196-206

Chapter 196 Traps 3

"Switch out the displays."

If the attack on the border of Lanthanor was the first plan the Sect Master put into effect, this was his second.

After the Knight had told him about his suspicion that somebody was watching the borders of the Valley, the Sect Master had ordered a thorough search using trinkets that were specifically designed to detect other trinkets.

The trick was to use these without being identified by whatever was watching them. Thus, the search had been carried out with utmost care by sweeping in from 10 km outside the valley.

If trinkets were indeed keeping an eye on their movements, all of them would definitely be facing towards the valley. Thus it had been possible to identify the communication eyes without the Lanthanor Kingdom becoming aware of this fact.

The Sect Master knew that this was a trump card that he had to keep in his pocket.

Now, he inwardly patted himself on his back for the decision he had made.

With the way things were going, there was definitely some sort of hidden attack waiting for them the moment they exited the valley. Hence, he had chosen to send a group with similar barriers in the opposite direction.

He had just gotten the message from that group that they were going to exit the valley. Thus, after giving out the order to switch the display in front of them, the Sect Master proceeded forward with the main group.

Indeed, the surveillance web that Daneel had carefully woven had almost been defeated due to this simple plan.

Of course, the Sect Master had taken enough countermeasures so that his identification of the communication eyes wouldn't be detected. Those who had gone out to investigate had been disguised as the sect members who were in charge of regularly bringing supplies in and out of the valley.

If everything had gone well, the attack would have targeted the other group, letting the main force of the Withering Leaf Sect escape with almost their full strength and wealth intact.

As for those who had gone on the suicide mission, they were the ones who were most loyal to their sect. Knowing full well that their families would be taken care of and their names immortalized for the sacrifice, they had left to the other side of the valley with their heads held high.

Yet, to their shock, as soon as they exited the valley, no attack befell them.

Instead, all the soldiers who had previously been stationed around the valley had congregated above the main force of the Withering Leaf Sect which had just walked out with the belief that they had hoodwinked their enemies.

If the Sect Master knew that his plan had been thwarted by an unwitting snake which had just happened to slither through the view split between the two display trinkets that Daneel had been looking at, he would definitely have set out himself to find that snake and eradicate its entire family.

In fact, it was to avoid risks like these that he had waited till the last moment to switch out the displays.

Alas, Daneel's eyes had been too sharp and his surveillance web too elaborate, which allowed him to not fall into the Sect Master's trap.

Still, it was not as of the Sect Master's plan had completely failed. He had managed to get them a small timeframe in which more than half the group had managed to teleport due to being in the front.

The moment before he teleported away, the sect master managed to catch a glimpse of the objects falling towards them from the skies.

From this, he easily gathered that his ploy hadn't worked perfectly.

It seemed that the Withering Leaf Sect's fortune was indeed down the drains. Cursing whatever was the reason that enabled the King of Lanthanor to catch on so quickly, he watched as the objects impacted the group behind him.

Just seconds away from reaching the point where teleportation was safe, desperation shown in their eyes as they realised that they had reached the end of the road.

The initial part of the group had been comprised of the top talent of the sect and their most powerful members who were also carrying the energy resources. Bringing up the rear were the elders of the sect whose power had dwindled with old age. After reaching the highest level possible with their talent, they had had no option but to stagnate or even fall in power due to the effects of time on their body as they reached the end of their lifespans.

In that moment before he teleported away, the Sect Master took in all of their faces and expressions. These were the people who had raised him and taught him everything he knew.

Yet now, he was powerless to save them.

It was as if that moment stretched on for an eternity, before the image in front of his eyes shifted to a barren land.

His eyes bloodshot, the Sect Master collapsed to the ground which made the rest of the group turn around with worry.

They had watched all their lives as this man had skilfully helmed the sect through situation after situation while making sure to preserve their strength and their home.

Even when he saw the plague that were the mosquitoes which had been sent by Lanthanor, he hadn't reacted in this way.

Now, seeing his bent figure on the ground, rage filled the faces of the members of the sect still alive.

The few scouts who had managed to witness the scene before leaving the spot due to fear of being found gave a chilling report that made this burning rage soar even higher.

The entire group of the Withering Leaf Sect sect had only numbered around 5000 people due to the fact that the sect only took in elites. These also included the families of the sect members who had been in the front.

Of the 2000 in the rear, around 400 had died due to not being fast enough to conjure personal barriers to protect themselves from the explosion trinkets that had dropped from above. The external barrier which had already been overloaded due to the mosquitoes had cracked immediately, resulting in a volley directly entering the group.

Even those that had managed to protect themselves had been injured heavily. After realizing that they had survived, 200 had chosen to teleport even though they were still in the formation.

Traps had immediately taken their lives bringing the total death count to 600.

The rest had been captured due to the soldiers of the Lanthanor Kingdom who had moved in swiftly after the explosions had seized.

It was as if word after word were physical punches which impacted the Sect Master.

"You made us run from the place which we called home for centuries. You killed the elders of the sect who protected it with their lives. You have almost brought this glorious sect to ruin under my leadership."

Muttering these words to himself while shaking with anger, the Sect Master stood up and turned around to look at the people whose faces mirrored the fury in his.

"You may have burned our leaves, but you will now experience the 'Withering' that is in our name."

As if this statement was a battlecry which roused their hearts and minds, the members of the Sect in front of him stood up straight and looked at him with determination in their eyes.

"Move out. Initiate plan B2. The Withering Leaf Sect sect always pays its dues. "

Taking out the trinket with which he had communicated with the Knight before, the Sect Master sent a message and waited for a while before receiving a reply which made him smile slightly.

Putting it away, he proceeded to move towards the safe house nearby.

…..

Meanwhile, in the surveillance room.

Seeing the explosion trinkets fall on the remainder of the group, Daneel sighed slightly as he realized that he had been a tad bit late.

The next moment, his expression turned into one of absolute seriousness as he saw the impact which almost blinded his eyes.

He had thought about using less ruthless ways, yet he knew that softness would only result in more deaths from his side.

This was war. He could either choose to save as many as possible on his side by being as ruthless as possible to his enemy, or to show mercy and risk his soldiers entering a skirmish which many would not survive.

Yet, as the screen cleared to show the decapitated arms and legs and the groaning and screaming bodies of the men and women who hadn't managed to protect themselves, he couldn't help but feel a degree of disgust towards himself.

Regardless of everything, he had caused this, and he would have to live with it.

As the King tried to get a grip on himself, the Knight who had been missing from the group of the Withering Leaf Sect entered the Kingdom of Lanthanor discreetly.

Chapter 197 The Knight 1

THUD

As the scene of the explosion trinkets dropping on the remaining group of the Withering Leaf Sect appeared on the display trinket in the throne room of the Black Raven Kingdom, both the Black Raven King and the old man stood up in a rush that displayed the shock they felt.

Practically all the forces in Angaria knew about the skirmish between the Withering Leaf Sect and the Lanthanor Kingdom.

In fact, this wasn't very rare. Throughout the history of the continent, there had been numerous instances where a Kingdom which had just undergone a change in leadership with tumultuous events had ended up conflicting with a different force soon after.

This was a pattern that occurred too much to be called a coincidence. Each time, the mettle of the ruler who had newly ascended to their position would be tested.

Although the conflicts seldom resulted in forces being completely destroyed, it was always the case that a force would drop in power while another would rise.

If the one which rose was the one which had the new ruler, then it meant that that ruler was truly someone to look out for.

Thus, in a way, this war with the Withering Leaf Sect was the test that Daneel was undertaking under full view of all the other forces in Angaria.

And so far, his results had already made many people's jaws drop with awe and shock.

All of them were well aware of just how dangerous the Valley of Mist was. Yet, they had never imagined that someone would have been capable of chasing the Withering Leaf Sect out using such a potent method.

Indeed, the sight of the groups exiting with the swarms of mosquitoes had already been branded into the minds of all the rulers watching. Having already tested the mosquitoes using spies they had sent out privately, they knew perfectly just how dangerous they were.

All of them reached one conclusion: the King of Lanthanor was not someone to mess with, unless they wished to meet the same fate as the Withering Leaf Sect-chased out of their home, and then bombarded as soon as they thought they would get to safety.

Apart from the wit and intelligence that the King of Lanthanor had displayed so far, the other thing that highly disconcerted them was his means of being able to develop such a terrifying weapon.

"A-are you sure about the mosquitoes?"

Again remembering that sight of the swarms which looked like they could devour anything and everything, the Black Raven King couldn't help but ask this question again to the old man.

With a tone that didn't sound very confident, the old man replied, "Yes. The area around the Valley of Mist is completely barren, meaning that the mosquitoes will have no food at all. They will be constricted to the Valley, at least for a period of time. The Big 4 will definitely not sit idly seeing a threat arise that can affect the continent. They will step in, especially if the King of Lanthanor does not deploy any countermeasure he has to stop the mosquitoes."

With a nod, the Black Raven King sat back down.

Since the events surrounding this war had begun, he had rejoiced thinking that the Lanthanor Kingdom would be weakened, which would further this goal.

After all, the weaker the other party was, the easier it was to negotiate with them.

