GDK 416 – Everything was under control
Mt. Ordas, Dark Mantle Headquarters.
Sabakas’s space magic array led directly to the Dark Mantle’s headquarters. However, when Han Shuo and the rest arrived, they discovered that the situation within the headquarters wasn’t as stable as they had thought.
Mt. Ordas, which had the best defenses within Ossen City, was having a civil strife. All kinds of tight defenses measures had been damaged. A small group of high-ranking personnel who sided with eldest Prince Charles harbored ulterior motives as they destroyed the Dark Mantle’s defenses from within.
Out of the eleven high-ranking officials at their previous meeting, apart from the three heads who firmly believed in the two chief elders’ judgment, five of them had secretly defected to eldest prince Charles and had revolted at the most crucial moment. Not only did they destroyed the defenses within the headquarters, they even allied with the empire’s troops to attack the Dark Mantle.
The sudden internal revolt caused the heavily guarded Mt. Ordas to similarly become a battlefield. When Han Shuo and the rest had arrived at the Dark Mantle’s headquarters through the transportation array, they could hear numerous shouts, which indicated that the situation here was equally not optimistic.
The space seemed to be ripped open by a sharp blade as an opening appeared in front of Han Shuo and the others. “There are people who defected! Perhaps they think that Amyes and the other two have held their position for too long and feel that they themselves should replace them.” space sacred magus Sabakas said with a vexed expression as he appeared.
Under the effects of his demonic yuan energy, Han Shuo’s wounds were still slowly shrinking and closing. Mystical demons cruised through the various passageways within the Dark Mantle headquarters, slowly projecting the situation here within his mind.
There was a five thousand-strong army at the foot of the Mt. Ordas which thoroughly surrounded the Dark Mantle headquarters. The five high ranking members had joined hands with forces of Charles and Duke Ashburn and were currently attacking the Dark Mantle Headquarters. This gang of five had destroyed all the defenses of the Dark Mantle at the beginning and were very familiar with the layout of the headquarters.
Under their command, the battle advanced orderly. As the Lancelot Empire’s king’s hand in the darkness, even with the appearance of five traitors, the Dark Mantle was still able to withstand the attack by leveraging their geographical advantage over the enemy. It was clear that the members who had remained within the Dark Mantle headquarters were all genuine experts.
Faced with the betrayal of former allies, the hatred in their hearts couldn’t be suppressed. If not for the overwhelming number of enemies, they would have perhaps rushed out of Mt. Ordas and sliced the five traitors into a thousand pieces.
“There are only five thousand troops at the foot of the mountain and it isn’t a very large number. With our arrival, we should be able to eliminate them easily!” Having surveyed the situation through his mystical demons, Han Shuo knitted his brows as he said to Sabakas.
Sabakas was stunned and astonished by Han Shuo’s ability to assess the general situation. As a master of space magic, Sabakas had gone to the surroundings to observe the situation while heading over so as to understand the forces surrounding Mt. Ordas. He didn’t expect that Han Shuo who had just arrived to actually also work out the situation in the surroundings. Sabakas has heard much of Han Shuo’s miracles from others but he was clearly skeptical without witnessing it himself. Currently, when he heard Han Shuo’s statement and took a closer look at Han Shuo, he noticed that the bleeding wounds on his face had completely healed without a trace.
“Grace’s prophecy was right! The emergence of such an amazing person in the empire would definitely bring a new dawn to Lancelot Empire’s future. It looks like we should have a way out from this nasty situation.” Sabakas thought.
“These men are soldiers of the Lancelot Empire and they have no choice to attack Mt. Ordas due to the orders of Charles and Ashburn. As soldiers who only know to obey a superior’s orders, they are not to blame. The fault lies with those who give them those orders.” sacred swordmaster Karel said before looking at Han Shuo and continued, “Therefore, these men, who are the backbone of the Lancelot Empire’s strength, cannot be sacrificed innocently!”
As the mystical demons surveyed the surroundings, Han Shuo realized that there were no light magi who could threaten his undead army within the forces surrounding Mt. Ordas. He planned to summon his undead army and combine with Sabakas’s space magic to resolve the threat in one go, but he didn’t expect this idea to be rejected by Karel.
Although Han Shuo’s soul had descended to the Lancelot Empire, he didn’t think of himself as a citizen of the empire. He made such a proposal because he didn’t place much importance on the lives of those people. On the other hand, sacred swordmaster Karel who had taken responsibility for Lancelot Empire’s future all along obviously wouldn’t agree to let those innocent soldiers die tragically from terrifying magic.
“Let’s first look for Candide and the rest before thinking of other plans,” Sabakas said calmly.
