When A Mage Revolts

On the third day of the siege, Miles transmitted a message that the enemy’s camp sent out around fifty thousand soldiers leaving at a different direction.

Benjamin immediately conveyed this message to everyone guarding the city.

After hearing this, everyone all had concerned faces in the municipal hall.

After the initial failure of attempting to forcefully attack, the enemy has resorted to harassment and provocation style of assault. They did not assault Rock City at a large scale. The most they did was blast with their Cannon of Holy Light or have a group of priests bombard with divine arts which couldn’t penetrate the Runic Defense Formation. Hence, Rock City was currently safe.

However... As long as the enemy would not attack at a large scale and stall for time, they couldn’t defeat the troops. And with the passage of time, the people in the city knew in their hearts that the enemy was starting to have other plans.

The military forces in Icor was incomparable to that of Kingdom of Helius. They depended on the Runic Defense Formation to defend this city. They were already at their limit and had no time to attend to any more places. If the enemy decided to detour against other cities, their circumstances would slowly become more disastrous.

And now, their worries were becoming a reality.

"They really are planning to bypass Rock City and seize other territories." The executive prime minister’s face was adorned with solemnity, "There’s no point in only defending, we need to launch an attack."

However, there were people who quickly objected to the suggestion.

"Launch an attack? What difference is there to suicide?"

"There’s no need for such pessimism. With the division of the troops, the enemy volume would surely decrease. And during then, even if we leave the Runic Defense Formation, it doesn’t mean we’ll be overwhelmed."

Benjamin shook his head at this moment, "No, although they divided their troops to capture other cities, but the Pope would continue to watch Rock City. If we’re unable to restrain him, then leaving the formation could be a fatal loss."

"That said... Director, how’s your wound?"

Benjamin lamentably shook his head.

In the past few days, he has recovered quite a fair bit of his Spiritual Energy and the migraine has more or less been relieved but he hasn’t fully healed. He could now take care of miscellaneous troops easily but far from going up against Grant.

For as much as Grant remained outside of Rock City, they had to weight up all options before considering a counterattack.

"If that’s the case, we can only aim at the troops divided out by Kingdom of Helius." The executive prime minister was in a tight fix. He gave much thought before asking, "Director, is there any way for your sentry to confirm the route taken by that troop?"

"Yes, there is, but you would need to offer more commission."

"Commission is not a problem." The prime minister did not hesitate, "Fereldan and Carretas will be sending backup but we need to be certain of the enemy’s route before we stand a chance to cut them off before their plans can take place."

Benjamin couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow.

So there seemed to be back up?

Perhaps he has been a lone ranger in Rock City for so long and there weren’t any news from the other two nations. Hence, he unconsciously forgotten about them.

However, if the other two nations were willing to send their military to assist, then the chances of beating the Church would increase by a large margin.

It was just that...

Lost in his thoughts, Benjamin suddenly reached his arm into his pocket to fish out the ginkgo leaf that started this war. He stared at the leaf and was struck by a dangerous thought.

"Wait a minute... Perhaps we have another way?"

The people were puzzled.

"Director, what you’re trying to say..."

Benjamin grabbed his chin and continued, "We can lure the Pope away."

The officials exchanged glances and were all flabbergasted.

In the end, fateful meeting ended half an hour later. The officials, mages, leaders... all left the municipal hall to prepare for the upcoming events.

On the same night.

In the base camp of Kingdom of Helius.

"Show me your resilience! We are dividing fifty thousand out to attack other cities and many priests will follow. If Icor finds out about this, then they may ambush tonight. Open wide your eyes and report back on any slight rustles!"

On top of a temporary sentry post, the sentry captain gestured heavily with his arms, ordering the weary sentries.

The sentries were busy nodding in response to the speech.

"Captain, don’t you worry. The Pope will be present in the camp. They will not dare launch a sneak attack." However, one of the teacher’s pet type sentry kissed up to the captain.

"Hmph! Cut the bull crap. Stop the nonsense and keep watch."

"Yes, captain!"

Out of nowhere, the sentry captain was stern in manner this very night. A few of slacking sentries were reprimanded and quickly zipped their trap. They focused their energy at the direction of Rock City and dared not say anything more.

Rock City under the night sky was camouflaged in pitch black. With the help of the gentle moonlight, they raised their binoculars to have a somewhat clear view of the surroundings of Rock City.

"Uh huh... Wait! What is that?"

A sudden cry broke the silence on the sentry post. One of the ass licking sentry pointed at a location behind Rock City and exclaimed.

The rest quickly turned to look over.

"It seems to be a... figure?"

In the midst of darkness, they saw multiple blurry shadows, leaving from the east gates of Rock City. They’re was flashes of light around these few figures, as if they were summoning magic. A few seconds later, a figure flew up to the sky and swiftly left Rock City, disappearing from the sentries’ sight.

The sentries returned to their senses and exchanged glances.

"You wait here. I will report this to His Highness the Pope." The captain left these words and climbed down the ladder.

Half a minute later.

"You said you saw a few mages leaving Rock City?" Inside the tent, Grant sat on a chair, listening to the sentry captain’s report.

"Yes." The captain nodded heavily, with exaggerated expressions, "Your Highness, those few figures were really suspicious. At the dark of the night, their movements were fishy. If it wasn’t of my eagle eyes, we would probably not discover them."

"Where were they heading?" Grant questioned.

"Towards East. Perhaps to return to Regina." The captain gave a thought before adding, "It could be to request back up from Fereldan or Carretas... Of course, Your Highness, this is merely my assumption."

Grant nodded and did not say any more.

The sentry captain kneeled on the ground. After waiting for long and yet no response, he couldn’t help but feel the pounding of his heart. His Highness the Pope would not ignore the credit of discovering the enemy, right? Did he demonstrate a little too much? Or... perhaps demonstrated too little?

He should have displayed more of this talent on military affairs then he would receive attention due from His Highness?

The sentry captain’s thoughts ran wild and suddenly, he was alarmed and lifted his head at a cold snort by Grant.

"You-Your Highness?"

Grant’s gaze was not fixed on him but rather, Far East, "I could sense it... Is this running away? Our battle is not over, where are you heading?"

The next minute, the tent curtains was softly raised, he disappeared entirely from his chair, without a trace. Only the sentry captain was left kneeling in the tent in a daze, unaware what was going on.