Chapter 12 The Oath Between the King and Yara
It's all over.
King Argos summoned Ara again in the palace.
Yara asked directly,
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"Am I worthy of being awarded the title of Golden Warrior?"
"Then are you willing to pledge your allegiance to me?"
"The prerequisite for becoming a Golden Warrior is..."
"Swear allegiance to me!"
King Argos's reply was tinged with irony.
From the moment he first saw Yara, and from the moment he saw Yara's intense, fiery gaze.
He knew this young man would never be content to be second to anyone...
Not to mention bowing down to him.
No one knows what he has seen or experienced... but no amount of wealth could move his heart, and no honorary award could tame his unruly will.
So much so that the King of Argos was convinced that even if he summoned the most alluring and beautiful woman in the entire kingdom...
It's unlikely that this would soften the heart of this upright man.
As for surrendering by force?
King Argos, though bloodthirsty, was not stupid.
There was only one thing that Yara cared about, and it was also the only card King Argos could play... Even if he couldn't use this card to completely subdue Yara, at least it could drive him to deal with those thorny problems that had troubled the kingdom and himself for a long time.
This might be the most powerful warrior in the history of the world.
For my own use for the time being.
"I know what you want."
"A remote fiefdom."
"And you, too, are not willing to pledge allegiance to me."
"You're right, you're a lion I can't control..."
"But at least."
"I can offer something that will move the lion's heart."
Yara demanded, "What exactly are you trying to say?"
King Argos reached out and touched his cheek, which was covered by a half-gold mask. The cold touch reminded him of some unpleasant memories...
He paused for a moment, then spoke to Yara below,
"Let's make a deal."
Yara remained silent.
King Argos snorted coldly, slamming his scepter repeatedly onto the marble floor, the clanging sounds echoing throughout the palace.
His voice was hoarse and deep, like that of an old raven, and he roared:
"I am the Lord of Argos!"
"Lord of War!"
"Everything I want comes from war, plunder, and invasion!"
"But only when facing you!"
"I'm willing to use the term 'transaction,' do you understand?"
Yara remained unmoved, raising her eyes to meet the gaze of the King of Argos.
The two men's wills clashed several times in an instant.
However, one was a king who rose from mountains of corpses and seas of blood to command armies, and the other was the first Messiah who had seen the Lord and received His anointing.
The two were evenly matched, and neither of them admitted defeat in terms of momentum for a moment.
In the end, it was Yara who spoke first: "State your conditions."
The King of Argos breathed a sigh of relief.
His eyes, which should have been calm and composed, now revealed a hint of expectation.
This was extremely rare; even the veterans who had followed him in his campaigns had never seen the King of Argos display such an expression...
His voice was aged and mournful. One would not have known beforehand that he was a cruel and inhuman widow.
Yara might even think it was an old beggar begging for something.
"Promise me three things... Yara."
"First...you must not lay a hand on me."
"Second... help me kill that monster in northern Nemea."
"Third... help me kill one..."
"Children of God!"
Yara considered it carefully, but did not agree immediately.
Nobody knows what this old guy is up to.
"The first thing I can do..."
"Second and third, you have to tell me what those things are."
"That monster."
"And the so-called offspring of God."
The King of Argos breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this, and explained,
Have you ever heard the story of the Nemean Lion?
Yara frowned.
"Of course, isn't this just a folktale that adults use to scare children?"
"Yes, but it wasn't fiction!"
"That invulnerable, incredibly strong lion monster really exists!"
"Years ago, it appeared out of nowhere, stretching across the northern part of the Nemean Plain, blocking our path northward... My caravans could not pass, my army could not advance..."
"It devoured all the people living nearby, polluted the water sources, withered the forests, and turned that area into a wasteland."
"Furthermore, its existence triggered some uncontrollable natural disasters, causing severe damage to the western region of the Nanemea Plain, with many villages and even city-states being destroyed..."
Yara was startled. He and the Canaanites had migrated from the west, precisely because of the natural disaster... Could it be that the natural disaster they suffered was caused by that monster from the north?
Have you tried to defeat it?
The King of Argos suddenly revealed a furious, bloodthirsty look in his eyes.
Half of his face was covered by a golden mask, and the other half was flushed red.
He angrily retorted, "How can you say there isn't?"
"I once dispatched an army of ten thousand, led by ten gold-ranked warriors and one hundred silver-ranked warriors..."
"This is a military force capable of destroying a country."
"And all I need to do is kill that monster!"
"Naturally, we can easily gain the submission of all the city-states in the entire Nemea Plain!"
"However, I underestimated that monster."
"Nearly ten thousand of my valiant warriors were all killed by that monster!"
"Not a single one survived!!"
"...This resulted in heavy losses for the Kingdom of Argos, so much so that it delayed Argos's conquest of the whole of Middle-earth..."
"It has become one of the nightmares that I can't shake off."
Yara listened, pondered for a moment, and then agreed.
"good!"
"I agree to this."
Yara was about to ask about the 'divine offspring'.
He was interrupted by King Argos.
He said, "The so-called 'heirs of the gods'... are more troublesome than the Nemean lions."
"And it concerns the gods, and me."
"You must prove that you are reliable enough before I can feel at ease."
"So, this will have to wait until you defeat the lion-like monster of Nemea..."
"I will tell you again."
Yara agreed, but he immediately said,
"Since this is a transaction, you must promise me three things."
King Argos glanced at Yara, raised his hand, and gestured for Yara to continue.
"First, authorize me to possess the land of Canaan."
"Secondly, Argos cannot send troops to attack Canaan."
King Argos narrowed his eyes slightly, but said nothing.
"Third, Canaan has the right not to respond to Argos's call to war."
Yara finished stating his conditions.
King Argos scoffed, "Then let's just split Canaan apart!"
"Then let the Nemean Lions forever occupy the northern plains!"
Yara retorted loudly.
Inside the palace hall, the sounds of their argument echoed incessantly.
The guards stood by in fear, terrified that the King of Argos might take up his sword in a fit of rage.
"Okay, that's settled."
"However, I need you to swear an oath for these promises."
King Argos seemed tired of arguing, or perhaps he was making some concessions, as he slammed his scepter and said.
"Make a vow to your God."
King Argos looked down at Ara from his high position.
Yara was startled.
He could not accept this request.
Any so-called oath, if it is witnessed in the name of 'the Lord', is invalid.
This is absolutely blasphemous!
The great ruler above that heaven.
They are the Lord whom we must worship...the faith that is not to be profaned!
Rather than a certificate of some kind of oath!
Then Yara had an idea...
He did not tarnish the name of the Lord.
Instead, they cleverly used the names of those so-called 'Olympic gods' whose existence is unknown.
Yara immediately drew his bronze sword, raised it high, pointed it to the sky, and shouted—
"With Zeus, the king of the gods, as my witness!"
"I, Yara,"
"And, King of Argos."
"We made three promises to each other!"
"If you disobey!"
"May the Olympian gods punish me!"
When the oath was made.
The echo reverberated between the palaces.
The wind chimes above the gate swayed incessantly.
Light streamed down from the skylight in the dome, forming a beam that illuminated the space between the two people.
Like a shadow of the past, or a sigh of a story.
And this is the story between the last King of Argos and the first Messiah...
The original vow.
...