Chapter 57: Breaching the City
Dean Seath.
The Chief Knight Commander of the Kasein Family, and the designated leader of the knight order that the Kasein Family had long been preparing to establish.
This knight commander wore a gleaming suit of full-body silver-white armor, with a clearly extended cruciform rapier hanging from his left waist. His left hand rested lightly on the hilt.
Both his armor and weapon were obviously Refined-grade Rare Iron Weapons.
The cost of this equipment alone likely far exceeded the annual income of a baron’s territory.
His hair was a dull chestnut color, somewhat resembling the grayish tone characteristic of the Kasein Family.
His face was stern, and his light gray eyes carried a natural, indifferent coldness.
When he swept his gaze across the Bloodline Users inside the tent, everyone felt as if they were being targeted by a predator.
No one doubted that if he chose to strike, everyone in this tent would be killed in an instant.
As Dean stepped into the tent, Knight Commander Karen, who had been sitting at the head of the long table, immediately vacated his seat.
Everything seemed so natural, no one questioned it. Viscount Cardon of Forest Territory kept his head lowered, not daring to meet the eyes of this Bloodline User who bore only the title of “knight”; and Baron Hess of Gem Territory no longer dared to mention his noble title, wishing he could vanish entirely.
The strength displayed by a Fourth-Tier Bloodline User clearly outweighed any noble title or rank.
“Lord Dean, why are you here?”
At this moment, no one dared speak.
So the only one who could address Dean was Karen Hod, who had previously been the commander of this coalition force.
“His Lordship the Marquis is concerned that Red Soil Territory may harbor enemies that shouldn’t be here, so I’ve been following you all along,” Dean spoke indifferently, shocking everyone present with his words. “Originally, it wasn’t my duty to involve myself in your war. But the problem you’ve stirred up now has forced me to step forward. Baron Hess… if the Marquis learns of this, he will be gravely disappointed in you.”
“Y-yes!” Baron Hess responded in terror.
If he had doubted Akar’s earlier warning, now he fully believed it.
Because even Dean Seath, a Fourth-Tier Bloodline User, had appeared here, without a doubt, something terrifying and unknown must be present in Red Soil Territory.
After all, there were only five Fourth-Tier Bloodline Users in the entire Red Eagle Territory.
Three in the Kasein Family, and two in the Senels Family.
It could be said that unless Marquis Visen or Viscount Agley personally intervened, these five were the strongest individuals in the entire Red Eagle Territory.
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say they could go wherever they pleased. So if one of them had to remain hidden in the shadows, who was their target?
Baron Hess didn’t dare to imagine.
“The decapitation tactic is a good suggestion. Let’s proceed with that,” Dean declared decisively.
“This war in Red Soil Territory shouldn’t have dragged on this long. …According to the Marquis’s estimate, it should have ended half a month ago.”
When Dean said this, most didn’t react, but Karen did feel somewhat embarrassed.
After all, he was the commander-in-chief of this war. With the battle going poorly and failing to achieve its strategic objectives, he naturally had to bear the blame.
“The moment I act, Viscount Ross will certainly choose to flee rather than resist. The citizens of Red Soil City are irrelevant, but everyone from the Antre Family, including those Bloodline Knights, must not be left alive. Do you understand?”
“Yes.”
Everyone responded in unison.
None of them had any doubt about how this war would end. Now that a Fourth-Tier Bloodline User had intervened, it was already over.
Unless the enemy also had a Fourth-Tier Bloodline User.
But was that even possible?
Soon, everyone left the tent to begin preparations.
The upcoming battle was no longer something ordinary people could involve themselves in, so there was no further need to mobilize soldiers.
Dean, meanwhile, quietly approached Yam and Akar while the others were busy preparing.
Yam was a bit surprised, but Akar remained calm, as if unfazed.
“I will have you accompany Andre and Atork to climb the wall with me and open the gate. Then you’ll each move to different key points in the city to attack. I assume you know what you need to do?”
“Yes.” Akar nodded. “I’ll find an opportunity to kill Andre.”
“You’ll only have one chance, don’t waste it. After tonight, the war will be over, and you’ll never get another opportunity.” Dean nodded slightly.
“Also, make sure to clean up thoroughly. If anything suspicious is discovered, you will die. …As for the consequences if you fail to kill him, I don’t need to spell it out, do I?”
“Yes.”
Dean glanced once more at Yam, but said nothing further and simply turned to leave.
Only after this Fourth-Tier Bloodline User had gone far did Yam look at Akar with a complicated expression. "So this is your decision?"
