Chapter 504: 504
The northern part of the Eastern continent .
There was a mountain range here that blocked the cold air that came down all year long from the tip of the northern region that was covered in ice .
“…F*ck . ”
The Mercenary King who was climbing the tallest mountain in that mountain range could not help but swear .
The White Star’s second secret base would appear once they climbed over this mountain .
So, why were they walking so slowly?
Bud Illis was slowly climbing the mountain at a speed that he thought was too slow .
An Elf walked up next to him and started to speak .
“Please be patient . ”
“…I need to be patient, but it is frustrating . ”
It was at that moment .
Shaaaaaaaaaa
A light breeze brushed past him .
Both Bud and the Elf next to him stopped moving .
The breeze stopped next to the Elf .
“The thirty-first message . ”
Swooooooosh-
The Wind Elemental delivered a message to its contracted Elf . The Elf then immediately relayed the message to Bud .
“Squad leader Sorros in the west . No abnormalities discovered . No life forms discovered . ”
The Elf raised his hand .
Rustle . Rustle .
Leaves fluttered in the air . Bud observed what was going on .
There were still a lot of trees around them as they had not reached the snowy portions .
Numerous pairs of eyes started to appear and look at Bud .
Blink .
As all pairs of eyes blinked once…
The Elf next to Bud started to speak .
"Everything seems normal . ”
There were Elves surrounding the mountain from East to West as they climbed the mountain together .
They were looking for traces of the 1,001 Ranger Brigade and the enemies .
“Haaaaa . ”
Bud subconsciously let out a sigh .
‘It’s too slow . ’
He was wrong .
It was not slow at all .
They had already reached the middle of the mountain that the Ranger Brigade had climbed .
They would soon arrive at the spot that they believed the Ranger Brigade was located before they lost contact .
However, their movements just felt as slow as a turtle to Bud .
Pound . Pound .
He pounded his chest in frustration .
It might take months if he tried to investigate with just the people from the Mercenaries Guild .
Of course, it would not take very long if they charged straight into Arm's second secret base .
However, 1,001 people had instantly disappeared without a trace .
He needed to figure out what happened .
He couldn't save them otherwise .
However, he had a bad feeling that the chances of the Ranger Brigade members being alive decreased the longer they took .
He was starting to get anxious .
‘…Glenn will soon come to the north . ’
Highest-grade mage Glenn Poeff was Bud’s close friend and one of the core members of the Mercenaries Guild .
He would soon come with the core members of the Mercenaries Guild . They would wait for the Mercenary King's orders to save their peers and get revenge .
Some people might find it weird that mercenaries were taking action for their peers, but they believed in friendship as well .
This was especially true for the guild’s core members who knew the importance of the Ranger Brigade for the Mercenaries Guild's future .
That was why they could not just do nothing .
But the Mercenary King needed to give them some information first .
However, for some odd reason…
‘There’s nothing . ’
There was nothing there .
They had climbed up to the middle of the mountain, but there were no traces at all .
How was this possible?
“Mercenary King-nim . I will let the eastern search team know that everything is fine here . ”
Bud started to speak after hearing the Elf’s statement . They needed to send their status to the east as well .
Bud responded to the thirty-first report with a tired face .
“Yes, sir . There’s nothing anyway and all we can hear are the animals-”
‘…Huh?’
Bud's eyes opened wide .
“…Mercenary King-nim?”
“Hold on!”
He raised his hand to cover the Elf’s mouth and looked around . It was almost afternoon but the ground was dark because of the tall trees .
Bud looked around the dark forest and slowly started to speak .
“…Have you seen any wild animals?”
“Excuse me? We’ve heard a lot of wild anim-!”
The Elf stopped mid-sentence and opened his eyes wide .
“Quietly! Please speak quietly!”
Bud whispered in a quiet but firm voice in the Elf’s ear .
The Elf responded in a quiet voice as well . He realized what Bud was trying to say .
“…We haven't actually seen any wild animals . ”
Normally, people searching like this became most anxious and wary when they didn’t hear anything .
