Unsealing Emptiness

412  Might As Well Just Die.

The border connecting the Steel Mountain Kingdom and the Blue Lion Kingdom was a vast barren land with little sign of life.

Even the common ground weed was scarce and devoid of life.

On one end of this barren landscape, there started a lush green grassland that led to the Blue Lion Kingdom, and on the opposite side began small hills which further connected to giant rocky mountains.

The Steel Mountain Kingdom had a natural defense: the rocky mountains surrounding the whole kingdom, hence its name.

A day later, the army led by the Prince was already at the edges of the barren land everyone called the No Man's Land.

The prince told them to set their camps before the start of the barren land; it would be their main base of operation for now.

Once again, all those in the Origin realm were spared of the menial tasks.

One of the soldiers responsible for assigning tasks came to Ozul and humbly asked him to scout a specific area around their camp.

Everyone was tense in the army. For now, there weren't any signs of a battle starting anytime soon, but they knew it could very well just be the calm before the storm.

And they weren't wrong to think that.

The night fell along with several shadows leaping toward their camp in an attempt to halt their progress as much as they could.

The group consisting of all peak Nascent Soul cultivators was led by a man half a step into the Origin realm. All of them were equipped with artifacts that hid or at least helped them cloak their auras.

"Not so fast," whispered the muscular man who suddenly appeared behind the half-step Origin realm leader of the assassins.

Before anyone could react, the man's throat was slashed, bursting into a fountain of blood that sparkled under the moonlight.

Unfortunately for them, they were discovered earlier than they planned.

Ozul and Kumao along with some of the peak Nascent Soul soldiers surrounded the assassins and thus began the first carnage of the war.

. . .

The base was huge, the whole army was concentrated there, so a large part of the people didn't even see the outcome of the battle that concluded in the dark of the night.

The assassins last night were proof to the Prince that the Steel Mountain Kingdom was ready for war.

Killing them wasn't much of a feat either since those people came prepared for death anyway.

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Today, Ozul and other Origin cultivators were all called to the Prince's camp.

A table was set up atop which was placed on the map of the entire region.

Surrounding the table were the four mid-ranked Origin cultivators followed by the Imperial Prince himself. The rest stood quietly and respectfully at the side.

Unfortunately for Raven, Blaze, and Zier, they weren't invited to this meeting just like everyone who hadn't yet reached the Origin Realm.

Once everyone was there, the strategic meeting started with the Prince placing tiny flags on the map.

"This is our base and this," he placed a black flag on the map, "This is the Steel Mountain capital."

Their main target was the capital of the Steel Mountain Kingdom. Once that was captured, it would be the end of the war.

"We cannot storm straight into it since the mountains protect them."

Not to mention there would be platoons of soldiers ready to ambush behind every rock.

"The entire army cannot march together. Once they find the opportunity, it will be too disadvantageous for us."

One by one the four commanders gave their inputs to finalize their war strategy.

In the end, it was decided for the army to be split into five Divisions and each Division would be subdivided into three to four platoons.

Four of these Divisions were each going to be led by one of the mid-ranked Origin realm commanders and the fifth would be under the Prince's direct command.

The platoons of each Division would be supervised by the initial stage of Origin cultivators.

Hence, even Ozul and Kumaou would be assigned a platoon each.

"Each Division will move forward from different directions and even then the Division will not move in one big group. Each platoon will find their separate route while remaining in contact with the main platoon."

One of the mid-ranked commanders finalized, but his tone was more of a question than a decision. He was asking for confirmation from the rest.

The prince shook his head, "The Divisions and platoons will be as you mentioned, but all Divisions will not move at the same time."

From his side, one of the older commanders nodded his head, "As His Majesty stated, it's too naive to send our entire army for battle at the same time."

Seeing the confusion on some people's faces, he elaborated, "This will not remain a war between the Steel Mountain Kingdom and us. The surrounding kingdoms are all waiting for us."

While the king stayed in the capital with one of the mid-ranked commanders, that was their last line of defense. They needed the main army to intercept any potential attacks on their capital as well.

