Ch. 231..240

Chapter 231 Outpost Taking Form

For a while, everyone only looked at the masked Shang.

After his display, his figure appeared even more imposing in everyone's eyes.

This guy had killed a Mid General Stage beast with a single attack!

Which warrior would be able to survive such an attack?!

The officer looked at Shang with furrowed brows while the expressions of One and Two were hidden behind their mask.

And then, One laughed loudly. "Seems like I made a bargain!" he said.

Two looked at One, but no one could see his expression.

Shang only remained in his current position. "As long as the payment is right, I don't care," he said in his deep voice.

"Our deal stands," One said with a voice that suggested a smirk. "Let's get back to the hill."

One started walking towards the hill, and Shang followed him wordlessly.

Two hesitated for a couple more seconds but decided to follow them.

As the three of them walked back to the hill, several angry and hate-filled eyes watched them.

These three obviously had had the power to save their comrade, but they had simply watched him die!

"Stop slacking off!" the officer shouted from the hill towards the Rookies. "You misjudged your opponent's power, and you paid the price! Don't expect others to get you out of a mess you got yourself into!"

"Now, get back to work!"

The Rookies quickly saluted in respect, but they definitely didn't feel respectful inside.

They had gone to the Warrior's Academy with their dead comrade!

They had known him for years!

But instead of giving them some time to deal with the problem, the officer immediately forced them to continue working again.

Even more, now that their group only consisted of three people, the fights would become more dangerous.

Sadly, the Rookies didn't dare to get angry at the officer, which was why all their hatred focused on the Numbers.

They were responsible for letting their comrade die!

The Numbers waited on top of the hill while everyone else was working hard.

The Bootlickers were building houses and mining stone.

Some of the Scumbags had left the camp to scout the surroundings while the others built the wall.

The Rookies were either mining stone or dealing with the beasts in the surroundings.

And the Numbers were only waiting.

Just by looking at this image, one could see a hierarchy.

The officer was at the top, and the three Numbers were just below him.

Then came the Scumbags, which were responsible for scouting the surroundings.

At the bottom of the hierarchy were the wall builders and miners, with everyone else above them but below the scouts.

After several hours, the wall had already reached nearly a meter in height. One would think that this was ridiculously fast for such a huge wall, but one shouldn't forget that these warriors could carry tons of stone at a time. They also didn't need to cut all the stones into small pieces.

One of the Scumbags with a Fire Affinity was fusing the already-placed stones together, creating a uniform wall.

By now, the density of beasts had severely dropped in the surroundings, only leaving a couple of them.

Shang knew more details about this mission than everyone else here except for the officer, and he noted that this followed the directive.

The influence of the Volcano Wyrm Zone had to be driven from Duke Whirlwind's new territory.

Just a couple of months ago, this huge area had been filled with beasts from the Volcano Wyrm Zone.

Due to the long years of fighting with the Ice Beasts, the beasts from the Volcano Wyrm Zone had become very aggressive, which would have made the creation of such an outpost an impossibility.

But nearly nine months had passed since this Zone had been annexed, which had given the Duke's personal army enough time to deal with the most powerful beasts.

In the beginning, over a hundred True Mages had traveled through these lands, killing every beast from the Volcano Wyrm Zone they could find.

Just the mental image of seeing an army of Mages walking through the lands, their surroundings exploding with the power of the Elements, was terrifying.

The beasts had never had a chance, especially since there hadn't been any True Path beasts in the battlefield.

And now, with all these powerful beasts dead, it was time for the warriors to do the cleanup and to establish an actually useful territory.

Several Scumbags had returned in the last couple of hours, reporting their findings to the officer, who quickly sent them out again.

In the next couple of hours, one more Mid General Stage beast wandered into the surroundings, but the Numbers dealt with it. One and Two focused on getting the beast's attention, and Shang would kill it in one strike.

This entire time, Shang followed One's orders.

Usually, Shang was someone that liked to do whatever he wanted. He wasn't someone that just blindly followed orders.

However, he had to appear like someone that was only interested in money, nothing else.

Another twelve hours later, the wall had already reached a height of five meters, which meant that the Scumbags were around halfway done. Sadly, that one Scumbag with the Fire Affinity would need to work longer since the fusion of the stones took way more time than arranging them. But in exchange for working longer, he didn't have to do manual labor for hours at a time.

A couple of the buildings had already been finished. There were far more Bootlickers on this job, and they didn't have to make the buildings very complex or stable, which made it far easier on them. They would probably be done before the wall builders.

The three Rookies had cleared out every beast from their surroundings and were now waiting for new beasts to arrive. Their job was to keep this area clean, and that was everything the officer wanted. As long as the area was clean, they were allowed to relax.

Surprisingly, the officer also praised the three Rookies after they had cleaned the area, telling them that they were finally showing some promise.

Two hours later, three Scumbags returned from their scouting mission.

However, they hadn't returned of their own free will.

"You wanted to see us, sir?" one of the three asked nervously. They had heard from one of their colleagues that the officer wanted to see them.

"Yes, everyone else already gave me at least one report, but I've heard no reports from the three of you," the officer said with a strict voice.

After that, the officer asked what the three of them had seen, and the three of them answered individually.

As expected, their report was worthless. If there had been something to report, they would have reported it already. Since they hadn't given a report before, it meant that there was nothing to report.

"And since you judged your surroundings to be of no intelligent significance, you simply deigned to remain there, doing fuck all?" the officer asked.

The other soldiers that were currently working didn't show it, but they listened intently to this exchange with a grin in their hearts.

They had to work their asses off while these scouts could just sit around in the distance.

Now they finally got what's coming to them!

The three scouts quickly gave several reasons for their decisions, but after the officer beat them to a bloody pulp, they didn't dare to raise their voices again.

At least they got a half-hour break to heal their injuries now.

Eventually, the three of them left again, much faster than before.

Another couple of hours passed, and the buildings were finally complete.

The Bootlickers looked at their finished work with pride.

But then, the officer gave them the next job.

They were responsible for "cleaning" the further surroundings.

The Rookies were responsible for cleaning the immediate surroundings, which had a radius of about two kilometers, and the Bootlickers were now responsible for dealing with all the beasts in a five-kilometer radius.

The Bootlickers were frustrated that they didn't get a break, but they were also happy that they could finally fight something.

Two hours later, something of note happened in the outpost.

Silence.

The entire outpost was silent as everyone looked in shock at one place.

There stood the officer, spear in hand, and on the tip of his spear hung the corpse of one of the Scumbags.

The officer had been very strict this entire time, but this time, he had actually killed someone!

Chapter 232 Deaths

The orange light of the distant volcano illuminated the silhouette of the corpse hanging from the spear, giving the image a dark feeling.

The soldiers could deal with a strict officer, but they couldn't deal with one that killed people without a good reason.

The officer slowly lowered his spear, the corpse of the Scumbag flopping to the ground like a sack of meat.

Then, the officer turned to the watching soldiers.

"This is a mission coming from Duke Whirlwind himself," the officer explained. "Traitors are especially devastating in such a remote location, and we have our ways to weed them out."

"This traitor," the officer said as his spear pointed to the corpse, "has fallen into one of our traps and reported incorrect information. Remember that we are not the only soldiers here."

A communication crystal appeared in the officer's hands. "We corroborate the different reports, which gives us a very clear picture of the surroundings. There is no reason to lie to us if you are loyal. After all, you get nothing out of it."

The soldiers looked at the corpse with complex emotions.

A traitor?

Some of the Rookies almost couldn't believe it, while most of the Bootlickers only narrowed their eyes at the corpse.

The Scumbags weren't present right now, but if they were, they would only sneer.

"As long as you don't try to sabotage this mission, nothing will happen to you," the officer explained. "That is all."

