Chapter 152: Defeat
“Indeed, Master, you’re quick to spot the crucial point,” Daven applauded with a smile. However, there was not a trace of admiration in his expression. His face was filled with mockery and excitement, a countenance twisted enough to be called psychologically distorted.
“……” Although Laogeri’s breathing remained heavy, having suffered such a big loss seemed to have calmed him down. However, the raging power within him left him no room to attend to anything else, so he could only watch helplessly as Daven disappeared from his sight.
Daven stepped into the hall. The previous battle between the two had already instilled fear in everyone present. The Daven before them was no longer an entity they could contend with.
“Now, can you hand over the Oracle’s Book?” Daven picked up the red mask that had been knocked off at some point. His signature smile sent shivers down everyone’s spine, even Nicholas felt an inexplicable sense of fear.
The gap in strength triggered primal instincts in the creatures; fear evidently became the dominant emotion among the crowd.
However, there was one person who remained calm and composed, and that was Duke Falexis, who met Daven’s gaze.
He twitched his lips, and despite his young face, one couldn’t tell he was already over a hundred years old. Yet, his profound, starry eyes were still filled with wisdom.
“Daven, I didn’t expect it would be you who came.”
“Oh? I’m quite pleased to see the Duke’s mansion in a bit of trouble. How could I sleep without coming to see for myself?” Daven replied casually, but the tone of the other party gave Daven a sense of foreboding, an intuition accumulated over many years of experience!
Duke Falexis shook his head in silence, no longer looking at Daven. He glanced slightly upward at Laogeri, who was struggling with the power within him, sighed softly, then gently spoke into the void, “Come out!”
Buzz～
The grand hall, which was empty moments ago, was suddenly surrounded by tens of thousands of people as if they had teleported. These individuals were not dressed like any regular army but were unmistakably mercenaries! They encircled the entire hall along with Daven and his troops. Just as Daven’s expression changed slightly, suddenly, two thousand individuals from his own army launched fatal attacks against the nearby strongmen. In an instant, nearly two thousand lives were lost, and the other two thousand who had turned against him quickly dispersed, merging into the tens of thousands of mercenaries who had appeared out of nowhere.
“What!” Daven’s pupils contracted. He couldn’t believe that two thousand people from his own army had betrayed him, and the betrayal was so complete. It was evident that it had been planned well in advance. Even the Empty Emperor’s expression turned grim. The dragon-headed cane in his hand hummed, and the air around them grew restless.
“Duke Falexis still maintains his original expression, unaffected by the situation’s reversal,” he said lightly.
“Haven’t you noticed that many top mercenaries from various countries have been scarce recently?”
“This statement made Tyr, who had been observing the battle, suddenly realize. Ah! No wonder they didn’t encounter many elite mercenaries, even the Breaking Army level, when they were in the Kingdom of Milik. It turns out they had already been secretly absorbed by Duke Falexis, inserted as an unexpected army around the Duke’s banquet.”
“No wonder you are the Duke, I always thought you were unfathomable, but I never expected you to calculate to this extent!”
“Daven squinted, the smile gone from his lips. He glanced around at the mercenaries. What are they coated with? A liquid that can make their bodies invisible?”
“Even though Daven grew up in the Duke’s mansion, he had never seen the true depths of this country. He only knew about the gods but was unaware of the methods beyond the divine. Obviously, this liquid that can make people transparent and even deceive perception is one of the kingdom’s hidden cards.”
“And the two thousand troops that suddenly betrayed him from behind are probably not infiltrators, because each of them would have been thoroughly investigated by the Kingdom of Milik. Obviously, these people have no direct connection to the Cyril Duchy.”
“Is it another method that Daven is unaware of?” The red-eyed man thought to himself, gritting his teeth. Obviously, after losing to Laogeri in strength, he was now losing to Duke Falexis in strategy!”
