Chapter 48: The Shadow of War

As he entered the spacious, magnificent hall, Duke Balen raised his head to gaze at the dazzling, enormous crystal floating in the air before him.

Not far above his head, a huge rhomboid crystal about ten meters tall was slowly and continuously rotating, emitting a brilliant light that illuminated the entire hall, giving it an extraordinarily splendid and majestic feel. But Duke Balen clearly didn’t think so. In his youth, he had once marveled at this great structure. But now, as he aged, Duke Balen’s thoughts had changed. If in his youth he still had the confidence, passion, and arrogance of young people, now, with increasing age and experience, Duke Balen increasingly felt the insignificance and powerlessness of human effort. Human power is not omnipotent, and in fact, they can do very little, far beyond human imagination. But is it really okay to use this power, which originally didn’t belong solely to humans, so recklessly?

Of course, this was just an old man’s wild thoughts.

Duke Balen shook his head slightly, suppressing this absurd idea.

Just then, a cheerful voice came from behind him.

“Long time no see, Balen.”

Hearing this voice, Duke Balen raised an eyebrow, then turned around to look in the direction of the voice. He saw people walking towards him – they were the other two commanders of the three major combat legions of the Kingdom of Wester.

Walking in front, wearing full heavy armor, was an old man named Kelter Shas. He was the commander leading the “Guardian Shield” legion. Although he was 65 years old, his robust body showed no signs of aging at all. He was now smiling cheerfully, waving his hand in greeting to Balen. Close behind him, dressed in black armor, was the middle-aged man who was the commander of the “Black Fangs”, Asher. Unlike the former, this commander of the “Black Fangs” had a gloomy expression, looking like a wolf that might pounce at any moment, especially his yellow eyes, which were even more frightening. Now, this gloomy-faced middle-aged man smiled slightly upon seeing Balen and nodded to him as a greeting.

“I never thought even you would be called back?”

After clearly seeing the two, Balen frowned slightly. The Pale Hawk he led was mainly responsible for guarding the royal city, while the “Guardian Shield” led by Kelter was responsible for the kingdom’s border fortresses. As for the “Black Fangs” led by Asher, they were responsible for clearing some dangerous sparks within the kingdom. Although all three had important responsibilities, due to their different divisions of labor, they rarely met once a year. Of course, Duke Balen stayed firmly in the royal city, rarely leaving. But the other two rarely appeared unless something big happened; otherwise, they wouldn’t show up easily.

And now, they had actually returned to the royal city. Could it be…

Thinking of this, Duke Balen couldn’t help but frown.

“We were only called back because there’s something going on,” Kelter walked up to Balen and patted his shoulder.

“I heard you were tricked by the Bird family? That’s not like your style.”

The Twilight Forest incident had naturally brought great shame to the Bird family, but the Pale Hawk wasn’t much better off. Although the mistake in the whole affair wasn’t their fault, for the commander to personally lead the team and end up with such a laughable result was indeed quite embarrassing. Moreover, since the Pale Hawk belonged to the royal party army, they didn’t see eye to eye with the local noble armies. Some people naturally seized this opportunity to mock them greatly. Of course, they only dared to complain privately and didn’t have the courage to mention this in front of the Pale Hawk people. After all, in terms of strength, these local garrison troops were no match for the Pale Hawk.

“Bad luck, but not really shameful,” Faced with his old comrade-in-arms, Duke Balen showed a bitter smile. Frankly speaking, he indeed thought so.

“The opponent was too strong and had the advantage of the first move. I really didn’t have much chance.”

“Oh?” Hearing this, Kelter was stunned. Even Asher, who had been silent beside them, widened his eyes in surprise. They had known Balen for some years and knew his personality and temper. He never exaggerated and never said anything thoughtless. If Balen said so, it meant this matter must be true. But…

“I heard… weren’t you going to help the Bird family encircle some bandits?” Kelter looked at his old friend with some confusion. Those bandits shouldn’t be anything worth noting, right?

“Yes, and we didn’t even see the shadow of the bandits. They were all taken out by a group of mysterious figures.”

“Mysterious figures?” Kelter frowned.

“That strong?”

He didn’t care about the true identity of those “mysterious figures”. Instead, he was more concerned about Balen’s evaluation. Stronger than him, and with the advantage of the first move, this could leave Balen without any chance of winning? Although he knew that Balen hadn’t brought the elite of the Pale Hawk this time, but reserve soldiers, it was still under the leadership of the Pale Hawk commander. How could it come to this?

“That’s right,” Faced with his friend’s question, Balen nodded calmly, then explained.

