Chapter 169: Struggle for Dominance (8)
"The branch manager has disappeared."
"Aren’t you the branch manager?"
"I'm referring to the Black Market branch manager."
I paused what I was doing and slowly looked up.
The Black Rose branch manager—a sharp-eared dark elf—stood over , his brows furrowed.
Why?
What was wrong with what I was doing?
"Can’t I sit? My neck is starting to hurt."
The dark elf glanced around briefly. Aside from the man in front of him, there was no one else. With a sigh, he crouched down before . He couldn’t afford to be careless—after all, I was the leader of a blood pact, a position equal to that of a Master.
"I asked you to monitor the Black Market, not eliminate it."
"It wasn’t us."
"Then who did it?"
"There were no survivors, so it's difficult to determine. The only trace we found was... a massive claw mark."
"...A claw."
I had sent them to track a spy.
So why the hell did they go there?
I had a pretty good guess who was responsible. Not wanting to dwell on it, I swiftly changed the subject.
"Did you find out why the Black Market was searching the territory?"
"They were looking for hunters who survived the Korun River battle. It seems they were trying to identify the one who freed the slaves."
"Then they must have figured it out."
"Yes."
There was no way they wouldn’t recognize Lochter. They must have also caught wind of Hunt’s involvent.
It was expected that there would be conflict when Draka, the hunter who was stirring up rebellion, was eliminated and when Samuel, the courier, was encountered.
But why now of all tis?
And why was everyone but the branch manager slaughtered?
If I wasn't careful, the Black Market might start seeing as an enemy.
"Where did you move the food supplies?"
"We're relocating them to a temporary storage facility outside the castle. There's a huge amount, so the work is still ongoing."
Given that Blyer was preparing for war, their granaries were overflowing with provisions.
The Black Roses were working tirelessly to transport as much as possible, but moving everything was impossible.
We don’t have enough ti.
If we got too greedy, we might end up losing even the food we had already secured.
After a brief mont of thought, I gave my orders.
"At sunrise, stop all operations imdiately. Prioritize getting the stored supplies as far away from Blyer as possible."
"But there's still food left in the castle..."
"Burn it. We can’t take everything."
The reason I had asked the Black Roses to secure as much food as possible was to supply the Anti-Kal coalition.
With our growing numbers, soone had to ensure everyone was fed.
I couldn’t rely on Lochter for this. It was my job as the leader.
"So, should we transport the supplies to 'that place'?"
"Yes. Please send them there."
The dark elf fell silent, staring at .
Alex Marcia.
A man who had appeared out of nowhere and completely turned Blyer upside down.
And yet, whenever he thought about where I was sending the food, he couldn't help but feel doubt.
"Elletor Fortress...?"
It was insane.
Elletor Fortress was an enormous structure blocking the northernmost part of Tobaron and the southern edge of the Ordor Forest.
Currently, it was an abandoned no-man’s-land due to the witches' warnings.
Even non-humans like the dark elves rarely ventured there.
What exactly was I planning?
A small elite force like Hunt might be able to survive there.
But moving thousands of civilians?
That was completely unrealistic.
And how were we even going to escape Blyer when its lord was still alive and watching?
"Can you really bring them there?"
"If you don’t believe , just watch. I can’t explain it with words."
The branch manager gave up on thinking. He shook his head and stood up.
At first, he had dismissed as just a lucky bastard.
But now, the montum I had created was shaking the very foundation of Tobaron.
Maybe that was why the Master had placed a bet on .
And yet, as I returned to busily working with my hands, he was confused once again.
I was preparing food.
Using the ingredients he had delivered, I stacked toppings onto freshly baked bread.
The dark elf sighed heavily.
"I give up."
For years, he had prided himself on his keen insight as a branch manager.
But I was beyond his comprehension.
Why, in this place, at this mont, was I doing sothing so absurd?
"...Are you hungry?"
"No."
