477 General Cassia

First, thanks to @HIRAK BARUA for his support

Second, I added all the Discord Gallery pics on instagram @don_dokhmesy, let's abuse this novel to have tons of followers.

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"Kn… Knight Brother Jonrad?"

The situation was awkward to the point of cringing. Jon hated many things and being confused with his old man was one of those things.

"Wash your mouth, woman." He retorted, "God gave me a handsome face as he gave people wind and rain, it is not my fault that bastard was carrying an umbrella."

Hearing Jon's reply, General Cassia realized she was completely wrong. Jon let go of her sword and they two took a step away from one another.

"You are not Jonrad… you can't be… Jonhild?" She said.

"..." Jon frowned once this woman uttered his birth name.

She looked like someone in a complete daze as she held her head from the surprise.

"Jonhild, what on Nirn are you doing here?" She said.

"Do I know you, woman?" He asked.

"You don't? They never told you about someone called Cassia before?" She asked.

Jon kept a safe distance as he tried to remember the name but nothing came to mind so he shook his head. To that, she sighed with a disheartened face.

"No wonder! Once Tyr became on the Wanted list and I got promoted, there have been a few chances to reach one another." She said.

"... Wait! What does this have to do with Uncle Tyr?" He asked.

"Long time ago, your father and uncle served as Blades, I knew them from the academy. After the Great War, your parents headed to Hammerfell and I followed the injured Tyr to Skyrim. We got married and… at least we used to be." She said while pulling out a string with a ring tied around her neck.

Jon could recognize the ring. It was indeed a pair to the same one Tyr carries around his neck. Jon felt like not knowing what to say in this sort of situation.

"… O-Okay… no hard feelings, right?"

"Hahaha! None at all.'

What kind of situation is that? Jon wondered.

To run into Tyr's ex-wife here of all places, this is by no means a merry encounter.

"What are you doing here? Aren't you on the run and supposedly hiding in Cyrodiil?" She asked.

"Is that what the crippled Imperial Intelligence Agency has on me?" He asked.

She thought and nodded.

"I am hired by the Governor of Stros M'kai while the one that appears in Cyrodiil is an actor I pay for to keep the spies busy chasing ghosts." He said.

"... You can't be serious!" She was taken aback but then narrowed her eyes, "Why tell me?"

"Obviously, the Penitus Oculatus won't believe you. I assume your divorce with Uncle Tyr had to do with you being a General and him being a Wanted man. They will think you are defending your ex's relative and put you in a bad situation." He said.

She blinked a few times seeing that he didn't miss a thing.

"But the more important reason was that I needed some time to distract you while locating my companions and also to finish the Teleportation spell."

"Wha…"

"It was nice to see you, auntie. Let's meet again. Ciao!" And Jon disappeared from his place.

General Cassia kept looking around and almost facepalmed but she let out a long breath in the end.

"Those red-headed giants can't just stay put."

***

Away from where Cassia is, Jon appeared on a mountain road. The area was north to Rihad and Jon had a good view of the battlefield.

No matter how he looks at it, he was enthralled by the majestic moves of the cavalry on the battlefield. Compared to this kind of combat, modern warfare is bland and senseless. No wonder the denizens of this world were very easy-going with the idea of war.

Jon never liked war. That's why he put all his resources into one of two options. Grow beyond the strength of the enemy or Avoid conflict altogether. That is of course from a ruler perspective, Jon as a person is by no means a pacifist. He just didn't like open conflicts where death roams senseless. It was the normal mentality of someone who grew up knowing the horrors of war from modern times.

It was said that on Earth before World War I, people had the same old view of war as this world. To them, it was the field of glory and chivalrous deeds people even celebrated the department of the soldiers, however, World War I marked the end of such beliefs and everything changed with the announcement of World War II for those who once celebrated cried tears of bitter dread.

Thus he never thought of changing his view to fit his second life, he didn't study the art of war and left that for others fully understanding his Aptitude for Disasters.

Now, the negative thoughts had to fly away because it is...

"… about bloody time."

Jon finally heard the galloping horses coming closer. He stood in the middle of the mountain road and waited for the arrival of Dalilah.

On the opposite side, Dalilah came riding her zombie horse in an exceeding speed while putting all kinds of magic traps behind her to hinder Isha.

"Damn it! How did it turn like that? Why is she here?"

Dalilah was infuriated by the fact that the carefully devised plan she came up with is now facing mortal danger. Isha has returned with the Spear of Bitter Mercy in hand, everything is on the brink of falling apart if the Worm Cult isn't aware.

If Isha is here, then the Labourer of Azura is not far behind.

