Helati's voice wasn't loud, but it rolled across the Scorpion Nest like muffled thunder.
Had those words come from anyone else, they might've been laughed off.
But because they came from Helati, they became indisputable truth.
When the "Sand King" spoke, he always followed through—be it for better or worse.
Surrender or death. For Rus, it seemed there was no third option.
Yet under the gaze of all present, Rus drew in a deep breath and—facing Helati—suddenly smiled.
Surrender? Death?
No. Neither would be his choice.
He had trekked all the way from the Eagle Domain, braving winds and snow to step onto the Bloodstained Highlands and now stood here, inside the Scorpion Nest.
The Eagle Legion had paid a brutal price to enact this plan. For Rus to be standing now was to stand atop the corpses of his fallen soldiers.
The path to a general's glory is paved with the bones of countless men.
As their leader, he could not let those sacrifices be in vain.
