Chapter 484: Imprisonment
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
"Bastard! Get away from me!" a middle-aged woman screamed, gripping lattice on the window. "I demand to see Anthony right now!"
Despite her screams, the mercenaries guarding her carried on with their duties as if they could not hear her.
"It's been three days," a voice said coldly. "Haven't you screamed enough?" Anthony walked into the yard below the window, his face gloomy.
"You…" Nishieva has been demanding a meeting with Anthony for three days, but when he was standing before her, she did not know what to say. She stared at him then spat. "I never took you for one so cruel."
"Me?" Anthony asked, shaking his head. "You are my wife. I never wanted to put your life in danger. You, on the other hand, wanted to kill me."
"I did everything for you!"
"For me? Nishieva, look at me and tell me. Have you ever thought of me? You are here, sure, but everything you did was for Ellisen Empire. I can't see how killing Alice would ever benefit me. Do you have any idea what would happen if we piss of Anfey and his people?"
"So you're scared of him!" Nishieva said with a frustrated laugh. "You're scared of him! So you put your own wife in prison! You're not just cruel, Anthony, you're a coward."
"I'm not a coward," Anthony said. "I did what I did so I wouldn't be manipulated anymore. Don't push me too far, Nishieva. I don't want to do anything to you."
"Really?" Nishieva said, laughing. "Sure. Come kill me. You really think I care? Kill me, then go lick the boots of your new masters! I can't believe I agreed to marry you."
"Neither one of us had the choice," Anthony said, shaking his head. "It was purely political, Nishieva. I thought that at least you would be helping me after our marriage, but clearly I'm wrong."
Nishieva stared at Anthony, her knuckles white from gripping the lattice too hard.
"I worked for Ellisen Empire, what did I get? I work for Anfey, and what did I get? Even you must agree that Ellisen Empire is way too stingy, yet you still spent years trying to help it. Why?" Anthony sighed and lowered his gaze. "Nishieva, you are my wife. If I'm just Anthony, I would throw away everything to help. But I'm not just Anthony. I am also the leader of Glory mercenary group and I'm responsible for the lives of thousands of mercenaries. I can't abandon them just because of you."
Nishieva watched Anthony in stunned silence. Out of the corner of her eyes, she spotted her son David walking in behind his father. She reached out and called, "David! David, help me!" David saw her and froze. He looked at her, his eyes filled with sadness, then lowered his head hurriedly.
"I promise you, no one's coming to save you," Anthony said. "Of course, I can also promise you that no one will come and hurt you. David, are you ready?"
"Yes, father," David said quietly.
"Bring them in," Anthony said.
David turned and shouted an order. Around fifty people were ushered into the yard. They were all dressed differently and were different ages, but they were all bound.
"These are your achievements, aren't they?" Anthony said. "I must apologize, but none of them can leave here today." He waved his hand and the mercenaries he brought with him all drew their swords. The mercenaries present had all been following Anthony for years and all knew better than to question him. A few minutes later, the last of the mercenaries returned his sword to its sheath. Nishieva looked at the bodies in horror.
"To be honest, what happened yesterday was worse," Anthony told Nishieva. "Of course, you're my wife, and I don't want to cause you any discomfort." He paused. "This is the last time you'll see me. I won't come here again, and you won't leave here again." He turned to David and said, "Let's go."
Anthony departed from Nishieva with sure steps. Nishieva screamed and cursed his name, but none of the curses were enough to turn him around.
Christian pushed his way into Alice's room and saw that she was busy with ledgers. Alice smiled at him and returned to the numbers.
Shinbela nodded at Christian. Alice's safety became a topmost priority, and was followed by dozens of mercenaries wherever she went. Shinbela had been staying close to her as well, no matter where Alice was. It was her neglect that had given the assassin a chance to get close to Alice, and she did not want that to happen again.
Christian smiled at Shinbela and sat down on a chair next to Alice. "How are you doing? How's your throat?"
"It's better," Alice said. "Still can't raise my voice, but it could be worse. Do you need something?"
Christian nodded. "Anfey's coming back."
"I see."
Christian pursed his lips. It's clear after that night that Alice liked Anfey, and to Christian, the more she acted like didn't care, the more she cared.
"Anthony killed a lot of people," Christian continued.
"Why?"
"He said that they're all people from Ellisen Empire," Christian said. "Anthony has shown his stance. I think we can trust him. We need to work with him to ensure peace. He's instrumental in inviting Batusimon here. I don't think Batusimon will work with us if Anthony isn't working with us. If we turn Anthony away, it could be disadvantageous."
"What did he do with Nishieva?"
"He imprisoned her," Christian said. "He got two alchemists to seal off the tower he is keeping her in. He's serious."
"Nishieva's from Ellisen Empire. She's a thorn in our side."
"But there's no way Anthony will kill her," Christian said. "Killing her servants and imprisoning her is the most he can do."
"Let me finish," Alice said with a smile. "I agree. I'm fine as long as Anthony stops trusting Nishieva."
"You don't want to do anything else?"
"What else is there to do?"
Christian nodded. "Alright," he said. "If Anfey's unsatisfied with this situation, you should try and talk to him. You're the victim, and your words will weigh more than ours."
"I trust him to make the right decision," Alice said with a shrug. "He's always sensible. But sure. I will talk to him if he wants to do anything else."
"You don't understand," Christian said. "You don't know what he said when you were unconscious." Christian knew that Alice liked Anfey and that telling her what had happened would only fuel her fondness. However, he also knew the more she repressed it, the stronger her feelings would grow. He wanted to take another approach in quelling her feelings.
"What did he say?"
Chapter 485: Position Changed
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
All the mercenaries got excited and none of them looked scared or worried when Alice told them the next plan. This might contribute to Anfey's all-time victory impression the mercenaries had on him. The mercenaries did not think the Tiger Mawau mercenary group could pose any threats to them.
Of course, the leaders in the League of Mercenaries were not as optimistic as regular mercenaries. Alice, Christian and others all sat in the conference room, discussing the next plan. As everyone was discussing, Anfey pushed the door open and walked in.
Anfey was in the conference room at the beginning of the meeting, but he was called out by Black Eleven.
"What happened?" Christian looked up and asked Anfey.
"Violet City is in trouble," Anfey said.
"What happened?" Christian asked. Everyone was listener-ins in their conversation. Ozzic and Shinbela did not know about Violet City, but Christian and few others were very familiar with Violet City since it was Anfey's feudal estate.
"Sherif Urter was missing. Luckily, former Citymasters Aroben and Niya were there, otherwise Violet City would be a mess," Anfey said.
"How could Urter be missing? Did anyone…" Chrisitan asked.
"Shouldn't." Anfey shook his head. He knew Urter must have troubles in the underground maze, but he could neither go back to Violet City at this moment, nor tell anyone the secret about the underground maze or ask anyone to help Urter at this moment. Anfey got to know many secrets about necromancers. The seclusive house Minos had was actually in Violet City. The underground maze must have something to do with Minos so Anfey could not tell this secret to others.
He had no trust issues, but he needed to hold more information in his hands. If one more person knew about the secret, the higher the chance they would run into troubles.
"How could he be missing?" Christian asked. "Anfey, did you give him something important. Could he betray you?"
Anfey shook his head again. "He would not."
Urter knew the secret about the underground maze, but Suzanna did not. It did not mean Anfey trusted Urter more than Suzanna. Urter found the underground maze first. Anfey could have covered this secret by killing Urter, but he did not want to do that just to cover a secret. Anfey was cold, but not vicious to that degree. In addition, Urter was a righteous guy, which could be told by the way he treated the former citymaster. He was loyal to Anfey and a very capable person. If such a righteous person betrayed Anfey, it would be no one else's fault but Anfey's own since he misjudged him.
"If none of them was the reason, Anfey, what do you think would be the reason for him to be missing?" Christian asked.
"Let's not talk about it for right now. It is pointless since we are not able to go back." Anfey had a weak and bitter smile on his face.
Alice considerately changed the topic after she saw Anfey did not feel like continuing the topic. "Anfey, no one agrees with your plan. You forced it to happen when you attacked White Mountain City. You almost died in that battle. I cannot believe you want to go to Blackwater City now. We will not let you and Suzanna scout for us again."
"Yes, Anfey, it is not necessary. We have over 20,000 mercenaries now. With the help of Anthony and David's Glory mercenary group and over 20,000 Shield of Light Legion soldiers allocated to us by General Baery, Manstuly and Tiger Tawau's mercenary group are not our match. I can just confront them if it is necessary," Christian said.
"White Mountain City is different than Blackwater City. I admit it was a little risky back then. I only wanted to assassinate Archmage Michael first to get rid of our biggest scourge. Think about it, what kind of soldiers are we dealing with in Blackwater City? No matter if they are druids or elves, it would be no different than committing suicide if they wanted to release Nature series magic to me. I can dismiss their magic whenever I want to or even attack them with their own magic. If it were a fight without magic, do you think they could stop me?" Anfey explained.
"Anfey, we all know you are very good, but it is not necessary to scout Blackwater City," Alice said.
