Chapter 72: The Zargoth King and the Mysterious Golden Man
"Report!"
"Reporting to the Great Chanyu, our vanguard has lost all contact! Not a single horse has returned alive. I fear… I fear they've encountered a large Eclipse army and have been completely annihilated!"
After a long period with no news from the front, the main Zargoth forces suddenly halted.
It was unprecedented. The Zargoth of the grasslands had fought the Eclipse countless times ... even when faced with armies several times their size, not a single warrior would retreat without a fight. For their elite cavalry to vanish entirely… The Zargoth King fell into deep thought.
"Golden Man, let our Great Master reveal the truth! Nothing under heaven can be hidden from his eyes!"
After the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the Zargoth King made a shocking move: he ordered his shamans to unveil their people's greatest secret.
This army was personally led by the Zargoth King, and naturally, actions beyond the understanding of ordinary men were carried out to protect their barbarian ruler ... to ensure that his iron hooves could once again crush the lands of the Eclipse .
"Great King of the Zargoth! Our Master has sensed your sincerity! It is time to offer the sacrifice. Soon, he will reveal what has transpired!"
Before them stood a golden statue ... shaped like a small robot, with two crystal emeralds set in its head. The craftsmanship was far beyond anything human hands could produce, more akin to high technology than divine art.
"Very well. Offer all the sacrifices we've prepared for our Master. This time, we'll make sure he's satisfied!"
At the king's command, herds of cattle and sheep were driven toward the small golden figure, which stood about five meters tall. None of the soldiers suspected what would happen next.
"Piiip! Piiip! Piiip!"
As the crowd watched in surprise, a large opening suddenly appeared at the base of the golden statue ... wide enough for a full-grown cow to pass through.
"Bring in all the offerings, so our Master may taste this feast!"
What was going on? The Golden Man was only slightly larger than a normal human ... it shouldn't be able to contain even a few animals. Yet now, over a hundred head of livestock were being driven inside. Did these steppe barbarians not understand numbers?
And yet, after the cattle and sheep were pushed through the opening one by one, aside from the occasional pitiful cry, nothing else could be heard. The interior never seemed to fill. It was as if the space defied all physical laws ... a bottomless void.
"It's not enough! How could such a meager offering show our sincerity to the Master? Majesty, this is far from enough!"
At first, the Zargoth King doubted the words of the black-robed shamans, but once he witnessed the impossible sight of over a hundred animals swallowed into that bottomless black maw, he was speechless.
The location of the golden figure had been carefully inspected ... there were no secret passages or hidden chambers beneath it. And the black-robed sorcerers were highly respected figures; why would they risk their honor over a few herds of livestock?
"Bring more cattle! I want to see if this thing truly has no bottom!"
Though the Hunnic army had not brought much livestock, plundering was their way of life. The weak tribes of the steppe were easy prey ... a few hundred animals meant nothing to them.
Yet even after more than five hundred additional cattle and sheep were devoured by the golden figure, it still didn't appear full. Instead, the twin emerald lenses on its head began to emit curved beams of green light. The beams acted like a projector, displaying strange symbols ... reminiscent of the Cybertronian runes from the first Transformers movie ... and eerie battlefield images.
It was a scene of utter devastation. Zargoth warriors lay scattered across the ground as countless vultures and crows circled overhead, swooping down to feast on the dead. Judging by the markings on the corpses, these were the vanguard cavalry the king had sent out earlier. They had been completely annihilated.
"What is this? Is this… what our Master is showing us?"
The Zargoth King had never seen images like this before, though similar descriptions existed in the secret oral traditions passed down by his ancestors. It seemed that this Golden Man possessed powers far beyond human understanding.
In truth, it was simply ignorance ... if someone from the modern age were to witness it, they'd instantly recognize it as a form of satellite transmission, though the clarity of the image was astonishing.
"My esteemed shamans, tell me ... who has done this to my warriors? Don't tell me it was that brat General Rylen! I refuse to believe our mighty Zargoth cavalry could be destroyed by a mere boy!"
The Zargoth King's heart ached at the sight of such tragedy. Never had he imagined that his most loyal cavalrymen would fall so easily. He burned to know who had annihilated his brave soldiers.
"My king, this is all that your previous sacrifices have revealed. If you wish to see the image of your enemies, you must offer a greater, more valuable sacrifice. Surely, you understand what I mean…"
It was clear that the black-robed mage was scheming something. Hearing those words, even the king's face darkened. With a trembling wave of his hand, a commotion rippled through the crowd ... followed by the sound of chains dragging.
"Forward! All of you, forward! Slaves, it is an honor to offer yourselves to the King of the Steppe! Enter! Do not look back!"
Crack!
"AAAAHHH!"
A group of ragged human slaves, whipped and beaten, bound in chains, began marching step by step toward the abyss of death…
(End of Chapter)