Chapter 160 A Weird War

Prince Beck has always wanted to know the difference between a conqueror and the conquered. And truly, even though he never wanted to take the mad king's words to heart, the meeting today had shown him one thing.

The way his opinion was ignored, and his being overlooked, while the other leaders spoke in a tone that best suited their agendas told him all he needed to know ---

That he was never meant to be a conqueror.

He had never been a conqueror.

To put it simply, he was the sheep among wolves, the lizard in a den of dragons, and a prostitute among newly wedded loyal brides.

Among the fallen leaders in his presence, he was the only one who stood conquered.

After King Bor had responded, the sun rose and the brilliant morning light shone, illuminating everything it touched.

King Ameal responded, "Why don't you come down and find out?" His eyes never left the mad king's figure.

Yet, if this was what it meant to be a conquered, then he would gladly accept it, rather than be a man fueled by nothing but an inflated ego and exaggerated sense of self-importance.

'Maybe I should have let my brother take my place here' Prince Beck thought.

King Bor nonchalantly shrugged and said, "What if I don't want to?" He gazed at the people behind King Ameal and continued, "You can't expect me to come down there when you have rallied such unfair numbers".

He was joking. Of course, Prince Beck knew that he was. Compared to a thousand or so ascendants, a few hundred mortals were nothing but the dirt that would be squashed beneath their feet if they felt like it.

"But since you have your army, I see no reason not to bring mine" The moment king Bor's voice ended, his shadow expanded, and 12 men each in a white-clad assassin attire rose from within it.

Prince Beck shook his head at the scene. 'I knew that they were more assassins waiting in hiding' He thought.

One would think that the sight of the fallen Sloywoth Kingdom's most feared and only ascendants, the people behind king Ameal would have shaken. But instead, they stood firm as the assassins gazed at them.

"Are they really going through with this?" A hushed voice muttered.

Prince Beck spun his head towards the source and spotted Prince Murdock gazing at the unfolding scene with a look of disbelief.

He couldn't help but wonder if the prince was sceptical about the two kings engaging in battle against each other or the fact that hundreds of the Azuiloth people were about to perish.

If Prince Beck were to answer both questions, he would give a resounding yes!

After all, King Ameal's motives and allegations were enough for him to go to such lengths against the mad king, even if bringing all the remnants of his kingdom was a bit excessive.

And with the mad king in the mix, he was sure that none of them would live here without one of them emerging victorious.

Prince Beck jerked his head towards Queen Mavena. Was she not going to intervene?

He noticed her nervous demeanour and shaking hands. No, she realized she couldn't stop it. And even if she tried, she would be putting her kingdom and her people in the crossfire of an inevitable conflict.

Most of all, he knew that she knew that for King Ameal - a king who had been inactive and docile since losing his kingdom to the Moonlight's ice - to bring along such individuals armed with weapons among the ascendants, it meant they were all prepared to sacrifice themselves.

The enigma behind the thought was unfathomable, Prince Beck mused.

It was a labyrinthine puzzle that defied comprehension.

'No" He vehemently shook his head. Prince Beck was no fool, he was not a simpleton.

He comprehended the reasons why he couldn't grasp such notions and motives. The rationale behind their actions was the embodiment of conquest, kings with inflated egos who deemed their pride, dignity, and word as paramount above all else.

Prince Beck had always pondered what it meant to be a king without a throne before the disastrous Moonlight ice, and now, for the first time, he finally had his answer.

They were the conquerors, yet blinded by their foolishness.

They were fools.

Their inflated egos and prideful nature clouded their judgment and led them astray from the right path.

And, if this is what it takes to become one of them, then he would rather not.

'Humph' He inwardly chuckled. Being a conquered doesn't sound as bad as it seems.

….....

Blood. He smelled it. King Bor's senses were sharp and attuned to the scent of blood. He was the only one among the Queen, fallen leaders and all, who had witnessed the walls of Vrymath Kingdom drenched in blood.

He knew what was to come, but --

This battle --

King Ameal --

His unholy unwary convictions -

All of it seems unreal. Bizarre. Yes, that was the word -bizarre. Despite his instincts warning him of the impending bloodshed, King Bor knew deep down that this was not it.

