Four-Armed Divine Emperor

If the reasons are not sufficient, then he should first try the taste of the fox and experience the feeling of the fox before discussing the issue of cooperation.

The fox girl convinced him with just one sentence:

"Ah? Then, can I give you a litter of pups? Half will go with me, and you can raise the other half. But you have to wait until I meet my tribe."

At that time, Al felt that this fox girl was not very smart.

She has some of the natural charm, shrewdness and cunning of a "fox spirit" in El's impression, but also has some primitive innocence of the wild tribes.

Very good, that’s it!

Of course, El still abided by the agreement and let the fox girl learn to repay her gratitude after she met her tribe.

As for the reason, it seems to be related to tradition...

"God!"

"Lord God!"

A group of mountain soldiers came to the lake. They were well-armored and led by a rough man with an iron ring of thorns on his head.

They trotted all the way to the lake, stopped ten meters away from Al, and prostrated themselves before him.

The leading man lay on the ground, raised his hand to take off his headband, and respectfully placed it on the ground in front of him. Then he stood up, knelt on one knee, and reported:

"Our hunters have found the road where the Xerxes were active. They couldn't get too close. There are some people from other tribes active on that road. They are neither hunting nor traveling. It seems that they are just there to make sure the road is clear."

"That's right."

Al clapped his hands and was about to give an order when the force from his hands sank at the right time and he floated!

So he immediately held his breath and stared at the lake with full concentration. He exerted force on his wrist and first pulled it up suddenly. After confirming that it was hooked, he did not rush for success. Instead, he pulled the fish sideways and shook it hard until his strength was exhausted.

"Crash!"

A big fish was flapping its wings on the green grass, splashing a lot of water.

The burly leader immediately rushed forward, pounced forward and pressed the big fish under his body, then locked it tightly with both hands, knelt on the ground, and presented it to Al.

"......"

An inexplicable sense of déjà vu.

Al was quite afraid that this man, who shared the same fanaticism as his teammates—after he revealed his four-armed features, all the mountain folk he met thereafter were like this—would suddenly speak:

"I have the audacity to ask the gods for a favor."

"Okay, here we go."

"Gather everyone, there's a big battle going on."

Al put down his fishing rod, walked over, and tapped the fish's belly with his finger.

"Put it back. It's still alive. It's enough to catch it."

"As ordered!"

The man responded respectfully and threw the big fish, estimated to be about three or four pounds, back into the lake. He quickly walked to Al and led the way for the "Four-Armed God".

On the other side of the lake, in a small branch hidden by the woods, after the sound of splashing water, a woman with a slender figure, as muscular as a female leopard, wearing only a pair of shorts and a bra, walked up to the lakeshore wetly.

A group of women immediately came forward and wiped the woman's body with slightly moist cotton towels woven from some kind of plant.

Right where she came ashore, there was a fish basket in the water, with several fish of different sizes swimming in it.

The diving woman turned her head and glanced at it, then said, "Eat it."

"What if the Lord God wants to go fishing later?" a woman asked worriedly, and the other women nodded in agreement.

The female leopard thought about it and felt that the "god" would most likely not fish today. Kazhuo's return must be for something big, but just in case, she didn't insist.

Chapter 23: The Four-Armed God, Anu's Prophecy

You asked Al if he knew that he had sat there for half the afternoon without any results, and had done nothing but chat with the fox girl. He was about to leave and it seemed that he was about to fail, but as luck would have it, a fish came and took the bait.

That must be...

I don’t know!

All I can say is that the fish in this lake are smart. They took the bait and said goodbye before leaving, or maybe it's just that the experienced angler is more skilled after all.

If Al were to admit that the fish didn't take the bait voluntarily, wouldn't that mean he was just admitting that he had no chance?

I would never do that!

When we walked to the settlement, we saw a large group of people kneeling outside the simple fortress built by the mountain people with stones and wood. In the front were naturally the heads and leaders of each tribe, and behind them were all the elite soldiers that their tribes could muster. Many of them had no flat ground to kneel on, and their knees could only kneel on stones, their postures were crooked, but no one complained.

At a glance, there were hundreds of people kneeling densely packed outside this settlement alone.

