Shadow of the Evil God

By now, they were standing in front of the tower. Seeing the towering Sfrah approach, the remnants of Lower Noien's army cried out. When they realized the steppe chieftain was willing to negotiate, they breathed a sigh of relief and agreed to let some of the men in. Cesar paced forward, looking up, and over the tangled pile of corpses, he saw twisted faces. From the fierce midnight battle, many faces were bloodstained and unrecognizable. As they walked, they stumbled over the sticky blood and slippery corpses.

"how do you......"

Someone recognized him, and the soldiers made way. Cesar took two or three steps into the tower and immediately fell to the ground. Walking this distance, trying to act calm, he felt more exhausted than a whole day of training. Cesar stared numbly at the dark red ground, feeling no longer willing to think about how to escape.

"Sit here, hold my hand and stand up." He heard a voice as gentle and soft as an older sister's. A hand reached out from the side and pulled him to his feet, then pulled him to sit on a wooden box against the wall. "Take it easy for a while." It was Ceshia.

They may not have much time to slow down.

"You look a lot worse off than I do," she said.

Cesar

He exhaled deeply and coughed up a mouthful of blood. "As long as it's not fatal, it doesn't matter."

Looking out the window, Sfera was squatting outside the tower like a guardian, bringing them some psychological comfort in this chaotic slaughterhouse.

Comfort. The man named Ajeh walked in with Firth. Musali, held hostage by the dog, collapsed on another box. He continued to whisper inaudibly, trying to win back the shaman who had suspected him of betraying him.

For ordinary people, having a close relative replaced and then betrayed in the name of a close relative is an extremely cruel thing, but since the other party has already killed their own blood relatives, this matter may not matter. People who stand in high positions always have some differences from ordinary people, and their adaptability to fratricide is much stronger than that of ordinary people.

"It seems that he is not here to persuade us to surrender...so you saved the situation?" Ceshia said with some surprise in her eyes, and a hint of pride.

"It's not about redemption, it's just delaying it." Cesar didn't even have the energy to shake his head. "The problem now is that anything we do in his name can't make it clear that he's being held hostage."

The author says:

Author's words: Day 15 of a hemorrhoidal attack.

Chapter 85 I Didn’t Come Here to Kill

.......

Cesar was exhausted, but with his life at stake, he could only hold onto the handrail and ascend the stairs, moving towards the tower's guardhouse under the watchful eyes of the sentries. Gouzi followed behind, holding the even more exhausted Musali hostage. Ceshia and Fils followed shortly after, and finally, the guy who had given Cesar a sense of unease.

Beastmen? Steppemen? Or something else? And what should he do when the evil spirit inside her is also possessing him?

Although he had many questions, Cesar had to put them aside because of more pressing matters. Everyone else found their own seats, but Ajeh stood quietly against the wall, like a statue draped in a thick felt, listening to the discussion of the next steps with a disinterested attitude. She listened like this for nearly an hour, never saying a word. Of course, this matter had nothing to do with her.

Her reason for watching, besides preventing her brother from dying without resistance, was to see him and his two helpers, Firth, off to their final journey. Her mission was simple, just as it was for Cesar. The affairs of Noyen were simple. He was defending Lower Noyen, though under duress, but he would always fulfill his duty. Once the city was captured, he would do his last bit for the residents of the lower city, preventing them from perishing at the hands of the city lord. What happened after that was beyond his control.

There's not much difference between the two, at least not by the standards of this world.

Perhaps because Musali always denied their decisions, and his negative opinions were always difficult to ignore and had their reasons, they argued for a long time. Almost at the most intense moment of their argument, the guards outside the door announced that an envoy had been sent from Upper Noyen, an officer.

"It seems someone is going to make a decision for you," Musali said at the right time. "There is no point in arguing here."

"He can only make decisions for Noyen," Cesar denied, "but he can't make decisions for us."

"You really should watch your tone, boy." Musari raised his voice slightly. It was clear that he cared deeply about Cesar's attitude towards the old count, and his reason was intriguing. "Aren't you serving your father?" he demanded.

