Ancient Imperial Calendar Year 1831
The Kislavein army under the command of Marilin Kislavein was engaged in conquests, looting, and massacres.
Although Marilin was against massacres, she could not control the desire to kill that was ingrained in her soldiers' very genes.
Genocide was something everyone did after a conquest, regardless of which Dynasty or which Land they came from.
After tough and bloody battles, soldiers had three rewards: looting, massacre, and rape.
These three rewards were the right of all soldiers across the Five Lands, and very few soldiers refused them.
Marilin was at the forefront of those who refused these three rewards, but if she banned them for her entire army, it would cause serious backlash.
This was the one authority her position as Kislavein Lady could not grant her.
While the Kislavein armies advanced relentlessly towards the Turvig capital, Öttükent, new news arrived.
Marilin read the news brought by the messenger to her commanders.
"The new Dynasty Lord of the Turvig Dynasty, V Ülgen's son, IV Bayındır, is advancing towards us with three million soldiers."
The Kislavein commanders didn't care much when they heard the name of their new enemy.
"They say he is stronger than his father, but he cannot be stronger than our Lady," said Terman.
The other commanders agreed with Terman's thoughts.
It's good their morale is high, but why do I have a bad feeling about this? Never mind, I won't show it. We will win this battle, thought Marilin.
"It's good your morale is high. Once we destroy this new Turvig army, there will be no obstacle left between us and the Turvig capital, Öttükent," said Marilin.
The commanders' high morale had spread to the entire army; their belief in victory was very strong.
The new battle between the Kislavein and Turvig Dynasties was not far off.
One month later
The two armies faced each other in the Demirci Valley.
From the Kislaveins, Marilin; from the Turvigs, IV Bayındır stepped forward.
First Bayındır, then Marilin introduced themselves.
"I am the new Turvig Dynasty Lord, Jarl IV Bayındır Han."
"I am Kislavein Dynasty Lady, Marilin Kislavein."
Bayındır spoke with anger and hatred, yet nobly.
"I am not very pleased to meet you. You are as beautiful and fierce as the rumors say, My Lady. Seeing you fans the flames of my desire for revenge even more."
Marilin, maintaining her noble demeanor, replied with a mocking tone.
"I heard similar words from your father. Currently, insects are feasting on his corpse and organs. It seems you will be meeting your father soon."
Bayındır masterfully suppressed his anger and responded.
"I've heard you have seven beautiful and sweet daughters. Perhaps your son's lineage will not continue, but your daughters will continue both your lineage and mine. You can be sure of that."
Marilin, who remained calm under all circumstances, wanted to tear Bayındır apart at that moment.
Bayındır enjoyed Marilin's state.
"You feel it, don't you? That hatred, that anger, that disgust, that rage and revulsion... Yes, you just made me feel the same emotions, Marilin Kislavein."
Bayındır turned his horse around and prepared to return to his army. He turned his head and said one last thing.
"By the way, don't misunderstand. I'm not a bastard who looks at little girls with ill intent. I plan to take your daughters as wives for my sons after we conquer Kislathor. Even though you are the killers of my father and grandfather, your lineage is priceless. A lineage united with yours will both produce strong generations and provide ease and legitimacy to my Heirs when they rule the West, thanks to the advantage of carrying Kislavein blood."
Bayındır rode towards his army. Marilin watched him leave and after a while returned to her own army.
When Marilin arrived, Jacop came to her and asked a question.
"What did you talk about, My Lady?"
"Annoying things, but also somewhat thought-provoking," she replied.
Jacop asked curiously.
"What did it make you think about?"
Marilin didn't answer; she began to think.
Bayındır was right about one thing. We can rule these conquered lands as bloody conquerors, but our successors will come to rule these lands not by conquest, but by inheritance. They will need legitimacy. The easiest solution is marriage.
Marilin took a breath and looked at Jacop.
"I think after the conquest, we should take one of Bayındır's daughters as a wife for my son Richard, Jacop."
Jacop replied.
"You are right, My Lady, but that is a matter for another time. Although Young Lord Richard is the Dynasty Lord's only son, he might have another son in the future."
Marilin had considered this possibility.
"This war could last many more years. Do you think Dynasty Lord Krael II can have children again after this war ends? Everyone will be much older, and since he cannot marry a young woman, my son Richard will be the next Dynasty Lord."
Jacop could not answer.
"Thinking from that perspective, it makes sense, My Lady. I think we should continue this conversation another time. The Turvigs are on the move."
The Turvig soldiers, with their Dynasty Lord Bayındır at the very front, had launched a charge at full gallop.
"Let's not wait either."
Marilin drew her sword and gave the order.
"ATTACK!"
Led by Marilin, the Kislavein soldiers attacked towards the Turvig soldiers.
Until the two armies engaged in hand-to-hand combat, arrows and spells took hundreds of thousands of lives from both sides.
When hand-to-hand combat began, the number of dead exceeded hundreds of thousands.
Marilin swung her aura-covered, flaming whip at a speed invisible to the eye; each swing took thousands of lives, while her spells killed tens of thousands of people.
In the first hour of the battle, hundreds of thousands of people from both sides had died.
While Marilin was slaughtering Turvig soldiers, she was surrounded by three Turvig commanders: Björn Harfagr, Halfdan Skjoldr, and Ragnar Valdyr.
