Chapter 68: The 14th day (2)

The Princess's worried eyes fixated on her beloved hero while her trembling hand held tightly onto his cold, motionless wrist. Please, O' Great Spirit of the Forest, please watch over Kyles… I just need some extra time. Please…

「How's brother, Yllaner sama?」The distraught Ryan whispered after entering the tent.

「Even with all the elven medicine from Lord Uran, his body is getting colder...」answered Yllaner truthfully.「I just need a little bit more time… Just one more day...」

「You believe the decisive battle will be tomorrow?」

「Yes. If they will catch up to me, that is. If possible, I'd like to avoid fighting against my brother since time is on our side」answered the Princess. 「If my intel is correct, six of the Hyakki Yagyo captains have arrived to his aid so the chance of us winning against him is slim, especially Ryuu dono has just recovered while Kibadios is still unconscious… How is he, by the way? Is he getting better?」

「Yes, Yllaner sama.」nodded Ryan. 「Although he's still unconscious, Maia told me she has extracted the majority of the poison within him. All of his vital signs are stabilizing too.」

「That's good to hear.」The princess smiled, before continuing 「... Ryan kun, I know there are reasons why you can't tell me who you and Kibadios were fighting against or who had attacked and overpowered Ryuu kun, but as the one who holds on her hands the lives of her followers and the fate of the confederation, I'd like to know what are the chances that we will face those individuals tomorrow, on top of the Hyakki Yagyo's captains?」

「I...」Ryan hesitated. 「I believe there is only a slim to none chance the person who attacked Ryuu would resurface again.」Given that the ancient hero named Aspen was repelled by his master's student, he doubted that person would try again to attack the dragonoid or his group, knowing that Matelus was watching over them. 「And about the person who Kibadios sama faced a few days ago, she had been taken care of so you don't have to worry… I'm sorry, Yllaner sama, for making you worrying about these threats on top of your brother's.」

「What are you talking about Ryan kun?」Yllaner smiled, placing both her hands on his cheeks and pinched it hard, dispelling his guilt. 「You're just like Kyl chan, always worrying about others before yourself. I am more grateful to you and Kibadios, for having protected me ever since we left Lorian. Without you guys, I don't think both Kyl chan and I would have survived long enough while having members of Hyakki Yagyo coming after my life.」The princess took off her hands, then cloaked herself in a thick, long sweater. 「Anyways, I have finished saying my goodbye to Kyl chan. It's time we need to leave the encampment. If we wait until tomorrow morning, I'm afraid it'll be too late.」

「Yes. We're all ready, waiting for you outside, Yllaner sama.」Ryan replied.

「... You're sure it's okay for Ryuu kun, Yuusei kun, and you accompanying me?」

「Yes. I'm not going to lie: Ryuu chan and Yuusei chan had their reservations given the condition of Kibadios sama but we know had he been conscious, he'd wanted to have us protecting you.」Answered Ryan with a thin smile. 「As for me, I know Nii san would not allow me to leave your side for even one second in these trying times, Yllaner sama.」

「Thank you, Ryan.」

.

.

.

「After leaving behind such obvious trace, you think we will not be able to catch up to you, Yllaner?」Yllaes coldly stared down at the Princess' group from a high cliff, who had travelled away from her army, toward the great Operon sea, a giant inland lake located in the middle of the continent. Their back facing the Great lake, the group was truly cornered, in front of them stood Yllaes and his two most capable fighting commanders, Soen and Caen. The two cousins, trusted confidants of the Prince belonged to the dryad race, yet, with their towering size, some could easily mistake them for the giants. Yet, it was not them that caused Yllaner's group to break into cold sweat but the six menaces that stood on their sides, each exuded a large quantity of Nen and murderous intent that Ryan swore could rivaled in the nascent Creature of Chaos that the Prime Minister had turned into a few months back. On top of the six individuals, the three familiar mercenaries were also accompanying their paymaster: Erik the Yves, Amaira the fighty loli, and the gentle giant Baxley. Though, unlike others who focused their attention at the defiant Princess, the Yves was fixating his gaze at the middle aged hero, his face filled with a sheer hatred that he had rarely shown to anyone, even to his deadly enemies.

