blueteamnovel Chapter 156 Those are my dearest relatives and friends, my brothers and sisters!
Chapter 156 Those are my dearest relatives and friends, my brothers and sisters!
Chapter 156 Those are my dearest relatives and friends, my brothers and sisters!
"She's practically courting death!"
Upon hearing the latest loss report, the calm in Sorey's eyes was instantly shattered, replaced by an intense killing intent that seemed about to burst forth!
He slammed his fist into the cold stone wall beside him, producing a dull thud. The hard stone wall was cracked, and stone chips fell down in a flurry.
His chest heaved violently, like a ferocious beast that had been thoroughly enraged, and he growled through gritted teeth: "For the past two years, for Lord Hick's grand plan, we have been patient and yielding at every turn, not wanting to cause any unnecessary trouble!"
But what about this crazy woman? Not only does she not learn her lesson, she's become even more demanding and antagonistic towards us! Does she really think we're afraid of her?!
"Calm down, Thaurissan. We've endured these past two years, what's a little more patience?"
Sean's pale figure appeared silently beside Sorey like a ghost, his tone carrying a hint of helpless consolation.
"Endure? Tell me how to endure?!"
Sorey whirled around, his bloodshot eyes fixed on Sean, his voice trembling slightly with extreme anger.
"Do you know how much this crazy woman has caused us in the past two years? Roughly calculated, it's almost a million magic crystals! A million!"
He held up two fingers, almost poking Sean in the face, his tone growing colder with each number he uttered: "That newly upgraded, most efficient refining workshop in Kus City! She barely arrived in Kus City before casually unleashing a 'Blazing Flame' and burning our newly transported rare materials, worth 300,000 magic crystals, to ashes! Those were materials desperately needed for the Master's next experiment!"
"We had three of our most stable secret smuggling routes to the southern black market, which we'd operated for five years! She somehow got intelligence and, with her uniformed lackeys from the Tower of Eternity, wiped them out overnight! The breach of contract penalties and compensation paid to our partners alone are no small sum!"
"And the last time! How much favors and resources did we expend to get in touch with that eccentric but highly skilled dwarf grandmaster, and we were about to order a batch of crucial special experimental equipment!"
And what happened? She "accidentally" witnessed it, blocked the doorway, and gave a "righteous speech" and threats! Now, that master just brandishes his warhammer the moment he sees our people! This connection is completely severed!
With each statement he made, the killing intent in his eyes solidified, almost transforming into tangible ice blades.
"This is only the largest portion of the losses that I know of and can clearly account for!"
The small outposts and transit points that were destroyed, the downstream suppliers who were terrified and dared not cooperate with us again, the premiums we had to pay by buying from the black market because our supply lines were cut off—
All things considered, it adds up to at least a million magic crystals! Sean! That mad dog! She's been watching us like a hawk! If we don't stop her, she'll devour our entire foundation!
Sean fell silent, his pale, almost transparent fingers unconsciously twitching slightly.
He was well aware of these losses. His deep voice echoed in the cold stone chamber: "Lord Hick—are you aware of these circumstances?"
"How could I dare!"
Sorey growled, his voice filled with barely suppressed frustration and a hint of helplessness.
"The master is currently conducting the most crucial phase of research! What he needs is massive resource support and an absolutely undisturbed environment! These trivial matters, these troubles—these should have been handled by me! It's my incompetence!"
He took a deep breath, trying to suppress the rage that threatened to burst from his chest, but to little avail.
The frustration of the past two years and the ever-accumulating huge losses burned his reason like poisonous fire.
"Two years! We've retreated again and again, endured again and again! All we've gotten in return is her intensified pursuit and sabotage! Does she really think that we, the Shadow Society, and I, Thauri, are afraid of her, Srian? Afraid of that hypocritical Eternal Tower behind her?!"
Sean looked at Sorey, who was on the verge of going berserk, and sighed silently: "Sore, what we fear is never her as an individual, but the Eternal Tower standing behind her, and—"
Her revered teacher within the Tower of Eternity. To clash with her now is a terrible move; it would only prematurely expose our strength and completely disrupt Lord Hick's overall plan.
"Are we just going to stand by and watch her continue to bite so recklessly?! Until she destroys all the channels we've worked so hard to build?"
When Lord Hick urgently needs resources for his next experiment, we'll have absolutely nothing to offer! At that point, you and I will truly be condemned beyond measure!
Sorey turned his head sharply, his bloodshot eyes fixed on Sean, his voice squeezed out through clenched teeth.
Sean fell silent again.
He knew all too well that every word Sori said was a stark truth. This relentless retreat was indeed pushing them to the brink of survival.
The stone chamber fell into a suffocating silence, broken only by Sori's heavy breathing and the crackling of the torches.
After a long while, a deep, dark light suddenly flashed in Sean's eyes, which were as still as a deep, frozen pool.
He slowly raised his head, looked at Sorey, and lowered his voice, which carried a chilling, venomous edge: "Perhaps—our strategy was wrong. We shouldn't continue to be on the defensive, waiting for her to come knocking on our door again and again."
Sori's brow furrowed deeply: "What do you mean? To launch a preemptive strike? To directly clash with the Eternal Tower now?"
"No."
Sean slowly shook his head, a cold, calculating smile appearing on his pale face.
"According to my latest information, the Duchy of Nar, from which Silian originated, is currently engaged in a war of national destiny with its neighbor, the Duchy of Arthur! A war of annihilation that will last until the very end!"
As Lord Hick's most important intelligence officer, Sean calmly dropped a seemingly insignificant piece of information.
"The Duchy of Nar? A war of annihilation?"