"That's a wonderful thing to say," Cesar said, shrugging his shoulders. "Do you still think your sister is working for you?"

"She is working for me! But something went wrong now." Musari was a little out of control.

"I don't want to get involved in this argument." The silent man leaning against the wall suddenly spoke up, "But you guys shouldn't use me as a weapon in your verbal battles, okay?"

Musali twisted his neck stiffly, as if he had to do something to ease his out-of-control emotions.

The reason for his emotional breakdown was simple. He had been trying to call back the tribal shaman, disguised as Gouzi, to reminisce about the past and rekindle past experiences. However, he had been unable to do so. It wasn't that the shaman had forgotten or avoided the past, or had utterly betrayed him. Rather, the shaman could recall their past with unwavering clarity, more vividly than Musali, and even more emotionally. Yet, he still rejected his pleas.

Ultimately, Gouzi is merely listening, nodding, and expressing the same sentimentality as Musali, but this sentimentality is meaningless to her; it's simply a perfect imitation and mimicry. The more genuine and moving the Faceless One's portrayal of the imitator's emotions becomes, the more false that expression becomes.

The love and affection that humans are so proud of are nothing more than combinations fabricated by facial expressions and onomatopoeia in her world. The two are completely different, which is why Cesar never wants to use her ability.

"What is the position of this guy in thick felt coat?" Ceshia was a little puzzled.

"I'll send these two off for the last time." Ajiehe's statement was not much different from his guess. "I don't care about anything else."

"The envoy from Upper Noyen has arrived." Ceshia turned to the door again. Cesar turned his head and saw a familiar officer walking in from the door. At this moment, Ceshia suddenly hissed and looked down at his bloodstained clothes. Cesar found

There was a bulge there, as if the secret stone of the Overa School had reacted.

The officer walked into the guardhouse, holding a lantern instead of a weapon. Cesar looked carefully at the man's face, trying to find the image he remembered.

After setting up camp outside the city, this officer took the lead in arguing with Cesar about whether the cavalry should raid the city. Naturally, the other party gained the support of other officers. After all, this person was a direct descendant and confidant of Askrid, and had considerable prestige in the army.

Until now, this person still has some grudge against Cesar and looks unhappy when he sees him.

But at this moment, Cesar did not see what he expected to see on his face. Instead, he saw a calm smile, full of meaning, as if he found the scene very interesting.

"You sent men to arrest me, Sassulei," the young officer said, "but you gave up in the end."

Musali slammed the table and shouted, "Askerid! No, you—no, I understand. The shaman said you had ominous signs. So this is what happened."

Cesar remembered the interrogator's warning and knew that the officer's life belonged not to him but to Askrid. Although he wanted to frown, he saluted the man with his sword. "I hope you have good news for me, sir."

Askrid looked at Cesar, studying his face intently. After a moment, he said, "Yes, we discussed your choice before. It seems I was right."

"I don't know what you discussed," Cesar said, although he could roughly guess what his personal stance would be.

"We'll discuss this privately later. Now I have some official business to attend to," Askrid said, using the body of a young officer. "The opportunity to speak privately with an enemy leader is extremely rare. Perhaps I should thank you more, boy."

"Your greatest gratitude is that you helped them escape." Musali said, his voice a little impatient. "Don't you see that Lower Noyen is completely ours?"

"Didn't you just want to kick me out of the tribe?" Ajeh suddenly asked, "Then I guess this tower guarded by Sfera is not yours."

"This isn't the place for you to get upset, Ajeh... Never mind." Musali barely managed to contain his emotions. "I'm Musali, leader of the Hazar tribe and the leader of this expedition. What are your thoughts on this war? Tell me now, Askrid."

"I know." Askrid stood beside Cesar. "It's an honor, sir. After all, even if I were in charge of Lower Noyen myself, I couldn't do a better job than him. And Lower Noyen itself..."

"I really want to know where the White Nightmare came from." Musali's voice rose. "I'm trying to stop it, and those guarding the city are also trying to stop it. Why is that?"