The soldiers didn't feel at ease, but they weren't angry enough to stage a revolution.

Even more, most of them thought that the officer had done the right thing. Traitors needed to die!

But some of them still felt very uneasy.

Had the Scumbag truly been a traitor?

Sadly, there was nothing they could do. There was no way for them to check if the officer had told the truth.

In the military, the soldiers were expected to blindly trust their superiors, after all.

Their superiors were under far more scrutiny than themselves, which made it far less likely for them to be traitors.

And just like that, this incident passed over.

Half a day later, the wall had been assembled, but many of the stones still had to be fused together.

The Scumbags and Rookies that had been responsible for building the wall were transferred to their other teams, joining them in their mission of clearing the surroundings.

And that was how it continued for the next week.

Over the next week, the surroundings had been cleaned of all the beasts in a radius of five kilometers.

There had been several more Mid General Stage beasts, which the Numbers killed.

By now, the four groups had fully taken form.

The Scumbags, the Bootlickers, the Rookies, and the Numbers.

However, not all of the groups were separate all the time.

The Bootlickers and Rookies talked a lot with each other since they had similar ideals, essentially creating the majority of the entire unit.

There were only 28 soldiers left, excluding the officer.

Three Numbers.

Seven Scumbags.

Six Rookies.

Twelve Bootlickers.

With 18 people, the Rookies and Bootlickers made up the majority.

Over the last week, two men had become the unofficial leaders of these two groups, and they talked to the officer about the redistribution of forces.

The officer agreed and didn't separate them into immediate and further surroundings anymore, giving them the freedom to handle it.

The officer had also acknowledged the leader of the Bootlickers as the leader of these two groups.

On this day, the Bootlickers and Rookies fused into one group, the Idealists.

Shang watched all of this from the side.

'Interesting. Was this the officer's plan all along?' he thought.

'In the very beginning, he said that he would make us into one unit, but as soon as we arrived, he systematically split us apart, contradicting his earlier statement.'

'And now, suddenly, over half the people have formed a single group with a leader. It's essentially the first step of creating one unit.'

'Did he plan for this to happen?' Shang thought.

'It sounds very complicated and, frankly, too convoluted and smart.'

'But, I mean, the blue uniforms in the academy have to learn a ton of stuff about people. Maybe this is actually part of their lessons?'

Shang couldn't be sure.

After another week, the outpost got its first visitor.

A soldier arrived at the outpost with a letter.

But wait, why was there someone delivering a letter when the officer had a Communication Crystal?

Well, Communication Crystals transmitted their signals with Mana, and if there were a sufficiently powerful Mage, they could intercept the signals.

Because of that, the most important information was delivered via letter, delivered by one of the most trustworthy people.

The officer read through the letter and nodded.

The visitor left, and the officer called some of the soldiers over. By now, the soldiers didn't need to work the entire day. Nearly all the beasts had been cleared in the surroundings, and they only had to maintain the current state.

"Go to the warehouse and get these things," the officer ordered.

The officer told them what they had to get, and the soldiers left to get these things.

Most of the buildings had been made into warehouses where they stored all the dead beasts and the valuable ore they found.

After half an hour, several parts of different beasts had been put in front of the officer.

The officer looked at all the materials and nodded.

"You four will deliver these things to the town you saw two weeks ago," the officer ordered four of the Idealists. "I prepared one more of each material, but the town won't mind. The more we help, the better."

The soldiers didn't show it, but they realized why the officer had prepared more materials.

Just like the Idealists wanted to impress the officer, the officer wanted to impress his superior.

"Now, get moving!" the officer ordered.

The four people gathered the things. Luckily, one of them had a Space Ring, making it easier on them.

And then they left to deliver the wares.

For the next couple of hours, nothing of note happened.

But then, someone came to the outpost.

It was only one person, and the soldiers recognized him.

It was one of the four that had been sent to deliver the wares.

The others asked the soldier what had happened.

The soldier seemed absentminded.

"Quite smart," the officer said with a smirk to the soldier.

"Seems like you either didn't fall for it, or you are actually loyal."

At these words, the soldier regained life and looked at his officer in shock.

"You did this?" he asked in shock.

The officer only smirked. "I lied," he said. "I prepared just the amount necessary, but I said there was more. I wanted to see if someone wanted to earn some money on the side."

The soldier looked to the ground with a white face.

The officer left the soldiers alone, and the soldiers quickly asked their comrade what had happened.

Apparently, while the group had been traveling to the town, two of them had suggested pocketing some of the wares. After all, there was more than necessary, and since this information wasn't transmitted via Communication Crystal, the town wouldn't know that more had been sent.

As long as they left some of the extra stuff in there, nobody would notice.

One of the others hesitated but eventually caved in.

After that, the three people peer pressured the last one into joining them.

In the end, the last one caved in.

Everyone pocketed a bit of the resources.

When they had arrived at the town, the fourth person, the one that didn't want to join, stealthily put his own portion on top of the delivery.

He didn't want to be seen as a traitor by his three friends, but he also didn't want to betray his home.

His friends would think that he was in this together with them, but in truth, he had taken nothing.

But when the soldiers inspected the goods, everyone was immediately apprehended and searched.

The three stolen portions were found, and the soldiers immediately killed the three thieves.

Since the soldiers didn't find anything on the fourth person, they let him go.

Three of the Idealists had died today due to their own greed.

When the other soldiers heard it, they felt a mix of nervousness and relief.

They felt nervousness because there had already been four traitors.

But they also felt relief since that meant that there were four fewer traitors.

How many traitors could one group of about 30 soldiers have?

Although, there were no longer 30 soldiers.

Five people had died in the last two weeks.

Now, there were only 25 left.

'Five dead people in two weeks?' Shang thought with narrowed eyes.

'Something isn't right. I can accept the first two deaths, but there is something fishy about this newest development.'

Shang looked at the shaken soldier.

Chapter 233 New Mission

A couple of days had passed since the incident with the three thieves.

On this day, the leader of the Idealists and One gathered in front of the officer.

Over the past couple of weeks, One had become the official leader of the Numbers. Shang followed his orders due to the payment, and Two seemed to be more on the passive side as a person.

Today, the three highest-ranking people in the outpost were talking about something the Scumbags had found recently.

"It hadn't been there a week ago, which means that it's new," the leader of the Idealists said. He was a tall man with no hair. On his back, he carried a long spear, and he was clothed in expensive but practical armor.

"It is to be expected that new tunnels will be established as time progresses," the officer said neutrally. "I already expected that we would get one."

One of the Scumbags had found a 500-meter-wide lake that was exuding a lot of Ice Mana. The water in the lake was far below the freezing point, but it hadn't turned to ice yet.

This showed the signs of a tunnel to the gigantic underground lake where the Ice Wyvern lived.

"But it's good that we got one," the officer said with a smirk. "The tunnel acts as a direct relay for the Ice Wyvern's Ice Mana. It will continue to fill the surroundings with Ice Mana, driving out more and more beasts from the Volcano Wyrm Zone. The faster this place gets filled with Ice Mana, the easier our job will be."

"However, it's also a risk," the officer said with a frown. "Every tunnel represents one True Path Stage beast. They don't normally care about existences at the General Stage, and even most of the Commander Stage existences will be ignored by them."

"But if it gets agitated by something, it could prove devastating," the officer said as he scratched his chin. "A bomb filled with Fire Mana could awaken and provoke the True Path Stage beast, which will then destroy every living thing for a couple of kilometers around."

"Our outpost isn't inside that territory, but several of our soldiers are. On top of that, we can't be sure that the beast won't continue its rampage in search of the cause of its disturbance. It definitely won't go to the north since it hates Fire Mana, which means it will travel in our direction."