There were bound to be forests even in a snow-covered mountain full of life forms .
Animals ranging from small herbivores to wild predators would have their homes and live with their own sets of rules .
The Elves, Bud, and the Elementals had heard many different cries that they believed belonged to the animals living on this mountain .
That was why they expected that they were somewhere on the mountain .
Bud’s gaze sank down . He mumbled very quietly .
“We made a mistake . ”
Yes, they had made a mistake .
“We haven't seen any animals . ”
“Mercenary King-nim-”
Bud turned around and put his hand on the Elf’s shoulder .
“Immediately . Contact the west team immediately . ”
His eyes were scanning the nonstop unlike his hand on the Elf’s shoulder .
"We are retreating . ”
“Excuse me?”
“Quiet . ”
Bud quieted the Elf who was about to raise his voice . The Elf was looking at Bud with a gaze that was asking what he was talking about .
Wasn't he the one who was just complaining that the search speed was too slow just now?
“Mercenary King-nim, retreating-”
“Now!”
Bud’s gaze sparkled .
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"We haven't seen any living life forms on this mountain . Well, other than us . ”
The Elf turned pale .
They haven't seen any life forms other than themselves .
There weren’t even any insects .
They only heard them .
They were focused on looking for the search team that they were relieved just to hear the noises .
However, seeing them was important as well .
“Immediately! I will immediately share this information with them!”
“Shh . ”
Bud quieted the Elf again .
Swooooooosh-
The Elf felt a gust of wind surrounding Bud at that moment . He subconsciously started to frown . The wind by Bud’s side was not the type of wind the Elf usually felt .
It was neither the wind of an Elemental nor a natural wind .
It was an ancient power .
Bud was currently using his ancient power .
His wind attribute ancient power allowed him to tell a person's demeanor or ability by scent or noise .
He was using that right now .
Boom . Boom . Boom .
Bud could feel his heart beating wildly .
‘Please be wrong . Please let me be wrong . ’
His mind was currently full of information about the battles against the White Star until now .
“Ah……”
Bud sighed .
“…I can smell it . ”
He could not see anything .
But he could smell people, no, the smell of people's abilities .
There were not just one or two of them .
There were a large number of people .
However, the only one he could see was the Elf .
But ancient powers did not lie .
He could not see people .
That meant that what Bud was seeing right now was fake .
“…Hehe . ”
‘There was more than one Illusionist?’
He released his grip on the Elf’s shoulder .
He then started to speak .
“Inform all search members . ”
He looked forward and continued to speak .
"We are retreating immediately . ”
Clang .
A sharp sword came out of his scabbard .
Blue aura shot out at the same time .
“And prepare for enemies we cannot see that may attack us . ”
The Elf next to Bud urgently gave an order to his Wind Elemental .
The numerous pairs of eyes looking at Bud opened wide or shook .
Enemies they could not see .
“There are at least a couple hundred of them . ”
Familiar scents covering the entire mountain filled Bud’s nose .
People who had this type of smell were usually-
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“They should be assassins . ”
Rustle .
One of the hidden enemies moved at that moment .
Claaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaang-
Bud saw his surroundings breaking as if they were made of glass . He then saw an assassin in Arm’s uniform charging toward him .
“Die!”
The assassin flung his dagger at Bud . Bud swung his sword and glared at the person wearing the black outfit .
Tang, tang!
Two daggers flew away after hitting Bud’s aura as Bud raised his voice .
“You must be the bastards who chose to become the White Star’s dogs!”
Bud was familiar with the dagger attacking method used against him .
Glenn Poeff .
That highest-grade mage was a member of the Poeff household that used to be one of the Eastern continent’s greatest underworld households . He had seen Glenn practicing his family's dagger techniques in the past .
He was seeing the same thing in front of him right now .
Shhhhhhh-
His surroundings were crumbling .
No, the illusion was breaking .
He could now see the truth .
“Ha!”
He could see hundreds of assassins wearing black outfits in the forest .
