Ancient Empire Calendar, Year 1832
Ricardo's army was marching north.
Ricardo asked his concubine, Vereina, a question.
"Why did the Sapharos call you vampires?"
Vereina replied.
"The reason is this: the Vamparos race, whom you call vampires, took their original name from their ancestor Virion's surname, and until the day they were destroyed, they called themselves Vamparos. However, during the rebellion of Harloumen I and Carl I, a Western Lands writer named Georgius wrote a book. I think its name was How Vampires Came to Dominate the World. It received so much attention from humans and Sapharos that they started calling the Vamparos race vampires."
Ricardo was quite surprised by this information.
"So, one man changed the name of an entire race? Well, I'll be damned."
Vereina agreed with Ricardo.
"You're right. Even a single person can cause great changes."
"You're right. Just like how Ferhat Andronicus came to me asking for help, which led to you and me meeting."
Upon hearing the name, Vereina asked curiously.
"Really? What did you tell them about me?"
Ricardo replied.
"I told them I had destroyed the blood-drinking monster, that they were safe now, and not to be afraid."
"Oh my, is that so."
As Ricardo and Vereina flirted playfully, a great battle was about to be fought in the cold and harsh steppes of the North.
After her last defeat, Marilin had chosen the most suitable region to achieve victory.
Marilin was explaining her plan to her commanders.
"Now listen to me carefully. The enemy outnumbers us four to one, and we cannot engage in hand-to-hand combat. Therefore, we need a good strategy and a suitable defensive position. I have found a place where we can win the battle with minimal casualties."
Marilin showed the area where the battle would take place.
"This pass is flanked on both sides by steep and massive cliffs. Climbing to the top is nearly impossible. For this reason, we need a small but elite unit suitable for this climb."
Jacop raised his hand and asked for permission to speak. When Marilin nodded in approval, he stood up and began to speak.
"My Lady, if you permit, I can climb the cliff with my own units."
"It's good that we have a volunteer. However, the slightest mistake on your part could cost both you and us our lives. It is crucial that everyone performs their duties flawlessly for us to win this battle," said Marilin.
Jacop spoke with confidence and courage.
"Do not worry, My Lady. I will fulfill my duties and responsibilities, even at the cost of my life."
Marilin and the commanders were impressed by Jacop's courage.
"Good. I will now explain our plan. I will confront Jarl Bayındır Han IV with one hundred thousand soldiers. I will fight them until my army is exhausted. When we finally start to lose, we will retreat towards the passes. When the Turvig armies enter the pass, you, Jacop, and your soldiers will detonate the top of the cliff with spells, creating the most violent landslide you can, burying all the Turvig soldiers under the rocks and earth."
The plan seemed sound to everyone, but there was a sharp point everyone noticed.
Osiris raised his hand and asked for permission to speak. When Marilin approved, he stood up and spoke.
"My Lady, even if the plan works and the Turvigs are buried under the earth and rocks, there is a chance that Jacop and his soldiers will also die."
Marilin hesitated to answer, but Jacop did not.
"I am ready to die if it means victory, Osiris."
"But what about your family?" said Osiris.
For the first time, Jacop hesitated.
"I don't know. I don't want to leave them. But we are Kislavein. The only thing that matters is the continuity of the Dynasty. If the Kislavein Dynasty is to rule the Five Lands, I am willing to die on this path."
After Jacop's speech, Osiris and the other commanders understood that no further words were necessary.
The silence that formed was broken by a voice from outside the tent.
"My Lady, an envoy from the Dynasty Lord has arrived."
Marilin and the other commanders turned their heads towards the tent entrance.
Marilin commanded excitedly.
"Let him in immediately!"
The envoy entered, knelt, and greeted Marilin.
"My Lady, I have brought you a letter from Dynasty Lord Krael II Kislavein."
Marilin excitedly stood up, took the letter from the envoy, and read it. The other commanders asked curiously.
