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Chapter 201  Face-to-Face

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When he thought about it, it made sense. Their invasion had already failed, and a defeat here could see many of them dying, with the remnants becoming slaves. Exile could see that Parthus had arranged the army\'s formation to place many warriors near the ships.

\'Why bother? Unless he expects to save his army.\' Exile became sure that was what Parthus was thinking. However, Exile did not like what that implied. After all, it meant that Parthus was confident in his ability to escape the situation they had put him in.

Eventually, a figure emerged from the enemy forces. Exile\'s eyes narrowed as he studied the man walking toward him. \'That must be Parthus.\' Exile sighed as he glanced at the luxurious golden robes and attire fit for the desert. Parthus\' dark skin, short dark hair, and neatly trimmed beard gave him a striking appearance.

Nobody accompanied him as he stared at the skardian forces with a confident expression. When he reached the middle ground between the two armies, he halted. Exile\'s eyes narrowed as Parthus raised his left hand in the air.

A disturbance swept the army behind him as they made a path. Five burly men carried a bound figure on their shoulders. When Exile saw the bear-shaped helm on the man, he knew it was Bjorn. \'Why didn\'t they claim his armour or weapon?\' Exile pondered as he nodded to Clay beside him.

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Clay gave the order to one of his followers to bring Randa forward. Exile had chosen not to leave the enemy hero among Harik\'s men. He wanted to keep the hero alive and well, with the hope of using someone to interrogate him so he could understand Parthus better.

However, he had too much to deal with in the past few days, and now it seemed the opportunity had passed him by. Once Randa was paraded in front of the Skardian army, Exile set forth to meet his opponent. The tension rose among those who could see the Gods. They had no idea what to expect, but they were curious about the meeting.

"You must be Exile." Parthus smiled warmly and held out his hand.

"That\'s me." Exile nodded as he shook the hand before cocking an eyebrow at the man who had been his opponent. "So, what do you want to talk about? It can\'t just be about our heroes."

"Of course not." Parthus scoffed before smiling again while studying him. "I think there are a few things we can discuss that will benefit us both."

Exile revealed a curious expression as he waited for Parthus to continue. However, Parthus surprised him by making a table and two chairs appear from a ring on his finger. Exile\'s curiosity burned at that sight as he studied the piece of elegant jewellery. No matter how much he stared at it, he could not understand what type of item it was.

"Interesting little thing, isn\'t it?" Parthus grinned as he rubbed it with his thumb. "Please take a seat."

Exile sat down as Parthus made a jug of wine, and two cups appeared from the same ring. He poured some wine for Exile before sitting down and enjoying the wine\'s aroma with a pensive expression.

"Tell me about your connection with the dwarves." Parthus said casually as he studied Exile\'s appearance.

Exile frowned at that question as he sniffed at his cup. He had to admit the sweet aroma it gave off was intoxicating. He took a slow sip while he studied the calm expression on Parthus\' face.

"Don\'t be coy. I can already surmise that you must have taken a second oracle." Parthus sighed as he drummed his fingers on the wooden table. "You\'ve achieved something I\'ve struggled with for some time. However, your appearance has me wondering if I\'ve been going about it wrong this whole time."

"Well," Exile coughed. "How about we discuss other things first before touching on those subjects? Like the exchange of our heroes and how you and your army will be leaving Skardia."

Parthus frowned as he saw Exile smiling at him. "Very well then. If we\'re talking about our heroes, I think a straight trade is fair. As far as I\'m concerned, they equal value as resources."

Exile nodded at that statement to show he agreed. The pair took a sip from their cups before eyeing each other again.

"As for our departure from Skardia." Parthus frowned as he considered the matter. "We can either have a bloodbath now, or you can freely let us go."

Exile shook his head as he spread his arms out wide. "I\'m afraid I can\'t let you just leave. You\'ve raided many regions only to lose to us. Would you let someone go without receiving compensation?"

