Chapter 656: Chapter 656. Trial by Combat

The tribe members filled Bulo City’s castle. While they showed restraints outside because they considered most citizens their countrymen, they weren’t so inside the castle. They viewed this castle as being occupied by the enemy. Everyone was busy ransacking things in search of valuables. Castle dwellers who were still inside were captured to become slaves. They looked more like raiders than conquerors.

Amon ignored them. He asked one of the tribe members for their chief and was directed to the throne room. When he entered, he saw a commotion not too dissimilar to what he saw outside. These tribe chiefs were shouting at each other. Apparently, they were quarrelling about who would become the grand chief.

Amon sighed. He had expected this. He actually expected this to happen earlier during the meeting in Xinjian City before they started marching. When it didn’t happen, he thought that perhaps these tribe chiefs were tolerant about sharing power. It seemed that he had been too hopeful.

That’s why he approached only the Xan and Fen tribes at the start. All he needed was a figurehead, not an army. Two tribes were enough. But because of the Tribe Mother’s interference, many tribes ended up participating, which led to this conflict.

Amon told his squad to fetch something before approaching the quarrelling tribe chiefs.

“The Xun Tribe is the most senior! We can trace our ancestors back a million years! With such a grand history, it is only fitting that I be the grand chief!” One tribe chief declared.

“Don’t be ridiculous! What does the merit of the past have to do with our current time?” Another objected. “The Wulin tribe has the largest population. I deserve the Grand Chief position!”

“If you want to talk about merits, the Xan tribe should take the cake,” Xan Chi uttered. “We are the ones who fought the most against the corrupt royal court. My tribe members literally bleed for the old ways. I deserve the seat of the Grand Chief!”

“Pah! Your ancestors were among those who supported the royal court. You only fight for the old ways after your father was smeared and persecuted by those slave-lovers. You only do this out of revenge! You were never truly dedicated to the old ways. You have no right to be the Grand Chief!”

“How dare you question my dedication! I challenge you to a death match!” Xan Chi exclaimed.

“Do you think I’m afraid of you, pup?!” His opponent challenged back.

The shouting match intensified with more joining in to either support or claim their own rights to the prize. It was only when they heard the loud sound of something breaking that they stopped speaking and turned in the direction of the sound. What they saw was Amon standing beside Kazhan’s broken throne.

“No one will be sitting in this throne, that’s for sure,” Amon said. He began levitating and floated toward them.

The tribe chief of the Xun Tribe, named Xun Qiang, said, “General Amon. We respect you as an ally in this war, but please don’t forget that you are an outsider. This is our internal matter. Please stay out of it.”

“Oh, really? Did you forget already that the Tribe Mother demanded that you cooperate with me? Not with each other, with me!”

The mention of the Tribe Mother turned everyone solemn. Everyone who followed the old ways respected the Tribe Mother. Her prophecies were never wrong. All these tribes believed they would be struck by bad omens if they defied the Tribe Mother.

Amon brought up the Tribe Mother on purpose. Mentioning her gave him power over these superstitious tribe chiefs.

“Do you think this country is already yours? Did you forget who the current ruler of Kazhan is? Does the easy triumph over this capital erase the royal army from your mind? Are you celebrating before the real battle even begins?!”

Amon’s questions brought them back to reality. Occupying this capital was only momentary if they couldn’t keep it. Before long, the royal army led by Kazhan’s king, Shou Zou, would return to reclaim this capital.

The official news mentioned that the king departed for Gyleth Marx with an army of one hundred thousand troops. Of course, the long campaign should have surely ground that number down, but new soldiers were continuously recruited from all over the country and sent as reinforcements to replenish the number. So, the size of the royal army should still be considerable. If they only relied on their tribes, they would be easily squashed the moment the royal army returned.

Amon hammered down this fact when he resumed his speech.

“Finally, do you think you can hold on to this capital without me? Without my army? Do not forget who makes all this possible! It is I who brings you all together. Without me, you will still be spending your pathetic days in hiding, only dreaming about returning to the old days. I am the one who gets you one step closer to that dream!”