「Thomas...」「Erik...」Both of the men muttered one word under their breath before propelling themselves forward, their weapons clashing violently against one another, causing a shockwave that easily uprooted a few slender trees growing at the edge of the cliff. Although it was not their intention, their sudden attacks had also signified the all out assault between the Hyakki Yagyo's captains and Yllaner's group. Naturally, with both quantity and quality on his side, Yllaes' force quickly gained the upper hand despite neither he nor the two dryads standing by his sides had yet made any move, for the Hyakki Yagyo's forces alone were already overpowered.

「Brother… Where's mother? What did you do to her?」asked the princess calmly. She knew her brother would not have killed her, yet, her matter regarding mother's safety still lingered in the back of her mind.

「Yllaner!」A familiar voice called out to her from behind Yllaes, being escorted by three wood elf maidens. 「Thanks the Spirits you're still safe.」

「Mother!」called out to the Princess with a hint of relief. Just as she predicted, had Yllaes not killed their mother, he would be bringing her along, for leaving her back in Shilna or in the army currently camping almost a hundred miles away would be unwise, since it might give her a chance to retake power or the military forces had someone want to stage a coup against the Prince to reinstate his mother.. 「I'm safe! Please be patient, I will rescue you soon…」

「Rescue mother soon? How? What hope are you still clinging onto, Yllaner?」asked Yllaes. 「With each of the captains here being classified as S class Demon Lord in their own right, how do you think you and your followers can stand against them? Will Lord Futar and Lord Uran there enough to take on all 6 of the captains, once they finish with their current preys? 」The Prince pointed at the two attendants standing right next to Yllaner, his eyes as cold as ice.

「You there! Member of the Hyakki Yagyo!」Yllaner loudly called out, elected to ignore her brother's taunt, choosing instead to negotiate directly with a man from the mercenary group who had yet to engage in a fight. 「Please stop assisting my brother! You are only working with him due to the Shilna possessing the newly discovered Orcan resources that you're after, right? You may not know this but our forces have currently taken control over them, Yllaes can no longer make the payments that you seek!」

「...」The man dressed in Heian aristocrat clothing, donning a distinct tate-eboshi head gear, which strongly resembled Fujiwara no Sai even down to his long, silky black hair, simply remained silent. Instead of looking at the Princess, he was gazing upward onto the sky as if searching for something. 「... As I expected, his spies are here.」

「Please accept your defeat, Yllaner.」Yllaes finally jumped down the cliff, landing right in front of his sister, though both Futar and Uran were quick enough to leap in front of the Princess, protecting her from her own brother. 「Unless the delegation from the three clans timely come to your aid and confirm the Orcan are now in their possession, the Hyakki Yagyo will not break the contract. At least, that's the promise they gave me.」

「What? This makes no sense!」The hothead Futar, who was just recently told about the princess' brilliant plan of capturing the Orcan mine, was confused.「They know you may not be controlling the supply of Orcan anymore, yet they still agree to work for you?」

「... Yes. Just like how both my sister and I have our own reason to fight in this conflict, on top of securing our own survival, they also have their secondary goal on top of fighting as mercenaries.」answered Yllaes.「Why do you think they send half of their captains to participate in taking my sister down?」

「... Don't tell me...」Yllaner suddenly understood the implication.

「Yes, as the Prince said.」The person from Hyakki Yagyo, who was just focusing on the sky above, suddenly appeared next to Yllaner. 「We have to demonstrate our overwhelming power to our scheming audiences.」

「「Get away from the Princess!!!」」Screamed out Futar and Uran while both of their fists were aimed at the mercenary.

「The Yin Empire?」The Princess calmly deduced while jumping backward a few steps to get away from the man. She had solely viewed the Hyakki Yagyo as a group of trusted mercenaries, who would carry out their contract to the end as long as they were paid. However, when taken into the account of the big picture, it made sense why they would want to demonstrate their overwhelming power during this mission: to scare off the discriminatory Empire, who planned to make their move on the forest. To them, the worst case scenario would be the Empire able to acquire and monopolize the Orcan after conquering Vernys by taking advantage of their civil conflict. Since much like the Theocracy, they viewed demihumans and hybrids, a group that made up the majority of Hyakki Yagyo's members, as enemies to be exterminated, if the Orcan resources fell into their possession, it would be kept out of the group's reach.

