Hero of Darkness

Chapter 1295: Avoiding Mind Games

One Week Later…

An official envoy from the Council of the Great War arrived, who addressed Kahn’s demands.

A spokesperson, who was a 3rd stage saint with a large frame of 2 and a half meters and a head of a jaguar, read it out loudly in front of Kahn and his minister.

While the tone was outlandishly overbearing, Kahn did not pay much attention to it as it was expected. They probably carried that attitude with other empires as well.

Kahn assumed that the official envoy was going to act like this even if he was an 8th-stage saint.

What the council cared about the most was Kahn’s vast troops because once things got heated, it was the number of troops that made a big difference on the actual battlefield.

As for saints, every nation and their forces hand means to subvert their involvement and keep them at bay from interfering in the battle of millions of troops.

Artifacts, magic formations, and even advanced weaponry were created by many empires to stop any saint from just entering out of nowhere and massacring all their soldiers.

And there was one silent rule.

That once a saint kills several footsoldiers by invading a battlefront where they were not supposed to get involved… the enemies went full-scale killing mode and sent most of their saints to kill the aggressor’s common soldiers.

The loss of life itself was so great that no amount of powerful saints was worth sacrificing so many resources.

People, mainly those who served the ruling authorities of these empires, whether as soldiers or common citizens, were a big commodity.

What was the point of ruling a nation when you didn’t have enough people left alive to even run it?

Everyone understood the fact and hence followed this unspoken rule.

If two saints of similar ranks fought and one of them died due to either strategy or lack of skills… either side could at least accept the result because they could either counterattack or minimize their losses.

But if a saint entered a battlefield with millions of normal soldiers, destroyed their battleships and land weaponry… that would not only be an unfair fight but also a display of cowardice.

Troops would rather surrender to an enemy they lost the fight against than to a saint of an enemy nation because their playing field was entirely different to begin with.

Hence, most of them carried their own means to stop the saints from entering the battlefield itself.

Kahn also understood that this rule was followed because all of them must have had millions of people to such events and took decades to regrow their population.

And as long as you followed the silent rule… You also didn’t have to worry about your opponent resorting to such devious acts.

Otherwise, the answer in return would always be the scorched earth tactic.

******************

Back to the present…

“So, you are ordering us to send our troops on the battlefront without even me having met the other actual members of the Council, have been brought up to speed with what’s happening on the border of the Demon Empire?

Do you think accepting our terms makes my forces your underlings or something?” asked Kahn with a slow but deep stern voice.

“What do you mean? The council has agreed to accept your terms, and soon, The Inquisitors are to be disbanded.

However, the time is of the essence, and hence we require your troops immediately.” responded the messenger.

However, this time, his tone was more civil and milder than before.

“Oh, so you think that someone who commands two empires’ forces is just some junior in the association just because they lack proven achievements?

Does the council really expect me to be treated like an afterthought and still comply just because they accepted our conditions?

And where is the proof that the Inquisitors have truly been disbanded? Should I just take your word for it?” asked Kahn while his commanders and ministers also glared with disdain.

“The resources taken for transportation of the troops, their rations, their armors and weapons maintenance, as well as fuel that it takes to move such a large force to that faraway distance… do you think I will take such a big decision without actually seeing the evidence?

Or is this how the council acts with their allies? Spewing nonsense while the other party is supposed to follow your orders blindly?” asked Kahn to the representative.

“Umm… No. This is not how we usually work. All the involved parties partake in a general meeting, and a unanimous decision is made first.

All the rulers of the empires and the key members of the council devise the deployment of their respective troops, and the battlefield is managed so that no one empire has to bear the burden of war all by itself.

It has been a standard practice of the council for the past 3 thousand years.” responded the feline-race saint.

“Then why was I made an exception to exclude me as a member this time, and just bark orders?

Why was I not invited to appear for any meeting this time?” asked Kahn, his tone turning even graver.

“Well, the truth is… the meeting among the empires happened a few months ago already.

You and your forces were not revealed to the council by then. Now, summoning all forces together once again when everyone is busy gathering their forces for the Great War would be a bit of… inconvenience.” said the representative hesitantly.

“What about a meeting through holographic projections? I’m certain not all meetings are grand and held as some sort of ceremony.

And since many nations are far from each other and their rulers are usually busy running it, there must be a quick and convenient way to communicate, am I right?” he queried with a stoic voice.

“Yes, but those are usually attended by the approved representatives sent by the empires. Most of the time, they only convey the wishes of their rulers.

Your empires and forces have no representatives, at least not in this generation.” said the messenger.

“Let us say that I believe your excuse to some extent… how quickly can such a meeting be held between the other rulers and me?” asked Kahn.

“We will need at least 2 weeks.” replied the 3rd stage saint hastily this time.

“Three Days. Communicate with your people through whatever means you have and arrange it in three days. Otherwise, forget that we ever showed any interest in joining the council.” said Kahn with an authoritative tone.

“Wait! You can’t decide something like this on your own. There is a long-overdue procedure that requires confirmation from all the empires first.

We can’t just ask all those people to attend such an important discussion on a whim.” said the representative, befuddled to their core.

To his bewildered countenance, the Emperor of the Rakos Empire, with a ghastly tone…

“Three Days.”