On the battlefield, the foreign monarch's mocking laughter still echoed through the Golden Tent.
Like a resounding slap across the face of the self-important Jochi.
He suppressed the fury in his heart and said in a chilling tone, "Whether you bring in Usun the Shaman or Kuokochu, I want that barbarian dog to stop barking immediately."
Jochi knew that Kuokochu, the Sky-Connecting Sorcerer, possessed far greater magical power than Usun the Shaman, the current "Beki."
But he rarely found himself needing to ask the other for help.
If Usun the Shaman was a blade that was not particularly sharp but easy to control, then Kuokochu was a vicious weapon that could turn on its wielder at any moment. What he wanted to build was Jochi's Ulus, not a state founded on Divine Authority for Kuokochu.
In the end, Kuokochu was the one who acted.
Usun the Shaman came instead to oversee the Golden Tent and protect Jochi.
"Let this end here, Khan Lothar."
Wearing a bronze mask and draped in a wolfskin cloak, the Sky-Connecting Sorcerer approached Lothar.
Whenever Lothar saw this aged eastern sorcerer, he felt as though he stood before a vast, boundless sea. Even with his current strength, he could not fathom Kuokochu's true depth.
"Good day, Mr. Kuokochu."
He smiled. "It seems that Jochi, that Merkit, can no longer sit still. But forgive me for saying so, I have not made a move. By our original agreement, shouting a few words does not count as breaking the rules."
The old sorcerer said coldly, "Do not play word games with me, Khan Lothar. I could reduce this castle to rubble without using my hands. That, too, would count as 'not making a move,' but I will not do so, because this private agreement is fragile and hard-won."