Also, in the case that the King of Lanthanor actually hadn't been aware of the ill effects of the Echer seeds, the blow that came from losing so much fertile land would definitely put the Kingdom on its knees, making it ripe for plucking.

Thus, he had already made many plans.

Even though that mysterious master was an anomaly, he had thought that there was no way he could create enough impact in the situation without directly intervening.

Yet, he had been gravely wrong.

From the deployment of the mosquitoes to the bombardment of the sect, it clearly showed that everything had been thoroughly planned out by Lanthanor.

Was this truly the same Kingdom whose King he had spoken to on the border all those months ago?

Had they done a mistake by scheming against him?

Although these thoughts kept appearing in his mind again and again, the Black Raven King ruthlessly snuffed them out.

He had already cast his die, and the only thing he could do now was to be as cautious as possible with this Kingdom which was showing itself to be more formidable than it had ever been in decades.

....

Meanwhile, at the East Border Gate of the Kingdom of Lanthanor.

A middle-aged man with a walking stick ambled through the gates of the border wearily before joining the line where checking was taking place.

On reaching his turn, his name, face and location were recorded before his body was checked using a trinket that looked like a metal stick.

After making sure that there were no unannounced trinkets on the man, the soldiers let him through.

On reaching a discreet location in one of the small forests in the outskirts of the Lanthanor Kingdom, the middle-aged man turned into the Knight before sitting down on a stump of a tree.

Chuckling to himself at the primitive methods of these backward Kingdoms, the Knight took out a parchment he had declared as a communication trinket.

As he waited for news from the Withering Leaf Sect Master, he thought back to the thorough methods used in his homeland to detect those who could be hiding their identities.

Indeed, in Central Angaria, it was a huge problem that one was able to change their appearance using the disguise spell to go where they wished. Although the time for which they could maintain the spell was limited, it still meant that Exalted Human Level Mages, which was the minimum level for casting the spell, could be the best spies if they wished.

The only thing that held forces back from using this loophole in every force's security was that each Exalted Human Mage was an asset that would just be wasted if they were sent on suicide missions.

Of course, there had been incidents when forces had resorted to this method when situations became truly desperate. In a way, a parallel could be drawn in this matter between Angaria and Earth: even on Earth, countries didn't resort to launching nukes(which is similar to sending Exalted Human Mages on suicide missions) because they knew that their targets would retaliate in the same way, resulting in mutual destruction.

After receiving the message from the Withering Leaf Sect Master about what had happened, the Knight raised one eyebrow, slightly impressed that the King of Lanthanor wasn't a wimpy kid who didn't shy away from resorting to ruthless methods.

These were the kind of people whom he loved breaking the most.

Telling the Sect Master that he was proceeding with his plan, the Knight turned back into the middle-aged man.

As he was only a peak Exalted Human Mage, he had no choice but to morph back into his original form to reset the disguise spell.

Of course, his mage level had nothing to do with his fighting prowess, especially when one took into account the flame which he held inside him.

According to all the reports, the King of Lanthanor was at most at the beginning of the Eminent Human Mage level.

Because of his weak level, it was known that he spent all of his time inside the Palace, under the protection of the legendary Dragon-heart formation.

Touching the communication trinket again, the Knight said in his mind, "Formation-disruption trinket received. Proceeding with secondary mission: assassinate the King of Lanthanor. Target is rumored to be at the 4th Human Mage level. Mission success probability: 100%"

After making this report, the Knight carefully put the trinket back in his pocket before walking out of the forest.

Making his way to the capital, he looked forward to crushing under his foot the King who had dared to put himself in the limelight even though he was so weak that he needed to rely on external means to protect himself.

....

Meanwhile, in the surveillance room in the Lanthanor Kingdom.

After temporarily getting a grip on his thoughts, Daneel proceeded to order the soldiers and the commanders to carefully transport the prisoners over to Lanthanor.

Right after the bombardment, he had given orders for the soldiers to move in just like how the elite mage and fighter units had managed to capture the strike team of the Withering Leaf Sect when they had tried to attack Lanthanor.

Although he was happy that he had managed to save all of his forces, he was worried about what the Withering Leaf Sect would do.

After all, as they said on Earth, the most dangerous animal in the woods was a wounded one.

Chapter 198 The Knight 2

The next morning, Daneel woke up from his slumber to find that there were no new updates on the situation with the Withering Leaf Sect.

Although he had ambitiously sent out spies to all nearby places where a hideout could be, no clue had been found about the whereabouts of the remaining members who were definitely hell-bent on revenge.

Of course, the possibility did exist that they might retreat to lick their wounds and recover before planning to strike back.

Yet, Daneel could not relax just because this possibility existed. It was also equally possible that they would mount an attack which could devastate Lanthanor.

Again, he hated this feeling of not knowing.

Although there was one way through which he could possibly find their location, Daneel put it to the side for now due to the high risk that came with it.

After checking on the mosquitoes to make sure that they weren't breeding beyond known parameters, Daneel made his way towards the doors that led out of the Palace.

Today, he had told Kellor to gather the owners of all the wine import and export businesses in Lanthanor. The meeting had already been pushed back again and again due to the events surrounding the war, and Daneel knew that it was not wise to leave such a matter in the air.

Besides, he had even called them all for just 5 minutes the last time before asking them to disperse due to him changing his mind on the stance he would take with business.

Thus, Daneel had made the decision that it would be good to distract himself from worrying about the Sect's counterattack by taking care of matters such as these.

After joining the retinue, the King of Lanthanor made his way towards the clearing still pondering over whether he had missed something.

Since the morning, he had been feeling a slight tingling in his back, as if someone were targeting him without his knowledge.

Although this feeling was very faint, Daneel had learned to trust his instincts no matter what.

Yet, although he did trust it, he had no way to know just who it was. He had too many enemies right now, and he simply couldn't figure out who was capable enough to threaten him even though he was within the formation that could only be broken by the full power strike of a Champion level powerhouse.

After reaching the clearing, Daneel shook his head to get rid of stray thoughts before looking up to address the crowd gathered in front of him.

"My dear business-men and women of Lanthanor. First of all, it is regretful that we had to delay this meeting for so long. As-"

It was as if time had frozen.

Mid-speech, Daneel felt something that made his entire body jolt as if it had been struck by lightning.

Bloodlust. Pure, unadulterated bloodlust that wished to destroy him where he stood.

In an instant, his mind accelerated as the information about everything around him rushed through it.

All the commanders were currently stationed at the borders, while his father was with his mother.

Beside him was Kellor, and behind him stood 20 Elite mages and 20 Elite Fighters.

All of them stood at attention, cautiously looking around while trying to find any threat that might mean harm to the King.

Yet, they had missed the man in the clearing who was currently looking at Daneel with a small smile on his face.

Although his appearance was of someone who had attended the last meeting, Daneel already knew that it was an imposter who had come to kill him.

Just as this realization appeared in his mind, time went back to normal.

"ENEMY ATTACK!"

With a scream, Daneel activated the Dragon-heart formation using the system and commanded a dragon claw to envelop the man he had just seen.

Along with this command, he also ordered the system to evacuate all the other people by spawning as many dragon claws as necessary.

Immediately, the entire clearing was filled with numerous majestic claws that clutched people before immediately soaring away.

Yet, there was one in the center which had been blocked by a barrier that had arisen around the man the moment he had given the order to the system.

SCREEECHHH

As if the dragon claw was trying to pierce a glass ball, an unpleasant screeching echoed in the clearing.

"PROTECT THE KING! CALL REINFORCEMENTS!"

This moment was enough for the soldiers to react.

At the spot where Daneel had previously been standing, a metal tank appeared which enveloped him in the center.

As the sun's rays were suddenly blocked, Daneel squinted his eyes while trying to get a look at the man who had gotten a slightly startled expression on seeing that the King of Lanthanor had somehow been alerted of his intentions before he could attack.

Since the moment that Daneel had noticed the imposter, only 2 seconds had passed.

The tank was already in place, and it seemed as if the dragon claw would soon penetrate the barrier to capture the man.

Yet, at this moment, the tingling in Daneel's back intensified to such a degree that he felt like he was going to be devoured whole by something unseen that was stalking him in the dark.

As Daneel watched on with horrified eyes, the man inside the barrier took out a small object whose shape he couldn't discern due to the 30 meters of distance between them.

Just as the man was about to completely break the object by squeezing his hand, an urgent notification from the system sounded in Daneel's mind.

[Formation-distortion detected! Host must move 500 meters south to re-enter the formation!]

Before he could begin to figure out what the notification even meant, an incredible sight greeted his eyes which made his jaw drop with shock.

The dragon claw which was trying to break through the barrier around the man had started to disintegrate, with the tip of the claw already fading into the air.

In barely a second, the entire claw vanished, leaving the man free to walk towards the King.

"FALL BACK!"

Even as Daneel shouted this order, the man punched forward in the air with his fist.

At the instant his fist reached the end of its forward momentum, an enormous ball of green fire came into existence speeding towards the metal box in which the King was being protected.

BOOM

As if the ball of green fire was actually a physical punch thrown by a giant, the impact made the metal box fall back due to the sheer force it carried.

