The village next to them was not very far and in the darkness of the night, Felis and his men rampaged it. In order to increase his mayhem, he separated his men into two because he realized that so many men weren't required for slaughtering one village. And he was taking one village at a time.
One group led by Brix went towards the west where they would eventually meet with his remaining army, while he led the second group to go towards the capital.
With monks in his control, he was practically impossible. They were like a silent army that didn't know their full potential. Felis thought that he was going to gain control of Cetus Monastery and use the monks over there as his personal warriors once he ruled Araniea. He was surprised at the potential of the monks.
Once they split, Felis raided two more villages and was sure that his other team must have raided at least three villages because along the west border, there were small hamlets. According to the information he had from Menkar and his spies, now he was about ten villages far from the capital if he followed the same path.
However, the moon was descending on the horizon and if he had to make his plan successful, he had to hide. He didn't want to invade during the day as that would give advantage to the villagers. The only way would be to hide in the villages that he had already raided. So he decided to massacre another village and then hide in the ruins of it. If he was lucky, then his army was already marching inside and must be near him. He had asked his men to send him a message when they reached within a few miles of the capital.
So he attacked the next village and destroyed it completely, killing everyone in it. Along with his monks and Nyxers, he hid inside the ruins and derelict structures after he piled the bodies of the villagers on the entrance. He destroyed them so badly that they looked like they were victims of wild beasts. This was going to scare other villagers from coming near them. At the same time, he was sure that they would send the information to the capital.
In either way, they won't be able to send the information before the nightfall and that was enough for him to attack more villages. He was sure that his army would come and meet him by then.
"The king is going to kill all of us!" Kaitos said, as he sat in a demolished hut along with Felis. Felis was lying down on a bed, his tunic and trousers stained with all the bloodshed. "King Biham is an extremely powerful man. He has ties with the King of Draka. Can you fathom the powers of King Eltanin? He is a demi-god. His mother is a goddess and he has Alpha blood in him. You are leading all of us to doom!"
Felis turned to look at Kaitos and smirked. "Then should I tell you a secret, Kaitos?"
He carried on with mayhem and butchering village after village until he reached within a few miles of the capital. And that's where he saw his own army.
Brix came to meet him and updated. "We managed to ravage five villages, but after that there was not a single villager in their homes. It seems that they have all fled to the capital."
Felis scoffed. "Bloody cowards. Did you meet any fae?"
"No we didn't."
A satisfied smile crept on his lips. "I am sure they are dead by now!"
"Yes, Your Highness," Brix said. "Your magic worked beautifully!"
Felis gave him a superior look. "My magic doesn't fail."
"Then what are your orders now?"
"We all march to the capital."
"Yes, Your Highness." Brix turned to the commanders and ordered them to march to the capital.
Together, they all started their victory march towards the capital. The villages that they rode through were empty. Felis was pleased that he was able to scare them all. King Biham was such a wuss. He had no plans, no strategy. He was simply useless.
As Felis rode forward, leading his massive army, all at once he saw that the circles of fireflies that were buzzing all along the way, started to increase.