Chapter 170: Struggle for Dominance (9)
There were no surprises.
The 3,000-strong cavalry unit led by the Royal Guard mistook Elton for their ssenger and hurried back to the Beneta border with him.
By the ti they realized they had been deceived, we would already be long gone from Blyer.
I could leave that ss to Elton.
The missing ssenger.
That one fact confird sothing for —Kal had kept all the shamans by his side.
There was a ti when I bluffed about coming to kill him imdiately. Back then, he must have gathered all the shamans around him for protection.
Now, every move I had made was coming back in my favor like a butterfly effect.
What about the second wave?
"...Hey, what the fuck did you just say?"
Before worrying about that, I first had to calm down the furious man shaking by the collar.
I was getting dizzy from all the shaking.
"You're lying, aren't you?"
"What would I gain by lying to Karl?"
"You're telling Lyon Martrein is about to show up? With the Royal Guard, a shaman division, and—wait, what else?"
"Another elite force of 3,000 cavalryn."
"But we just sent them away!"
"This ti, it's the Etor cavalry."
I had received intelligence from the Etor branch of the Black Roses that the Butcher had taken command of 3,000 Etor cavalryn and was heading toward Laup Forest.
Officially, they were deployed to search for the missing Viscount Tomzael.
But according to Knight Commander Wiley, Etor’s forces had actually been designated as part of the second wave.
A false testimony.
Wiley had betrayed Lochter.
"The Butcher got to him."
Recruiting a 5-star knight that quickly? Impossible.
It wasn't willing submission.
Kal must have used shamans to force a subjugation contract.
By now, he likely had the Ring of Subjugation in his possession.
"And why the hell are you only telling this now?! If you'd told earlier, I would’ve gone with them instead of Elton!"
"...What kind of bullshit is that? Karl, you’re supposed to stay with Lochter."
"Why the hell should I?!"
Lochter and Karl were a set.
After all, only Lochter could receive the Hero’s Companion buff from Karl’s unique power.
"As a Hero’s Companion, you’re disqualified. Weren’t you always talking about—"
"Shut up!"
"Where the needle goes, the thread follows."
"Goddamn it, I swear—you should be the one lying to the whole world, not ! You could scam everyone!"
I flinched slightly.
I hadn't deceived the world just yet, but it sure was starting to feel like it.
Karl let out a frustrated sigh and turned toward the brightening horizon.
Dawn was breaking.
For now, the other side was silent.
But soon, the ground would shake, and the thunder of hooves would echo through the land.
Elton, hurry the fuck up and co back!
Karl shook his head and looked at .
"So... everything’s going smoothly so far?"
"Yes. So far. Our biggest concern was the enemy arriving all at once, but luckily, they seem to be moving separately."
"Because the castle burned down, right?"
"Yes. With the fortress in flas and the domain in chaos, Kal must be desperate. He’ll send whatever forces are closest first—he needs information."
No matter how smart Kal was, he would never have expected his entire domain to be burning to the ground.
And in his panic, he was overlooking sothing critical.
The possibility of a divide-and-conquer strategy.
"So the second wave won’t fall for our trick, right?"
"Not a chance. Lyon is receiving direct orders from Kal through the shamans. If anything, we might be the ones getting tricked."
"What about holding the castle? Wouldn’t buying ti be better for us?"
"Holding out ans death. We might survive, but the rebellious domain residents would all be slaughtered."
Using information from our secret base and the Black Roses, I had mapped out Kal’s troop movents.
If the first wave (Blyer cavalry) had linked up with the hidden shamans, they would have waited for Lyon’s forces and bogged us down in a siege.
With 6,000 cavalryn, we would have had no choice but to barricade ourselves inside the castle.
Heinz’s forces at the mines would have been forced to return to defend the walls.
That would have completely destroyed our escape plan.
And once the third wave—Rengua’s forces—arrived?
That would be ga over.
Even with Dorneth and Fenry, the odds were too grim.
Fighting the Butcher’s forces with what we had was like throwing eggs at a rock.
"Even if we tricked the first wave, the fact remains—"
6,000 had beco 3,000.
We were still badly outmatched.
Even just the second wave was a nightmare to deal with.
Kal understood that too.
That’s why he was splitting his forces.
His strategy was solid.
But I had found a flaw.
A fatal one.
"Lyon Martrein."
This was the battle that would determine control of Tobaron.
And the outco would be decided here.
We didn’t need to fight the third wave.
"Lyon. If we take him down, that’s all that matters."
"You got a plan?"
"Yes."
If we took Lyon out, our escape would be far easier.
Karl scratched his chin, deep in thought.
"...If this works the way you say it will..."
It was an insanely risky plan.
But for it to succeed, two conditions had to be t.
1. We had to kill Lyon.
2. We had to eliminate the shaman ssengers.
Taking out the shaman unit was doable.
But Lyon Martrein?
That monster was the real problem.
"Can we even take him down?"
"Not on our own. We’ll need Lochter."
"Yeah... if it’s Lochter."
Lochter and Lyon had once been Blyer’s Captain and Vice-Captain.
Now, they were sworn enemies.
Lochter hated Lyon just as much as he hated Kal.
"But Lyon won’t be alone."
"We’ll know exactly what we’re up against soon."
"What? When?"
"Ah, perfect timing."
Before Karl could finish his sentence, a whirlwind of dust swept between us.
A gentle breeze brushed our faces.
A faint, white spirit the size of a fist approached and handed a tiny note.
"...A spirit?"
"A ssenger from the Black Rose branch manager. I asked for this in advance. Good thing it arrived on ti."
