The Hell King in his red armors raised his right hand, and at that moment, the ongoing bombardment ceased. Even though the Death Pass continued to attack with its small cannons for a few more minutes, they didn't continue this further to avoid wasting their energies.
Joshua came all the way to the front of the last line where his army lined up, and after putting a ten-step distance between himself and thousands of people, he cast a glance at the Death Pass standing high enough to touch the clouds. The majesty of the structure, whose builder and time of construction were unknown, left even him in awe.
The mercenaries and the Lands of Light forces lined up on the walls were also watching him. In the eyes of some there was anger, in some hate, and in some fear.
"Mercenaries, I am the Hell Realm King, Joshua!"
While the blowing wind whipped his blood-red hair, Joshua began to speak, no, to roar. The ones he addressed were neither the mages he fought yesterday nor the generals tasked by the Merchant Guilds.
"My army and I will cross this pass sooner or later! The Sand Army continues its advance in the Middle Region, and the Balsici Army in the Northern Region. In a short while, the order where four merchant guilds rule the continent will be broken, and a new order will be established.
If you lay down your weapons now and surrender, you can take your place in this new order. You have my personal word that no one's property or life will be plundered."
The murmur rising from the other side of the pass reached the sky, and from there poured down like rain on the Hell Realm Army. The mercenaries hearing Joshua's words couldn't suppress the noise made by the urge to flee within them.
"Generals, I know you wouldn't come here without sending your families to a safe place. Yesterday we showed what we could do, and this was only a small part of our capabilities. You must have understood that no good will come to you from kids sent as support forces but who each have their own different goals.
If you surrender now along with your soldiers, your lives, properties, and positions will be protected. Balbazar, Alaben, think well on this offer of mine!"
Joshua's next target was the generals. No matter how much noise the Mercenaries made, they couldn't defy the two generals next to them, but if the generals were with them too, they only needed to open the door.
"Shut your mouths!"
"If anyone says one more word, your death will be by my hand!"
Despite this, the response of Alaben and Balbazar was quick. The Mercenaries, seeing that their generals had no intention of accepting the offer, found no other choice but to remain silent. Joshua was also taking his share; even though he didn't expect it to be this easy, at least he wouldn't say he didn't try.
"Godfrey, aren't you going to come out of the hole you are hiding in and show me that ugly face of yours once again?"
This time, Joshua's roar also contained his sonic explosion and the vibration power he inherited from Draco. The sound waves hitting the Death Pass were both detonating and shattering the rocks forming the wall. This wasn't enough to tear it down; Joshua needed to shout for years, but his words had definitely reached the person he wanted them to go to.
Franz's gazes changed; he turned his head and looked at the place where the person he came here to save the reputation of was staying.
"Since you are not showing yourself, I will talk to the friends here about my childhood. I will talk about Nikonya, my life in the city you once ruled, excuse me, thought you ruled.
We won't fight today, I will tell interesting stories for the residents of the Mercenaries' Home and the Lands of Light mages. Find yourselves a comfortable spot, I am starting."
When Joshua finished his words, the creak of a door that hadn't been opened for days was heard; the Death Pass was so quiet that this was easily possible.
"Godfrey de Bouillon, what a fancy name he has, doesn't he? If only he could have been this colorful while ruling Nikonya too. He was very angry when his father sent him to the Orc Steppes to make a man out of him; he needed someone to take this grudge out on.
First, he picked on the orc tribes in his region; actually, the orcs did nothing other than provide ore to his civilization, but our exiled boy was bound to find an excuse. He started a conflict on flimsy pretexts and began to display the dead bodies of the orcs at the city gate.
Fortunately, the Orc Lord at that time was a coward, and the chief of the tribe in the region was no different. They bowed down to the rebellions our Godfrey committed against his father, but these weren't enough. He had to oppress more; he had to silence the pathetic child inside him this way."
Both sides were listening to Joshua's words breathlessly; some of them knew what happened in broad strokes, but they didn't want to miss the narration of someone who had such a command of the details.
"He started to spread terror inside the city; taxes that didn't exist before appeared, he started to torment the people entrusted to him with the smallest excuse he could find. Is there someone who didn't do what he said? Kill them. Couldn't pay his tax? Kill, kill, kill.
As far as I can testify with my own eyes, the number of people who died at his hands is much higher than those who died here on the battlefield yesterday."
The silence of the Death Pass was broken for a few seconds. Some among those who had to keep their mouths shut for a while due to the threat of their generals managed to react, even if for a few seconds.
"Along with his right-hand man Gulag, after a while, the form of these executions changed. His assistant had come to him with an interesting idea; he told him that if he could use these people for the experiments he conducted in his dungeon, he could make a drug that would give Godfrey the power he always desired.
People were no longer being killed; they were sent to his right-hand man's dungeon to be expended in Gulag's ruthless experiments. Or was it? I suppose if it was as Godfrey thought, it wouldn't be possible for me to be in front of you today."
Joshua began to laugh, and along with him, sounds of laughter also rose from the Hell Realm army.
"Wait, wait, this is just the beginning. Gulag was actually working on a drug; for this, wild creatures were also sent to the dungeon. This was what caused us to go hungry along with my family, Godfrey's stupidity.
In this dark place receiving light from only one point, we lived half-starving, but we were grateful that we lived. Gulag would allow some, those who could fend for themselves, to be taken out of the city and escape. Except for families without mobility like us, people could go.
Godfrey, possessing the title of City Lord, was playing king with the little power in his hands. Then one day, two orcs showed up; Gulag took them into his dungeon, and that night everything changed. They left the next day; when they returned, City Lord Godfrey was no different from a dog Gulag held by the leash.
He did whatever he said; when he said lick the soles of my feet, he stuck his tongue out, when he threw a small stick, he caught it with his mouth and ran back bringing it. A member of the mighty Bouillon family had become the slave of a man whose parentage was unknown.
It continued like this until the Orc Steppes were conquered; when Gulag said open an orc shop, he opened it without questioning, and the funny thing is, his father thought this was his son's commercial genius and felt proud. I even heard he sent this man called Franz to solitary confinement; the reason was that he wanted to take revenge for his fellow student.
Until Han came and conquered the continent, the city Godfrey ruled functioned like the headquarters of the Orc Empire army. Even I used to stay there after returning from my night raids. I didn't have the chance back then, but now looking at his face I want to say it. Thank you, you blockhead Godfrey!"
All gazes turned to the direction Joshua looked at. A man in a cloak radiating golden-colored lights was watching him. The mercenaries had no chance of recognizing him, but the Lands of Light mages knew very well who he was.