Chapter 185 : The Flames Begin to Rise
Chapter 185: The Flames Begin to Rise
Yuria's intelligence network was evenly spread throughout the southern region.
Every Fox Tribe member living among humans in human form, along with their collaborators, served as Yuria's informants.
Since they were residents who had lived there for years, they could report local developments without arousing suspicion.
The Great Territories constantly inspected suspicious outsiders because they were wary of one another, but they didn't go so far as to monitor the existing residents.
The same was true for the neutral territory of Saint.
Things were even easier there.
Since people from every faction came and went regularly, gathering information openly wasn't difficult.
The reason Yuria contacted me was because she'd detected something unusual in Saint.
And it was information that would prove extremely useful to me as well.
“A Master hiding his face? And carrying a huge shield... Isn't that obviously Octosia?”
-Exactly. I was wondering where that human had disappeared to. Looks like he's been hiding over there.
Since we expected something to happen in Saint, Yuria had been keeping a close watch.
She reported that she'd spotted a Master she believed to be Octosia lurking in one corner of Saint.
Imperials were easily distinguishable at a glance, so he was hiding his face behind a strange mask.
But he couldn't conceal his enormous Artifact shield.
Armed knights were common enough in Saint.
But if one of them happened to be a Master...
There was no way he wouldn't attract suspicion.
‘The fact that he moved personally means he couldn't use a Mana Communicator.’
The only reason we managed to discover Octosia was because he'd chosen to move personally.
If someone like Octosia, who had remained completely hidden until now, finally exposed himself, the most likely reason was to contact the Imperial refugees.
There was no way the Empire lacked Mana Communicators.
If he'd gone to such lengths despite that, then he must have been unable to use one.
I suspected New Level had confiscated his Mana Communicator.
‘If I were them, I would've taken it too. That way, he'd have to receive all his orders through them, making him much easier to control.’
If Octosia was in Saint, he obviously hadn't gotten there on his own.
New Level had helped him.
And they certainly hadn't done it out of kindness.
They intended to use him.
To properly manipulate Octosia, they had to control both his information and his movements.
And if he'd secretly slipped away to meet the Imperial remnants despite all that...
It meant Octosia had plans of his own as well.
-By the way, there are two other Masters in Saint.
“Two?”
-Yeah. Besides Saint's 'Holy Knight,' there are two more. One has been there for a while, and the other only arrived yesterday.
A Beastman's heightened senses never failed to detect a Master.
Those same senses had exposed Durek's secret movements back in Haken.
And once again, they had done their job perfectly.
They'd detected a Master secretly entering Saint.
“Can you identify them?”
-One of them was hiding his face. The one who arrived yesterday. I think he's probably an Imperial.
“Well, that would make sense. They stand out too much.”
-But I have no idea who the other one is.
“You don't know who he is? Even though he's a Master? Is that even... possible?”
-It is. I mean, you're not a publicly known Master either.
A title was the symbol of a Master.
Apophis.
Iron Wall.
Stormbringer.
Holy Knight.
Titles like those.
But a Master like me, who never left his own territory, had no reason to earn one.
Some people, like Irene, gained titles before even becoming Masters.
Others, like me, still had none even after becoming Masters.
Most Masters who stayed inside their own territories fell into that category.
-Master has a title too, doesn't he?
‘What title?’
-The people of Haken all called you 'That bastard from back then.' If you ask me, that's a title too.
‘How is that supposed to count as a title?’
No matter what that rabbit said...
I was still a Master without a title.
Which also meant other territories didn't know about me.
Haken's rookie Master, Sir Roman, didn't have a title yet either.
The other territories probably didn't even know he existed.
An unknown Master like that could become an incredibly powerful weapon when used properly.
A Master was already an asymmetric asset.
If one suddenly appeared out of nowhere...
It completely changed the battlefield.
It looked like New Level had sent another hidden dagger into Saint.
After all, at a time like this, New Level was the only faction with any reason to dispatch another Master there.
‘Did they send another Master to assassinate Saint's Holy Knight? Although... that doesn't explain why an Imperial Master is here too.’
Still...
I couldn't understand why there were three Masters gathered there.
Was there really any reason to deploy that many?
New Level wasn't planning to act only in Saint.
-By the way... that Imperial Master was hiding somewhere completely different.
“Different? So he wasn't with Octosia?”
-No. He must've entered secretly. We never even saw him arrive. And he hasn't contacted either Octosia or the other Master.
“Ah... I see.”
So that was why another Master had appeared.
The Imperial Master wasn't someone who was supposed to be here in the first place.
Which meant...
Calling that Imperial Master here had been Octosia's independent decision.
Octosia had prepared a hidden dagger of his own to stab New Level in the back.
Things were becoming very interesting.
‘But if this keeps going, the Imperial bastards are going to be the only winners. That'd be troublesome too.’
If several Masters started rampaging inside the city, proper defense would become impossible.
Saint did have a Master.
But only one.
The Holy Knight.
If I simply let everything play out...
Saint would fall far too easily.
After thinking about it for a moment...
A good idea came to me.
“Let's do this instead.”
-How?
“Start spreading some information. Tell them New Level has joined forces with the Imperial bastards to seize Saint. And that numerous Imperial soldiers have already infiltrated Saint. Can you do that?”
-You mean tell the people from the other Great Territories stationed in Saint? That's possible. We have several informants who are on friendly terms with them.