"That's why I called the two of you," the officer said as he looked at One and the leader of the Idealists. "Protecting the ice lake is now just below protecting the outpost on the list of priorities. We have to put a force there that can kill a Mid General Stage beast."

"However, we also have to keep a force stationed here that can kill a Mid General Stage beast."

"So, I need the two of you to figure things out. I need two groups that can kill a Mid General Stage beast, and I want one of them permanently stationed near the ice lake."

"No problem, sir!" the leader of the Idealists shouted with a respectful salute.

One only scratched the side of his head.

"This is troublesome," he commented.

"I don't care," the officer said. "Deal with it."

"Sure, sure," One said.

The officer nodded and left the two alone to plan.

"So, how do you want to do this?" One asked the leader of the Idealists.

"You three have shown that you can deal with Mid General Stage beasts without any issues," the leader said without looking at One. When the officer had been present, the leader had been respectful, but as soon as he left, he acted like One was beneath his notice.

"You get two of my guys to help you build a team, but I need the strongest of your group for my team," the leader explained. "You and Two have shown that you have the offensive capabilities of injuring and killing a Mid General Stage beast. As long as two of my soldiers keep it occupied, you should be able to kill it."

"However, as far as it pains me to say it, my team doesn't have someone with such offensive power, which means that we need one of you, and since the responsibility hangs on the shoulders of only one person, we require the strongest, Zero," the leader said in a tone that didn't allow any refusal.

The leader couldn't see One's expression at the moment.

For a couple of seconds, One only remained silent.

"Fine," One said with a sigh. "I can't really argue with your assertion."

The leader nodded. "Send Zero to me in five minutes. I will give him four of my guys and send them to the ice lake. That should cover everything."

"Sure," One said with a dismissive wave. "Then, we're done here."

After that, the two split up without saying another word. They obviously didn't like being in each other's company.

One explained the situation to Shang.

"Honestly, I feel scammed," One said. "Here, I'm paying you a ton of money, and now, I don't get to order you around."

"That's not my problem. Our agreement stands," Shang answered with a neutral voice.

"Yes, yes, it does," One said helplessly.

After that, One summoned a big sack of gold and offered it to Shang. "This is for the next month. The payment isn't due yet, but I probably don't get to pay on time, which is why you get it early."

Shang put the gold into his own world but acted like he was putting it inside his Space Ring.

Obviously, the Space Ring on Shang's finger was only for show.

"I'll try to get some kind of rotation going," One said. "Maybe, if we find a sufficiently powerful Mid General Stage beast, I can somehow convince that idiot to let you return early."

"But for now, his reasoning is solid, and arguing against it will only damage my image in the officer's eyes."

Shang only nodded without answering.

One came closer to Shang and put his hand on Shang's shoulder.

"Something's fishy about this," One whispered as he acted like he was simply walking past Shang. "An ambush might come your way. Don't die."

Shang acted like he didn't hear One and walked towards the leader of the Idealists.

There were already four others near the leader, and they looked at Shang with frowns.

Two of them used spears, while another two used one-handed swords. However, all four of them used shields.

Shields were very common amongst warriors that worked in the military. After all, shields were a great tool for dealing with other warriors.

Sadly, when fighting beasts, shields weren't nearly as useful due to the difference in physical strength.

Yet, even though the shields weren't as useful, they could stop at least one attack from a beast, which could give Shang the opportunity to end the fight.

Of course, Shang noticed the truth behind all of this.

The leader of the Idealists gave Shang his most useless soldiers, soldiers only useful for distracting a beast.

The leader of the Idealists threw a short glance at Shang.

"You will follow his orders," he said, pointing at one of the soldiers using a one-handed sword.

Shang glanced at the person, and the person looked back.

"Fine."

The leader nodded. "Move out!" he ordered.

"Yes, sir!" the four soldiers said.

Shang didn't say anything.

The squad leader threw an admonishing glance at Shang, but he didn't say anything.

And then, the squad of five people moved towards the east.

 

Chapter 234 Positioning

The five of them ran to the east. The ice lake was around 15 kilometers in that direction, which was quite a long way.

Well, it wasn't a long way for a soldier to travel, but it was a long way when there was an emergency.

If the officer ran at his full speed, he would need around seven minutes to get there, and seven minutes was a very long time in a battle.

Because of that, this group had to have the ability to survive an enemy's attack for several minutes.

Three of the people in the group talked to each other while the leader led the way in silence.

Over the next 15 minutes, Shang didn't say anything.

Eventually, they arrived at the lake.

The lake had created a small crater in the middle of the huge volcano's incline. They weren't inside the Volcano Wyrm Zone at the moment, but the volcano already started here.

The surrounding hills and mountains were already covered in a thick layer of snow and ice, proving that the Ice Mana of the tunnel was doing its work.

Even though the ice lake was in a small crater, enough Ice Mana was in the crater that it had already spilled over the edges. One only needed to imagine a lake on the side of a mountain that was gaining more water as time went by. The water would spill over and travel down the incline of the mountain.

With time, this ice lake would cover everything south of it in a thick sheet of ice. These ice lakes were one of the most important things in the new Zone since they would dictate the climate.

"Alright, here are the orders," the squad leader announced.

The others listened closely.

"We will position ourselves in the form of a pentagram. One person will protect the top, and everyone else will position themselves around the ice lake at equal distances. If anyone notices anything, shout so that your comrades can come and help you," the leader said.

Then, the leader looked at Shang. "You will be stationed at the north."

"You do realize that this is the place where the enemy will most likely attack?" Shang asked.

The others hadn't expected Shang to talk back and narrowed their eyes at him.

"Yes," the leader said, "and you are the strongest of us. As the strongest, it is best for you to take the most dangerous position."

"It's not," Shang said.

"These are orders!" one other soldier shouted in anger. "You are supposed to follow them!"

"You Numbers are so undisciplined! Having you on our team is like having five more enemies!" another one shouted.

A barrage of insults and shouts were shot at Shang, but Shang knew why they were doing this.

They hadn't forgotten the fact that the Numbers had only watched as one of their colleagues had been eaten by a beast.

This was probably their way of venting.

Shang let them continue insulting him for over a minute.

"Enough!" the leader said. "You will go to the north."

"No," Shang said.

The four others narrowed their eyes, and they seemed ready to attack him.

"This is an order!" the leader said.

"I won't follow the order," Shang said.

"You have to! I have been put in charge of this squad!"

"Make me," Shang said coldly.

The other three immediately hurled a new round of insults at Shang.

This continued for nearly two minutes.

Shang didn't say anything in these two minutes.

At some point, one of them took a step toward Shang, and Shang's eyes focused on him.

The soldier only gritted his teeth and took a step back again.

Five minutes later, silence returned.

Shang wasn't answering them, and they had already tried everything to get him to move.

Words obviously didn't work, and they didn't dare to force Shang physically.

Eventually, the leader realized that they couldn't get him to the north the hard way.

"Why?" the leader asked. "You are the strongest here. Why are you not willing to protect your weaker colleagues when you have the power?"

Obviously, he was now trying the soft approach.

"Because putting me at the front will endanger the mission," Shang said.

The other three scoffed.

What kind of logic was that?

"Explain," the leader said.

"Imagine a group of warriors attack from the north," Shang said. "Due to the incline, it will be difficult for us to see their approach. This means that they get one surprise attack."

"As you said, I am the strongest one here, and if I get killed in a surprise attack, you four will only be waiting for your deaths. If I die without being able to unleash my power, the group will lose most of its power and ability to resist. If one of you dies first, I can buy time for the other three."

"Because of that, putting me at the north would endanger the mission," Shang explained.

The other three soldiers became enraged again when they heard Shang's statement.

Bullshit!

That guy only wanted to save his own ass!

"Enough!" the leader shouted, shutting the other three up.