Amon stopped speaking and stared at them. Most were too ashamed to return his gaze. Some seemed to remain defiant, but they didn’t dare say anything.

Amon continued, “I do agree that we should settle the question of how to deal with the power distribution after we overthrow the current royal court. Here is my suggestion. Since you all fight to return to the old ways, it is obvious you will have to rebuild the conclave.”

Amon gestured to the back of the room. Everyone turned and saw that Echos’ soldiers had brought in several tables and arranged them in a circle. Ten chairs were placed around these tables.

“The old conclave consisted of ten great tribes. Each tribe had one representative in the conclave. Since you are fighting to reestablish the old ways, you should honor these old rules and emulate them.”

“But… we have eighteen tribes among us,” One of the tribe chiefs said.

Amon smiled. “As I said, since we are honoring the old ways, we should, of course, choose those who sit on the conclave using old rules.”

“You mean…”

“Trial by combat!” Amon exclaimed.

“You asked us to fight among us to decide the ten tribes who may sit on the conclave?” Xun Qiang asked.

“Well, I guess we are having a death match, after all,” Xan Chi uttered in amusement.

“Why don’t we just increase the conclave membership to eighteen tribes?” Another asked. “That way, everyone can join.”

“Having too many members means a greater chance of disagreement. It will slow the decision-making process considerably,” Amon answered. “Frankly, I thought ten is already too many, but we are honoring the old ways, aren’t we? The old conclave has ten, so the current one should have the same.”

“I agree,” Fen Nu uttered. “However, if we have a trial by combat now, won’t that just benefit our enemy? The old trial of combat to earn the right to sit in the conclave is a fight to the death between the tribes’ representatives. We will, of course, choose our best for the trial, but that will reduce our fighting power in the coming battle.”

“Then, we will carry out the trial of combat after we defeat Shou Zou’s army,” Xun Qiang said.

“I have a better proposition,” Amon told everyone.

Everyone turned to him. “Let us hear it, General Amon.” Their demeanor now showed more respect than before.

“We are following the old ways by conducting a trial of combat, but we don’t have to use the same method,” Amon said. “Our current situation is unconventional, so I think it is acceptable to stray a bit from tradition. My proposal is this. We conduct the trial of combat during the battle against Kazhan’s royal army, and every warrior from the tribe can participate.”

All tribe chiefs displayed confused expressions. “How do we do that?” Fen Nu asked.

“Whichever ten tribes that slay the most enemies will earn a seat in the conclave,” Amon answered. “The first rank among the ten will earn the right to be the Grand Chief for the first five years of the new conclave.”

Everyone looked at each other. They thought it was a good idea. It avoided bloodshed among the tribes. This meant it also avoided bitterness and animosity between them. After all, not everyone could accept having their tribe members killed in a trial of combat with an open heart, even if it was done fair and square.

“One problem with that suggestion, though,” Xan Chi said. “How are we going to keep track of everyone’s kills? Even if we appoint someone to keep track of each tribe, how can that person focus on counting during the heat of battle?”

“There is also the probability that the person is killed, and the record destroyed,” Fen Nu added. “What then? You can’t trust the respective tribes to report their own achievements, can you?”

Amon smiled. He gestured. A battle puppet among his squad came forward. “My battle puppets already recorded the identity of each of your tribe members during our march. They can differentiate between your members. I have more battle puppets than your tribes’ combined warriors. I can pair each tribe member with a battle puppet. They will record the kill count during the battle. Of course, I will have the same grade of battle puppets for every member, and these puppets will serve as support during the battle.

“Unlike humans, the battle puppet won’t be distracted. They can fight while keeping watch. Even if they are destroyed, they have mind links. So, the record will not be lost, and the destroyed puppet will immediately be replaced by another nearby puppet.”

The tribe chiefs looked at each other again. After several seconds of silent exchange, one of them said, “All right, we will decide who sits on the conclave that way.”

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