Chapter 350 - A War For A Chance
Planet Sand and Blood, Dominion of the War God.
In one of the many valleys of the planet, was a massive terrain covered in flowering ground covers that divided the surface into patches of different colors. While the sight was breathtaking, those who lived next to this area knew out of what these flowers had grown. For those who did not know, the hundreds of thousands of weapons inserted into the ground were enough of a giveaway.
At the edges of this valley, were two massive armies that, at any moment, would begin their charge against one another, inevitably ruining this mosaic of colors.
The two armies were of different sizes. The one at the south of the terrain was more than twice the size of the one at the north, but while the army to the south was larger, its soldiers appeared to be tired, and not in the right state of mind to fight.
The soldier of the northern army, on the other hand, appeared to be well rested and kept in line in a way that did not fit a massive group of mercenaries, and rogue warriors.
Standing in the middle of the colored field, were two small parties of warriors. Both of these parties were composed of the five strongest individuals of the armies to which they belonged, and appeared to be accompanying their commanders to a parlay with the commander of the opposite faction.
However, the Dominion of the War God did not allow for survivors to be spared, or for agreements to avoid fighting to be made, as the wars were organized by the faction itself in hope to find natural born warriors, that could be grown from the violence of war into true ki warriors .
The real reason why the two parties were standing in the middle of the battlefied, was the lady in leather armor that was sitting with her legs crossed while also looking east. She was enjoying the sight of the light of the rising sun, shine on the veil of flowers. Next to her, was a rusty single-edged sword planted on the ground, right next to an identical one in perfect conditions.
Time passed slowly as these two parties looked at this woman with attentiveness. At eight in the morning, she finally rose up to her feet. She then picked the rusty sword off of the ground, and stuck the one in perfect conditions in its place. After doing this, she finally turned to look at the two generals, whose faces were covered by heavy armors in order to avoid being targeted the very moment the war would start.
"In this spot, more than three thousand years ago, my father led five of the strongest people of this planet into the trial of passage. As the selected candidates of their era, they were to fight for their spot amongst the elite members of the Dominion of the War God.. However, despite his prowess, he was unsuccessful." Said the woman while looking lovingly at the rusty sword in her hands. She then added, "I still remember his expression the moment I pierced his heart with his own sword."
This phrase left a deep shock in the hearts of the twelve warriors that stood next to her.. however, their expressions were hidden by their thick helmets.
After a long minute, the woman in leather armor finally turned to look back at the two small parties, and said, "You two are the best commanders of this generation. You have picked your soldiers, and concluded the recruiting season with the warriors that stand at the edge of this valley. Now, you will fight.. Fight for a chance to go through the trial, or die dreaming of it."
In the territory that belonged to the faction called 'Dominion of the War God', was a special way to select the candidates that would be allowed to go through the trial of passage. This method was, of course, war.
The path to become an elite of the dominion was a long and violent one, and it started with the army commanders. While not organized into governments, there was a specific group of people that belonged to the faction which would carefully take note of the result of each and every war, and report them to the faction. What was reported, were the number of wars won by each commander.
Once two commanders with a history of a hundred or more won wars appeared, a trial of passage would be organized. However, to qualify to this trial of passage, the two commanders had to pass one more test. They were allowed a certain amount of time to build their armies, and use them to fight a final battle to death. The winning commander would then be allowed to select five warriors within his army, and participate in the trial of passage with them.
The trial of passage was nothing but a spar between the general and his five champions, and a selected elite member of the Dominion of the War God. This elite member, would always be one of the last warriors that had managed to pass the trial in the selected field.
The woman in leather armor was exactly that. More than a thousand years ago, she had passed the trial of passage as one of the five champions of her commander. She was an extremely talented warrior, so much so, that she had passed the trial before her own father. Unfortunately, while not as capable as her, her father was still a shockingly talented warrior, and had been selected as one of the champions of the following trial.
For a father to be judged by his daughter, was an event that was unheard of. This oddity had caused for rumors to spread around. Many believed that the only reason why the general had selected this man, as well as the field from which the woman had passed the trial on, was because he hoped that his champion's daughter would favor them. This rumor was cleared out the very moment the trial took place, as they witnessed the woman's sword go through her father's sword, as well as kill the four other champions, and the general.
Now, two new general had risen from amongst the thousands that lead wars throught the entire planet, and after spending months recruting, they were finally ready to compete for the opportunity to go through the trial of passage.
The sizes of the armies during this last war were always exceptionally large, and the reason for that, was that while the winner of all wars were rewarded by the faction, the rewards for the winning party of this event were incomparably larger. The budget that was given to each general was of fifty trillions of essence crystals, and the generals would have to use those resources to recruit however many warriors they wished to recruit.
Some would recruit the strongest warriors, and lead a small army made of highly paid fighters, while the others would decide to go for the number instead of the quality, and hire as many mercenaries as possible. However, all of these armies had always had something in common. They were lead by powerful warriors with little to no knowledge on how to command an army.