"Then why are you..."
He must have been curious.
Why was I wasting ti on sothing so ridiculous?
I packed the lunchboxes neatly.
A ten-layer al—sothing I had never even made for an ex-girlfriend.
Kerros’s was just one layer.
Pushing the two lunchboxes aside, I looked at the dark elf and grinned.
"This is what it takes to save the world."
I had just prepared the most expensive al ever made—one that would save thousands of lives.
Of course, the dark elf only stared at like I was insane.
A faint tremor.
The dark elf noticed it too and turned his gaze.
From the ground beneath us, a subtle vibration could be felt.
Like the sound of thousands of galloping hooves pounding the earth from afar.
I summoned the Ring of Blood and got to my feet.
"Tell Beneta to hurry with mineral shipnts. Soon, every route will be cut off."
"Should we leave behind a contact?"
"No. The Black Roses should withdraw from Blyer as well."
The branch manager nodded and swiftly disappeared into the darkness.
Despite the steep slope, he landed effortlessly and vanished like a shadow.
I stood alone on a large rock overlooking Wailing Hill.
I had separated from my group and positioned myself here to eliminate any unexpected variables.
"If there was even one spy left, our deception would fail."
From secret intelligence, I had learned that Blyer’s cavalry unit would be the first to arrive here.
Rengua’s orders had stated that three thousand cavalryn would pass through Wailing Hill.
Their mission? To erge from their hidden base and assist with command transmissions.
"That must be the cavalry unit returning from Beneta."
Through the Black Roses, I had already received word that three thousand cavalryn had vanished from the Beneta border.
But they had a fatal flaw.
"No chain of command."
From Rengua’s orders, I could roughly determine the whereabouts of Rengua, Kal, and Lyon.
The cavalry was likely led by the elite guards.
And if they needed shamans to assist with command, it ant...
"There are no ssengers in the cavalry unit."
Right now, they were operating outside Kal’s direct orders.
They had likely planned to re-establish contact through their hidden base—but we had exploited that gap.
Still, I had prepared an ambush, just in case.
Deception required absolute information control.
Creeeeeak—
I drew my bowstring taut.
A massive golden arrow, infused with energy lethal to shamans, glead in my grasp.
In the direction of the hill, two figures stood alone—Karl and Elton, wrapped in blood-red cloaks.
"Elton, how long has it been?"
"Dawn is approaching."
"Then... we really spent the whole night here, huh? Fuck."
"We didn’t know when the enemy would arrive..."
Karl clicked his tongue and slowly surveyed his surroundings.
The embers on Wailing Hill had yet to die out.
Even in the early dawn breeze, standing at the edge of the scorched battlefield, sweat trickled down his back.
"It’s warm, which is nice... but why do I feel like my chest is tightening?"
"...Don’t tell —"
"Yeah. I have a feeling the first wave of reinforcents he ntioned is about to show up. So where the hell is he?"
"Didn’t he say he’d be watching from around here?"
"...You don’t think he ran, do you?"
"...What?"
"He could’ve just ditched us in front of 3,000 cavalryn and taken off."
"N-no way..."
"I'm kidding. You take jokes too seriously. He’s the one who left here, rember?"
"...Sorry."
"Lying is my specialty. Watch and learn. You never know when you’ll need it."
Their conversation was cut short—
RUMBLE—!!!
A distant dust cloud rose over the horizon.
The ground trembled.
The sound of thousands of galloping hooves.
The Blyer cavalry—just as he had warned.
Karl pulled his blood-red cloak tighter around himself and let out a deep sigh.
Then, his eyes sharpened.
Without hesitation, he rushed toward the charging cavalry.
"Shit, this is bad!"
Elton, gripping a communication crystal from the hidden base, hurriedly followed.
The 3,000 cavalryn, storming forward with thunderous speed, slowed down at the sight of Karl.
As they simultaneously pulled their reins, the horses whinnied and reared.
