Chapter 78 : Chapter 78
Chapter 78. Conspiracy
Those words landed with resounding force.
They were both a declaration of loyalty and the most direct possible test for Logaris and his group.
The atmosphere instantly froze to the point of breaking.
Lilith’s hand was already resting on the short sword at her waist, ready to strike at any moment.
However, Alectos stepped forward and moved in front of Logaris.
He reached out and lightly placed a hand on Kane’s hard armguard, stopping him from taking any further hostile action.
“General Kane, please stand down.”
“I am not a prisoner.”
His expression was calm, but his voice carried an unquestionable force.
In concise yet clear language, he recounted everything—how Regent Remington had framed him, how he had been targeted for assassination by the Corruption Cult, how he had been betrayed by his closest friend, and how Logaris had ultimately saved him when he was on the brink of death in the Dragon Mountain Range.
“I even received the inheritance of my ancestors within the Dragon Ruins, suppressing the curse, and my draconic bloodline was elevated because of it.”
“It was Professor Logaris who saved my life.”
“I came to the Northern Territory to seek refuge, not because I was being coerced.”
Every word Alectos spoke was clear and distinct.
Kane looked into the prince’s open and steady eyes, then lowered his gaze to the hand resting on his armguard.
He did not fully believe Alectos’s version of events.
Even the “excitement” he had shown moments ago had merely been a measured disguise.
The royal family’s internal schemes and filth could never be explained in just a few sentences.
But there was one thing he knew beyond any doubt—
the Regent’s order to drive them straight into the Northern Territory was utterly idiotic.
Whether the prince’s story was true or false, he could not stand by and watch his soldiers march to their deaths.
With that thought, Kane’s sharp and aggressive aura gradually receded.
On the other end of the Communication Crystal, Ulzok’s violent roaring also ceased, replaced by a long silence.
Sometimes, silence carried more weight than any words.
The tension in the canyon finally eased.
Kane’s gaze toward Logaris changed from scrutiny and hostility into something more complicated.
It had become a reassessment.
His eyes swept over Logaris from head to toe.
At last, they settled on the ancient short sword hanging at his waist.
The ferocious wolf-head hilt stood out sharply amidst the snowstorm.
As a senior general of the Demi-Human Empire, Kane recognized it instantly.
“The Fang of the Winter Wolf…”
He murmured the words in a tone tinged with disbelief.
“The supreme command token of the Northern Legion actually ended up in your hands.”
“I have to admit, you have indeed shown sincerity.”
He lifted his eyes and looked sharply at Logaris, his tone carrying a note of probing curiosity.
“And it seems that Princess Sylvia of the Northern Territory is rather close to you.”
Logaris gave no response.
Kane’s gaze moved away from him and landed on the bored-looking Lilith.
He seemed to recognize this mercenary, whose reputation in the underground world was anything but small.
“And you.”
“I know you—Lilith the Nullifier.”
There was a hint of surprise in Kane’s voice.
“I never expected that someone like you would end up serving a human kingdom.”
The moment she heard that, Lilith instantly threw herself into character.
The impatience on her face vanished at once, replaced by the most pitiful expression imaginable.
“Oh, General, please do not even mention it.”
“The world is dangerous, and people are not what they used to be!”
“I was young and foolish, and before I knew it, I signed some outrageously unfair contract!”
As she spoke, she secretly glanced at Logaris, the accusation in her eyes unmistakable.
“Now I am trapped under someone else’s roof and have no choice but to bow my head.”
“It is all for survival, all for a few miserable coins.”
“The more I say, the more tears I will have to shed.”
With that half-true, half-false complaint, paired with her tragically wronged expression, she successfully painted herself as a pitiful worker being mercilessly exploited by a black-hearted employer.
Kane stared at her act and blinked in surprise.
He had clearly not expected a legendary top-tier assassin to be this sort of person.
With all the groundwork laid, the initial basis of trust had finally been established.
Kane stopped circling around the issue.
He cast aside all unnecessary emotion, his expression turning utterly serious as he looked directly at Logaris.
“Professor Logaris.”
“His Highness has already informed me of your theory regarding the ‘blood sacrifice.’”
“Now tell us your plan.”
“You—or rather, the Northern Territory—how do you intend to deal with this war?”
At that moment, even the wind and snow seemed to fall still.
Inside the canyon, only Kane’s sharp wolf eyes remained, along with the heavy sound of Ulzok’s breathing from the Communication Crystal.
The real conspiracy began now.
Logaris pushed up the rimless glasses on his nose.
A faint glimmer of light reflected off the lenses through the snowstorm.
“Our primary objective is peace.”
“And to keep as many soldiers alive as possible—yours and ours alike.”
Kane, the White Wolf Demi-Human, nodded.
That was precisely his core objective.
“This war has been meaningless from the very beginning.”
“Your true enemy should never have been humanity.”
