Everyone was waiting for King's order nervously and stared at him with solemn expressions.
Even though they had already lost one of the major battles, there was no sense of panic or anger in the king's expression which frightened them more.
It was also making them feel uncomfortable when thinking about who will be held accountable for this and it was making them lose their composure.
"Let's keep this matter to the side."
"Tell me, whose plan was it?"
"Just which fool allowed the flare to be used on the battlefield. I remember giving a strict warning not to use the flare without my permission. So, which fool dares to do this?"The King spoke as he released his intense killing intent, locking everyone in the throne room.
As soon as his heavy and rough voice sounded, the people in the room trembled in fear of dying worthlessly.
All of them turned their heads toward the person who stood at the side.
The King noticed their gaze and turned his head to lock on that person.
"Duke Less, was it you?"
Duke Less's entire existence shivered as his gaze met with the King.
"Your Majesty, please forgive this ignorant man's imprudence." Duke Less shouted and fell onto his knees and started hitting his head on the floor.
"Your Majesty, please don't kill me. I accept that it was a mistake of mine but how could I imagine the Pseudo Epic rank commander couldn't even win such an easy war."
"Silence!!!!" A loud and wild voice erupted from the King which had strengthened and amplified his mana and almost ruptured everyone's eardrums.
Duke Less almost vomited blood as he suffered the brunt of King's attack.
"Did you do it alone or was there another one with you?"
"I remember handing the matter to you and Yeon."
"Count Yeon, why don't you show yourself?"
Count Yeon, who was hiding behind one of the man's backs, suddenly jumped out in fright and lay on the ground to beg for his forgiveness.
The King looked at the amusing scene and facepalmed.
Pointing his hands, he shouted, "An idiot here, an idiot there, a stupid there."
"Why is my luck so bad? Why am I surrounded by idiots all around?"
"Now tell me, Duke Less and Count Yeon, what gifts would you like to be gifted for your idiotic deeds."
Duke Less and Count Yeon felt as if their soul was going to leave their body behind and run away.
They prayed in their heart for that man to act after all he was the only one whom, King trusted the most.
"By winning the war of George, they have just delayed the inevitable."
The King's attention was drawn to hearing those words.
A man walked out of the crowd and spoke with a smug expression.
The King rolled his eyes toward the man who was the Prime Minister of the state.
"Lamar, what suggestion do you have?"
Lamar rubbed his moustache with a prideful expression and suggested"Let's deploy the special forces."
"We will destroy Wright from inside. Let's just remove the main piece of chess."
"The Queen!!"Lamar spoke and laughed with a sinister expression.
The King raised his eyebrows and thought for a moment while weighing both pros and cons at the same time.
"Excellent!!"
After pondering for a moment, his lips curled upwards with an ominous expression which frightened the onlooker.
"Catherine is in the plain of Krevar and is currently commanding her forces against us."
"Order them to retreat and accept defeat."
"Also retreat from the other two fronts and push the remaining fronts."
"Lamar, I am giving you the command, deploy the special forces."
"And this time, I don't want any failure."
"If this operation fails, I will hang you on the gallows." The King looked at Lamar with a threatening expression.
Lamar didn't shrink back but rather bowed his head with an amusing smile"Don't worry Your Majesty. Before the might of our forces, they would be slaughtered like pigs."
"That's what I expect."
"After spending countless resources on them, if they couldn't do even a simple thing like this, they should just die."The king spoke with an indifferent expression.
"Lamar, you will get your reward if this mission becomes successful. I wish everyone had a brain like you but unlike you, these people's brains are filled with nothing but shits."
"Now, tell me, Lamar. What do I do with these two idiots?" The King spoke with raising their brows.
"Your Majesty, just take a part of their wealth and let them repent for a few days. Although they were foolish, they still thought about your Highness' wishes."
"They just wanted to finish off the things quickly but who knew it would be our forces who would be finished quickly."
"Hmmm!! I forgive you two for now. Do what Lamar says and leave?" The King shouted.
