I woke up again after the numerous events from yesterday. I ate my usual meat and chugged down my water, then immediately went out to check the situation.
The Draughts and Naughts were obviously not on good terms. We had built separate camps for them to stay last night, with full surveillance going on everywhere.
I didn't want to take any risks, even if Cherry was their leader. Some individuals might bear hatred beyond their own self-worth and decide to attack.
Anyways, it was time to head to where Cherry was being sheltered. It was a big tent on which I had invested quite a lot of resources because, well duh, she is Cherry.
The inside of the tent was magnificent, adorned with decorations to look like a normal, comfortable room. On the bed lay Cherry with no visible bruises on her body. She was still breathing while sleeping, which was a good sign that she was at least getting better.
She was surrounded by Draughts who were casting healing spells and magic on her, and Naughts who were keeping watch and guarding their leader. I wondered how good of a leader she was for them to go to such lengths.
The commander of the Naught tribe was sitting on a bench, looking at their leader and scanning every person who came in and out. Now was the time to discuss what was most important.
I signaled the commander to come out of the tent, and he followed me. I headed towards my room, where I had already invited the former leader of the Draughts, Rugidigus, who was sitting on a chair. I sat down beside him.
"What do you want?" the Naught commander got straight to the point after sitting in the chair in front of me. He and Rugidigus stared at each other for a while, then looked at me.
"I'm going to get to the point, since I have a lot of questions in my mind right now," I said. "What happened to that girl?" She is very strong, both physically and mentally. There's no way there should be someone at her level on this planet, as far as I knew.
He looked at us for a moment. After an awkward pause, he continued, "We were attacked."
Attacked? By who? There is literally no one on this planet that should be strong enough to overpower monsters who practice Aura.
"It was not from this planet... he came out of nowhere," he continued.
Someone who's not from this planet? Was he a human?
"It was a being covered in dark aura, so we couldn't figure out what species he was from, but he was very strong indeed. He was going toe-to-toe with our leader."
Damn, now this was getting strange and serious. Someone who could fight Cherry? The being must be incredibly powerful.
He then continued, telling us every detail about the event. The fighting in their area was serious indeed. It was surprising that they were able to deal with it, but the last part was a mystery to me. The being said he would return? If he had such strong regeneration, I was pretty sure he wasn't bluffing. There was another surprising factor: these Naughts had their own trump card, huh? Something capable of erasing a being with such strong regenerative capabilities.
Moving on, I asked, "What are your plans for now?" They must be too damaged to start a war with the Draughts right now, and very scared about when or where that monster might appear again.
"We... were thinking of planning a temporary cooperation with the Draughts in order to fight against the unknown enemy."
Rugidigus, who was sitting beside me, was surprised by this statement and spoke up. "Stop this bullshit! Just because your species is in danger, you want us to co-operate with yo—"
Before he could finish, I interrupted him. There was another question pressing me: why did these two races even fight in the first place? Surely it couldn't be for the simple reason that just because the other practices a different art, they are now mortal enemies? Well, who am I kidding? On my Earth, there are lots of fanatics who would kill each other because they believed in a different religion or something. So it was not something out of the ordinary for me.
There was a long pause among us. The Naught looked at the Draught and vice versa. Jeez, start talking already!
"Sure, we can explain...." Both Rugidigus and the Naught spoke up at once, and then began telling their tale...
---
Once in a land of old,
A story must be told,
Of a wise and kindly king,
Fair in everything.
Then an evil, shadowed force,
Set upon a dreadful course.
It hurt the man, it hurt the beast,
And from the greatest to the least.
The king fought with all his might,
To make the darkness right.
But the force began to spread,
Into the king's own head.
He made a law, a cruel decree,
For all the world to see.
It split the land and made two kinds:
The Magic and the Brute minds.
The law twisted every thought,
A bitter lesson taught.
And so a great war then began,
The cruel, lasting plan.
A war that will not meet its end,
Until one side does descend,
And is wiped out, forever gone,
Under the rising sun.
---
So this planet was struck by the Void, huh? I mean, it should be obvious with this hellscape. Is there any way to reverse this mind-altering phenomenon? I wondered.
"So how come you both don't do anything, despite knowing what's going on?" I mean, if they are some kind of higher rank in their positions, they should be doing something, no?
"We can't," one of them explained. "We may be higher-ranking in our tribes, but that's it. No matter how high-ranked you are, you cannot go against the entire population whose minds are already corrupted..."
I see. It's understandable, to be honest. Even in my world, if a president does something stupid, he'll be killed one way or another anyway.
This is quite troublesome. What can we do to solve this issue? This is one of the popular tactics in war, as far as I know from my Earth—'divide and rule,' was it? In this case, I have to find something which can unite these two sides...
Yes! There is something which can unite them for a while, no? That dark being is a good excuse for me to convince both sides to unite. After all, if one is an enemy to both sides, it's logical for the two sides to unite against the new threat.
"I've got an idea!"
The two looked at me with curiosity. "It's time for Plan 'The Last Stand'!" A smirk appeared on my face.
It's time to change everything this planet has ever seen.