“There’s no need for that. They are heading over!” Han Shuo replied.
Not long after Han Shuo completed his sentence, the three heads of the Dark Mantle and the remaining high-ranking members that supported Sabakas’ decision had all arrived in this area.
“Grandpa, we sensed a disturbance in the transportation array and saw your arrival using the magic mirror” Cecilia had a solemn expression as she spoke.
Emily was also among the people who had just arrived. It was clear that her attention was on Han Shuo’s body from the start. The bloodstains on Han Shuo’s body were still sticky and there were two tiny wounds on his chest that had not completely healed.
Without having to think further, Emily knew that Han Shuo was injured. Her eyes suddenly reddened, wanting to disregard everything and lean on Han Shuo like Phoebe did, personally treat his wounds and ask him about his injuries.
Unfortunately, she was well aware of her status and understood that doing so will only cause more trouble for Han Shuo. In such circumstances, all Emily could do was to hold back to the worry in her heart and only secretly express her concern and worry through her gaze.
In this group, the person that Han Shuo cared most about was Emily. When Han Shuo arrived at the Dark Mantle headquarters and discovered that the Dark Mantle was surrounded by enemies, Han Shuo immediately started to use his mystical demons to look for her. He only truly calmed down when he found out that Emily was safe and sound.
Han Shuo had noticed her concern through her reddened eyes and he couldn’t help but feel warmth in his heart. Right at this moment, Phoebe wrote the word ‘quiet’ on Han Shuo’s hand before struggling free of his tight grip and walked towards Emily.
Candide and Amyes greeted Sabakas respectfully before Amyes immediately described the situation at hand and said, “It was because of our negligence that caused this internal revolt. Fortunately, the real power in the Dark Mantle had always been in the hands of the three of us. Therefore, although there was heavy damage to the headquarters from the start, the three of us was able to stabilize the situation.”
As matters have reached such an extent, Amyes, Candide, and the others clearly new the actual situation. Candide had a gloomy face as he continued after Amyes, “These traitors were primarily responsible for gathering and sending news from His Majesty’s palace. The news of His Majesty’s demise was not leaked at all and it is precisely because we didn’t make any prior preparations that we are in such a passive situation.”
“They must all die!” Lawrence shouted word by word.
Lawrence, who was already grieving, currently had an ice-cold expression on his face. Uhtred’s devoted encouragement and support during this period of time had caused Lawrence to have deep feelings toward Uhtred. As a stubborn person himself, Lawrence clearly knew that Uhtred’s sudden death had an undeniable connection with Charles and Ashburn.
“Of Ossen City’s four city gates, the northern gate is under the supervision of Count Boris. I reckon that currently, only the northern wall is slightly safer.” Amyes said with a heavy expression.
Lawrence nodded and said calmly, “It is best that resolve the rebellion within Ossen City. I’m afraid that once we leave Ossen City, Charles and Ashburn will be able to distort the truth. I definitely don’t want to see this rebellion resulting in large-scale war. In that situation, even if we were to win the war, the Lancelot Empire will be greatly weakened!”
“That’s right. It’s best to resolve matters within Ossen City. However, I’m afraid that this is also what Ashburn and Charles want. Currently, there are powerful enemies outside Lancelot Empire. If Lancelot Empire sinks into civil strife due to the princes fighting over the throne, I reckon that Lancelot Empire will surely be heading toward its destruction.” Karel strongly agreed with Lawrence’s suggestion and immediately stated his stand on the matter.
“In that case, the fastest way to end the rebellion is by eliminating Charles and Ashburn. The enemy will be like a headless snake once they are killed. However, this matter won’t be easy to carry out, as they surely would have considered this and take precautions. I reckon that there must be numerous experts protecting them.” Lawrence continued.
“Let’s temporarily not discuss this. Old Hahn and the rest are at the northern wall. Apart from him, there are also a few Marquises under your father that are still alive. They are all within the castle by the northern wall. Ashburn and his men have yet to truly attack the northern wall for the time being. We can make that location our base camp. We can discuss in detail after we reach.” Han Shuo suddenly spoke.
Lawrence was shocked when he heard Han Shuo’s words and asked, “They are all over there?”
Han Shuo nodded affirmatively and said, “That’s right. Besides them, the second prince, the youngest prince, and their men who had survived are all at the northern wall. Currently, apart from the northern wall, the entire Ossen City is filled with soldiers and knights under Duke Ashburn and eldest prince Charles. Only that location is temporarily safe.”
The twelve mystical demons scattered to every corner of Ossen City, constantly patrolling and surveying the entire Ossen City. Nobody knew the situation within the city better than Han Shuo. He was calm and collected, as though everything was under his control.