Dawn- An age of Darkness
Chapter 263 - Stage One!

None of the soldiers behind Gorgon even looked up to the four let alone say a word. There were at least a thousand soldiers in the immediate vicinity but they all just stayed quiet. 

Gorgon himself was a bit conflicted but he had no choice. 

The man sighed. "SO he's relaxing while people are dying." His smile made a triumphant return. "Anyway, I think I'd like to go meet him tomorrow afternoon. You can go back now."

"I can't turn back!"

"As I said-" The man's voice became cold. "Today was a warning. Next time, there won't be any. And we both know, what gods are capable of."

Gorgon grimaced. "Why are you taking their side?"

"Right now, I'm neutral. That's why it should be in your best interest not to make me the enemy."

"And I can take your word for that?"

If that was really true, then maybe, just maybe this wasn't as terrible as it looked. As it stood, the humans had the advantage on the battlefield but the whole thing would get reversed if the man were to take the dwarves' side. But vice versa would also be possible. So, to Gorgon, this really was like a godsend. All he had to do was utilize the chance. 

They both stared at each other, utterly serious. One's whole life was on the line.

"Of course." The man smiled. It was uncharacteristic of him to smile that much on a single day.

Gorgon knew that and yet- "Very well." He believed in his friend. He prepared himself and sheathed his spear. "I'll convince the other commanders but it'll take time. I'll also send a messenger to his majesty."

For someone with pride and honor like Gorgon, this was rare. Normally he would have never backed down like this. And yet, he still chose this. Perhaps he had hope. Or perhaps he was just being foolish. 

The mention of the other commanders irked the man a little. "Yeah, that might be a bit difficult considering the state they're in." He tried to chuckle but failed miserably. "Alright." The man gave his companion a look and she turned into a dragon again. All of them climbed onto the dragon. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Gorgon's face formed a half-grin, the other half, total despair. 

'Well, shit.'

But at least now there was another variable on the battlefield. Gorgon just hoped, things didn't go too sour. He was taking a rather big gamble but there was no choice. 

*** 

"You sure that was okay?"

We were on our way back to the city. 

  "You're acting could have been a bit better but yes. This was necessary. Otherwise, they wouldn't take us seriously in tomorrow's negotiations." Alisa was behind me. The original plan was to deploy the earl's small army and then have us lead that army. But apparently, Alisa had a better one. 

As usual, I was in front of everyone and boy was this trippy. I almost fell for my death again. I did not want to be here, but I couldn't complain either. So instead, I was just hugging Ve's large neck tight! It wasn't working, but it didn't stop me from trying either. 

The elf behind us nodded hearing all this.

When we first woke her up, I didn't think she'd be willing to go along with this. Then again, this whole thing was Alisa's plan from the start: she'd probably pulled some strings. And I had the feeling the elf had ulterior motives too. 

I didn't know that this Elf was actually a half-breed herself. She was part elf and part God. So technically, she was also a demigod. No wonder she was still alive even after all this time. 

At first, I'd just concluded that Boriosa's magic was keeping her alive, but it was much more than that. 

When she heard that if the plan succeeds we'd head to the human's country tomorrow, she immediately agreed to help us. But there was one condition.

"You sure, that's all you want?" 

The girl was right behind Alisa. Silver hair, slender body. And rather voluptuous- Ahem. "Elves do not turn back on words."

Yeah, didn't want to hear that from an elf of all people, not after the shit they made me go through. Elves were literally the trickiest people to deal with.

She only had one request of me. And that was claiming that meager village in the capital to be my territory. But since that village was close to the capital, and we didn't even know if it was a village anymore or not, this was a very risky move on my part. And not to mention I was currently Elven nobility, not human. So yeah, definitely not something I should have agreed to. 

I still said yes though. At this point, I didn't know what I was even doing anymore. 

***

It was evening, we were atop the mountain, surveying the battlefield.

There were seven others here. My two comrades, the half-elf, the dark knight, the earl, and his two attendants. 

"They're retreating-" Ve said. 

Actually, it was hard to tell for me. The lighting wasn't that ideal. Or had I finally ruined my eyes? I sure hope not. 

"Looks like stage one was a success!" The earl rejoiced and so did his attendants. "And thanks to you we didn't lose anything."

But Alisa didn't. "It's too soon to celebrate. This could very well be a trap. Unless we can secure stage two, we won't be able to rest easy."

It was true and all but there was a fatal flaw in our plans. "What if the humans aren't behind this?" I'd been thinking about this for a while now. What if both parties were innocent?

Of course, there was a high chance some corrupt nobles from either country could have been responsible but- but what if there was a third country responsible? There could very well have been a third power just waiting for the war to break out and sweep everything, the moment these two countries were not looking. It was a bit farfetched but I couldn't ignore the possibility. 

"If I'm being honest, I think humans 'are' the one behind this. But you're right, we can't ignore the possibility. So, I have a suggestion," the half-elf said. 

She was actually rather smart and also cool-headed. When she heard about our situation, she immediately understood everything. 

She was a bit surprised to replace out I was the current Archduke of Alfeime. And even more surprised when she found out I was engaged to a princess. I had a feeling she was only helping me because of my title. She probably thought my title would have allowed her to freely enter the capital and maybe even secure that village. 

Sadly, life wasn't that easy. 

"And that would be?" Alisa asked.

The girl came close to Alisa and whispered. What was so secretive that she had to whisper here of all places?

I actually kind of wanted to know. 

Alisa sighed. "Looks like you two muscle heads would be doing all the negotiations tomorrow." She was looking at both me and Ve.

That actually kind of hurt. I was fairly smart (self-proclaimed), thank you very much!

"That is rude daughter of Damsel! How dare you!" Ve was pissed.

I was kind of pissed too but I just kept my mouth shut. This was the first time I was seeing an actual girls' quarrel in this world, at least like this. I definitely didn't want to break this up, no sir! 

"Then tell me, what would you do, if let's say the duke of Armshire declared war on Death Valley?"

Were these names supposed to be common or something? 

It probably wasn't, as Ve started sweating for no reason. "I'd wipe them out."

Wow, perfect solution. Something goes bad? Kill 'em all.

Alisa grinned. "My point is proven."

How exactly!?

Ve slouched a bit. She'd already given up. Well, that was a first. And a total disappointment too. 

What just happened? And how exactly was Alisa's point proven? Was I the only one who didn't know?

I looked around and everyone nodded. 

Like seriously!?

"They have retreated," the half-elf said.

While the two were having this mysterious fight I didn't understand shit off, the army retreated rather far. 

I guess Gorgon kept his end of the bargain: then again, I was just blackmailing him into this. I was actually against this plan, but at this point, there was no turning back. We had to do this to make sure everything worked flawlessly. 

"Let's go get some dinner," Alisa started walking.

"Yeah, let's."  I was actually feeling kind of hungry. 

And we had to pick up the rogue bunny too. When she first got on the bed, she never left. I just wished she'd go back to being a cuddly bunny. 

"Are you sure we don't know what's happening to Biteria?"

Alisa just stared at me for a moment and then kept on walking. 

"Hey!" 

Yeah, totally ignored. Typical.