"He's right," he said with gritted teeth.

"But sir-"

"Be silent for a second," the leader ordered. "I also don't want to admit it, but he's right. I don't like him and his ideology, but I have to concede that he is the strongest one. He alone might be worth an additional four soldiers. If he dies first, we would be losing four soldiers at once."

"Sir, I must object," one of the soldiers shouted. "Yes, he is powerful, but he isn't that powerful."

The leader looked at the soldier. "Then why did none of us step forward to force him to the north?"

Silence.

"We are four. He is one."

Silence.

"John, you will take the north," the leader ordered.

One of the soldiers with a spear turned white in the face.

"Don't worry," the leader said. "We four will rotate every six hours."

The leader sighed. "If there is an attack, I am dooming one of you to die. I would take the north myself, but…"

For a moment, the leader remained silent.

"I also don't want to die," the leader said in shame. "The best I can do is to leave it up to chance."

Hearing their leader's ashamed voice made the other three calm down.

Yes, their leader was just like any of them. He also didn't want to die.

"You will take the southeast," the leader said to Shang. "Is that okay?"

Shang nodded and walked toward his assigned location.

After that, the other four also walked to their assigned locations.

And then, silence returned to the Ice Lake for the next couple of hours.

No one was in the mood to talk right now.

But, eventually, the somber mood passed, and the soldiers became bored.

One of them loudly started a conversation, shouting at the other guy a kilometer away.

The others felt a bit uncomfortable, but as time passed on, they realized that things didn't have to be silent all the time.

Also, keeping the minds of the soldiers active would help with their concentration.

And thus, a long and somewhat boring mission started.

But, of course, things wouldn't stay boring for long.

 

Chapter 235 Ambush

Five days after arriving at the ice lake, it happened.

Shang was currently concentrating on training in his Affinity when he suddenly felt a disturbance in the surrounding Ice and Fire Mana.

Shang turned so that his back looked to the north.

CLINK!

Shang's sword moved, and an arrow struck it, which harmlessly bounced off.

"Got it!" Sword said as it repositioned itself to its original location.

'Mid General Stage!' Shang thought as he felt the force behind the arrow.

"Ambush from the north!" Shang shouted.

The other soldiers had already looked over when they heard the loud sound of metal clashing and saw the broken arrow landing on the ground.

"Shields out! Gather at the north!" the leader shouted as he charged towards the northern end of the lake.

At that moment, several more arrows rained down on everyone, but they were all blocked by the shields.

These warriors might have been the most useless ones when it came to fighting beasts, but when it came to fighting archers, they were amazing.

Shang also charged to the north with furrowed brows.

'The enemy can't tell our power from such a distance,' he thought. 'Because of that, it makes more sense to simply kill the northern guard since he's the closest to them.'

'Yet, they directly targeted me, even though I was the furthest from the north.'

'This means that they know I'm the strongest.'

Shang's eyes narrowed.

'I kept close attention to everyone around me without them noticing, and I'm pretty confident that it wasn't them.'

'This means that someone in the outpost gave them the information!'

After realizing that they couldn't get through the shields, most of the arrows targeted Shang, and in just a couple of seconds, Shang was besieged by approximately five archers.

Luckily, the archers were over a kilometer away, and Shang was outstanding when it came to dodging attacks.

None of the arrows managed to hit Shang as he easily danced past them.

The other four had already arrived at the north, and they had created a shield barricade.

"I said get to the north!" the leader shouted at Shang.

Right now, Shang wasn't running to them. Instead, he was waiting just at the edge of the ice lake, which had been north of his earlier position.

"I'm here for a reason!" Shang shouted. "Trust me!"

The other three soldiers wanted to shout, but they were busy concentrating on the enemy ambush.

The leader gnashed his teeth, but he decided to believe Shang this one time.

Then, he took out a long rod and pointed it towards the south, his back protected by the shield barricade.

And then, the rod exploded.

BANG!

A ball filled with green gas shot out of the rod and traveled to the south.

This ball of green gas was filled with Wind Mana.

The officer had kept his Affinity a secret from everyone, but at this moment, it was unveiled.

The officer would feel the burst of Wind Mana coming from the north, which was the signal that the enemy had arrived.

"No!" the leader shouted in horror.

Just when the ball of Wind Mana reached a couple of meters of height, a brown ball appeared above it.

BOOOM!

The brown ball exploded, scattering Earth Mana all over the ball of Wind Mana.

The soldiers with an Earth Affinity would feel the explosion of Earth Mana from the north, and they might send a scout to check up on the place. In the end, the officer would still arrive.

However, it would take 20 more minutes at least.

'They knew the officer's Affinity beforehand!' Shang thought with narrowed eyes.

Something like this had to be prepared beforehand, and it had to be the right Affinity to counter the Wind Affinity.

The soldiers' faces turned white when they saw that their signal had been intercepted.

This was bad!

SHING!

At that moment, Shang also took out a long rod and pointed it to the south.

BANG!

A streak of grey gas left the rod, and it traveled for several kilometers until it eventually landed.

The enemy hadn't been able to intercept this one.

The soldiers looked at Shang with shock.

This ball had been filled with Metal Mana, and everyone in the surrounding 20 kilometers with a Metal Affinity would be able to feel it.

Of course, that included One.

When One had explained everything to Shang, he had given him this rod without anyone noticing.

Why?

Because he didn't trust anyone but himself.

This was insurance!

He wouldn't leave the survival of his investment in other people's hands!

'One should be creating a ruckus in the outpost right now,' Shang thought. 'We only have to survive for seven minutes or so now.'

'Even if the officer is a traitor, he can't show it openly. With One creating a gigantic ruckus, he will be forced to do his best to save us!'

By now, Shang was suspecting the officer.

After all, who else knew of the officer's Affinity?

But, for now, the plan of the enemy had been ruined. They had probably arrived with a timeframe of nearly half an hour in mind. With nearly 30 minutes of time, they could have slowly and safely advanced.

But now, they only had less than seven minutes, and if they were actually planning on surviving, they only had five. After all, they needed a head start if they wanted to get away from the approaching officer.

At that moment, the barrage of arrows grew stronger.

CRK!

Some of the shields started to crack in some places.

"They changed their arrows to Armor Breakers!" the leader shouted. "Keep it steady but try to make the arrows hit the undamaged places to give your shields more time!"

Earlier, the archers had shot with normal arrows, but now, they were unleashing arrows loaded with Metal Mana, which had certain destructive properties for everything hard.

By now, all the arrows targeted the barricade of shields. They had noticed that they couldn't hit Shang, which was why they had changed their target.

Shang continued waiting south of the lake, watching the north.

"Do something!" the leader shouted at Shang.

"There is a reason why I'm here!" Shang shouted back. "Trust me!"

The leader gnashed his teeth.

He was currently being barraged by a volley of arrows while their strongest warrior calmly waited in front of the lake.

For all intents and purposes, this looked like Shang was watching them die.

However, Shang had already proven that he was on their side by releasing the second signal.

Because of that, the leader kept silent.

"Sir, we need help, or we'll die!" one of the soldiers said.

"Shut up!" the leader said. "I know that!"

"Get him to help us!" another soldier shouted.

"I said shut up!" the leader shot back.

The soldiers gnashed their teeth in fury and frustration, but they trusted their superior.

Over the next minute, the shields became more and more damaged, and the soldiers began to be filled with fear.

The leader looked at the distant Shang with a mix of terror, fury, and hope.

They couldn't survive for much longer without his help!

Was it wrong to trust him?

At that moment, Shang's eyes lit up.

'It's here!'

 

Chapter 236 Attack!

At that moment, three black balls flew towards the ice lake.

This had been what Shang was waiting for!

SHING!

