Kingdom (1)

"I will contact you in about a week," Draco said before ending the call with Adam. It felt great to finally converse with his long-lost friend after such a long time. It was peculiar, in some way, since he saw his death with his own two eyes.

It was Friday today, and Draco has just come back from Angelica's lessons. It was also the day when he was going to enter another world. Draco calmed his nerves down, taking a deep breath as he removed the ring from his finger.

"World travel."

Immediately, a dark portal formed in front of Draco as he felt his mana decreasing. Not doubting himself for long, Draco took a step inside the portal as an otherworldly feeling overwhelmed him. He couldn't feel anything, hear, or talk. It was just black all around. For some reason, his mind felt at ease.

Then he finally opened his eyes and saw himself in a completely different place. He was sitting on a chair in a vast tent as the familiar scent of blood flooded his nostrils. He could tell just from the smell - he was at war. Draco also felt that his body turned heavier, and looking down, he saw beautiful armor enveloping his chest.

-

[World: Kingdom]

[Introduction: You are the last remaining General of the Wei Kingdom and also the last stripe of defense against the rapidly advancing Qin Army]

[Quest: Kill Mou Bu, the first Great General of the Qin Kingdom]

[Time Remaining: 30 days]

[Note: Time Conversion is 10:1]

-

Draco read through the quest, sighing in relief when he saw the time limit. It meant that he could finish this mission in three days in his world, and he wouldn't be late for lessons. Who knows what kind of torture would he had to go through if he didn't come.

"I am thinking about the wrong things." Draco threw away all the useless thoughts from his mind, concentrating on the mission. If he wasn't going all out, he probably wouldn't even understand how he died.

'Mou Bu.' Draco remembered the name as he stood up from his seat. He had been given an introduction this time, making it easier for him to understand his current position. A general. It meant that he wasn't alone this time, and had an army at his disposal.

Before leaving the tent, however, Draco stopped with a strange expression on his face. Draco stared at his reflection in the mirror, noticing the wrinkles on his face and how buff his body was. He still had the same features, but he was definitely much older.

'World Travel... this skill is truly so mysterious.' Draco thought, sighing to himself. Despite looking older, his power hadn't changed one bit, which was a good thing. Not thinking about useless things anymore, Draco stepped out of the tent.

However, his face immediately turned into a frown. There were many tents outside with many soldiers sitting outside them and recuperating. Some were playing cards, some were eating, and some were sleeping, yet all of them had the same look on their faces. The look of defeat, as if they already knew that they were dead.

The soldiers greeted Draco with a respectful nod, and some even bowed, but Draco paid them no heed. He saw soldiers with deep wounds, missing toes, or on a verge of death. This didn't seem like an army, but a soon to become a graveyard. That's how bad it was.

'This task may not be as easy as the last one.' Draco frowned, eventually deciding to head back to his tent. When he stepped inside, he saw three people already standing there. All of them bowed respectfully when they saw Draco come in as he scrutinized them with a curious eye. They were different from those useless soldiers outside - they were [G] rank.

'Commanders.' Draco thought.

It didn't take him long to come to such a conclusion.

"Reporting." The woman commander said. "Qin's army is advancing rapidly. They will be here in about a week's time."

"How many?" Draco inquired.

"Thirty thousand troops." the woman glanced at the ground, clearly shaken by such a number.

"General Draco." The male commander opened his mouth, devastation clear on his face. "I think that it's better for you to retreat."

"Dou Sei! What are you talking about?" The woman commander turned around to face her comrade, anger clear in her expression. "There is nowhere to retreat anymore! We are the last line of defense protecting the capital... wait... by retreat... do you mean running away?"

Dou sei stood still for a few moments before nodding with great difficulty. "Rein, you may think of me as a coward, but it's the best chance. We only have 20 thousand soldiers, and one-third of them are critically injured. Maybe, in this situation, at least the General will keep his life."

"Dou sei... then what about the civilians?" Rein suppressed her anger for now. "Do you know what will happen to them? They will all become slaves or die if we just run away like cowards."

Dou sei and Rein bickered with each other before Draco had finally had enough. "Quiet," Draco said, his eyes devoid of any emotions. The two commanders quieted down immediately, feeling the pressure escaping from the general.

"I will not be running away." Draco cleared the misunderstanding, taking a seat on the chair. "And whoever tries to run away, I will make sure to burn them alive in this life or the second one."

Dou sei gulped visibly but remained silent while Rein nodded with respectful eyes.

"All right, now I would like to ask some more questions." Draco leaned against the chair, taking a deep breath. For the next hour, Draco asked all sorts of questions regarding the current affairs. He received a few strange glances since some of the information was basic knowledge, but he didn't care that much.

Draco found that despite having a heavily injured army, he had plenty of resources incoming from the Wei capital. This meant that the Qin army wouldn't play a long-term battle, and would directly attack the camp.

Other than that, he asked some questions about the one leading the enemy troops, Mou Bu. They said a lot of things about him, but Draco just focused on two things. Mou Bu wasn't too smart and always rushed into the battle since he was especially strong. Draco didn't know how strong, but since this world once again didn't have any supernatural powers, it should be around the level that Draco could handle.

'Now, how should I play my cards?' Draco thought when his two commanders left. He had already started devising a plan within his mind, including all the unknown factors. The quest was a bit tricky, but it was manageable.

A cruel smile spread across Draco's face.