BXBX NOVEL Chapter 533 Creating A Fortress
Back on the gorge region in the desolate islands.
Kazimir, Antoine, and Mishael worked with the rest of the knights to rally all the remaining troops and organize the soldiers who had willingly surrendered.
As they knew that these soldiers were only tasked to follow their respective monarchs and were willing to submit, they decided to do as Leon managed the troops in the third army.
After all, they were not even familiar with the curse power and so they still have a chance to be pardoned.
Setting up the birdcage, Olivier and Blaze worked and assisted the leaders in place of Leon who was still unconscious.
The trio was grateful to have the Crimson Blades act as their reliable aides and could not help but sigh.
They realized how lucky Leon was to have such loyal and dependable subordinates. They were also in awe about how this small troop had become masters of warfare and troop management.
"Let's see how the wounded were…" Seeing that everything is slowly getting in order, Mishael reminded Kazimir and Antoine about the other things to be done.
They could not stay in the gorge region in such a state and they did not know how long it would take for the reinforcement troops to arrive.
"Based on the situation of the wounded we can set off yet again after three to four days…" Antoine reported.
"What's our plan then…" Kazimir asked Mishael.
After all, the purpose of their convoy was already defeated.
The holy island had no intention of upholding justice for Seirende from being devastated by the Vesalas now they even lost the precious lives of their men.
The only thing that they earned out of this situation was revealing the true side of the Holy Island and the Vanderford Empire, being part of the Spectre, thus giving the rest of Prasinos a righteous reason to wage war with them.
Mishael also sighed, the High Priest had yet to give him instructions and so he could only say that he is just as clueless as well.
"Alright…Let's give the elders more time to decide." Antoine also understood Mishael's helplessness.
While they can just go on and advance to join the rest of the troops in war, their party is still holding such a hot potato, the prisoners of the Court of Sinners.
It turns out that the prisoners were still a valuable possession to the Spectre and even as the war unfolds they will still be a target objective of the enemy.
Seeing how much of their men have lost, the three men also knew that they were no longer in a position to effectively defend them.
Meanwhile, the elders have also seen the predicament of the party stranded in the gorge region.
"They have such high profile cargo, it would be easy for them to become a target by the troops who would be sent to retaliate from the enemy side." One of the Kings listened to the report from the gorge and frowned in worry.
"Besides, there is no more reason for them to continue to advance after they were rescued from the gorge.
What if we instruct them first to immediately set off back to the Seirende Empire and put the prisoners in their proper place before they join the rest in war?" Another leader suggested.
But it was Emperor Valentin and High Priest Enoch who shook their heads and sighed, "It will waste too much time for them to travel back and join again. We would not know what would happen the longer the war unfolds…"
The other leaders were taken aback as they did not expect that the Emperor and the High Priest themselves would be against the idea of sending the stranded troops back into the gorge.
"This…" They all looked at each other rather cluelessly.
In the end, they turned their heads to the leaders from the Green Wave continent to ask for their opinion.
"Well… this might be a very bold idea but I do think that it might solve our current and future problems." The Chief of the Leopard beastmen rubbed his chin as he looked intently at the large map in front of them.
They all turned to the map and looked at the Chief of Leopard Beastmen in confusion.
"Go ahead and speak up…" The Chief Dragon, one of the viewed elders in the group, waved his hands and encouraged the Chief of the Leopard beastmen to explain his suggestion.
The Chief of Leopard nodded gratefully to see the support of the elders and started to explain,
"When we look at the position of the land around the desolate region, one would realize how it sits at the center of all the possible battle points in the present and in the near future.
Its place is not something so easily accessible in general, but if you look at it carefully, it possesses more convenience for our troop navigation and is also a natural barrier to nearly eighty percent of the continent's population.
Excluding the Mellenberg territory, which was obviously the base of operations of the Spectre, all else could be rescued and relocated behind the desolate region, making it a natural border and barrier to the rest of the population."
As the Chief of the Leopard Beastmen continued his explanation, the leaders who were listening were slowly getting where he would lead to.
"You want to make the desolate region as our base of operations?" One of the allied kingdom leaders asked.
"Indeed, while it is not easy to do and the weather conditions were quite extreme, this is the best rendezvous point for our forces in the long term."
A wave of discussion then ensued.
Some of the leaders saw the benefit of the chief's suggestion and were rather giving an affirmative response, while the other conservatives were concerned.
The desolate islands are an independent, unowned territory. Infact, it is a free zone, if they would put an investment to develop the land as a military fortress and headquarters, then what about the post-war jurisdiction of that land?
Will it be taken by the Seirende Empire? Or would the Green Wave people claim stakes for the owner as well?
The conservatives were afraid that this would spark another cold war amongst them when evil was already defeated.
Thus a long argument about post-war management dominated the entire conversation.
"Enough gentlemen… Let's be calm…We are thinking far beyond our main objective which is to win this war.
If we are to dwell our precious time with this, how can we even ensure that the war is successful? We might not even have a chance to think about the management once we lose this war."
Emperor Valentin saw that the conversation was getting more and more far-fetched and so he politely navigated the entire conversation.
"But we cannot ignore the concerns of others as well… maybe we can think of a solution to put your minds at ease." Another leader said, he looked at the faces of the conservatives and saw the slight hesitation on their faces.
With that, he raised a suggestion,
"Since this war is ultimately political but rather something spiritual and for the well-being of the innocent, why not give the jurisdiction to the Temple? All of us had connections with them and they were neither influenced by politics as well?" The leader suggested.
The leaders' faces brightened, and the arrangement was quite feasible and fair to all of the kingdoms as well.
"I am afraid I would vote against it... After all, we do not want a second holy island to happen again."
High Priest Enoch finally raised his opinion about the matter and his tone had a heavy hint of heartbreak and disappointment upon mentioning how the main temple had become.
There was a heavy silence in the room.
The leaders, Kings, and Emperors of the different territories all felt the High Priest's pain and could not help but sympathize.
They also realized where he is coming from, he doesn't want another thing like that to happen again. Giving the temple some sort of power in the earthly realm has brought them this much suffering.
"Well, you have heard the High Priest's words… I also believe that we have to spare the temple from such complications.
How about we do it like this, we sign a treaty that would surpass the generations to come, that the desolate region will become a center of defense for the entire mainland and would be jointly maintained and governed by the Unified Forces' representatives.
Once a threat happens again, the fortress will be activated. Not only here, but after the war, we can have another one in all of the three mainlands.
This will be the symbol of our unity and mankind's firm stand against those who want evil to eat up our beloved Prasinos!"
Emperor Valentin suggested and his word ignited the hearts of the leaders.
After a little bit of deliberation and discussion, they all agreed.
"Thus, we announce the birth of the Seirende Continent Defense Fortress, the symbol of the continent's stand in choosing righteousness over evil! May it be and always be a symbol of justice, protection, and righteousness to the kingdoms and the people!"