"It is necessary. Not mentioning us, even Master Baery does not know about the situation in Blackwater City. I heard the druids and elves have control of Blackwater City. It is really hard for any outsider to get into Blackwater City and obtain information on its people, but they know everything about us. Only if we know our enemies as well as we know ourselves, we could win every battle. At this moment, Manstuly knows us very well, but do we know them as well as they know us?" Anfey asked slowly.
"Long and Ling are no secrets now. How many mercenaries in the League of Mercenaries have seen them?" Anfey shook his head. "We could not guarantee every mercenary is royal to us. It would be riskier to have Long and Ling do it. They might not be able to come back once they get into Blackwater City."
Christian and the others looked at each other. The upper level of the League of Mercenaries was a democratic organization. Everyone was liberal about expressing their ideas and believing what they believed. Everyone had developed a habit to trust and listen to Anfey. Besides, Alice's movement of cult personality towards Anfey played a role in this. If a person told the same lie a hundred times, he would believe in his own lie. Once Anfey insisted on something, everyone would agree with him in the end.
"Ok, if you insist." Christian smiled bitterly. "When will we leave?"
"We cannot leave too soon. At least we have to wait for Batusimon's decision," Alice said in a low pitch.
"Batusimon?" Christian asked.
"Yeah, Batusimon showed interest in us, but was a little hesitant. Right now, we are about to battle with Tiger Tawau's mercenary group. He can not be so hesitant anymore. His decision would mean nothing if his decision were made after the battle is finished. My guess is he will make his decision in the next few days." Alice smiled.
"Batusimon will be trouble someday," Hui Wei said with a frown. "Our king has titled two dukes. Does he have to title a third one? In terms of closeness, Master Marino has agreed to work with the Maho Empire. In terms of the power, the Storm mercenary group is not as great as the Glory mercenary group and Batusimon is not as great as Anthony. How could Batusimon be titled duke but not Anthony? Anthony will be pissed about it. That is why I said he would be trouble in the future."
"There is one more reason why Batusimon is not as good as Anthony. After the titling ceremony, Anthony was not the commander of the Glory mercenary group anymore. He passed it on to David. Anthony is planting the seed for their futures and it shows his stance that he would give up control of the super mercenary group as Master Marino did. Would Batusimon be willing to give his super mercenary group up?"
"We have no control over what would happen in the future," Alice smiled. "Right now, it seems that having Batusimon on our side is very good for us. We not only have one less enemy but also get stronger."
"You will be in charge of the case of Batusimon. I will not get involved. You will be on your own. Alice, can you pack up so you can leave together with us?" Anfey asked. Last time when they travelled to White Mountain City to fight, he asked Alice to stay in Stormenburg because many newly-joined mercenary families needed Alice to help them settle down. Those families were still in Stormburg. It would not help with the situation to have Alice stay here. Besides, Anfey was worried about Alice's safety. It was better to take her with him.
"Ok," Alice nodded, "but it seems inappropriate to have myself talk with Batusimon. You are the Chief General. If you were not there with us, it might make Batusimon feel he is not important enough."
"Wouldn't it show that he is very important when our CEO is talking to him?" Anfey smiled.
It usually produced a strange feeling from a person when his position changed. If this happened a year ago when Anfey and Christian just came to the Country of Mercenaries, Batusimon would not even bother to see them. Back then, Batusimon was number one in the Storm mercenary group, but the situation totally changed. At this moment, it's Anfey's turn of not wanting to spare time for him. To be more specific, it was already a little late for Batusimon to join the League of Mercenaries. If Batusimon decided to join the League of Mercenaries before Anfey took control over White Mountain City, he would receive many privileges. If he dragged it along and did not make the decision until the battle between Anfey and Tiger Tawau was over to see Anfey, Alice would not even bother to see him no matter how sincere he would be.
"This is the courtesy." Alice smiled bitterly.
"Ok, I will see." Anfey scanned around. "We will stop here for right now. Let's hurry up and do some training. Alice, can you stay for a second? I have something to talk to you about in private."
Everyone seemed to know what they should do next when Anfey said "in private". Everyone stood up and left the conference room. Alice felt her heart pump harder. She asked timidly , "What's going on?"
Alice misunderstood Anfey. If Anfey had anything romantic to say to her, he would not dare to directly ask everyone to leave the conference, especially not in front of Suzanna. Judging from the way Anfey handled things, he would never be able to flirt with Alice while everyone else knew about it in next ten years.
"Our king wants to use the underground city for a while." Anfey took out a half crystal from the Dimensional ring. This crystal looked like it was broken in half by force so the surface was not smooth. "Can you ask a few dwarves to take the crystal back to Moramatch Town. If there were a person taking the other half of the crystal over and the two halves matched, you could let him in."
"How could our king know about the underground? What is he going to do with it?" Alice asked in surprise.
"Christian must have told him. What the king would do with it, I have no idea," Anfey said.
Chapter 486: Support
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
"I'm impressed," Stan said. "You've done well here." Country of Mercenaries was a hard place for preachers to be. A lot of mercenaries didn't care for religions, and the mercenary groups had been resisting the advance of the Church for years. Even though there were a lot of preachers in Country of Mercenaries, it was very hard for them to actually convert anyone. Warner's achievement was very rare. Stan could tell how important Warner was just from the way people greeted him in the streets.
"You flatter me, my lord," Warner said. "The mercenaries want to be saved, as well." Anfey had told him that he needed to be more aggressive. He hadn't been using his passive attitude ever since.
The mercenaries could tell that Warner's position in the League of Mercenaries had risen. Not only the mercenary leaders like Ozzic and Shinbela, but even Anfey had become more respectful towards Warner. This change made the mercenaries much more respectful towards Warner, and they began listening to his preaching as well. The mercenaries didn't believe in any gods, but the change in Warner's station was enough to attract more followers.
"There are mercenaries, aren't there?" Stan asked. "Does Anfey not mind?"
"He respects the Church," Warner said. "Why would he mind?"
"Respect, is it?" Stan smiled and said. He knew very well how disrespectful Anfey was, but he also knew that he didn't need to point that out.
"I know why you don't trust me, my lord," Warner said. "But I think you may be too extreme." Warner had been worried about this meeting, even though he had not shown it. Stan may not be as well-known as Slanbrea, but he was still very powerful, and he was much more important. Luckily, Warner had enough practice to know how he should act when dealing with someone more important than he was. Without that practice, he wouldn't have been able to talk to Stan without bowing after every word.
"Why is that?"
"I've been working for Anfey since before they left Moramatch," Warner said. "I think that I speak for him. He is very respectful not only to me but also to Lord Fernando, despite how difficult Lord Fernando's men were."
"Really?" Stan asked, frowning. "Fernando's men were all well-trained. Why would they be difficult?"
"Of course they won't do anything in front of you, my lord," Warner said. "But without a supervisor, they can be as bad as mercenaries. I trust Anfey with my life, and so do a lot of other people here."
Stan frowned and nodded.
"Despite how challenging Fernando's men were, Anfey never said anything that might anger them or do anything to them."
"I see," Stan said. "I will talk to Fernando about this."
"As for Zagreen… I completely understand and support what Anfey did."
"And why is that?"
"Because those priests tried to assassinate him with a swordsmaster called Deswright," Warner told Stan. "They are at fault in this situation. Wouldn't you have done the same?"
"No," Stan said, shaking his head. "I am ashamed see you thinking like this, Warner."
"You have to realize, my lord, I have to save myself as well," Warner said. "Sure, there may only be a few priests involved in the situation with Deswright, but that had already angered the mercenaries. If I had tried to do anything, if I had tried to save those priests, the mercenaries would have thought that I am like those priests. I would not only lose the trust of the mercenaries, I think Anfey would stop trusting me after that, as well. Without Anfey's trust and support, I don't think I could have converted so many people here." Warner already knew that he wouldn't be returning to the Church. Stan was only meeting him because he had the Book of Life. If he went back to the Church, the Church would try to take it from him. Without it, Warner was nothing. He couldn't lose the Book.
"I think trying to save them would have brought shame to the Church," Warner continued without waiting for Stan's response. "The mercenaries already dislike the Church; and I cannot allow them to hate all priests and the Church. If some mercenaries tried to assassinate the pope, do you think the priests and the Knights of Light would give the mercenaries any chance for explanation? Anfey is to the mercenaries as the pope is to us. It was very chaotic, and I weep for those that were innocent, but what is done is done. We need to focus on the future. We need to focus on preventing what happened in Zagreen from happening again."
Stan narrowed his eyes.
"I do not regret my decision," Warner said, lowering his voice. "I can preach here freely because of Anfey's support. Give me a few more years, my lord. I am confident that I can convert more mercenaries than any priest in history."
Stan looked at Warner and was stunned. It had always been the Church's goal to preach in Country of Mercenaries. He could tell Warner was being serious. He was impressed by how much Warner had grown.
"Maybe you're right," Stan said. He smiled and asked, "I heard you've activated the Book of Life."
"Yes," Warner said with a nod. He had no intention of giving the Book up.
"The pope is saddened by what happened to you," Stan said.
