Iskafanda had a capital named Shar. Since Shar was another form of addressing Goddess Shacina, the capital had its name changed to Tiar with the meaning of The Dessert’s Water.
“I’ve already informed Liasy to tell General Shaneley about this news and also the information we obtained from Disaster. They are also having a meeting there at the moment. Let me have a look…” Youdiss activated Mental Link to connect Liasy’s senses with hers. “Shaneley plans to have SkyConquer Martial Arts Saint and Elder Fandair who pretty much recovered to come over to help with the transporting of materials. He asks us to think if we should form an army to attack them. The floating ships are ready to fly over for supplies.”
“How’s the scouting team?” Ye Cang asked Youdiss.
Youdiss asked them through Liasy’s body.
“They haven’t returned yet. Judging from the clues left by the scout team, it is not that easy to find an oasis this time around,” Youdiss replied Ye Cang.
After knowing about the scout team, Shalun told them that there was a hidden and secret underground oasis at the direction where the scout team was heading to. It was also an ancient ruin that was dangerous as king-ranked sandworms and unknown creatures filled that god-forsaken place. To the locals, that place was one of the most dangerous places in the Great Wasteland.
Shaneley ordered someone to inform the scout team about the rough location of the oasis. At the same time, he was informed that Iskafanda had joined the Goddess Association. Looks like the entire north border is under his command now. Cailon, the so-called friend of yours might be your greatest enemy. It is also the biggest threat to the Steel Empire. That location blocked the border splitting both empires apart.
“Alright, we’ll now discuss the matters about the crusade… Since we already knew the location, there’s no way we should just let it be… Any detailed suggestions from y’all?” Ye Cang brought up a serious matter.
“Hmph, useless.” Balcon gave him a cold shoulder and Makarlo was surprised that Ye Cang was not angry. Looks like he has turned mature.
“Lil’Ver, capture him,” Ye Cang smiled.
With a leap, Verali appeared before Balcon and Shacily Muse’s sword was already at Balcon’s throat before he could pull out his. Verali was like a living handcuff, dragging Balcon over. The Saintess frowned and stood up without anyone expecting, “Commander-in-chief PaleSnow, I hope you can forgive Balcon for his rudeness.”
“Why should I?” Ye Cang walked towards Balcon.
Just when the Saintess was about to cast magic, she noticed Agaloss glaring at her like a death reaper. That literally froze her movements as she dared not make a single move.
“Leader Balcon, because of Sagain, I’ve forgiven your mistakes multiple times. But right here, right now! I’m the commander-in-chief! Also, Sagain isn’t here to save your ass. I’m surprised that you dare reply me so defiantly, especially when all my bodyguards are here…” Ye Cang grabbed Balcon’s fingers and started bending it with a wicked smile on his face. This was one of his favourite ways of torturing the enemy but not killing them. He cracked his ten fingers, healed him and repeated the same thing. The cycle was never-ending.
Shalun and Baluto did not dare utter anything from their mouths as they were afraid of both sides. Or to be precise, they could only stand on Ye Cang’s side. When they saw Youdiss smiling gracefully, it refreshed their understanding of Ye Cang. So, the Dark Shrine and Goddess Association were close. HundredFlame Martials Arts Saint sighed, “Lord Commander-in-chief PaleSnow, I hope you can forgive Balcon’s lèse-majesté since we are still in a war.”
“Since HundredFlame Martial Arts Saint helped you to beg for forgiveness, I’ll forgive you. But first, I need your apology…” Ye Cang twisted his finger as hard as he could. Balcon dripped hot and cold sweat due to the pain and saw the Saintess nodded, “Commander-in-chief, it’s my mistake of offending you. I hope you can forgive me…”
Ye Cang signaled Verali to let him go while he returned to his seat casually as if nothing had happened. “Alright, where were we just now? Let’s continue…”
The leaders of the tiger and lion tribes were stunned by Ye Cang’s actions. Not because of him twisting Balcon’s fingers as it was an ordinary punishment among the beastmen, but it was due to the fact that he dared to punish one of the leaders of the Holy Church who was part of the three big knights army and that was in front of the Saintess. He was as if trying to announce to the public that he has no respect for the Holy Church.
The Saintess from Holy Church, Fenna stared at Ye Cang with a blank face. She was pissed when she saw Youdiss’ despised look and yet she could not do anything.
Throughout the meeting, Balcon remained silent and everyone came to an agreement to launch an attack at the enemy base but on the condition that they must wait for the arrival of Ryance and Fandair. Their reason was there were a number of legendary heroes on the enemy’s side. Fortunately enough, Agaloss was here. He blocked all interruptions that tried to peak the situation in Tiar with his pulse wave. Not only did it block away any information from Tiar that could reach the enemies, they could not cast any surveillance or prying magic. Once such magic was casted, they would be deflected by a curse from Agaloss’ Eye of Arcane. This curse was extremely scary. Once a person was cursed, the individual could be severely injured in a minor case or kill himself or herself if it was a serious case.
Every day, Shalun, Fansiss and Baluto were busy explaining real information and the true situation about the Great Wasteland to the people. This was because the leader of Iskafanda’s Royal Mages – Fansiss was the eldest among everyone and he had the most understanding about the land. He told them that the changes regarding the oasis started a few hundred years ago. In the beginning, there were only a few undead spirits so no one bothered. However, the oases started to disappear one after another. Back then, there were a few hundreds of permanent oases but there were only dozens of them to date. The others would dry up periodically and reappear at other places. With the increasing number of undead spirits, Iskafanda had reached its limits and that put an end to many lives due to dehydration. It was almost the end of the world.
“Wait, so that means the Natural Disaster had prepared this for a few hundred years…” Makarlo realized. No wonder their preparation was this good.
“Most importantly, the Ring of Sun has also been conquered…” Everyone was shocked at Fansiss’ words. They were frightened of the heat in the Ring of Sun.
“The Star of Broken Sky – WarFist, Ring of Sun, Natural Disaster…” Agaloss had a bad feeling about this but he was not sure.
Through Disaster, Ye Cang had gotten the information that the believers of God of Evil camped at the west of the desert. It was near the rift where the Abalachia tribe was located. He asked Youdiss to inform Minox about the plan by going through Liasy. He asked them to build a fortress there so he could officially hide the floating ship path from Sand Sea Village. He would ask a bunch of special forces to standby and ambush the enemy from the side when it was necessary.
After knowing Ye Cang’s rough plan, Youdiss was amazed at the importance of the coast. I will ask the guards of the twins from the Dark Shrine to head over. I bet the Holy Church will also send their trump card, the Holy War Knights. The others will send some elites to sneak over too. If we can use these special forces effectively, we can clear the entire west, south and north. Our chances of winning will be greater too..
