Age of Heroes

Balhae, Vernium

The night was bright as the moon on the sky shines its light over the city. 

Every once in a while, the clouds would be pushed by the wind and for a few second the light of the moon is covered by the clouds.

The movement of the clouds, the breezy wind and the light of the moon. The night seems very peaceful

The city of Balhae is now dark. It is unlike the jewel of the Human Continent, Arrandy, where the city never sleeps and lights could be seen all over the city even at night

Taverns would be opened and many people would walk around the street. But Balhae is not Arrandy and it did not have the same charm as his city

This is Arial thought. 

Arial walk to the window of his room and look outside. Unlike his castle in Arrandy, he could not see lights on the streets and there is still that feeling of solemnness and something foul.

'Hah' he sighed. If it's in Arrandy, he would see light all over. He was reminded of the time he had with Helia where he would embrace her and look down at the city, while smiling. 

But now he is alone and he is cold.

His heart is like a stone that is being hardened with each strike. 

There is many thing on his mind right now. There is the military matters that he needs to think about.

He had taken his first step in Novus Gaia. By taking Balhae, he is a step closer to the capital of Vernian kingdom, Arqua. Balhae is neighbors with Arqua.

But it did not mean that Arial is ready to pit his strength with Arqua right now. there is still a  lot to consider.

The King of Vernian kingdom is probably summoning his lords from the other states to reinforce the capital right now

And it is not like Arial had control all of the powers in Balhae right now. Right now, he needs to consolidate his power and maintain his grip.

Arqua might send a few of their contingents to take some of the small cities on the edge of Balhae borders, areas which Arial did not control yet

Balhae is one of the nine states of Vernian kingdom. Arqua is not considered as one of the states as it is the capital city. 

But the size of state in Novus Gaia is not the same kind of size of state like he had in his Huma Continent.

The size of Balhae state is half the size of a kingdom in Human Continent. This is the testament of how large of a continent Novus Gaia is.

Arial had looked upon the map that Ragar had acquired for him. 

And he had decided that he would target Naroth, the state on the south of Balhae before he ever thinks of moving to Arqua.

He sighed. 

the task ahead of him seems to be monumental. 

A great undertaking. But this did not dosiurgae him. After all, if tehr eis soemtyhing tgaht he is really goiod at, it si waging war

He then said a poem

'In this lifetime, who would accompany me?

'Far and wide, there is meeting and parting'

'I could only sigh at the changes of the world'

He then smiles. He smiles as he thinks of how ironic his life had become.  He had become the lonely one.

It is one of the way Arial refer to himself. The Lonely One. 

He sighed as he thinks that the city of Nuath would probably either reinforce the capital or attacking Balhae northern border. 

This is another state that borders Balhae. 

As such, if Arial wanted to make a move toward Maroth, he had to be ready for Nuath to attack and even Arqua to attack. 

The situation does look tense and favors the Vernian kingdom

But, it is not like Arial didn't know this. 

He had known this since before he decided to take Balhae. If he is not confident, why would he attack? 

It is because he is confident that he could overcome it, that he does all this.

It would take some time but he is confident he could conquer Vernian even if this three states are hindering him. After all, he only need to take out the King. 

There is a smile on his face when he thinks of this. He probably has his own ideas of how best to navigate through this current situation.

And then there is also of course the problem that is actually brewing in his own Empire. He had been briefed of the matter from his two generals.

He was actually very surprised to see Santiago and Giovanni here. Those two briefed him of Silas and Oliver fighting each other in the court. 

They spoke of how his daughter decision had created a rift between Lord Regent Silas and as they were sent to Novus Gaia with the army and the ships at that time, the situation was very tense with Adriana holding court on the southern part of the Empire and his daughter holding court on the northern part

Hearing this, Arial could not help but frown. 

If this gets out of control, then the Empire would be split apart. That would surely make him the laughingstock of history. Arial had just managed to unify almost all of the Human Continent. It had not been even a decade and his Empire is about to crumble.

He knows he had to solve the matter here as soon as possible. But then, he thought to himself. 

It would not be bad for either of his sister or his daughter to duke it out to know who is the best. Arial could not guarantee that this time he would get out of this alive.

And if the stories about Asrana and Maharai Vasir is true, then if he loses here, there is no hope for the world either.

He had to win. He must win. If not, everything is lost. That is quite a burden on a human shoulder. But it is a burden that Arial is all accustomed with. 

He already made his determination before. 

When he had decided to fulfil the wishes of Amara, to conquer the whole Shadowlands, so that the Ancient gate would be opened, he had the determination to cut off everything.

The plans that he had made before he had departed to Novus Gaia also had to be forgotten. 

He actually has made a few plans before he left. 

But now, he could not care less about the outcome of that plan. Because if he fails, everything is inconsequential. 

Maharai Vasir could be the end of the world.

Though, if the prophecy to be believed, if he fails, there would other holding the torch later. 

But how much later? That is the question. 

Must the world suffer until the next Ages prophecy begins? And how long would that be? Would he then become the sinner of the world for failing to win?

And Arial did not fight so that he could lose. 

He might die. 

But he would not allow himself to lose. Life is tiring for him. Death on the other hand, would be a release to him. So, he did not fear death that much.

Instead, he would like to welcome Him when He does come. Life is tiring. And if he won, then at least he knew his family would live in a better world.

There is everything to gain and nothing to lose. 

At least this is his thought regarding the whole matter. Maybe Silas would succeed. Or maybe Oliver would in the matter of the plan that they had spoken before. 

Regardless who succeeds, none of it matters if he loses here. And then now there is his two generals here.

This is also a complication for him

Arial himself did not know how to explain this to his retainers. It would be too absurd if he claims himself as the incarnation of a God worshipped for thousands of years in the Novus Gaia right?

Hence, he did not explain. Amara had said it was his destiny. Destiny seems to always fuck him over. He did not know how to feel about it, becoming the instrument of fate and destiny.

But, he had learned to accept it. 

Each dreams he had, each quest that was given to him, all of it seems to be designed to prepare him for this Final battle sing in the ancient hymns of the Thirteen tribes.

A final battle. In which the Hero dies. 

At least that is what he got form the reading he had on the many ancient lore about the battle between Asrana Mahava and Maharai Vasir.

He thought that he could cut his emotions like that and focus only on the Shadowlands and his quest from Amara. 

But when he heard the report that his sister and his daughter is now in a feud because of the instigation of the factions inside his court, he could not help but worried about Ariadne. 

As for Adriana, he did not worry that much. She had a good head on her shoulders and she is always a resourceful woman. 

She could even give Silas a good run for his money.