Chapter 100: The Kingmaker
It's honestly such a satisfying sight after watching Rose die in the hands of who she thought to be her comrade after she betrayed Margie.
The majority of people watching felt such emotions deep inside of them.
Regardless though, that was just a small distraction from the main scenario.
At this moment, everyone has realized that Chief Kylo is one of the higher-ups, or presumably an executive, of the Assembly of Freedom.
Such a revelation was an instant wake-up call for the army of the Tenderfoot Village as it confirms the assumption of Old Chief Kylo that they are just being sent to die in the hands of the Green Horn Village.
"Can we take refuge in your Village, Old Chief George?"
"Let us help you fight against their people!"
"We promise that we will work for you!"
As expected, the soldiers who weren't part of the Assembly of Freedom instantly started expressing that they want to switch sides to Old Chief George's Green Horn Village.
"I don't trust any of you yet, so how about you voluntarily go into our temporary prison cells until we finish confirming that none of you are members of the Assembly of Freedom," Old Chief George proposed another idea.
The reason behind that is quite simple actually; After all, he can't possibly believe that all those people that the army of the Tenderfoot Village has caught are all the members of the Assembly of Freedom that has sneaked into their army, right?
He'd be no different from a fool if he would believe that to be truly the case.
"For those of you that genuinely want to surrender, you may enter those temporary prison cells," Old Chief George pointed towards multiple small domes that are made out of vines and walls constructed from the ground combined together.
There were already some soldiers stationed to guard the domes, so they are fully functional and ready despite the fact that they were made in a matter of a few seconds by the Mages.
"How can we be certain that you won't do anything bad to us?"
"It's not me who would do bad to you, but you guys instead. If you aren't members of the Assembly of Freedom, why would you be afraid, right?" Old Chief George assures them.
"This is a war, Old Chief George! Diaz from the Assembly of Freedom might be a bad person, but what he said is right,"
"That's right! How can we be certain that you won't do any harm to us?"
"As long as you promise that you won't do anything that will get us to harm, then we will surrender peacefully, otherwise…"
"Otherwise, what?! Do you seriously think that you hold the upper ground in this negotiation?!" Friedrich can't help exclaiming as he felt irritated at the way these people are acting. They sound like they are the one's doing a big favor to Old Chief George when in truth, they are no different from headless chickens right now since they are an army without any generals.
The army of the Tenderfoot Village instantly became quiet upon hearing Friedrich's statement.
Contrary to Friedrich though, Old Chief George continued speaking with a calm voice, "I know that all of you are afraid. But that's your only choice, and that's also our only way to prevent any harm from my people,"
"Just like what you've said, we are at war right now, so there's no certainty that my side would not bring harm to you. However, I promise that as long as you are not a member of the Assembly of Freedom, you will eventually be able to walk out of those domes alive," Old Chief George reassures once more.
Using violence to counter violence in this kind of set-up is just going to ruin what he wanted to achieve here. That is why he chooses to approach them calmly.
However, he can't deny that what Friedrich had done has helped him become more persuasive. It's like playing good cop and bad cop. Friedrich is the latter, while he is acting as the former. It is a very common strategy used by the forces of justice, but strangely enough, it actually works almost all the time.
It didn't take long for Old Chief George's persuasion to finally work.
A few soldiers of the Tenderfoot Village started separating from their unit and walked toward the domes.
As soon as they got inside, the gate didn't immediately close on them and nothing strange actually happened. Soldiers of the Green Horn Village though are observing them very closely, but that is very understandable considering that they are enemies just a short moment ago and they declared war, at least tried to before it ultimately failed.
Seeing that, more and more soldiers of the Tenderfoot Village started volunteering to surrender themselves. Some of them even went as far as dropping their weapons and equipment outside the dome before walking inside and also persuading their friends to get in as well and do the same.
As more soldiers of the Tenderfoot Village enters, the size of their army drastically became less and less.