Duke Less and Count Yeon, who had been lying on the floor, bowed their heads and got up and retreated hurriedly in fear.
"Okay, that's it for now."
"It's time to commence the operation." The King spoke, casting a cruelly devilish smile.
......
In the fortress of George.
It was already afternoon and the sun was at its peak, showering bright sun rays but the atmosphere around the place was anything but bright.
There were craters all around, the walls had huge cracks on them and most of the soil had been burnt, trees had been uprooted and blood had seeped into the soil making the entire place reeked of blood.
Corpses had been piled up on top of another emitting a foul smell.
There was a huge movement before the Fortress of George. Since the war was over, it was time to clean the battlefield and give tribute to the fallen comrades wishing them a good afterlife.
The corpses have been divided into two halves. On one side it was the dead bodies of Amidon soldiers while on another side, it was the dead bodies of Wright and Nevan soldiers.
Alex decided to burn the corpses of Amidon's forces along with the ones who were infected with the plague from his side.
Corpses piled up one by one making the entire place look like a graveyard.
With a sword dug into the ground, Alex stood near the entrance gates while staring at the gruesome scene.
Alex could see the dead bodies of around 4000-4500 soldiers.
Anyone who saw Alex could see mixed feelings of anguish, distress, dread and woe on his face.
Under the faint breeze, his cloak fluttered as if it was waving to the souls of the dead soldiers.
Tap! Tap! Tap!
Alex heard the sound of small gentle steps and saw Christina walking towards hers.
She wasn't wearing her tight-fit armour but rather the traditional sparring outfit with pants and shirts with leather armour on top of it.
Though she looked quite beautiful, Alex wasn't in the mood to appreciate her beauty today.
Christina stood beside Alex and after a moment of silence, asked him"What are you thinking?"
"You have been standing here since the morning, you should get some rest after all you didn't even have a wink of sleep? Although things have been cleared here, more tough battles are going to be held in the future. So, you should utilise any little time you have?" Christina advised Alex.
"Rest!! Hahahaha."
"Do I even deserve rest?" Alex spoke sarcastically while putting his hands on his forehead.
"My people died worthlessly because of those scums."
"Christina, tell me the truth?"
"Am I a good leader??
Christina raised her brows and asked, "What do you mean?"
"I have brought 1000 soldiers with me and out of them nearly 100 died here due to that toxic gas."
"What do you think about this Christina? Whose fault is it?"
"Leaving out those scums who invented it, did some fault lie within me for not expecting this?"Alex asked with a sorrowful expression.
"In war, death and glory go hand in hand Alex. This is your first battle that's why you might not understand but no matter what there will be sacrificed in a war like this" Christina explained in a soft tone.
"You will get used to this sooner or later."
"Noooo!" Alex shouted with an angered tone.
"Glory and death don't go hand in hand. What does it matter when you sacrifice yourself to protect the world when no one knows about your brave deeds?"
"Most people use other people as scapegoats and sacrifice them in times of need just to achieve their goals just like those scums who used experiments to make this toxic gas. This is utterly disgusting."
"But that's not the matter here Christina. My precious soldiers died worthlessly. It's my fault that I wasn't able to predict this plague. If I have a hunch about it, I would make sure none of the forces from our side inhale the air."
"But I couldn't cause I am an incompetent king."
Christina's expression turned solemn on hearing Alex's words, the last counter of Amidon did deadly damage to the forces.
Around 100 from Nevan and 170 from her side died due to gas.
"It's okay Alex, it's not your fault nor anyone else."
"And none of the fallen would blame you. They might be waiting in the sky to see you basking in glory." Christina consoled Alex while trying to cheer him up.
Alex took a deep breath and looked up into the oceanic blue sky and spoke.
"Please watch me from there."
"I will make sure to crush those scums and destroy them thoroughly."
"Scums of Amidon, you should prepare yourself," Alex spoke while clenching his fist tightly.
"Your Majesty and Lady Christina, everything has been prepared."
"Everyone is waiting for you to start the mourning ceremony."
Alex nodded and waved his hand.
"Christina, let's go."