The Worm Cult knows that he is a mercenary called Krilon who originated from Skyrim. Many suspects on the list of being Krilon and countless assassins were sent to bring the heads of those suspects but the real Krilon keeps popping up out of nowhere. For example, in front of her right now.

"Licence and registration, please."

She couldn't even understand what kind of being appeared on the road in her way. She felt an unfathomable amount of power coming from that person and senselessly avoided contact with him leading her zombie horse off the road to the edge of the cliff. She was thrown completely off balance facing the ground and falling to her demise but in a second, a large hand appeared mysteriously, grappled her from the fall and pulled her up.

"That may be the worst way to pull over I have seen in my days. Thankfully, no public or private property in that direction but it still will cost you a fine."

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Once she regained her senses, she found herself being held by a ridiculously large hand made of Ebony, the owner of the hand seemed to be the one caused her to fall from the road.

"Wha… What are you?"

"Road patrol, ma'am. You were stopped for excessive speeding."

She was stupefied by the unreasonable answer.

"Wait! You are that mage!" Maybe due to darkness and him being in all black, Dalilah recognized Jon a bit later than expected.

"Yes, but currently I'm on road duty. Anyway, it's nice to finally see you, Dalilah. Heard a lot of awful shit about you. Corpse Dealing, Necromancy, 1st Class Murder… I mean, the Excessive Speeding will be the least of your worries."

Dalilah was done with Jon's rambling and finally showed resistance. From her mouth, she spat a dart towards the eye gap of the mask. Jon simply moved his head and the dart was deflected by the forehead metal.

"Bad Dalilah." Jon said and tightened the grip of [Ahzidal's Titan First] on her.

*Crack* *Crackcrackcrackcrack*

"ARGH! AAAAAAH!"

Just like dry bread crumbling, Jon caused Dalilah's bones to experience agony. Former Battlelord or not, getting that amount of bones broken is a no return point for anyone. Jon threw her on the ground and removed [Greed] from his gauntlets, he then came beside her, held her head, and stuffed his hand in her mouth.

At that time, Isha managed to catch up and jumped off the Atronach Horse with her face twisted like the devil.

"Leave her to me." She shouted at Jon.

"Okay, okay. Just let me take out those razors hidden in her mouth. Damn, there are darts, razors, a poison pill, tiny stuff. Wow! Look at that larynx, now that's something that can handle a Deepthroat. Tsk tsk tsk, I always had a good impression of girls who can give a deepthroat."

"Hey, move aside." Isha stormed towards Jon and pulled him off Dalilah. "If someone is hiding something in their fucking maws, do this."

She picked a small stone from the ground and stuffed it in Dalilah's mouth.

Punch! Punch! Punch!

Three consecutive hook punches to Dalilah's face with a stone in her mouth caused a weird sound to come out… alongside all blood, teeth, and… basically everything.

"And here I thought I was the bad cop."

Jon shook his head and turned around to block the road as it seemed that the Chargers and the Imperials have finally caught up.

"Licence and registration, please."

[A/n: "Tyr and Cassia" image was added.]

***

An hour after the chase to the mountains, the situation stabilized inside the walls of Rihad and most of the Necromancers were hunted down. Those who escaped were the Elite Necromancers that were difficult to deal with.

Still, the city was saved.

According to the Worm Cult's plan. Stros M'kai, Rihad, Dragonstar, and Elinhir were essential to control before anything else to block any outside assistance. After all, they were Hammerfell gates to Summerset, Cyrodiil, High Rock, and Skyrim respectively.

Two of the four states resisted the undead invasions successfully. Elinhir fell with little to no resistance and Dragonstar is enduring the siege. This was a massive rock in their plans but the cult still hasn't played all the big cards.

In Rihad, Jon descended the mountain following Isha and behind them were the two teams of the Redguard Chargers and the Imperial Legionnaires.

Down there, General Cassia and the rest of the two factions were gathered in a tense atmosphere. Kareem wasn't pleased that Jon locked the mountain road but he had an understanding of the latter's power and the things he should and shouldn't complain about so he wasn't planning on making trouble. Once Jon and Isha appeared in front of the two factions, General Cassia took the chance to speak first.

"Where is Dalilah?"

Jon stood far and Isha walked by not answering… or rather ignoring anything said to her. Once she crossed by General Cassia, she handed the General a severed head.

"So you don't say we didn't leave you some face."

Cassia held on to the head and looked at Isha who had a relaxed smile on her face.

"We needed her for interrogation." Cassia said in a scolding manner.

Isha walked away and tossed the knife she borrowed from Mirren back to him.

"She wouldn't have said anything in the first place. Also, we already know everything." Jon spoke and continued, "That was just to satisfy your curiosity, General. We are not obligated to answer any of your questions."

