After I left the capital I quickly met up with Abraham, Horus and Hamilcar, and together we rode hard into the scorching desert. Our destination was Abaddin, and it's war stricken soil. After hours of riding non stop we decided to take a short break in a near oases. As we rested, Horus saw a dust cloud so large that we could see it even from miles away.
Although only Abraham and Hamilcar could see it clearly, since they were high level martial artists, we all knew what it was. "Looks like our liege's silent arrow has already been loosed!" said Horus in amusement.
"And it shall plunge into their hearts before those fools even realize it! HAHAHAHA, this battle has ended before it even started!" Abraham said mockingly.
Hearing what they said I smile, before jokingly saying "Let's start moving again. If the highest commanding officers are late, how would the rest of the army think?"
After a little more than eight hours later, we reached the largest city in the north of the empire, the city known as the Iron Fortress, Abaddin! The massive city was built on the slope of solitary mountain peak in the middle of the desert.
The mountain is named Iron Spike Mountain, because of it's topographical appearance, and it's abundance in iron ore, especially Etherus steal, the most valued military resource in the world!
Looking at the massive city, with it's towering white walls, that stood in contrast to the all the black smoke that was constantly being generated due to the city's many iron mines, and workshops, I could feel the uneasiness of it's people from how the guards were running back and forth on top of the walls, searching for any possible sign that the Luminous army was attacking.
Looking at this scene, I couldn't help but feel a deep sense of confusion. 'Why are the guards so nervous?' I thought. After all, Abaddin was known as the Iron Fortress not only because of it's specialization in iron mining and production, but also because of it's near impossibility in being conquered!
Since Abaddin was strategically important because of it's geographical location, and it's abundance in various priceless ores, the royal family has spent centuries and unimaginable amounts of gold Darr, and resources to increase it's defenses to a ridiculous degree. And this was a suspicion shared by Hamilcar and Abraham as well!
Although it was odd, we still kept on riding north, and that's where we saw the first signs of the brutality of war.
We saw a small oasis town a few miles north of Abaddin on fire, with apparently no sign of survivors. Entering the small village we saw the devastation. Every where we looked we saw burning and mutilated corpses. And as we looked around more Horus made a horrifying observation!
"My liege, their are no woman, and children!" Horus said loudly.
Looking around more thoroughly, we discovered that he was right. Not a single corpse belonged to a woman or a child! At that moment a group of a hundred men surrounded us with their swords drawn!
"On your knees!" One of them shouted in anger.
Even though they outnumbered us greatly, non of us were afraid. After all, our small group had enough strength to massacre thousands, let alone a hundred men! So Horus used his sixth rank aura and all the men who surrounded us paled in fear.
"Enough Horus, these men are not our enemies." I say. Indeed these men are apart of my personal army.
"Are you alright?" I asked after Horus stopped.
"W-Who are you?" The man, still pale, asked in a stuttering voice.
"Do you not even recognize your emperor, and Grand Marshal! Are you blind soldier?" Abraham roared at the poor man.
"Emperor? Wha...?" The man seemed confused for a second, before he finally understood and fell to his knees and begged for forgiveness, followed by the rest of his men.
"Calm down, I will forget your mistake this time." I say in an authoritative voice.
"Thank you, my emperor! Thank you!" They said sincerely.
"How long have you been here?" Hamilcar asked.
The men stood up and saluted Hamilcar by slamming their right hand over their hearts and said "We have just arrived, my lord. When we saw you, we immediately acted believing that you might be the culprits."
"I see. Then have half of your men search this entire village for any survivors, while the rest can begin digging graves." I ordered.
"Understood, sire." They saluted me as well, and went to off quickly to carry out my order.
Hamilcar approached me and said "Sire, something is bothering me. I can understand why they would take the women, but why the children?"
Abraham and Horus also agreed, and Abraham said "I agree with Grand Marshal Hamilcar, my liege. Usually children would be massacred along the men. I can't think of any reason they would take them."
I nod my head solemnly at their words. 'I don't have a good feeling about this.' I thought.
"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
It was at this moment we heard a soldier's horrified scream. We rushed to the location of the scream and we found two soldiers on their knees, puking and dry heaving, looking like they just saw a ghost.
