The League set out from Blackwater City a little past noon. Even though the mercenaries were exhausted from the battle the day before, they were excited about the victory.
On the bank of Blackwater River, Anfey hosted a solemn funeral. Over a thousand mercenaries and four thousand members of the Shield of Light Legion were killed during the battle at Blackwater City.
Manstuly was proud and powerful and his men were the same. Even though the wolf druids were scattered throughout and around the city, all the druids put up a fight. All the druids kept fighting until they were no longer able to.
Tiger Tawau's mercenaries were not as fearless as the druids. A lot of newly recruited mercenaries surrendered after Mourtta and Hotchbini were killed, but almost all the older mercenaries kept on fighting long after their leaders were dead.
The mercenaries and druids were fearless because they knew that if they lost, they still would have died. It was more honorable to die on the battlefield with a sword in hand than to die as captives and prisoners. This made them more resolute and determined.
There were two kinds of funerals in the world. Traditionally, people preferred to be buried. After the first war against the dead, however, a lot of people began burning their dead to prevent the necromancers from using the dead bodies in future wars. The Church of Light also encouraged its followers to burn the dead bodies for this reason. The mercenaries did not like the Church, but they agreed on the matter of burning bodies. Mercenaries were used to death and it was easier for them to burn the bodies than to dig graves.
Anfey had his men line up all the dead bodies along the banks of the river, then ordered the mages to burn the bodies. The bank of the river burned more brightly than the noon sun. After almost an hour and a half, the fire died down slowly. When the temperature cooled, the mercenaries began cleaning the riverbank, scattering the ashes into the water of Blackwater River. It was impractical for the mercenaries to bring the ashes with them because Scarlet was still chasing after them. It was better to scatter the ashes than to spend time and sort through it. That would have been too much work and the mercenaries would have been taking the risk that Scarlet's men might have discovered them.
Anfey also knew that he had no time to waste. The mage Scarlet had with her, Douminge, had peaked Anfey's interest. He had asked Suzanna what it felt like being struck by the lightning guard spell. According to Suzanna, the lightning itself wasn't scary, it was the numbing effects the spell had that were deadly. As soon as she was struck by the spell, she had lost all mobility. Anfey was able to defend himself against magic better than Suzanna, but not by much. Before he could find a way to defend himself and his men against Douminge's lightning spell, he had to avoid Scarlet and her army. He did not want to lead the mercenaries into a battle only for them to lose their ability to fight.
"We have to go now," Christian came over to Anfey and said.
"I know," Anfey said with a frown. He glanced at the river and said, "Christian, take the mercenaries and go."
"What?" Christian asked, confused.
"I told Baery that I killed Scarlet," Anfey said with a deep frown. "I was too confident. What happened today was my fault."
"Didn't we talk about this already? You did kill her. She came back to life," Christian said hurriedly.
"But I cannot accept that," Anfey said, shaking his head. "I have to do something to fix this."
"You're not planning on assassinating her again, are you?" Christian said, his eyes wide. "Your last attempt must have raised the security measures around her. This is no different from committing suicide."
"I'm not stupid," Anfey said with a smile.
"Then what are you…"
"Edward the Eighth has sent out his Guardian Knights and six squadrons of griffin knights. He wants to occupy the Transverse Mountains and cut off Baery's escape route," Anfey said. "We have to recognize just how brilliant Scarlet is. She has already foreseen this and planned ahead. She predicted exactly what would happen next. I'm certain the Guardian Knights will arrive first."
"You want to take out the Guardian Knights and the griffin knights?" Christian asked with wide eyes.
"Not take them out," Anfey said, shaking his head. "I know my limits. I just want to slow them down."
"How?"
"I don't have a plan yet," Anfey said with a shrug.
Christian sighed. He knew that Baery would not blame Anfey, but the nobles back in Sacred City might. Anfey had to do something to right the wrong in order to protect his reputation.
Christian knew Anfey very well and he knew that he could not stop him.
"You're not taking Suzanna with you?"
"No," Anfey said, shaking his head. He wanted to protect Suzanna and keep her away from harm, even though she was a top level power like himself. He didn't want to drag her into more trouble.
"You're going alone, then?"
"Don't say anything to her," Anfey whispered. "Knowing her, she would want to follow me. Make up an excuse and take her with you."