"I haven't seen you actively seek out or stop the White Nightmare, brother," Ajeh said again. Cesar felt Musali stiffen again. His sister pointedly corrected every factual inaccuracy in his words, her voice cold and calm, as if she were just chatting.

This wasn't really exposing his shortcomings, but it made him even more anxious.

Askrid seemed completely unfazed by Musali's questioning. "Some things are fine if you just speculate, just like I wouldn't ask you to explain the origins of the beastmen and the cursed two-headed snake," he said.

"So what do you want to ask?" Musari pressed on.

"I don't want to ask any further questions. I just want to negotiate with you on behalf of Noien." Askrid patted Cesar's shoulder. "It's rare for someone to give me such an opportunity. I must cherish it."

Cesar really wanted to know where he got the confidence to negotiate with Musali. After all, they couldn't threaten Musali's life. Besides, what else could they bring to the table?

"I'm glad someone has come to discuss terms of surrender with me, Askrid," Musali's voice gradually steadied. "I won't go too far. Perhaps we can start by considering which dignitaries in Upper Noyen can be relocated from the port. How about that? I'm not here to massacre."

Chapter 86 I think you are the one who will die soon

"Abandon Noien and return to Dominion's capital?" Askrid asked. "For many in Noien, this choice means giving up everything. For others, it means willingly throwing themselves into prison and being slaughtered. Why are you suggesting this to me? Are you mocking me?"

"From the moment Noien fell, you can't salvage anything," Musali replied calmly. "If there's anything you can salvage, it's your own lives. If you don't want to be thrown into prison and left to be slaughtered, you can flee to any place you choose. After all, no one's forcing you to return to Dominion's capital."

"Then someone recognized the people who needed to be identified from the fleeing group and pointed them out to those who needed to be identified? Even though they were put in cages and taken away in a car, it had nothing to do with you, right?"

"Good guess." Musali deliberately lowered his voice. "But what does it have to do with you? Some people have a lot of grudges that need to be settled. As for you, Askrid, I know your family will still accept you. You are just running away temporarily."

"But you guessed wrong." Askrid shook his head indifferently.

Cesar didn't know why Ascreed had disappeared for so long.

What happened, and what confidence made him dare to come to negotiate, but when he heard Askrid say this, he knew that something very important had been accomplished.

Dominy and Olidan, two neighboring countries with a long-standing feud. Although under pressure from the Kasar Empire, the southern countries were

Forced to form a confederation, the Dominicans and Olidans have a history of conflict far longer than their peaceful history, and even now, their private feuds have never ceased. If a border fortress of both economic and military importance chooses to change its flag...

Cesar knew that the greatest resistance to the old earl's change of allegiance would come from the great nobles around him, particularly the royal family faction represented by Askrid. Sean's desperate situation made this choice unsurprising, but Askrid had a bright future in the Domini Kingdom. Why would he abandon everything in his family to join Olidan for the title of military commander of a city-state?

According to common sense, no, it was impossible. However, common sense no longer existed around the old earl, and that was the problem.

Cesar pondered for a moment and decided to help cover up. "Mr. Askrid and the old man are like brothers, and some of their decisions are beyond your imagination," he said.

Askrid smiled slightly, as if telling Musali that the meaning of some things did not require him to say more.

"What kind of talk are you? Even if we're as close as brothers, so what?" Musali frowned. "What's worth giving up your family's support and your blood relatives?"

"Why don't you ask this question of your own relatives?" Cesar asked him in return. "You should focus not on the reasons, but on what has already happened. If the people around the old man won't abandon Noyen as you wish, nor will they kneel at the feet of the royal family, your plan will be in vain."

"We already know the treaty you made with the royal family," Askrid said immediately to the Sassulai. "Everyone knows the consequences of being attacked from both sides. We no longer wish to be attacked from both sides, so we will resolve this matter with another treaty, one that will make you be attacked from both sides."

"What kind of treaty can we come up with with a city that has lost most of its capital?" Musari pressed on.

"It won't be long before you see Ouldan's army on the other side of the horizon," said Askrid.