An old chief with a white beard and covered with animal skins, who looked very similar to Gandalf - he was also the first one to come to pay homage to the "Four-Armed God", and then turned around and became a fanatical follower of Aiur. He stood up from the ground tremblingly, leaning on a thick "crutch" that could undoubtedly be used as a stick on the battlefield.

Al knew that this old fellow looked like he was over seventy years old with white hair, but in fact, he was in very good physical condition. Like the decent Gandalf, he was an old leader with warrior skills and the characteristics of being strong despite being old.

"God Anu!!!"

He raised his wooden staff and shouted loudly at the people kneeling on the ground, his eyes as big as copper bells and his beard trembling.

Then the crowd joined him in shouting:

"God Anu!"

This term comes from the cultural dialect of the mountain people themselves, meaning "the god of salvation". Anu is a special existence in the tradition of the mountain people. Before those suspected remnants of an extinct ancient civilization or the remnants of the wizard king were wiped out by the wizards, those remnants of the tribe who, like Ai'er, also had "four arms" in appearance, retreated with a group of mortals who followed them into the present-day Thurso area, a barren land whose name was unknown at that time.

Then they stayed here and settled down. According to the information collected by El, those "Four-Armed Ones" from thousands of years ago should have spent a considerable period of time here to cultivate and develop, and lived a stable time. Like the "Fire Servant", they also received the respect of mortals because of the grace from ancient times.

However, the vast majority of Zoroastrians are under the influence of the White Tower order. The existence of fire servants is only as mascots and to maintain a "tradition". It is impossible to expect those arrogant and domineering military leaders, emirs, and Satrap warlords to worship those people as gods. If they want to lick, they will only lick the wizard's robes.

However, magical elements are scarce in the Thurso area, and transportation is blocked. After the fall of the Wizard King, the world of Il entered a long period of "great collapse era" due to the runaway magical power, and was almost cut off from the outside world. Therefore, those guys with four arms took root here, and even gradually upgraded themselves to "gods", and all mortals were slaves.

As expected, an unexpected thing happened. The mages accidentally discovered, or they had known about it a long time ago but were just too lazy to take care of it, that there was such a group of scum remnants in the Serso area who called themselves gods and were hostile to the outside world. So they decisively dealt with this group of ignorant four-armed people.

Before their demise, the remnants of their supporters fled to the present-day borderlands. With the Four Arms dead, the mages had no reason to pursue and slaughter mortals, so they just let them go. Before their demise, the defeated dogs left behind a prophecy:

Darkness engulfed the sky, and the power and glory of the gods disappeared. Demons gained the upper hand, imprisoned the gods, and exiled them from the mountains. But the most powerful warrior among the gods was named "Anu". He never enjoyed or feasted with the gods. Because he knew the threat of darkness early on, he exiled himself and went to the endless chaos of the outer realm to hone his skills. One day, he would lead the exiled gods back, defeat the demons, retake the mountains, and bestow the world's treasures on those who were loyal to the four-armed god...

This prophecy of "I will definitely come back" is one of the most vicious beatings and the most cruel words. To Al, it is just the boasting of those stubborn people before their demise. There is nothing worth referring to.

The books that the Devegaels had found for him contained information about the so-called "Four-Armed Man", but few people had taken it seriously before, and some of the secrets that were only circulated among the mountain tribes were not known to outsiders. Now that Al has put them together, it is not difficult to infer a logical "historical truth".

Moreover, combined with the past, the demons in this prophecy obviously originally referred to those powerful "mages" who destroyed the remnants of the Four-Armed Sect. However, as time passed, the "demons" in the prophecy, that is, the enemies, also often changed with the current situation faced by the mountain people.

For example, when the Brio people were strong, they referred to the remnants of Ashtar who came from the west, occupied the land, and forced the mountain people to submit. When the Zoroastrians were strong, they referred to the traitors who worshipped fire and light, came from the old land in the south, and betrayed the four-armed god.

Myths and legends should serve real politics, that's right...

"Everyone get up."

Al waved his hand, and at the right moment, he stretched out the rib-like appendage tucked into his robe and lifted it up above his lower abdomen.