"I'm not the man I used to be," Warner interrupted Stan. "I stopped being a priest when my fellow priests tried to kill me. Now, I am just a normal man who wants to bring more people to the light."
"Don't worry," Stan said. "The pope said everything was meant to happen. I think he will be very impressed by how much you've grown."
Warner's eyes widened. Stan's response implied that the pope knew and agreed with his actions. He had not expected to have the Church's support.
Warner was working for Anfey, who was quickly making a name for himself around the world. He was also doing well preaching and converting in Country of Mercenaries. Not only that, Stan's party had gained the upper hand in the Church after Scarlet's death, and Stan knew how important it was to form an alliance with Maho Empire. Working with Anfey and his men would be a good way to mend the broken relationship between Maho Empire and the Church.
Chapter 487: Persuasion
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The mercenaries in the White Mountain City were immersed in excitement. Comparatively, soldiers in Blackwater City were in a much more down mood, even though Manstuly and elf pharaohs tried hard to boost their morale. The uprising of the League of Mercenaries and the death of Scarlet had caused anxiety and fear in the Blackwater City's people.
Manstuly enjoyed a high reputation among the wolf druids. If he were compared to the top powers on the Pan Continent, he was not even as good as the archmage Michael from the Ellisen Empire. If Anfey could kill archmage Michael, it made sense that people believed Anfey definitely could kill Manstuly no matter how Manstuly argued about it or denied it. Even the wolf druids were pessimistic about it.
In the valley about 40 miles away from Blackwater City, a patrol was walking over the fresh green grass. The spring breeze was warm and the snow on the ground had melted away. The whole plain and hills had put on a new green dress and looked lively.
There was a saying: "It did not seem like work if men could be paired with women to work with." This patrol was composed of three female elves, four male elves, and four mercenaries. They talked and laughed as they travelled. They were more touring than on a mission. Elves were very proud, especially those three female elves. They were nice to their peers but only exchanged a few conversations with the mercenaries out of courtesy.
When they walked out of the valley, Blackwater River laid in front of their eyes. A male elf, who looked like the leader of this group, raised his voice, "Okay guys, we have to go back after taking a quick tour."
"The view here is breathtaking," a female elf said with a smile. On the other side of Blackwater River was an endless prairie, like a pure and clean green carpet. The elves used to live in the forest and had never had the chance to see how grand the prairie could be. They felt so refreshed.
"It would be great if we could stay here forever," another female elf exclaimed.
The third female elf was not in the mood to appreciate the prairie. Her eyes were fixed on something above her. A man in a white magic gown stood on the tree branch, glaring at them coldly. He had a gigantic ax in his hand and looked at them without any emotion. He seemed to treat everyone like a rock.
"Who are you?" the female elf raised her voice and asked.
The others all turned around to follow her eyes. A swirling ax flying down at them with rushing element currents in waves became their answer. The warm spring breeze became chilly. The freshness of the spring air was replaced by blood.
The element currents disappeared in the blink of an eye. Eleven people in the patrol died before they could do anything about the element currents. They did not even have the chance to send out magical help signals. The power difference between Anfey and themselves was huge.
Anfey quietly watched the blood beads drip from the ax. He looked like he was waiting for something or thinking deeply. After a while, he thought out loud with a frown. "Manstuly, you don't plan on being a chicken, do you?"
Anfey intensified the element currents on purpose so that Manstuly would sense it since he was only less than forty miles away from Blackwater City from here.
However, within his sensing range, about eight different patrol teams went the opposite direction from him. They all retreated to Blackwater City. Obviously, they were told what to do when they found anything wrong.
Anfey employed the strategy that had been used in the war between the human league and death spirits. This strategy used senior warriors to strike the opponent with their highest flexibility. This strategy looked simple but had many different small variations in it.
Sometimes, an archmage would suddenly show up in the sky above death spirits and leave right away after releasing large-scale destructive magic.
Sometimes, two master swordsmen would be busy killing death spirits and forget about leaving the battle, but they would leave from a suddenly-opened Dimensional Door once necromancers came to help the death spirits. A group of top powers would force the reinforcement necromancers to stay where they were forever with their magic.
Sometimes, a group of top powers attacked the end of the death spirits' army. When necromancers hurried over to help, those top powers would suddenly fly away before they even reached the end of the army. More top powers would attack the front of the death spirit army. Those necromancers would suddenly realize they fell into those top powers' trap and would immediately allocate necromancers to help the front of the army. The necromancers sent to help the back of the army would be sent back, but the back of the army got attacked again. Those top powers would employ the Vacuum Time so they could release a few Forbidden Spells with casualty and left without any hurry.
Human wisdom was so powerful that the strategies they developed were varied. They always seemed to be able to have new ideas. Anfey decided not to employ many strategies. He only wanted to lure Manstuly out.
It was risky for Anfey to sneak into White Mountain City. However, it was different than before. Once Anfey had entered the level of Da Dao, he became a saint. Before he reached the level of Da Dao, he was just a human. When he practiced with Suzanna before, he had to try really hard to be her match, but now he could definitely feel he was a lot better than her.
Anfey's aim was to kill as many senior level druids and elves as possible by himself. He hoped he could run into Manstuly and kill him in the fight. There was another reason that he did not bring Suzanna with him to Blackwater City. It had something to do with his advancement to a Saint.
Anfey wanted to have the supreme power, but he refused to evolve his emotions into the emotionless "Dao" level, which was contradictory to the principle of Da Dao. He did not want to kill the patrol, which had nothing to do with civilization or humanity. It was only because of his laziness and aloofness. Maybe he would only be passionate about a fight if there was someone as good as him. Anfey knew well the reason he had these emotional changes was because of the influence of Dao. He did not think it was right.
People usually did not know what they had until it was gone. Anfey had already had a taste of this. When his parents had been alive, he did not practice hard. The only reason he practiced was that he wanted to impress his friends and classmates. He did not understand how precious it was to have parents urge him to learn every day until his had passed away.
Anfey had Suzanna in his life now. He had been picturing their future. If he could not change his emotions, he would end up as a person with no emotions. He could give up anything in this world, including Suzanna. If this were the case, it would be pointless no matter how powerful he became.
Anfey was terrified of loneliness. It might be because he had been by himself for so long. No one understood what Anfey had to fight against— not only the seductions from women, but also his own heart.
A group of mercenaries, about forty of them, all rode horses and rushed into Anfey's sensing range. They rode very fast towards Anfey. Their appearance seemed out of nowhere. Other patrols had retreated to the station, which showed the city master's conservative attitude. The appearance of this group of mercenaries definitely shocked Anfey, especially when there seemed to be no top powers among them that Anfey should pay attention to.
Anfey suddenly remembered something. He took out a paper scroll from his Dimensional ring. There were a dozen faces painted on the scroll. The head of that group of mercenaries was one of the faces. Anfey had gotten very few pieces of information from Blackwater City since Manstuly and elves took control of it, but he still had previous information about Blackwater City. For example, the paintings of Mourtta and Hotchbini's children.
"Is he the youngest son of Hotchbini, Beach? He came at the right time," Anfey thought out loud and smiled.
Anfey's sensing range had already reached dozens of miles now so he had to wait a while for those mercenaries to ride their horses over the hill. Luckily it did not take them too long with the help of the horses. "Ashley, Ashley," a worried voice suddenly stopped at the Blackwater river. Over forty mercenaries all focused on the bodies lying everywhere on the ground.
"Hi, everybody." Anfey had to say something to remind them of his existence. He looked up to check the time. "Good afternoon, everyone."
The mercenary in the front stared at one elf's body. He jumped off the horse and rushed at Anfey. Luckily, his fellow mercenaries were not that focused. A few mercenaries immediately held him back and then looked at Anfey in alarm.
"You did not kill them, did you?" The mercenary in the front had not noticed Anfey until now. He yelled in anger.
"Are you Beach? Do your parents know you are here?" Anfey asked in a low pitch without answering Beach's question.
"I asked you if you killed them!" Beach was so furious that he pulled out his sword backhanded.
"Go back and tell Hotchbini." Anfey pointed at one mercenary. Beach did not answer Anfey. "I know Hotchbini has been busy lately. I do not want to cause any inconvenience for her, but I have no other option. You come at just the right time, don't you? Help me pass my apology to Hotchbini."
"I am f*cking asking you. Did you—" Beach's yelling was interrupted by his peers. The mercenaries stared at the ax in Anfey's hand. The cut-off limbs everywhere on the ground seemed to be enough evidence to prove what kind of weapon the killer had used. In addition, there was blood on the ax.
A few mercenaries dragged Beach back while more mercenaries pulled their swords out and surrounded Anfey. One mage had already started to chant. A big fireball appeared in the sky and shot at Anfey. One middle-aged mercenary yelled as he rushed towards Anfey: "Protect our lord and leave!"
The vicious-looking big fireball suddenly stopped when Anfey casually waved his hand. The fireball was like a well-behaved basketball and fell in Anfey's hand. Anfey weighed it and tossed the fireball back at the mage.
The mage almost popped out when he saw this. The next moment, the fireball he released hit him.
"You can only leave with my permission." Element currents suddenly prevailed around Blackwater river again after Anfey said it.