「Correct!」answered the man who belonged to the Vampire race, pointing his fingers at the flock of circulating birds flying high above.「The Empire is very interested in the outcome of this conflict so naturally, they have sent their spies here, observing the fight between your highness and your brother. And since they are watching us, we, the Hyakki Yagyo, would have no choice by to demonstrate our full power in order to deter them from taking over this forest, where our precious Orcan is.」

So that's why Yllaes was confident that he could repel the Yin Empire's advances while simultaneously dealing with the other clans, crushing them into submission and unifying this forest once and for all under the Shilna clan… But, overly relying on the Hyakki Yagyo to thwart the advances of the Empire would sooner or later, transform this forest into nothing but Hyakki Yagyo's vassal. The Princess finally realized her brother's strategy. 「... So what you're saying is that you don't care whoever emerges victorious between us. To your Hyakki Yagyo, as long as the Empire can witness your group's prowess in this conflict and stay out of this forest, along with the Orcan resources, you have achieved your end goal.」

「That's right.」The Heinan aristocrat-looking vampire nodded. 「We know full well your forces may already occupy and control the supply of Orcan, but if we stand down now, we cannot show the Yin Empire this spectacular scenes, can we?」He raised his hands, gesturing to the chaotic scene unfolding around him as the Captains easily overwhelmed everyone except for Ryuu. 「But, also, you're right that as a mercenary group, it does not make sense for us to continue fighting knowing that our paymaster over there cannot fulfill his promised goods. So our leader had decided that as long as official notice from the other clans had yet arrived, we would act as if we knew nothing about the situation regarding the Orcan mine. We are to continue to take the Prince's side and go all out against your group. I'm sorry, Princess, but since our leader had made a decision, nothing you can say can change our mind.」

Tsk… Damn it… I made a mistake not taking into consideration the Hyakki Yagyo's secondary objective… The Princess warrily glanced at the raging battlefields around her. If I can't convince them to stop fighting for Yllaes, at this rate, Ryan and all others will be killed in no time.

「Now, do you understand?」asked Yllaes.「You cannot escape your fate, Yllaner… Though, if you resign your life now, I'll make it as painless as possible and I'll promise to spare everyone here. This is already your loss.」

「... I」Yllaner's strategic mind, for the first time in a while, was numbed.

「「Yllaner sama!」」Both Futar and Uran shouted. 「「Please don't listen to him. We would be gladly to lay down our lives to ensure your safety!」」The elven lord and the beastman warrior quickly jumped forward attacking the confident Prince, Futar with his oversized battle ax while Uran with the alchemically imbued attack wrapped around his bare hands, which have now clenched into a claw shape. Though, before their attacks connected to the Prince's body, they were both stopped in the middle of their tracks by the intervention of the dryad cousins, with their spears in their hands.

「... By the look on your eyes, it seems as though you have made up your mind, sister.」noted the Prince of his sister's change of demeanor after hearing her followers loudly profess their intention.

「I will win in the end, brother. Your method of forcefully uniting the clans within this forest under the Shilna, will only lead to unnecessary suffering, while allowing external forces the chance to turn this holy homeland of ours into their playgrounds.」Yllaner shot the vampire a fierce look before glancing briefly above her head, where flocks of birds continue to observe the situation.

「... You continue to make bad decisions one after the other, Yllaner. You could have save your followers' lives, but now… you can join them in your eternal rest!」declared Yllaes, his eyes glowed red for a brief moment as an incredible amount of Nen began to envelop and enhance his body. The pressure exerted by his power even crushed the ground below his feet while tiny sparks of lightning began to appear around where he stood. 「Activate Arte: <Ba'al of the Heaven>.」

Ba'al?... So there's no turning back, brother? One of us will perish here. Yllaner thought to herself before activating her own Arte. 「<Changxi Tears>」