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 messenger and hurried back to the Beneta border with him.
By the time they realized they had been deceived, we would already be long gone from Blyer.
I could leave that mess to Elton.
The missing messenger.
That one fact confirmed something for me—Kamel had kept all the shamans by his side.
There was a time when I bluffed about coming to kill him immediately. 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 me 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 me Lyon Martrein is about to show up? With the Royal Guard, a shaman division, and—wait, what else?"
"Another elite force of 3,000 cavalrymen."
"But we just sent them away!"
"This time, 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 cavalrymen 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.
Kamel 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 me this now?! If you'd told me 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 me! 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 come back!
Karl shook his head and looked at me.
"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 flames and the domain in chaos, Kamel must be desperate. He’ll send whatever forces are closest first—he needs information."
No matter how smart Kamel was, he would never have expected his entire domain to be burning to the ground.
And in his panic, he was overlooking something 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 Kamel through the shamans. If anything, we might be the ones getting tricked."
"What about holding the castle? Wouldn’t buying time be better for us?"
"Holding out means 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 Kamel’s troop movements.
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 cavalrymen, 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 game 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 become 3,000.
We were still badly outmatched.
Even just the second wave was a nightmare to deal with.
Kamel 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 outcome 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 met.
1. We had to kill Lyon.
2. We had to eliminate the shaman messengers.
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 Kamel.
"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 me a tiny note.
"...A spirit?"
"A messenger from the Black Rose branch manager. I asked for this in advance. Good thing it arrived on time."
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 cavalrymen.
"As expected, Kamel isn’t with them."
If Kamel 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 meant that Lyon must have a powerful guard by his side.
Wiley Grimes.
Knight Wiley was protecting Kamel.
That meant 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 come to assist me."
"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 armed with artifacts. And what about the 3,000 cavalrymen? 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 come from herself alone—it came 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 immediately—no hesitation."
"Five minutes, huh… If it’s just that long..."
"Lily can buy us that time."
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.
Meanwhile, 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 consumed 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 message 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 meat."
"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 moment 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 meat from leftovers, but thanks to my Sacred Power, it had turned into something far more potent.
Lily’s meal had been the same.
Kerros’s had been even stronger.
It seemed that Sacred Power could enhance physical substances.
Maybe I should quit being an assassin and become a chef instead?
With Kerros satisfied, I turned to Lily and asked her something 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 something bestowed by the heavens.
Lily furrowed her brows and shook her head.
"Ugh. You’re asking me for another favor, aren’t you? I thought we were supposed to play hide-and-seek first."
"This isn’t for me."
I reached into my bag.
I had kept this item for a long time, 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 immediately.
"This belonged to a shaman. His faction is the one approaching us now."
"This is your chance for revenge."
Lily stared at me, trying to see through me with her witch’s intuition.
She wanted to know—was I telling the truth?
I was.
Donecolint had been one of Kamel’s vassals, after all.
"Give me that."
Lily snatched the necklace.
Her eyes trembled as she examined it.
Then, she gritted her teeth and looked up at me.
"From here to there."
Lily pointed to the ground—a large circular area, about 20 meters 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 moment later—
BOOM—!!!
A signal flare exploded in the sky.
The sign for Lochter Felice to move.