Chapter 488: Unfinished
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Anfey stood where he was and watched the sunset. He had always been patient. He had killed Hotchbini's son and he knew she would want revenge.
He sensed another group of people approaching. This group was even larger than the last group, and Anfey could tell Manstuly was among them.
He still did not move. He was conserving his strength and his power so he could peak when it mattered.
Anfey knew that his plan left no room for failure. He had killed the scouts and Hotchbini's son because he needed Manstuly to appear personally. He believed that Manstuly knew that as well. Bringing guards and soldiers meant that Manstuly was not confident enough to take on Anfey one on one.
Anfey recalled the story of Jerrofick and Ernest. Jerrofick was once the best swordsmaster in the entire world and was called a genius. However, when Ernest challenged him, he resorted to deception and trickery. Before that, Ernest had once spoken highly of Jerrofick. Ernest knew how to work his way up from the bottom. He dueled with people less powerful than he was because he needed the experience. Putting Jerrofick at the end was a gesture of respect.
Even though Jerrofick had won the duel and ruined Ernest's reputation, his own skills began regressing as well. Ernest said that it was because he had lost faith in himself and in his sword.
The sound of the enemies was growing closer. Anfey turned and saw two small dark specks appear on a mountain in the distance. Thanks to the Heart of Nature, his senses were much sharper than any human's. Nothing could escape his detection.
The dark specks were two elves quietly approaching. They were both young and good looking, but one could not guess an elf's age from the elf's appearance. Elves were ageless and almost never changed.
The two elves each wore golden chainmail and held a green longbow. They were very agile and fast. The male elf was standing on the cliff and the female was crouching in the grass. Both of them were staring at Anfey and observing him.
Anfey lifted a brow. Clearly, this was Manstuly's plan. He stretched his body and picked up the axe that was lying on the ground.
It had been centuries since the last chosen one of the Goddess of Nature appeared. During that time, the Heart of Nature was but a relic to the druids. The last chosen one did not say anything about the Heart of Nature in order to protect himself and the Heart of Nature. Because of this, no one knew exactly what the chosen ones were capable of and couldn't prepare for them.
One of the elves pulled out an green, limp arrow and nocked it. As soon as the arrow touched the bow, it straightened. The elf aimed and released the arrow. The arrow ripped through the air, howling as it flew towards Anfey.
The arrow was very fast and very powerful, but still not enough to harm a top level power.
Anfey frowned. The female elf had released an arrow at the same time as her male companion. The arrow she released was invisible and did not make a single noise. The speed was faster than the green arrow, as well. If Anfey did not have the Heart of Nature, he would not have been able to detect the present of the arrow.
Anfey waved his large axe and the invisible arrow crashed into the axe with a loud boom. Anfey frowned as he wavered, then he jumped up and out of the way of the green arrow. He landed then dashed towards the female elf.
Both elves were clearly very good. The male elf was a very good archer, and he was only responsible for covering for the female elf.
Anfey increased his speed. Loose elements were attracted to him and formed a small storm of elements around him. The grass under his feet was flattened by this elemental storm and the elements obscured his figure, preventing the elves from seeing him clearly. He knew that Manstuly had already transformed himself and was heading his way, but he also knew he was faster.
Seeing that they had been discovered, the two elves gave up hiding as well. The female elf stood up in the grass and did not appear to be worried about being discovered. She wasn't just an archer. She was skilled with magic, as well. She pulled her bowstring taut and released a beam of green light.
The green light expanded in the wind and became a large net.
Anfey kept running as if he could not see the net. As soon as he touched the net, the net disappeared into thin air. He did not let that bother him and kept decreasing the distance between himself and the elves. Because of the Heart of Nature, no nature magic could hurt him.
The female elf frowned. An arrow made of sapphire appeared in her hand, and she released it. Anfey frowned and waved his axe, hitting the blue arrow.
The axe slammed into the blue arrow and shattering it. The pieces of the blue arrow regrouped and formed into a large wall of ice. Seeing that Anfey was slowed, another arrow appeared in the female elf's hand and she released the arrow towards him. The arrow flew towards him and turned into a beam of dark light.
The dark light struck the wall of ice and absorbed the ice. However, the female elf could not celebrate her success because she could tell that Anfey had disappeared moments before the arrow hit the ice.
Anfey's figure flashed and reappeared. The female elf jumped back. She knew that she was no match for him and she needed to get away. Her figure wavered and several illusions appeared, all running in different directions.
If Anfey had not had the Heart of Nature, he would not have been able to tell which was the real elf. However, because of the Heart of Nature, he could do things he would not have been able to do otherwise. He easily found the real elf and chased after her.
He raised his axe, striking the elf. The elf screamed and disappeared, but that did not slow him. He quickly caught up to her again and struck her with his axe. She fell to the ground, limp.
"I told you, Manstuly," Anfey whispered. "It's not yet finished."
By the time Manstuly and his men arrived, Anfey was gone and the only things left were the bodies of the two archers.
Chapter 489: War
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
"Master, we lost thirty-one elves, five druids and fifty-two mercenaries in total by dusk. The southern town seemed just—" a druid reported.
"F*ck off!" Manstuly yelled in anger.
The druid who had just come in to report to Manstuly trembled with fear. He immediately left the room after Manstuly asked him to f*ck off.
Beside Manstuly, Mourtta and Hotchbini were sitting to the left of him in the room while three male elves sat to the right of him. None of them looked too good.
Mourtta liked to hide his weakness so he always pushed his wife, Hotchbini, in front of him. In fact, he was just as good as Hotchbini. Manstuly was definitely as good as Mourtta and Hotchbini. He was the leader of the wolf druids. The three male elves were the elf pharaohs. They were definitely a group of powerful, intelligent people. However, they did not seem to know how to deal with Anfey when faced with his cruel and bloody killing.
This magical world was different from the civilized world with high technology. In the high-tech and civilized world, each individual's ability was very limited. Anyone who wanted to make accomplishments needed the collective efforts of others. In this magical world, one person's power, even though it couldn't be unlimited, could cause irreversible changes to society. Anfey had only taken one day, by himself, to turn around Blackwater City and make people in Blackwater City worry.
They thought of having a group of top powers surround Anfey, but they did not think it would work since Anfey would not be stupid enough to fight directly against those top powers. On top of already being fast, Anfey could release Instant Transportation. Those top powers would not even be able to chase after him. They thought about setting traps for Anfey, but the tragedy at dusk had proven that would not work either. To prove whether setting traps for Anfey would work had cost the elves a lot.
Katyusha had been the second best Sunset Archer. The Silent Arrow she had always practiced with were not that effective against swordsmen, since they were all very fit. However, whenever she had fought against archmages, her silent archery caused fatal threats to them. The magic arrows she had brought with her were accumulated by elves over time, a few of them senior level magic arrows. With her magic achievements, and the amount of arrows she'd had on her, everyone had thought Katyusha could definitely kill Anfey when she left. They had thought she could hurt Anfey even if she could not kill him. Nobody had thought such a hopeful top power could be killed by Anfey in the blink of an eye. It was a huge blow to them.
"I finally believe there is an heir to the Saints," the elf pharaoh in the middle asked in a low pitch. "Master Manstuly, what I don't get is why you still wanted to attack Suzanna if you already knew Anfey's teacher was a mysterious Saint, and if the legend about Anfey was discovered about a year ago. Isn't it not wise to make an enemy with a potential Saint?"
"Master Anderson, in fact, it was my idea." Mourtta smiled bitterly.
"Okay, could you tell me why you did that?" the elf pharaoh asked.
"I do not think there have been any Saints, neither does Master Manstuly," Mourtta said.
"Are those all your reasons?" the elf pharaoh asked.
"No," Mourtta shook his head. "Back then, Anfey did not stand out as much as he does now. I worried about his sophisticated plans. He stationed himself in Moramatch Town and seemed to be really interested in the Country of Mercenaries. I thought he would be a problem in the future."
"That is why we thought we could not let him grow stronger," Manstuly added. "We had to destroy him."
"His sophisticated plans?" another elf pharaoh asked. "I do not quite get it."
"You know about the conflict between Tiger Tawau's mercenary group and Glory mercenary group, right?" Mourtta asked.
"Yes," the elf pharaoh said.
"In fact, Glory mercenary and us have been set up all the way from the beginning. We all know Shanteler and Davidson from Glory mercenary group were killed in a conflict, but we did not kill them," Mourtta said in a low pitch.
"Then who killed them?" the elf pharaoh asked.
"Anfey did," Mourtta said.
"Anfey?" The elf pharaoh shook his head. "I don't think so. I have carefully read the report about Anfey. When you had the conflict with Glory mercenary group, Anfey was still pretty weak. Even though Suzanna worked for him, those few young guys would not be able to pose any threats to Shenteler and Davidson. Davidson was a senior swordsman. In addition, Shanteler and Davidson had many guards with them. How could Anfey and Suzanna kill them?"
"I don't know how Anfey did it either," Mourtta smiled bitterly, "but I am sure he was part of it."
"Really?" the elf pharaoh asked.