If it was just so, Daneel wouldn't have begun to sweat with the fear that had begun to creep into him.

At the last moment before the man-sized ball impacted the tank, he had noticed a small skull inside which seemed to have its jaw open, as if it were delighted about the coming destruction.

Now, through the peephole, he could see that that skull was avidly devouring the metal conjured by the Elite Mages who stood around him.

Already, a large gaping hole had appeared through which the fire started to move in as if it were alive.

"Apologies, My King."

Along with these words, Daneel felt something grasp him from behind before flinging him backward.

It was Kellor.

After taking a glance at the King of Lanthanor who was currently flying haphazardly through the air, the Grand Court Mage of Lanthanor conjured the strongest barrier he could using his strength of an 8th Grade Exalted Human Mage.

"Soldiers, retreat. He is not someone you can handle."

Indeed, Kellor had already realized that this was a fight between those at the Exalted Human Level. Although these soldiers were elites, they were still at the Eminent Human Level.

Yet, even though this was the order Kellor gave on the outside, he had already commanded them to re-conjure the tank and prep the cannon discreetly, without falling into the eyes of the man in front of him.

With determined nods, the soldiers quickly retreated, leaving the Grand Court Mage behind with the green fire constantly eating away at the barrier that already seemed like it would break soon.

Seeing everything happening in front of him, the man who was the Knight from the Church of Rectitude felt a slight panic overtake him.

If it hadn't been for that moment when this damn brat had managed to catch onto his identity, he knew that his attack would have already resulted in a successful assassination.

Now, it seemed that the King might get away, as he was already on the way to the area still covered by the formation.

Recalling everything he knew about the King, the Knight hatched a last-ditch plan in order to successfully finish his mission.

"King of Lanthanor! Come out and face me if you dare, or let your Grand Court Mage die in your place! Make it known once and for all that all you can do is hide inside your little formation while your subjects die for you! Make your choice, 'noble' King!"

Chapter 199 The Knight 3

After landing on the ground haphazardly, Daneel turned around with shock on hearing the words uttered by the man who was now smiling with glee on his face.

Over to the side, all the citizens of Lanthanor who had come for the meeting were watching on with indecipherable expressions.

The words said by the man had indeed hit home. So far, the King of Lanthanor had never even been seen once outside the palace. Everyone knew that he was very young and was hence one of the weakest rulers in all of Central Angaria.

Now, listening to the words from the man, Daneel could see that thoughts which hadn't been present before had started to appear in their minds.

Was the King really someone who could only sit in the formation and command others to die for him?

Was he truly worthy of the adoration that he was bestowed with due to his actions in taking the throne and his initiatives in bettering the people of Lanthanor?

All this didn't matter if he was just a weakling who hid behind his subordinates.

In Angaria, power was revered over all other things. True, the King was very idealistic and might even have a good head on shoulders, but what about his power?

Till now, this had at least escaped the purview of the citizens because there hadn't been a situation where the King had to step out by himself.

No one could say whether this situation might have appeared sooner or later. Yet, it was certain that this was something that would have been used to incite distrust in his leadership by his enemies.

If Daneel truly chose to step back right now, he knew that his image would take a disastrous dent that he didn't know how to recover from. This wasn't like the incident with the village, where he had been able to suppress all news. Too many people were watching, and there was no way to suppress them all.

He had taken the throne due to his image. He was loved and trusted by the people due to his image.

And if this image was destroyed, he did not even want to think about what far-reaching effects it would have.

Watching the green flames about to devour the barriers set up by the Grand Court Mage, Daneel knew that he did not have much time at all. The reinforcements would take too long to arrive, and it seemed that the green fire was so potent that Kellor couldn't even conjure any other powerful magic to fight against it.

Of course, this wasn't the first time he was going up against this green flame. The last time, a simple tornado had been enough to chase it away in the village when the strike team had attacked Lanthanor.

Kellor had already tried this. Yet, it seemed as though the two flames were completely different, almost as if the former had been ownerless, which made it disperse as soon as it was attacked by an outside force.

If this had occurred two days ago, Daneel would have chosen the safer option no matter what it meant. After all, what did his image matter if he wasn't alive in the first place? Even though the option still existed that he could try to send out his clone to fool the man, he knew that the ruse would be uncovered in no time, resulting in an even more disastrous outcome that the King couldn't even stand a single blow because the clone was, after all, powerless.

Thus without any more hesitation, Daneel took his decision.

Recently, even he had been missing that feeling when he awed the people with his personal power back during the first examination in the National Academy of Lanthanor.

That feeling of being able to crush an opponent with his own hands was really something else.

All this time, he hadn't been training aimlessly. His was the path of a paragon, and it was time to show the continent again that he was one of the most talented individuals to have ever been born on Angaria.

Although he was tempted to expose everything and possibly defeat the man, he still decided to exercise some prudence as he did not want to draw too much attention on himself.

Yet, when Daneel switched on his elemental vision to see the green fire, even this hesitation was wiped away from his mind.

Spell model!

In his elemental sight, he could clearly see that the green fire was in fact very small, but it was actually somehow affecting the particles around it to amplify itself to a degree that he hadn't seen before even in his Master's magic.

This clearly meant that this man was in possession of the full spell model with which one could amplify their spells, thereby resulting in an output of power uncharacteristic of one's own level.

This was his dream. and the reason he had taken the risk to plant the Echer seeds given by the Black Raven Kingdom.

After realizing this fact, his goal changed. Where before he had only wanted to show his power to chase the man away, he now wanted to capture him in order to try and obtain the spell model which would definitely result in him skyrocketing in power.

After all, he had the system which might even be able to develop lesser spell models with which he could equip his army to great effect.

So many things would become possible, and the only thing stopping him from achieving them was the freedom of the man in front of him.

It was time to take that freedom away.

Conjuring the clone in his place, Daneel gave it a Ker Gem before boldly walking forward out of the safe zone of the formation. Before, Kellor had been successful in sending him back into the area where he could still conjure Dragon Claws to keep himself safe.

Although the system started to notify him again in his head, he ignored it while activating his mageroot to take full control of all the elementary particles around him using the strength of an Exalted Human Mage.

Indeed, two days ago, Daneel had already successfully broken through into the realm that separated the truly strong in the continent from those who could still only be considered as being in the mid-levels.

He was definitely the youngest Exalted Human Mage in the entire continent, and if people found out that he was also an Exalted Human Fighter, it would be shocking enough to discourage all those who were walking on a similar path on seeing his blazing speed.

This was the only thing he decided to hold back. After all, it was never wise to expose all the cards available to you especially when everyone was watching.

"Kellor, go back. This isn't your fight. As he said, it is time for me to stop hiding behind the formation and sending others to their deaths. It is time for me to step into the battlefield myself, and if I die in the process, I'll at least not be remembered as a coward who let his subordinates die in front of him while still being in possession of power to stop it from happening."

Although Daneel was saying these words with the determination of one who was ready to face his death no matter what in order to stand with his ideals, he was chuckling inwardly as he knew that the chances were slim that he would actually die.

As someone who was in possession of both Exalted Human Mage strength and Warrior level spell techniques, his power level had definitely already crossed the realm of Humans. No matter how much of an advantage the green flame gave to the man, the system had already told him that he was not an individual at the Warrior level, which meant that he was only at the peak of the Human Mage level.

Thus, these words were only meant for those watching, so that his image could be solidified further in their minds.

As expected, the expressions of most of the businessmen and businesswoman who were watching the scene had already changed into one of surprise and approval.

Kellor was already sweating as it was all he could do to maintain the barrier while trying to conjure tornado spells in order to try and drive out the fire. Sadly, his attempts seemed to be futile, and just like the man had said it was becoming clear that he would soon lose his life.

Yet, hearing the words from the King who had just walked back towards his side, Kellor opened his eyes wide with shock as this was definitely the most illogical decision taken by the King since ascending the throne.

What use was all those things if he died in this battle? Kellor knew that Daneel was not someone who acted on his hot-bloodedness, so he was both puzzled and surprised at the same time.

Yet, as he looked back to see with his Elemental Vision the number of elemental particles that Daneel had under his control, his eyebrows went up as far as they could on his forehead because of the realization that he was actually watching the power of an Exalted Human Mage in all its glory.

A-a 17-year-old Exalted Human Mage? H-how was this even possible?

Even before he could say anything, he found himself being flung back similarly while the King took his place to maintain the barrier.

Chapter 200 The Knight 4

His ploy had actually worked?

Although faint surprise appeared in the Knight's mind, he put it aside as his goal had been reached. The King of Lanthanor had willingly walked out of the safety of his formation to face him, and now the only thing remaining was to kill him where he stood.

Seeing the strongest mage in his vicinity flung back and removed from the fight in a second, the Knight couldn't help but chuckle a bit seeing the bratty King's foolishness.

Indeed, it seemed that age really did matter when it came to controlling one's emotions in order to take right decisions.

Not one to question a good thing, the Knight pulled back his arm to shoot another fist of green flame at the King who was now confidently standing at the same spot as the Grand Court Mage before.

Yet, to his surprise, a wall made of ice appeared in an instant in the place of the barrier that had been keeping his green flame at bay.