Parthus remained silent for several minutes. However, Exile could see his thoughts churning in his eyes.

"What do you want?" Parthus asked as he stared into his wine.

"Everything." Exile grinned. "Everything you\'ve taken as spoils and any wealth you have stored on those ships. Oh, and let\'s set a non-violence pact between our people."

Parthus grimaced at those terms. However, he did not dismiss them right away.

"I\'ll return your wealth, but I won\'t give you everything. My NPCs still need to be paid, but I think we can spare a quarter of the wealth we brought along. This is my only offer on this matter."

Exile studied his opponent, but Parthus showed no signs of backing down in that situation. \'I guess it will have to do. If it leads to saving the NPCs then it\'s worth it.\' Exile had come to appreciate the value of NPCs as they were needed in almost every aspect of Pantheon Online. The repercussions of losing too many of them could be devastating. Besides, they had already paid enough in lives for the war.

"You have a deal," Exile said as he swirled the wine in his cup before downing the rest.

"Excellent. That deals with our departure and the heroes." Parthus smiled. "But, I don\'t know about sealing peace between our people. I may have underestimated Skardia and you this time, but that won\'t happen again. So why would peace be more beneficial than returning with a better-prepared army?"

"Because Skardia is united now." Exile grinned as he saw a glimmer of confusion appear in Parthus\' eyes. "When you launched your invasion, we were fighting a civil war. Skardia and the Pantheons were divided, unlike your country. If you had a hard time with us divided, what do you think will happen when you face a unified Skardia?"

Parthus hummed as he considered Exile\'s words. A dark look crossed his face as he calculated the costs of another assault. However, Exile could see that Parthus was not wholly convinced. So he decided to strike while the iron was hot.

"Of course, we can open trade between our countries. Imports and exports can bring a lot of wealth to help develop our lands. Your people would no longer have to worry about Skardian raids. You would gain an ally for future wars, and the best part is you can have your oracle twist it to sound like these favourable conditions are a direct result of worshipping you. Surely you\'ll want to solidify your rule?"

Parthus scoffed at Exile\'s speech, but he had to admit the offer had weight. There were plenty of pros and virtually no cons.

"Who\'s your strategist? No offence, but I know this doesn\'t come from you." Parthus cocked an eyebrow as he asked his question.

"Afraid I can\'t say right now." Exile grinned. He saw no point in denying that someone else was behind the strategies that defeated Parthus. However, he wanted to keep him guessing until it became public knowledge.

"Ok." Parthus sighed. "You have a deal. Let us consider the holy war over."

The two players shook hands to seal the deal. \'It could have been worse.\' Exile thought as he considered the two wars in their entirety. It had been a rough period that caused the players\' power to stagnate while dealing with the issues in the mortal realms. However, the end of those wars would see explosive growth for the Pantheons now that they could focus on other things.

\'After the meeting to decide the High King, I\'ll have Harik build coastal defences and a dedicated navy. We can\'t get caught off-guard and unprepared like this again. Maybe Bargrux and the dwarves can help with that.\' Exile sighed as he thought about the time he would have to spend in the dwarven kindom as a reward for helping to win the war.

"Now, about my first question." Parthus said as his eyes narrowed. "Is it as simple as taking a member of another race as an oracle? What I mean is, is that the only requirement?"

Exile shrugged at that question. Although they were allies now, he still did not want to hand the key to more power over to Parthus so easily.

"I got lucky. The dwarves came looking for me. So I can\'t say for certain that there are no other requirements."

Parthus sighed at that response. It was not the answer he had been hoping for.

"Well, I can\'t say it\'s been a pleasure, Exile. But I look forward to everything to come." Parthus smiled. "I\'ll release your hero as soon as I return to my people."

Exile nodded as he stood up and watched Parthus store the furniture back in his ring. As his opponent started to walk away, Exile coughed to get his attention.

"About that ring..."

Parthus grinned when he understood Exile\'s curiosity about that item. The winds blew across the coast as Parthus explained what it was...