Ragnar lunged forward with his massive axe to cut off Marilin's head.
Marilin caught Ragnar's axe with her whip and pulled it forcefully.
With the axe entangled in her whip, she split Halfdan's head open.
Seeing his own axe cause his friend's death, Ragnar let out a cry of pain.
"HALFDAN!"
Ragnar attacked furiously with his bare hands.
Marilin, with a single stroke of her sword, cut the neck of this Northern commander, blinded by rage.
"Now's my chance!"
Björn attacked Marilin from behind, aiming to plunge his two short daggers into her neck, while her attention was elsewhere.
He got close enough to strike the final blow, but Marilin struck Björn's hand with her whip, causing him to drop his daggers.
"Shit!"
Marilin cut off Björn's head with a single move.
The Turvig soldiers, with the death of their three most powerful commanders, were gripped by fear and hesitated to attack.
"Are you afraid of your enemy in battle? Then you deserve to die. Perish."
While Marilin was savagely slaughtering the Turvig soldiers, things were going badly for the Kislaveins on other fronts.
"AAHHHHH!"
Javier Kislavein, his arm severed, was exhausted and worn out, screaming in pain and crawling on the ground. His friend and cousin Deon lunged forward to protect him.
Jarl IV Bayındır Han, in a few moves, tore Deon's heart out with his bare hands and ripped it out in one pull.
Deon, coughing blood, fell first to his knees, then face down.
"Deon! Ahhh! Damn it! Shit!"
Bayındır raised his sword and plunged it into Javier's heart.
"Your friend sacrificed himself in vain, but I see the bond between you. You are like brothers."
Javier didn't hear Bayındır Han's words; death was right upon him. A few seconds later, he breathed his last.
Bayındır didn't care about the deaths; he continued slaughtering Kislavein soldiers with his aura and spells, killing tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands.
The Kislavein army was collapsing on every flank except the central front where Marilin was.
An arrow had pierced one of Jack Johanson's eyes, and he had to withdraw from the battlefield. With this incident, the morale of the units under his command collapsed, and they began to suffer heavy losses.
Osiris Isman had the hand holding his sword severed in a duel by Turvig Commander Baycu Noyan.
To escape the brink of death, Osiris, just as Kibele had done in her time, expelled pure mana towards his enemy without converting it into a spell.
Baycu Noyan could not escape the pure mana coming towards him and was annihilated down to his ashes.
Osiris had won, but as a cost of using pure mana, he was severely wounded both internally and externally and had to withdraw from the battlefield.
His units, just like Jack's units, had their morale collapse and began to suffer heavy losses.
"DAMN IT!"
Terman Kislavein shouted in anger.
"We are suffering heavy losses! Even worse, commanders are starting to fall one by one! There's only one way for us to win: we have to kill Bayındır!"
Ignoring the chaos around him, Terman targeted Bayındır directly.
"There he is! I must approach him stealthily without being noticed and kill him! When I impale his head on a spear, victory will be ours!"
Terman got as close as he could. He was sure Bayındır hadn't noticed him.
He leaped from his horse, jumping meters into the air, transferring all his remaining power to his sword.
"Everything depends on this!"
He made a move to cut off Bayındır's head.
Bayındır Han turned around at that moment, swung his sword, and shattered Terman's sword into pieces.
"AAAAHHHH!"
The force of the blow sent Terman flying back meters, and he fell onto his back.
"Ah! Ah! My bones are broken! Damn it! Ah!"
Turvig soldiers noticed Terman.
"This is a Kislavein commander! Kill him!"
Turvig soldiers stabbed and withdrew their swords hundreds of times.
Terman's body was riddled with holes, unrecognizable.
"FATHER!"
Terman's son, Darwyn, saw his father's death. He attacked furiously, cutting and slicing through the thousands of Turvig soldiers hovering like vultures over his father's corpse.
When he had killed them all, he knelt beside his father's lifeless body, with a sad and pained voice:
"Father," he said.
He didn't hold back his tears. In the distance, he saw the Turvig Dynasty Lord cutting and slicing through Kislavein soldiers.
"I'll kill him! I have to kill him!"
Just as Darwyn was about to attack, he stopped, calmed down, and tried to think logically.
"I can't kill him. I'm not that strong. I have to go. I must bury my father's body."
Darwyn lifted his father Terman's lifeless body onto his back, mounted his horse, and left the battlefield.
The battle would end in a Turvig victory; everyone understood this.
Marilin was fighting with her last remaining strength, but she had taken too many wounds and was exhausted.
"It's over. We've lost. If I stay any longer, I'll lose my entire army."
Marilin shouted with her last remaining strength and gave the order.
"RETREAT!"
Accepting defeat, the Kislavein army began to flee to survive.
The Turvig army celebrated their victory with victory cries; some pursued the fleeing Turvig soldiers, trying to kill as many as they could.
Victory belonged to the Turvig Dynasty.
The Kislavein army had lost two million soldiers; only five hundred thousand soldiers remained.
The Turvig army's loss was one million, and they still had two million soldiers.
"Kislavein Dynasty, your advance in the North ends here. Now I will conduct conquests and looting in the West. I will make you pay for everything you did to my People and my Family, with interest!"
With Jarl IV Bayındır Han's vengeance oath, fueled by the fire of anger and revenge, this battle ended with a Turvig victory.