TGS - Chapter 166
Chapter 166: Approaching
For now, Huracan was still the head of the Sanur pantheon.
When he revealed the might of the head of the gods, the deterrent effect was quite obvious. The Kasnie deities remained impassive, but one could glimpse traces of them being affected in their demeanor.
Except for Perseus.
Her expression didn't flicker in the slightest. She looked at the Wolf God as if he were a wild dog throwing a tantrum.
"What are you referring to?" Perseus asked softly.
The Wolf God's face was as dark as a thundercloud, more terrifying than the current weather. "You were the one who said the Kasnie pantheon had a trump card to defeat the Solancian gods, that we should wait. Wait? The King of the Sanur is dead, and only one of his sons survived. How much longer do we have to wait?"
The Wolf God certainly had reason to be furious.
In the war against Solancia, although the Sanur had preserved some of their outstanding warriors and one member of the royal family remained, they had suffered numerous casualties and heavy losses. The Solancian forces they had depleted at such a cost brought no benefit to the Sanur.
Carving up Solancia?
Even if Kasnie won and replaced the Solancian royal family as the new masters of that land, this victory would have nothing to do with the Sanur.
A tribe that had already been driven out of Solancian territory, forced to hide in the wastelands and bide their time—how were they supposed to share in the victor's spoils? Everything they had done so far was simply paving the way for Kasnie's success!
Faced with the enraged Wolf God, Perseus displayed utter indifference.
"This current situation is not what Kasnie desired. Our humans had already made plans for the Sanur. If your humans had been more competent, they would have penetrated deep into Solancia's heartland by now."
The subtext: The opportunity was right in front of you, but you failed to seize it.
The Wolf God… the Wolf God really couldn't refute that.
The Sanur army was skilled in battle. They were able to take the heavily fortified city of Digebia with a swift, reckless assault, proving their strength was by no means weak. Yet, the moment the Solancian princess arrived, they suffered one defeat after another, turning all their original plans to dust.
But—
Even at this stage, Perseus still wouldn't allow the Sanur pantheon to break through the barrier. Her exact words were:
"It's useless to be anxious. Entering Solancian territory will only lead to an immediate confrontation with the Solancian gods. Surely you don't expect to go over and help your humans?"
She also advised against returning to Sanur territory to watch over their remaining people, because "If divine power could decide the outcome of human battles, the Kasnie army would have been defeated at Bananna long ago. Even if you go back, you'll just be watching your humans struggle on their own. It's better to wait here for an opportunity."
Opportunity. That was what Perseus spoke of most, but this opportunity had yet to materialize.
The Wolf God fell silent, his expression fluctuating between light and shadow.
Just as Alyuin had guessed, the Wolf God had grown suspicious of Perseus, but he didn't show it.
He stood his ground, his wolf-like eyes blinking slowly as he glanced at the other gods of his pantheon behind him.
The Vulture God was chatting with Kasnie's Beast God, looking as if they had struck up a friendship during this time. The Wild Bull God was eagerly eyeing the barrier, his mind set on charging the god power field. The fox-headed god, as if knowing what he was thinking, averted his gaze first, projecting an air of 'don't involve me in your business.'
Only the Sheep God remained where she was, cautious and timid. Despite being a god, she appeared utterly reserved. Her coiled horns seemed to possess no ramming power, and her ears were neatly tucked back. She met the Wolf God's gaze with a blank expression.
Huracan narrowed his eyes.
"Sheli Pu, you go back to the grasslands and keep watch."
This sentence was wrapped in divine power and transmitted, so that only the Sheep God, Sheli Pu, could hear it.
Perseus, however, glanced over with a smile. She said nothing, but her deep blue eyes, like the night sky, seemed to see through everything.
The Wolf God wasn't afraid of her noticing his communication with the Sheep God; she couldn't possibly hear what they were saying anyway. "Go back now. You're not good at fighting, so you're not needed here."
After hearing this, Sheli Pu nodded silently and vanished from the spot.
Meanwhile, Taz had also finished his preparations to break out.
He had been stationed in Bananna for many years and naturally had a deep affection for the city, but the officers and soldiers who followed him were more important than a stationary city.
On the day Horst fled, if not for these men and the last bit of resolve he held as a member of a branch of the Solancian royal family, he might have followed him.
And now, the city could no longer be defended. He had to at least save his men.
The arrangements had to be made with extreme caution. Where the enemy was weak, where there might be an ambush—all had to be considered in advance. Even so, mistakes were unavoidable.
The Kasnie encirclement surrounded them on three sides, leaving one open. One small section was deliberately arranged with conspicuously weak forces, but the terrain behind this path was suitable for an ambush. Choosing this route would likely mean facing an even more difficult trap.
Taz thought it over for a whole night and finally decided to avoid the deliberately left opening and break out from the west.
By the time Taz led his troops charging toward the encirclement and noticed something strange about the road ahead, it was already too late.
Iron-shod hooves stepped on the leaves and sand used as camouflage, finding only empty air. The warhorse fell into a pit trap in a panic, its four legs breaking as its body toppled over with a pained whinny.
Taz slid from the horse's back as well. At the bottom of the pit, sharp wooden stakes were planted in an irregular pattern.
The downward momentum was impossible to stop. The shadow of death from the sharp implements was about to pierce his eyes. Taz's pupils contracted violently, but in the next moment, he was pulled back by his nephew.
Romuer pulled his uncle onto his warhorse and said anxiously, "It's a trap!"
Of course it was a trap, and one that had to be filled with lives. The cavalry charging at the front fell into the pits, men and horses alike. They were the material to fill the holes.
