Hero of Darkness

Chapter 1308: The Unwanted Guests

For the next few days… the atmosphere of the fortress was gloomy and tense. By now, everyone had heard what happened during the night of the banquet.

People were taken aback and lived every waking moment in fear, while thousands had fled the border garrisons and fortresses located around the junction area after hearing that two intermediate 7th-stage saints were part of the envoy.

On top of that, they had explicitly threatened Jaro that they’d start a massacre if they were displeased or faced any kind of uncanny event like this again.

And the news of them taking Harkan as a hostage to enforce their will had also spread across the masses.

While there were different versions of the story, told by different mouths… the underlying fact remained that an outsider came into their home and forced the guardian of these lands to concede to their demands.

And they even took his son away as a display of utter dominance. As people of the Beast Empire, where strength was paramount above all else. And the envoy used that same rule to humiliate them in their own home.

Obviously, the picture portrayed Jaro and Harkan as the victims while Rudra and the others were portrayed as conspirators who initiated the spar in the first place and took Harkan as a hostage.

Nobody wanted to see their protectors perceived as the flawed perpetrators. Hence, most chose to believe that the envoy was the true villain of this incident.

On top of that, Jaro had also sent word of this to the capital, a report addressed directly to the Empress.

And he also mentioned everything he learned about Rudra, so her main attention would be diverted to his background instead.

Kaali Adisesha was a control freak by nature. Whether it was her own empire or a possible ally from another nation… she wanted everything and everyone to be under her thumb. So Jaro knew that if he mentioned Rudra, she would either send reinforcements quickly or maybe even come here herself.

Once the power paradigm was shifted in their favor, he could simply arrange a meeting where they would hand over his son.

Jaro was not terrified of fighting or even losing his life. But he cared more about his only remaining son, who was also the heir to his position in the tribe.

While he had a daughter, she was already married off to a different clan, and his priority was to continue the bloodline through Harkan.

If only things hadn’t gone awry that night, he would not be so stressed out of his mind.

******************

In the afternoon… the army of the Abyss and Rakos Empire finally arrived.

Their total span, whether through flying warships or ground forces that travelled like an ant army… was overwhelming.

Even Jaro, whose sight ranged to 70 kilometers when he flew in the sky, could not see an end to the incoming army of the united empires.

On top of that, the total number of troops was an overwhelming 40 million or more, even though they were just the first batch of arrivals. Because there were bound to be 2 more batches, as per his knowledge.

“If they sent two 7th-stage saints just for the first batch… does that mean they will send 4 more to guard the next arrivals?

That Hero of Darkness… his arrogance wasn’t without a firm foundation,” spoke Jaro as he saw the army of Doom Templars, the Imperial Faction, and the Senate of Republic with their own respective banners from the Abyss Empire.

Meanwhile, the Rakos Empire’s army was even bigger in numbers, carrying their empire’s flag through multiple battlebarges.

After hours passed, they all finally landed on designated spots and almost entirely covered the junction base that spanned at least 200 kilometers in length.

Jaro had expected a response from the imperial forces of his own empire, but even now, no proper response had come through telecommunication or holographic conversations.

An enemy force like this would warrant all the powerhouses to be present here, but he was alone handling all the burden.

“We greatly underestimated Kahn Salvatore. This army is arranged efficiently to the point one would believe they have been preparing it for decades.

We, on the other hand, are still in the process of gathering troops and resources. Hell, we are not even unified as a whole nation.

How are we supposed to fight people like these when our own people are so divided?” spoke Jaro to himself.

‘Strength rules all’ seemed like an ignorant overstatement at this point.

At the same time, he questioned his own competence as well as the authorities of his empire that were still underprepared.

******************

Two Days Later…

The traveling army of the united empires had taken their rest and departed as planned.

There was no inconvenience or unwanted incidents caused by either side. Both the host and the guest behaved themselves without causing any skirmishes and left in an orderly manner.

And after all of their armies disappeared into the horizon… Rudra, Octavius, and Oribus, along with the snakekin and gatthikra saint, visited the fortress again.

They brought Harkan with them, bound by glowing chains that were part of a sealing magic formation.

This time, they did it in the middle of the day, in front of thousands of onlookers at that so people would not get to make up some rumors about them. Unless Jaro decided to kill all the witnesses, of course.

“Here… take your useless son. He wasn’t even a great sparring partner without his spear.

I even used a normal weapon to test his skills, but he was simply lacking.” said Rudra with a bored countenance.

Harkan, on the other end, was looking down in shame; his entire visage was haggard as if he had been roughed up by his captors almost every day.

“This is why you shouldn’t become complacent just because you’ve risen in rank as a saint.

Those who do not sharpen their tools and skills die from the dullness of their blade and the tardiness of their bodies.

Let this be a proper reminder for you and your people,” declared Octavius as if he were bored.

The sealing formation was broken off, and Harkan was handed over to Jaro as people watched with sweat rolling across their faces.

“Activate the teleportation gates. We wish to leave for the next stop.” said Oribus with a commanding tone.

Soon, the procedure started, and the gate was activated. But right before they were about to leave, Jaro and his troops watched… Rudra wore his cloak and mask again as he said in a discontented tone.

“I wonder if I will find another sparring partner at the next junction.”