Fortress Office.
Torres's gaze swept over the stack of customs clearance docunts and tax reports piled on his desk. Frowning, he picked up the cup of black coffee on the table that hadn't completely cooled yet, preparing to take a sip to let the bitter liquid refresh him.
"BOOM!!"
A dull, thunderous roar caused the entire office to visibly shake.
The coffee cup in Torres's hand trembled, the dark brown liquid rippling, and a few drops of scalding coffee splashed out, landing on the cuff of his expensive dark brown leather military greatcoat, leaving unsightly stains.
The man's brow furrowed even tighter, a flash of displeasure and confusion crossing his face. He was just about to speak, to ask his aide Elliot, who was sitting on the opposite sofa and had also been startled by the tremor into looking up, what had happened.
"BANG!" The heavy oak door of the office was violently flung open. A soldier with a deathly pale face and panicked expression stumbled in, nearly tripping over the rug.
"Co... Commander! It's terrible! We're under attack!!" The soldier's voice trembled, his words incoherent.
Torres's pupils contracted slightly, his heart sinking, but his expression quickly returned to calm.
Ignoring the flustered Elliot who had risen beside him, Torres abruptly stood up, pushed aside the high-backed chair behind him, strode over to the soldier, and with a thick arm, grabbed him by the collar, practically dragging him out of the office.
"Speak clearly!" Torres's voice was low and filled with oppressive force, like a volcano about to erupt. "Who are our enemies? A Dwarf raiding party? Or have White Horse rebel stragglers drifted over here?"
"N... no! Neither!" The soldier, choked slightly, gasped for air and pointed fearfully toward the window at the end of the corridor that looked out at the sky outside. "It's... it's Giant Dragons! Gargoyles! And... and Slis!"
"Slis?" Torres looked as if he had heard so utterly absurd lie, even doubting for a mont whether he had misheard or if this soldier had been frightened out of his mind.
He released the soldier's collar and quickly strode forward, heading toward the stairs leading to the city wall.
Just as he stepped out of the building's shadow into the relatively open inner keep courtyard, he heard a trendous roar and whistling sound overhead.
Looking up, he actually saw over a dozen massive dragon beasts, covered in pitch-black scales, flying low and fast over the fortress like a volley of black arrows.
And riding on their backs were exceptionally tall, burly Dragonman knights wielding long spears!
Silver rank dragon beast mounts, plus Silver rank Dragonman knights.
This combination of 'Dragon Beast Cavalry' was practically the highest-grade, most expensive cavalry unit on the continent. Human heavy knights would have no advantage whatsoever against them, whether in strength, speed, or defense.
Not to ntion that most of the guys in this fortress were just rcenary knights and rcenaries fighting for money, lacking any sense of honor.
At this mont, the interior of the fortress was in complete chaos. The Dragon Beast Cavalry were like tigers among sheep. Their spears could easily pierce through hastily organized resistance, and the dragon beasts' claws could sweep aside soldiers trying to form ranks, sending n and horses tumbling.
From what Torres knew, not to ntion the White Horse Kingdom, even the southern kingdoms rarely saw organized appearances of Dragonn. They mostly inhabited the depths of the distant Corrupted Mountains, or harsh environnts like the Land of Molten Rock, isolated from the world. How could they suddenly attack the Trade Alliance's border fortress?
His heart sank. A possibility he had previously considered utterly impossible surfaced in his mind—they ca from the swamp to the west, that mysteriously legendary Sli Kingdom.
The warning in that Vampire Envoy's letter had actually co true!
"Damn it!!" Torres couldn't help but curse under his breath, feeling imnsely frustrated.
These years of stable, comfortable rcenary life in the Misty Bay Harbor Trade Alliance had unknowingly corroded his mind, dulling the vigilance and intuition he should have as a warrior. He had made such a basic, fatal mistake of underestimating the enemy.
At the sa ti, his mind quickly sought excuses, silently comforting himself that his major backer, the Silver Sail Federation, was mostly involved in coastal exploration, fishing, and near-sea trade, rarely dealing with the White Horse Kingdom's inland affairs.
He didn't have the most detailed new intelligence from the various major powers of the White Horse Kingdom. It was normal not to know the enemy's situation. It was all the fault of those stingy rchants from the Jade River rchant House for not sharing intelligence.
But it wasn't too late to make up for this mistake.
Torres no longer hesitated, quickly climbing onto the nearest wall walkway. He saw his most elite "Iron Hawk Knight Team" had already taken to the air, engaged in a difficult struggle with the nurous gargoyles, but clearly at a disadvantage.
"Berserker Torres is here!" he roared, his voice like a thunderclap echoing over the fortress. Then he drew the heavy double-bladed battle axe from his back and hurled it into the air with force.
The battle axe spun through the air, striking a gargoyle that was pouncing on an Iron Hawk knight. Stone chips flew, and the gargoyle exploded on the spot, turning into rubble that fell to the ground.
"Surrender now!" Torres roared again. His eyes began to gradually turn scarlet, his muscles slightly swelling, and faint blue veins bulged under his skin.
This signified that the thin Beastman Bloodline flowing within him was awakening.
They were just so dragon-blooded mongrels and Magical Creatures. He alone could defeat them.
This was the power of The Extraordinary.
It was also his confidence to turn the tide.
Sure enough, as soon as he spoke, the rampaging Dragon Beast Cavalry and gargoyles in the air all seed to be frightened, stopping their attacks one after another and turning their heads in unison to look in his direction.