"What does the Dynasty Lord's letter say, My Lady?"
Marilin summarized the letter for her commanders.
"The Dynasty Lord has conquered the Central Lands and is coming to support us with two million soldiers."
This news relieved all the commanders.
"Then there's no need to fight. If we retreat and wait for the Dynasty Lord, we won't suffer any losses," said Jamier.
Jack Johanson objected strongly.
"No. It would take months for the Dynasty Lord to arrive. In the best-case scenario, it could even take until next year. If we retreat, the Turvigs will start invading the Western Lands. We have to stop them here."
"Johanson is right, My Lady. We cannot retreat. In the worst case, we must fight until the last person remains. Even if we cannot win, we must kill as many Turvigs as we can and slow their advance," said Darwyn Kislavein.
On the other hand, I also have to avenge my father, Darwyn thought.
The arguments continued for a while longer. In the end, everyone decided to fight.
A few weeks later, the Turvig army confronted the Kislavein army.
As planned, Marilin held the entrance to the pass with one hundred thousand soldiers.
Jarl Bayındır Han IV ordered an attack without hesitation.
"ATTACK! KILL THEM ALL!"
The attacking Turvig soldiers were engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the Kislavein soldiers within minutes.
With each swing of her flaming whip, enveloped in Dark Magic and Aura, Marilin killed thousands with her spells, tens of thousands of Turvig soldiers.
The Kislavein soldiers fought with great courage, as if dancing with death. Each one made sure to kill several Turvig soldiers before they died.
The battle continued for hours. Of the one hundred thousand Kislavein soldiers, only a few thousand remained.
Turvig casualties had reached four hundred thousand, a quarter of whom had perished at Marilin's hands.
Marilin, like the few thousand surviving soldiers, was exhausted and unable to continue fighting.
"RETREAT!"
The surviving Kislavein soldiers began to retreat towards the narrow passes.
The Turvig soldiers pursued them into the pass.
"STOP! DON'T ENTER!"
Bayındır realized this was a trap, but he could not stop his victory-drunk Turvig soldiers.
As one million soldiers entered the passes, Jacop and his soldiers, waiting in ambush on the cliffs, used all their Mana to cast a powerful spell.
The spell triggered a violent landslide.
The Turvig soldiers were stunned by the earthquake-like trembling ground and the thunderous sounds of the spells.
As chunks of the cliff collapsed into the pass, Jacop bid farewell to his soldiers.
"My soldiers, it was a pleasure fighting with you."
"FOR US TOO, COMMANDER!"
They might have tried to escape, but they had exhausted all their mana. Moreover, even if they had tried to protect themselves with Aura, the violence of the landslide was of a magnitude seen only once in a millennium.
The landslide, like a small apocalypse, swallowed everyone in its path and buried them beneath.
In that catastrophe, over a million people perished, buried under the landslide.
Marilin narrowly escaped being buried herself.
Jarl Bayındır Han could only watch the unfolding disaster.
"HAAAAA! DAMN IT!"
The pass was closed. He had lost more than half his army. Even worse, with the pass blocked, he would have to take a different route, costing Bayındır several months.
"Hah... hah... we won."
Marilin, wounded and exhausted, struggled to stay on her feet. A minute later, Kislavein soldiers came to her side.
"My Lady, we won! It's all thanks to you!" said a Kislavein soldier.
"No, this is a victory for all of us. Let's go, I'm very tired," said Marilin.
Victory belonged to the Kislavein army.
The Kislavein army had lost one hundred and three thousand soldiers.
The Turvig army had lost one and a half million.
With this defeat, Jarl Bayındır Han had lost all faith in his army.
Marilin, on the other hand, had restored her army's faith.
A few weeks after the battle, the army under the command of Njassar Rappa Ashterah, the Young Lord of the Ashterah Dynasty, had besieged the Turvig Dynasty's center, Ottukent.