Old Chief George had to construct more domes to house the continuous flow of soldiers. It was only right now that he realized just how outnumbered they were compared to the Tenderfoot Village.
He is very glad that his plan worked. Otherwise, even if they have won this war, the manpower of their military forces would no doubt receive heavy damage.
Eventually, only a few soldiers remains as they stood in the same spot.
It was now quite obvious that these people are the members of the Assembly of Freedom that weren't discovered.
As for those that were discovered, they were left alone in the same spot.
Despite that though, nobody tried to free them from the restraints.
Who would dare though?
Although the soldiers of the Green Horn Village haven't shown any hostility yet, there's no doubt that they would once the captured members of the Assembly of Freedom tries to escape or if their comrades try to free them.
"I guess that's everyone?" Old Chief George looks at the hundred or so remaining soldiers of the Tenderfoot Village who have more or less admitted that they are members of the Assembly of Freedom. "You're very lucky that you weren't caught a while ago,"
"Now, fire!"
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Hail of ice and rain of fireballs started dropping one after the other onto the captured members of the Assembly of Freedom.
It was only then that they finally started running away. Albeit it was already too late, and the attack had taken more than half of them.
"It's very impressive how much damage you have done to my army despite not having your soldiers move, Old Chief George! You truly deserve the title of the first Chief of 'The Bridge' with your unprecedented means," Chief Kylo started clapping his hands.
Surprisingly though, despite what happened to his army, Chief Kylo doesn't seem to be showing any slight signs that he is afraid or even feeling nervous at all.
It was as if things are all going according to his plan…
In the next moment, with a wave of his hand, Chief Kylo suddenly took out a huge sword from his Storage Ring.
"Tell them to immediately close the gates of the dome!" Natas instantly exclaimed to Kayn.
"Why?"
"Why what?" Gilbert turns to look at Kayn.
"Just do it, now!" Natas started panicking.
"Ummm…" Kayn went to approach Old Chief George.
"Is there something wrong, Kayn?" Old Chief George asks.
"I don't know why, but I can't help but get the feeling that you should close the gates of the dome right this instant,"
"I don't see why I should do that. They aren't rioting or something inside,"
"They will be soon!" Natas warns.
"Just count it as you doing me a favor. Please trust me, close the gates of the domes!" Kayn felt the need to quickly persuade Old Chief George after seeing the usual calm Natas suddenly panicking like something huge is about to go down.
"Does this have to do with that sword?" Old Chief George turns to look at the unusual two-handed sword that Chief Kylo is currently carrying with his two hands and the support of his two shoulders. "I don't see him being able to swing that sword more than once,"
"That's because he only needs one swing to turn the situation completely around in his favor!"
"Screw this!" Kayn immediately grabs the voice amplifier device that Old Chief George has been using all this time to make his voice loud enough for everyone to hear. "Close the doors of the domes immediately!"
Instantly, the gates of the domes started closing one after the other.
The people inside can't help feeling afraid after seeing the sudden change in the situation around them.
"I thought that you weren't going to harm us!"
"You promised us, Old Chief George!"
"We trusted you!"
Hearing their voices of complaint, Old Chief George immediately grabbed the voice amplifier device back from Kayn.
"What are you doing, Kayn?!" Old Chief George was displeased at Kayn. He was already starting to view the latter in a positive light, but because of what he has just done, his opinion of him has now turned for the worst once again.
"Is there something wrong?" Gilbert quickly approaches Kayn.
"I don't know how to explain it, but just trust me this once!" If only everyone could see the look on Natas' face right now, then there's no doubt they would feel scared. This person was once a God, yet he is feeling unease. That is obviously an obvious sign that something insanely bad is about to happen to them.
"It seems like someone from your side knows about my weapon," Chief Kylo smiled. It was better that way so that he won't have to explain a lot about his new weapon.
"Let me introduce to you Old Chief George my new weapon, the Kingmaker!"
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