"If you are interested in it, I can tell you all I know," Mourtta said in a low pitch. "In fact, from the very beginning, Hotchbini and I felt something was not right, but back then we already had conflict with Glory mercenary group. Later, Shanteler and Davidson were killed. We had to continue the fight with Glory mercenary group even though we knew there was something fishy about it. In addition, we could not explain what happened. Hotchbini explained it to Shanteler. Unfortunately, Shanteler doubted us. Those antsy Glory mercenaries were not patient enough to listen to our explanation after Shanteler was killed. Since the fight had to happen, we had to try our best."
"After the fight, I did an investigation on it for a long time, but could not figure out what was wrong with it." Mourtta paused a second before he continued, "But, a person suddenly caught my attention."
"Anfey?" the elf pharaoh asked.
"Yes," Mourtta nodded. "He set a trap in Cross Valley and wiped out a Griffin Aerial Unit."
"Did you suspect him because of that?" the elf pharaoh asked.
"Master Anderson, no one was born a supreme power. First of all, he needs time to grow and there is always a way to trace the growth. Taking Anfey for example. Every time Anfey did something big or showed in public, his power increased significantly more than before."
"We agree with what you said, but…" Anderson said.
"Master Anderson, bear with me with a long story." Mourtta heaved a slight sigh. "I am a victim of Anfey so I know better than anyone else. The setup he had for Glory mercenary group and me was so well and cruelly planned that I could not fight back even though I knew I fell in traps. This is the characteristics of Anfey. When Anfey gained his fame by wiping out a Griffin Aerial Unit, I felt there was similarity between those two events. I just wanted to give a try so I targeted Anfey and did an investigation on him. I did find out a lot of information about him."
"What did you find out?" Anderson asked.
"Before Shanteler and Davidson were killed, Anfey and his fellows came to Blackwater City and stayed in a hotel, named Tuna Hotel. Anfey seemed to be very active and always came home late at night. What was he busy with? The main reason Glory mercenary group and us had the conflict was because a younger brother of Davidson was killed at a mercenary's home. Davidson said it was my mercenary. When I did the investigation, I found someone saw a beautiful swordswoman with black hair and black eyes and a young mage on the street that day. Later, I found a painter and a few people who had seen Suzanna before. I asked that painter to draw Suzanna and showed it to the people who saw them. They were sure the girl they saw was Suzanna. Was it just a coincident?" Mourtta said in a low pitch.
"Besides, Anfey is a student of Saul's. His luck did not seem to be too good. He ran into trouble a couple of times in the Maho Empire. What surprised me was Yolanther's attitude towards Anfey. He never punished him for his mistakes but always rewarded him for any achievements he made. There is no point for me to talk about what kind of person Yolanther is. The key is: why did he liked Anfey so much? Could it only be he is a student of Saul? Could it only be he showed his talent?" Mourtta asked in a low pitch.
The three elf pharaohs fell into silence. Mourtta had made it very clear. If they continued to doubt Mourtta's judgement, it would be no different than doubting their own intelligence. Yolanther had been ambitious of making the whole Pan Continent concur. What kind of people would Yolanther think important? It seemed to be self-explanatory.
"I have an idea." An elf pharaoh suddenly looked very excited and proud.
"What is it?" Everyone got interested in it.
"Anfey has been an ally with Glory mercenary group, but he is an assassinator," the elf pharaoh said with a smile. "Anthony has treated Shanteler and Davidson as his own brothers. If we tell him that Anfey actually killed Shanteler and Davidson, hehehe, do you think Anthony would forgive Anfey?"
This was a good idea. Manstuly, Hotchbini and few others all looked excited. Only Mourtta shook his head without any excitement, "It would not work."
"Why not?" the elf pharaoh asked.
"Would Anthony think we are trustworthy? Besides, we do not have enough evidence to prove Anfey killed them," Mourtta said with a bitter smile.
"We have to give it a try," Hotchbini said in a low pitch. Her eyes were red. She had three sons killed by Anfey so far. She tried to control her emotions in front of the others, but she had cried many times by herself. She knew Mourtta shed his tears as well. Unfortunately, the path to the throne was always thorny. They could not turn around now, not even stay where they were. They had to continue on that path no matter how much it would cost them, even if the few sons they had now could be killed in the war.
Chapter 490: Tough Choice
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Anfey sat next to a large boulder, staring at the bonfire in front of him and the sausage on the bonfire. In the distance, the sun was already rising.
Anfey wasn't hungry and he didn't need to eat as often as he used to because of the Heart of Nature, but he also enjoyed the process of cooking and eating and did not mind making a small meal for himself.
Seeing that the sausage was cooked, Anfey took it off of the fire. Suddenly, a strange wind blade appeared near him. Usually, a wind blade is slim and long and gleamed with a dark blue color. Under normal circumstances, mages wouldn't change the shape of a wind blade because it was difficult and pointless. Anfey waved his hand and the wind blade began chopping the sausage into smaller slices. Although Anfey didn't need to eat as often, he still felt the process of eating was an integral part of being human.
He popped a slice of sausage into his mouth. Suddenly, he detected about a dozen riders approaching. They were walking and stopping as if they were searching for something. Anfey retrieved his bow and released an arrow into the sky.
A few minutes later, a group of soldiers appeared. They hurried towards Anfey's bonfire and jumped off of their horses. "Sir," the leader said, nodding at Anfey. Anfey nodded when he recognized Robert, the Ranger who had been negotiating with him.
"What are you doing here, Robert?" Anfey asked.
"You once told me that you do not have a good weapon," Robert said. He held up a sword and said, This is the holy sword left to us by our ancestors. We hope you can have it."
"Holy sword?"
"Have you heard of the Sword of the Pioneer?"
"Sword of the Pioneer?" Anfey repeated, his eyes widening. "Isn't that hidden in Swordbury?"
"That hasn't been the case for a long time," Robert said. "My ancestors once guarded Swordbury and switched out the real sword with a fake. That is why kings of Maho Empire never take it out of the principality."
"Even Christian doesn't know much about it," Anfey said. "How did you ancestors manage to switch the swords?"
"They got the sword out, but couldn't get out themselves," Robert said, shaking his head. "We lost contact with them after they smuggled the sword out."
"Still," Anfey said, "a very impressive feat. You've been active for so long yet no one detected your presence… I don't think I could have managed that."
"You flatter me, sir," Robert said with a smile. "This world is too complicated, situations are often too murky. We must be strong in order to survive. Of course, our lives will be much more difficult from now on." Robert knew better than anyone how many different centers of power existed in the world. The empires were powerful, but so were the Church, the elves, and the druids. Now the necromancers were slowly becoming a part of the power web as well. Who knew what would happen after that?
"Don't worry," Anfey said with a smile. He knew exactly what Robert was concerned about. "I will do everything in my power to protect you."
"We are lucky to know you," Robert said, smiling.
"No," Anfey said, shaking his head. "I am the lucky one. That comment about weapons is just something I mentioned in passing. I can't believe you remembered it." Anfey smiled at Robert as he put the sword into his dimensional ring. He was very curious about the sword, but he had to keep himself composed. He would inspect it later when he was alone.
"Anything, sir," Robert said.
Anfey and Robert left the rest of the Rangers to talk because they wanted to make sure their conversation stayed between the two of them. Anfey was interested in the Rangers, and the Rangers were interested in Anfey. After Minos sent his servants away, some of the servants lost touch with each other, which was why the Rangers were shrinking in number. The Rangers were interested in Anfey because they believed his teacher might have been one of them. The last known supreme power was Minos, but even Minos became a supreme power with the aid of the Wheel of Fortune, just like the Heart of Nature had made Anfey into a top level power.
Anfey recalled the labyrinth in Violet City and remembered that there were a lot of pentagrams carved into the walls. He drew the pentagram by memory and show it to Robert. Immediately upon seeing the pentagram, Robert's eyes filled with tears.
The pentagram was the symbol of Minos. Very few knew about the symbols, even among the Rangers. Robert knew that Anfey must have known a Ranger.
"Robert, did you come all this way to give me the sword?" Anfey asked.
Robert sighed. "No," he said, shaking his head. "There's something else, but…"
"Tell me," Anfey said. "Don't hold back."
Robert nodded. "After the rebellion in Gruce Principality, King Darius escaped to Ellisen Empire. He was discovered, and he's on his way back to Gruce Principality. He will arrive at Blackwater City in a week."
"What?" Anfey asked, his eyes widening. He rarely lost his composure, but Darius was different. He was the father of Suzanna and Shally. "Are you sure?"
"Absolutely," Robert said. "There is something… I'm not sure if I should say it."
"Tell me."
"I know Darius," Robert said. "He is a horrible person. We cannot let him get to Blackwater City. We can't save him, either. If we do, it may damage our reputation." Robert raised his hand and dragged a finger across his neck. "This is the easiest plan. My men are already positioned and ready."
Anfey frowned and did not say anything. He knew that Darius was a very hated man in his own nation, which made overthrowing him very easy. Trajan may have a careful plan, but it still would've been harder if Darius was a good ruler.
This was the first time Anfey faced a difficult decision. He knew that it was necessary to kill Darius, but Darius was still the father of his wife. If Anfey killed Darius, what would he tell Suzanna? Should he tell her about it, or should he keep her in the dark?
