Emery brought his three friends along with him, casting [Spatial Gate] to get to their destination.
They arrived on top of the mountains, looking down at the looming stone walls and the pit that had been created by Julian.
There, they all saw how all rebels were passing through, walking through a hole that had been carved out of the rigid stone wall.
As it was, it seemed that a good number of them had already passed through the hole sneakily in the middle of the night.
Making a hole in a wall that was made out of pure stone and snow was not the hard part; what was difficult was getting 40,000 people across that deep, wide pit that lies before the wall.
From atop the mountain, all four friends could see how exactly the rebels managed to do it. Apparently, they took the bodies of their fallen comrades into the pit, thus creating a gruesome yet impressive pile completely made up of frozen corpses, spanning about 10 meters deep and wide.
"Savages!" Julian shouted. "You have no respect for the dead!"
"No, no…" Thrax casually answered, "This is what we would call a meaningful death."
Julian approach Tharx and said
"You plan this from the start! You did it knowing I would be away from the wall during all this… You are… You are a damn smart barbarian!"
Emery and Klea shot each other a worried glance, concerned the two would start fighting. But apparently, Julian did not appear too bothered by the fact the rebels escaped his trap. Instead, he looked relieved.
"Seriously Thrax, I don't wish to see more people dying, but I can't betray my principles as well."
"Huh!" Thrax scoffed, as he rolled his eyes. "You and your stuck-up Roman principles."
The next thing Thrax said startled everyone, as his expression turned somewhat grim and his voice dropped to a serious tone.
"Julian, listen to me! The Roman system is broken! The way to fix it is to break it! Help me bring down the tyrant and give the people peace, free from slavery!"
Upon hearing this, Julian took a deep breath, looking more exasperated by the second. "It's not that simple, Thrax,"
His sentence was immediately cut short as Thrax roared back in reply. "But it is that simple! if you are by my side, together we can bring down the republic!"
Julian felt a burden descend on his shoulders. He was smart enough to know how broken the Roman senate was. The truth was, he did wish to fix them. That's why he wishes to be part of them and lead them by example.
Thrax's offer did sound tempting, but he knew for sure he couldn't accept. His ideals were too strongly rooted within him.
"Thank you for the offer, Thrax, but I can't" Julian said curtly, addressing him with a cold stare. "Think about it, what is your plan after we actually do bring down Rome? Who will lead it then? Spartacus, the breaker of chains?"
"I don't care, you can lead them if you want!" said Thrax, without any hesitation
"And how are we going to do that? With an army of uneducated rebels?! This will only bring chaos and more problems. The moment we bring down Rome will war be ended? Will slavery be gone? No! Another kingdom will quickly replace them"
Julian shook his head in disbelief before continuing. "Rome wasn't built in a day, its system is far from ideal, but it does work. I really believe I can make changes from the inside, slowly modifying the one that has already been implemented"
Finally, this was something that Thrax could not answer. He never really cared about ruling at all. The only reason he did this was to strive against the injustice that was rampant in the land. He cared nothing about what was to happen next.
"Now, what do you all think?" Julian asked.
As Julian said this, the pair turned towards Emery and Klea expectantly, urging them to state their opinion regarding the matter.
Klea casually answered, "Destroy Rome if you want, rebuild Rome, I don't really care, as long as you two stop fighting with one another!"
As for Emery, his position was the same as when he handled the 7 kingdoms, he always tried his best not to get involved.
All four of them possessed the same knowledge regarding the Magus Ethics and Principles from Magus Minerva. Emery just reminded them of the extent to which a Magus could really affect the world. The whole slave rebellion that could trample a nation was an example of that, without Thrax, such a thing would simply have been a distant dream.
"A Magus could become the key to the rise or destruction of a kingdom, so we should be wise about our actions."
Both Thrax and Julian agree about the certain limited contributions they should make toward the battle.
Thrax argued about Julian's use of magic in battles, while Julian argued Thrax should have not gotten involved at all with his crazy strength.
Klea suddenly interrupted in a serious tone "Emery, I disagree... I think we are chosen to do something… Why can't we get involved?
"Yes, Klea, I am not saying we can't be involved, but at the moment we are discussing the fall of probably the earth's biggest nation. If one of us got involved, then probably all of us need to be brought into the discussion. If not, it will only end up with us fighting among ourselves. Don't you agree?"
The four friends knew it would not be simple, but they understand and agree with it.
"Thrax, I am asking you now. Will you continue to be involved in the war with Rome? Even if it means more war coming with Rome or its enemies"
Thrax paused and a silence descended on the four of them before his solemn answer.
"Yes… I must see it 'till the end."
Emery then turned towards Julian. "And Julian, are you prepared to do whatever it takes to protect Rome even if it means fighting against Thrax?"
"Yes Emery, if Thrax is involved, then I will."
"Alright. Me and Klea here, I am sure Chumo will also agree that we don't want for you two to be killing each other and if none of you are willing to back down for this, then one solution will be voting."
Emery then asks Klea if she can choose which is in the wrong between Rome or the rebels but she decides not to give a decision on the matter. Although she knows about the tyranny of the Roman Republic and her hate upon their involvement in her country, Egypt After all is doing the same thing with slaves hence she can understand Julian's position on the matter.
As for Emery, he honestly has no real grasp on the matter enough to choose any sides. With both Emery and Klea having no argument on which side to win or lose then voting was not an option. Hence as examples of magus involvement in other words, the next solution will be a duel.
"So this is the idea, You two decide the fate of Rome among yourselves. Julian, if you win, Thrax will not be involved in the war and vice versa. Whoever wins will get all of our support. What do you think? With this, we at least can see none of you would kill each other"
Anyone hearing their discussion will think of them as an arrogant crazy group of people who play gods among nations, but this was what being Earth magus was all about.
Everyone seemed to agree and think this will be the best solution for all
"Duel it is then!"
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Written by Avans, Published exclusively by W.e.b.n.o.v..e.l,