A mont later, a group of armored knights erged at the front.
Karl frantically shouted before they could react.
"B-Beneta has invaded!"
"What?! What are you talking about?"
The Royal Guard and the shamans had a tense relationship.
They were rivals, constantly scheming to outmaneuver one another.
But as they gazed upon the burning Wailing Hill and the black smoke rising from the castle, they couldn't ignore Karl's words.
Because he was the only one who could provide information.
"Beneta launched a surprise attack with their army! The garrison guarding the hill was annihilated, and the castle fell without a fight."
"...The castle? Are you serious?!"
"Go check the castle walls yourself. The flag has been changed."
A knight hastily ordered a few cavalryn to ride ahead and verify the claim.
Monts later, the soldiers returned, their faces pale.
"Th-the flag... it really has changed...!"
The knights' expressions twisted in shock.
Their orders had been to rendezvous with the shamans at Wailing Hill and await further instructions.
But now... the castle was lost?
"W-what about Lord Kal?!"
One of the knights noticed the communication crystal in Elton’s hand and urgently asked—
"What are the orders?!"
"Imdiate reinforcent at the Beneta border!" Elton declared.
"Beneta's assault battalion is moving to strike our forces from behind! We must hurry!"
"An assault battalion?"
"They number in the thousands. Didn’t you see them?"
"...No, we didn’t..."
"Th-this is bad! We might be too late!"
"Any updates on the communication crystal?"
"Nothing! We need to move now! If Lord Kal falls, it's over!"
The knights, shaken by the news of the castle’s fall, lost their composure.
Imdiately, they ordered the cavalryn to dismount.
Since they had hurried without spare horses, they intended to join forces with the shamans and move together.
"I’ll stay here to relay this to any remaining forces." Karl continued.
"He will act as the ssenger. Take him with you!"
Elton mounted a spare horse and approached.
The Royal Guard, seeing no other option, nodded.
Without hesitation, they turned their horses around and galloped back the way they had co.
As Elton looked back, Karl raised a hand and waved.
There was a reason why Elton had been embedded among them.
If their deception was discovered, he had the skills to escape alive.
The urgency of the situation had made the 3,000 cavalryn flee even faster than they had arrived.
One stranded cavalryman—who had been left behind to make space for Elton—awkwardly approached Karl with a nervous smile.
"Shaman, what should I do now?"
Karl smirked.
"What do you think? Curse your luck. You got caught in the worst possible mont."
"H-huh? What do you a—ughk!"
Before he could finish his sentence, Karl’s n erged from the shadows and seized him.
The soldier was dragged to the edge of the hill, where his screams were quickly drowned out.
They intended to torture him for information.
Karl turned toward the direction Elton had disappeared.
He could already picture him, sitting stiffly, on edge among the enemy.
"Hang in there, buddy. You think an old man like is gonna go instead? No thanks."
With the mission a success, Karl sat down, finally allowing himself to rest.
His next task would be handling the second wave when they arrived.
"Sa trick should work again, right?"
Karl still didn’t know who the second wave would be.
But then—
RUMBLE—!
The ground shook violently.
A new cavalry unit was approaching at terrifying speed.
At the front, a knight in blue armor clenched his jaw, turning to the shaman riding beside him.
A voice crackled from the communication crystal in the shaman’s hand.
[Forget Rengua. You’ll be too late, Lyon.]
"Yes, my lord. Give your orders."
[We’ve lost all contact with the castle. Ride at full speed and confirm the situation yourself.]
"...Understood."
Lyon ordered a full-speed charge.
As he pierced through the wind, a squad of Royal Guard captains flanked him.
Each bore blue epaulets on their shoulders—4-star knights leading the elite guard.
Behind them, a company of shamans followed.
And at the very rear—
A force of 3,000 elite cavalryn from Etor.
Their destination?
Wailing Hill.
Where Karl was resting.
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