Sure, Midas wanted to sound like a saint. He wanted to be a ray of hope in the darkness of the shadow that he had cast.
This was the thod that won him over the mosquitoes after all.
However, he did not want anyone to mistake his intentions.
’If you side with , I will treat you like my child. I will make you feel loved and reward you for acting in such a way. But... I can not reward you, nor talk to you in the sa kind tone, if you go against . I must punish that behavior so that you don’t keep acting like it.’ This was Midas’s theory in his conversation strategy.
It was similar to conditioning a dog, only giving them the treat when they did what they were told.
Hearing Midas’s threat, a creepy and distasteful aura oozed out of both Dormon and Dorhal.
It was their killing intent. Both were separate feelings, but they made Midas understand their thoughts almost imdiately.
Both parties tensed up slightly as silence ensued.
"P-peace or war?" Dormon said, his tone skeptical and almost amused, "You co here... and have the gall to threaten ?" He stood up.
Midas’s eyes closely followed him, a serious gaze remaining in his pupils.
Dormon raised his hands out to the side, "You have slain my people, Midas!" He said in a louder tone, "You have already crossed the line!" He lowered his hands.
"Do not co here and pretend as though you are having a talk of diplomacy, you monkey! The war started as soon as you invaded my hostead and slaughtered my people! I do not need to choose between peace and war. You are the one who chose war already." Dormon said.
The crowd of orcs seed to share his sentint. After all, what he was saying made complete sense.
Dorhal glanced at this brother, ’What are you saying, Dormon? Do not be foolish here... are you asking for war?’ He thought.
Midas stood up as well, capturing all eyes.
"So you choose war then?" He simply stated.
"No... the ball is still in your court. You may choose peace, or war." Dormon said.
Midas narrowed his eyelids, "What do you an? What do you propose?" He asked.
"Despite choosing to attack us lethally, I am no fool to simply throw away lives in exchange for vengeance. I, too, propose peace to you, but not in the way you are imagining. I, Dormon of Karak-O, along with all other orcs within this valley, shall never surrender to you." Dormon said in a stern manner.
Gool and the others furrowed their brows.
’Tsk... this isn’t working. It seems that killing so many orcs may not have been the right plan.’ Gool thought, ’But then again, not doing so would probably place us in an even worse situation than we are in right now. Who’s to say that orcs would surrender just like the mosquitoes simply because we knocked them unconscious instead of killing them? Chances are, these orcs would act the sa as they are right now if we did that. The only difference would be that we would be at a far greater disadvantage when it ca to firepower.’
Knocking the orcs unconscious wasn’t an option either way, but Gool now imagined that Midas had made the right decision.
’I just need to trust that this will work.’ Gool thought.
"Instead," Dormon continued, "Our two nations, so to speak, can function alongside one another. A peace treaty, without the allegiance involved. Only a declaration of absolute cease-fire." He said.
Midas allowed for a silence to ensue. He did not speak, simply taking a deep and loud breath for all to hear.
"Hmm..." He finally said. "Absolutely not!" He stated.
Dormon’s eyelids flew wide open. The orcs behind him also gasped slightly with shock.
"What you said..." Midas paused again, "Truly touched my heart." He smiled, keeping eye contact with the orc king. "Indeed, you are correct in many ways. I did kill your kin... I started this attack abruptly, and yet, I now ask for peace like so sort of official diplomat. It all sounds too hypocritical and moronic." He paused again.
Then, his smile turned straight.
"It seems I’ve co at this conversation in the entirely wrong direction. I am no diplomat. I am... a king." Midas’s voice was low, yet powerful. "Since you want to talk in specifics, let’s be specific. Was it not your orc, Dormon, who attacked viciously on my first day on this island? Let’s say he was a rogue, for your sake. After all, I didn’t even have a single soul under my na back then. Was it not your kind, orc king, who attacked my goblin company? Who killed one of my goblins before my very eyes?"
Midas’s tone had completely changed. He was now speaking without a cloak over his voice. He spoke how he wanted and said what he wanted without hesitation.
"Did an army of orcs larger than the one you have behind you not march upon my hostead as well!?" Midas raised his tone, hostility slightly beginning to sneak through his voice. "They had intentions of slaughtering not only , but all those who live under my protection! And now, my ho is nothing but a large hole in the ground because of you all."
Midas stood and walked a few feet away from the fountain.
He faced the orc army behind Dorhal as he spoke.
"Who was it that truly began the war!? Are you telling that if I ca here with honest intentions, you would simply propose peace to ? I did not co here to offer you peace. Hell, the main reason I ca here wasn’t even to make your kind surrender to ..." Midas shouted into the air, his words carrying enough sincerity to sway the emotions of all those listening.
Even Dormon and Dorhal understood Midas’s perspective.
Despite his words, however, the last part of Midas’s statent was indeed a lie.
Above all other things right now, forcing the orcs under his wing was the main goal.
"I ca here mainly for self-defense. To make sure that you, the orc species, do not continue ravaging my land and my people without warning or cause. Do not pretend as though you have been attacked out of the blue, Dormon." Midas said.
Although this wasn’t actually the main reason Midas had co here, it was still a very important pillar of his goals.
"So... if you now understand where we both stand, then make your choice. As you said, the war has already begun. It began when your orc soldier first laid hands on . Choose now... do you want to end this war and live in peace, or do you want to get incinerated by fla and ashes?"
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