Several stones appeared in Shang's hands, and he accurately threw them at the three balls.

BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOOM!

All three balls exploded with an insane amount of Fire Mana, which pushed all the Ice Mana to the side.

These had been the Firebombs that had been prepared to anger the True Path Stage beast.

Originally, the Firebombs were supposed to be put in the ice lake and detonated with a timer. This would assure success and give the enemy enough time to retreat.

If the Firebombs landed inside the lake, they would definitely aggravate the True Path Stage beast.

But in exchange for that, the attackers would most likely become casualties.

Because of that, they hadn't dared to throw the Firebombs earlier. After all, no one wanted to die.

But when they saw that they couldn't get through the barricade, they decided to throw them regardless.

The Fire Mana of the Firebombs traveled towards the ice lake, which meant that there was still a chance that the True Path Stage beast would get aggravated, but it wasn't a certainty anymore.

SHING!

At that moment, Shang threw his sword over the lake. Alone, he wouldn't have had the power to throw such a heavy sword for such a distance, but Sword had its own will.

Sword was now at the Peak General Stage, which allowed it to move faster. Only with Sword's help could Shang throw it over the entire lake.

The cloud of Fire Mana shrunk as Sword passed through it. This was Fire Mana without a will, which made it no different from natural Fire Mana. Because of that, Sword had no issues absorbing it.

Shang exploded to the side and ran around the lake towards the north.

BANG!

Sword landed on the other side, and its blade entered the ground.

No Fire Mana had reached the ice lake.

When the soldiers saw the Firebombs explode, they felt like they had just avoided death.

There was still a chance that they could survive the enemy's attack but surviving a True Path Stage beast's rampage was impossible for them.

Eventually, Shang reached the other side of the lake and grabbed his sword again.

And then, he charged to the north.

BANG!

One of the shields exploded into splinters, and one of the soldiers received an arrow to the chest. Luckily, such an injury wasn't severe enough to kill a General Stage warrior.

The others quickly pulled their comrade behind their shields, which now received an even heavier barrage of arrows.

Whoosh!

At that moment, Shang passed by them and charged to the north.

The soldiers looked in fear at the passing Shang.

He was supposed to block some of the arrows, not charge at the enemy!

Was he suicidal?!

Shang, in his black armor and black mask, charged up the mountain, his sword leaving behind a streak of fire due to all the Fire Mana it had absorbed.

It was hard to make out where the opponents were due to all the big stones on the mountain, but as Shang progressed, he could finally tell their locations.

The attacks on the shields lost intensity as more of the arrows were now targeting Shang.

Shang dodged one arrow after the other without any issues. In comparison to dodging Spells, this was easy.

"Focus on the shields!"

Shang heard someone shout from the front, and shortly after, the arrows shot toward the shields again.

At that moment, a masked man with bloodred robes jumped over one of the big stones and charged at Shang with two red sabers in his hands.

Shang could feel his opponent's power thanks to all the fights he had gone through.

'Mid General Stage,' he thought. 'He was probably the one that fired the first arrow at me.'

If all the attackers had been at the Mid General Stage, the shields would have long since been destroyed. Because of that, Shang guessed that there were one, maybe two, people at the Mid General Stage among the attackers.

The two of them charged at each other.

Shang readied his sword.

At that moment, Shang's opponent accelerated.

He would reach Shang before he could strike with his heavy sword.

BANG!

But at that moment, Shang's left leg hit the ground, hard. Some crevices appeared on the ground in front of him, and the earth quaked, which resulted in Shang's enemy losing his balance.

Shang had learned how to fight with a heavy sword in the past. In fact, he had been the one that chose his new weapon.

There was more than only one kind of sword, and Shang planned on learning how to fight with several of them.

Shang decided to start with a heavy sword since he had fought Astor an uncountable number of times.

For example, this technique Shang had just used had been used against him several times in the past.

As the man lost his balance, he changed his attack from two slashes into two stabs.

'I learned a lot from Astor,' Shang thought.

And then, he let go of his sword.

'But I have my own style!'

BANG! BANG!

Shang's two hands slapped the two sabers to the side. Sabers were a kind of sword that only had one cutting edge. Sure, they had a lot more weight and power behind their attacks because of that, but that also gave them a weakness.

By slapping the back of the sabers, Shang could change their trajectory without injuring his hands.

The sabers barely missed him, and the arms of his opponent became crossed as his body fell onto Shang.

Of course, Shang's arms were also crossed.

But in comparison to his opponent, Shang knew how to fight barehanded.

Shang angled his right arm and lifted his right elbow.

BANG!

Shang's elbow hit the throat of his enemy, severing his neck from his spine. The flesh was still attached, but the bone had been destroyed.

Behind the mask, the man's expression had turned to horror and shock.

Pack!

Shang grabbed the man's throat and grabbed his sword with his other hand.

And then, he charged to the front.

The archers became confused and panicked at this moment.

They couldn't shoot their commander, right?

Their commander had a warrior's body! He would surely recover shortly and destroy his opponent, right?

Well, none of them noticed, but Shang was absorbing all the Mana that went to repair the commander's neck with Darkness Absorb.

A warrior's body was of no help to the commander at this moment.

And then, Shang reached the first archer, who was crouching behind a stone.

The archer quickly targeted Shang.

BANG!

Shang threw the commander at the archer, making the arrow miss.

That's when Shang's colossal sword arrived.

BOOOOM!

Shang's sword destroyed both the commander and the archer with one strike, the Fire Mana setting them on fire.

The other archers fell into a panic and fully focused their arrows on Shang.

Shang's arm pointed to the ground.

BANG!

A Fire Blast left his left arm, throwing him far into the air.

Shang threw a glance at the shield barricade and noted that no one was looking. They were still crouching behind it.

Shang's eyes focused, and he looked at the biggest gathering of archers.

In the middle, behind a five-meter-high stone, were five archers. Thanks to his Fire Blast, Shang was high enough to see them.

At that moment, Shang readied his sword and slashed.

For a moment, the archers became confused.

Why was that guy slashing at them from over thirty meters away?

But then, their eyes widened in horror.

A burning crescent shot towards them!

The archers couldn't react.

BOOOOOM!

A huge explosion occurred at their location, destroying everything, including the stone they hid behind.

This had been the reward for the trial, a ranged attack!

In the sky, Shang had been thrown back.

Releasing so much Mana had pushed him into the distance.

Shang pointed his left arm to his back.

BANG!

Shang released another Fire Blast, and his body shot toward the last two archers.

The archers quickly released their arrows in panic.

One of them shot into the distance.

The other hit Shang in the gut.

But he didn't care.

BANG!

Shang's sword passed through the first archer, his body scattering over the surroundings.

The other archer only looked in shock at Shang.

Shang's dark body was releasing steam, and his sword was coated in black, burned blood.

And the archer could see Shang's eyes behind the mask focus on him!

This was the last thing the archer saw in his life.

It was over.

 

Chapter 237 Report

The soldiers didn't feel any more arrows hitting their shields. For a while, they didn't dare to look over the barricade. After all, what if their opponents were simply baiting them into looking past their shields to kill them?

The soldiers had heard several loud sounds, and they heard the screams of dying people.

After around twenty seconds, the first soldier looked past the barricade.

Nothing.

There were no arrows.

However, they also didn't see any corpses.

"Zero?" the leader shouted.

"I'm here," Shang answered. "It's fine. They're dead."

The soldiers looked at each other in shock.

Dead?

There had to have been over five guys, at least!

Was Zero suggesting that he had killed all of these people on his own?

Just a moment before the shout, Shang had been looking at the two corpses in front of him with a frown.

Something inside of him stirred.

A dislike.

Disgust.

It was a familiar feeling to Shang. He had felt this feeling whenever he had killed someone in the past.

