Ancient Imperial Calendar Year 1831
After Ricardo's victory, the Ashterah armies also continued their advance at full speed.
While Ashterah Dynasty Lord Marco and his son Hakuda continued on their path with victories and conquests, news arriving from the north dampened the morale of both.
The news of Brian Ashterah's death.
Marco couldn't digest the news of the death, talking to himself.
"I still can't believe it. We grew up together. We were side by side in every war and peace. At our weddings, at the births of our children, in every moment, we were like brothers. And he is dead."
Hakuda was standing right next to his father. The unexpected news of Brian's death had deeply affected Hakuda, though not as much as his father.
"I understand you, Father. For as long as I can remember, Brian was always by my side. He trained me, my older brother, and my younger brother. The fact that we will never see him again is so painful."
Father and son were mourning, but the situation they were in did not allow them to grieve.
An Ashterah soldier from outside the Dynasty Lord's tent was asking permission to enter.
"Dynasty Lord, may I enter?"
Hearing the voice, Marco and Hakuda quickly composed themselves.
Even if they were sad, they were the ruling Dynasty of the Eastern Lands; they had to be noble and graceful.
Marco spoke with an authoritative voice.
"Enter."
The Ashterah soldier entered the tent, knelt, bowed his head, and extended a letter with both hands.
"A report has arrived from the reconnaissance units in the east, Dynasty Lord."
Marco took the report from the soldier's hand and commanded in an authoritative voice.
"You may leave, soldier."
"As you command, Dynasty Lord."
When the Ashterah soldier left the tent, Marco and Hakuda dropped their serious and noble demeanor, returned to their sad and mourning state, and sat down on a chair.
"What does the report say, Father?" asked Hakuda.
Marco opened and read the report.
"The remnants of the Costin armies we fought and defeated last year have regrouped and are advancing towards us, my son."
Upon hearing the footsteps of the approaching battle, Hakuda eagerly stood up.
"This is wonderful news! A battle where I can vent my anger and sorrow is coming. What more could I ask from Sihao?"
When Marco heard the name of the God he believed in from his son, a spark of faith ignited within him.
"Come, my son, let us pray. Let us pray that the Souls of all our fallen friends reach Sihao under the guidance of the Guide of the Sacred Path."
Hakuda eagerly moved to his father's side. Father and son knelt and prayed together.
A few weeks later
The Ashterah armies and the Costin armies came face to face.
As a result of the battle they had fought with the Ashterahs the previous year, the Costin armies had lost one million soldiers, leaving one and a half million soldiers.
The Ashterahs, in that same battle, had lost only three hundred thousand soldiers, and during the conquests and massacres, they had lost another one hundred thousand soldiers.
In this battle, the Costin armies numbered around one and a half million, while the Ashterah armies numbered around one million six hundred thousand.
The Supreme Commander of the Costin armies was Arslan Costin, the son of Kaan Costin, who was killed in the Battle of the Red Grasses. He was determined to avenge his father.
"We have lost this war. The Kislavein armies will probably enter Costinapolis next year, and the Costin Dynasty will come to an end. But if I can at least destroy the Ashterah armies, I will both avenge my father and instill courage in the people of the Central Lands."
Arslan was determined, yet hopeless.
"We have lost this war. We are losing this Homeland, which our ancestors gifted us a hundred years ago with the sacrifice of hundreds of thousands of martyrs. I wonder, if we had never entered the civil war, or if that son of a bitch, the former Dynasty Lord, had never come to power, would things be different now?"
Arslan snapped out of these long thoughts and returned to the battle and reality.
"Probably not. No matter what we did, we couldn't have defeated the Kislavein Dynasty Lord and his army. But at least let's inflict as many losses as we can, so that we may open the door to our allies' victories."
Arslan drew his sword and pointed it at his enemies.
"MY SOLDIERS! THE INVADERS WHO COVET YOUR INDEPENDENCE AND THIS HOMELAND, GIFTED TO YOU BY THE BLOOD OF YOUR ANCESTORS, STAND RIGHT BEFORE YOU! A HUNDRED YEARS AGO, WE BURIED THEM ALL IN THE GROUND. WE CAN BURY THEM AGAIN! FOR OUR HOMELAND, FOR OUR FAMILIES, FOR OUR MARTYRS! ATTACK!"
The Costin armies launched an all-out attack on their enemies with an indescribable surge of emotion.
Marco commanded the Ashterah army.
"ATTACK!"
The Ashterah soldiers also attacked.
The two armies clashed; a bloody battle began.
The Costin soldiers were throwing everything into this battle as if they had no tomorrow.
The first and subsequent phases of the battle were in favor of the Costin soldiers.
Powerful figures like Marco and Hakuda had individually slaughtered close to a hundred thousand Costin soldiers, but it wasn't enough.
Led by their Supreme Commander Arslan Costin, the Costin soldiers advanced relentlessly, pushing the Ashterahs back.
Marco felt he might lose the battle and began devising plans to turn the situation around.
"This won't do. I must find and kill the one who instills this courage in them."
Marco created a small, sun-like sphere in his palm and released it into the sky.
When the small sphere rose into the sky, an eye-like shape appeared in its center.
Marco watched the battlefield through this sphere.
"Where are you, you damned man? Aha, there you are!"
"GOLDEN LIONS LEGION! FOLLOW ME!"
Marco, with his most elite warriors, launched an assault to kill Arslan. They cut down every Costin soldier in their path.
They advanced without stopping; they took losses as well as killing, but finally, Marco came face to face with Arslan Costin, the supreme commander of the Costin army.
There was no conversation; the two Supreme Commanders immediately began a duel, using all their Aura and Mana to the fullest.
This duel of the Supreme Commanders ended with Marco Ashterah's victory.
"I had thought that if I killed their Supreme Commander, they would all retreat. But, looking on the bright side, I have decapitated their command structure. Now the entire army cannot stay together for long and cannot fight effectively. Victory will be mine."
The following hours of the battle unfolded as Marco had predicted.
The Costin soldiers could not sustain their initial effective attacks.
The Ashterah army, on the other hand, was fighting more strongly and decisively, advancing faithfully towards victory under the leadership of their Dynasty Lord, Marco.
Towards midnight, the Costin soldiers began to flee.
"DO NOT PURSUE!" commanded Marco.
Hakuda objected to his father's command.
"Why, Father? While they're fleeing, let's kill as many as we can!"
"Look around you, Hakuda. Everyone is tired and exhausted. We have suffered too many losses. This is enough."
At the end of the battle, the Ashterah army had lost seven hundred thousand soldiers. The Costin armies had lost one million three hundred thousand soldiers.
This battle, in which two million people died, went down in history as the Battle of the Sason Highlands.
The Ashterah army would vent the pain of their losses in this battle by burning villages and cities and massacring civilian populations.
The few surviving soldiers had withdrawn to defend the Costin capital, Costinapolis.
Ricardo and Marco were advancing at full speed from the East and West towards Costinapolis, the heart of the Costin Dynasty. No force remained that could stand in their way.