"It is," Akar sighed lightly. "You don’t need to get involved after this. I’ll find a way to take care of it."
Yam felt troubled.
He didn’t bother asking why someone like Dean, the knight commander, couldn’t just kill Andre himself, such a question was too naive.
The answer was obvious.
The Kasein Family could not allow their hands to be stained, especially since the Billy Family were their loyal hounds.
Therefore, the task of acting against Andre could only fall to the Soderbell Family, who had old grudges with him.
It was precisely because Yam realized this that he felt dread toward the Kasein Family.
He suddenly understood that whether it was Marquis Visen or Count Shuvaric, they were ultimately the same type of person.
Count Shuvaric had cast aside the Bole Family of Baron Ster without hesitation for the sake of profit; likewise, Marquis Visen was now equally prepared to discard the Billy Family for the sake of interests in Gem Territory.
In that case, the Bole Family, which had already pledged allegiance to Marquis Visen, might also one day be abandoned if they obstructed the Kasein Family's interests.
But what could he do?
He, or rather, the entire Soderbell Family, was now too deeply tied to the Bole Family.
At this moment, Yam suddenly thought that perhaps Akar’s decision in the past had not been a bad one.
At the very least, the two brothers weren’t excessively entangled with each other.
If one of them was sacrificed in the future, the other could still survive, preserving the bloodline of the Soderbell Family.
"Don’t be foolish." Yam lightly patted Akar’s shoulder.
"Do you really think that knight commander said all that in front of me by accident? …This is no longer just your personal matter. It’s the matter of our 'Soderbell Family.'"
"Once you're ready, let’s go and finish this."
...
Dean led Yam, Akar, Andre, and Atork slowly toward Red Soil City.
Their unabashed approach naturally drew the attention of the night watchmen on the city wall immediately. Alarm bells soon rang out from the towers.
In an instant, Red Soil City, which had seemed asleep, awoke like a giant. Lights flared across the city.
The Bloodline User responsible for defending that section of the wall saw that only five people had come. He immediately realized the enemy had deployed Bloodline Users, and without hesitation, launched a flare into the night sky.
"We’re short on time, so I won’t repeat myself. I’ve already explained the battle plan, keep up when the time comes."
As Dean said this, he also drew the cruciform rapier at his side with his right hand.
The moment the rapier was unsheathed, Yam felt as though the airflow around them had frozen.
But he soon realized it wasn’t the air that had frozen, it was that the "wind" had been drawn toward Dean’s rapier, causing the breeze that had been brushing past them to vanish completely.
"Cover your ears."
Upon hearing Dean’s words, Yam and Akar obeyed immediately, though they didn’t know why.
Atork and Andre reacted even faster than they did.
Then Dean suddenly thrust his sword forward.
The compressed wind surrounding the rapier, having been suppressed to the extreme, burst forth the moment it found an outlet.
A gray-white fissure clearly visible even in the night sky connected Dean and the tower in a straight line.
For a brief instant, the world fell silent.
Then came a deafening roar of surging air that shattered the stillness.
"Boom——"
The Bloodline User from the Antre Family guarding the city was buried beneath the collapsing tower, killed instantly by the force of the blast.
The soldiers on the wall were felled in an instant like wheat before the scythe.
The unlucky ones were buried with the Antre Family Bloodline Knight in the tower's rubble. The slightly luckier ones had their eardrums shattered by the sudden blast, rendering them deaf.
Some were so overwhelmed by the intense vertigo and pain from the ringing in their ears that they could no longer fight.
Screams of agony filled the air.
The white gust that cut through the sky didn’t slow after shattering the tower; it continued upward, piercing into the clouds.
Red Soil City, which had just awoken, now seemed shocked back into silence, as if it had returned to sleep.
"What are you all waiting for?" Dean’s indifferent voice rang out again.
This time, however, it sounded distorted and unclear in Yam and the others’ ears.
But seeing Dean’s expression, even if they couldn’t hear him clearly, they understood his meaning and immediately rushed forward.
They stepped on the fallen rubble, lightly pushing off it and bounding up the city wall with ease.
Seeing the soldiers rolling on the ground in pain, Yam, Akar, and Atork remained still, but Andre had already charged out in fury. Flames ignited on the guards over his arms, and he charged like a raging bull with burning horns, killing every soldier and citizen in his path.
Yam and Akar were even more disgusted by Andre’s actions.
"Don’t waste time!" Atork shouted to stop Andre, then turned and stomped down on the winch that controlled the gate mechanism.
At once, the locked gate began to rise slowly.
"Stick to the plan! Once you find the Antre Family members, signal immediately!"