“Strictly speaking, we arrived at the bandits’ lair no more than a day later than them, but we couldn’t catch any trace of them at all. Even following their tracks all the way, it was hard to catch their tail. Those guys’ mobility and combat power were completely beyond my imagination. And I didn’t find any bodies other than the bandits’ on any battlefield. Although in the end, I also sped up, trying to catch up with them, but… the other side obviously discovered my presence. It’s really shameful to say, but I was misled by them, misjudged the direction, thus giving them ample time. By the time we discovered the problem, those guys had already completed their goal and left early.”

Hearing this, both Kelter and Asher’s expressions darkened slightly. They knew very well that the mistakes Balen had made were all very basic ones. These mistakes would be normal if they happened to any military officer, but it was very abnormal for them to happen to them. You should know, as commanders of the kingdom’s three major combat legions, they all had considerable strength to sit in their current positions. In other words, being able to make these battle-hardened leaders make several basic mistakes in a row was enough to show the level of the other party.

“Were you chasing them at full speed?” At this moment, Asher, who had been silent, suddenly spoke up and asked.

“That’s right, I was already at my limit, but still couldn’t even touch their tail. The only gain was… they probably had less than twenty people. Asher, honestly, I think perhaps only you going to try might have a chance of catching up with them.”

“But you didn’t find any bodies of their people, and they didn’t bury them nearby?”

The “Black Fangs” were a special operations unit, and because of this, Asher’s reaction was even more intense than Kelter’s, and even Balen’s who had personally experienced it. He frowned, his long, thin face extremely gloomy.

“No, I can guarantee that.”

“Then… the other party completed their mission at zero casualty cost. Either their injuries were not enough to hinder their actions… or there might be a mage among them?”

Asher’s judgment wasn’t without reason, but Balen shook his head.

“I don’t think there was a mage among them. After all, on the battlefield, I didn’t see any traces of magic being used. If they really had a mage assisting, the speed should have been even faster.”

This was natural. When it comes to large-scale killing, mages dare to claim second place, and no one dares to claim first. Especially in that situation, if the other side really wanted to save time, they naturally wouldn’t not let the mage take action. After all, no matter what, a powerful spell is much faster than doing it yourself.

Hearing this, Asher’s face became even gloomier. He was silent for a moment, then raised his head, revealing a chilling smile.

“Perhaps I should go check it out.”

“If you get any news, don’t forget to inform us.”

Seeing Asher’s expression, both Balen and Kelter didn’t say much more. Obviously, he had become interested in those mysterious figures. Being able to escape from Balen’s full-speed pursuit and disappear unscathed, these were not things ordinary mercenaries, warriors, and armies could do. Because of this, Asher, as the leader of the special combat unit, naturally took an interest in them. If possible, he also hoped to investigate the true background of those guys, and it would be even better if he could absorb them into his own unit. In case they were people from other countries, it would be necessary to quickly ascertain this, which was the safe approach.

Just then, a heavy bell rang. The three commanders looked at each other, then turned and walked into the hall.

In the great hall of the West Kingdom’s palace, there was now a tense atmosphere. Wester V sat in the center, his face pale with a hint of nervousness. Upon seeing the arrival of the three commanders, the previously whispering crowd all stopped talking. They looked at the three, excited but also with a hint of unease. After all, not just Balen, but everyone present was a core figure in the kingdom. They all knew very well that the gathering of the three major commanders here must mean something big had happened.

“Well, now everyone is here,” Seeing the three appear, West V’s face showed a hint of a smile. He coughed lightly, then spoke.

“I think we can get to the point… I believe everyone understands that I’ve gathered you all here because the situation is urgent…”

Saying this, Wester V paused for a moment. After making sure everyone had digested his information, he then spoke.

“According to reliable information, the Sith Empire invaded the Aurote Kingdom six days ago!”

As soon as this was said, everyone was shocked.

“Sith? That Sith?”

“The Aurote Kingdom has been invaded?”

For a moment, the great hall was no longer calm. People looked at each other, exchanging glances, widening their eyes, with surprise, confusion, and unease. You should know, the Aurote Kingdom was a neighboring country of the Kingdom of Wester, and also their ally. And now, the Aurote Kingdom had been invaded? And by the Sith Empire ?

“According to intelligence, three days ago, the Sith Empire had already occupied large areas near the Wind Highlands and Gem River in the Aurote Kingdom,” Wester V continued, his face also revealing a hint of anxiety and unease.

“Moreover, according to intelligence, those leading the army invading the Aurote Kingdom this time are the ‘Wind Messenger’ Karan and the ‘Puppeteer’ Hedwig from the ‘Four Heavenly Punishment Generals’ of the Sith Empire ! The elite troops of the Aurote Kingdom have been defeated on all fronts and are on the verge of collapse. Yesterday, they sent envoys to seek military aid from our country!”

As soon as this was said, everyone was stunned for a moment, then immediately erupted into discussion.