Chapter 295
Chapter 295 – It’s Not Time Yet. (1)
Amelia wore a cool smile. Finally, she had the chance to properly hit that annoying guy.
Creating a situation where Ghislaine does the tricks, but she gets to enjoy the fruits.
“Now it’s time for me to give you a taste of betrayal, Ghislaine.”
She could easily fabricate justifications. After all, she and Desmond were nominal allies, even if it was on paper.
The Crown Prince Faction wouldn’t try to fight her directly, so with the right negotiations, she could easily claim about half of the Desmond Territory.
Of course, she wasn’t thinking of giving away even a hair’s breadth.
‘The Duke will have no choice but to assist me.’
In her mind, the calculations were already done.
Having lost Harold, the Duke was left with no choice but to select her as a foothold for the Northern advance. He would actively mediate even if territorial disputes arose.
“Be careful and march at full speed. We need to take the key strongholds and fortresses first.”
She dealt with all those who were sneaking up on her. Ghislaine and Harold must have just finished fighting.
With no immediate obstacles to their march, Amelia felt at ease and increased her pace.
Both the Penris Army and the Raybold Army were already fatigued from battle. No matter how elite they were, accumulated fatigue couldn’t be ignored.
As night fell, Bernap cautiously spoke up.
“It seems we should take a little break. It’s not easy to move at night. The soldiers are quite tired as well.”
“Tch.”
Amelia clicked her tongue and nodded, conceding that there was no way around it.
With close to five thousand troops moving all at once, there was bound to be a limit to their speed.
“This is the last rest. No breaks until we seize Desmond. As soon as dawn breaks, send the cavalry and knights ahead. The infantry will follow behind.”
“Understood.”
Torches were set up everywhere, and preparations for the camp were quickly finished. Since it wasn’t wartime and there were no keen enemies, everyone maintained a border similar to peacetime vigilance.
While preparing for the upcoming march, Amelia couldn’t afford to rest.
In the largest and most ornate tent, she spread out maps and busily reviewed her plans for the future.
“Bernap, with our current forces, we can’t quickly seize the entire Desmond area. So for now, let’s block the main routes… Bernap? Are you listening to me?”
In the silence, Amelia turned her head in irritation.
“…”
Bernap was dozing off in his chair. As her guard and staff officer, he fell asleep faster than anyone else.
Amelia shot him a glare filled with annoyance but didn’t wake him. After all, Bernap had been suffering quite a bit from recent rebellions and civil wars.
Bastet had long since curled up on her lap and fallen asleep.
“Haah…”
After shaking her head a few times, Amelia turned her attention back to the map. She had many concerns about what she should take from the Duke’s faction to secure the North.
“It’s become difficult to deal with Ghislaine right now. But if the Duke starts a war soon…”
As she concentrated on the map in front of her, soft sounds started to gather silently behind her.
The space twisted as a shape, vaguely human-like, began to emerge. But Amelia was completely unaware of this phenomenon.
At that moment, Bastet’s ears perked up.
Bernap was still in a slumped position, asleep. But his left thumb inadvertently nudged the guard of the sword at his waist.
Clink.
The sound of the sword leaving its sheath echoed just as—
Nyaaang!
Bastet let out a sharp cry.
And in a flash, Bernap’s right hand drew the sword, blocking the figure behind Amelia.
Kaaang!
The sound of metal clashing rang out loudly. Only then did Amelia turn her head and spot the assassin standing behind her.
Bernap wiped the drool from the corner of his mouth with his left hand and glared at the assassin with piercing eyes.
“Who are you?”
The assassin was clad in a black robe and a black mask. As they tried to stab with a dagger but were blocked, they stepped back a few paces and muttered.
“Hm, guess it was a bit too much.”
Amelia frowned, recognizing the woman’s voice from somewhere.
In that moment, the assassin’s robe fluttered, releasing dozens of daggers.
Kakakakakang!
Bernap’s sword moved like lightning, deflecting all the daggers. He stepped forward the instant he batted them away and struck down with his sword.
