Published at 19th of June 2023 5:20 pm

Chapter 380 Growing unrest within the Army

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Wisps of Crimson Flame danced around his mighty imposing body. The unbreakable Crimson scales covering his body were shining brightly in the dark. The shine gave him a unique glow in the darkness of the night.

It looked as if he was a True Divine out of this world. A divine who had descended to the mortal realm to rule and conquer.

Intemperate Crimson lightning bolts were flickering around his body. Those who even come near him would be hit with a bolt of Crimson lightning.

In the distance, the Istarin and the Echo Dominion Empires’ troops saw all of this. Once again, the army of 1 million stopped advancing just to look and admire the Divine Dragon form of the Istarin Emperor.

“Beautiful”

“So this is the Dragon Form of Our Emperor.” None of the Istarin Soldiers has ever seen their Emperor’s Divine Dragon Form. Almost every Istarin troop wanted to see their Emperor in his Divine Dragon Form. And Today, they were lucky enough to witness it.

“Majestic…”

“I honestly have no words to describe astonished I am currently.” Said the Echo Dominion Emperor’s troops.

“I feel as if I am in the Presence of a True Divine being……A Dragon God.”

Scott stepped forward and said in a soft tone that reached everyone’s ears. “No, he isn’t the A Dragon God…..

⸢He is the King of All Dragons, he is the ruler of Earth, he is the Divine, he is the ever-powerful and undefeatable, He is, The Dragon Monarch⸣

As these words were spoken, the soldiers had goosebumps while staring at the Giant imposing Divine Dragon. Their eyes were full of awe and reverence.

On the other side, the reaction of the Echo Nexus empire’s troops was quite ugly. The soldiers had been attacked by the enemy. Without their commander protecting them, they would have been dead by now. With their empty stomachs, they had been forced to prepare to face the enemy. Many troops were annoyed as they were woken up from their sleep to fight.

Since their Commander and the enemy were fighting far away from their location, they couldn’t exactly see what was going on. From time to time, they saw two rays of light repeatedly clashing and destroying the environment and changing the shape of the land with their attacks.

And now even from such a far distance, they witnessed two different kinds of Dragons facing each other. Their Commander had turned into a Snake-like Green Eastern Dragon. While the enemy had transformed into a Might imposing-looking Western Dragon. When Comparing both Dragon’s appearances, even though it hurt for them to admit it, deep down they knew in their hearts that the Western Dragon looked more imposing, threatening, and powerful than the Eastern Dragon.

Tap! Tap!

A 5 feet tall 17 years old young boy called his 19 years old friend.

“Brother, while everyone is distracted, let’s escape.”

“Billy, what the hell are you saying? Are you seriously trying to betray your own home?” The 19 years old soldier name Steve became enraged when his friend Billy wanted to flee from the battlefield.

Steve grabbed Billy’s both shoulders and seriously looked into his eyes. “This Empire is our Home. We were born in this Empire and we have an obligation to serve this Empire. We swore to defend this Empire from its enemies and protect its honor. We swore to help His Majesty in making this Empire a paradise for your children and our families.” This was the narrative that the Empire used to brainwash its soldiers.

“After all that the Empire has done for you, how can you possibly harbor the thought of betraying your own motherland.” Steve tried his best to keep his tone low so that others won’t hear his words. If others knew that Billy was trying to flee, then the others would consider Billy a traitor and would instantly kill him. This isn’t something that Steve didn’t want to see happening as Billy was his best friend and was also like his little brother whom he had looked after ever since he had joined the military.

Steve’s last sentence about the Empire snapped something inside Billy. Billy pushed Steve’s hands away from his shoulders and angrily asked. “What has the Empire done for me?”

“Ever since I joined the military I have been told by countless people including the Emperor that the Empire has done so much for me and others like me. But What exactly did the Empire do for me? I have lived on the streets and ate rotten food to survive. Did the Empire give me food and shelter to survive? The answer is No.”

“I didn’t have the money to attend school. Growing up, I have always been kicked around and humiliated by the rich, by the soldiers, by the nobles, and by everyone in society. Where was the Empire when I needed them the most? This narrative that the Empire has done so much for me and people like me is complete utter bullshit. I never expected you of all people to get brainwashed by such a stupid narrative.” In the end, Steve was left stunned.

He had never seen Billy this angry before. And Billy’s words have shaken his core beliefs about the Empire. He was starting to doubt his own words, his own heart, and his own choices.

To the middle class and especially the lower-class people, the fastest and the easiest way of becoming rich and having a better quality of life and rise in social status would be to let one of their family members become a soldier.

The Echo Nexus Empire had the second-largest army in the Dying Isle Continent after the Istarin Empire. Each year, the Empire kept increasing the size of its army. The Echo Nexus empire only recruited men who were around 17 to 25 years old. The Empire focused on cultivating new and fresh seeds and didn’t give any chances to the men who were older than 25 years of age.

Recruiting young soldiers meant that the soldier can work for the Empire for the next 15 to 20 years. Recruiting a 20-year-old soldier guaranteed the Empire that the soldier would work for the Empire for the next 15 to 20 years, as the average retiring age for a low-ranking soldier is above 35. If the soldier has good talent and is hardworking and if he manages to reach second order, then the retiring age of the soldier increases to 60 or even 70 years old.

The Empire would be easily able to mold the young recruits into whatever they wished. Since the young recruits are not experienced in society and the life of an adult, the Empire would be able to brainwash them and make them patriotic towards the Empire. This ensures that the soldiers remain loyal and a puppet to the Empire.

“Are you coming with me or not?” Billy asked one last time. He was sick of this. Being in the Capital, he had seen just how much the Emperor is in control of the people. He saw no reason to give up his only life for the sake of an Empire that only used him as a tool.

A complicated look appeared on Steve’s face as he stared at the distance. He then looked at Billy and asked. “Even if we escape, we can’t return to the Empire as we would be executed for fleeing. And with the current ongoing war, our escape to the Echo Dominion Empire is closed. We can’t also head to the other Empires as those Empires are close allies of the Echo Nexus empire. Unless we have a crazy amount of wealth to buy tickets and use the teleportation array and run to another region or continent, there is no escape route for us.” Low-ranking soldiers like them can never afford the 1000 gold coins needed to use the teleportation array.

“We are not going to escape the Echo Nexus empire..” Even though Billy was young he was very smart and his trait of being able to quickly read the situation and think under tense situations allowed him to come this far in life.

“Then what are we…..”

“We will wait. If our commander wins, then we will make some excuses and stay in the army. If our commander loses, then we will surrender and become war prisoners of the Istarin Empire.”

“That’s crazy. Why would we do that?” Steve asked while looking completely confused.

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