Chapter 244
Bit by Bit
“These students include some who can create stratagems! Be careful not to trigger the stratagems. If you can destroy them, do it. These stratagem creators always leave marks. Just observe and you’ll know where the stratagems are.”
“These students are really annoying. We should just kill them all!!”
“You have to admit, they are from the top institute. When I was a student there, I saw how strong they were. When I first heard that the prince was traveling with the stratagem branch students from Ares Institute, I thought it would be easy to deal with them. I never expected that even the weakest students, lacking combat skills, could set up such effective beast traps around here. I truly respect their abilities.”
“I think the same. It’s a pity that these valuable resources must be eliminated. Although this war wasn’t something the Rhea Kingdom wanted initially, destroying the pride of these students is a dream come true for me.”
Hearing the soldiers’ shouts, the students inside the camp, who initially had hopes of winning, began to look dejected. It turned out that the enemy had a lot of information about them. They knew there were students who could create stratagems in the camp and had effective ways to deal with the stratagems.
As ironic as it was, it was true that stratagem creators habitually left marks. That’s because their purpose was to deal with beasts, not humans. Seeing the enemy soldiers use their ethical practices against them made many students so angry they wanted to cry.
“What kind of madness is this!? Is that all the stratagem students can do!? Are they insane? Setting traps for the enemy but leaving marks for them to find?”
“Y-Yeah! Why would they do that? It’s incredibly stupid.”
“Hah! This is why I didn’t want to be in the same group as these students. They’re weak and stupid!!” The newly gathered students were very frustrated. Initially, they were happy to see so many traps, which killed many enemy soldiers, including the leader of a subunit. They thought that...this increased their chances of winning. But then they heard that the enemy had found the marks and were ordered to clear them.
Nadia stood with her brows furrowed. Actually, Ellie had told her to destroy all the marks, but Nadia was stubborn and didn’t want to do that, citing her own reasons. She believed that since the enemy hadn’t arrived yet, removing the marks could endanger those who would set up additional stratagems.
Who could have predicted the enemy soldiers would arrive so quickly? Moreover, there was no information from the kingdom. How could the soldiers not know about such an invasion? They should have scouts sending reports to the city. What was going on?!!
Nadia’s suspicions were correct. No one expected the enemy to approach so stealthily. They hadn’t received any advance warnings from the soldiers. Was that even possible? There should have been some detection as soon as the enemy caused trouble. But all the information channels were silent.
Indeed! The soldiers responsible for surveillance were actually in league with the enemy. Instead of quickly reporting to the city, they pretended not to notice and facilitated the enemy’s movements.
Unlike the Hunter’s Association, which immediately reported enemy incursions, sending people to investigate upon seeing that there was unusual activity. If comparing the soldiers and the Hunter’s Association, it seemed the Hunter’s Association were more trustworthy than the soldiers!
“Blaming us out of nowhere, are you? We are stratagem creators, users of stratagems you deem weak, yet we’ve used stratagems to take down dozens of enemies. And what about you...You’re supposed to be highly skilled, aren’t you? Since the evening, you’ve been blaming our Duchess Ellie for not taking you to a safer place. In reality...you so-called powerful magic users and future great hunters are just cowards!”
Senior Zen, unable to tolerate the complaints of the other student groups, snapped back. Always blaming others, even though they had the ability to fight. Yet, they stood idly by, looking for faults in others. Was this all the so-called mighty warriors could do?
And what was with blaming them for creating the stratagems but still marking them? If they thought they were so capable, why not go around the camp without looking at the marks? They would probably die on their first step out!
“What? Are you blaming us because you fail? Can’t you accept the truth? And what we blamed Duchess Ellie, isn’t it true? If she had warned us earlier, do you think we’d be in this life-threatening situation now?”
“Yeah, I agree. If it weren’t for her threats...”
“Excuse me, don’t speak about the duchess like that!” Zoey, who had been listening silently, felt the urge to punch their faces. Seeing everyone blame her duchess, she couldn’t stay silent any longer. Aman, equally irritated, cast a fire spell outside the camp with a loud "Boom!" The sudden attack injured more than 2 enemies. However, due to the long range, its impact was limited, but the sound startled everyone in the camp.
“Hah! It seems you still don’t know your place,” Aman scoffed, summoning another fireball but holding it in his hand instead of casting it outside. He looked at the other students.
His eyes showed no kindness and no patience for their nonsense. The students secretly gulped with difficulty. They knew Aman’s nickname, the Demon of Setter, wasn’t earned by chance. His ruthlessness made it clear that he could kill anyone who displeased him. Given his temperament...it was very possible.
“First of all, let me ask you about how you guys talk badly about my sister-in-law like this...did Ellie tie you up or cut off your legs to keep you from leaving? And...if it wasn’t for Ellie’s pity, you wouldn’t know anything now and might have been killed by running into the enemy unprepared.”
“More importantly...do you think you have the right to speak like this? This is our camp. You’re the ones seeking shelter with us. Whatever the stratagem branch students have done, you should be kneeling in gratitude. If you’re going to be ungrateful to those protecting you, it might be better if I throw you out as bait.”
“Isn’t it true that in war, people live or die as a result of the fight? Do you think killing you would be a crime in this situation?”