The green flame was something which the Church of Rectitude had developed after centuries of research and experimentation. Capable of eating away at the root constituents of anything it came into contact with, it was fueled by the mageroot of the person it was attached to.

It was for this reason that those chosen to carry the green flame could not go past the level of an Exalted Human Mage, as the mageroot could not develop any further after being possessed by the flame which was also said to have a sentience that integrated with that of the person whose mageroot it possessed.

This was why those who carried such flames were known to be prone to emotional outbursts, which often resulted in the doom of all those around them, or even themselves.

Of course, the Church did not care about all these, as all it wanted was disposable individuals who had no talent to reach further levels anyway. After training them to the peak, the flame would be injected into them causing their power to skyrocket to the mid-Warrior realm.

Thus, even though the Knight's eyes widened seeing that the King of Lanthanor was actually an Exalted Human Mage due to the speed with which he conjured the ice wall, he only smiled even broader at the happiness that came with the thought that he would be snuffing out a once-in-a-generation talent that had graced this primitive continent.

If someone with this much talent had been born in his homeland, they would already have been fought over by all the major sects and forces before being snatched up and put away in order to train directly to the champion level.

Thus, this development had only resulted in bringing him even more joy in having the chance to finish this mission. Not only would he be killing someone who was a thorn in the Church's plans, he would also be destroying the bright future of someone who would almost definitely have trained to become a Champion level powerhouse to oppose the Church.

Nothing could stand in the green fire's way. With confidence, the Knight watched as his punch impacted the ice wall and broke through immediately.

Yet, the next moment, he felt that something was wrong. Behind that ice wall, there were multiple others which stretched on as far as his eye could see. Each wall contributed to lessening the momentum and the power of his punch bit by bit, making it so that at the end, all that remained was the power of a simple physical punch with a sliver of the green flame which had already been consumed because of eating through all the ice that had obstructed it till now.

The next instant, he felt a threat coming from under him.

Teleporting immediately to the side, the Knight looked back to see that five ice shards had just shot out of the ground at the place he had been standing at. Because of the distortion of the formation, teleportation was also possible in the sphere of its effect.

The king was nowhere to be seen, but he did not even have time to think about his target's whereabouts as he was currently being assaulted from all directions.

First, a few more ice shards attacked him from the ground, making him levitate in the air knowing that standing on the ground was no longer safe. Yet, as soon as he reached an altitude of 5 m in the air, a lightning bolt struck down from above while 10 fireballs flew in his direction as if they had already known that he would reach that position at that exact moment.

With no choice but to teleport again, the Knight controlled his growing shock at the fact that the King of Lanthanor was capable of controlling so many elements with so little casting time.

It wasn't difficult to conjure lightning bolts, fireballs and ice shards, as they were all basic spells. Yet, what amazed him and showed the power of an Exalted Human mage was that each was conjured in barely an instant, and the sheer amount of each attack suggested that the one behind it had mastered these elements to a high degree.

A single title reverberated his years on realizing this fact. A title which was revered in his homeland, as those who were capable of holding it were all individuals who could not be trifled with.

Paragon.

The area he could teleport to was becoming limited, as the distortion worked by making a bubble in which the formation had no effect. This meant that he could only teleport in this small bubble, as the Dragon Claws would be able to reach him if he crossed the sphere.

Where was the King? He asked himself while frantically looking around. From the locations of all the spells that were repeatedly bombarding him no matter how many times he teleported, he realized that his target was definitely close.

Although it had barely been 10 seconds since the fight began, he had already teleported six times. Each time, he was met by volleys of fireballs, lightning bolts and ice shards that would definitely injure his body if he wasn't fast enough.

In a way, this showcased the power that an Exalted Human Mage who was a Paragon held. Any other mage would have had to resort to a single type of attack, which could have been neutralised easily by opposing spells.

When one reach this level, there were two ways of fighting: brute force and advanced spells.

The King of Lanthanor was clearly using the former. Because an Exalted Human Mage could control so many more elemental particles at a speed much higher than any below his level, he was using this advantage to repeatedly put the Knight in situations where he might be stressed enough to make a single mistake.

After all, in such a high paced fight, a single mistake was all that was needed to decide the victor and the loser.

Already, the Knight was feeling flustered as the repeated changes in position had started to make him woozy.

Enough is enough, he thought, before activating his mageoot completely.

"AAAAHHHHH!"

With a scream of rage, the Knight extended his arms and legs in the air as green flame blossomed all around him, surrounding him in a blazing cocoon that completely nullified all the attacks flying towards him.

This nullification allowed the Knight to focus his attention on the battlefield again, letting him see that the King of Lanthanor was standing right in front of him with his hands held high as he had just conjured all the spells that had been devoured by the green flame.

Seeing his target so close, the Knight implemented the strategy that had won him many fights before.

Taking out an orb from his pocket, he squeezed it before instantly teleporting in front of the King.

This was an instant high-level space lock, which was so rare that it was definitely not even available in this continent.

In the Knight's vision, an expression of panic appeared on the King's face, as he realized that he could no longer teleport away to escape the clutches of the man who had come to kill him.

Yet, after all, he was a King. A high-level barrier came into effect around his body, protecting him from the cocoon of green flame around the Knight which had already extended forward in order to devour the King whole.

The Knight knew that victory was in his grasp. As the space was locked, the King could not run anywhere and the barrier would also soon be broken through.

"Noble king? More like foolish king. Good job coming out to meet your death. The Church sends its regards."

Usually, there was nothing dumber that an individual choosing to talk to their opponent in the middle of a fast paced fight.

Yet, the Knight chose to utter these words as he was only waiting for the barrier to break.

Also, one of his pleasures was seeing the hopelessness on his opponent's eyes when they knew that death would soon consume them.

But to his surprise, instead of hopelessness, a small smile appeared on the King's lips.

"Oh? Then Lanthanor sends its regards as well."

Chapter 201 The Knight 5

Since the moment the Knight had teleported over to deliver the finishing blow on the King, he had sensed that some kind of spell was forming under him.

Although he knew that it was something potentially dangerous, this was the final point of the fight where he had to put everything he had on the line in order to ensure victory. Thus, he had decided to activate his personal barrier which would definitely be able to withstand any Exalted Human Mage level attack long enough so that he could kill the King and flee the premises.

Now, hearing the confident words of the kid in front of him who was supposed to be quivering with fear due to seeing the death that was going to consume him, the Knight got the feeling that he had missed something.

Indeed, after saying those words, the King of Lanthanor looked down, which made the Knight follow his gaze to see the incredible sight below him.

At some point of time, the barrier he was in had been encircled by a bowl which looked like it was made of metal.

This thing had definitely not been conjured in an instant, making the Knight realise that this had all been calculated by the young kid in front of him who he thought was easy pickings.

The metal construct had been conjured beforehand and hidden under the ground, till the moment the Knight moved to appear in front of the King.

Even though they were Exalted Human Mages, there was still a small cooldown between teleportations.

The Knight had just teleported over, and although he tried to initiate teleportation again to get away from this place which made his instincts scream that it was very dangerous, it was too late.

Just as the last word exited the King of Lanthanor's mouth, the sound of some heavy object falling entered the Knight's ears.

BOOM

The next moment, the Knight found that the image in front of his eyes had shifted to the wide sky above them.

In fact, this shift in position was so sudden that he couldn't even completely comprehend what was happening.

THUD

As he landed on the ground and hastily got up to shake his head to get rid of vertigo, he looked up to see the King of Lanthanor still standing at the same place as before with a smile on his lips.

Only, he was over half a kilometer away from his position.

The Knight was completely uninjured, which made him feel as if the King was just playing with him. With a snarl appearing on his face, he tried to teleport again to get back to attacking the King.

Yet, shock replaced the snarl as he realized that he could no longer teleport.

Looking around, he finally realized where he was.

The darned King had actually thrown him out of the sphere of the formation distortion!

The instant after this realization appeared in his mind, multiple dragon claws wound around the barrier that was protecting him that had also resulted in him being catapulted backward into the area where the formation was still in effect.

Everything seemed to be preplanned, as the claws successfully broke through his barrier before enveloping him tightly.

Just as he was about to take out a space lock breaking trinket from his pocket, a cylindrical metal object covered his vision before a ball of bright light formed in its depths which sent a chill down his spine.

He knew that the moment he moved, that ball would decimate him into pieces. Although the green flame was still trying to eat away the dragon claws to allow him to escape, he found that it was a losing battle as it had already been used multiple times before, decreasing its power.

He, a Tenebrous Knight of the Church, had actually been captured!

Looking back at the King, he tried to figure out just what had happened.

As he did so, he saw a sight which he would remember till the end of his days.

In front of the King of Lanthanor, a catapult which was made of different elements was just fading away into the air.

With his elemental vision, he could clearly see that each and every element was harmoniously working together in order to bring out the effect of a catapult.

In fact, it could only be called a catapult in the loosest sense of the word. Essentially, it was just two semi-spheres of metal attached together by a wooden block which was placed on a wooden ledge.

Only, the entire thing had been built underground, in a wide rectangular pit that had been extracted at some point of time and filled with loose earth in order to momentarily fool his eyes.