Chapter 491: Passing the Test
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
"Master, did they notice us?" A young ranger looked scared and doubtful.
"They just stopped to take a break. We don't' have to wait anymore. We could attack them now," Anfey said in a low pitch.
"Now? They have mages," the young ranger said.
"Why are you talking so much? Just follow my order!" Robert said with a serious tone.
"Yes, sir." That young ranger suddenly realized that he only needed to follow the order. He jumped on the horse and rushed forward with his fellows.
The army was ready to take a break. They were not aware of anything unusual. However, the clip-clop sounds of horse steps on the ground could not be covered when the rangers rushed out of the grass. The army noticed the danger. All the soldiers moved to a center while over a dozen people flew to the sky. Obviously, those who flew to the sky were mages.
There were red lights flashing in the distance. A strong flare shot at a mage with fast speed and immediately left a hole in that mage's chest. There was another flare flying above them before they even figured out what had happened. The mages in the air suddenly realized what happened. They hurriedly released their magic shields. They immediately realized those magic shields would not be able to protect them. The third Firebird whooshed over and easily pierced through magic shields and hit another mage's head. That mage's head exploded like a smashed watermelon. His blood and flesh splattered everywhere. This scene stunned over 400 soldiers.
Even though Anfey could not release forbidden spells, the senior level magic he released with his super telepathy and strong control over elements was more terrifying than the intensified magic Archmage Michael could release.
The regular Firebird could be shot out as far as 1,500 feet. The range could reach to 3000 feet with intensified magic. Anfey was 4,500 feet away from the army. If Anfey used bombing magic, he would not be able to control the elements with such a long distance. It was easy for Anfey to control the elements around him to attack the target at a distance. His sensing ability allowed him to lock in anyone in a distance.
Mages flew down one after another. None of them wanted to be Anfey's target. However, this disaster was not finished yet. Another Firebird attacked the center of the army and created fires everywhere. Some mages laid on their stomach on the ground out of fear, but the Firebird still attacked them.
The soldiers from the Ellisen Empire thought the area north of Blackwater City would be safe, especially when they only needed to escort one criminal for this trip. There was no top power in this team so they could not fight against the Firebird at all. The whole team was almost crushed in the blink of an eye.
Rangers had already rushed close to the army. They had twenty rangers with them, much less people than the army, but more powerful than the soldiers all together from the Ellisen Empire.
About seven of the rangers were mages. They fearlessly flew into the sky and suddenly flew into different directions like a firework. Their mission was to stop and chase after the deserters. It sounded like a very hard mission to wipe out over 400 soldiers with only a little bit more than 20 people. However, with Anfey's help and a huge power difference between the two parties, it was not a difficult task. If they could not complete this task, they should feel ashamed of themselves.
When Anfey and Robert arrived, the battle had finished. The grass in an area with a radius of thousands of feet was dyed bloody red. The air was filled with the metallic smell of blood.
Anfey realized the ruthless and cruel side of rangers. It might be the style they inherited from their ancestor, Minos. It also could be the habit they developed over time to protect themselves. Rangers killed people no differently than killing chickens. They were ruthless killers.
Anfey remembered what happened in White Mountain City. A mercenary had reported to Ye that few young men killed all the mercenaries in his squad. It seemed that rangers had acted this way for a long time.
"Master, we found Darius, but he looks like he has lost his mind," a young ranger reported to Anfey with respect.
"Lost his mind?" Anfey raised one of his eyebrows.
The young ranger turned around and waved his hand. A man around sixty years old was pushed out. He was dressed very nice. He was a Grand Duke in a principality who showed his loyalty to the Ellisen Empire. At this moment, the Ellisen Empire did not need Grand Dukes anymore, but they still treated them decently. The old man had the manners of people in high positions. He was very clean and tidy. One could tell that he must have been a very handsome man when he had been young. However, at this moment, there was a dull and absent look on his face. He looked slightly up at the sky as he sang some unknown folk song. He didn't seem to hear it when the rangers talked to him. He would just shake a bit with some giggles when he was pushed.
"If he is already crazy, he will be of no use for us. Kill him," Anfey said casually.
The young ranger pulled his sword out and thrusted it backhanded at Darius's chest.
Darius looked scared when he saw Anfey's group was very decisive and could kill anyone they wanted to. He suddenly screamed, "Wait, please, master."
The ranger's sword went up a bit and slid over Darius's shoulder, leaving a bloody cut there. Darius screamed in pain as he covered the cut with his hand.
"Be quiet!" Anfey said slowly. "Are you Darius?"
"Yes, yes." Darius bent down with fears. He almost kneeled in front of Anfey.
"How does it feel being betrayed by the Ellisen Empire while you have showed your loyalty to them? It must not feel good, does it?" Anfey asked sarcastically.
Darius did not know how to respond to Anfey's questions. He was afraid of aggravating Anfey so he kept quiet with an almost-crying face. In fact, he was quite confused. Anfey's group killed the soldiers escorting him. They should be coming to save him, but they did not look like they were here to save him.
"I heard once when you were drunk, you told some of your maids that you wanted to build a city of beauties and to have all the young girls in the principality live in your city. A maid suggested you kill all the men in the principality so you would not have to build a city of beauties. You praised her for her good idea. Did you do it?" Anfey asked.
"Master, I said those words when I was drunk. It's all bullsh*t," Darius said.
"I just asked you whether you said so." Anfey said.
"Yes, sir," Darius answered obediently.
"I heard you cut off a maid's legs and froze them in the icing kekkai only because you thought she had beautiful feet. You said her beauty would not fade as time went by. Did you did do it?" Anfey asked.
"Yes." Darius was more scared. He felt Anfey's group was here to take revenge for some innocent victim. The things Anfey asked about were quite well-known in the city so he could not deny them.
"The law of having girls give their virginity to kings was abolished a thousand year ago, but you enforce it again with force in your principality. You ordered the newly wed civilian couples to send the bride to your palace to take her virginity. There were more girls than you could enjoy so you spared some for your officials and hatch men. Did you do it?" Anfey asked.
"Yes," Darius answered.
"It's great that you are being honest with me. As long as you are honest, I will not hurt you." Anfey smiled. "I do not mean to insult you. What I am saying is meant to remind you what an a**hole you are."
Darius did not look like Darius anymore. He looked more like a beggar, begging for mercy from Anfey. He stared up at Anfey.
Anfey took out a scroll from his Dimensional ring and opened it in front of Darius. Anfey asked casually, "Do you know this woman?"
Darius took a close look at the paint and answered in a low pitch, "No, I do not know her."
The painting was Suzanna. Even though Darius hid it very well, the faster heart beats, the changes in his pores and in his eyes proved he knew Suzanna. He had to deny it for some reason.
"You are lying," Anfey said coldly.
"Master, I really do not know her," Darius yelled at the top of his voice. After he had been caught by the Ellisen Empire, he had been lectured a lot to persuade Anfey into surrendering to the Ellisen Empire. He had denied that Suzanna was his daughter, but he didn't even remember what she looked like anyway.
Anfey lifted his chin a bit. Two rangers pressed Darius to the ground. One of the rangers pulled the sword out backhanded. Anfey sighed quietly. The qualities of the rangers were in wide ranges. If it were Ye, he would not act this way. Ye would kill him if Anfey asked so. He would not press Darius on the ground like the ranger had.
"Master, killing me won't make me know her. I really do not know her," Darius complained. In fact, what he insisted had nothing to do with humanity or righteousness. He did it for himself. He had built so much hatred since he fell from powerful Darius into a criminal. When others bluffed, threatened him, they always mentioned Anfey and Suzanna. He got to know from their conversations that Suzanna had married Anfey and had accomplished a lot with Anfey. It would not do any good to him to hurt Suzanna. She was his last straw. If Suzanna went down, he would lose all his value and usage. He could picture what his life would be if that happened. If he could hold on until the end, even if he was tortured to death, at least he still got a person to take revenge for him.
Anfey quietly looked at Darius. It was a test for Darius. If Darius did not pass it, Anfey would kill him even though it might make Suzanna angry at him. It looked like Darius was not stupid.
"Robert," Anfey said slowly, "can you take him to your place. I will make arrangements for him later."
"Master, I think we'd better…" Robert tried to convince Anfey to kill Darius.
"Follow my order," Anfey said.
Chapter 492: Secret
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
"This is too risky," Christian said, his worried eyes staring at the map of Blackwater City.
No one had predicted this situation beforehand. The League had almost tripled the numbers of mages under Anfey's command. With six hundred mercenaries, everyone thought that the advantage would be on the mercenary's side.
The knowledge of the presence of elven archers in Blackwater City changed that. Even a normal elven archer was better than a human archer, and the archers in Blackwater City were the best of the best. Even a mage was no match for hundreds of arrows.
They could tell how powerful the elves were just from reading the number of casualties. From the initial contact to the full scale conflict, they had lost thirty seven mages. Never before had they lost so many mages in a single battle.
