"Whoever is in the right to talk terms, step out!" I shouted into the nearby crowd of the humans. And once I did... I courtly stepped back to roughly the point in the middle between the two armies.
Then, with a wave of a hand, I sent most of my guards back, to the point between our current position and the rest of our troops, keeping only three of them as a precaution against any sneak shots or attacks.
Terms.
The one option the leader of the humans likely never considered to be possible. Or at least, not an option he or she could learn from the treaties on the past conflicts against the protectors of holy forests.
As such, I didn't really mind waiting... No, that's not it. Every second counted right now as Fay's warning shots rang in my ears. But there was nothing I could do to speed this process up.
If the enemy leader didn't expect this kind of situation, he wouldn't be prepared for it. Thus, it would take some time before humans could produce anyone with a background strong enough to actually talk terms.
Using this time, I took a look back, at what was left of my unit.
Its nominal leader was now nowhere to be found, quite possibly dead after the prolonged battle against the human elites. And while our numbers shrank... the losses were somewhat within the range I could accept.
Of course, every celestial and divine lost during this battle would mean one less warrior in the battles to come. Contrary to the humans of this world, I didn't have an easy way to bring over thousands upon thousands of people with all the logistics and supply chain shenanigans that came with those numbers.
But as long as my current gambit worked out in the near future, then all those deaths would be... worth?
No, that wasn't it either. After going through a fair dose of shit in my life I knew better than to believe in empty slogans that both humans and the forest protectors were likely using to rally themselves up. There was no glory in laying one's life on the battlefield.
Peasant levies could generally only be used for defense or some simple, short warfare. Kept armed for too long, and they would start to scatter to loot, or even worse; desert and return to their farms to take care of the fields.
Professional armies could fight in both defensive and aggressive wars, offering their loyalty to the competent commanders for a fair price and pride of serving their country, god or king, whichever one struck their fancy the most.
And mercenaries, simply fought wherever their employer sent them, assuming it wasn't an obvious suicide mission or a death trap.
All of those types, though, still needed a reason to fight.
It could be something as simple as enriching the members of the army at the cost of the neighbors. Something as grand as the defense of the last bastion of the faith, or something as bland yet natural as border conflict with a local rival.
But there had to be something that those armies strove to achieve.
And I just happened to know what exactly it was, and why the reason for this war was nothing more but a bunch of horse's shit, bundled and packaged together before being served on a silver platter and forced down everyone's throat.
"You've betrayed your race," one of the emissaries finally regained their voice... only to utter such an empty accusation and spit down on the ground from the height of his saddle. "And you want us to surrender? Only to have those monstrous allies of yours slaughter us the moment we lower our weapons?!"
Looking up into the widened eyes of the man, I shook my head and sighed before reaching out for my belt. Then, with one of my hands, I fixed my shottie in a position that made it easier to use it on the spot. And with my other hand, I threw the small box that I'd carried all this way here before lightly tossing it toward him.
"This box contains the flower that you guys were all supposed to look for once in the forest," I announced out loud, eager to start the rumors about the mysterious box. And right as the man caught the box, fought off the desire to just throw it away and took a peek inside...
"This is the flower you guys are looking for. The alleged reason behind this entire campaign," I kept my voice as loud yet as calm and collected as I could. "And I already know it is not going to work as your leaders hoped it would."