But in comparison to the previous times, the feeling was much weaker today.

In the past, this feeling had enveloped all of Shang's being, encompassing his entire mind.

But now, it could only be described as an aftertaste.

'I did what I had to do,' Shang thought as he looked at the corpse. 'I don't like doing it, but it was necessary.'

That was when the leader's shout had arrived.

Shang had been pulled out of his thoughts and answered as he carried the corpses to the middle of the slope.

'Killing has gotten easier,' Shang thought.

'That's good.'

'Having to deal with an emotional trauma every time I kill someone is too much effort. Like this, it will be far easier.'

'I think this change is mainly due to the trial. I don't know if the humans in the trial have been real or fake, but they felt real.'

'I think the trial has helped me a lot with getting more comfortable with killing people.'

The soldiers slowly lowered their shields and walked forward, inspecting their surroundings.

Shang went to the other stone and pulled out the corpses of the enemy commander and the archer, putting them beside the other two corpses.

The soldiers saw what Shang was doing and released a sigh of relief.

Zero had told the truth.

The enemies were dead.

But at the same time, the soldiers' shock only increased.

This guy had destroyed an entire squad of people on his own?

At that moment, the soldiers were happy that they hadn't attacked Shang earlier.

Shang went to the five corpses of the archers he had killed with his ranged attack, but he didn't get them immediately.

Instead, he looked at them for a while.

A disgusting smell of burned human flesh entered Shang's nose.

The corpses looked like charcoal, coagulated blood visible all over their bodies.

It was a horrifying image.

Shang took a deep breath and pulled the burned corpses to the other ones.

'Death is death. The state of the corpse makes no difference,' Shang thought.

After some seconds, all the corpses were laid side by side on the slope.

Nine corpses.

The soldiers remained silently in shock as they looked at the corpses.

Zero had killed nine soldiers on his own?!

How?!

Shang also looked at the corpses, his brows furrowed behind his mask.

'Eight Early General Stage warriors and one Mid General Stage warrior.'

'Only five Early General Stage warriors have been sent here to defend the ice lake. The enemy has attacked with a force that should have won decisively.'

'Did they know that we were only five, or is this only a coincidence?'

'I don't think it's a coincidence. After all, their leader targeted me first, even though I was in the worst position for an initial target.'

'They knew about my power, they knew about my group's power, and they knew about the officer's Affinity.'

'Someone told them all these details.'

'I don't think that they have conducted long-range surveillance. Something like that can only be done by True Mages, and the Duke has certainly secured his territory against his enemies.'

'Someone in our outpost told them somehow.'

At that moment, Shang looked towards the west.

About two kilometers away, Shang saw something race towards his location, leaving behind a green wind.

'He's suspicious,' Shang thought.

'That first scout he killed could have been telling the truth. What if that scout has seen something that he shouldn't have seen? The officer could have killed him and acted like it was false information.'

'Additionally, he ordered us to let one of the students die when they attacked a Mid General Stage beast. Sure, I can get that they need to be taught a lesson, but letting someone die a preventable death will only weaken the outpost.'

'The only thing that seemingly didn't involve him was the delivery. I don't think he was involved in that.'

Shang looked away from the approaching officer and looked at the huge mountain to the north.

'But this ambush is extremely suspicious. They knew way too much about our power. They even knew about the officer's Affinity.'

Shang looked back at the approaching officer, who was now only 500 meters away from them.

The officer was passing beside the lake and charged at the five soldiers standing on the mountain.

When he saw that his soldiers weren't fighting, he slowed down until he eventually stopped.

A moment later, the officer noticed the corpses, and his eyes widened in shock for a second.

"Report!" he ordered the leader of the squad.

"S-sir!" the leader of the squad answered. "We've been attacked!"

"I know that!" the officer shouted. "I want to know what happened!"

The leader looked at the officer, at the corpses, at the mountain, at the lake, and then at the officer again with an uncertain expression.

"Sir, I can't report," the leader said.

The officer's eyes narrowed. "Explain yourself, soldier!"

The leader looked at the other soldiers, who only looked back with helpless expressions.

"We didn't see what happened," the leader explained. "We only hid behind our shields, defending against a storm of arrows."

"Then how are there nine corpses here?!" the officer shouted.

"That was all him," the leader said, gesturing to Shang.

"All him?" the officer repeated in surprise as he looked at Shang.

Shang's and the officer's eyes met.

Shang stood several meters higher on the mountain, his sword standing in front of him as he looked into the officer's eyes.

For just a moment, time seemed to freeze.

"Report!" the officer shouted. He didn't know why, but he didn't like the look of Shang right now.

"Some minutes ago, I was attacked by an arrow from a Mid General Stage warrior…"

Shang recounted the event, especially highlighting the suspicious parts. He didn't go into detail when it came to how he had killed his enemies, but he went into detail regarding everything else.

The officer became more and more agitated the more Shang said.

He didn't seem nervous or fearful but angry.

Why?

It was obvious.

Because highlighting all these suspicious parts of the ambush was like directly accusing the officer.

Everything pointed to him.

When Shang was done recounting the event, the officer and Shang only looked at each other, neither of them moving.

 

Chapter 238 Defense

The soldiers didn't want to show it, but they subconsciously became wary of their officer.

Everything pointed to the fact that he was a traitor.

Shang could have kept the suspicious information a secret and could have passed it along to the relevant authorities.

Yet, he had unveiled all the suspicious information without censoring it.

He was essentially publicly accusing the officer of being a traitor without saying it directly.

The soldiers became very nervous.

If their officer were truly a traitor…

Then, would he just kill all of them to silence them?!

"They were smart," the officer said.

Shang and the soldiers only looked at him.

"Remember, no plan is complete without a backup plan for when the primary plan backfires," the officer explained. "By sending nine people, their primary plan evidently was to wake the True Path Stage beast."

"But if they fail, their backup plan was to get rid of me," the officer said.

The officer gestured to the corpses.

"They are most likely criminals on death row," he said. "Duke Mithril has a policy that criminals can gain freedom as long as they accomplish a deadly mission. The criminals have to take a poison to which only Duke Mithril's soldiers have an antidote."

"If they flee, they die. If they fail, they die. They can only survive by completing the mission."

"You told me that they threw the Firebombs into the lake without concern for their life," the officer said.

Shang nodded.

"This means near-certain death for them. Normal soldiers don't just throw their lives away like that. Only someone with no way out would consider doing something like this."

"Criminals are not part of Duke Mithril's main force," the officer explained. "The fact that they sent criminals means that they, to a certain extent, have expected this mission to fail."

Shang didn't say anything.

The officer gritted his teeth. "Nevertheless, their plan succeeded to some degree. I will surely be investigated by the higher-ups after today, no matter what I do or say."

SHING!

The officer summoned a Communication Crystal. "Might as well do it myself."

The soldiers looked at the officer in discomfort.

Shang's expression wasn't visible due to his mask.

However, Shang's suspicions had lessened a bit. He still suspected the officer of being a traitor, but he wasn't certain anymore.

This was why he had unveiled all the information.

Because, what if this was just an elaborate ploy?

If Shang reported everything to the relevant authorities, it might be possible that a biased investigation would take place. It would have been possible that an innocent Late General Stage warrior would be sentenced to death.

That was why Shang had unveiled everything. He wanted to give the officer a chance to defend himself.

The soldiers listened as the officer reported everything, leaving no information out.

And then, they heard the officer's superior blowing up in anger, but not at the thing everyone was expecting.

"You idiot!" the superior shouted through the Communication Crystal. "You found a tunnel and didn't report it?! You put us all at risk!"

After a thorough tongue-lashing, the superior demanded an explanation.

The officer only gritted his teeth.

"I thought defending a tunnel with access to only my resources would reflect well on my career."

