War of Heroes

**The War of Heroes** is the name of the conflict in The Grey Witch Novel which occurred in the 510th year of the New Kingdom Calendar. It was a conflict that was initiated when the Marmo Empire invaded The Kingdom of Kanon as the first stage of the Dark Emperor Beld’s plan to conquer Lodoss. Valis and Flaim opposed the Marmo Empire and in the suburbs of Roid in Valis, a duel between the two leaders The White King, Fahn, and The Dark Emperor, Beld. Both heroes lost their life in action and the war was declared over. However, Kanon was still under Marmo’s control.

The Marmo Empire suddenly invaded the Kingdom of Kanon. This action initiated the conflict that would later come to be called the War of Heroes. Emperor Beld of the Marmo Empire had spent ten years accumulating power for his invasion of the main island of Lodoss. His purpose was the unification of kingdoms through force. And that goal was certainly within grasp, but how did Beld’s ambitions change to conquering Lodoss after he was revered as one of the Six Heroes during the Demon War? The reason was not clear. In the battle with the Demon King, a worshipper of The Dark God, Falaris, Beld was the hero that dealt the final blow and took the demon sword Soul Crusher as his own. However, there were rumours that he developed a fascination with the demons. There were also still conflicts between the countries of Lodoss, and Beld believed that the unification of the island would never be achieved through diplomacy. The Imperial Army of Marmo, led by Beld, overwhelmed the forces of Shining Hill. The Royal Castle of the Kingdom of Kanon and captured the capital almost instantly and the Marmo Empire took control of the land. With the increased resources and power that the empire gained from the rich land of Kanon, The Dark Emperor, Beld, continued his advance.

The next target of the Marmo army was the Holy Kingdom of Valis. In response to this invasion of Marmo, King Fahn of Valis, proposed to consolidate the power of the nations of Lodoss and mount an allied counterattack. It was Kashue, the "Mercenary King" of the Kingdom of Flaim that responded quickly to the call to arms. This was because he had formed an alliance with Valis immediately after the formation of the country. The Allied Forces of Valis and Flaim met the Marmo Army, but the advance could not be stopped, and eventually Valis' second largest city Adan, fell to the empire. However, Jester, Duke of the "Dragon's Eye" Highland of the confederations of Moss rushed to their aid with twelve fellow Dragon Knights. This completely changed the battlefield and dealt a substantial blow to the empires forces that had been deployed to the south of the country from their home country of Marmo. This action was not officially backed by the Confederations of Moss but was at Duke Jester’s discretion, who had acted on impulse when he learned of the injustice that had occurred. The arrival of the Dragon Knights also closed the border immediately after the fall of Kanon and help move the will of the people in the Kingdom of Alania, who were watching the situation, King Kadomos VII, who could no longer ignore their voices decided to send troops. In addition, the Confederations of Moss invoked the “Dragon Pact” and decided to participate in the battle against the Marmo. In this way, the forces of two powerful nations, Alania and Moss, joined the war. The Allied Forces succeeded in pushing the empire’s army back to the suburbs of Kanon’s Royal Castle Shining Hill.

**The Grey Witch's Dark Plan**

At the point where the Kingdom of Alania and the Confederations of Moss entered the war, strange incidents occurred in quick succession in the countries of Lodoss. First, in Alania, King Kadomos VII was assassinated by his younger brother, Raster. At the same time, Count Amonson of Novice, challenged the former kings younger brother to the right to the throne. This divided the country into two and initiated a fierce civil war. It also forced the armies of Alania to withdraw from the conflict with Marmo. Then, in the Confederations of Moss, the second largest city in Moss, "Dragon Scale" otherwise known as Venon invaded and supressed "Dragon Flame" Harkane, led by Duke Wehner. The royal family were murdered in Castle Grey Rock and Duke Wehner of Venon claimed lordship of the Duchy of Harkane. This action also plunged the region of Moss into an era of civil war, removing them from the war with the Marmo. In addition, King Kashue, who had himself took the lead in helping Valis was informed that there had been a major invasion from the Fire Tribe in Blade the capital of the Kingdom of Flaim. Thus, the armies of Flaim were divided and King Kashue made the decision to stay and fight against the Marmo Empire while sending troops back to defend his kingdom. Now only the armies of Valis and the depleted forces of Flaim were left to battle the empire. All of these incidents were due to the schemes of the "Grey Witch", who prolonged the war and balanced the power of the island. In order to maintain the fires of distention, she devised a number of strategies to manipulate the armies of Lodoss like pieces on a chess board.

**The Decisive Battle at Valis**

Eventually, the Marmo army pushed the forces of Valis and Flaim to the suburbs of the Holy Kingdom’s royal capital, Roid. This would be the stage for the climactic battle. During the battle, both armies divided their troops into three and the two forces collided. It was a long and brutal conflict where many lives were lost on both sides. As the battle drew to its conclusion, The Dark Emperor Beld and The White King Fahn met each other on the battlefield and engaged in one on one combat to decide the victor. It was a fierce duel, but King Fahn exhausted his physical strength first, for the magic of the Demon Sword Soul Crusher, kept Beld in his prime. However, the "Mercenary King" Kashue of Flaim then killed the Dark Emperor while he was distracted, destroying his ambitions of conquest. Thus, the two heroes, Fahn and Beld both died, due to this event the conflict was named The War of Heroes.

**Aftermath of the War of Heroes**

The corpses of both humans and evil creatures littered the plains near Roid where the final battle had occurred. But the power of the Marmo Empire hadn’t been completely expelled from Lodoss. Valis was thrown into chaos due to the death of King Fahn and the nations of Flaim, Alania and Moss were experiencing internal turmoil. As a result, Mamo's occupation of the Kingdom of Kanon kingdom continued and many evil creatures from Marmo still posed a threat in various places. Though Marmo had lost its ruler, it could be said that it was the same situation as other countries. Thus, the war brought all the nations of Lodoss into a state of exhaustion and turmoil, and the balance of power was maintained as the "Grey Witch" envisioned. Therefore, the war was also called "Battle Without Winners". After the War of Heroes was over, Parn and his companions fought the "Grey Witch" and released the High Priestess of Marfa, whose body Karla had possessed. However, the thief Woodchuck, one of Parn’s companions, fell victim to his attraction to Karla’s enchanted circlet and placed it on his head, he disappeared somewhere, becoming the next vessel for Karla to possess.