Unlike us, who had been constantly monitoring the Imperial remnants because of Octosia...
The people of Haken and Vines were already busy enough watching each other.
So they probably hadn't even realized the Imperial refugees were advancing toward Saint.
But if that information were tied to New Level...
Wouldn't they immediately confront them, even if they weren't completely convinced?
It was too good an opportunity to pass up, especially when they wanted someone to blame.
Naturally...
Each of them would also send the information back to their own territories.
‘After all, all three Great Lords are gathered in one place right now. With two Masters accompanying each of them.’
-And if New Level gives even the slightest wrong impression, everyone will immediately target them.
‘Exactly. They'll have no choice but to keep their heads down.’
The three Great Lords were gathered together.
Since they were all in one place, immediate feedback was possible.
So what would happen if information like this reached them?
New Level would immediately grow suspicious that everyone was watching them.
To prove their innocence...
They'd have no choice but to conduct an aggressive search throughout Saint.
The easiest way to prove they were innocent was to demonstrate that no Imperial forces were hiding inside Saint.
Naturally...
Octosia and every hidden Imperial would have no choice but to flee.
‘And if the Imperial bastards have to capture Saint by breaking through the gates head-on, they'll suffer heavy losses.’
If they could no longer seize Saint through trickery...
Then the battle would naturally become a full-scale siege.
And that would throw Saint into complete chaos.
“When that happens... we'll simply wait for our opportunity.”
Maybe...
Just maybe...
We'd get the chance to thoroughly screw them over.
That had been the entire reason I'd sent the Dog Tribe there in the first place.
The subjugation of Jupiterio of Thunder.
Six Masters gathered from three Great Territories surrounded Jupiterio.
A gigantic beast-type monster standing well over two meters tall.
Resembling a leopard, Jupiterio continuously discharged lightning from its body.
A true Lightning-Attribute Monster.
“So... they've finally started.”
Watching the battle unfold from a short distance away, Irene sighed as she recalled the disgraceful events of the past three days.
That was the only way to describe them.
Disgraceful.
The first day had been spent entirely arguing over how to organize the battle formation.
Then on the second day...
Unexpected news from Saint arrived.
The Great Lords spent the entire day shouting accusations at one another.
Thanks to Iron's warning, Irene already had a rough idea of what was happening.
Even so...
She'd never imagined they'd waste an entire day doing nothing but blame each other.
Even her own father, the Lord of Haken, had behaved the same way.
It was deeply disappointing.
“What do you think, Sister? About Deron Level. To me, he genuinely looked like he didn't know anything.”
“I think so as well. It didn't seem like an act...”
“Right?”
What puzzled her even more was Deron Level's reaction.
When the other two Great Lords accused New Level's lord, Deron Level, over the situation in Saint...
His reaction had been genuine shock and disbelief.
It was exactly the sort of expression someone would make upon hearing completely unexpected news.
Which made everything seem strange.
Was it really possible...
That Deron Level, the Lord of New Level himself, knew nothing about what New Level was doing?
Something about that didn't add up.
“I've reported everything exactly as it happened. Lord Iron will make the judgment.”
For now...
All Irene could do was hope the subjugation of Jupiterio ended quickly and that everyone from Haken returned home safely.
And more than anything...
She prayed that Iron's prediction would prove wrong this time.
“But something still feels off. Most of the soldiers participating in this expedition were personally selected by Sir Durek.”
“That's true. The Snake Knight Order came with us.”
“Yes. Perhaps...”
“This could become troublesome.”
Yet the unease refused to disappear.
Most of the soldiers had been chosen by Durek himself.
And the Knight Order accompanying them just happened to be the Snake Knight Order, Durek's personal unit.
She wished she had at least something she could rely on.
Instead...
Every direction seemed blocked.
“This isn't going to end quickly.”
“I suppose it can't be helped.”
While wondering how everyone could return safely...
She continued observing the battle.
The atmosphere among the subjugation force wasn't good.
Although the six Masters had surrounded Jupiterio and were gradually tightening the encirclement...
Whenever a decisive opportunity arose...
Every single one of them held back.
“At this rate, only Sir Berix will end up getting hurt.”
At the very front of the formation stood two defensive Masters.
Haken's Iron Wall, Sir Berix.
New Level's Stone Tower, Sir Sudarn.
The two of them firmly held the line.
But as the battle dragged on, their injuries steadily accumulated.
At this rate...
Both of them might end up seriously wounded.
Even in this situation...
The other Masters continued holding back.
It didn't look good at all.
The two Masters from Vines were probably acting that way for strategic reasons.
But the Masters from Haken and New Level doing the same...
That was a problem.
Especially Sir Durek.
He wasn't displaying even a fraction of his true ability.
Granted...
Durek excelled far more against humans than against monsters.
But this was still excessive.
Was this calculated as well?
Once she began suspecting him...
Everything looked suspicious.
“This won't do.”
If Sir Durek truly was the traitor...
Then Sir Berix was effectively her only ally.
If Sir Berix suffered a serious injury...
The advantage she'd gained by concealing her status as a Master would disappear completely.
Rather than that...
It was better to ensure the subjugation succeeded first and deal with everything afterward.
Iron had advised her to hide her strength if possible.
But from Irene's perspective...
The battle had already reached the point where that was no longer an option.
-Fwoosh—
Her massive War Hammer erupted into blazing flames.