The anger in Sorey's eyes faltered slightly, replaced by doubt.
"What does this have to do with our current troubles?"
He forced himself to calm down and looked at Sean with a puzzled expression.
"Hehe, the key point is—"
Sean's smile carried a hint of coldness as he continued speaking slowly and deliberately.
"This war was an invasion initiated by the Duchy of Nar! Their ambition is to annex the Duchy of Arthur and elevate it to a kingdom!"
According to intelligence I've intercepted from various sources, the invaded Duchy of Arthur is on the verge of succumbing to the onslaught of Nal's army.
He paused deliberately, allowing Sorey to process the information, before throwing out the most crucial bait: "So, imagine this: at this critical moment, the Principality of Arthur, on the verge of collapse, suddenly gains some kind of mysterious and powerful external support—"
Not only did they miraculously withstand the fierce attack of the Duchy of Nar, but they even began to—turn the tide of the war, turning the flames of conflict back onto the Duchy of Nar's territory?
"If the army of the Duchy of Arthur were to advance all the way back and besiege the city of the Duchy of Nar—what do you think Princess Silian of the Duchy of Nar would do?"
Will she remain outside, relentlessly hunting down her enemies? Or—must she immediately return to her homeland to save her family and kingdom from imminent destruction?
The boiling rage in Sorey's eyes froze instantly, then vanished rapidly like the receding tide, replaced by a sharp, cold...
The calculating gleam completely replaced it.
He slowly straightened up, as if all his previous rage and fury had been instantly drained away, leaving only absolute calm and efficient thinking running at high speed.
"The Duchy of Nar — Princess — War of Invasion — Arthur is on the verge of defeat —"
He repeated these keywords in a low voice, his brain analyzing the connections and possibilities at an unprecedented speed.
"Therefore, Silian is not only acting as the wizard of the Eternal Tower, but she is also deeply connected to a homeland that is waging an unjust war of aggression and may soon suffer a backlash."
Sean's cold smile deepened: "Exactly! Which is more important, the crisis of the family's survival or her personal vendetta of hunting down people outside?"
"At that time, even if she wants to cause trouble for you and me, the rules of the Tower of Eternity and the pressure from her teacher will not allow her to ignore it!"
"In other words—"
Sorey replied, his tone becoming extremely dangerous yet calm.
"We don't need to attack her directly. We just need to—quietly lend a hand to the Duchy of Arthur? To tip the scales of this war 'just right'?"
"There's no need to actually destroy the Duchy of Nar."
Sean added, his eyes flashing with a venomous, sinister light.
"All we need to do is put the war situation in an extremely unfavorable position, making the Duchy of Nar constantly on the verge of collapse and sending her the highest level of distress signals—that will be enough to overwhelm her and leave her unable to take care of herself. This is much less effort and much more effective than us dealing with her directly."
Sorey finally understood Sean's plan. A chilling excitement replaced his previous powerless rage.
This strategy strikes at the heart of the matter, attacking where the enemy must defend, and is far more vicious and deadly than simply causing some minor trouble for Sirian!
"The Duchy of Arthur—what do they need most right now?"
Sorey immediately entered a highly efficient execution mode, his voice low and swift.
"Magic crystals? Food? Weapons and equipment? Military intelligence? Or — something more special, something that can quickly turn the tide of battle?"
The Shadow Society has no shortage of these methods and resources that operate in the gray area.
"The Duchy of Arthur itself is poor in resources, and the number of experts in the country is far inferior to that of the Duchy of Nar. The reason why it has been able to hold out until now is entirely due to the treacherous terrain and the soldiers' desperate resistance."
Sean had clearly already done an in-depth analysis of the situation.
"What they lack most right now is the force capable of breaking the stalemate on the battlefield in one fell swoop." For example:
A formidable and mysterious elite mercenary force.
Several alchemical weapons capable of breaching Nar's formidable city defenses.
Several top-notch assassins capable of accurately assassinating enemy frontline commanders and accompanying wizards.
Or — certain special drugs or plagues that can rapidly weaken enemy combat capabilities and create panic over a large area.
.
A cold glint flashed in Sorey's eyes.
These things, which are difficult for ordinary forces to obtain, are precisely what the Shadow Society is best at providing.
Sean seemed to think that wasn't enough, and slowly added an even more convincing reason: "Moreover, as far as I know, the commander of the Duchy of Arthur who is currently struggling on the front lines is none other than their second prince—Layton Arthur."
Prince Layton once served as an apprentice in our Silent Forest for a period of time. Although he was unable to become a full-fledged wizard due to limitations in his talent and eventually returned to the duchy—but in any case, we did share a connection.
He looked at Sorey, his tone becoming meaningful.
"So, facing the fact that this former disciple's kingdom, one of our own in the Silent Forest, is facing annihilation and has come to us for help—as his 'senior brother,' how can we bear to stand idly by?"
Sean spread out his pale palms, his tone even carrying a hint of feigned emotion.
"Those are our beloved family and friends, our brothers and sisters, with whom we studied! Although outsiders always say that we dark wizards are cold-blooded and ruthless, in the face of our homeland being invaded and our brothers and sisters suffering, it is entirely reasonable for us to offer some help within our means out of fraternal bond and humanitarianism. No one can say anything wrong about that, can they?"
A cold, cruel smile finally crept onto Sorey's lips. All his anger had transformed into a precisely calculated, icy calculation.
"That's right—we are the most loyal of all dark wizards."
""
He repeated it in a low voice, his eyes no longer filled with anger, but instead with a bottomless abyss of coldness and a sharp killing intent.
"It is our bounden duty to help our 'junior brother' save the country from peril."