Just like how some assassins had gathered under the revived Molan household, there were some who chose to serve the White Star in Arm .
Those people had groomed new subordinates during the past fifteen years as Arm grew its numbers .
Those people had been hiding in the illusion and waiting for them .
“…You bastards-”
Bud’s eyes were full of rage .
The forest was red .
The scent of blood was gone, but many parts of the forest were red .
Whose blood would that be?
He thought about his subordinates . He held back the flame of anger inside him and started to shout .
“I said to retreat!”
The Elves finally started to retreat in shock .
Why?
“Just how many people did they station here?!”
There were hundreds of assassins in front of him and that number was continuing to increase .
This probably meant that there were a significant number of assassins throughout the mountain .
The Elves started to frown as they tried to retreat .
“Shit!”
They saw assassins in the rear as well .
They were all Arm members .
“Ha!”
Bud scoffed in disbelief .
He realized where they had gotten such a large number of people .
“…I guess they called over every single bastard in the Eastern continent's branches . ”
The Molan household had destroyed one of Arm's secret bases and taken it back, but Arm still had numerous branches, albeit less than the Mercenaries Guild, throughout the Eastern continent .
This number made sense if he added the number of people at all those branches together .
“Mercenary King-nim! It’ll be difficult to retreat like this!”
He heard the Elf’s anxious voice . It could not be helped . Although there were hundreds of Elves throughout the mountain, there were at least a few thousand of enemies here as well .
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It was also possible that their every movement had been seen by the enemies as well .
Huuuuu .
Bud took a deep breath .
He then blinked once .
His gaze headed toward the peak of the mountain .
He smelled it from the area that was covered in white snow .
It was an odd scent he had never smelled before that was different than the assassins .
He was certain that it was the Illusionist .
If not, it was probably at least the bastard who planned this whole thing .
“Follow me . We are charging past them . ”
Bud kicked off the ground . He was moving in the front . The assassins charged toward him at the same time .
The Elves took out their weapons as well and their Elementals moved with them .
Bud shouted toward the Elf next to him .
“Please launch a signal in the sky immediately! Also-”
Launch a signal for Glenn who was at the bottom of the mountain to see .
In addition…
Bud hesitated before finishing his sentence .
“We need to let Cale Henituse know about the current situation . ”
His gaze headed to the mountain's peak that was completely white .
“Hmm… It was broken earlier than I expected . ”
At the mountain peak…
The individual who sat down on the snow-covered ground repeatedly threw something in his hand in the air and caught it as he looked down the mountain .
"Should I inform the liege?”
Plop . Plop .
The thing in his hand that he was throwing and catching like a toy was a black heart .
It was a heart that was as black as dead mana .
“…Mm . Probably? We've already gathered all the seeds with those who have not been chosen by the gods . ”
A thick smile appeared on the boy's face .
Plop . Plop .
The black heart was still in the boy's hand as if it was a toy .
“…You want this thing?”
“Yes . ”
Cale confidently reached his hand out toward Pendrick .
The fake World Tree made it so that Cale could easily move his hand .
“I thought it was for me . ”
"That is true, but…”
Pendrick had an awkward expression on his face as he handed the Sword of the World Tree over to Cale .
He then shared what the World Tree had told him .
"The World Tree-nim said that young master-nim’s blood is special . ”
“My blood?”
Cale and Choi Han both looked at Pendrick in confusion .
Pendrick peeked at the maze that was turning into a mess and quickly whispered .
“Yes, sir . She said that your blood has more life force and vitality than anyone else . That is why she said that Cale-nim’s blood was the perfect weapon against those with weak vigor or vitality . ”
Cale recalled a thought he had in the past .
There was a power that opposed dead mana .
It was life force .
When fighting against dead mana, the stupidest and most dangerous yet easiest method was to cover your entire body with blood and charge against the dead mana .
Of course, most people were likely to die from a loss of blood first .
Boom . Boom . Boom .
Cale felt his heart beating wildly for some reason .