The sound of explosions spread in the surroundings as the 69th Battalion’s Gyrfalcons and the Valkyries’ Pegasus plunged from the sky.
Prince Aurelion had sent a few factions ahead of them to secure a foodhold near Casimir City.
However, during their journey, they found themselves attacked from the sky by the Wanderers who were on scouting duty.
Zed had accompanied them in battle, serving as the main scout of Zion’s army.
While he might not be as fast as the Death Bat, he was still the second fastest Jinn under Zion’s command.
Not far from where Zion’s forces fought the enemies, Zapar and Camazotz were also locked in battle.
They were dealing with the Rank 9 and Rank 8 Sovereigns of the pitiful Jinn Faction, who had no idea what hit them.
However, the two Majin Princes didn’t kill their targets and deliberately beat them until their opponents were half-dead.
Zion said that they would need to incorporate High-Ranking Jinns among their troops, so killing them would be a waste.
Since Camazotz was more than happy to get strong subordinates, he made sure to beat the crap out of the Rank 9 and Rank 8 Sovereigns. With this, they ought to understand how strong their new boss was.
The battle only lasted for nearly half a minute before the Jinn faction surrendered.
They were Jinns who had the appearance of Knolls.
Knolls were hyena-like humanoids who were savage and very cunning. They often fought in packs and were not afraid to clash with monsters stronger than them.
They were scavengers by nature and liked to feast on the dead during battle. But now, they were facing an enemy that not even they could easily fight, prompting their leader to surrender before his forces were completely decimated.
"P-Princess Zia, so you are here!" the King of the Knolls, Karruk, said in relief. "The Dragonkin Prince has been looking for you. We were told that you were kidnapped by an ugly Death Bat, so we have come to rescue you."
Zia glanced at Camazotz, who was about to break the skull of the Knoll that called him ugly, and raised her hand.
"Stop, don’t kill him," Zia said.
Camazotz clicked his tongue. With Zia’s order in place, he could only control his strength as he smacked the bastard who called him ugly, making the latter cry out in pain.
"Stop crying and tell me everything you know," Zia ordered. "When does Prince Aurelion plan to attack?"
"Tomorrow!" the Knoll King replied. "He will attack tomorrow!"
"Tell me, do you like serving him?" Zia inquired.
"Of course not," the Knoll King scoffed. "But do we have a choice?"
"You don’t." Zia commented. "Well, then—you have a new set of choices now. Choice one, join our side. Choice two, take your people away from this place. You can head South or you can head further west. The choice is up to you."
"Y-You will let us go, Princess?" Karruk asked. "Have you allied yourself with the Wanderers?"
"I will let you go, and yes, I’ve allied with the Wanderers. After all, Camazotz saved me from the Artemians," Zia replied. "I don’t know if you want to participate in this war or not, so I’m giving you a way out. But if you are to return to Prince Aurelion’s side, we will no longer be merciful. So choose wisely."
If Prince Aurelion and Lucan didn’t appear, the Wanderers and the Jinns would have already formed an alliance.
As such, he didn’t really want to continue being part of the Jinns forced to obey the Dragonkin Prince’s orders.
"We would like to head west and escape from this war," Zarruk replied after pondering his situation. "We really don’t want to be part of this war between the Dragonkin and the Wanderers."
"Very well. Take your people and go," Zia replied. "But we will be taking your Rank 8 and Rank 9 Sovereigns with us."
A look of anguish briefly flashed on Zarruk’s face, but he understood that he wasn’t in a position to argue.
If Zia wished, she could have forced them to act as a vanguard in their war against the Dragonkin Army.
But she didn’t. Instead, she gave them a way out, only taking their strongest fighters in exchange for their faction’s survival.
When the Knoll Army had left a good distance away, Camazotz sighed.
"You’re too soft, Zion," Camazotz complained. "We could have just forced them to become cannon fodders and join our ranks."
"And that’s the reason why I gave them a way out," Zion replied. "They’re just cannon fodders."
The Death Bat frowned because he didn’t understand what was wrong with using cannon fodders as meat shields in the war?
But he shut up, not wanting to argue with his ally whom he trusted completely.
"I will just give my new subordinates some pep talk," Camazotz said before walking towards the Knoll Berserkers and the Knoll Juggernauts who were now part of his army.
Since Jinns followed the strong, it wasn’t that hard for the Knolls to understand their new positions.
Although they were still reluctant to follow their new leader, following the Majin Prince was their only hope for survival.
"I think Prince Aurelion doesn’t like the Kobolds," Zapar mused. "No sane Commander will send a single faction to an enemy camp that has two Majin Princes serving as its leaders."
"Maybe he is using them to set an example to intimidate the other Factions," Thirteen replied. "But that is a big mistake. Some leaders rule through fear, others through charisma. Prince Aurelion is using the former, but there’s a limit to that kind of rule, especially when forcing other factions who have similar levels of strength in Gomorra."
House Pavareth, the Skavari, the Azrakith Court, and even The Velmoria Kingdom also had Majin Princes, Majin Princesses, Majin Kings, and Majin Queens.
Princess Xynalia and Princess Laventia’s mother was a Succubus Queen, and her Rank was a Majin Queen.
This was why they weren’t really too intimidated by Prince Aurelion. They had already seen stronger beings than him and his army.
The Dragonkin Prince also knew that those who were in Gomorra knew of a method to check the situation of their factions in Pangea.
This was why although he was arrogant, he didn’t go overboard, knowing that pushing the factions into a corner would reflect badly on the Dragonkin Empire.
A coalition of Majin Kings and Queens who were hell bent on revenge wasn’t a situation Prince Aurelion wanted to see.
While the Dragonkin Empire was strong, being attacked by so many powerhouses would deal a devastating blow on them, which might cause their Empire to collapse.
Zion understood this and believed that the Dragonkin Prince must’ve sent the Knolls as an example since the latter didn’t have any Majin Kings or Queens supporting them in Gomorra.
They were essentially cannon fodders, only meant to be used as meat shields in the battlefield.
He was the System of Cannon Fodders.
So even though Camaazotz said that he was soft, there was simply no way that he could kill those whom he wished to save from the bindings of Fate.
"Zed, come," Zia ordered.
"Yes, Master?" Zed landed beside Zia.
"Continue to scout, but make sure that you are prepared to retreat at the first signs of trouble," Zia commanded.
"As you command." Zed bowed and flew back to the skies.
They were only using a very simple strategy—strike fast and strike hard.
But once the true powerhouses come, they would have to revise their plan and only target the Dragonkin Army to make them feel the pain of losing their own forces in a war their prince had started.