Rose Empire

Chapter 50: Apo and the Wall of Fire

Stripped of his possessions, Apo was a humble citizen of Little Sassinian, yet his name held special significance for its people.

Little Sassinian was once an unremarkable city-state on the Sokya Peninsula. Situated in a remote corner, it was largely forgotten by all except its larger neighbor, Sassinian, and Ambratu, which considered it a nuisance.

That was until several decades ago, when a young man from Little Sassinian rallied his friends and led them out of the city-state. They dyed their leather armor red with madder root and called themselves the Crimson Armor Mercenaries.

That young man was Apo, just eighteen years old. From that point on, Apo led his Crimson Armor Mercenaries through countless battles, both large and small, defeating numerous formidable opponents. The Crimson Armor Mercenaries rose to fame across the Sokya Peninsula, and with their ascent, so did Little Sassinian.

Previously, many city-states on the Sokya Peninsula were unaware of Little Sassinian's existence. Its citizens, when traveling, often avoided trouble or concealed their origins by identifying themselves as being from Sassinian.

But after Apo's rise, the people of Little Sassinian proudly proclaimed their heritage. When foreigners asked, "Where is Little Sassinian?" they would often laugh at their ignorance, exclaiming, "What? You don't know Little Sassinian? Apo is from Little Sassinian!"

One man defined a city.

This was the prevailing sentiment in Little Sassinian regarding Apo.

That was until three years ago, when Apo answered the Senate's call and led the Little Sassinian citizen-soldiers to the frontlines of the Aye Alliance.

However, this campaign appeared to mark the end of Apo's military career.

The war between the Aye Alliance and the Delmo Alliance suddenly intensified. The Aye Alliance's forces suffered repeated setbacks and were on the verge of being encircled by the enemy. To cover the retreat of the alliance's main forces, Apo made the difficult choice to lead the Little Sassinian citizen-soldiers in a rearguard action.

Five hundred citizen-soldiers, including Apo, fought against twenty thousand Delmo Alliance troops for a full day and night. In the end, only four were captured; the rest perished in battle. Apo, severely wounded and unconscious, was among those taken prisoner.

These five hundred citizen-soldiers were all superhumans, carefully selected veterans. Their complete annihilation dealt a devastating blow to Little Sassinian.

When Apo and his surviving comrades were eventually released and returned to Little Sassinian, they were met with the fury of the Senate and the Citizen Assembly.

The Senate and Citizen Assembly stripped Apo of his citizenship and all his possessions, banishing him from Little Sassinian.

From that day forward, Apo wandered the Sokya Peninsula.

Most of Apo's closest companions, the core members of the Crimson Armor Mercenaries, had also died in battle, forcing the mercenary group to disband. Apo himself was no longer young, and the wounds he had sustained in battle continued to trouble him. He was reduced to taking on light, low-paying mercenary work just to survive.

Meanwhile, the citizens of Little Sassinian who had exiled Apo gradually began to regret their decision. Wherever they went, foreigners would invariably ask, "Where is your Apo?"

Although the war three years prior had nearly decimated Little Sassinian's elite forces, Apo's decision in the rearguard action had been strategically sound. He had successfully delayed the Delmo Alliance's main forces for a crucial day and night, causing the enemy to miss a golden opportunity to annihilate the Aye Alliance's main army.

Many city-states within the Aye Alliance were deeply grateful for Apo's sacrifice.

Furthermore, despite being the apparent "victims," Apo and his soldiers' bravery had earned the respect of the Delmo generals, which was why they had been released unconditionally. Consequently, the member city-states of the Delmo Alliance also held Apo in high esteem.

After a year of internal debate, spurred by the younger generation, the Little Sassinian Senate finally decided to restore Apo's citizenship. However, his confiscated property was not returned. As a result, Apo continued his life as a wandering mercenary, never returning to Little Sassinian.

But when Little Sassinian faced a grave crisis, Apo returned.

In truth, the condition of Little Sassinian's citizen-soldiers mirrored that of Ambratu. Years of war had nearly exhausted their strength, leaving everyone weary. In fact, Little Sassinian's situation was even more dire than Ambratu's, as their elite forces had been wiped out in the war three years earlier.

Yet, when Apo roared, "Follow me!" the Little Sassinian citizen-soldiers found their fighting spirit rekindled.

"Open the armory and have the citizen-soldiers replenish their weapons and armor."

Apo began calmly directing the officers, just as he had three years prior when leading the troops to war. The only difference was the visible toll of age on his features.

"Yes."

An officer saluted and departed.

"Notify the shipowners docked at the port to have all vessels leave the harbor," Apo continued.

"Yes."