At the moment he had teleported over, all the earth had been gathered into a solid ball which fell on the other semi-sphere of metal which was in the air, causing the counter force to send him flying.

The Knight knew that it was impossible for an Exalted Human Mage to actually conjure solid blocks of any material or element in a small period of time. To overcome this limitation, the King of Lanthanor had actually conjured boards of wood before fixing them together using nails of metal and a layer of ice on top of them to completely secure the block. Meanwhile, the metal semicircular spheres were also actually made of ice before a layer of metal was added over them.

Again, this had enabled the King to overcome the limitation of the extra difficulty inherent in conjuring large amounts of metal in an area where many metal elemental particles weren't present. After all, this was a clearing surrounded by forests, which meant that water and wood elemental particles were in abundance making it so that conjuring anything out of these elements was easiest.

After taking in everything with his eyes, he couldn't help that mouth the three words that had appeared in his mind.

Paragon Magical Construct.

Being in possession of high skill levels in all elements, it was only Paragons who could create such incredible magical constructs that could allow them to go up against even entire armies using just their own power.

In fact, there had even been a paragon in his homeland who had protected his Kingdom from over 5,000 soldiers using artillery only he had conjured.

This was why Paragons were so highly valued: not only were they capable of fighting those above their level, they could even overcome the limitation of being unable to handle hordes of enemies like other normal fighters and mages on the same level.

At this moment, with all avenues closed to him, the Knight could only think of one thing to do: activating the secret switch inside him which would allow the green fire to consume him, leaving nothing behind.

Yet, he found that he was interested in the brat in front of him who could even put the geniuses from his homeland to shame.

Since coming to this continent, he had only felt disgust and ridicule over these people whom he considered as nothing more than ants.

Seeing a lion emerge from these ants, he found himself endlessly interested in this individual who was the King of Lanthanor.

Oaths bound him from releasing any crucial information, and there were no methods whatsoever with which he could be stopped from activating the switch which would destroy him.

Indeed, the very fact that he was having such thoughts signified that he had failed his mission and even ended up being captured by the one he had called an easy target.

Finding that even communication trinkets had been blocked completely, he smiled at the thoroughness of the King before wondering whether he had lost due to being too confident.

No, no matter how much he thought about it, he realized that there would have been no way to kill this man who had showed talent that would definitely shock the entire continent and even the Church which was levels above the strongest force on this land.

The information about his power level had been too closely hidden, which meant that the only other possible outcome was that he might have managed to get away instead of being captured.

Alas, it was too late. The Knight was a smart man; all the laughter and glee from before had only been to incite the King and also to rile himself up for the fight. Calming down and thinking about everything, he found that the King of Lanthanor was a much more terrifying person than what the Withering Leaf Sect Master gave him credit for.

After breaking one last trinket that he always hid inside his mouth as a false tooth and putting one last-ditch attempt to finish his mission into effect, the Knight completely surrendered with a smile on his face, waiting for the King to walk forward to address him.

Chapter 202 The Knight 6

Seeing his plan successfully unfold, Daneel smiled wide before glancing to the side to see the expressions of all those watching everything that had been happening till now.

As those who had been in a position of authority and wealth for a long time, many of the businessmen and women in the vicinity were well aware of the power levels in Angaria. Thus, they knew very well what it meant for someone to reach the Exalted Human level at such a young age while also having the skills of a Paragon.

They had seen for themselves how this man had easily defeated the Grand Court Mage of the Lanthanor Kingdom with just one attack. Yet, their King, who was still a teen, had managed to somehow subjugate him and even capture him alive using the clever ploy of the catapult.

Such terrifying calculations and talent could only be admired.

Indeed, Daneel had hatched this plan after deciding to capture the man alive at all costs. He knew that the best way he could do so was by using the Dragon Heart formation which was unfortunately distorted in the location where the man was standing. Thus, the only solution was to somehow move the man into the place where the formation was still in effect.

All the probing attacks had only been to distract the man so that he could construct the catapult which would throw the man into the area where the Dragon claws could capture him effectively.

Thankfully, he had been just in time. Also, the making of such complicated constructs wasn't something he had learned or even practiced beforehand. This had only been possible due to the tool he had bought in the Kingdom of the Elves which had allowed him to analyze the mechanical construct which had been around the little elves' necks.

Then, although he had heard the system's explanation that the tool could work with both magical and mechanical constructs, he had put it aside due to the urgency of the situation.

When he had been racking his brain to find ways to achieve the desired effect, the system had suggested using this tool which had resulted in such a smooth victory.

Of course, the idea of the design of the catapult had come from Daneel, with the system only casting the spells needed to bring it into existence.

By controlling elemental particles, one could bring into existence physical manifestations such as the boards of wood, but the particles would go back into their original forms of being free in nature when the mageroot stopped acting on them.

Of course, like everyone else was already thinking, it had only been possible because of his progress as a Paragon which was due to the existence of the system.

He had initially been tempted to use warrior level spells such as the concentrated fire bolts that he had used when he met the previous King of the Lanthanor Kingdom all those years ago. Yet, that would simply give away the fact that he was somehow capable of casting spells far above his level which would bring even more attention on himself.

Thus, by balancing everything, Daneel had managed to achieve his objective by only exposing two of his cards: his power level and his prowess as a Paragon. His ability to cast Warrior level spells and his power as a Fighter were still hidden trump cards that he could use to escape from perilous situations.

Just as he was about to walk forward to talk to the prisoner he had caught with great difficulty, the system urgently sounded a notification in his head which made him halt his movements.

[Phenomena Analysis Module has detected a hidden trap in front of host. Stepping on the patch of ground in front of host will result in the Tenebrous Flame which is controlled by the host's opponent to enter the host's body.]

Daneel's eyes widened as he heard this notification. He had already deactivated his personal trinket, making it so that he would have been completely defenseless if he had stepped forward without any knowledge of the trap.

It seemed that just like his opponent, he had also underestimated the other party which would almost have resulted in a disaster.

"Why was I unable to detect anything? What kind of level is the trap?"

[System informs host that this is a trinket enabled trap at the Warrior level. System was only able to detect it because of the complexity which allows system to analyse spells at the warrior level].

Hearing this answer, Daneel realized that he was in a dilemma. If he detected the trap, he would make it quite clear to his opponent that he somehow had the means of a Warrior even if he was only at the human level.

Granted that his opponent was currently captured, he had no intentions of directly killing him which would ensure that this information would not be leaked. If he chose to defuse the trap, he risked this information leaking in the worst case where the imposter might escape from his clutches.

Trying to decide what to do, Daneel glanced to the side to note that the expressions of the people in the vicinity had changed from shock to consternation. They were currently whispering among themselves while occasionally glancing at the King.

At this moment, a daring idea entered Daneel's mind.

"Has there been any headway in analyzing the flame by watching it being used by that man?", he asked.

[Negative. The complexity exceeds what the system can handle.]

"What if the flame is directly in my body? Will the analysis be easier then?"

Daneel had three reasons for asking this question. One: he desperately wanted to have an alternative to analyzing the spell model and the flame without needing to successfully interrogate his opponent who must definitely have been bound by oaths.

Two, from the moment his opponent had spoken in that way to incite him to fight, he had been reminded of the importance of his image.

Right now, his image had definitely changed from a weakling to an extremely talented person who could hold his own in a fight. Why not improve it even further?

If his plan was successful, even the most stubborn of people who were against his reign might find themselves being turned around to support him.

If this did happen, it would enable each and every one of his plans for the Kingdom to be carried out much more effectively.

With all these thoughts in his head and the positive answer from the system, Daneel asked one more question before bracing himself and stepping forward.

From the corner of his eye, he saw that the smile on the captured opponent's face had just become wider on seeing that the King of Lanthanor had stepped forward according to his plan.

The next instant, a green snake drilled out of the ground to attack the King.

Even before anyone could react, the snake had already entered the King's stomach before disappearing inside. No blood appeared from the wound right away, as the high heat of the flame had scorched the area around it.

Without a word, the King of Lanthanor collapsed on the ground with an expression of utter surprise on his face.

As his consciousness faded away, the last thing Daneel saw was Kellor running towards him while looking like he was the one who had actually been impaled by the attack.

After commanding the system to keep a firm hold over the Dragon claws trapping the enemy, Daneel shifted his consciousness to the clone which had been absorbing energy from the Ker Gem till now.

As the full attention of everybody in the clearing was on the collapsed body of the King of Lanthanor, the clone managed to sneak away without anyone being the wiser.

...

At the secret base of the Withering Leaf Sect, in an unknown location.

The Sect Master clutched a parchment in his hand while checking every second for any message from the spies he had in the Lanthanor Kingdom. He knew very well that the Knight from the church would be attacking today, and he was looking forward to positive news due to the high confidence shown by the man as if he had everything under his control.

Yet, the news that came through the trinket shocked him before making him stand up with the expression of one who had just made a decision.

"Get ready to move out. The King of Lanthanor has been injured and is possibly dying. This is the perfect time to strike"

Beside him, the eyes of a man who had been forgotten until this moment inside the group of the Withering Leaf Sect shone, as he realized with joy that his chance had finally come.

But if someone could see his figure without any clothes, they would be shocked on witnessing that there were actually 2 faces smiling, not one.

