Chapter 17 Sixty Years Stalemated
Darius stood on the ridge overlooking the silent battlefield as soldiers slowly regained consciousness and stumbled back to their lines. Veth watched him with crossed arms, clearly amused.
"So?" Veth demanded. "How exactly do you plan to win my war, little prince?"
Darius did not answer immediately. He studied the two opposing camps in the distance. One flew faded blue banners, the other worn crimson. Both sides moved with the same exhausted rhythm.
"I need to see more," he said. "Both sides."
Veth laughed. "You want a tour? Fine." She gestured lazily and the air shimmered. Suddenly Darius and Mara could see clearly into both command tents as if standing inside them.
In the blue camp, the general counted coins while his officers argued over supply lines. "Another season of fighting means another season of royal funding," the general said with a smirk. "Keep the casualties high enough to look serious, but not so high we lose our bonuses."
In the crimson camp, a similar scene unfolded. Their general toasted with his aides. "The king needs this war to continue. It keeps the taxes flowing and the people distracted. Peace would ruin us."
Darius watched both sides in silence for a long time. "The war stopped being about territory or ideology decades ago."
Veth grinned. "Of course it did. Victory would bore me to death."
Mara spoke quietly beside Darius. "The soldiers no longer remember why it began. Most were not even born when the first battles started."
Darius nodded. "Generals profit from extended contracts. Kingdoms depend on war taxes. Merchants sell weapons to both sides. Even the common soldiers... they fight because fighting is all they know now. The war has become self-sustaining."
Veth stepped closer, her massive frame casting a long shadow. "Exactly. I keep it going because endless conflict feels good. Victory? One side wins and everything gets quiet. Boring. I hate boring."
Darius rubbed his jaw, eyes still moving between the two camps. "So the system feeds you. The generals, the kings, the soldiers, they all need this stalemate to continue. No one actually wants it to end."
"Correct," Veth said proudly. "I have built something beautiful. Sixty years of perfect, balanced war. No exit. No resolution. Just glorious, endless fighting."
Mara turned to Darius. "Are you trying to save them?"
Darius shook his head. "No."
He paused, then continued. "I’m trying to remove the structure that feeds this."
Veth raised an eyebrow. "Remove the structure? You think you can just... end my war by talking?"
"Not by talking," Darius replied. "By making the war itself irrelevant. If the generals stop profiting, if the kingdoms no longer need the taxes, if the soldiers lose the hunger you give them... then the whole system collapses."
Veth stared at him for a long moment. Then she threw her head back and laughed, loud and genuine. "You are insane. I love it. No one has ever tried to make my war boring on purpose."
Darius looked at her directly. "You say victory would bore you. But what if the war itself became pointless? What if there was nothing left to sustain the fight? Would you still enjoy it then?"
Veth’s eyes narrowed with dangerous interest. "Careful, prince. You are stepping on very dangerous ground."
"I know," Darius said. "But traditional victory is impossible here. I cannot beat both armies. I cannot kill you. So I have to change the game entirely."
Mara watched him closely. "This is a much larger challenge than surviving me."
"It is," Darius agreed. "But it is the only way forward."
Veth paced in front of them, armor clanking. "The empires will never agree to peace. The generals are too comfortable. The soldiers only know war. Even if you somehow convinced one side, the other would keep fighting."
"Which is why I will not ask for peace," Darius said. "I will make peace irrelevant."
Veth stopped pacing. "You intrigue me, Darius Valeborn. More than I expected. Very well. Show me this grand plan of yours."
That night, under a blood-red moon, Darius stood at the edge of neutral ground between the two camps. Torches flickered in the distance from both sides.
He turned to a nervous messenger who had approached under white flag. "Tell both generals I request a meeting. Tonight. At the same time. Neutral ground. No weapons. No armies. Just them."
The messenger paled. "Both generals? At the same time? They will never agree."
"Tell them the Plague Goddess and War Incarnate are watching," Darius said calmly. "And that refusing is no longer an option."
The messenger swallowed hard and ran off toward the camps.
Mara stood beside him. "You are forcing them together."
"Yes," Darius replied. "Time to start removing the structure."
In the distance, lights began moving in both command tents. The two enemy generals were being summoned at the same moment.