The superior exploded once again, berating the officer for his stupidity.

It was thoroughly humiliating.

"You will be put under investigation!" the superior shouted through the Communication Crystal.

Then, there was a pause.

"However, since you took the initiative to come forward, I'll give you one week to get everything in order for your replacement. I want you to report to me in one week, in person!"

"For now, you will wait near the tunnel until the Circle arrives!"

And then, the superior hung up.

The officer only looked helplessly to the side.

When the soldiers heard that a Circle would arrive, they took a deep breath. Only now did they truly realize how far out of their depth this task had been.

After listening to everything, Shang's suspicions lowered by a lot. He still had some doubts, but he wouldn't accuse the officer anymore.

It seemed like it was the right decision to give the officer a chance to defend himself.

No one was in the mood to talk, so everyone waited in silence.

Luckily, they didn't have to wait for long.

Only 20 minutes later, the new guards of the tunnel arrived.

There were five people in luxurious robes, each colored differently.

Shang looked over and felt Mana swirl around the new arrivals.

What was a Circle?

A Circle was a team consisting of five True Mages, which generally had one Water Mage, one Earth or Metal Mage, and three Mages with an offensive Affinity.

It was a well-balanced and adaptable team.

Five True Mages.

A tunnel was worth stationing five True Mages near it.

Just earlier, only five Early General Stage warriors had defended it.

A force of five True Mages was a power that far outclassed all the warriors stationed in the battlefield.

This was not something the officer or even his superior could compare themselves with.

The five True Mages checked the surroundings and the lake.

Then, they checked the corpses for any evidence they could use against Duke Mithril.

Of course, they didn't find anything.

"You may leave," one of them said to the soldiers without even looking at them.

"Yes, sir!" the officer said with a respectful salute.

The other soldiers also saluted, including Shang this time.

After that, everyone walked back to the outpost in silence.

The situation still hung over their heads.

The soldiers still felt some lingering terror from barely avoiding death.

If Zero hadn't been there, they would have died.

About 30 minutes later, everyone got back to the outpost.

As soon as they arrived, everyone went back to their teams while the officer entered one of the buildings without saying anything.

When Shang came back, One was already waiting for him.

"I need to know what happened," One said.

Chapter 239 One's Plan

One led Shang to an isolated place at the side of the hill and asked him about what had happened.

Shang told everything to One without keeping any secrets. He told him the same stuff he told the officer.

"Honestly, the signal flare you gave me might have saved my life," Shang said. "I didn't need our superior to win the battle, but if the enemy had more time, the other four would have died. With them dead, everyone would have focused on me."

"I might have still won, but I wouldn't have been in any position to block the Firebombs, which would result in the True Path Stage beast going on a rampage."

Shang was telling the truth. If the enemy thought that they had far more time, they wouldn't have thrown the Firebombs this early.

One had actually saved Shang's life to some degree.

"I'm paying you good money," One said with a voice that told Shang that he thought this issue was irrelevant. "But there is something more important."

"Which is?" Shang asked.

"Don't you think it's strange?" One asked.

"What?"

"Imagine you are responsible for over a hundred warriors, and one person that's responsible for 30 of those warriors might very likely be a traitor."

"Would you let him continue assuming control over these 30 warriors for a week?" One asked.

Shang remained silent for a bit.

"No, I wouldn't."

"That's the thing," One said. "It's too strange. If one of my commanders were accused of being a traitor, I would immediately send someone to apprehend them. Additionally, we arrived here in a single day from the Storm Eagle Zone. Do you honestly think that there isn't a second Late General Stage warrior in the town near us that can assume control?"

"Why did the officer get a full week of full power over this area?"

"It doesn't make any sense."

Shang frowned as he looked down, but his face was hidden behind his mask.

One was making sense.

Shang knew a lot, and he wasn't stupid, but he wasn't very experienced when it came to leading others.

Shang wasn't a born leader, and he wasn't interested in leading others. He thought leading others to be a pain in the ass. It required a lot of work and dedication, which could be used to further his own power instead.

Because of that, Shang hadn't noticed this peculiarity.

In his mind, the officer's initiative to report himself to his superior was a good sign that he wasn't a traitor. After all, why would a traitor reveal himself to his superior when the only witnesses were in an isolated location and were far weaker than him?

The officer could have killed the five of them without many issues. After killing them, he would have simply reported that the enemies had killed them.

Of course, this would also be suspicious, but it was still better than telling his superior about all the suspicious information.

For a second, Shang considered the possibility that the officer hadn't contacted his actual superior, but that possibility was quickly thrown out of the wind.

A Circle had arrived. If that superior didn't have a certain status in Duke Whirlwind's lands, the Circle wouldn't have arrived.

This meant that the superior was actually the superior.

Which left only one possibility.

The superior of the officer was also a traitor.

Shang looked at the outpost with narrowed eyes.

'The superior might have given the officer one week to do as much damage as possible. There is a high likelihood that he will gather all the traitors in the camp and kill all the loyal soldiers before fleeing to the Volcano Wyrm Zone.'

'Additionally, we have gathered a great number of valuable materials over the last couple of weeks. In the end, we would have lost around 30 General Stage warriors while the enemy gained Hundreds of thousands of gold in materials.'

'On top of that, the superior might not have informed the appropriate channels regarding the officer's confession. With every witness dead, the superior could act all oblivious, saying that he had no idea that the officer had been a traitor.'

'A traitorous Commander Stage warrior? I guess Duke Whirlwind was right to worry.'

'But for now, everything is only conjecture. Sure, it makes a lot of sense, but there is no proof. If I report it like this, the officer will be taken down, but the superior will most likely get away.'

'Even more, the superior will be warned, and he will stay low.'

Shang looked over at One.

"What's your plan?" he asked.

"If we meet the enemy on their terms, we are dead," One explained. "The enemy won't show their head today or tomorrow since all the soldiers are still on high alert due to the battle, but they will most likely get active in about five or six days. That's when everyone will be in their most relaxed state."

"If the officer separates us, we will all die one by one. He is two levels above us, and he can kill every soldier with a single attack."

"If we allow him to take the initiative, we're dead meat," One explained.

"You still haven't told me what your plan is," Shang said with some annoyance.

"Don't you get it?" One said with some frustration. "We have to gather a strong force and kill the officer before he can kill us!"

Shang remained silent for several seconds as he looked at One.

"This isn't an easy decision," Shang said slowly.

"What are you talking about? How is this not an easy decision?!" One asked with annoyance.

"Everything's conjecture, and the officer has already been reported to his superior. It might actually be possible that his superior trusts that the allegations are false."

"If I were to attempt to take the officer's life, I would be tried as a traitor. On top of that, if he actually manages to contact someone before his death, I might not even manage to reach the Volcano Wyrm Zone."

"There is no proof right now. If I kill him, I will be going against my primary mission," Shang explained. "When you hired me, I told you that I would follow your orders as long as they don't conflict with the primary mission."

"So, I can't help you with this, sorry," Shang said.

Shang couldn't see One's expression beneath his mask.

A couple of seconds of silence passed.

Just when Shang wanted to walk back to the outpost, One said something.

"How much?"

Shang looked at One.

"Usually, I have a triple-quintuple policy," he explained. "If you pay me triple the reward for the abandoned mission, I will tell my previous client and cancel the contract. If you pay me quintuple, I will keep it a secret that I'm not working for them anymore."

"But this time, I'm fine with double, and I will keep it a secret. But the plan has to be rock solid. I am here for money, but I also don't want to throw my life away."

One remained silent as he walked back and forth, thinking.

"Are you that desperate for money?" One asked with some disgust in his voice.