Chapter 203 Aftermath 1

The news of the events that took place in the Palace grounds of the Lanthanor Kingdom shook the entirety of the Lanthanor Kingdom.

Never before in its known history had there been someone who could achieve such a power level at such a young age. This was simply heaven-defying talent, making some suspect that he was a hidden disciple of one of the Big Four.

Yet, those who had done extensive research on the background of the King of Lanthanor knew that this was not possible. As they frantically went over the reports concerning the King over and over again, they tried to figure out how he had been able to hide such terrifying talent for so long.

Even more than this reveal, the information that he was injured and that his status was unknown made many turn towards the Kingdom of Lanthanor with ravenous eyes.

Of course, although they still showed a modicum of caution, some had already begun to ready their troops to move on the Kingdom in case another power vacuum appeared.

After all, they knew very well about the effective purging of the nobility by the new King, making it so that there was no clear line of succession.

This meant that the Kingdom of Lanthanor was once again ripe for someone else to take control of.

The only thing that stopped them was the instances in history where Kings and Queens had used such ruses in order to lure in enemy Kingdoms before trapping them and annihilating their forces.

Besides, except the Withering Leaf Sect, almost no other force had any clear information about the man who had actually attacked the King of Lanthanor.

Thus, they could not know that the green flame was actually such a potent attack that there was almost no chance of someone who hadn't even trained their body from surviving a direct penetration.

This was the confidence that made the Withering Leaf Sect Master take the decision to move on the kingdom. Although he hadn't received any official report from the Knight, he trusted the power of the green flame which he had witnessed personally.

Indeed, at this point of time, apart from the Grand Court Mage and the few others who had personally seen the King after the attack, there were only two other individuals outside the Kingdom who were aware of the status of the king.

These were the Eldest Prince of Lanthanor and the Queen of the Kingdom of the Elves.

As those who had sworn oaths to Daneel, they could clearly feel that the ties that bound them still existed, which meant that the King of Lanthanor was at least still alive.

Knowing about this fact, the Withering Leaf Sect master turned to the Eldest Prince after giving the command.

"Is he still alive?", he asked, looking into the eyes of the man who had sworn revenge against his homeland.

Although the Eldest Prince considered lying, he was not confident that he could get away with it especially when the Sect Master was looking right at him.

"Yes", he replied, looking back into the eyes that were boring into his with an indecipherable expression on his face.

Sighing softly, the Sect Master thought for a bit before saying, "The order stands. He must be hanging onto the last threads of his life. The moment you feel yourself being released from the oath, tell me."

With a wide smile, the Eldest Prince nodded before gathering all the trinkets near him that were being handed out by one of the men who had been on the strikeforce which had attacked and killed the villagers of the Lanthanor Kingdom.

As for the Queen of the Kingdom of the Elves, the only thing she did after receiving the message was to command her spies to keep a close eye on the situation. Through the oath, she knew that the King was still alive, and from everything she knew about him, she suspected that there was more to this matter than what was apparent to the public.

Meanwhile, in the situation room in the Lanthanor Kingdom.

Robert, Kellor, and Faxul were currently sitting at the table which was usually headed by the King of Lanthanor.

After a few moments of silence, Robert spoke out with an expression of frustration on his face.

"Why is there no status update yet?"

Even before Kellor could speak to answer the question, a knock sounded on the door interrupting Robert who hurriedly rushed forward to open it.

On the other side stood a nurse wearing white clothes. Slightly startled seeing that a man with the expression of someone who might have lost the most important thing to them in the world had opened the door the instant she knocked, she stepped back a bit before giving the message she had been sent to deliver.

"The head healer has asked all three of you to come to the King's chambers."

Hearing the message, the three in the room ran out of the room before directly trotting toward the king's chambers.

It was Kellor who came to his senses, saying, "Control yourselves, there are spies in the Palace. If they see us hurrying like this, they might reach conclusions which we cannot afford to handle."

This showed just how important Daneel was to all three of them. The fact that he was in danger had put them on edge to the extent that they had even forgotten this simple fact.

Nodding with concerned expressions, Faxul and Robert slowed to a fast stride before hurriedly heading towards the King's chambers.

On entering and closing the doors completely behind them, they looked around to see with shock that the man whom the entire continent was currently talking about was idly laying on his bed while putting fruits that look like grapes into his mouth.

While Faxul and Kellor stood still unable to decide what to do, Robert ran forward and hugged his son whom he thought he had lost.

Feeling the ardent care and affection from his father, Daneel smiled before patting his back and saying, "Get mom over. She must be crying uncontrollably with worry."

For Robert, it was enough to see that his son was alright. Nodding and smiling wide, he ran out of the room to get his wife who had indeed been sobbing without control since the moment this news reached her.

Seeing his father leave the room, Daneel turned to the six healers who were still inside, saying, "I have no choice but to ask you to stay at the side until this whole situation passes over. I cannot risk you leaving this chamber, as the news about my condition is too sensitive to be leaked."

Although the healers looked bewildered, then nodded before obediently heading to one side of the room where six chairs had already been arranged. After bowing again to the King, they sad down before seeing a barrier envelop them, stopping them from hearing anything from outside.

"Ready our troops. If my estimation is correct, the Withering Leaf Sect will soon invade. Spread the news about what happened in the Palace, but make sure that my condition is unknown. Keep a close eye on all of our enemies, and most importantly, maintain order inside the Kingdom. Use any means you have to, and imprison all those who try to take advantage of the situation."

This had been his third reason for choosing to take the damage. For a wounded enemy, there was no better way to force it out of its hiding place without showing weakness.

Although it had been six hours since the attack, Daneel had been awake since the last two. He had only shifted his consciousness to his clone for desperate cases where he might have to release the energy absorbed, which was also why he had formed it in the first place before the fight with the enemy. Thankfully, no such case had arisen.

Except for the burning pain in his stomach, he felt fine albeit a bit tired due to the exertion he had placed on his mageroot in the fight against the man from the Church.

During these two hours, he had been thinking hard about how to take full advantage of the situation.

For those who had ill intentions, there was no better time to incite panic in the Kingdom either for personal profit or for any other hidden agenda.

Thus, he had given the command to imprison all of them so that they could be slowly interrogated later in order to find out if they were spies from a different kingdom.

Apart from this, one of the main reasons he had taken this risk was to increase his image in the public. Hence, it was necessary that news of his brave deed had to spread as far as possible as fast as possible.

After seeing Kellor and Faxul head out without a word to carry out his orders which were very urgent, Daneel relaxed again on his bed before starting to eat the grapes again after asking the system to repeat the notification it had given when he had regained consciousness.

[Tenebrous Flame has been taken under system's control. Analysis in progress.]

Chapter 204 Aftermath 2

"King of Lanthanor sacrifices himself to save his subordinates!"

"A once in a generation talent! King of Lanthanor, a 17-year-old Exalted Human Mage!"

"A king who bled for this people!"

The events surrounding the attack on Daneel had taken place on the morning after the day on which the Withering Leaf Sect had been chased from their home, and by the evening these quotes were on the lips of the people of the Kingdom.

Following Daneel's orders, the first thing that Kellor had done was to go to Eloise to explain the situation to her so that she could effectively broadcast it through the Network of Angaria(NOA).

This was when a remarkable incident had taken place. As soon as Kellor had told Eloise about everything that had happened except for the fact that Daneel was actually alright, Eloise had collapsed on the ground and had not even been able to speak for a few seconds. After Kellor assured her that Daneel was still undergoing treatment and was definitely not dead, she nodded and got up from the floor before wiping away the tears in her eyes and getting to work instantly.

She went at this task with a single-minded focus which resulted in such hard-hitting quotes that the entirety of the Kingdom and even, to some extent, Angaria started to speak about the noble heart of the King of Lanthanor. After all, all the major forces in Angaria had gotten ahold of the NOA in order to know just what was being broadcasted by this one-of-a-kind network on this continent.

On the next day, display trinkets went up at all the major locations of congregation in the Kingdom, letting the general population see for themselves how their King had stepped out bravely in order to defend the Grand Court Mage.

In any matter, seeing was believing. These images which showcased such inspiring gallantry even made those who were derisive of the young king pause, as they started to consider whether they were wrong to not support such a great man who had laid his life on the line just so that he couldn't be called a coward by the people he loved so much.

So far, although support for Daneel had been quite all-encompassing, there had been certain pockets of resistance who still secretly disliked the King for various reasons. These were usually old-timers who had gotten used to being commanded by those with much more mettle and grit, at least according to them. Yet, what showcased more 'mettle and grit' than one who was willing to sacrifice himself so readily?

Of course, some detractors still remained who just thought that it was a stupid decision, but they were quite few in number.

All in all, adoration for the king grew to new levels, with many even praying repeatedly to all the gods they could that the King had to survive, no matter what.

Of course, seeing the situation of the Kingdom, there were some who tried to take advantage. Yet, the police of the kingdom worked overtime in order to capture all such antisocial elements as quickly as possible before they could have any noticeable effect on the overall atmosphere of Lanthanor.

Meanwhile, the man who was being thought of so ardently by millions of people was currently relaxing in his room while keeping an eye on all the news circulating throughout the continent.

