Hero of Darkness

In the early morning of the following day, Kahn arranged a meeting in one of the open grounds of the underground training facilities. And everyone except Ceril was present in this meeting. 

"Ronin… give us all the details." said Kahn as he folded both hands behind his back. 

"Yes, my lord." spoke the rogue class general and handed out envelopes to all the subordinates present except Blackwall. Because his fingers were bigger than the envelope. 

He then began a presentation of his own and placed a map of the entire Verlassen fiefdom in the middle of the table. 

"There are six regions where the monster tide occurs every year. And during that period, the entire region is on curfew for at least 2 months. 

Based on the estimations made by our researchers… This year, it will come after the next 4 months." explained Ronin. 

"But from the past hundred and fifty years; the monster tides have been occurring only when there are simply too many monsters living in the inner regions of the Verlassen mountain range. 

All the main cities and villages are at borders, including the capital Aesir. 

However, it's the heart of this fiefdom that's infested with various types and different species of monsters." he elaborated. 

"Unlike the rest of the empire, Verlassen has the highest number of different and rare monster species in all these six different hotspots. 

The adventurers and the hunters who are officially allowed and issued permission to enter for monster hunting and harvesting are all controlled by our forces now. 

So in a way, it's also one of the main sources of income of the whole fiefdom." he iterated. 

"And the deeper one went, the more rare and unique monsters they'd see. Their organs, cores, hides and precious body parts basically run our economy and many crafting and pharmaceutical professions and businesses flourish on them. 

However, the inner regions hold too many strong monsters and even a peak grandmaster won't survive there on their own. And hence, millions of soldiers are stationed near these hotspots. 

To avoid more loss of life and act as a shield to defend against the monster tides. Because in these waves of millions of monsters… even High Lord monsters aren't an exception and they appear every year. 

Plus there are some legendary rank monsters that have been seen in the past five years alone. Some records I read recently also say that there are some descendent species of Godbeasts inside the core regions." spoke Ronin and finally ended his report. 

Kahn on the other end also finished reading the entire report and heard Ronin's summary. He then spoke with a solemn voice. 

"Isn't that one of the main reasons why I chose this place as my fiefdom in the first place?

At this stage… we all need stronger abilities and skills for future use."

"And there's also a need to clear out the inner region monsters as well. 

Because I think they're the ones causing this whole monster tide every year." said Kahn as he came up with his own hypothesis. 

"A stronger monster would naturally expel others from their territory by instinct. So the millions of monsters that stampede over the hotspots are actually the weaker ones. Just that their numbers are too great even for the military. 

So what I'm proposing is that we take out the root cause of the problem itself instead of waiting like idiots." spoke Kahn and explained why he wanted to start the hunting spree. 

"But my lord… many have failed to do so before. I have read some records of armies sent in the inner regions with 50 semi-saints over a century ago." interjected Ronin. 

"However… None of them came back alive. And information about that whole incident has been buried by the government and three noble factions because it was said to be their biggest loss after they overthrew the imperial rule.

And because of which, I think they stopped sending enough semi-saints to station here in the first place. Because only a Saint can take down those Legendary rank monsters. 

So in other words… we simply have no idea what lies in the central regions of Verlassen at all and we also lack the firepower." spoke Ronin as he explained why he was hesitating. 

The next moment however, it was Oliver who spoke in a carefree tone. 

"I know that your worries are reasonable but you're forgetting about me." 

He pointed towards himself and spoke in a laid-back manner. 

"I have the highest range and best reconnaissance abilities amongst all of us. I can also act as the perfect flying spy and during the day… I'm simply too quick to even notice. 

I can gather information in all these areas, the monsters that inhabit them as well as track these legendary monsters and even if I get caught or killed.. Master can easily resurrect me. We're not short on any resources these days. 

It's a win-win situation for us." proposed the Emerald Archer general. 

"Yes, we should do that. And just think about it… these monsters and then corpses can be used by master to increase the number of legion members by manyfolds." spoke Blackwall who stood farthest because of his ginormous size. 

"I second that." said Omega as he also nodded in agreement. 

"It's a viable approach. But I also need to make sure that we're not found by anyone and there's also an active line of defense in case a horde of monsters escapes from us. 

We can't risk the soldiers getting killed because of any negligence. And we don't have many peak grandmasters to spare since all of you will be in action on the battlefield." said Kahn and the next moment, his face had a coy smile. 

"I think it's about time we use those possies sent by the three factions. I should make them work for all the free meals they're eating." he spoke and explained his plan to all the subordinates. 

—————-

The next morning, Kahn arranged a secret meeting in the castle and he was visited by a semi-saint on the southern end of the castle inside a hidden chamber. 

A familiar figure of a semi-saint mage donned in epic rank gear and a scepter in his hand now sat in front of Kahn. 

"You played your part very well that day." spoke Kahn. 

"Tch! I really hate being sent here. Capital had so many libraries and resources I could use. Who's going to compensate me for all the wasted time?" asked the mage in an exasperated tone. 

"I don't like having you here either. But that old bastard of a faction leader of yours forced my hand. So play your part and you'll be out of here within a few months.

Besides, you'll be entering that region as well. Who knows you might need my help in the future." he rebuked the mage in a sarcastic tone. 

The young semi-saint mage who appeared as an enemy a month ago was actually an ally all along. 

It was none other than the representative sent by the Pureblood faction… 

Ezekiel Nabi.