Chương 62: Casus belli

June followed Leo out of the Tipi. The little man was seething; he was an Aspirant mage loved by the mana that personified itself as gravity, and the air itself seemed to physically grow heavier due to the mage's sour mood. A crowd of people gathered in the center of the blossoming camp, and wood and earthen walls shielded the encampment from immediate threats. Several shared Tipis were made, and people ranged from heavily armored to casually dressed. The last two days had been peaceful.

June may have done nothing big during that time, but his presence alone was enough to ward away the sole Dreamers or small factions without a Dreamer of their own. But all good things come to an end. Leo walked in front of a crowd, Leonard followed behind, and sprouted a stone step stool for Leo. Despite the short stature of Leo and his comical-sounding voice, people of the camp knew him and respected him enough to listen intently.

"Everyone, we have done a good job so far establishing a camp, our very own faction that our enemies steered away from."

"But all good things must come to an end. We have been attacked, and we lost 3 of our very best scouts to the scourge of another faction."

"We made alliances with several nearby factions, and a messenger also arrived a few moments ago."

"Some of our allies have betrayed us, some of our allies were betrayed."

"We will be moving our camp to a halfway point to collect the surviving refugees and prepare for a counterattack."

"Our very own Lord of Light will lead us to victory." He pumped his fist into the air and let out a battle cry, and unanimously, every other member of the encampment reciprocated his cry, turning it into a world shaking roar. June slowly pulled on Leo's robes and whispered.

"Leo, what do you mean by counterattack? I didn't even know we had allies? Or scouts?" Leonard placed his hand on June's shoulder.

"Just go along with it."

June was now leading a group of approximately 250 people out of the forest and into the plains, makeshift carriages pulled supplies along while plumes of smoke burned the remnants of old encampments. June was making it up as he went; he didn't know how or why people started calling him Lord Light, and he also didn't know why most people he met so far quietly joined his faction with awe in their eyes.

'I wish Leo, or Leonard, were here.' June walked a good distance in front of his retinue. He was the watchdog who was the first to dispatch threats or make contact with potential allies. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. The strongest fighters were scattered around the weaker bunch, but even then, the weakest people who survived until now were either incredibly cunning or skilled enough to defend themselves.

Leo followed along from behind the retinue guarding the rear, while Leonard followed along near the rear middle, guiding and instructing people. There was a line of messengers who were dispersed among the mob, but the second Leo, or Leonard, gave the word, the message would be distributed among the faction within minutes.

June was around a hundred meters in front of the retinue; a couple of mages and several archers followed him, the current employed strategy he and his cohort did was to blind anyone who approached and litter them with arrows if they were aggressive.

'Why! Why? Why? I could simply run away, but why am I the leader? Why am I even here still?'

'There were supposed to be 10, maybe even 20 people at the site.'

'Why were there 150 people?' The initial plan was to meet with a nearby allied faction and set up a camp, but it turns out that those allies told their allies, and so instead of adopting one faction, he ended up adopting six, so the location that they were going to settle the new camp in suddenly became insufficient, not to mention that the opposing factions were also gathering into larger factions nearby it. June wanted to tear his hair out and bury his head in the sand.

'There's no sand here…' After learning that their proposed camp spot wouldn't be capable of sustaining 200 people, one of the old leaders recommended another location, and while heading to that location, 50 more people joined the faction. The same issue occurred; the new location wasn't good enough, so now they are trekking to the plains to set up a base there.

'Why? Why? Why?' June was silently stressing out; he wasn't good in social scenarios, he would rather be with Lilia, and now he was the leader of 250 people. There were no other Dreamers so far in his faction, so everyone defaulted to him being the leader, even though all he does as the figurehead is fight and occasionally make decisions for the group.

'Leo, or even Leonard, would be a better leader than me.' June sighed and lifted up a palm to gesture at a tree.

"Red Mages, Fire!" A hunter, a ragged swordswoman, and an injured archer slowly came out from behind the tree with their hands up in that order.

"Whoa, whoa, don't shoot." June, with his palm still lifted, pointed his finger at a farther tree. Several fireballs flew past the hunter and their cohort and obliterated the range of trees behind them.

"Close your eyes." June opened his eyes, blinding the archer who didn't listen.

"Archers, Volley." June closes his eyes and walks past the cohort that approached. A volley of arrows was launched by a row of archers standing behind him.

"Volley 2" A second volley was launched.

"Volley 3" A third volley was launched.

"Archers restock, Red Mages Volley!" A series of mages shoot fireballs into the sky.

"Green Team, Fortify." June began walking to where the volleys were targeted.

"How does Lord Light have so much energy still?" It's been several hours since Eren, Ann, and Silvester were taken into the Lord of Light's faction. Eren stood on a small fortification with the rest of the spearhead. While Ann and Silvester were getting their wounds treated, he was given a temporary job to keep watch until they figured out where to place him and his cohort.

'The Lord of Light has been handling a hostile faction on his own for the last eight hours.' Eren eavesdropped on a nearby archer's conversation.

"He's been fighting without a break since the pilgrimage started."

"I know right? We should set up camp so he can rest." The Lord of Light was a nebulous figure shrouded in mystery who had been a popular topic for gossip among gladiator factions. Eren and his friends had joined a faction, and they were at peace for a few days until an aggressive mega-faction attacked. There were several other people left, but when they started getting chased, everyone scattered. The widespread rumors of the Lord of Light made him seem like a messiah to anyone who needed it.

'I can see why.' The rumors described the Lord of Light as a hero of justice, and unlike many other factions, he willingly took in anyone, whether they were mundane or not.

'…'

'It seems true, some of the archers here are mundane.' The rumors also described the Lord of Light as merciful to friendlies and ruthless to his enemies.

'My ears are starting to tingle.' Even though the battle was hundreds of meters away, the occasional scream or shockwave was heard. And eventually, nine hours since the fight began, and at the crest of dawn. Two golden eyes illuminated in the dark with a small entourage in tow.