He had been spending time with his parents, letting his mother take care of him by personally cooking his meals and insisting that he rest because he had, after all, been impaled in the chest by what looked like a very dangerous attack.

Not finding it in his heart to deny his mother this opportunity, Daneel let her have her way while training with his clone.

Yet, even though he looked completely relaxed on the outside, he was actually very tense knowing that an attack could come at any moment. The commanders were still posted full time on the borders, making it so that they could respond quickly to preserve life before elite forces reached wherever the Withering Leaf Sect chose to begin their attempt at striking back.

In this way, an entire day passed with Daneel becoming more and more worried that there were no new developments on all fronts.

….

Unbeknownst to him, two people standing on the tallest structure to have ever been built on Angaria were currently thinking about this young King who was currently making waves throughout the continent, while looking in different directions for the moment.

Like a spear that had thundered down from the heavens to impale the earth, this structure rose in a straight line from the ground into the sky with its top unable to be seen by anyone who was walking at ground level.

Exactly 10 km in the air when measured from the ground, the structure which looked to be made out of silvery metal ended with a flat top that had no railing around it.

This was higher than the tallest mountain on earth-Mount Everest, making it so that all around, there were only clouds with the occasional clear spot through which an endless ocean could be seen.

The two people who were currently standing on this flat top were very different in appearance.

One was an enchanting woman with long hair wearing a gown on which flowers seemed to be repeatedly blooming and wilting in a matter of seconds. Each and every flower seemed to be from a different species, making one wonder whether there were this many types of flowers in the entire continent.

The other was topless, exposing bulging muscles that look like indestructible boulders. His face seemed to be chiseled from a rock, with rough features and a scraggly beard that gave him the appearance of one who hadn't shaven in weeks.

A single wide scar ran from below one eye to the other, which moved animatedly when the man spoke out.

"Looks like no one else is coming. So what do you think about him? Is there anything suspicious?"

As he asked this question, the woman who seemed to have been admiring the view from her location crinkled her nose bit before turning around and answering, "In my opinion, it isn't needed. The mosquitoes have countermeasures and are a bit interesting, but the creator doesn't deserve our attention in the present situation. Still, someone has already been sent. That's also why the other two leaders didn't even bother to come."

Chuckling at her words, the man rubbed his nose before saying, "You know that we only concern ourselves with training. I only heard of this from a visiting friend who couldn't keep his mouth shut about the matter. I knew that you guys must've collected information about him, so I just wanted to find out."

Frowning even further at this answer, the woman said in an irritated tone, "Why not just use a damn communication trinket?"

At this, the man laughed out loud. "Because you ignored me the last time I did! Anyway, any news on that bastard Church?"

Hearing mention of the enemy whom she had been dreading since decades, an expression of utter seriousness replaced the displeasure on the woman's face. Shaking her head, she said, "Nothing new. We've gotten nowhere closer to circumventing the oath sworn by the Knights and the priests recaptured, and there is no new news from the ones we sent to the mainland. All I can say is the timeline is still the same, but we need to be prepared in case it changes."

Sighing, the man replied, "Alright. It's a pity. If this kid had been born in any other time, he would have been able to train with the best of resources to reach the champion level as soon as possible. Too bad there's no chance for that now. If Angaria still stands after the War, maybe there will still be a chance then."

With a sad smile, the woman nodded before directly disappearing from the top of this tower.

Watching this, the man grumbled a bit, saying, "You know I can't teleport but you don't even offer a hand. Typical mages."

After saying these words, he walked to the end of the tower before taking a deep breath and directly jumping off.

"WOOOOOHOOOOO!"

With a scream of exhilaration, the man soared through the air with increasing speed, as if he wasn't worried about splattering onto the ground due to his extreme momentum.

When he was just 100 m above the ground, an expression of slight seriousness finally appeared on his face before he carefully punched forward with his right fist.

BOOM

It was as if a giant had punched out, as a massive fist emerged in the air before pummelling the ground and making a spire of rock rise up on which the man landed with a loud THUD.

Jumping off again, he turned around and casually punched again to cause the spire to break into fist-sized pieces before falling back into the hole that had been caused due to it rising into the air.

Taking another deep breath, he stomped on the ground before rising 300 m into the air and heading in the direction of his sect where his brothers and sisters were waiting to continue training with him.

Chapter 205 War 1

The next day, Daneel woke up with a jolt due to the nightmare he had had of Lanthanor burning to the ground.

It seemed that all the stress of the situation was getting to him, as it felt that it had been many days since he had had a proper night's sleep.

Going to the bathroom to freshen himself up, he cupped some water in his hand to wash his face before idly asking the system to repeat any notifications that might have come in the night. This had become a common ritual due to the many times when he had missed notifications due to not being conscious when the system sounded them in his mind.

As per his order, the only new notification replayed, making Daneel freeze and drop the water he had cupped.

[Kingdom Management Statistics updated.

Satisfaction Level: 18%

Dissatisfaction Level: 40%

Next milestone for reward: 20% Satisfaction Level. Reward: 10,000 EXP]

Yes! What he had been waiting for for months had finally happened!

Daneel couldn't help but gape hearing that there was a 2% increase in satisfaction and a 3% decrease in dissatisfaction out of the blue.

Each time he had started a new initiative such as enabling his mother to help whomever she wanted or setting up the school or healer academy, he had hoped that it would have a direct impact on the statistics.

Although he hadn't seen any change even though over a month had passed, Daneel had just been thinking that it needed time.

Now, seeing that there was such a large jump, Daneel asked the system, "Why is there such a big change? Is it possible to know what contributed to it?"

[Kingdom Management Analysis Tool, which can give the best answer to host's query, is currently locked. As per Phenomena Analysis Module, the change can be attributed to a cumulative shift in the people's psyche that was hastened due to the news of the bravery of the King.]

Hearing the answer, Daneel couldn't help but smile wide.

His ploy to willingly let himself be attacked had indeed worked out very well.

Studying this entire situation, Daneel reaffirmed one thing in his mind: shock and awe was really one of the most formidable weapons one could use to bring change in the general public.

This weapon had already showcased its power both during the time when he had taken the throne and the Grand Debate when favor had swung towards Eldra.

Yet, the real lesson that Daneel knew he had to understand from the situation was that long-term plans with a touch of shock and awe was the best way to go.

After all, he knew very well that just shock and awe would at most result in a temporary change, which could be overturned if someone else used the weapon well in his stead.

Instead, if the change in perception was accompanied by long-term initiatives such as the school or the healer academy, the effect of solidifying foundations would occur which would decrease the chances of sudden changes in case desperate situations did arise.

Desperate situations such as a continental war that might force him to conscript soldiers against their will.

Stopping his thoughts from going down this road, Daneel proceeded to wash himself before donning silk pajamas that he had found very comfortable to wear, especially when all he was doing all day was lying on the bed and listening to reports.

Yet, just as he was about to plop onto the bed after checking that there was no news, an urgent knock sounded on his door.

At the same time, Luther's frantic voice appeared through the oathstone, making Daneel run back to the wardrobe in order to change his clothes.

"My Lord, an army 50,000 strong is marching on us from our east."

.....

East of Lanthanor, in an army camp freshly set up on a grassy plain.

"No changes yet?"

A tall, bald man with dark skin and twin combat axes on his back sat on a chair in the center of the tent. He was wearing light plate armor that looked like it had been molded as one piece, making it so that there were no places that could restrict his movement.

"None, sir. All those we contacted to cause chaos have been captured."

Hearing the answer to his question from the messenger standing at the entrance of the tent, the man grimaced coldly before gesturing at him to leave.

In front of him sat a man with a calm and collected expression on his face, while his long, black ponytail hung from his head to the small of his back.

"It must be that Grand Court Mage and those three commanders. They must be taking care of everything while hoping that the King would recover."

It was the Sect Master of the Withering Leaf Sect, who did not look at all like the man who had previously collapsed due to seeing his elders killed right in front of his eyes.

The only remnant of that pain hid deep in his eyes, as if it was waiting to jump out and devour everything it wanted when it got the chance.

At the words of the Sect Master, the bald man shook his head before asking the question whose answer had led to this expedition setting out in the first place.

"Are you sure that it was a potent enough attack that will certainly cause the King of Lanthanor to either die or be bedridden for years?"

"Yes. I have personally seen its power. Unless one manages to reach the Exalted Human level as a fighter, it is impossible to even think of surviving the blow. If that is true, I'm willing to jump into the Endless Sea to drown forever."

This last phrase was something often used in Angaria. It came from a myth that long ago, a peak Warrior Level Fighter had wanted to find out exactly how deep the Endless Ocean surrounding the Angarian Continent was.

He had set out with a communication trinket that transmitted his thoughts to those on a boat on the surface, diving deep inside without being afraid of running out of breath anytime soon due to his formidable body that was just one step away from breaking through to the Champion Level.

After reaching around 5 km in depth, the signal from the trinket had started to cut off.

He never surfaced, and the last thing heard from him was one line:

"Drowning… forever"

Hearing the Sect Master's words, the man nodded before saying, "As discussed, Axelor shall take 70% of the spoils, and we expect your Sect to use its full force."