"Have the rowers and sailors board the warships and prepare them at the docks!"

"Yes!"

One by one, the officers received their orders and left.

Apo paused for a moment before turning to an elder. "Evacuate as many residents as possible from the inner city to Mount Wei City. Those who can't make it… let them flee south to Sassinian. Take as much livestock as you can."

The elder was taken aback and hesitated. "You intend to…"

"Yes, my plan is to abandon both the outer and inner cities and only defend Mount Wei City," Apo affirmed with a nod.

"Why would you do this?" The elder couldn't help but question, as abandoning the outer and inner cities meant surrendering eighty percent of Little Sassinian.

In the past, Apo, the commanding general accustomed to unquestioning obedience, would have scoffed at explaining his strategic decisions. But having endured considerable hardship and pain, Apo had changed. He patiently explained his reasoning.

"The Senate must have noticed the unusually rapid mobilization of Ambratu this time. The incident where Ambratu citizens were burned to death happened only five days ago. It takes time for news to spread, for discussions to be held, for generals to be appointed, and for soldiers to be conscripted. By my calculations, Ambratu must have decided to mobilize and issue conscription orders on the very day they received the news. Why such haste? The only logical explanation is that Ambratu intends to launch a surprise attack, catching us completely off guard."

"However, a significant portion of Lan Bay's southern coastline is under our control. If the Ambratu army advances along the coast, our ships will spot them. Our fleet can not only detect them but also harass the enemy, slowing their progress. In that scenario, their surprise attack would be futile."

"We understand this, and so must Ambratu. Yet they still opted for a surprise attack. If this isn't due to the Ambratu commander's incompetence, then it must mean they plan to take a route our ships cannot detect."

"A route our ships cannot detect?"

The elders of Little Sassinian fell into thoughtful silence.

Apo, meanwhile, turned his gaze towards Mount Bian, which loomed behind Little Sassinian.

Noticing Apo's expression, an elder asked in disbelief, "Are they coming over the mountains?"

Between Ambratu and Little Sassinian lay two formidable mountains: Mount Mashou, closer to Ambratu, and Mount Bian, behind Little Sassinian. While not towering peaks, their rugged terrain, characterized by steep cliffs and sheer drops, made large-scale troop movements exceedingly difficult.

The elder's expression shifted – difficult didn't equate to impossible. If Ambratu's forces were indeed traversing the mountains, defending the inner city would be virtually impossible. The inner city's walls were already low, and if Ambratu attacked from higher ground, the weakened Little Sassinian forces would be unable to hold their position.

"What should we do?" the elder asked nervously.

"Our forces are insufficient to defend the inner city. I'll leave the task of evacuating the civilians to the Senate. While they evacuate, please gather as much firewood and oil as possible in the inner city," Apo said calmly. "We must sacrifice the inner city to create an opportunity… to utterly destroy Ambratu."

The elder nodded and immediately departed to carry out Apo's instructions.

"Sandro, Dean," Apo called out two names.

Two weathered old citizen-soldiers stepped forward. Three years prior, they had been captured alongside Apo and later released. For defending Apo in the Citizen Assembly, they too had been exiled from Little Sassinian.

"I have two near-suicidal missions for you," Apo said somberly.

The two old soldiers exchanged a look and then chuckled.

"General, you didn't call it 'near-suicidal' three years ago," Sandro chuckled.

"Yes, back then you said it was a 'certain death' mission. This time sounds much safer," Dean added with a grin.

Apo couldn't help but smile at their banter before continuing, "In any case, your missions are of the utmost importance…"

Meanwhile, in Mount Mashou, an army was on the move.

Had the elders of Little Sassinian been present, they would have observed that while the march was arduous, it wasn't as insurmountable as they had imagined.

Antanas glanced back at his troops and then at the black, hand-shaped pendant on his waist, feeling another surge of excitement.

This hand-shaped pendant was called the "White-Headed Ape's Claw," a crudely crafted artificial miracle item. The white-headed ape was a unique species native to the Kingdom of Lesare, spending its entire life on cliff faces and capable of moving effortlessly on near-vertical rock walls. The "White-Headed Ape's Claw" granted its wearer enhanced mobility in mountainous terrain, and the nobles of Lesare had slaves wear it to harvest rare herbs from cliffs.

Crossing two mountains to launch a surprise attack on Little Sassinian had been Antanas's plan since his initial election as an elder. He had been quietly stockpiling "White-Headed Ape's Claws" from Lesare, patiently waiting for the opportune moment.

Three years ago, when news reached him of Little Sassinian's elite forces being decimated, Antanas knew his chance had arrived.

Now, after more than a decade of meticulous planning, his scheme was finally being executed. How could Antanas contain his elation?