Swish!
Bernap’s blade didn’t reach the assassin but sliced through the air with a fierce energy, grazing the mask worn by the assassin.
When half of the mask fell away, a captivatingly smiling face was revealed.
The assassin looked at Bernap and said, “Oh my… You look much more put together than I expected.”
Bernap was flustered, about to snap back, but Amelia spoke first.
“You!”
“Lady, it’s been a while,” the assassin said, grinning and waving her hand.
The identity of the assassin was Belinda.
Amelia recognized her immediately, simply because she had a grudge against her. Amelia hadn’t forgotten how Belinda had brazenly pressed a dagger against her throat before.
But now that she knew who was in front of her, she was even more confused. Why was someone so close to Ghislaine appearing here?
“Why are you… here?”
“Oh, I’ve come to kill you, of course. I’ve been waiting right here.”
“You came to assassinate me? While Ghislaine is fighting Harold over there?”
“The young master told me to keep a hold of your feet. I wanted to get involved in the war, but he insisted I come right here. Do you have any idea how long I’ve waited for you?”
Belinda opened her mouth with a tone of mock disappointment.
She was sent by Ghislaine to hinder Amelia’s advance.
Naturally, Belinda initially opposed it. It wouldn’t be easy to face Desmond’s 30,000 strong army. Wouldn’t it be better to contribute a little next to Ghislaine?
But Ghislaine sent her here. Since her assassination skills wouldn’t be much use in a large-scale battle.
Rather, it would be beneficial to deploy her talents somewhere they could be better utilized. It was indeed necessary.
That was all true, and Belinda couldn’t refute it, so she obeyed Ghislaine’s orders.
After that, she hadn’t known how the situation had developed, so she was very worried. But with Amelia’s appearance, she felt a sense of relief.
The movement of the Raybold Army meant that Ghislaine must have been victorious.
Amelia glared at Belinda, gritting her teeth. Hearing the unexpected words was enough to make her head spin.
“Ghislaine… that bastard… he expected me to move? He sent you here even before the war with Harold began?”
“Isn’t it amazing? How did he know all of this?”
Belinda’s confident response shocked Amelia greatly. This didn’t make any sense.
She had been fighting Baron Valua and the Northern Allied Forces while Ghislaine faced Harold.
Was he able to predict that she would defeat them all or that he would move as soon as he heard news of Ghislaine’s victory?
It was impossible unless he perfectly understood what kind of person she was. No, it wasn’t just understanding; he had to read her thoughts completely.
Amelia’s mind raced, recalling everything Ghislaine had done up until now.
Securing the Runestone, predicting droughts, developing various new techniques, even knowing about her rebellion in advance and stealing Dawin away.
It felt like…
‘It’s as if he has the power to foresee the future.’
Thinking back on Ghislaine’s actions brought to mind rare seers appearing on the continent.
But that didn’t make sense either. No matter how exceptional a seer might be, they only foresaw the future abstractly, not with such precision.
‘What the hell…!’
Chills ran down Amelia’s spine. Whether he truly had foresight or not was uncertain, but he definitely exceeded the boundaries of genius.
He knew something. It felt like he was watching everyone’s movements as if he could see them all in the palm of his hand.
As if she was being surveilled in every motion.
‘I have to kill him!’
Instinctively, Amelia felt a sense of crisis. Ghislaine had to die. Otherwise, he would keep controlling the game he set.
But before that, there was someone she needed to kill right in front of her.
“I wanted you to bring me your head the last time around. But your stupid lackeys failed. I should have made sure to kill Ghislaine back then.”
“Oh, that time? You must have been quite disappointed, my lady.”
“Yeah, I was really disappointed. But who knew you’d come to me like this? Did you come for revenge for that time? Did you really think you could assassinate me?”
Belinda shrugged her shoulders and laughed.
“Well, you know. The young master said it was impossible, but it looks like I have such a magnificent escort beside me here. I thought you were a fool when I only heard the rumors.”
Bernap was about to flare up again, but Amelia’s words came out faster once more.