The lack of government had prevented for a military to be built, and therefore, the inhabitants of sand and blood were forced to pick their leaders out of those who possessed the highest battle prowess.
The most common strategy adopted by these kinds of people, was to send their whole force into a full on brawl that would ultimately end up with a small portion of survivors, that would take the majority of the reward. Up to now, the only true leaders that Sand and Blood had ever seen, were the ones who weren't born in the territory of the Dominion of the War God, and had arrived from a neighboring faction.
Of the two generals, one of them was of the former type, while the other, was of the latter.
The general of the army camped in the south, was a man that stood four meters tall, with muscles that required multiple sets of armor shaped to fit his massive body. Behind his back was a greatsword which, if placed in the back of any other warrior, would have appeared massive, but when compared to this giant's body, appeared more like a normal sword.
He was followed by four individuals. A scantily clothed female archer with leathery stripes that covered her intimate parts, chest, and face, two knights in plate armor that stood one next to the other at the exact same height, a lean and tall man in black leather armor with hands covered in medieval hand claws, and finally, a short man that, contrary to the rest of the warriors that stood next to him, emanated thick spiritual essence.
The general of the army camped on the northern border of the flowery ground, was a muscular man hidden behind a clean heavy armor. By his waist, was a common sword sheathed into a simple scabbard.
By his sides, were two women whose athletic bodies were clad in leather armor. One of them carried a sword that was hung from her belt, and a dagger that was strapped horizontally on her lower back. Her hand was constantly laying over the pommel of her sword, and she appeared ready to unsheathe it at any given monent. Her armor did wonders in covering her body, but whenever she moved, a chink in between her pieces of clothing would reveale a bit of her unnaturally grey-colored skin.
The second woman, on the other hand, carried two single-edged sword that went down her legs like an additional pair of legs. While nicely hidden by her leather armor, the curves of her body would inevitably draw the attention of any man that saw her, just like the strands of platinum blonde hair that came down her neck.
The remaining three champions selected by this general, were a young man in his late teens that wore comfortable and simple clothes and a pair of brass knuckles, a dwarf with a long black beard that came out of his helmet, and a hammer bigger than his own body, and finally, a man that appeared to be in his mid twenties, whose body was clad in dark red clothes, and a shoulder leather guard. Of the twelve warriors, he was the only one that did not wear a helmet, and allowed for his face to be seen. He was pointing his blue eyes at his colorful surroundings, while showing a carefree smile attitude, and sipping on something contained into a small leathery flask he carried.
The woman that had just spoken did not appear to be bothered by the disrispectful behaviour of this man, and instead looked at the two general, and said, "The winner of this conflict will face me along with the rest of your champions. That fight will either end up in your death, or in your promotion. Make preparations for both." As she finished speaking, her body disappeared before her image could, leaving it to dissipate the following few moments.
When she reappeared, she was standing nearby a group of twenty warriors who appeared to be busy in a lively conversation. All of their weapons were sheathed, but all of them emanated the feeling of death that only a person who was used to killing, would emanate.
The moment she appeared, a man with only one eye concluded his conversation, and walked in her direction "Hey, are you alright?" he asked her while noticing that she was carrying a rusty sword instead of her usual one.
The woman seemed to only now notice that the sword she had taken away was not the one her father had gifted her, but the twin one that he had kept for himself.. The sword she had used to kill him with. After realizing her mistake, she turned towards the one-eyed man, and said "I am okay."
"Good. Who do you think will win? We are placing our bets." Said the man with a sheepish smile. The woman was the only one allowed to approach these warriors, and therefore, she was the only one that was able to feel their power. His intentions were to put his money on the one that had the biggest chances of winning.
"I don't know. The southern camp has the strongest warriors, as well as the biggest army.. However, the northern camp has immortal cultivators, as well as humans with unique powers." Responded the woman before sheathing the rusty sword into her clean scabbard, and walking towards the rest of the warriors.
The man looked at the two armies in the distance, and after being unable to pick a winning side, he muttered, "damn it.." then followed the woman.
Back in the tent of the general of the northern army, the dwarf walked in while brandishing his massive hammer. "Did you see the size of the other general? That fella is four times as big as me!" He said before taking his helmet off, and placing the hammer over the square table located in the middle of the tent.
"Then maybe we should have hired four dwarves.." Said the blue eyed man while moving the curtain that worked as the tent's door, and walked in. He then smiled, and added, "I would pay to see a totem of dwarves fight that brute."
"If you don't shut up, I'll mount you to battle.. And give me that damn flask, I've had enough of you drinking and never offering to share!" Said the dwarf before walking towards the young man with a tense arm.
The bluie-eyed man quickly avoided the dwarf, and allowed for the younger man in simple clothes to come in. Once he noticed him, he walked behind him, and said, "Wil, protect me! He wants to mount me!"
"Quiet!" Said a deep voice with an authoritative tone that caused the ruckust to stop immediately. This voice was followed by the entrance of the general, and of the two women into the tent. When they took their helmets off, they revealed their indentity as Der, Alesia, and Gai'ha.