Unleashing the Trap

 Ryker used his qi to grab the hand, before taking the storage ring and tossing the hand like mere used goods. He then descended towards the city, where the rest of his men were just done with the cleanup.

 When they saw him, the elites all looked at him in awe. It was one thing to have the battle prowess of a Genesis Source expert, it was another thing to have the strength to kill one.

Ignoring their look of awe, Ryker asked the more important questions, "How is it? How many of the men had fallen?" he didn't ask if they had completed their mission inky because he had won, allowing his men to do their part if they still didn't finish some part of it.

 "We lost 27 Genesis Foundation experts along with 1 Genesis Core expert. As for the mission, we already did the main part while some of the men already cleaning up, ready to finish the second part and to prepare for the third part of our mission," 

 Despite him not asking for it, his second-in-command reported the result of their mission. He nodded, finding the losses they suffer are at an acceptable level. After all, attacking a well-guarded area like the fortress city, to actually win while losing about one-fifth of his men is already the best outcome possible.

 The only reason why they suffered little losses is because of the planning they had prepared, the fact they caught their opponent off guard, and the overall strength of the elites involved in the operation. 

 If they didn't have even one of the advantages stated, the losses they would suffer would be even higher, and they might even fail in their mission. Because of the work and sacrifices his men did, he decided to reward them.

 "Grab every loot and put it here. As for the allocations, one-fifth will be used for the third part of the plan, while another one-fifth will be given to the families of our fallen brothers. The rest will be shared among all of you," 

 His men went into a stupor before they roared in excitement.

"Thank you, sir!"

 "I never thought I would gain so much! I'm glad I got pulled into this squad!"

 "Haha, with this much loot, this father won't have to worry about cultivation resources for the next decade or two!"

 He shook his head at his men's excitement, though his second-in-command took the chance to pull him back.

 "Sir, are you sure this is wise? After all, the higher-ups will ask for all the loot we managed to grab," he whispered to Ryker. 

 "Of course, the men had already done so much. Even if they were given so many benefits by the Barony, they had paid a huge price in the battle just now. By giving them this many rewards, their morale will soar and they won't cause any trouble in the near future.

 If you worried about the higher-ups asking for the loot, I will be the one to explain things to them, so you don't have to worry," he assured his second-in-command, who let out a slightly reluctant sigh.

 In the end, he agreed with what his leader said, as it would mean the men have their morale soaring for the upcoming part of the plan.

-x-

 In the next week, a large army soon came towards the Fortress City. However, they come from the territory of Mariz Barony instead of the Esel Barony. Leading them was a group of injured Genesis Source experts who had been involved in the fighting.

 "To think, that the Baron of Mariz would ascend to the next realm. We barely managed to escape alive when he unleashed his strength at the Genesis Spring realm and overwhelmed us," the leader, the Baron of Esel muttered to himself.

 He was one of the lucky ones to escape. Out of all the 7 Genesis Source experts that had gone to the battlefield that day, three of them were killed while the rest managed to escape, only because the Mariz Baron had just ascended recently and two of the Genesis Source experts had sacrificed themselves to but the rest time to escape.

 He shuddered at the thought. While the difference between the Genesis Source and Genesis Spring is only one major realm, the gap strength between them was already so vast. He still couldn't believe that the leader of the most recently formed vassal nation of Birak Kingdom was able to gain an expert at such a level.

 "Maybe the rumors that the Mariz Barony found a treasure trove belonging to a Sovereign realm expert is true? That is probably the reason why he was able to ascend to the Genesis Spring realm," one of the Genesis Source experts pointed out.

 The Baron of Esel thought about the idea before nodding, "That's possible. Unfortunately, we couldn't do anything about it other than try to heal ourselves and prepare for an invasion from the Mariz Barony,"

 All of the Genesis Source experts shuddered at the thought. If it was a group of people at the Genesis Source realm experts, while they couldn't defeat them, they could force them away. But a single expert at the Genesis Spring realm is more than enough to break their fighting spirit.

 "Let's ask the kingdom for reinforcement. I don't think they will give away the territory that technically belongs to them," one of the Genesis Source experts proposed. Soon after, the rest voice their agreement.

 "Good, but we should get going, I don't want to think what will happen to us if that man decided to chase after us despite his injuries," hearing their baron saying it, the rest nodded before all of them descended towards the army, urging them to move faster to the fortress city.

 They get close to the city, the Baron calls out to the people defending it, "Open the gate, this is the order from the Baron itself!" strangely, the gate remains closed, causing the baron to feel unease over the situation.

 "My lord, you don't thi-" before the Genesis Source expert could voice their thoughts, a formation began to light up along the road, all underneath where the Esel's soldiers are currently at.

 Before they could even look down, the formations were activated, as large explosions, lightning, hurricanes, and as such tore through the battered Esel's army. The Genesis Source and Genesis Core expert, the only one that could fly, could only watch helplessly as their forces were destroyed so easily.

 "Try to sa-" whatever the baron was about to say fell short as a sword pierced through his neck, his eyes bulging as he coughed up blood before falling to the ground. Shocked but woken up from the fact their leader was killed, the remaining higher-ups quickly formed up, trying to find the attacker.

 To their surprise, the attacker was merely someone in the Genesis Core realm, who looked at them with disdain, "Mariz Barony force!" he called out, as Genesis Core, and to their horror, Genesis Source experts began to fly from the fortress city.

 "Attack and destroy!"