"What happened?" Hamilcar asked emotionlessly.
But the men just kept puking and coughing, all they could do was point weakly to the top of a hill nearby. And what we saw on the top of that hill nearly sent us into a blind rage! Even though war's true face was brutal, savage and disgusting, their were still lines that no one crossed! Lines that SHOULDN'T be crossed no matter what. And what we witnessed was a clear violation of those sacred lines!
What we saw was a forest of gore and blood! Thousands upon thousands of children were impaled under the searing sun, left as food for the crows and insects of the unforgiving desert. The soldiers who saw this began throwing up, crying, and swearing with every word they knew.
And since this was Horus's first war, he was also swept by his raging emotions, as he swore loudly that he would return this atrocity a hundred fold to the Luminous Empire.
Even Hamilcar and Abraham, who were the most experienced men in the empire in the matters of war, were affected by this revolting scene. Meanwhile, my mind was still coldly calculating and understanding the intention of my enemy. Years of conquest and brutal warfare in my past life has increased my tolerance to these scenes. 'Psychological warfare! They want us to fear them.
That's why the guards in Abaddin looked so tense.' I thought.
"Collect yourselves men! Your tears do them no benefit! Go and prepare more graves for these miserable souls!" Hamilcar loudly said to the men.
"Yes, my lor...." Before the soldier who regained his composure the fastest could even finish, I interrupted!
"No, leave them there." I said emotionlessly.
"Your majesty?" They questioned.
"It looks like the Grand Duke is a cautious man. He feared that we would send an army from the south, before his reinforcements arrive. So he decided to use terror to damage the morale of our men, thus winning the battle before it even began.
And even if this show angered us instead of scaring us, he knew that we would stop to bury them, and thus give more time for his reinforcements to arrive to his rescue. Clever." I say in an emotionless tone.
When the men heard this they opened their eyes in realization. But then one of them asked "Then wouldn't it be wise to bury these corpses as soon as possible, so that his weapon is rendered useless, and we would lose as little time as possible?"
"On the contrary! This idiot has given me a weapon so powerful that it will not only win us this battle, but all future battles!" I say with an excited and savage smile.
"What weapon, sire?" Horus asked.
"Anger." I answered as I turned around.
"Anger?" Horus was still confused, and so were the rest of the men, except for Abraham and Hamilcar, who revealed bloodthirsty smiles!
I quickly turn to the hundred men and order loudly "You will immediately ride to all the separate units of the army, and inform them of what you saw here, and tell them to gather here instead! And after you're done, you will ride to every corner of the empire and tell them what you saw here today! Am I clear?"
"Understood, my emperor!" They said as they ran to their horses and rode to perform their duty.
"My liege, I still don't understand. Isn't bringing the army here exactly what the enemy wants?" Horus asked.
Hearing this I decided to explain "Normally, yes! But he went too far. He was too cruel. If he decided to do this with the corpses of the soldiers he had from the battle we lost, or just normal adult civilians, it would have been better. But by killing this many children, and in this barbaric way he gave us the ability to turn this deadly sword against him!
Now instead of the soldiers feeling fear, we will convert those feelings to rage and hatred! And by telling the entire empire about this tragedy, the Luminous Empire will have to think a hundred times before attacking us again!" I finished with a mocking tone.
Horus opened his eyes wide in understanding. And Hamilcar said with an impressed expression "Grand Duke Marcus tried to win the battle before it even started, but your majesty has found a way for the Eclipse Empire to win every war against them before it starts! HAHAHA! Truly ingenious."'
I smile hearing the compliment, but my smile disappears soon after and I say "Grand Marshal I want all the soldiers to see this scene. And I want you to make sure that all the officers fill their soldier's hearts and minds with wrath and vengeance, understood?"
"Of course, sire." He said.
I turn around and stare at the rotting corpses, and then I say in a chilling voice "And one more thing Grand Marshal."
"No prisoners. Am I clear?" I say darkly.
Upon hearing my order Hamilcar is stunned for a moment, before a demonic look settles in his eyes and he says "None, sire!"
I nod my head as I think 'I will use this weapon you have offered me to drown your entire empire in a tsunami of despair and agony! The lives of these children will be avenged in the most grotesque way I can think off, this I swear in the name of all the gods!'