"How much supplies have you carried for their army to come to Noien?" Musali asked with wide eyes, his words pressing the issue. "I'm guessing it's a lot. And I'm guessing they're not coming to Noien to fight the Sassulai. Not even one of them will draw a sword. It's just a long journey outside the city to boost your momentum. By then, Noien will still be an empty shell. Once we clean out this city, we can still give the supplies you promised to Olidan. - Do you think you're the only ones who know how to negotiate?"

Cesar coughed twice to silence Musali's rising voice. "Well," he said, "if you're so confident you can take over all of Noyen, why are you resorting to this tactic, repeatedly demanding negotiations and trying to persuade us to surrender without fighting? I imagine you've noticed how different this city is from what you imagined, and you've fully grasped the horror. You don't know if something like this will happen again, which is why you're here, trying to persuade the very people you wanted to kill."

There's actually a lot of nonsense in what he said, and even more assertions driven by emotion, but they weren't here to debate academics. Sometimes, to gain the upper hand, one has to deliberately exaggerate emotions.

Musali reacted quickly: "Because the Sasule people are not here to be slaughtered. We are here to fight for our ethnic interests. I will do my best to avoid stupid losses in battle. Why else?"

Cesar immediately seized on the flaw in his words. "Because you know that without the unexpected factor of this snake, you won't be able to quickly break through Upper Noien. The siege will last a long time. Once Olidan's army arrives outside the city, even if they just camp and watch without fighting, it will tell the Sassulai people that Noien is not isolated and helpless. At that time, guess which side's morale will rise rapidly, and which side's morale will fall rapidly?"

Askrid smiled through the body he was occupying. "You simply want to offer Noyen to the royal faction, right? Use it as leverage to redeem the grassland people from centuries of isolation? We understand your wishful thinking. You believe this is just an internal struggle within the Kingdom of Domini, and that only the royal family has considered using external aid. But you're wrong. You grassland people aren't the only ones seeking external aid."

"Those who have placed their bets will not withdraw easily, but those who have just made their moves may not necessarily do so," Musari insisted.

"You've certainly made a big bet." Askrid began to press forward. "But this snake has become an unstable factor, no longer exploitable. Therefore, no matter how much you gamble, you won't be able to capture Upper Noien before spring and summer. Even if the port is blocked, our food reserves are still beyond your imagination. Lower Noien doesn't have much food to plunder, so how much supplies do you have left for your army? I'm guessing it won't last you for long. Or do you plan to abandon grazing and sowing on the steppes in spring and summer and settle outside the city, performing a monkey show under the noses of Olida's army?"

"If we really capture a city that refuses to surrender, we will execute all the decision-makers in Noien one by one, nail your heads along the road, and use them as signposts for every traveling merchant coming to Noien." Musali began to threaten Askrid.

刚听

When he said this, Cesar knew that Askerid was going to get angry. This man's habit was not to stop until he saw blood. If Cesar had not stopped him, the burned porter would have died long ago.

Under his sword.

"I think you're the ones who'll be doomed," Askrid laughed. "On one side is a wall of unknown depth, difficult to breach, and on the other is another kingdom's massive army. Even if you shout until your voice is hoarse that there's no need to worry about Olidan's army, how many people will listen? And do you really think that if the siege fails, Olidan's army won't attack from behind? The tide of battle is constantly changing. Just a few small factors can make the impossible happen."

"You're talking nonsense here like a mouse in a cage squeaking at a cat."

"I think you're the one who's going to die soon. I can show up in your tent any night and show you what those pursuers who died by the campfire were afraid of."

"Your fate will not be any better than those White Nightmares."

Seeing the two men's growing agitation, Cesar grew increasingly agitated. If things continued as they did, he would have to flee the harbor with his few men, leaving the ensuing fierce battle behind. While he could still save his life, there was a fundamental difference between saving one's life without a choice and saving one's life without doing anything.

Their conversation just now...

"You said you came for the good of your tribe," Cesar suddenly said, "and you've already signed a treaty with people who would never have signed an agreement with the grassland people."