"Only three Divisions will advance, including mine. Two will stay in the base camp and remain steady to provide assistance in whichever direction necessary."

In the end, it was decided that even among the two Divisions which would stay at the base camp, one would set up another camp further back.

The spies of the neighboring kingdom had probably seen the entire army set up their camp here, they wouldn't think a Division would be heading back toward the capital in hiding.

After all, though the neighboring kingdoms on the opposite side weren't as aggressive, there were still chances that they could take this opportunity to strike.

Just like that, it took little more than a few hours before the meeting concluded and everyone got busy.

They needed to divide people, rations, weapons, and armor into each Division and platoon.

The prince was sure that their main camp was the most vulnerable and that there would be quite a few attacks on the camp, coming mostly from the other neighboring kingdoms.

To attack their capital, these kingdoms would first need to get rid of the camp as they would be pincered if they didn't.

And so, he specifically made sure that the Dragon Hatchlings would be within the Division that would protect the base camp.

His platoon was purposely assigned soldiers with lower aptitude.

Only the fact that all three of his people were assigned under him was to his liking.

...

The next morning, the Imperial Prince led his Division and charged straight at the mountains.

 He would be the vanguard against the Steel Mountain Kingdom.

The other two Divisions also left one after another, but they advanced from opposite directions.

Ozul and Kumao's platoon was in the 4th Division while the 5th Division was to secretly rush toward the Capital and set up a hidden camp near it.

The 4th Division alone had 5 platoons and the mid-ranked Origin commander was the same man who was charged to keep them inside the estate when the princess was assassinated.

The commander ordered the platoons to spread in all four directions once night fell. Ozul and Kumao were assigned West and South respectively.

And when the night fell, the 5th Division finally moved out of the forest and the 4th Division platoons quickly took their positions.

As they spread out, it created an illusion as if there were a lot more people in the base than there actually were.

"You will handle all the shouting," Ozul spoke, on his horse, while pointing at Blaze.

Then he pointed at Raven, "You will do all the thinking."

Lastly, he looked at Zier, "You... Assist them both."

That, for some reason, brought a smile to his face.

There were around 15 peak Nascent Soul cultivators in his platoon, but he wasn't going to let any of them manage anything.

Raven would think, Blaze would shout the orders, and Zier would do whatever he was told to do. Thus, the chain of command was set.

As his platoon set up the camps, a couple of older and wiser peak Nascent soldiers came to confront Ozul.

"Sir!"

"What is it? Didn't they tell you I don't like to be disturbed?" Ozul answered with an annoyed tone. He wanted to take a short nap in his camp peacefully.

He had finally been given what he always wanted: people. People, who would do what he told them to do.

'A pity this isn't permanent...'

"Sir, is it really wise to hand over all the decisions to that lady...?"

The one who spoke had a white beard and white hair, he was old enough for his hair to turn white but there wasn't a single wrinkle on his face.

"Why do you think it's not wise?" Ozul questioned with a dull face.

"I-... If you can excuse my bluntness, we think they are children and probably inexperienced..."

They were all hesitant while bringing up this 'issue', but considering they were the experienced ones, it felt like their duty to do so.

"How many people have you killed in your lifetime?"

One by one, the peak Nascent cultivators gave their approximate answers which totaled up to nowhere near a thousand.

"Those children you speak of have burned down more cities than the years you have lived. They only look young." Ozul spoke, but they all looked unconvinced anyway.

*Sigh...*

He sighed, thinking all of this to be a little too bothersome.

"Look, I don't care what you think. Follow their orders, or go back to the Division commander and plead that he spare your lives after disobeying me."

He stared them dead in the eyes, making them shiver even though there was no pressure of Spiritual Essence on them.

Regretting their decisions, the group of soldiers left with their tails tucked between their legs.

Soldiers were simple-minded people, there were no after-schemes or revenge arcs when it came to them.

'So nice...' Ozul muttered after confirming there weren't any 'bitter' emotions emanating from them.

While he rested, it wasn't as if he had dropped his guard. Within his range of senses, he would be alerted immediately if anyone even took a breath.

'As for those I can't sense... they might as well just kill me...'