His only regret was that even after such extensive preparation, he had only managed to accumulate slightly over four thousand "White-Headed Ape's Claws." This expedition involved more than seven thousand citizen-soldiers, meaning not everyone could be equipped with one.

But Antanas couldn't dwell on that. In his estimation, as long as thirteen hundred superhumans suddenly appeared behind the unprepared Little Sassinian, victory was practically assured. He urged the citizen-soldiers and mercenaries to quicken their pace, though occasionally, those without the "White-Headed Ape's Claw" would lose their footing and plummet down the cliffs, their desperate cries echoing through the mountains.

The mood within the marching column grew increasingly somber.

In truth, these deaths couldn't be entirely attributed to Antanas. If the citizen-soldiers hadn't been so sluggish during assembly, wasting nearly an entire day, Antanas wouldn't have had to push them so relentlessly. The main march could have taken place during daylight, making the treacherous mountain paths considerably safer.

After a grueling day and night of forced marching, the Ambratu army finally reached the northern side of Mount Bian by the afternoon of the second day.

Panting heavily, Antanas gazed southwest towards the foot of the mountain, where he could make out the inner city of Little Sassinian. Following a night of physically and mentally exhausting travel, the Ambratu citizen-soldiers broke into excited, triumphant smiles.

"Charge down! Kill every last one of them!" Antanas drew his sword, his aged face flushed with excitement.

The Ambratu citizen-soldiers and mercenaries roared with cries of victory and vengeance as they surged down the mountainside.

Ambratu's forces arrived sooner than Apo had anticipated, and not all of Little Sassinian's inner city had been evacuated. The low walls of the inner city offered no resistance to the superhuman soldiers descending from the mountains. Utilizing their elevated position, they leaped into the city and began the slaughter.

Two centuries of conflict between the two city-states had eroded any semblance of morality or humanity. The Ambratu citizen-soldiers killed indiscriminately men, women, children, even infants in their cribs. The twisted faces of the butchers and their bloodied spears became the final images of these tragically short lives.

"Close the gates!"

On Mount Wei City, an elder gritted his teeth and issued the command.

"Elder, there are still many people outside! Wait a little longer!" a young citizen pleaded.

"It's too late," the elder said, closing his eyes and shaking his head. "If we don't close the gates now, the Ambratu forces will break through."

The heavy gates were slammed shut, and the thick bolts were driven into place.

Those on the walls of Mount Wei City could only watch in agony as their fellow citizens were massacred in the inner city.

As the commander, Antanas maintained some clarity amidst the carnage. He quickly realized that his troops encountered virtually no resistance in the inner city.

Unseen by Antanas, as the Ambratu forces rampaged through the city, a fleet of over a dozen warships from Little Sassinian had already departed the harbor. However, he also understood that such slaughter was a waste of time and ultimately meaningless, so he turned his attention towards Mount Wei City.

"Regroup and take Mount Wei City," Antanas ordered.

The Ambratu citizen-soldiers swiftly assembled. Their success in breaching Little Sassinian's inner city had significantly boosted their morale, and they moved with renewed urgency.

However, as the Ambratu forces prepared to attack, a barrage of flaming arrows rained down from Mount Bian. The arrows quickly ignited the poorly fireproofed shanties in the inner city.

Over the previous night, the people of Little Sassinian had transported vast quantities of straw and wool into the inner city. The small fires rapidly spread, escalating into a raging inferno.

Mount Wei City was built on Mount Bian, with only one gate facing the front of the city. The path to the gate led directly through the inner city below. The flames engulfing the inner city effectively cut off the route to Mount Wei City, thwarting the Ambratu forces' attempt to attack.

Antanas ordered his troops to extinguish the fires or at least clear a path for their advance but the sheer volume of flammable materials in the city rendered their efforts futile. Before long, the entire inner city of Little Sassinian had been transformed into a massive bonfire.

The Ambratu citizen-soldiers and mercenaries were forced to retreat from the inner city.

Antanas stared at the towering wall of fire before him, his expression grim. He couldn't comprehend the reasoning behind the actions of Little Sassinian's people. Did they genuinely believe this fire would afford them enough time to alter their fate?

Above Lan Bay.

Knight Jack Moore, tasked with reconnaissance, flew his giant eagle past the midpoint of Lan Bay once more.

He yawned, anticipating that this flight would likely yield nothing of significance. But just as he was about to turn back, he spotted a fleet of twenty-oared warships on the sea, heading swiftly in a specific direction.

"That's a fleet from Little Sassinian? Their destination… is Ambratu!"

Jack Moore was shocked and immediately wheeled his eagle around, heading back to report to Charlotte at Lan Bay.

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