Chapter 825: Eventide World learns his name
The troops of the Gales Kingdom advanced as planned.
The army of soul evolvers moved in a northerly direction, some were on foot while others used mounts, however, the truth was that when they sensed various powerful auras belonging to Second Order existences the mutant beasts and other creatures behaved considerably well.
Of course, because the Unclassified or First Order beasts had practically no intelligence, there were not a few that left their territories in search of food upon smelling the scent of fresh food only to end up being devoured by various active skills even before they could get within 100 meters of the outer area of the army.
"Are you sure about this?" asked Bai Zemin while riding a red-eyed horse, a tamed mount that was once a First Order mutant beast.
Beside him, the second princess of the Gales Kingdom rode another red-eyed horse as she looked straight ahead with a firm expression on her young face.
"I'm sure." Seraphina nodded firmly. "Everyone is doing their utmost for the sake of Gales, even my older sister and the others headed north to protect the border in case another enemy kingdom appears. It is in this kind of situation that the royal family of Gales must step forward to protect the citizens of the kingdom."
Honor, glory, adoration, protection, care, love.... From birth and thanks to her status, Seraphina had it all. Those people who had given her everything were the citizens of Gales that trusted in the royal family; now it was time for her to prove to those people that they were not wrong about her and her family.
Bai Zemin nodded and said nothing more. However, he still needed to emphasize one thing before a new enemy appeared.
"Seraphina, have you ever killed a human?"
"Killed a human?" Seraphina turned her face to look at him, feeling surprised by his question but even more surprised by the answer she gave, "I.... I did kill many orcs, mutant beasts, ghost trees, wild plants, demons.... But.... I have never killed a human..."
Different from Earth, Eventide World was a world divided into peaceful kingdoms that even had a kind of alliance to avoid wars among themselves. Therefore, it was not at all strange that a princess like Seraphina who had never left the territory of her family's kingdom ever had to kill another human being since probably the humans who had to be killed such as thieves or bandits were secretly taken care of by her bodyguards.
"As much as I would like to say beautiful words, I'm afraid it is necessary for me to be honest." Bai Zemin said. He looked at her with a serious expression and said in a deep voice, "If you decide to take part in this bloody battle, it will be impossible for you not to kill humans.... After all, I don't think all the kingdoms will submit unless we give them a demonstration of power first."
For several minutes, Seraphina remained silent as her brain tried to process the words Bai Zemin had said to her. If someone told her that she needed to kill demons or mutant beasts, she would not hesitate at all; at the end of the day, this was what she had been doing to gain Soul Power and level up. However, killing those who were her own kind was something Seraphina hadn't thought about even though in her heart she knew it was only a matter of time.
"Orc, you... Did you kill-" Seraphina stopped in the middle of her words, soon realizing how stupid her question was going to be.
Even then, Bai Zemin answered anyway. His voice was light as was his expression, even though his words were so heavy.
"I did kill humans, I have killed many of them. Among those I have killed, there are even innocents... I know that even though I don't know them. It is not something I am proud of and just as I know my sins I accept them and live with it, carrying the name, age, and appearance of each of the people I have killed deeply engraved in the records that make up my existence. This is my punishment, but it is a punishment I am willing to live with if it will allow me to survive and protect those I have to protect."
Seraphina looked at him silently and a glint of compassion flashed in her kind emerald eyes.
After a moment's hesitation, she asked in a whisper, "Was it hard for you... to kill? The first time surely must not have been easy, was it?"
Bai Zemin sighed in his heart. How could he not understand that Seraphina was scared by what she knew would happen sooner than she expected?
"Child, due to certain events in the past that marked me too deeply I awakened a passive skill during the beginning of the apocalypse. This skill had turned me into a perfect war machine that didn't hesitate to crush anything that got in my way, so the first time I killed a human felt no different than when I killed my first mutant creature."
"I... I see." Seraphina nodded slowly. "By the way, I'm not a child..."
Despite her curiosity, she did not ask about the skill Bai Zemin was talking about as asking about another person's skills was considered disrespectful and offensive.
Approximately 5 hours later and after having entered the territory of the Maiston Kingdom, the army led by Bai Zemin and Seraphina finally met up with the troops of the Dazia Kingdom that were moving in a southerly direction towards Gales.
With the King of Dazia, Felix Di Dazia present, the Dazia Kingdom army naturally raised no objections and immediately integrated with the allied troops despite the soldiers' doubts.
It took Bai Zemin and his army four full days to take control of four of the five major cities and ten minor towns that were within the large territory of the Maiston Kingdom. Of course, while they were working hard to subdue the remnant troops that had been left behind in the kingdom to protect the weak citizens of the other races, the world was neither still nor silent.
The Gales Kingdom, which days ago had sent letters to the 48 human kingdoms detailing the events that had occurred at the back of the mountain where the royal family's castle was located and demanding the surrender of all the kingdoms after considering them as traitors to humanity for colluding with the demons, finally engaged in war with several kingdoms at the same time.
However, when news of the conclusion of these wars spread, the whole world trembled.
The Gales Kingdom defeated the main army of the Krap Kingdom in the north of Weamor City!
The troops of the Krap Kingdom submitted and joined the troops of Gales to fight against the rest of the kingdoms!
