Chapter 91 – Desperate Ones

In the fort where the barbarians of the Al-Goraz Faction reside, there lies a mighty warrior leader that leads them. Her name is Zhula, born of the savage lands, in the tribe where Al-Goraz came into power. She was someone who saw the rise of Al-Goraz.

Zhula stands on the desert sands of Trapolstan, not as a woman but as a warrior. She closes her eyes as her long curly hair flutters behind her back. It has been quite a time for Zhula. It has been long since Al-Goraz, their merciful warlord told them:

“Go out and seek the city that lies near the borders of the Ven Continent. Once we take to hold those great walled cities and usurp the beasts there then salvation wouldn’t be long for our lands!”

Zhula was motivated to capture the cities that her Lord spoke off. Her Lord mingled with the humans in secret for years, scouring their lands, and culture in order to make a plan on how to usurp them. Hence, after her Lord return with the knowledge he had, he showed the territory where he was born how to survive in their savaged lands.

But with the barbarians favoring brawns over brains, she remembers how her Lord defeated the Lord of the territory she lived and took control of it. Her Lord, Al-Goraz then introduced various techniques, and how to make use of the bones of the animals and craft them as weapons, armors, and tools.

With those tools, they were able to use the techniques that Al-Goraz introduced for farming and mining. And with the farming introduced the barbarians who only know how to hunt was able to secure food for themselves. And with mining the unused ores on their mountainsides, making them able to forge weapons out of iron, which can help them create better armors that can be used to protect themselves from the ferocious beasts of the savage lands and the other barbarian tribes.

There were a lot of barbarian tribes living separately with each other. But with Al-Goraz proving himself to be a worthy war leader to follow, many of the tribes joined the Al-Goraz faction and soon enough the savage lands, which has over many factions, suddenly became two.

The Al-Goraz faction which united many tribes became a power in the savage lands. And the only thing that could possibly stop them was other Barbarian Warlord that has contested against the Kingdom of Deus ever since the first War Maiden.

Edu-Ardo, the Everlasting Prime Warlord, and the symbol of the Barbarians that is too stubborn to stop his conquest of the Kingdom of Deus and its lands. Edu-Ardo’s obsession came from the fact that the Prime Barbarians, the old ancient ones managed to fight to their death. The Prime Barbarians have long lasting lives as the Elvens. But they met their end at the hands of the current War Maiden and Matriarch of the Kingdom of Lin. With the help of the Reaper, she was able to destroy the Prime Barbarians and push them back into the savage lands.

Ever since then the Prime Barbarians has never crossed the borders of the Kingdom of Deus. With the Kingdom of Deus’s new fanaticism and their Holy King guiding them, along with the threat that the War Maiden and the Reaper possesses. The Prime Barbarians has been in an impasse.

But with Al-Goraz disaffiliating the sentiments of the tribes away from the Prime Barbarians, he was able to ‘improve’ his barbarians into more than savages. Bringing them the hammer of civilization and putting intelligence into their heads.

And as result, the barbarians he led are now more than just barbarians. They are now the people of Goraz that want nothing but the survival of their race. If possible Al-Goraz would want to stay in the savage lands. But with the savage lands being filled with harsh beasts and weather, it has come to Al-Goraz’s mind why the Prime Barbarians seek out the land of the Hillines Continent.

So in order for the tribe to survive, Al-Goraz had no choice but to send men and women to their death. Thus he sent four of his trusted ‘Leaders’ to take the lands. Zhula was one of those trusted leaders. She was tasked to pierce the borders through other means.

Al-Goraz himself then told Zhula to conquer the two walled cities along with the other war leaders. Her task was to take the Lugenstan City for its location. Al-Goraz wanted access to the Ven Continent and make contact with the other races.

Al-Goraz himself knows that peace with the people of Hillines is impossible. And even though the difference between a barbarian and a human is just the mindset and stature, Al-Goraz knows that the sowed hatred the human has for the barbarians won’t be that easily extinguish. So instead Al-Goraz wanted the cooperation of the Elvens, the Dark Elvens, the Dwarvens and the Halflings.

That is why taking the City of Lugenstan is a must. Other than the city of Lugenstan, Al-Goraz wanted Tinople City. But with the rebellion led by one of Al-Goraz’s trusted war leader succeeding, it won’t be long until the City of Tinople will fall into the hands of the Goraz Barbarians.

Zhula managed came this far due to using the sand whales as shelter. She already managed to scout most of the interior of Lugenstan. The Scouts that the Fighter’s Guild captured managed to enter the city by disguising themselves as one of the passengers in that centipede-like carriage that the City of Tinople sent to Lugenstan.

Zhula's scouts already managed to do what they were task already. And now the only thing left was for Zhula to conquer the city with her forces. This is her first war and as the youngest of the War Leaders. Zhula didn’t dare to be reckless.

She carefully planned everything. From letting her scouts blend as passengers heading to the city, and then using them to scout the city in order to get any information. Zhula may be young as a war leader but she was one of the many that were born into knowledge, unlike the past generation before her.

And to her taking the City of Lugenstan is nothing but a way for her race to survive. After all, even a ‘barbarian’ like her wants to live. Hence, they would do anything to survive. It may be called evil to the eyes of the humans. But to her, this was nothing but a volition to live.