia made were more effective than normal pills.
But sadly around 11,500 soldiers seem to have died. There is nothing Aditya can do about this. Deaths are inevitable in War. It was a cruel and bitter fact. No Emperor wants his troops to die. At least, Aditya doesn't want to see his soldiers die.
But Compared to the Istarin Empire, the Echo Dominion Empire had lost even more troops. The Empire had lost 21,900 soldiers. More of their soldiers were injured as well. The Istarin troops were very well equipped. Each troop had full armor, a weapon, and multiple kinds of pills. Even the weakest soldier had 1-star armor and 1-star weapon. Whereas most Echo Dominion troops only had chest plates as their armor. The soldiers were given only one healing pill. And the quality of the pill wasn't that great either.
"The enemy had an illusion master. Using illusion, they managed to come near our base and launch attacks using Magic cannons. We somehow managed to....." Aditya's cold-icy stare completely shut Alexander's mouth.
"So you're telling me that the enemy troops managed to get this near to the base yet, you as a Peak 5th-order cultivator failed to sense their presence." Before Alexander could react, a hand reached his throat with a lightning pace.
He grabbed his throat and then lifted him up in the air. He felt choked. He felt like Aditya was going to crash his throat.
The Echo Dominion and The Istarin Empire's troops gulped in fear as they watched this scene unfold.
"Do you better have some reasonable explanation for this? Otherwise, I am going to drown you in that pink lake and feed your dead body to the dogs. This is a War. I need responsible people." Fortunately for Greenwood, he wasn't here otherwise, he too would have suffered the same fate.
As for Amber, her cultivation limited her senses. And she wasn't a sensory-type cultivator either. So her range was very limited. But 5th-order cultivators can easily sense other cultivators' mana signature within the 5km to 10 km range. The maximum range a 5th-order cultivator can sense depends on many factors such as; bloodline, nature affinity, class, skills, and sensitivity to Mana.
Even the 4th-order Dragonians can only sense up to a 2 or 3-km range.
The commotion bought Amber to Aditya. Seeing Alexander being choked by Aditya, she was a little happy in her heart. But she did not show it on her face as she did not want anyone to get the wrong idea. She did not like this man. And this man has been pestering her. She was fed up with him.
"Please forgive me. I was wrong." Alexander then gasped for air. He was struggling to breathe.
"Our Scouts said that it would take more than hours for the enemy troops to come. But the enemy had an illusion, Master. I suspect, he had put our scouts into illusion and made the scouts think that the Qeyesha Empire's troops is very far away and would take a long time to reach the battlefield."
"But that does not explain how you and Greenwood failed to sense the approaching troop's presence. I understand that 4th-order cultivators can't sense that far. But what excuse do you two have?" The enemy attacked them from 4 km away.
"I and Sir Greenwood were having Sun Joy Juice. The Side effect of the Juice is that for 10 or 20 minutes, our senses would be dulled."
Aditya let Alexander go. Alexander fell on his butt. He inhaled as much air as he could. "So even though you knew about this, you still drank this juice and even made Greenwood drink it as well. How can you who is the Commander of 1 million troops be so irresponsible?" Hearing this Alexander felt a chill running down his spine.
In this continent, being a Peak 5th-order cultivator meant, that he was an existence who stands at the very top. Peak 5th-order cultivators are considered Demi-God for a reason. Hence, for them, even the laws are bent. Even if a cultivator broke some laws and did something wrong, the Emperor can't just punish the cultivator too cruelly as that would mean losing the loyalty of that cultivator and potentially losing one of their strongest military pillars that ultimately holds and supports the Emperor's Empire.
In this regard, Daxton was also the same. As long as they don't go too far, he would just ignore their actions and continue with his life as if he is blind.
But Aditya isn't the same. He had the strength and the boldness to kill a Peak 5th-order of his own Empire, unlike most Emperors. Daxton might not punish Alexander as ultimately they won the battle, The Dragon Emperor wasn't going to let go of this matter easily. What happened today was a sign and a reflection of the future. If the matter is not taken seriously, then in the future, this entire situation can be repeated again.
"It's decided. Alexander, from now on, you're no longer in charge of these troops."
"What?" Not just Alexander, but all the troops listening to this were deeply shocked.
"Your Majesty, with all due respect, how are you planning on winning the next battle without me?" Alexander asked in a somewhat shaky tone. He tried his best to keep his composure and calmness.
"Do you think that you're the only Peak 5th-order we have?" Alexander didn't have an answer for that.
"Your Punishment will be decided later. For now, go back to the Capital and wait." Having no other choice, Alexander could only nod his head while holding back his anger and frustration. Alexander was angry at being humiliated in front of his own troops by the Istarin Emperor. Aditya could have done this in private but he chose to humiliate him in front of everyone.
'It would be better if you just accept your failure and stop putting the blame on others' heads. That way, you will find inner peace and won't be consumed by hatred. If you let yourself be consumed by this growing hatred, then you will leave me with no choice but to cut you down.' Seeing Alexander leaving, Aditya inwardly thought.
'This situation wouldn't have happened if Daxton had kept his dogs under control.' The Istarin Empire also had a few 5th orders in the military. But Aditya never gave these 5th orders more privilege than his own generals. He never gave them any political powers. Sure, they have a big influence in the army but their influence was just a tiny fraction compared to the influences of the 7 generals. He never wanted them to think that because they were 5th-orders they could do whatever they wanted.
"Your Majesty!" Amber greeted Aditya.
"Forgive me."
"This is not your fault. Once Greenwood returns, tell him to meet me." Aditya can't be biased and only punish Alexander. It was somewhat Greenwood's fault as well. If he only punished Alexander and left Greenwood without any punishment, then the Echo Dominion Emperor and others would think that Aditya is biased and is purposely targeting the Echo Dominion Empire. This would mark the beginning of a crack in their alliance which he didn't want to see happening especially in the middle of the war.
Hearing this Amber knew that Greenwood was screwed. Fortunately, she had decided to not drink this juice and had left Alexander's tent early.
"Amber, have someone gather the dead bodies of the Istarin troops and sent them back to the Istarin Empire. We're going to give them a proper burial and the respect that they deserve." This was the least that he can do for the fallen soldiers.
"Understood."
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