Seeing the sacred "four arms" appear, the crowd suddenly burst into exclamations, and many mountain people who had just stood up knelt down again. Even if their knees were broken, they gritted their teeth and never cried out in pain.

"Everyone get up!"

Al roared, using the power of psychic energy to amplify the sound.

It would be funny if two people were crippled by this.

He glanced at "Gandalf" who was rejoicing at the lively scene. The latter had straightened his back and no longer pretended to be old. Seeing Al's gaze, the old man who looked to be in his sixties trembled with excitement and was about to walk forward quickly.

"okay!"

Al stopped the other party.

"Make way, don't get stuck here, let the leaders come in, it's time to start."

Gandalf the mountain man immediately imitated the etiquette he learned from the Derwen Gaels. He touched his chest, bowed, and humbly stepped aside to communicate with the many chiefs who had enthusiastic expressions on their faces.

As Al looked at the crowd, he suddenly became excited. He used his psychic power to make himself float into the sky, standing directly in front of the gate of the castle above everyone's heads. Amidst a burst of exclamations and fanatical gazes, he waved both of his right hands at the crowd at the same time.

"Hurrah!"

"Because I'm back!"

These words instantly ignited the passion of the mountain people, and the praises of "God Anu" echoed throughout the valley and reached the sky.

Meanwhile, the officers of the Devangel Expeditionary Force, who had gathered in the tribal chieftain's hall, awaiting El's arrival, looked at each other in bewilderment, thinking:

"Sure enough, a bunch of backward barbarians."

"Both the Kingdom and the Lord are right not to bring this place under their rule. These barbarians will only disrupt our order."

"To actually regard the wise Master as a false god is simply..."

If Lord Al had not believed that he could subdue these mountain people and use them for his own benefit to help fight against the Xerxes, the noble warriors of Devangel would not have wanted to have too much contact with these gullible barbarians and would rather have thrown them to the Xerxes.

Chapter 24: Maps, Military Discussions

"Hey! Ha!"

The guard on duty stomped his halberd on the ground and lifted the half-closed curtain for Ai'er.

Inside, a group of armored Devon Gael noble officers, border mountain leaders, and warriors all stood up and faced the direction where El came in, touching their chests with their hands.

"grown ups!"

"God Anu!"

"Your Excellency the Mage!"

Al walked into the chief's hall. The seat at the head was originally occupied by a mountain leader present - it seemed to be the mountain version of Gandalf, but now, it naturally belonged to him.

Asuna was left behind by El because of her pregnancy. Although the female knight insisted on participating in the battle, she was rejected by El.

As the mental suggestion deepened, his control over the Devangel Legion no longer needed to be influenced by Ansuna. The two sides now had a common goal and a common enemy. Even if El suddenly turned against him and said he would lead his troops back to Devangel, seize the throne, and establish a "Mage Kingdom", at least one-third of the expeditionary force would be willing to follow the Lord Mage!

If the remaining operations are handled properly, there is still a chance to force the entire army to follow Al.

He now has absolute control over this army, as long as he doesn't suffer consecutive defeats or push the troops towards mutiny.

"Get all the maps out."

"Gandalf" walked quickly with a crutch. When he entered the tent, he bowed to Al again, and then turned his attention to the leaders of the mountain people.

Many of them immediately took out something made of a special material, like parchment scrolls, with many patterns drawn on them, including mountains, rivers, dense forests and trails...

These are the most important heritages of each tribe. It is said that they were originally a complete map, which basically depicted the topography of the entire border area. For those who master this map, traveling through the border area is as easy as strolling in a garden.

When mountain people attack each other, the most important sign of victory is to seize the opponent's map, or the loser offers the map to seek forgiveness. In this way, even if they fail, they can have a relatively decent ending, such as being merged without blood, being demarcated into a territory and becoming a vassal.

They have lived in the Serso area for thousands of years. Even if you count from the time when the Four-Armed Man was beaten to a pulp by the wizard and his remaining followers were scared into the depths of the mountains, they have been in the current "border area" for nearly a thousand years. If they still rely on the mountains and water for food, live according to the weather and luck, lie in the sun when they have nothing to do, and cannot even grasp the most basic surrounding environment, then Ai'er really intends to use this group of mountain people who are useless except for their combat effectiveness as cannon fodder.