"No," Shang said. "However, I'm confident that I can survive the clash. Even if I can't win, I can survive. As I've said back when I introduced myself, I don't want to get involved in politics. I don't care if Duke Whirlwind's side or Duke Mithril's side wins. I'm only here to do the job I'm paid for."

"The only two reasons why you get a discount is because I would earn my money faster and that I dislike the officer. Otherwise, you would have to pay the standard rates."

"Also, you technically might have saved my life. That also counts as something."

"So, what will it be? Payment or not?"

"Of course, if you don't pay, I'm forced to report you to the officer. After all, you just solicited another soldier for murder on their superior," Shang said evenly.

Shang couldn't see One's expression, but his tensed body was a great indication of how he felt right now.

One was probably infuriated right now.

"Here I am, trying to save your life, and you blackmail me," One said with disgust.

"You're trying to save someone that doesn't need saving by showing that you are a primary target for that person's mission. What did you expect?" Shang answered with a bored tone. "I'm only doing my job."

"Fine!" One shouted. "I will give you half now, and half after the deed is done!"

"I accept," Shang said.

Chapter 240 Ploy

Several hours passed, during which Shang looked at the gigantic sacks of gold in his world.

How much would the mission have paid after its completion?

How much was one year of an Early General Stage warrior's time worth?

50,000 gold.

This was the equivalent of around 30 – 50 Early General Stage beast corpses.

For one year, this was an amazing deal, especially since the mission wasn't as dangerous as hunting that many beasts.

That definitely was a lot of money for an Early General Stage warrior.

When night arrived, One came to Shang together with Two.

"We got a Mid General Stage beast," One said.

Shang nodded and prepared himself.

After that, both of them charged towards the east.

They traveled about a kilometer away and stopped behind a different hill. Now, no one was watching them.

"Alright, it's time to prepare everything," One said.

Shang and Two nodded. "What's the plan?" Two asked.

Shang wasn't surprised that One managed to convince Two. It made a lot of sense that the officer and his superior were traitors. If Two had told the truth previously, he wouldn't want to let someone like that keep living. After all, Duke Mithril's forces were searching for Two.

He might not be able to escape to Duke Mithril's territory after everything was done, but he definitely had some other solution. After all, if he didn't have one, he wouldn't be here.

"We are going to lure the officer to this place by firing the signal," One said as he took out one of the signal flares. "We have to act like there is a powerful Mid General Stage beast that we can't beat. Then, when he arrives, we jump him. Everything has to be done quickly."

"There are plenty of beasts that can hide their presence. Even if he doesn't see one immediately, it won't wake any suspicions. There aren't only Fire Affinity beasts here but also Earth Affinity beasts."

The other two nodded.

SHING!

At that moment, One took out a huge shield. "We have to make this convincing," he said as he pointed his shield at Shang. "I don't have enough power to make it seem like this shield was broken by a beast. Your destructive power is better for that."

"Destroy the shield with an attack, but try to leave my hands in one piece," One said.

Shang looked at One with a gleam in his eyes.

"Sure," he said.

Then, Shang took out his sword as One defended himself with his shield.

And Shang struck the shield with his colossal sword.

CRACK!

The shield cracked into two pieces, and One was thrown against the hill behind him.

One coughed a bit due to the impact, but he wasn't injured. "Good," he said.

One threw the pieces of the shield to the side and looked at Two.

SHING!

Something appeared in One's hand. "I need you to hold that while I activate the signal."

While One had been talking, he had thrown the thing over to Two, who caught it out of habit.

One pointed the flare to the sky and activated it.

BANG!

A green burst of Wind Mana left the flare.

"What's that?" Two asked as he inspected the black ball in his hands.

One didn't answer.

BOOOOOOM!

Suddenly, the black ball in Two's hand exploded as a powerful wave of Fire Mana left it.

The side of One's mask was illuminated by the violent explosion.

BANG!

Two's burned corpse hit the side of the hill and slid down.

Two was dead.

"What's going on?!"

The officer had arrived on top of the hill, and he was looking at the scene.

Zero stood opposite of One, his weapon drawn.

Two had turned into a burned corpse.

A broken shield lay between Zero and One.

"He killed Two!" One suddenly shouted as he jumped back, his weapon drawn. "I only survived thanks to the shields I carry in my Space Ring!"

The officer looked at Zero, who made no inclination to move. He simply continued standing there.

"Zero! Explain yourself!" the officer shouted.

Shang's head turned to face the officer. "Is that the plan you two came up with?" he asked. "You want to frame me and then kill all the loyal soldiers?"

The two were a bit surprised by Shang's nonchalant voice, but they didn't show it.

"Bastard! You just killed someone, and now you're acting like this was our doing?!" One shouted with fear and hatred. He genuinely sounded like his best friend had just been killed.

By now, several soldiers had been lured over by the loud shouts, and they looked at the scene below the hill.

They saw the burned corpse.

They knew Zero had a Fire Affinity.

They saw the shield, which had obviously been destroyed by a powerful and heavy sword.

After some seconds, all the soldiers had gathered in this place, and Shang looked over them.

"Sure enough, you already got rid of the four that have been sent to defend the tunnel with me," Shang commented.

The soldiers looked around and noticed that four of their comrades weren't there.

"Stop accusing others of such heinous actions while it is clear that you are the culprit!" the officer shouted.

The enraged voice of the officer didn't shock Shang.

In fact, Shang knew that One would betray him.

But how?

And why?

After all, One had saved Shang's life, right?

Well, even though the officer was a traitor, he had said one thing that was true.

No plan was complete without at least one backup plan.

The overwhelming force that had attacked the tunnel had a chance of success of over 90%, even with One's flare.

After all, no one expected five Early General Stage warriors to kill eight Early General Stage warriors and one Mid General Stage warrior.

The flare was only a backup.

What was the purpose?

To make their inside agent, One, appear more trustworthy.

After this mission, One could easily enter Duke Whirlwind's personal army. He had proven beyond any doubt that he was loyal. After all, his actions had resulted in the deaths of several enemies.

And even if the mission succeeded and the True Path Stage beast went on a rampage, some of the soldiers would survive, and they would have borne witness to the fact that One's signal had gone off.

No matter what happened, One's credibility would have shot through the roof.

Initially, Shang hadn't suspected One. After all, One's actions had contributed to Shang's survival.

So, what made Shang suspicious?

The money.

One had 50,000 gold on hand.

Which normal soldier had that much money on hand?

Of course, One had also thought about that, but, in his mind, it wasn't important.

In One's eyes, Zero was someone that had no affiliation and was only interested in money. One knew that Zero would connect One with Duke Mithril's forces.

But what did that matter?

One didn't care to which side he belonged. So what if he connected One to Duke Mithril? Since he was only here for the money, he would help regardless.

If Shang had easily accepted the proposal, One would have been suspicious.

However, Shang's actions of actually squeezing more money out of One in this situation alleviated a lot of his suspicions.

A loyal soldier to Duke Whirlwind wouldn't think about money in this situation.

Zero was literally just a guy interested in his personal power and money.

But all of this now begged another question.

If Shang had known that One would betray him, why had he gone along with all of this?

Why had he destroyed the shield?

Why hadn't he warned Two?

Two reasons.

First of all, Shang wanted to fish out all the traitors. As long as they didn't do something outrageous, there wouldn't be any proof.

But now, with all of these witnesses, there would be proof.

And second…

Shang knew that he could deal with One and the officer.

"You are hereby under arrest for treason!" the officer shouted. "Will you come peacefully, or do I have to cut off your arms?"

Shang looked at the officer.

'This is just the fight I need.'

'The last time I fought an average warrior two levels above myself, I barely lost.'

'But this time, I have gained much more experience, and I have gained a new ability.'

'Also, I finally know what that one guy used back then to win against me.'

Shang readied his heavy sword.

BANG!

And Shang exploded forward.