9. Conquests

  Madakos spent the next month retrieving the Shadow Elves from the Continent of Sand, and put them in their new city; in another realm, far away from politics, fortified fully with towers, ditches and endless cityscapes. The power of Zira housed, fed and watered Madakos and the Shadow Elves. The Warlocks chose to segregate themselves from the world, the Shadow Elves disappeared from their world to a world crawling with Bacteria. In a sea of Bacteria, no one without great power could follow them, and even then they would think twice. Madakos lived in bliss, having impregnated his wife and simply enjoyed his small estate far from the stresses of the other world. 942 cc late spring/early summer, Madakos the Warlock disappeared from the world he was born from, having already left a vacuum.

  942cc Summer. Months had gone by. The Kingdom of Dina suffered a fatal weakness, their colonies, their life line on the continent of Bacteria were cut off, partly due to fights with Basara and partly because they were overwhelmed by Bacteria themselves. The Kingdom of Lin had in this moment of weakness marshalled their troops to destroy one of their biggest rivals. Soldiers marched northwards. 50,000 troops, alongside many light mages marched northwards, spell casting beams of light that eviscerated the Undead. Dina’s Necromancers tried to put up a fight, killing soldiers in traps and sending their Undead forces to try and take down the Lin army. It was not stopped, light priests marvelled at their work.

  “Why are they so weak?” One light mage asked with suspicion, eyeing the surroundings, “it feels like a trap.”

  Lin troops flag paraded their white flag, a flag with a golden sun on the top of the banner beaming golden rays down, a flag never seen so deep within Dina; black flags with orange stripes were stripped down at every turn. Undead burned in holy rays, cavalry screened left and right, a little confused at how few Undead there were to face them. The flag of Lin hoisted proudly and without contestation.

  “Where are they?”

  They had no way of knowing that Dina having lost their bacteria farms were now much weaker and had lost a most precious income of death mana, and therefore had no way to properly summon Undead and resist, Lin marched into their lands and butchered the Undead, and their acolyte Human allies, some of which were spared and forced to repent. Not one fort remained, not one Undead left; the Light mages bathed the ground in holy light. Dina was destroyed. Some of the repenting acolytes, colonists and soldiers settled the northern lands, while the large bulk of Lin’s army marched south. Dina was purified, Dina’s dark ground, twisted and devoid ground was basked in holy light; still the ground wasn’t particularly fertile, much of it dry, but Lin made an attempt at turning Dina green. Future administrators would admit that Dina was poor, but the purpose of eliminating such a rival wasn’t economic, it was a symbolic propaganda victory, the light would triumph over Undeath, ‘good’ would triumph over ‘evil,’ or so the propaganda went.

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  A week of marching led them to the borderlands with Sumar. Sumar’s blue flags with white dots were ripped down and the Lin army marched into and across their borders. The city of Sumar itself fell into their hands; the fighting was minimal, the city was a wreck; there were broken walls, smouldered plazas and perhaps some workers who had attempted to repair something, they were no match for Lin’s armies. The countryside was mostly ashes, but there were small villages, awe struck villagers, smelling of dirt and sweat. The villagers saw and felt the rhythmic marching, the ground reverberated at the sight.

  “What is that?” One villager said, pointing at the banners, his voice raspy, and his face gaunt.

  The flag of Lin, the white banner with a golden sun with golden beams beaming down, appeared and fluttered triumphantly as soldiers strolled through their villages; a symbol of conquest, this was no mere raid. Villagers stopped digging and plowing their fields, Lin soldiers caused the ground to shake and dust up, held in suspension in the air, as the hooves clanked and the soldiers marched in. The city of Sumar had fallen, and this news quickly spread through Sumar; criers shouted it, peasants repeated it. The countryside was easy for the conquerors, as the peasants had been fed up with Sumar rule, many of them barely blinked an eye as the Lin soldiers in their white golden uniforms rode through their lands. Forts and fortresses that gave any state a degree of defensibility and time to react were not present; they had relied on Lin’s honour which at this moment was nonexistent.

  “These are now lands of Lin!” A man said reading off some scroll, “Lin’s laws, Lin’s power shall be felt here.”

  Villagers with hardy tanned faces, gruff dirty fingernails and outright tattered clothes looked at the uniformed soldiers with skepticism; they did not say much, scared of reprisals by the new authorities, the peasants cautiously stared at the invaders, and then continued their work.

  “They have a different vibe from that woman,” one of the peasants grumbled.

  “Lin has come to restore order! Respect that church. Fear the Angels. They will come back!”

  “Angels?” Many whispered breathlessly.

  “Archbishop Michael runs this land now! All hail Lin. All hail the Angels! All hail god!” The soldier said.

  Peasants mumbled the words, and even when they shouted it, they pretended, and perhaps there were some newfound collaborators, opportunities would always create opportunists, or so it has been said.