These maps are treasures that are regarded as secrets by various tribes. Because the mountain people are sandwiched between the two major forces of the East and the West, they have degenerated too much due to long-term blockades and infighting. There is no powerful force to reintegrate the tribes, and there is no force to redraw the maps. In Al's opinion, treating such things as treasures is a manifestation of the mountain people's extreme closed-mindedness and backwardness.

Historically, they were even willing to pay a large blood tax to a powerful foreign ruler and send their young men to serve, but they were absolutely unwilling to give up their inherited maps, because this was a key factor in their ability to maintain their independence for a long time:

The complex topography of the border area makes it difficult for outsiders to understand the situation. If they don't have the guidance of the mountain people, they will be completely confused. Unless there is absolute, regardless of cost investment, and the troops are cleared one mountain at a time and one river at a time, it will be difficult to establish effective rule over the border area.

Most of it is wasted.

This time, the Zoroastrians came in full force. Even several months ago, news came that some tribes in the east had presented their inherited maps to King Adwin of the Xerxes, causing panic among the mountain people.

Although treating the ancient map as a family heirloom seemed backward to Ai'er, it was just right for the current situation. With the map and the guide, Devangel's side had the advantage of "I predicted your sneak attack" and the advantage of being on the defensive side. If they wanted to fight against Xerxes' regular army, which was twice their number, and the unknown number of mountain servants, they still had a good chance of winning.

Al glanced at the map and memorized it in his mind, then handed it over to more professional staff officers and mountain leaders to discuss the terrain and discuss the battle plan.

The Devengaelic people generally hoped to tire out and disturb the enemy with harassment tactics. Xerxes ventured westward and went deep into the border areas. The terrain there was complex and with a little use, they could defeat ten enemies with one.

The mountain chiefs longed for a hearty battle, to ambush directly, to dominate, and under the leadership of the four-armed god, to defeat the "fire-worshiping demons from the East" and restore their ancient glory...

Basically, most people come based on their own standpoints.

The mountain people did not want to fight a guerrilla war, as they would be the ones who suffered the most. In order to conceal their combat intentions, the Devangel expeditionary force would certainly not take action in the early stages and could only let the mountain people carry out harassment. In that case, the revenge of the Xerxes would surely fall on them, and they would certainly hope for a quick victory - if they failed, then sliding on their knees would not matter. However, the expeditionary force believed that the situation on the border was so complicated that if the sneak attack of the Adwin army was discovered in advance, it would basically be like two people dueling with one person taking off all their clothes and facing the other person with their buttocks.

If there is any slight disturbance, the supply at the border will be difficult, and Adwin will be trapped in the mountains, whether he has 10,000 or 20,000 people, and he will be caught in a dilemma.

By then, the expeditionary force will be well-rested. As long as the mages of both sides can restrain each other and offset their decisive power on the battlefield, the warriors of Devengale will have the confidence to defeat Adwin's army!

Most of those who chose to join Ai'er were mountain people from the neighboring western region, who were located in the east and west respectively compared to the eastern mountain people who joined Adwin. It can be said that geography determined their stance.

But Al tried to hide, and after the mountain representative came back and brought Gandalf, who had heard about the "four-arm feature", he immediately realized that this was a great opportunity to use the mountain people on the border to fight against Xerxes. So after using his talent for mental infection to plant mental hints in the mountain people, he led his people directly to venture into the chaotic land of the chaotic land.

The next step was to go from house to house. "Gandalf" took Al and the disguised guards to some tribes in the Midwest that were hostile to the Xerxes to lobby. Gandalf went first, persuaded the other party, and then asked Al to come out. He had never expected that he just had an extra pair of arms. Although it was somewhat convenient for daily life, he still felt it was a bit weird.

But to these brave and belligerent mountain people, in their eyes, the "deformed" four arms are the most sacred posture in the world, the noble appearance of the gods returning and walking in the mortal world again, and the precursor to the four-armed god's prophesied "distribution of the treasures of this world to his followers."