Age of Heroes

The report of the battle is still being compiled. 

But from what Veran had read, Arial Vermont had uses the many abilities of the tribespeople to easily defeat the defenses of Balhae. And not to mention, that Arial Vermont himself is a master of martial arts

One of the reports noted that he could walk on walls like he is walking on straight road on the ground.

When eh slashes down his large glaive, he could cut down people into two as easily as knife cut upon paper.

He sighed. The minister inside the throne room notice the tired expression on their king. They all knew that this matter must be addressed and solve as quickly as possible if they do not want to lose control of the initiative.

Vernian kingdom is not the only kingdom fighting for supremacy these days.

The other two would surely pounce on them if they detect weakness. One of the ministers said

'We have sent messengers to Nuath. The lords in Nuath would send people to fortify their borders'

Veran nodded, feeling a little bit at ease knowing that Nuath would listen to his orders. But then he thinks of that person in Maroth and he said with a cold voice.

'How about Maroth?'

The minister looks down and then said with a trembling voice

'Your Majesty. They do not appear to want to obey' The minister said. Veran gripped the handle of his throne as his eyes shows his anger.

'Even now, they still want to hinder me?' It is a question but for everyone wo is inside this room, they know that Maroth has always objected in the ambition of the Three Kingdoms.

Maroth is ruled by a Seer. This Seer is a respected Seer among the Veranians tribe and he is unlike any other Seer among the thirteen tribes because unlike most of the other Seer, this Seer is not burdened by the Sight.

And he is male. Most of the Seers of the Thirteen Tribe is female and while there is male Seers, it in itself is any anomaly.

This Seer had always lead the people under him to victory, gaining him fame and power.

He had always spoke about that the coming of Asrana is near. 

When the Wall of Repentance had been erected all of a sudden, and the voices of the Great Priest had also not been heard, then people began remembering his words before

Many believes that the Great Priest had perished since no one had seen them leading their people.

If this was normal times, such absence would surely create a ripple. 

But, to many of the tribespeople, this is par on course about what to expect when Asrana would rise and fought the evil that is Maharai Vasir.

The Seer that controls the state of Maroth is Varnikar. He is an old man but have black hair as black as night, tough body like stones and stand at the height of seven feet.

When he walks, his back is straight and not bent and his strength is something that every man of his tribe admire

He was an anomaly among the Veranians as he possesses such an intimidating stature. And he is also a Gifted.

It was like he was Blessed by all the grace of the Gods of the Pantheon.

Each tribe had their own abilities, passed down from the time of their ancestors. 

While some have the power to speak with beast, and some control illusions, Veranian tribe's abilities is mostly physical.

Varnikar possess great strength. He could lift a house with his strength and could fought ten thousand men without having fatigue.

It is because of such power that causes the kingdom to relent the control of the state to him. 

Varnikar might be strong but he was not interested in the throne and for that, Veran had always felt grateful for.

Varnikar was never the enemy of the royal court. But when the Wall of Repentance was erected and the plan of the three kingdom was revealed which is to steal the fate of Asrana, Varnikar as one of the High Lords of the kingdom cut off his contact with the central authority.

He has been governing the state of Maroth independently since then.

And now, Vernium kingdom is in grave danger. How could King Veran not felt angry that he could not order his subject to defend the kingdom.

But he also could not relent to the demands of Varnikar which is to submit himself to Asrana. 

How could he, a man of the Veranian tribe bow their heads and kneel their knee to an Outlander. An Outlander that supposed to rule them all.

It has been always the desire of the three kingdoms to rule the entire Novus Gaia. They too wanted to establish great dynasty like all of those great Empire in the distant sea.

Veran sighed and then he simply said to his minister

'Promise him gold. Promise him land. Promise him anything he could have wanted. Persuade Lord Varnikar to attack Balhae. If its him, he could easily destroy this Outlander Emperor from moving forward to the Capital'

The minister who receive the order nodded as he stepped back. Another minister took a step forward, and bow to the king before saying

'Your Majesty. the Outlander Emperor had also received reinforcement from Eden'

'What? Eden manage to send their armies here?' he was shocked and nearly got up from his throne in his shock

The minister quickly clarified the situation.

'Your Majesty. They managed to do that before the barrier was erected. The two generals that has been sent from Eden are the generals of the famous Twelve Great Generals of the Empire' the minister said as he presents a rolled up parchment. 

The servants come forward and took the parchment and present it to Veran. Veran opens up the parchment and read the information that they had on the two generals

The more he reads, the more he frowns. In the parchment it listed all the achievement of this two generals and their deeds.

One could not help but feel terror after reading what these two generals had done during the time of Conquest of the Human Continent. 

Giovani and Santiago is the few generals among the Twelve Generals that is very cruel in their conduct when dealing with certain enemies.

It is not exactly a good read and it did not put his heart at ease.

Veran then put down the parchment. If Balhae was conquered by some of the rabbles of the thirteen tribe, Veran would not be this distraught and worried.

The fact was that the one holding Balhae is a seasoned military general. And if rumors to be believed, one of the greatest general in the world.

It is fortunate that there is now that barrier of magic that prohibit entry and also forbid people form going out from Novus Gaia.

If Arial Vermont could summon his imperial army to wage a war against Vernium, then in all probability Vernium could fall.

The reason is simply because unlike Eden Emperor or the Huangdi of Ming, the king of the Shadowlands does not possess as much as absolute power that the other rulers possesses.

Veran who sit e king of the Vernium kingdom actually only possess direct control on Nuath and the capital city. 

And that is because the High Lord of Nuath is his relative. As for the other states like Huld, Fyrefield, Jartli, Wyld, Ashuind, Ethania and Maroth, they were all controlled by High Lords.

Some of them would answer the summon, and some of them would not. 

They would answer it if they wanted to and do not answer it if they don't want to. 

There must be some benefits if they answer the call or some common enemy that they could rallied against for them to follow the order of the King

If such practice were to be employed in Edenian Empire, all of those high lords that did not want to listen to the Emperor order would already be charged with treason and armies of the Empire would come to their territory and raze it all to the ground

Such methods could not be employed here in Vernium. 

The reason is simple. 

These states rested under the umbrella of the Vernium kingdom because they do not want to be absorbed into the other two kingdoms that borders the Vernium kingdom.

As such, as the King, he needs to persuade these high lords to come to their aid

Many of them would surely render him help but like the case of Maroth, some of them might hesitate after seeing Varnikar did not support him.

This is why he believe that if Eden could call upon their army and descend down upon the castles of the Vernium kingdom, they would fall. Because the advantage of Edenian Empire was that they are united in cause 

Veran gripped the handle of his throne tighter. He had never expected that he would now have such a big problem. 

As he just reels in from the shock of reading the deeds of the two generals another parchment was presented to him. 

He opens it and read it and his frown become deeper. 

This time, the report told him that the reason why Arial Vermont had so many soldiers was because he had led the other tribespeople that is beyond the Shadowlands to his army

'Is this how it ends?' he mutters inside his heart.