“Your Majesty, I am very sorry to disturb you and Miss Ling Yue, but the group of envoys from the North is waiting for you right now. They hope they can surrender and discuss their post-war circumstances.”
“Finally.”
I nodded. Shusia, who was behind the tent curtain, didn’t enter. Instead, she spoke with her back facing us.
Ling Yue supported her torso with her arms as she lay on the bed and lazily asked me, “So this war is considered over, right?”
I picked up my clothes by the side. As I slowly got dressed, I explained, “The last one remaining is the winged race. They’re also the ones who personally planned the extermination of your tribe. Do you have anything you want to do to them as part of your revenge?”
“If I say that I want revenge, you will probably kill everyone connected to the winged race, won’t you?” asked Ling Yue. She then hopped off the bed from behind. She didn’t care that she was completely nude. She gently hugged me from behind. Softly, she said, “Don’t kill excessively anymore. Don’t kill anymore. I’ll protect myself, my child and you… But I don’t want to see you continue to kill indiscriminately. You will become crooked. You really will… I don’t want our child to be born into bloodshed… So… promise me… don’t kill indiscriminately anymore.”
“… Uhm,” I mumbled. I turned my head around to look at her. I gave her a nod as I touched her ear. “I understand. I understand. I won’t totally exterminate the winged race, but those who had a part in killing your tribe must die.”
“Uhm,” nodded Ling Yue. She returned to the bed. She pulled the blanket over herself and shut her eyes. “I want to sleep for a while longer… I want to sleep after a tiresome night.”
“Goodnight, Ling Yue. If we’re lucky, we’ll be able to spend the night in the palace tonight.”
I did up my cloak and gave her a kiss on her forehead before leaving.
“Grand Commander, we have come to make peace with you this time.”
“So you refuse to bring your Queen here even when surrendering?” I asked. I looked at the group of envoys and snickered. “You’ve already failed, yet you’re insincere about making peace. I assume that it’ll be impossible for your tribe leader to step out if I asked for him right now. You’re just a group of servants, a group of dogs raised by your tribe and you want to surrender to me?”
“Please rest assured. We were sent personally by our tribe chief. We are fully in charge of discussing what is to happen after our surrender…”
“Get lost,” I cussed as I irritably threw out the bottle of ink in front of me, splattering the ink on the person in front of me. He looked at me, who was now standing, and took two steps back out of fear. I coldly glared at him. “Who do you think you are? How are you qualified to negotiate with me? Do you have the right to bargain with me? I am the Prince of elves and humanity and the grand commander of the alliance. Who the hell do you think you are? What rights do you have to be talking to me? You’re unqualified. Either you call your chief here, or call your Queen here. As for you pieces of shit, you can all get lost!”
“Grand Commander! It is not that our chief is unwilling to come here, but that he is old…”
“Oh, I see. Come over here.”
I waved my hand. My guards around immediately drew their swords and surrounded the group of envoys in response. They drove them out of my tent, while they looked at us terrified and rambled loudly. I, however, didn’t care. I walked up to them with big strides and let my guards shove them toward the tall slope.
We could see their Imperial City from where we were. I stood in front of them with my back facing them. Below us were the two mortars that blew the dual windmill to smithereens. I looked at the snowy mountain opposite us and coldly said, “If you’re surrendering now, it’s because of these two cannons. These two cannons can blow up any place we want in your city, just as we blew up your dual windmill.”
“Yes… Please calm down. Please calm down. We… We will go back and speak to our chief. We will choose another time…”
“There is no, ‘next time’. We haven’t taken any action these last few days, as I was waiting for your surrender. I didn’t want to damage your city too severely. I gave you ample time to consider it. I gave you respect and the right to surrender, but what did you do? You completely disregarded me. Now you’re here to surrender, but neither is your Queen nor chief here. You completely disregarded my warning and I.”
I turned my head around. I grabbed one of the envoy’s necks and coldly exclaimed, “Who do you think you are? What right do you have to be bargaining with me? Doesn’t sending you here mean that you consider I’m on the same level as you are? I’ll show you what sort of person I am and what the power I wield is!!”
I released my grip. The envoy violently coughed as he retreated. I snickered and then spun around. I looked at the massive cannon below and shouted, “Fire!!”
I gave them a chance. I didn’t continue my onslaught after destroying the dual windmill. I waited for them to surrender. I wouldn’t even need to use my last cannonballs if they retreated. I didn’t want to destroy the palace that I’d say was very petty and I wouldn’t have to clean up the ruins. I wasn’t particularly tough to tidy up a snow avalanche, but it’d be tough for me to appease the people if I killed too many citizens.
The anthropoids, however, showed no sincerity in their surrender. It was the second time. The second time. That chief had yet to appear. I was already at his city, and he still hadn’t shown up.
‘What’s he playing at, sending a group of envoys here to see me? He wants play old man in peace behind the scenes while these envoys speak with me? Who cares if you’re an old man?’
‘Didn’t he instigate this war? Does that change the fact that he’s the cause of countless young men dying on the battlefield? He’s responsible for instigating a war, but doesn’t realise he has to end this war?’
‘I’m angry. Very angry. He doesn’t see me as a victor. He hasn’t got a speck of respect for me. He waged a war, and yet he doesn’t want to admit it in the end or end it. What right does someone, like that, have to be a pillar of a nation? The North must’ve fallen this badly because of the likes of him!’
‘There’s no way I can keep such an individual. I need to make him understand that I am the victor. I am the one who conquered the entire North. Since he has no respect for me, I’ll forego any remaining benevolence I had for them.’
‘Leah hasn’t given me the signal yet, but she should be fine. Leah must’ve made her own preparations already.’
The cannon raised its large terrifying barrel up high. The black barrel appeared as though it could swallow the entire world. The artillerymen around began to get to work. They had been observing the snowy mountain, so they had calculated the required time, distance and angle countless times. They basically just needed to load the cannonball in.
“As you have no sincerity whatsoever, don’t blame me for being violent. You might have been mistaken all this time. I never hit pause on my war against you. Not attacking doesn’t mean that I’ve stopped fighting. Now, congratulations, I shall deliver the destruction you asked for.”
I turned my head around to look at them with a cold look.
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