I thanked the spirit, and it smiled faintly before vanishing.
I unfolded the tiny note.
Lyon Martrein.
Five 4-star knights.
One shaman unit.
3,000 cavalryn.
"As expected, Kal isn’t with them."
If Kal wasn't with the second wave, then he was either staying with Rengua or moving further behind the front lines.
That coward was more obsessed with his own safety than anyone else.
For him to be separated from Lyon ant that Lyon must have a powerful guard by his side.
Wiley Gris.
Knight Wiley was protecting Kal.
That ant we could focus entirely on the forces in front of us.
Karl scanned the note carefully, his expression growing grim.
He had expected this battle to be difficult, but now that he saw the actual numbers, it was clear—
"This is impossible. There’s too many of them."
"It can be done."
"Let’s say Lochter handles Lyon. Who the hell is going to stop five 4-star knights?"
"I will."
"...What??"
"Karl, you and your team will ambush the shaman unit, then co to assist ."
"You crazy bastard. A 4-star knight thinks he can take on five 4-star knights? These guys aren’t just any 4-stars—they’re elite knights ard with artifacts. And what about the 3,000 cavalryn? You think they’re just going to stand there and watch?"
"We just need a little help."
As I turned my head, Karl sighed and muttered as if he had seen this coming.
"Great... another sandwich fight."
Perched on a small rock, peeling apart the ten-layered lunchbox one by one, was none other than—
Lily Base.
Lily was strong.
But from Karl’s perspective, she alone wasn’t enough to handle the second wave.
Her power didn’t co from herself alone—it ca from the Witches of Ordor Forest.
"This is going to be tough."
"Karl, our goal isn’t to defeat the enemy. We just need to take down Lyon Martrein."
"If Lyon decides to hold his ground, we’re all dead."
"That’s why we can’t let this fight last more than five minutes. After that, we withdraw imdiately—no hesitation."
"Five minutes, huh… If it’s just that long..."
"Lily can buy us that ti."
Hic!
Lily patted her round belly and leaned her head against the rock.
She should have fallen asleep by now, but she had eaten too much.
She had no idea that Arthur had deliberately kept her awake to prevent her from sleeping.
Instead of sleeping, she rolled around on the rock, looking uncomfortable.
anwhile, Kerros was glaring at her—not at Lily herself, but at the empty lunchboxes scattered around her.
Ten empty boxes.
And in front of Kerros?
Just one.
Kerros flicked his tongue in irritation—a habit of his whenever he was unhappy.
As I approached, his tongue flicked even faster.
"Woof!"
[‘You arrogant human, I won’t let this slide,’ is what he’s saying.]
He said that in such an adorable way?
"You’re enjoying translating a little too much. So, are you done restoring your Sleep Power?"
[Just finished.]
"Perfect timing."
Kerros had been silent while recovering his consud energy.
Now that his Burst Strike had been reset, I could fight with a huge advantage.
I locked eyes with Kerros.
Sparks flew.
"Reto, please relay my ssage to him."
[You can just talk to him yourself.]
Oh. Right.
He looked so cute that I almost forgot—Kerros was a beast.
I gestured toward Lily’s empty lunchboxes, stretching my arms wide.
Then, I pointed at Kerros’s small lunchbox and shrunk the space between my fingers.
With a serious expression, I declared—
"I made this using only the finest at."
"Try it. You’ll change your mind."
"Woof!"
[‘You can’t fool my tongue,’ he says.]
Kerros growled suspiciously but then opened his lunchbox.
The mont he took a bite, he froze—then devoured the rest at a terrifying speed.
"Sacred Power is broken as hell."
The food was just scraps of at from leftovers, but thanks to my Sacred Power, it had turned into sothing far more potent.
Lily’s al had been the sa.
Kerros’s had been even stronger.
It seed that Sacred Power could enhance physical substances.
Maybe I should quit being an assassin and beco a chef instead?
With Kerros satisfied, I turned to Lily and asked her sothing important.
"A curse."
"More specifically, a wide-area curse. You know any magic that curses everything within a certain range?"
"I know about it… but I’ve never practiced it."
"Can you do it?"
Lily didn’t need to practice.
Her talent was Moonborn Magic.
Her abilities were sothing bestowed by the heavens.
Lily furrowed her brows and shook her head.
"Ugh. You’re asking for another favor, aren’t you? I thought we were supposed to play hide-and-seek first."
"This isn’t for ."
I reached into my bag.
I had kept this item for a long ti, originally planning to use it in Ordor Forest.
I never expected I’d end up using it here.
"...What the hell is this?"
Lily, who had been lounging lazily, suddenly sat up.
Her gaze turned ice-cold.
It was the necklace of Donecolint.
A shamanic relic I had stolen after killing Donecolint in Nelitori Gorge.
Its materials?
The teeth of witches.
Lily recognized them imdiately.
"This belonged to a shaman. His faction is the one approaching us now."
"This is your chance for revenge."
Lily stared at , trying to see through with her witch’s intuition.
She wanted to know—was I telling the truth?
I was.
Donecolint had been one of Kal’s vassals, after all.
"Give that."
Lily snatched the necklace.
Her eyes trembled as she examined it.
Then, she gritted her teeth and looked up at .
"From here to there."
Lily pointed to the ground—a large circular area, about 20 ters wide.
Then, she held up Donecolint’s necklace.
"...Can you hear it? The screams of the cursed witches?"
"This is the range of the curse I can cast using this necklace."
A mont later—
BOOM—!!!
A signal flare exploded in the sky.
The sign for Lochter Felice to move.
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