Yes, a great deal of blood was about to be shed, but this was not the conflict he had envisioned or foreseen.

This wasn't the war he had sensed, and neither was it what his instincts had predicted.

He jumped down from the top of the castle walls and landed on the icy ground. His landing caused cracks to form on the icy ground, and it worsened when his assassins also jumped and landed beside him.

With a sly smile, King Bor walked forward and stopped a few meters away from King Ameal, their eyes locking in an intense gaze.

"How does the fallen King of the Sloywoth kingdom want to die?" King Ameal's voice was chillingly calm as he posed the question.

A surge of untamed violet magical energy enveloped King Ameal and shot skyward, piercing the clouds and darkening the already sunny sky, conjuring storm clouds above and dispersing the misty wind. The snow at their feet transformed into water, the water turned to vapour, and the vapour was either pushed away or consumed by the overwhelming influx of magical energy. Then, King Ameal's violet aura clashed with King Bor's own.

King Bor assessed King Ameal's magical energy level and sighed in disappointment. 'Rank 4, 9th circle' He thought.

With a touch of sympathy in his gaze, he replied, "Oh, have no fear, I am not the one who will meet their end here". He surveyed the 40 to 50 ascendants behind King Ameal and noticed that they were all below Rank 1, with only a handful reaching Rank 2 at the 4th or 3rd circle.

He turned his gaze back to King Ameal. "If this is what you call preparation for war, then I must say, I am unimpressed." A sigh escaped his lips "This is truly dissappoint...".

Born of countless battles and brushes with death, King Bor's instincts allowed him to form a powerful aura shield that protected him and his assassins from ---

"CLAAPPP!! BOOOM!!!"

A dazzling light illuminated the sky as it descended from the dark clouds and impacted the aura shield. If King Bor was any less powerful, he and his forces would have been decimated by that lightning strike. But he was not. He was a Rank 5, 3rd Circle Berserker.

".....This is truly disappointing" King Bor muttered as he gave a silent signal to his assassins, who then melted back into the shadows.

Moments later, waves of unrestrained screams echoed throughout the battlefield behind King Ameal, eliciting a sadistic delight as he observed the fallen King's teeth grind in fury.

Alas --

"POP!"

"AHHHH" "POP".

Suddenly, loud thuds were heard and shrill cries of mortal men and women near King Ameal erupted into a gruesome shower of flesh and blood. The river of crimson blood flowed forward over the snow, painting the landscape in its hue.

King Bor's eyes narrowed as he addressed King Ameal "...You made a very big mistake" He watched as the blood of the fallen victims in his, and his assassins' hands rose and took shape, forming a barrage of deadly weapons such as spears, swords, cleavers, and any other imaginable instrument of war. An army of weapons floated behind him and stood at his disposal, each one more formidable than the last.

"AHHHH!!"

In an instant, 250 lives were extinguished.

"AHHHH!!"

King Bor heard the anguished screams of those who met their brutal end, but his gaze remained fixed on King Ameal, whose body quaked and eyes burned with fire.

"Lightening Technique: Azuiloth Sky Cannon: Royal Lance".

The moment King Ameal's words faded away, the ominous storm clouds froze, as if time itself had come to a halt. And then, it began to swirl like a maelstrom, threatening to engulf the earth beneath their feet.

"CRACCCK!" "CLAAAPP!"

Violet and purple lightning bolts lit up the sky, accompanied by thunderous booms. The once bright sky above Miracle Mountain was now transformed into a tempestuous night, punctuated by deafening thunderclaps and jagged lightning every two seconds.

The sunny sky previously above the Miracle has now changed into a stormy windy night with devastating claps of thunder and lightning every two seconds.

"Ameal Yavanric" King Bor said without preamble. Both of them were proud kings, but before that, they were mere mortals with one shared goal - to attain godhood.

But just like ascendants aspiring to be gods, they soon realized that the heights of divinity were beyond their reach, even with their extended lifespans.

King Bor marched forward, as his assassins ruthlessly murdered the masses and took care of the ascendants who only lasted a few moments before meeting their own demise.