Chapter 229
Chapter 229. A Mess
The three Bronze Behemoths also concealed themselves at once. Their mission was not yet over. Their chieftain had ordered the three of them to assist the orcs in attacking the Kroll Kingdom until the occupation was complete.
But the campaign had begun poorly. In the very first battle, one of them had lost an arm.
Although it could slowly grow back through potions, his combat strength would be greatly affected, and the arm would no longer move as freely as before.
At that moment, the news had already reached the Kroll Royal Palace. William had not expected that, if not for the favor Dragon Mother Daenerys was owed, the kingdom’s foundation would likely have been utterly consumed in that explosion.
He felt fortunate, yet at the same time, lingering fear gripped him.
He had never imagined that the Orc Kingdom possessed the long-lost bomb known as the “Blooming Rose.”
He did not know whether they had any more. If they did, then no defense would be safe, no matter how they tried to hold the line. That thing was simply too powerful.
Suddenly, a Shadow Guard appeared silently before him and knelt on one knee.
“Your Highness, His Majesty orders you to immediately issue a bounty order and place Duke Marcus on the wanted list.”
“Duke Marcus sold the Experimental Legion to the Dragon Kingdom and three other kingdoms. The resources he obtained in exchange were not turned over to the national treasury. Instead, he kept them for himself.”
After hearing this, William froze for a moment, then immediately stood up.
“What did you say? Marcus has actually rebelled?”
The glazed windows of the Kroll Royal Palace reflected the sunset outside, yet they could not warm the chill within the hall.
William’s fingers whitened around the communication crystal. The kneeling figure of the Shadow Guard was like a cold shadow, driving the word “rebellion” deep into his heart.
“Marcus...”
He repeated the name in a low voice. That duke, who always wore a gentle smile and controlled the kingdom’s most secret experimental project, had secretly sold the Experimental Legion to enemy kingdoms?
And he had pocketed the resources for himself? How absurd was that? He was not a fool. Why would he do such a thing?
Before William could digest this thunderbolt of news, a muffled roar suddenly came from outside the hall, shaking the gilded patterns on the beams until they trembled.
William abruptly turned and looked through the window toward the northwest, in the direction of Windcleaving Gorge. Thick smoke was rising into the sky, and firelight could faintly be seen churning beneath the clouds.
“That is his experimental base...”
William’s voice trembled. He immediately seized the communication crystal, his fingers slipping against it in his urgency.
“Sky Knight Order, head to Windcleaving Gorge at once. Seal every exit. Do not allow anyone to leave.”
From the other end of the crystal came the hurried reply of the knight commander, followed by the sound of dragon roars and armor scraping.
William lowered the crystal, his chest rising and falling violently. Marcus had clearly heard the news and detonated the base at this moment to destroy the evidence.
“Shadow Guard.”
He abruptly turned back, a ruthless light flashing through his eyes.
“Issue the highest bounty order. Dead or alive, I want Marcus’s head. In addition, thoroughly investigate every official connected to the Experimental Legion. Anyone involved is to be killed without mercy.”
The Shadow Guard received the order and vanished into the darkness, leaving William alone in the hall.
He walked to the map and pressed his finger heavily against the location of Windcleaving Gorge.
That place was not only an experimental base. It also housed the Experimental Legion that had been produced during this period. With this move, Marcus had nearly carved into the very foundation of the Kroll Kingdom.
Once those arcane spores spread, then...
“The orcs are still watching like hungry wolves beyond our gates, yet chaos has broken out within first...”
William closed his eyes and wearily rubbed his brow.
The explosion at the Land of Resilience had already greatly weakened the kingdom. If Marcus had also leaked the core methods behind the Experimental Legion, the consequences would be unimaginable.
The rumbling outside the window gradually subsided, replaced by faint dragon cries.
William opened his eyes and looked toward Windcleaving Gorge, his gaze as heavy as iron.
At the entrance of Windcleaving Gorge, a pale-blue Magical Protective Barrier was trembling slightly. Its surface seemed covered in a layer of thick green film.
That was the arcane spores gnawing at it madly. Every second, countless fine cracks spread across the barrier, only to be barely mended by the power of the crystals.
The soldiers of three Sky Knight Orders stood in a row with their backs against the barrier. Cold sweat seeped from their foreheads, and the light at the tips of their staffs grew dimmer and dimmer.
“We are running out of crystals!”
The knight commander roared as he embedded the last High-Grade Crystal into the array core. Only then did the barrier’s blue light brighten slightly, but it still could not stop the surging green mist.
Ignoring everyone’s attempts to dissuade him, William arrived at Windcleaving Gorge.
His boots stepped onto the scorched black earth. As he looked at the green, hemispherical barrier before him, his stomach churned.
That color was even more unsettling than the purple mist of the Land of Resilience. It carried a rotten vitality, as though it would break through the barrier in the next instant and dye the entire world beyond the gorge green.
That green filled William with dread.
“We must hold it.”
His voice tightened. He spoke sternly to the black-robed figure beside him. “Go to the royal palace and bring all the reserved Magic Crystals here. Even if we empty the national treasury, we cannot allow this barrier to break.”
The face beneath the black-robed figure’s hood was impossible to see. He merely nodded slightly, then his figure turned into a wisp of black smoke and swept toward the Royal Capital.
Explosions could faintly be heard from within the gorge, mixed with indistinct roars.
William knew that it was either Marcus’s remaining forces putting up a desperate resistance, or the infected killing one another after being corrupted by the arcane spores.
He clenched his fists, his nails sinking deep into his palms. This Marcus had not only rebelled, but had also left behind such a disastrous mess.
Half an hour later, the black-robed figure returned, holding a Spatial Ring inlaid with a ruby. He respectfully presented it to William.
“Your Highness, all the High-Grade Crystals in the royal palace are here.”
William took the ring. The metal felt cold beneath his fingers, but his heart sank even further.
He sent his spiritual power into the ring and sensed the waves of power emanating from the mountain-like piles of crystals within. Then he took a deep breath.
“Hand them to the knight orders. Tell them to hold until dawn tomorrow. Reinforcements will arrive by then.”
The black-robed figure turned and left, but William remained standing before the barrier, staring at the constantly writhing green mist.
The sizzling sound of the spores corroding the barrier drifted through the wind, like countless tiny insects gnawing at his heart.
The barrier trembled violently once again, and the blue light on its surface dimmed for an instant.
William abruptly raised his head, a trace of resolve flashing through his eyes. No matter the price, they had to seal this place.
Otherwise, not a single clean corner would remain on the soil of the Kroll Royal Capital.
William remained there until nightfall. The place was brightly lit by the Illumination Magic cast by the mages.
He stared at the green barrier before him. According to Marcus’s experimental reports, these spores could last for at most three days. He could only hope that after three days, they would die out.