"Where did Lord Anfey go?" Ozzic said, frowning. "This wouldn't have happened if he were here." Ozzic was at the front of the attack and lost three hundred mercenaries. Out of the three thousand Shield of Light soldiers that went with him, less than half returned.
Tiger of Tawau mercenary group had been trying expand their numbers since the beginning of the war against the dead and had help from Ellisen Empire, the elves, and the druids. However, the League still had more fighters.
Blackwater City gave Tiger of Tawau mercenary group an advantage the League did not have. Manstuly was also putting in everything he had. No one had experience fighting such a bloody battle.
A seasoned general wouldn't care about the casualties. They only cared about victory, but Christian was still too young.
Entos had experienced battles and Kumaraghosha was a skilled soldier and seasoned general, but neither had the rank to interfere with Christian's decision-making. They knew that Christian was still young and they couldn't tell Christian that the only way to take down Blackwater City was to sacrifice another half of the League.
"Alice, do you know where Anfey is?" Christian asked.
"How would I know?" Alice replied with a frown. She glanced at Suzanna. Suzanna was Anfey's wife, and if anyone in the room knew where he was, it would be Suzanna.
Suzanna shook her head. "He didn't tell me anything," she said. She sighed and turned to Christian, "Let Anthony and I go. I am confident that the two of us can break through their defense."
"We can't do that," Christian said, shaking his head. Top level powers were often used to turn the tide in a battle, but there were top level powers in Blackwater City as well. They only know about Manstuly, but no one knew whether the elves had any hidden trump cards. If Suzanna and Anthony got themselves into trouble, the League would lose two major powers. Christian knew the League could not afford that.
"Why don't we stop for a bit?" Kumaraghosha asked. "A temporary truce, until Lord Anfey comes back." Kumaraghosha could tell that neither Christian nor Alice could make important decisions. Without Anfey, they would just keep arguing and would not reach a proper decision.
"There's something wrong with this," Ye whispered.
"What is it?" Christian asked.
"I don't know how to put it," Ye said, shaking his head. "Normally, Lord Anfey would tell someone where he's going and how long he'll be gone."
"Maybe he's doing something that's top secret," Blavi said.
"Even so, he would tell us something."
"He's always alone," Christian said. "Maybe he can't find anyone."
"I don't know," Ye said. "Normally he would have told us something, sent a message or something."
"He can't be…"
"No way," Christian said. "If something did happen to Anfey, Manstuly wouldn't be so quiet."
Blavi nodded. He glanced around and asked, "Where's Lord Anthony? I just saw him here a few minutes ago."
"David just came in," Zubin said. "They left together."
—
Even though David had asked Christian to let him join the battle, Christian had refused. This was why Glory mercenary group had not lost any men yet.
In the corner of the camp, Anthony was staring at a middle-aged man. After a few moments, Anthony sighed. "I can't believe you came here, Otto. Aren't you afraid that I'll kill you?"
"I hope not," Otto said. "We are friends, after all. You wouldn't do that to a friend, would you?"
"It's not me," Anthony said. "You're forcing my hand. You're working for Mourtta now, and Glory mercenary group is not a place you can come and go as you please."
"I see," Otto said. "You think that I'm here on Mourtta's behalf, don't you?"
"Aren't you?"
Otto shook his head. "I'm a merchant now," he said. "I don't want to serve anyone else, which is why I left Blackwater City."
"And you're here now because you want to work for me?"
"No," Otto said, shaking his head. "I'm going to Tumen Commercial Union. That's the last peaceful place in the world."
"This is not Tumen."
"I'm here to tell you a secret, Anthony," Otto said. "Don't you want to know?"
"Interesting," Anthony said. "Keep talking."
"Maybe you won't believe it, but…well, I suppose I'm repaying my debt to you. I know Mourtta and Manstuly aren't good people, but you have to realize neither is Anfey."
"That alone is enough reason to kill you here."
"I wouldn't be saying this if I wasn't ready for the consequences," Otto said. "Allow me to finish." He paused, then continued, "Do you remember what happened last year? What caused the war? Why did Mourtta suddenly attack? Aren't you curious?"
Anthony frowned. Seeing a reaction from him, Otto hurriedly continued, "You're too righteous, Anthony. You don't want to see…" Before he could finish, Anthony drew his sword and slashed at Otto's neck. Otto gurgled and fell to the ground.
"I apologize, old friend," Anthony said. He sighed and shook his head.
"Father!" David said with wide eyes. "Don't you want to know the secret?"
"Remember, David," Anthony said, wiping the blood off of his sword with a piece of Otto's clothes. "There are a lot of secrets in the world. Most of those secrets are better off left alone. Knowing those secrets will change nothing. It will only cause a rift between you and the people you care about."
Chapter 493: Bad News
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Long-awaited, Anfey finally came back to the station the second day after the battle broke out. His appearance made Christian and the others feel a little less tense. They did not have smiles on their faces for long before the soldiers who came back to the station after Anfey shared the shocking and sensational news. Scarlet did not die and Baery lost his battle at One-Line-Sky.
The Shansa Empire's military had been fleeing towards the northwest. They looked like they wanted to retreat from the main street on the Wild Plain to the Ellisen Empire. The Ellisen Empire had sent out their military to help them. Baery could not sit there and do nothing about it. He chased after the Ellisen Empire's military, but was ambushed at a valley called One-Line-Sky.
Those few estafettes did not look too good. Estafettes were not high positions, so they did not understand Baery's whole plan. Anfey and Alice had to ask them for a quite long time but only got a draft of Baery's plan.
The two Griffin Aerial Units lead by Scarlet were very tough at the battle. They had been covering for the main force since they decided to flee. They constantly harassed the Death Roaring Legion and attacked their scouts. Baery was the person who would definitely fight back if he was attacked. He camouflaged mages and senior swordsmen on the scouting team and turned Scarlet's trick against her to hunt for griffin riders.
There was no other legion as flexible as the griffin riders. After they lost few battles, they changed their strategies. They reduced the number of attacks but make each attack at a large scale. Hundreds of griffin riders attacked a scouting team with less than ten people in it. Even mages and senior swordsmen hidden in the scouting team could not change the situation. They did not even have the hope to escape.
After dozens of deaths on each side, Baery finally could not take any more loss. The number of elite scouts was reduced to half, over forty mages died in the battles, and two generals died as well. The griffin riders were quite tough in the battles. They tried to keep their advantageous position in the sky no matter what it would have costed them. In the end, Baery had to ask the scouting team to retreat and handed the scouting job to the mages. He asked the mages to constantly release the Sky of Eyes to keep an eye on their opponents.
One-Line-Sky had very weird terrain. It looked like an array of pointy tents on both sides of the valley. The valley was wide at the bottom but narrow on the top. The mountains on both sides were about 600 meters high, slanted upwards. The higher they went, the closer the mountains got. The top of the mountains almost touched each other. Looking from the bottom, only a line of sky was seen. This was the origin of its name: One-Line-Sky.
There were nearly thousands of springs and hot springs in the valley within a thirty mile radius. The valley had been submerged in fog and created many challenges for the Sky of Eyes.
Dean Steger released the Sky of Eyes and saw countless Shansa Empire soldiers crossing the valley and continuing to flee away from them. However, he could not see what happened in the valley well because of the fog. Steger and Arch Alchemist Jacob decided to pay a trip to the valley, but they did not notice anything unusual there.
Officials and soldiers in the Death Roaring Legion kept asking to chase after Scarlet's military. It was strange to see Baery taking out a letter to read at such a critical moment. He finally gave the order to chase after Scarlet's military after reading it for a long time.
After about a quarter of the soldiers walked into the valley, a hidden gigantic magic array was triggered. All of the soldiers died in the valley.
Many magics were only effective for a short period of time. For instance, Marshal magic and Firewall Magic. After the elements dispersed, the scene should have gone back to its original look. However, the damages caused by magic were permanent. For example, a big fireball could create a large hole in the ground. The gigantic magic array set by Scarlet released strong earthquake waves. As the earth shook stronger and stronger, more than half of the mountains in the One-Line-Sky's valley collapsed. The famous One-Line-Sky wonder completely disappeared from this world forever. It was replaced by countless rock tombs of different sizes. Over ten thousand soldiers of the Death Roaring Legion were buried in those rock tombs.
Baery immediately made the decision to ask the Death Roaring Legion to retreat. His decisiveness kept some of the Death Roaring Legion alive. It was not time for them to attack Scarlet's military. No matter how tough the soldiers were, they were still human, not men of steel. They each had their own emotions, principles and fears. When they watched their peers walk into the valley and disappear forever, it crushed them.
The appearance of Scarlet was a miracle. Her flag rose up again. Unfortunately, the only path of escape was destructed by her earthquakes. Their destination was thirty miles away with a direct path. If she wanted to travel around the mountains, she had to walk a hundred miles more, which gave Baery time to regroup.
The chasers became the escapers in the blink of an eye while the escapers became the chasers. The situation changed as fast as a game of checkers.
Baery definitely would not have dared to fight Scarlet. He led the Death Roaring Legion to chase after her and took advantage of not having a leader in the Shansa Empire's military. Without a leader, their military did not know what to do without any orders. If Scarlet hadn't died yet, Baery needed to meet up with the Shield of Light Legion as soon as possible.