Logaris continued,
“The real enemy is the cultists hiding within your army, plotting to use the lives of tens of thousands of soldiers to carry out a blood sacrifice ritual.”
With that, Logaris introduced an entirely new concept.
He directly transformed the hostility between the Northern Territory and the Demi-Human Empire into an internal conflict between righteous men and cult conspirators.
This was no longer treason.
This was purging the court of evil influences.
Kane pressed in a deep voice, “The specific plan.”
A faint smile lifted the corner of Logaris’s mouth as he spoke two words.
“Put on a show.”
“A show?”
Kane frowned.
“Yes.”
Logaris nodded.
“We need to stage a grand performance of a decisive battle.”
“You, I, all of us—we are actors.”
“And the stage is Rime Valley.”
“We need an excuse convincing enough and a battlefield fierce enough to draw every rat hiding behind the scenes—the cultists, and the Regent Remington’s most loyal forces—out into the spotlight.”
“And then we wipe them out in one stroke.”
Kane had already begun to vaguely grasp the outline of the plan.
“We need concrete tactical arrangements.”
“Of course.”
Logaris’s voice suddenly dropped much lower amid the howling wind and snow.
It became blurred and indistinct, as if swallowed by the freezing gale itself.
As Logaris continued speaking, the expression on Kane’s face changed rapidly.
At first, he was cautious.
Then thoughtful.
And in the end, only a mixture of ruthless resolve and grim ferocity remained in those sharp wolf eyes.
Put simply, this and that, then this and that.
The canyon fell into silence once more.
On the other end of the Communication Crystal, Ulzok’s rough breathing rasped on for a long, long time, like a bellows being dragged open and shut.
At last, a thunderous roar burst from the crystal.
It contained only four short words.
“Let’s do it!”
Kane nodded heavily as well.
He looked at Logaris, his eyes filled with determination.
“I understand.”
……
Some time later, inside the central command tent of the Demi-Human army.
The tent was as warm as spring.
The Magitech carpet spread across the ground radiated gentle heat, making it feel like an entirely different world from the frozen wasteland outside.
A middle-aged man in luxurious black robes sat with his eyes closed, leaning back against a chair draped in thick furs.
His face was dark and sinister.
He was the Cult Bishop assigned to oversee the army during this campaign—one of Remington’s trusted confidants.
At that moment, the flap of the tent was suddenly thrown open.
A gust of freezing wind mixed with snow instantly poured inside.
Kane and Ulzok strode into the tent, both covered in snow.
Bang!
Without a word, Ulzok slammed his fist onto the massive sand table, shaking the small flags on it until they toppled in all directions.
“I’ve had enough of this damned weather!”
His eyes were bloodshot like those of an enraged lion as he roared at everyone inside the tent.
“We keep dragging this out here day after day, and the soldiers’ morale is being ground away!”
“Tomorrow!”
“Yes, tomorrow!”
“I’m launching a full assault!”
“I’m going to personally punch straight through Rime Valley and shatter those damned human soldiers!”
His performance was utterly true to the nature of a violent military brute.
Every detail, every expression, was so real that not a single flaw could be found.
The bishop was startled into opening his eyes.
He frowned slightly at the sudden commotion.
But once he saw that it was Ulzok, his expression relaxed again.
For a simple-minded beast like this brute bear, such behavior was perfectly normal.
“Ulzok!”
“Calm yourself!”
Kane immediately stepped forward, taking on the role of the rational one.
As he “restrained” the furious Ulzok, he turned toward the Cult Bishop and said in a calm yet firm tone,
“Lord Bishop, you have seen General Ulzok’s resolve for yourself.”
“We have already discussed it.”
“Rather than continue wasting away here, we would rather strike first and decide everything in one overwhelming offensive.”
“We have decided to launch a full assault in three days!”
“General Ulzok and I will personally serve as the vanguard, forming the sharpest spearhead and piercing through their defensive line!”
“When the time comes, we ask that you invoke your divine arts to bless our army and clear the way for us!”
Hearing this, a trace of suspicion flashed through the bishop’s cold eyes.
These two had been dragging their feet and making excuses all this time.
Why had they suddenly changed their attitude?
However, his gaze swept over Ulzok’s face, which all but screamed, I am going to kill someone, and most of his suspicion faded away.
Perhaps this cursed weather had truly driven the great bear mad.
And besides, their eagerness to fight suited his purposes perfectly.
The blood sacrifice ritual required a great number of lives as kindling.
A brutal, large-scale decisive battle would undoubtedly be the perfect catalyst.
At that thought, a false and profound smile appeared on the bishop’s face.
“Very good.”
“His Majesty will surely see the loyalty of both generals.”
“Go on, then.”
“You two legion commanders may unleash your valor to your heart’s content.”
He slowly rose to his feet and straightened his black robe.
Then, in a tone almost like a recited hymn, he said,
“I shall remain at the rear and bestow upon you my strongest blessings.”