Torres secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He was just about to speak, to seize the mont and propose negotiations...
"So you are Torres." A cold voice suddenly rang out not far in front of him.
He saw a burly gargoyle wielding a greatsword in both hands and a human knight with a stern face riding a dragon beast had sohow flown and stopped in the air not far in front of him.
Torres's heart tightened. A warrior's intuition made him instantly sense danger.
Extraordinary Professionals!
And two of them!
This imdiately broke him out in a cold sweat, freezing him in place.
At that mont, a pitch-black black dragon, flapping its broad wings, slowly flew over and stopped in the air not far in front of Torres.
On the dragon's back, two figures were revealed—Zoran and the Sli crouched on his shoulder.
Zoran looked down from above.
"Commander Torres, I deeply regret that you did not heed my warning."
The fangs revealed at the corner of Zoran's mouth exposed his Vampire identity, making Torres instantly realize this was the very Vampire special envoy who had written to warn him not long ago.
Under the gaze of the two Extraordinary Professionals, Torres felt his face burning with pain, as if slapped hard by an invisible hand several tis.
He took a deep breath, trying to calm his violently pounding heart, and slowly raised his hands. "Special Envoy Zoran, don't be rash. I surrender."
He was a salaried rcenary, not a knight defending his holand with a sense of honor.
Give his life for the Misty Bay Harbor Trade Alliance? That depended on whether the price was high enough. Clearly, in this current situation, no price was worth risking his life.
When it was ti to surrender, he wouldn't hesitate for a second.
Surrendering to a Silver rank Vampire hurt his pride, but it was still better than turning into a Stone Statue or being incinerated to ashes by dragon breath.
This fortress assault that should have been intense rapidly concluded in a manner almost like a farce.
But Torres knew this matter was just the beginning.
The news of Gold Lionheart Fortress being breached would soon spread back to Misty Bay Harbor like it had grown wings, causing a huge uproar in that bustling comrcial capital.
In the early morning hours, Misty Bay Harbor.
Having thought that such a major family upheaval would force this child to mature rapidly, but now it seed... he still had a long way to go. His acuity for comrce and politics was still far inferior to his shrewd and capable parents.
But looking at Theodore's dazzling blond hair, identical to Polina's, and the distinctive deep blue eyes of the Davenport family, Joel felt not a shred of disdain in his heart.
Moreover, Theodore becoming the head of the Graves family would also be beneficial for the Davenport family.
After careful consideration, Joel lowered his voice.
"West of the Corrupted Mountains, in that swamp the Alliance rarely ventures into, a new kingdom has recently appeared. According to limited intelligence so far, it seems to be controlled by a group of... well, Slis."
"Just today, they attacked the Gold Lionheart Fortress in the Western Rhine and successfully captured it."
"Slis?" Theodore widened his eyes slightly, trying to digest this information that challenged his understanding.
What ca to his mind were those slimy little creatures hopping around in damp corners of gardens, utterly harmless.
They... established a kingdom? And breached a border fortress ard to the teeth?
After finally barely accepting this unbelievable fact, Theodore pondered and, with his limited insight, raised a question:
"I heard before that after the White Horse Kingdom's internal strife, that princess called the 'Iron Rose,' Princess Louisa, occupied the Storm Territory with a Magical Creature Legion. Could it be... that this Princess Louisa is related to this suddenly appearing Sli Kingdom, or even possibly directing things from behind the scenes?"
A glimr of approval flashed in Joel's eyes. It seed this child wasn't completely ignorant, at least paying attention to major events in the northern neighbor.
Joel nodded slightly. "Your speculation is quite astute, but this matter... is far more complicated than you think."
He paused, his tone becoming more serious.
"In the army that captured Gold Lionheart Fortress, at least two Extraordinary Professionals have been confird, and there are also powerful Demi-humans and Magical Creatures like Dragonn and gargoyles. This indicates this Sli Kingdom isn't as simple as it appears on the surface. At the very least, its relationship with Her Highness the Princess is not a simple subordinate one."
"And the cause of this matter wasn't that princess, but the Blackwater Guild imprisoning a Vampire rchant caravan from the Dark Realm, seizing their Goods and personnel. It's said that caravan was representing the Sli Kingdom for trade."
Theodore tried to propose a simple solution: "Then just hand over the Blackwater Guild to appease their anger, wouldn't that solve it?"
Joel shook his head. "It's not that simple, Theodore. Just handing over the Blackwater Guild like that, I'm afraid the other rchant houses wouldn't agree to vote. It would set an extrely bad precedent—aning any external force, as long as militarily strong enough, could arbitrarily force the Alliance to hand over its own mbers. That would be a devastating blow to the Alliance's cohesion and credibility."
"And besides... even if we really wanted to hand them over, it's impossible now."
"Why?" Theodore asked, puzzled.
"Just yesterday, a major accidental fire broke out in the Blackwater Guild's headquarters warehouse district."
"Old Bartley has been burned to ashes, along with many account books and docunts that might have recorded transaction details, all reduced to nothing. This matter isn't as simple as it appears on the surface."
"Don't act rashly during the voting later, or you might easily offend people."
After saying this, he let Theodore sink into thought, digesting this information, while he himself looked down at the quarreling representatives from various factions in the eting hall ahead and sighed inwardly.
The Misty Bay Harbor Trade Alliance, this seemingly magnificent, sturdy giant ship sailing on an ocean of Gold Coins, was probably facing the most dangerous storm since its founding.
And the source of the storm was actually a group of... Slis from the swamp.
How absurd.
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