"Yes, Master Jashua! The first day is over, but I haven't been able to understand what your plan is. Have your actions been of any use other than tossing your civilization's gold onto the shield?"
Nafız stepped in without giving the others inside the tent right in the middle of the army camp the opportunity; after the energy attacks that lasted all day and continued into the night, she didn't look pleased with the situation.
Despite this, the Hell Realm King managed to maintain his composure; inside his red battle armor standing upright from his shoulders upwards and completely surrounding his neck, he displayed a dignified appearance. He answered Nafız's half-mocking half-demanding outburst in his unique style.
"Today, I managed to make a few deductions! The most important of these was knowing that the enemy wouldn't compromise on their defensive stance despite their support forces. It is obvious that even if they are numerically superior, they plan to stop us by waiting on the other side of the Death Pass.
My second deduction is that I saw the goal of the leaders of the forces coming on behalf of the Lands of Light wasn't the Hell Army, they wanted the head of the Hell King directly. While one side tries to protect their lands, riches, ranks, the other side is after doing something for the future, and knowing this was a development that gave me hope for the future days of the war."
Nafız looked Jashua, who took the title of Hell King and was just in his early twenties, up and down. I guess she had to accept now that he wasn't the little boy she scared to death in the dungeon in Niconya.
"It is impossible not to agree with His Majesty the King's observations; even if it is not fully visible for now, our enemy actually consists of two different camps. In the long run, this will be of great benefit to us; when the patience of the young and haughty mages of the Lands of Light runs out, the real conflict will begin!"
Hueso was backing Jashua up. As the leader of the only formation possessing the title of Holy Sect other than the Holy Blood Sect on the Hell Realm, he had to do this. If he wanted to leave his sect he had been at the head of for thousands of years to his grandson, he had to stand by Jashua; otherwise, it was hard to guess how their relations with the new authority would progress.
"His Majesty the King, can you give me a date? When will your mighty Hell Realm army be able to pass the Death Pass!"
Jashua was referred to as His Majesty the King just a moment ago too, but one would have to be a little child to not understand the difference between the two. Nafız was cornering the red-haired young man; as usual, she had no intention of waiting or remaining in a passive state.
The Elemental Ten members were also curious; even if they didn't make a sound, upon Nafız's question they all turned their faces to Jashua at the same time. They had suffered a very important loss in the dungeon, Alator, whom they accepted as their leader, hadn't managed to get out, but it was obvious they wanted to experience the changes occurring in their bodies.
"I cannot give any date, but I guarantee we will pass the obstacle before us in the shortest time possible!"
"Silence!"
The attitude of Nafız shouting before Jashua completed his words caused everyone to hold their breaths. The blood-red energy, turning into a vortex, first tore the roof of the tent apart and then rose towards the sky. Judging by the place the Blood God's gazes focused, her interest wasn't inside the tent, but the Elemental Ten members seeing her this furious for the first time were huddled together where they were.
The variable suddenly appearing aroused curiosity on the walls over the Death Pass just as it did in the Hell Realm army. Messengers began running around to deliver the incident to the relevant places, but Nafız didn't care about any of this.
When she pulled the Blood Vortex back into her body, she had the Mechanical Peregrine in her hand, and careful eyes had seen the Orc Empire seal on it. They knew this mechanical communication tool wasn't something you could see every day, and if you saw it, it was almost certain you didn't receive good news.
"Everyone out, we will continue the meeting in my tent!"
Jashua took priority and called the others out. He knew if he didn't do this, Nafız would act much more violently. No one, including Alis, objected; within ten breaths the Blood God was alone inside the tent with no roof, and she pressed the button needed to listen to the voice recording with her finger.
"My father was kidnapped by an Apostle of the Master. We are waiting for you in the facility where experiments are conducted on orcs, master!"
The message was short, but the time Nafız spent to understand what her student said was more than dozens of seconds. Then she crushed, crushed the mechanical device in her hand with her blood-red energy, she continued to do this until it shrank to the size of a sand grain.
When the door of the tent opened, there was no one around; obviously, Jashua, not wanting to lose most of his soldiers without fighting, had sent them far away. There was no sign of life inside the camp either, only the warmth of the people was felt in the Hell King's tent, and when its door opened too, those inside jumped in their places with fear.
"In a month, I will return no matter what; if you are not on the other side of the Death Pass by then, I will kill you along with the others!"
After a red wind blew inside the tent, Nafız's footsteps disappeared; within five breaths all traces of her presence inside the camp of the Hell Army were erased. Now neither they nor their enemies observing from over the Death Pass could feel anything.
"You said there was a red energy explosion, right?"
"Yes, sir! Suddenly a large vortex appeared in the sky and disappeared within five seconds!"
Balbazar, after making a go sign to the soldier giving his report, turned to Alaben next to him. He didn't say anything, there was no need, his eyes explained everything.
"They didn't cut off the attacks, they obviously want to test the limits of our shield, but what on earth was this vortex!"
"Was it a new kind of weapon or a circus trick they did to intimidate us?"
While the two most authoritative names on the front on behalf of the Mercenaries interpreted Nafız's fit of rage as the existence of a new weapon, the five people on the other side of the wall were guessing what the thing the guards saw was.
"Is Jashua intimidating us or challenging us?"
Solo was trying to hide his muscular body inside his long mage robe in the color of a leaf counting the days to leave its branch in autumn and go on a journey together with the winds. Unlike him, Nympha answered without caring that her thin fabric nightgown became transparent thanks to the moonlight.
"I guess seeing us looking at him all day, he was able to understand he is the target. Now he is trying to draw us out in his own mind, but I guess he started thinking he is smart because his head works a little among all those fools!"
Ignis couldn't turn his head in the direction of the woman who was the leader of the Companions of Water forces. While the color of his skin approached the tone of the element he commanded, he must have felt obliged to say something as he tried to relieve his distress almost explosively.
"Even if it is said that he is the one who scattered our camps during the two-year wars, he is far from scaring me. After returning to my room, I will take my staff and engulf his camp in flames to bring his head!"
"If you are going, why should I stop? We will see who will take Jashua's head first!"
Ventus lunged forward as if he was waiting for this. He didn't need to return to his room; he was ready to fight with the light green simple leather armor wrapping his body, even his staff was next to him.
"Calm down, no one is going anywhere!"
When Franz, glowing in the darkness of the night due to the natural radiance on his skin, spoke, Ignis's body began to be covered in flames; it was obvious he didn't like these words.
"These are not mine, they are the orders of the Commander of the Lands of Light forces, Godfrey de Bouillon. If you want to appear before the Divine Judgment in Nakitav when you return to the homeland, I cannot stop you, I would even be pleased, but I still have to deliver this order.
Ignis catching fire calmed down; the madness in Ventus's eyes dried up like a tree left without water. The echo of the event, which everyone interpreted differently, continued over the Death Pass, and again they all gave reactions differently, but what they didn't know was that Nafız had already started to cross the mountain range thousands of steps away.