With a small smile, the Sect Master replied, "No problem. Axelor mustn't hold back either."

At this, the bald man's eyes burned with a fury that seemed to have been suppressed for a long time.

Taking a few moments to control himself, he said, "You can rest assured that we won't."

As the memories of having to turn back and run to his home with his tails tucked between his legs resurfaced in the man's mind, he resisted the urge to smash everything in his grasp to relieve his rage.

For months since the incident, he had been mocked and humiliated ruthlessly by his fellow commanders for running away due to just a few words from a kid a quarter of his age.

Now, it was finally time to wipe away that humiliation.

....

In the same area, in a tent nearby.

The Eldest Prince sat with his legs folded on the ground while caressing a Ker Gem in his hands. As the powerful Energy entered his body, his left chest, where his heart was supposed to be, seemed to be trying to tear out of his clothes in order to devour the Ker Gem whole.

"ARGH!"

With a wretched expression, he stopped his meditation and threw the Ker Gem aside, causing it to roll on the ground before coming to a stop due to someone placing a foot on it.

Feeling a threat behind him, the Eldest Prince hastily got up before rushing to the edge of the tent after conjuring a barrier around him.

Along with the barrier, 10 talons came into existence all around his body.

These red talons faintly shimmered in the air, as if they weren't actually solid, while the air around them seemed distorted due to the high heat they were emitting.

If Daneel were here, he would definitely be shocked to see that this was actually a famous Eminent Warrior Level spell known as "Fire Talons".

The compressed fire was in fact so disastrous to a human body that a single blow was enough to cause death to even a typical Exalted Human Fighter.

After seeing this, Daneel would have turned around and been even more shocked to see the man who had once almost killed him.

It was the Vice Sect Master of the Withering Leaf Sect, who also had a bulge on his chest, as if something were trying to break out from his clothes to reach the Ker Gem at his feet.

Chapter 206 War 2

"It worked."

As Luther stood on the ramparts of the East Border of the Lanthanor Kingdom, he gazed out at the approaching cloud of dust before speaking these words which made the heads of both Aran and Cassandra snap towards him.

Stationed on the borders since the Withering Leaf Sect had fled the Valley of Mist, all three commanders had been on edge due to the enemy that was currently hiding while they were out in the open.

After all, unlike the Sect, the Kingdom of Lanthanor couldn't possibly uproot itself and hide its location.

Hence, the past three days had been some of the most stressful in their lives.

As for the events surrounding the attack on the King, all three of them had almost set out the moment they received news about the incident.

In fact, two of them had even set out because they knew that Kellor was the only Exalted Human in the Palace. This was one of the major shortcomings of Lanthanor: it had nowhere near the number of Exalted Humans as most other forces in Central Angaria.

Yet, even before they had reached halfway, everything had come to an end.

With stunned minds, they had had to go back to the border due to Kellor's urgent order.

It was only when they heard the King's voice through the oathstone had they finally calmed down and breathed sighs of relief.

Although they couldn't understand how the King had been able to successfully escape an attack whose potency had been clearly explained by the soldiers on the scene, they knew that there were some questions that shouldn't be asked.

Aran was the first to reply.

"On that day that Richard died, did you imagine that we would be in this position? I can say that I only hoped that he wouldn't send us to our deaths due to his inexperience."

The Red Demon, Cassandra laughed at these words before flicking her scarlet hair over her shoulders and saying, "You and me both. I was even prepared to bet on it. Thank heavens I didn't!"

"Then why didn't you tell me so before? I wouldn't have worried at all, because you lose all your bets anyway!"

As Aran said these words with mock anger, Cassandra immediately turned towards and conjured an eagle made of fire which swooped towards him.

The eagle wasn't made of compressed fire like that which Warriors used; instead, it seemed as if the fire had just taken that form while having no change in power like in the other case where penetrative power highly increased.

Yet, there was a distinct change in the speed with which the fire eagle moved.

Just as an expression of dead seriousness appeared on Aran's face before a barrier sprung up around him, the fire eagle dispersed a foot away from him, as if its stability had suddenly been compromised.

"Dammit! I still can't get it right! Just wait, Aran. The day I master this spell, I willl scorch your clothes and make all the soldiers see just how white an underside you have."

Just as Aran was about to vehemently ask just when she had observed his backside, he closed his mouth as another individual had appeared in their midst.

It was the Grand Court Mage, Kellor.

"What's going on? Did someone attack?"

Noticing him arrive, Cassandra smiled before saying, "Just me. Aran here was saying he thought the King will send us to our deaths, so I thought I would teach him a lesson."

Seeing Cassandra twist the facts in this way, Aran was just about to deny it all before he had to close his mouth a second time, this time due to awe.

At some moment in time, Luther had disappeared from where he had been standing.

Even though they were out in the open with sunlight pouring down on them, none of them had seen his movements.

Even before the last word exited Cassandra's mouth, his figure had reappeared behind Kellor with the hidden blade that had extended from between his fingers pointing at the base of his neck.

Yet, at the next moment, the blade went back into his robes before he knelt on the ground.

"Welcome to the border, My King."

Hearing this, Aran's jaw fell while Cassandra got a bewildered expression on her face.

They had actually told the King to his face that…. They hadn't trusted his leadership?

Just as Aran was about to give an apology, 'Kellor' raised his hand before saying, "It's fine, honestly, I had similar doubts too."

Indeed, Daneel had chosen to appear at the border as the Grand Court Mage. As an Exalted Human Mage himself, it would be no problem fooling everyone that he really was who he appeared to be. After all, he was still supposed to be bedridden while fighting to preserve his life.

He had already fooled two of his commanders, but the third had almost taken his life before he urgently spoke through the oathstone that it was actually him.

After gesturing at all three of them to relax, Daneel turned around and asked, "How did you find out?"

In his usual gruff voice, Luther replied, "Body movements, My King. I have known Kellor long enough that even the most minute change in him stands out for me as a glaring anomaly. I have not had the same number of interactions with Your Majesty, which was why I almost attacked."

It was just as Daneel guessed. Yet, he still felt amazed at the way this Exalted Human Fighter had managed to move and how quick he had been in carrying out his analysis.

After taking a glance at Cassandra whose fire eagle had made his assessment of her skyrocket, Daneel walked forward to stand at the edge of the border to look at the same dust cloud before saying, "Prepare the troops as we discussed. We must make sure to give our dear enemies a warm welcome."

...

Meanwhile, in an Ether-driven cart in which the most important figures of the Axelor-Withering Leaf Sect combined army were seated.

"ETA: 20 minutes. The secondary force has already departed towards the predetermined location. Prepare to engage, and keep a lookout for traps."

Giving this order to a messenger who was standing at the entrance, the bald man who was the commander of the Axelorian Army hoisted the axes in his hand before turning towards the Sect Master.

"You better deliver. If not for those damn walls, we would have taken control of Lanthanor long ago. The King has ordered me to remind you that we will hunt you down to the ends of Angaria if there is even a whiff of a backstab."

Smiling coolly, the Sect Master replied, "Give the King my regards. There is no turning back, and I have authorized the use of the full reserves of my Sect so that we can ensure in Lanthanor's fall together. You must make sure to strike quick. The one who takes control of the oathstone, is the one who controls the fate of the Kingdom of Lanthanor."

With a humph, the commander nodded before jumping out of the cart and walking to the head of the formation.

Seeing him leave, the Sect Master only maintained the smile on his face.

Taking out a communication trinket from his robes, he asked, "Ready to move on the target? I don't think I need to remind you that timing is everything."

"Yes, Sect Master. The trinkets are primed and our Sect Members are ready. Lanthanor won't know what hit them. Unable to handle attacks from two sides, their army will surely crumble especially with no King to rally them. Revenge will be ours, Sect Master."

Smiling even wider at the enthusiastic tone of the message, the Sect Master put the trinket back before jumping out himself in order to take his position.

Now, it was their time to 'surprise' the King of Lanthanor with a Sect Foundation Trinket which hadn't been seen in Angaria in centuries.

....

"DAMN AXELOR! Why do they butt their heads into EVERYTHING?!"

Upending the table on which he had been drinking wine, the Black Raven King shouted these words before immediately shuddering slightly due to the dark cloud that had enveloped the old man's face on seeing this reaction.

Yet, this cloud only lasted for a few seconds before the man started to cough violently.

After a few moments in which servants ran forward in order to clean everything and set the table anew in a meeting room in the Black Raven Palace, the old man spoke again.

"We should be prepared in case Lanthanor falls. We cannot risk the Echer crops falling into the hands of a force backed by one of the Big 4. If worst comes to worst, we might even have to move to help our 'ally'. Send the orders."

Saying this, the old man left the room and quickly shambled to the Energized Training Chamber which was now almost completely devoid of Ker Gems, opposed to before when there had been piles lying around.

Sitting down and starting to absorb the thick red currents of energy, the old man breathed in deep while hoping that Lanthanor could fend off its enemies; at this point, he could only pray that they wouldn't have to intervene which would stoke the fear that an alliance might be forming in Central Angaria, which would definitely make all the other forces attack them together in a bid to stop it from happening.