"This is too risky," Christian said, his worried eyes staring at the map of Blackwater City.
No one had predicted this situation beforehand. The League had almost tripled the numbers of mages under Anfey's command. With six hundred mercenaries, everyone thought that the advantage would be on the mercenary's side.
The knowledge of the presence of elven archers in Blackwater City changed that. Even a normal elven archer was better than a human archer, and the archers in Blackwater City were the best of the best. Even a mage was no match for hundreds of arrows.
They could tell how powerful the elves were just from reading the number of casualties. From the initial contact to the full scale conflict, they had lost thirty seven mages. Never before had they lost so many mages in a single battle.
"Where did Lord Anfey go?" Ozzic said, frowning. "This wouldn't have happened if he were here." Ozzic was at the front of the attack and lost three hundred mercenaries. Out of the three thousand Shield of Light soldiers that went with him, less than half returned.
Tiger of Tawau mercenary group had been trying expand their numbers since the beginning of the war against the dead and had help from Ellisen Empire, the elves, and the druids. However, the League still had more fighters.
Blackwater City gave Tiger of Tawau mercenary group an advantage the League did not have. Manstuly was also putting in everything he had. No one had experience fighting such a bloody battle.
A seasoned general wouldn't care about the casualties. They only cared about victory, but Christian was still too young.
Entos had experienced battles and Kumaraghosha was a skilled soldier and seasoned general, but neither had the rank to interfere with Christian's decision-making. They knew that Christian was still young and they couldn't tell Christian that the only way to take down Blackwater City was to sacrifice another half of the League.
"Alice, do you know where Anfey is?" Christian asked.
"How would I know?" Alice replied with a frown. She glanced at Suzanna. Suzanna was Anfey's wife, and if anyone in the room knew where he was, it would be Suzanna.
Suzanna shook her head. "He didn't tell me anything," she said. She sighed and turned to Christian, "Let Anthony and I go. I am confident that the two of us can break through their defense."
"We can't do that," Christian said, shaking his head. Top level powers were often used to turn the tide in a battle, but there were top level powers in Blackwater City as well. They only know about Manstuly, but no one knew whether the elves had any hidden trump cards. If Suzanna and Anthony got themselves into trouble, the League would lose two major powers. Christian knew the League could not afford that.
"Why don't we stop for a bit?" Kumaraghosha asked. "A temporary truce, until Lord Anfey comes back." Kumaraghosha could tell that neither Christian nor Alice could make important decisions. Without Anfey, they would just keep arguing and would not reach a proper decision.
"There's something wrong with this," Ye whispered.
"What is it?" Christian asked.
"I don't know how to put it," Ye said, shaking his head. "Normally, Lord Anfey would tell someone where he's going and how long he'll be gone."
"Maybe he's doing something that's top secret," Blavi said.
"Even so, he would tell us something."
"He's always alone," Christian said. "Maybe he can't find anyone."
"I don't know," Ye said. "Normally he would have told us something, sent a message or something."
"He can't be…"
"No way," Christian said. "If something did happen to Anfey, Manstuly wouldn't be so quiet."
Blavi nodded. He glanced around and asked, "Where's Lord Anthony? I just saw him here a few minutes ago."
"David just came in," Zubin said. "They left together."
Even though David had asked Christian to let him join the battle, Christian had refused. This was why Glory mercenary group had not lost any men yet.
In the corner of the camp, Anthony was staring at a middle-aged man. After a few moments, Anthony sighed. "I can't believe you came here, Otto. Aren't you afraid that I'll kill you?"
"I hope not," Otto said. "We are friends, after all. You wouldn't do that to a friend, would you?"
"It's not me," Anthony said. "You're forcing my hand. You're working for Mourtta now, and Glory mercenary group is not a place you can come and go as you please."
"I see," Otto said. "You think that I'm here on Mourtta's behalf, don't you?"
"Aren't you?"
Otto shook his head. "I'm a merchant now," he said. "I don't want to serve anyone else, which is why I left Blackwater City."
"And you're here now because you want to work for me?"
"No," Otto said, shaking his head. "I'm going to Tumen Commercial Union. That's the last peaceful place in the world."
"This is not Tumen."
"I'm here to tell you a secret, Anthony," Otto said. "Don't you want to know?"
"Interesting," Anthony said. "Keep talking."
"Maybe you won't believe it, but…well, I suppose I'm repaying my debt to you. I know Mourtta and Manstuly aren't good people, but you have to realize neither is Anfey."
"That alone is enough reason to kill you here."
"I wouldn't be saying this if I wasn't ready for the consequences," Otto said. "Allow me to finish." He paused, then continued, "Do you remember what happened last year? What caused the war? Why did Mourtta suddenly attack? Aren't you curious?"
Anthony frowned. Seeing a reaction from him, Otto hurriedly continued, "You're too righteous, Anthony. You don't want to see…" Before he could finish, Anthony drew his sword and slashed at Otto's neck. Otto gurgled and fell to the ground.
"I apologize, old friend," Anthony said. He sighed and shook his head.
"Father!" David said with wide eyes. "Don't you want to know the secret?"
"Remember, David," Anthony said, wiping the blood off of his sword with a piece of Otto's clothes. "There are a lot of secrets in the world. Most of those secrets are better off left alone. Knowing those secrets will change nothing. It will only cause a rift between you and the people you care about."