Kareem became pleased with the way Jon spoke to the Imperials and decided to nod with a smile.

"You know everything? This is the Worm Cult we're dealing with, do you have any idea how far their roots extend, Jo…"

"Please, refrain from using my name for the sake of politics." Jon said.

"Then what do you know?" She persisted.

"As he said before, we are not obligated to answer your questions, Imperial. Turn back to your Emperor and tell him that Hammerfell doesn't need his help. If you stay, we will be forced to remove you by force." Kareem stepped in.

General Cassia was depending on using her acquaintance with Jon to smoothen the talk with Kareem but a Crown Redguard Prince and a Nordic Thane are nothing if not the most stubborn people in the world.

She felt stressed by the current situation. A few days ago, some Forebear Nobles escaped into Cyrodiil and sought out asylum to the Imperial Legion claiming that Hammerfell has fallen to the Undead, they also carried a message from their leader asking help from the Imperials. The situation sparked the interest of the Emperor once all the contacts in Hammerfell were cut and a Soul Snare network was confirmed to be up. By the long animosity between the Empire and the Worm Cult, it was a good chance to take them down once they are out in the open and the Seventh Imperial Legion was mobilized.

There was also an order that was passed under the table for General Cassia and that was to get the full support of the Forebears which is a good chance to return to Hammerfell after 25 years of its independence. But now with a Crown Prince being the first thing they run into, this expedition was bound to fail.

Still, a war hero like General Cassia was much more experienced than Jon and Kareem combined when it comes to war.

"So, you two will gather the men, rally the soldiers and call for Holy War?" She asked.

"I like the term. Hey, we can use that for recruitment. Holy War against the Evil Cult in the name of whatever God you guys agree on." Jon said.

"That's indeed a nice idea. A 'Make Way' for Redguards people to rise against the undead." Kareem played along.

"My point is which direction will your campaign take?" She asked.

Jon paused to understand what she was throwing to but Kareem could see what she is aiming for.

"From Rihad, there are two ways in Hammerfell, Northwest and Northeast. You want us to take one so you take the other." He asked.

"You can't fight on two fronts even if you have him on your side." General Cassia replied pointing at Jon, "The Worm Cult needs to be dealt with before they achieve whatever they after."

"Reincarnation of the Worm King." Jon said.

The way he revealed the aim of the cult for her made her go pale.

"What? It can't be true."

"I told you, we already know everything."

"But… Mannimarco… this is bad! You seriously need our help then." She insisted.

"Then it's by our terms. We can't risk fighting two snakes in one hole." Kareem said, "You Imperials take the northeastern front."

"Impossible. The Northwest is too large for your warband to cover." Cassia felt that her plan backfired.

"We are Chargers. The north is a rocky area where we can't charge and as you said, we have him." Kareem said.

The negotiations continued for an hour between Kareem and Jon on one side and General Cassia on another. She wasn't happy to be forced to take the narrow road North but if she made a bad connection with the first Redguard Lord she runs into, things would be extremely hard later on.

In the end, she agreed to Kareem's terms.

Kareem told Jon that he can't trust the Imperials for many good reasons. The Empire's politics is vast and even if General Cassia was sincere about uprooting the cult, the Imperial Politicians will come later to collect a debt he is, by no means, going to pay. Jon agreed with him due to his prior experience with the Imperial Politicians.

By that, the temporary alliance was formed.

Cassia left Jon with a word that if the two fronts went well, they should be meeting again at the gates of Sentinel, capital of Hammerfell.

Following the negotiations, Kareem marched in Rihad leading the Hunding Chargers and announcing the end of the Cult's Siege, he met the Dervishes of Rihad and the remaining nobles by the end of the day and formed an alliance that will march to the Northwest after gaining 2000 men from Rihad. It was called "The Alliance of HoonDing" taking Prince Kareem as its leader.

[A/n: HoonDing is the Deity of Perseverance and Make Way, his known avatars are Frandar Hunding, Diagna, Ebonarm, Prince A'tor and Cyrus. I was not sure what "Make Way" means but reading in UESP about HoonDing and arriving at an ESO book called "The Manifesto of Make Way", I think it is a less controversial way of adding the concept of Jihad in the Redguard culture judging by the fact that they are based on Arabs and Moors.]

Jon watched everything conclude from the sides while fading in the background as the Court Wizard of Stros M'kai. Beside him, his group was sharpening their knives for the big fight about to arrive.

"Mirren, don't use that knife from now on." He said.

"Why?".

"Isha used it to torture that Dalilah woman."

"And?"

"It went everywhere."

"Everywhere?"

"Yes, brother, everywhere. Places where the sun don't shine."

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