“Since you failed the assassination, I guess it’s impossible for you to hold me back. What could a maid like you possibly do alone?”
“Oh my, you sound so confident. But you didn’t even know I was coming, did you?”
“So did you succeed in the assassination?”
“Not yet, it’s not over you know?”
The two women stared at each other, both smiling. While their faces showed smiles, an air of killing intent poured from them.
Caught in their intense power struggle, Bernap momentarily glanced around, forgetting to attack Belinda. He wasn’t good at navigating this kind of atmosphere.
“Kill her, Bernap.”
Nyaaang!
But as soon as the orders from Amelia and Bastet were given, he immediately swung his sword at Belinda.
Kaan!
Belinda raised her dagger in time to block Bernap’s sword.
Bernap swung his sword again. In an instant, dozens of lights flickered and cut through the air.
Yet none landed on her. He only managed to slice the edges of her robe a few times.
The more he swung, the more Bernap’s expression furrowed.
‘What kind of movements are these…?’
It was like fighting a ghost. Every time Belinda moved, the space shimmered, making it hard to sense her presence.
But that wasn’t the only tricky thing.
Papapat!
As the twisted space fluttered, dozens of daggers launched out.
‘This is bad!’
Kaan! Kaan! Kaan!
Bernap quickly retreated and batted away the daggers. The daggers connected to Belinda seemed to have a will of their own, continuously targeting Amelia.
Fighting while protecting someone in front of an excellent assassin wasn’t an easy task. Bernap glanced at the entrance of the tent.
With this much commotion, the soldiers outside should’ve come in, but there was no sign of anyone.
‘Are they already dead?’
Normally, he would be surrounded by guard knights watching over Amelia like a fortress. But now, he had only replaced the guards with soldiers.
With that level of skill, a few soldiers could be killed without a sound. It was just unfortunate that an assassin chose to strike when the knights were resting.
Due to the grueling schedule, they had no choice but to let their defenses down. But still, Amelia being in danger was clearly his fault as the captain of the guards.
‘It’ll only be a moment.’
Bernap refocused on guarding Amelia with an unusual serious expression. The knights’ tent was not too far away. It was close enough for them to sense something was off and run to her aid.
Kaan!
Belinda also sensed that killing Amelia would not be easy.
‘This idiot is stronger than I thought. I thought I could pull off a successful assassination in an outdoor setting but…’
Bernap was known as a fool who just followed Amelia around. He never dreamed he would prove to be this skilled.
Concentrating on protecting Amelia, he would strike whenever he saw an opening. There were moments when Belinda nearly found herself in danger.
But what was even more impressive was Amelia’s reaction.
Despite the daggers coming at her, she didn’t even blink. Instead, she just glared at Belinda as though she wanted to kill her.
At that sight, Belinda was inwardly taken aback.
‘Wow, she’s not your average person, huh?’
Not knowing how to handle mana or even wield a sword, yet showing such determination.
She was terrifying in a way that was different from Ghislaine.
Kaan! Kaan! Kaan!
The movements of Belinda and Bernap were so swift they almost became invisible. A multitude of daggers danced in the air while sparks flew from the blades deflecting them.
Countless exchanges occurred, but the actual duration was extremely short.
Swaaaak!
Suddenly, the tent ripped open, and a dozen knights rushed in.
“Lord!”
“Are you alright?”
“Kill the assassin!”
The knights immediately drew their swords and charged at Belinda.
“Tch.”
Obsessing over an impossibly killable enemy is not what an assassin does. She had no choice but to step back with a smile.
“Looks like I’ll have to withdraw. But, I’m not alone here, you know.”
Fwooosh!
Before Belinda finished her words, fires erupted at various locations in the campsite.
Simultaneously, soldiers’ shouts could be heard all around.
“Enemy!”
“Assassins have infiltrated!”
“Get up quickly!”
Ghislaine had secretly fostered Belinda’s strength.
The assassination squad from Perdium attacked the Raybold Army’s camp.