“I haven’t killed human in a while, and I feel my weapon trembling with excitement. It wants to taste the blood of a mouthy student right now!” Aman was never one to persuade kindly. His words were always terrifying.
Prince Jason wanted to say something, but in the end, he remained silent. Aman’s way of handling things was far more effective than his own. Look at those worthless students; now they were quiet as needed. If he or anyone else had spoken, it would have led to endless arguments. Perhaps from now on...he should learn a thing or two from this second young lord of the Setter family.
“Alright, now that it’s quiet, that’s good. Well...I know you have a plan, so for this battle, I’ll let you give the orders.” Aman smiled with satisfaction, turning to Ellie immediately after ensuring everyone was silent.
“Hmm? Let her control the battle?” However, Prince Jason and the others were reluctant to accept this. Shouldn’t Aman be the one giving orders? Why suddenly pass it to a young girl?
Everyone felt that their scalps went numb. Their distrust in Ellie made them feel like they were on the brink of death. But Aman just shrugged nonchalantly.
“Or do you all look down on the future lady of the Setter family?” Once again, he silenced everyone, even the prince, who had just questioned him, was also taken aback.
“Alright then, let’s see what “your future lady” can do. But if I find her orders inadequate, I’ll take over,” Prince Jason conceded. The other students were left in confusion, feeling like they had been struck from behind and unable to fight back. They could only move forward in order to fall down.
Aman scoffed disdainfully. If they claimed Ellie lacked ability, then was Prince Jason, who had little real-world experience, had such ability? Wasn’t he currently abandoned by the soldiers? It was clear that, aside from the group of soldiers who had previously tried to assassinate him, there were still some hoping the Rhea Kingdom would capture him.
If Prince Jason was taken hostage, the Ares Kingdom had two choices: "exchange the hostage for a city" or "let the prince die." Either way, someone would benefit.
If the kingdom lost a crucial stronghold to the Rhea Kingdom because of Prince Jason, he would be held accountable. The public would lose faith, and the nobles would demand his punishment afterward. How could such a person become the next emperor? The second option was the simplest: letting someone else handle Prince Jason’s elimination so their hands stayed clean!
“Alright, then. Issue your commands,” Ellie nodded slightly, seeing that Aman was still enjoying the playful jab he made at her.
Ellie didn’t engage in the banter, given the ongoing chaos outside. She used her spores to monitor the soldiers’ movements clearly. They had dismantled more than 30 of the 100 Wind Blade stratagems. Their speed wasn’t bad, but still...
“Your first order is...stay put and deal with those who survive the remaining stratagems.”
“What!!”
Ellie’s first command left all the students in shock. This was a life-or-death situation, and she was telling them to stay still and do nothing. What kind of order was that!?
What they didn’t know was that right after Ellie finished speaking, chaos erupted outside!
“I feel like we’ve destroyed all their stratagems. I don’t see any marks left. So...now it’s time to swing our weapons and kill all these so-called genius students of Ares Institute, right?”
“Haha, I can’t wait. Maybe it’s good the poison didn’t work. It will make this more fun.”
“Mmm, but be cautious. Don’t forget they have a young lord from the Setter family. We already saw how powerful that fire explosion was. If you don’t want to die quickly...be careful in approaching.”
“Yeah, yeah, we get it. You’re not even a squad leader, so don’t act so high and mighty. Let’s go! Kill those students and capture the prince as hostage. Then we can claim the city known for its rich resources!!”
“Great! I’ll go first. Let’s see who can kill the most students. If you lose...you owe me a drink of the finest liquor. Because I...a-argh!!”
As they boasted, the soldiers’ large bodies advanced, expecting to easily deal with the weak students. However...they didn’t realize they were stepping into their deaths!!
Whoosh!!!
“Argh!!”
“Hey! What the hell? Didn’t we destroy all these stratagems?”
“Right! Why are there still...argh!!”
“Fall back! There are many stratagems ahead. They tricked us. They didn’t leave all the marks.”
“What!? Those damn students!! Wait for me to get in. I’ll kill you all for deceiving us, and before you die, I’ll torture you all for what you have done!!”
“Argh!!”
“W-What? What’s happening? There’s no sound of the stratagems activating. Are they using a different type?”
“Argh.”
“It hurts...so...much...”
The confident soldiers gradually descended into chaos once again. This was all part of Ellie’s plan from the beginning. She knew the soldiers would definitely see the stratagem marks. Initially, she had ordered Nadia to destroy them, but Nadia’s reasoning was valid. If destroying the marks would negatively impact themselves, then it shouldn’t be done like that, right?
Because of this, Ellie’s first command was for everyone to stay in the camp until all the stratagems had been activated. Only then should they go out to fight. Otherwise, the stratagems might not only target the enemy but also bring misfortune to their own side. She also didn’t let the students attack right away because she was afraid their offensive power might destroy the carefully placed stratagems around the camp.
As for why the enemy soldiers suddenly felt pain, it was simply because Ellie took the opportunity to deal with them more efficiently. While everyone believed the enemies were taken down by the stratagems, Ellie used the chaos to decompose their hearts. This method couldn’t be too conspicuous, so she had to handle it gradually, bit by bit.
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