Those few estafetes brought Baery shocking news. To the east of the Country of Mercenaries, in Stormenburg, mercenaries found thousands of knights from the Shansa Empire running towards Stormenburg. They were the Guardian Knights of Edward VIII of the Shansa Empire. Countless griffin riders flew over the sky. Roughly estimating, there were at least six Griffin Aerial Squadrons.
The Griffin Aerial team was composed of three fighting battalions and one training battalion. Each battalion had three flying squadrons. Anfey had wiped out one of their squadron with his peers. Two of the squadrons were with Scarlet. Now they had six flying squadrons with Guardian Knights, which meant Edward VIII of the Shansa Empire played his last card. He was fighting for his life with Yolanther.
The Shansa Empire military attacked neither Stormenburg, nor White Mountain City even though they were easy targets. They travelled directly towards the southwest. Their goal was to take control of Cross Valley to cut off the bridge for both the Death Roaring Legion and the Shield of Light Legion in order to wipe out both legions before Yolanther could send a renforcement team to help.
The atmosphere deteriorated and became deathly quiet after they heard the news. Everyone fixed their eyes on Anfey. They wondered what happened. Hadn't Anfey killed Scarlet? If Anfey did not earn his supreme reputation through danger, there might have been someone standing out to doubt him. Alice seemed to be the most upset. When Anfey told her that he killed Scarlet, she felt relieved despite her regrets. When she learned that Scarlet came back to life, she was really upset.
"Don't look at me. I definitely killed Scarlet," Anfey said calmly. In fact, Anfey was not in a good mood either. "I am pretty sure I killed her."
"Then why is she still alive?" Blavi asked timidly.
"There must be someone who saved her with some miracle." Anfey said assertively. He was confident about his abilities. Scarlet definitely died.
"Did…" Hui Wei's face turned pale. He jumped up suddenly.
"What is it?" Anfey immediately looked at Hui Wei.
"Nothing, it is impossible." Hui Wei forced a smile.
"Hui Wei, aren't we friends?" Anfey asked in a low pitch.
Anfey sounded very nice, but Hui Wei definitely sensed the seriousness in Anfey's words. His lips trembled slightly. Hui Wei did not respond for a while then answered with the same serious and assertive tone as Anfey. "Yes!"
"Great! Can you stay after everyone leaves?" Anfey asked.
"Yes, sir." Hui Wei was a smart guy. He knew he was able to keep secrets from Anfey before, but not anymore. He had to give Anfey an explanation on why Scarlet came back to life. He needed to help Anfey explain to everyone that he did kill Scarlet.
"Hui Wei, can you tell us? We want to know too," Blavi asked.
"Well… sure." Hui Wei had a bitter smile on his face. "My guess is that Scarlet has the Ring of Immortality."
"Ring of Immortality?" Many people asked together in surprise. They had never heard of such a thing.
"The Ring of Immortality and Anfey's Heart of Nature are Holy Artifacts. The Wheel of Fortune is the last artifact of the Three Holy Artifacts. I don't really know what the Ring of Immortality can do, just as we do not know what the Heart of Nature can do. Only the owners of the Holy Artifacts know their secrets. Judging from its name, we could guess what it can do," Hui Wei said slowly.
"Can Scarlet never be killed?" Sante yelled out of surprise.
"I do not think the Holy Artifacts could be that powerful. If Scarlet's body was crushed into a pulp, I don't think anyone could save her," Hui Wei said.
"Let's not talk about this for right now. The problem is what we should do now. The Shansa Empire military attacked neither Stormenburg nor White Mountain City, but Scarlet would definitely fight us since we did cause her a lot of trouble. We have two days to either get ready for the fight or retreat. Anfey, can you give us any orders on that?" Christian asked in a low pitch.
"If Scarlet could communicate with Edward VIII, she definitely could pass the news that she has won the battle in Blackwater City to him. What do you guys think Manstuly is thinking right now?" Anfey asked.
Chapter 494: Innocence
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Blackwater City had turned into a large festival. Even Manstuly, who had been wearing a frown for days, smiled. Baery had retreated and no one knew what Anfey was doing. No matter how disciplined, mercenaries were no match for real soldiers. Manstuly was very worried about Anfey after he heard the news that he had killed Michael. Now that Anfey and his league were losing, Manstuly felt more reassured.
The elves were the happiest of everyone. The elves may be very efficient fighters and master archers, they still did not like it. The elves were a part of nature and they were more in tune with nature than humans. They could not handle death and destruction as well as the mercenaries. The sight of death and blood made many of the elves sick. The end of the battle made many of the elves very happy.
Because of their nature, it was very hard for the elves to recreate the glory of the ancient elven empires.
A young elf woman was stopped as she walked through the streets of the city. Because the mercenaries in Blackwater City feared and respected Hotchbini, no one dared do anything to the elves, which was why the young elf was surprised. She stopped and glanced at the person's face, then froze.
In front of her was a young man in pale red robes. He was tall and more handsome than most mercenaries. However, that was not why she froze. There was something about the young man that felt very familiar to her.
Anfey saw a glimmer of recognition and confusion in the elf's eyes and knew that it was the Heart of Nature at work. He grinned at the young elf.
"Sorry," Anfey said. "I need some help. Can I ask you a question?"
"What is it?" the young elf asked, curious.
"Do you know where Yalbevin is?"
"You know Yalbevin?"
"Yes," Anfey said, nodding. "She is a good friend of mine."
"Yalbevin isn't here," the young elf said. "I don't think she came with us. To be honest, I haven't seen her in a long time."
"I see," Anfey said. "What about Wiss? Do you know where she is?"
"You know Wiss too?" the young elf asked, surprised. Both Wiss and Yalbevin were well known for their excellence.
"She's a friend of mine, as well," Anfey said.
"Sorry to disappoint you," the young elf said, shaking her head. "Wiss isn't here, either. Really."
The young man sighed in disappointment. "What about Paglia? Please tell me she's here?"
"You know Paglia, too?" the young elf asked, shocked.
"Of course," Anfey said.
"But you don't look like her friend."
"Do I not?"
The young elf glanced at the young man. Paglia was one of the best archers and best fighters among the elves. Shouldn't her friends at least be just as powerful? The young man was clearly just a beginner.
"Can you tell me your name?" the young elf asked.
"I'm Fian," Anfey said. "Please tell Paglia that her old friend is looking for her."
"But Paglia isn't here, either," the young elf said, shaking her head.
"She's not here either?" Anfey's eyes widened and his grin faded. "Oh, this is bad!"
"Oh!" the young elf said. "I remembered. I heard that they're all away with Lord Bruzuryano. Do you need to speak with them immediately?" She knew that she had just revealed a big secret, but she felt strangely familiar with this young man and she felt comforted by him.
"It seems like Paglia is very important among your kind," Anfey said.
"Of course," the young elf said, nodding. "Do you not know?"
"No," Anfey said, shaking his head. "She never told me."
"Can I ask you something?" the young elf asked. "If you don't mind, that is," she hurriedly added.
"How did you become friends with Paglia?"
"Well, we ran into each other," Anfey said. "But I think I still like Wiss more than Paglia."
"You do?" the young elf asked with wide eyes, clearly surprised.
"Am I wrong?"
The young elf looked at him, then giggled. "You fell for her trap," she said. "That must be it."
"Trap? What trap?"
The young elf shook her head. "Don't worry. Please don't tell Paglia I said that, though!"
"Of course not," Anfey said. "Do I look like someone who gossips?"
"Humans are complicated," the young elf said with a shrug.
"I swear," Anfey said. "I won't tell Paglia anything."
The young elf smiled. "I'm not worried," she said. "What do you need them for?"
Anfey glanced around and grabbed the young elf, taking her to a quiet alley nearby. He lowered his voice and said, "If Paglia isn't here, then I must trouble you. What is your name?"
"Catherine."
"Lord Mauso has urgent news, Catherine," Anfey said. "He wants me to hand it to the commander of the elves."
"Lord Mauso?" Catherine's eyes widened. "What kind of news?"
Anfey sighed. "It's not that I don't trust you," he said. "But Lord Mauso asked me keep it a secret. I don't think he wants Lord Manstuly to know, either."
"Why?" Catherine asked, frowning.
Anfey sighed. He had picked Catherine because he could tell she was one of the most powerful archers. He didn't expect her to be so innocent to the level of idiocy.
Of course, Catherine was just a special case. She was too kind and too trusting. Elves could be cold-blooded and cruel in a fight, but when they talked with someone they trusted, their innocence would show through.
"I don't know," Anfey said, shaking his head. "It's just Lord Mauso's order. Catherine, can you take me to your commander? This is urgent." He needed to take out the elves' commander, but when he approached the elves' camp, he discovered some trees that reacted to his presence. He didn't want to startle anyone and decided to switch plans.
"I can try," Catherine said.
"Thank you so much," Anfey said with a smile.
Catherine nodded. "Come with me," she said, turning back towards the direction she came from.
Anfey glanced around to make sure that no one noticed their conversation and quickly followed Catherine.