Musali frowned. "Sassoulean," he corrected.

"Well, Sassuleiman," Cesar continued, "then, since you are willing to negotiate, why don't you bring out your treaty and let us discuss it and see whether one impossibility leads to another?"

Musali looked impatient and about to refuse, but someone spoke for him. "I think he has some truth to him," Ajeh said. "If you don't want me to tell the descendants of the tribe that the war continued because of the insults between you and the enemy commander, then you don't have to listen."

The guy paused for a moment as his sister choked him. "I don't want to—"

"The treaty has nothing to do with Noien itself." Ajeh, still leaning against the wall, cast her gaze in his direction. "The royal family demands that Earl Thane's defeat be used to drive him from power, and then replace him with his brother, who is already closely linked to the royal faction. To achieve this, the city lord must be captured by us and sent to the royal prison after being humiliated. Our demand is to maximize trade and commerce after Noien's change of ownership. As for the free looting of Noien, that is merely an additional condition."

Although Cesar wanted to ask what kind of additional conditions were attached to murdering him, he held back. "I think," Cesar said, "the old man would not refuse to trade with anyone. You don't need to go around in circles."

Even Count Thane was smuggling contraband with the mages of the Origin Society, so why wouldn't he dare trade? It was simply that the Kasar Empire was too far from Noien, otherwise he could have sold coal and iron ore there at a high price.

"The treaty has been signed," Musali insisted, "and it cannot be violated."

Although Cesar wanted to say that treaties are signed to be broken, he held himself back again. "I don't want to argue with you about this, Musali," he said, "but some things can be forced. There's no one from the Dominican royal family here, so no one would know. You tore up the treaty after weighing the pros and cons, right? You just said you did it for the sake of your tribe. Now you're saying it was actually for your personal reputation?"

"What do you mean!?"

Chapter 87 This doesn't need a reason

Of course, Cesar would not comfort him like he comforted his old father.

"I'm reminding you, Musali. Do you prefer to flatter yourself, or do you want to avoid a foolish choice, end this disaster, and gain closer friendship? From now on, no matter how the Domini royal family tries to retaliate or slander, there will always be an Olidan between you."

Musali stared at him for a moment, then suddenly calmed down, as if his anxiety and anger were just a puff of smoke that would soon dissipate. "Are you saying I want to trade a treaty that has stood the test of time for a sudden fantasy proposed in the middle of a battlefield?" he demanded.

"Is there anything wrong?"

"Do you know how much they and I have paid to gain each other's trust? There is no such thing as trust without reason in this world," Musari asserted.

"You say contribution?" Cesar shrugged. "I believe that in this dispute, only those who have deployed troops are qualified to talk about contribution. There are the Sassulai, the Noyen, and soon the Auridan. So, what about the royal faction of Dominy? Aren't they just standing on the sidelines and watching the show?"

"But they have no reason to go—"

"No, does this really need a reason? I didn't know you were so good at considering others. In this matter, we don't need to pay attention to other people's reasons, because that is their own business. Just look at the facts on the surface - who is determined and who is not? Who is the general leading the troops on the battlefield, and who is the conspirator hiding behind the scenes? They want to turn this war into a tool for their own power struggle, and treat you as a sword picked up on the road. But we

"We negotiated this on the basis of equality. We both put in a lot of effort, rather than just making empty promises and expecting others to deliver."

"But my efforts will soon be rewarded, boy." Musali said, "The snake can't

We hoped again, but the monsters you summoned with your sorcery are now gone. Taking the inner city won't take long, as you'll have to contend not only with enemies outside but also with spies lurking within. Domini's royal faction didn't contribute to the front lines, but they've made a significant investment in the rear.

Askrid suddenly smiled grimly. The shadow behind him suddenly twisted in the candlelight, as if a strong wind were blowing against a candlestick. The shadow twisted and shifted, rising like a sack filled with live maggots, shifting back and forth between collapsing and solidifying into a form, ultimately revealing a pale phantom more than two men tall.