CONQUER -- 征服

Chapter Ⅵ - Night Fell

Potassium flew straight to his troops high in the sky, surveying every one of his soldiers who weren't aware that they would march into the capital at midnight that night. He was upset, nervous, worried and most of all, afraid.

His mind was clear. Since he had entered that house, there was no way back. It was a gamble, a big bet. If he won, he'd be the emperor; if he lost, he'd be a prisoner. But it was worth the risk. The lure of that shiny throne attracted him so much that deserved the risk of death. Now, the great chance was here, with over half of the imperial army supporting him. No one would be willing to be just a minister forever.

His cry in the street and speech in the house were cheats and lies to others. After he saw zillions of dead Potassium gods in that mysterious cave with Nature, he wasn’t guilt, angry, or sad. Instead, he was delighted, excited and even very grateful to the real murderer, Nature. His sympathy for the weak had completely rotted even when he was little. In that cruel world, strength means everything.

Potassium walked into the command room of his army and sat down on the chair. He stayed stationary doing nothing for a long time, looking at the dizzy sky outside the window and listening to the shouts of the training soldiers. He was waiting for the time to come.

Then it was time. The sun went down and night fell.

“Sulfur and Phosphorus.”

Right after he said that, two gods strode proudly ahead into the room and stood at attention in front of Potassium.

“Sulfur, gather all the soldiers here.”

“Yes, Marshal.” And the god named Sulfur marched out.

Though he was from a later generation, Phosphorus still had control of nearly forty percent of his element, so he was a lieutenant general.

“You know that, of all my lieutenant generals, I trust you most. Now, here is a mission. If you do it perfectly, you could sit on my seat.”

Phosphorus knelt quickly. “I do not dare to...”

“Yes, you do have the chance to sit here, but you should give me time to tell you your mission.”

Phosphorus kept silent and lowered his head.

“Come here.” Potassium unrolled a map of the capital and placed it on his desk. “I’ll give you five thousand elite soldiers. March into the capital from this door with the excuse of patrolling the city and lead them to engage Hydrogen. Remember, from then on, only I have the right of commanding you. Kill everyone who tries to stop you.”

“Yes, Marshal.”

Potassium stood up forcefully holding his sword and led Phosphorous out of the command room. He looked up to the sky. Hundreds and thousands of stars were twinkling their eyes at him. The Milky Way Galaxy seemed to be an arrow, pointing ahead determinedly and steadily. And the moon was a crescent, pure and bright, like a hook preparing to kill this Empire.

He looked down. Thousands of soldiers had already gathered. Their eyes were stern and brought much confidence to Potassium.

“Listen, my soldiers and you shall hear. The demi-gods nowadays had been oppressed by Chaos for all of their lives. We stood for that, for it was Chaos that brought us a united country, protected us from suffering the war between kingdoms.

“However, now he is dead and his two crazy children are more excessive than him. They try to take us as their slaves and try to take our freedom, our lives. Just this morning, one of his successors, Ice, asked me to create a powerful slave as a weapon by killing thousands of innocents. However, my conscience told me that to kill anyone without any reason is the act of devils. And whose conscience can bear this?

“And Lava, that evil witch. She tried to be the emperor by starting a huge war, which would split this world into chaos and endless war again.

“Why do we need an emperor who doesn’t love his demi-gods?

“Soldiers, follow me. We represent the justice, the supreme light, the fight for independence and for the happiness and freedom of everyone in this dark world.”

Potassium drew his sword with his right hand and pointed it toward the sky.

“We will be the brightest stars in the darkness after death.”

“Fight! Fight! Fight!”

“To save this world from darkness!”

“To save this world from darkness!”

“For the freedom of everyone!”

“For the freedom of everyone!"

The wind was roaring. The soldiers were shouting. The atmosphere was exciting. And the old man was sitting in that cave, smiling and nodding.