In the west, king Philip Di Gales and his army fought for 3 days and 3 nights against the Beodian Kingdom and finally managed to take the victory when the King of Gales managed to pierce King Albert's heart at the cost of a deep wound in his left shoulder.
In the north, the First Princess Ellis with an army of only 60,000 men managed to resist for 4 full days the assault of the advance troops composed of a total of 140,000 soul evolvers affiliated to the Phora Kingdom that would soon cross the territory of the defeated Krap Kingdom and push into the borders of Gales. It was expected that the troops of the first princess would fall before the main army of the Phora Kingdom in the next 48 hours.
However, the news that not only shook all the human kingdoms but also the rest of the intelligent civilizations of other races came from the east of Eventide World.
The Gales Kingdom and the Maiston Kingdom clashed on the border between both kingdoms, being the troops of Gales pushed back more than 10 kilometers suffering a great defeat during the first day due to the great numerical disadvantage. However, the next day things took a 180-degree turn when a mysterious person arrived leading the subdued troops of the in that time recently defeated Krap Kingdom.
During those next 24 hours, not only did the Gales Kingdom manage to push the Maiston Kingdom back more than 7 kilometers thus recovering almost all the territory they had lost the day before but the mage general Christopher Rogers level 93 was killed by the main general of the Gales troops.
The fall of a well-known figure only a few years short of reaching level 100 using normal means was enough to shock everyone, however, this was not the main news. The news that really shook everyone's heart was that on the morning of the third day and before the sun rose, the legendary and feared Shadow Killer made his appearance by successfully sneaking into the Gales Kingdom camp, ignoring all traps and powerhouses until he reached the tent where the main general was staying.
To everyone's disbelief and horror, Shadow Killer did not succeed in his assassination as everyone was used to.... Not only did Shadow Killer fail to kill the general of Gales but he ended up losing his life after a fierce 1 vs 1 battle in which it is said he was completely overwhelmed barely managing to wound the other side.
At first, no one believed it, but as more and more began to affirm this fact the seed of doubt was finally planted. It wasn't until later when Shadow Killer's head was seen stuck on a silver spear in the north of Gales that everyone finally accepted the truth.
Shadow Killer was killed!
The Dazia Kingdom surrendered without even fighting against the Gales Kingdom and King Felix Di Dazia decided to join Bai Zemin to subjugate the other kingdoms!
When this news spread from city to city until finally reaching the far corners of the world, it didn't matter if it was human or demon, orc or mutant beast; everyone felt their hearts grow cold. Even the king of the Phora Kingdom who was about to step into the territory of Gales and clash with the troops led by the First Princess Ellis ordered his soldiers to stop their advance and set up several tents as if they had no intention of advancing any time soon while looking from the distance at the head of the legendary assassin who seemed to be looking at them as a warning of what would happen if they continued their advance.
Soon enough, the name of the mysterious figure who had accomplished the breathtaking feat of cutting off the head of the legendary Shadow Killer finally leaked out and as fast as a flash of bright lightning streaking across the skies it spread far and wide to the point where even the small children knew his name.
"Bai Zemin?"
"Who is that?"
"I don't know."
"He doesn't seem to be someone from Gales with that name."
"But, in that case why is this Bai Zemin fighting alongside Gales... even without hesitating to oppose all the other kingdoms?"
"There is no way that a person as powerful as Bai Zemin would think the same as us normal people. In this kind of situation, instead of trying to understand the thoughts of a soul evolver capable of killing Shadow Killer, the best we can do is to wait and see."
"If this guy named Bai Zemin truly sides completely with Gales and can't be bought off by wealth or beauties, then I'm afraid Gales' rise will be hard to stop."
"Wealth? Bai Zemin took over the territory of an entire kingdom and its treasures, soon even the territory of the Krap Kingdom will be claimed by Gales. Do you think that kind of person can be bribed with fortunes that he can easily obtain by himself? As for beauties... Hmph, it seems you did not hear the rumors."
"Rumors? What do you mean?"
"Let me tell you... It is said that King Philip Di Gales offered the hand of his two daughters to Bai Zemin and he accepted after having witnessed their beautiful porcelain faces and alluring bodies. The First Princess Ellis and the Second Princess Seraphina are not only beauties of the highest rank but are also considered to be two of the most brilliant geniuses the whole world has seen in the last four thousand years."
"Gah! Man, I am so envious! Enjoying both sisters at the same time in the same bed! The two princesses of the most powerful kingdom both serving the same man, can you even imagine it?"
"Most powerful kingdom? Gales is?"
"Well... Gales now has almost 2,000,000 troops and over 300,000 tamed mutant beasts. Even if we leave aside the terrifying Bai Zemin, the current Gales Kingdom has over 40 Second Order soul evolvers; they might be able to stand on equal footing with the three parent kingdoms."
"Now that you mention it..."
...
All sorts of rumors spread at such high speeds that it was hard to believe. However, one thing was certain and undeniable; the name 'Bai Zemin' had gone from being unknown and foreign to widely known by the masses to the point where every single tavern in every city or town was filled with all sorts of conversations involving him.
As for the person in question, he was currently standing at the northern end of the Maiston Kingdom's territory standing before the wide stone door that guarded Derene City against any invasion.