Only by charging over their flesh and blood could the others have a chance of survival.
Taz didn't hesitate for more than two seconds before making his decision.
In terms of results, the breakout was a success.
The Bananna garrison lost half its men, but those who successfully escaped were all elites. The city's actual commander and nominal symbol—that is, Taz and Romuer—both survived.
The Kasnie forces pursued them relentlessly from behind. The cavalry at the rear of the column stayed behind to cover the retreat. By the time the Kasnie army dealt with these fearless warriors, the main force had already escaped far away.
The one leading the Kasnie army was a young man.
He was not tall and had plain features. The corners of his eyes drooped, giving them a gentle shape, and his gray hair was neatly combed back. If he hadn't appeared here, people would have found it difficult to associate him with the battlefield.
But if the envoy sent to the Sanur were still alive, he would have immediately knelt before this man's horse and respectfully addressed him as "Your Highness."
As the only son of the King of Kasnie, the seemingly frail and good-tempered Kaimon was the true instigator of this war.
"Don't pursue. Let them escape," Kaimon said, turning his horse around. "Bananna is ours now."
The soldiers cheered. They trampled over the pits filled with the bodies of Solancians and, after clearing out the small number of troops who had not retreated, occupied Bananna.
It was a bloody day, but it was not yet the most brutal battle.
While Taz's breakout had preserved his effective forces, in exchange, the city of Bananna and its citizens who couldn't escape in time—be they descendants of nobles, commoners, or slaves—all became captives in the hands of the Kasnie.
Using this major city as a springboard, the Kasnie army split into two forces, opening a front along the coast. Some city lords fled at the first sign of trouble, while others remained in their cities, proactively surrendering to save their lives and positions.
Toward the latter, Kaimon was very lenient, allowing them to retain their noble status, though they could no longer remain in their original cities. When other city lords who held their ground refused to surrender, he would send these men over as persuaders.
Among them, one city lord was particularly stubborn.
He was also a distant relative of the royal family. Despite the distant blood ties, he held fast to his dignity as royalty and refused to surrender no matter what, personally taking to the field and killing many Kasnie soldiers.
In the end, his strength was insufficient. The city lord and his personal guards fought to the last moment. The defending soldiers began to rout, and the city officials didn't struggle for long before surrendering.
Toward these officials, Kaimon did not maintain his usual leniency.
Not only did he kill the surrendering officials, but he also massacred the defenseless inhabitants of the city and finally set the city ablaze.
Amid the flames, the small city was utterly destroyed.
Like a silent warning.
After this incident, the coastal defense line collapsed even faster, finally crumbling completely half a month after the Bananna garrison's breakout.
Kaimon tilted his head back, observing the reliefs on the temple.
As if finding them quite artistic, he walked around it once before entering the small temple dedicated to the River Goddess through the main gate.
In the Solancian concept, clear water meant freshwater, while saltwater was seawater. Lotus was worshipped as the embodiment of all clear water in the world, so logically, the ocean was not within her domain.
However, the mechanism by which a civilization's will took shape was not entirely as the legends told. Lotus was also a primary water god. The sea was not within the River Goddess's domain, but it was within the divine authority of a primary water god.
In the coastal regions, many cities had built temples to the Goddess of the Yilu River. In places with particularly abundant water sources, there were always slightly more believers in Lotus.
Kaimon walked into the temple. The doors to the sacrificial chamber were tightly locked. He knew that a dozen or so priests were hiding inside, not daring to even breathe loudly.
But he hadn't come here to cause trouble for these Solancians.
Kaimon saw the person he was looking for by a pool of water. She was an aging woman dressed in ceremonial robes with special patterns—attire that only priests could wear in Kasnie.
"Aunt," Kaimon greeted her.
The woman didn't look up. "Did you bring everything?"
Kaimon nodded and gestured for the guards behind him to place the things they were carrying on the ground. There was a dazzling array of various ritual implements, among which was an inconspicuous wooden box.
"Why hold the ceremony in a Solancian temple?"
Kaimon asked.
"It is the goddess's will, and I only obey," the woman murmured. "A thousand years have passed. Both Solancia and Kasnie have forgotten. Only our branch has always remembered."
"This land owes us, and we will take it all back, starting today!"
Kaimon said nothing, merely watching the ceremony with a look of curiosity.
The woman—this priestess of Kasnie's Goddess of the Mind—prepared everything and began the sacrificial ritual.
She drank a potion and began to dance around the offerings, a prayer to her god.
"We have occupied the coast, and in accordance with your will, we make this offering."
"Eternal Perseus, I beseech you to grant us a divine oracle..."
She repeated this over and over until, finally, the expression on the woman's face changed in an instant.
From fervent prayer, it shifted to a placid and perfectly measured smile. A ripple of deep blue light flashed across her raised eyes.
She stopped dancing and looked at Kaimon.
"You have done well." Her tone was as soft and steady as her smile, unchanging.
Kaimon lowered his head. "I am unworthy of such praise."
The woman turned back, her gaze falling upon the closed sacrificial chamber, and she stared at it intently.
Then, just as suddenly, her expression changed back. The woman stared blankly for a moment, then became ecstatic. "It's an oracle! The gods will come and let us return to this land, just as she, too, must return here."
Kaimon shrugged. The ritual was complete, and there was no point in him staying any longer, so he turned to leave.
Just as he reached the door, a messenger arrived to report.
"Your Highness, the eastern contingent captured a Solancian outside a city on their route. He claims to be the true king of Solancia."
The messenger paused, making no effort to hide his sarcasm. "It's that Horst."
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