CLAIMED

59

For the past several hours, Kazan and Ezekiel, along with a few brigadier generals of Silvio's army—or rather, his army, since all of those under Silvio's command swore the oath of loyalty to Leah last night, and by default him—have been socializing and drinking as a means to kill some time. But now that all the battle preparations are taken care of, it's time for them to head out to the battlefield. Their aim, of course, is to crush the enemies to the point where they would have no choice but to choose diplomacy as a way to settle their grievances or die trying.

However, as Kazan was gearing up to march out with his army, a huge commotion broke out at the Azure Pack's largest military base.

A massive group of warriors, most of whom failed in forming a loyalty oath with Kazan yesterday, and millions of civilians appeared at the scene and started to voice their oppositions fighting an unwinnable war for the sake of a stray, meaning Leah. And they were even demanding that Kazan surrender and hand over Leah to the big five pack to preserve the lives of their fellow warriors and citizens.

There are some that accuse Kazan of being an uncaring, selfish tyrant who uses his people as cannon fodders to fight a war no one wants to be apart of. Even the battle between Kazan and Damari got brought up and the destruction it caused to Azure City. Others appealed to women and children dying meaningless, and this caused the warriors of the Azure Pack, who bore the mark of loyalty to Kazan, especially the militias, to sympathize with their cause. Some were even starting to feel angry, especially those who lost loved ones in those tragic events. They were blaming the sovereign for causing their pack to experience calamity.

Note that though they have the mark of loyalty, that doesn't mean they are mindless robots that can't think for themselves or can't have different views from the views of their sovereign. But regardless of how they feel, they have already decided to follow their sovereign's command until death. If anyone deserves their wrath, it's those bastards who invaded their territory. And now, thanks to their sovereign, they now possess the ability to get justice.

Soon, fights broke out between some of those who bear Kazan's loyalty mark and those who don't. Pro Kazan is calling the rebel warriors cowards and traitors. Some go as far as demanding their deaths. The rebels, on the other hand, are calling Pro Kazan warriors fools for willingly volunteering to sacrifice themselves for a meaningless cause. It was complete chaos.

Of course, Dorian, Ezekiel, and some warriors who were ranked generals were trying to settle disputes and calm everyone down, but to no avail.

Now, it's not that Kazan is not aware that the majority, if not all, of those under him are in opposition to this war for one reason or another, but due to fear of being penalized by their superior, they swallowed their opinions and obeyed without a fuss these past days. However, as soon as someone got brave enough to voice what was hidden in all their hearts, suddenly people got emboldened to rebel.

He's not foolish enough to believe though that this was just a coincidence or people simply venting their frustration. It's clear that someone or perhaps a group of hopeless people, who desired to see his downfall, took advantage of the people's frustration and fear to orchestrate this unrest. A mutiny.

He's not too angry with the people's reaction, though, since it's his selfish decision that drove them into this tragic situation. And as a result, it causes them to lose family and friends. However, he will not stand for disobedience. As the law states, all orders of a sovereign are absolute until death. And yes, the Azure pack is a monarch totalitarian nation like all other powerful packs on the continent. After all, Lycans are beings that respect strength above all, so if a nation's leader shows an ounce of weakness, that leader will be overthrown.

And there are many who still believe Kazan is the same weakling of the past despite seeing with their own eyes and hearing with their own ears what he's capable of.

Isn't that the reason there are people in the Azure pack who don't hesitate to defy Kazan and plan an insurrection?

"Enough!" Kazan's voice was like a subtle breeze, but the aura contained in it had the force of ten mountains and rained down on everyone in the three-square-mile radius, smashing all (except the few brigade generals of Silvio's army) on their knees. "Those who swore the oath of loyalty to me but suddenly have a change of heart not to fight, I will terminate your oaths and dismiss you. As I said yesterday, the choice is yours."

Of course none who bears Kazan's mark accept his proposal to terminate their oath. And those who had doubted him earlier felt ashamed, but to make amends, they will be victorious on the battlefields.

"As for those warriors who will not be on the frontlines and are tasked with the duty to protect the average citizen, I'm willing to overlook what happened here today if it doesn't repeat," Kazan spoke sternly as his gaze that was sharp as a blade made those who it landed on feel as if they were being cut down. As much as he wants to personally punish the true mastermind or masterminds, he has a battle to fight, so he will just let Leah handle this internal matter. "And please don't take my mercy for weakness, because the next time I won't be this generous. Now leave!"

Right after Kazan's statement ended, the terrified mob broke apart and fled faster than they arrived there. He and his army then rushed off to the eastern battlefield, where there were brutal battles taking place between Silvio's men and the enemy.

Within fifteen minutes, Kazan alone had taken out over ten thousand enemy warriors without breaking a sweat. And his army, without losing a single man, took down over five hundred thousand in the space of three hours thanks to their violet-lightening ice martial techniques. No one was their match, which is why the remaining enemy warriors try their best to avoid them. In other words, the enemies retreated. And with this, the eastern battle is concluded. Well, that is, the enemy doesn't decide to launch another attack.

Anyway, Kazan moves on to the western battle field and sweeps through it with his powerful army. He then headed to the south, where they dominated as well. Only when he arrived in the north, where Silvio was, there was some strong resistance. But he's not too worry, eventually these enemies will also be crushed out of existence.