Chapter 547: You should have watched your back (1)
Count Mock who had been heading toward the forest turned around before leaving with Squad 4 .
“Vice Commander!”
“Yes, Commander-nim!”
“You lead Squad 3 . ”
“Please leave it to me . ”
Squad 3 consisted of Cale, the Vampire warriors, and the Vampire Knights .
“Guide!”
Alberu walked up to Count Mock and handed him four maps at his calling .
Mock handed those maps to the squad leaders leading the squads heading to the north, east, and west .
“Everybody remembers the details of the plan?”
“Yes, sir!”
“Yes, sir!”
Count Mock made eye contact with each person responsible for a squad before saying one thing .
“Vice Commander . ”
Cale raised his hand at Mock's calling .
Three nimble-looking Vampires stepped forward .
Mock looked over them before nodding his head .
"They are informants and people who have each been to the Forest of Darkness at least once . ”
He motioned with his hand and the three Vampires moved so that one of them was with Squad Leaders 1, 2, and 3 .
Alberu moved next to Count Mock and Squad 4 at the same time .
Mock finally turned back around .
“Let’s go . ”
Squad 4 that was made of Dark Elves headed toward the south side of the Black Castle .
“We will be on our way, sir . ”
“See you soon, Commander . ”
The noble awaiters who were serving as Squad Leaders for Squads 1 and 2 showed the map to their respective Vampire informants and quickly started to move as well .
“Time for us to go too . ”
Squad 3 that Cale was leading started to move toward the west side of the Black Castle as well .
Cale made eye contact with Alberu Crossman who turned around and looked at him before he left .
‘See you in a bit . ’
‘Yes, your highness . ’
The two of them communicated with a short eye greeting .
I'll look after Alberu Crossman too .Cale nodded his head after hearing Eruhaben’s voice and started to move toward the west side of the Black Castle .
Shhhhhhh- shhhhhhh-
Squad 3 started to move while matching Naru’s movements .
“Everybody should have started moving by now . ”
Cale changed directions as soon as he heard Solena's voice .
“We are heading north . ”
He was going back the way he came even though his Squad 3 was responsible for the west side .
Swiiiiiish- Swiiiiiiiish-
His ancient powers had been hidden thanks to Fredo's armband, but the Sound of the Wind now swirled at the tip of his feet .
Although this power did not suit young master Naru-nim, no Vampires questioned this right now .
Shhhhhhhhhhhhhh-
The Vampires silently followed behind Cale .
The slightly over 100 Vampires all headed north .
Cale served as their guide in the front .
Shhhhh- shhhhhhh-
They brushed past branches and bushes and immediately turned north once they returned to the place they had teleported to .
Cale started to speak once they were following behind Squad 1 .
“Come out . ”
Shhh .
One of the large trees started to shake .
Boom!
Cale turned his head after hearing a loud noise .
“Welcome, young master-nim . ”
Tiger shaman Gashan welcomed him .
Crunch . Crunch .
The large Tiger warriors slowly raised their heads from the shadows of the trees along with the sound of crunching leaves .
‘Mm!’
Solena had heard about this, but her hands still became sweaty after looking into the eyes of the Tiger warriors who had been hiding .
‘It's starting now . ’
She tensed up after realizing that the true plan was starting .
She was excited as well .
Cale started to speak .
“The Dark Elves’ Elementals have headed south with Squad 4 . ”
The Elementals that Count Mock's subordinates controlled…
Those Elementals were said to eat other Elementals .
“So this is our chance . ”
The golden top's whip was in Cale's hand .
‘Just tell me what to do . Chaos, destruction, happiness . ’
‘It’s been a while! I've been so bored ever since you told me to wait in the Forest of Darkness!’
‘Sigh . It was so hard hiding from the Dark Elves’ Elementals . ’
Caw . Caw .
Cale lifted his head .
The three Wind Elementals and the crows started to appear one or two at a time and started to cover the sky above the Forest of Darkness .
Cale opened his mouth to speak .
“The operation name is ‘Hunt . ’ ”
He ordered the first step of the operation .
“We will capture Squad 1 first . ”
Squad 1's leader was swordsman Andrei who was said to be one of the strongest of the noble awaiters .
“Move . ”
The Vampires and Tigers started to move north .
Their movements were swift but stealthy .
Squad 3 started to chase behind Squad 1 .
Squad 1's leader, swordsman Andrei .
"Squad leader-nim, it is to the left . ”
“Okay . ”
He followed the Vampire informant and turned left with a faint smile on his face .
‘Soon!’
He was one of the top noble awaiters .
He was lacking in comparison to the original nobles, but he was skilled enough to be able to receive the best treatment if he had gone to any other organization .
This was because he was a sword master .
Ooooooooong-
His sword started to vibrate .
A faint aura smoke started to appear .
“Congratulations . ”
He looked back for a moment after hearing a voice right behind him .
Another noble awaiter was smiling as he sucked up to him .
“What do you mean?”
Andrei looked stern as if to ask the person who spoke what they were talking about in the middle of the plan .
The person who spoke smiled even brighter after seeing his expression .
"Aw come on, you know exactly what I mean, sir . ”
“Ahem . ”
Andrei let out a fake cough and turned around .
“…Please keep the useless chatter for later . ”
“I'm only saying it because we are on our own now . ”
Andrei peeked toward the Vampire informant after hearing that . It was his way of telling the other person that they were not ‘on our own,’ with this Vampire here .
“Ah . ”
The other noble awaiter finally closed his mouth .
However, he still smiled wickedly toward Andrei .
He was not the only one .
Andrei's subordinates, as well as the 24 noble awaiters who made up his squad, all had bright expressions .
‘Hehe . It’s not like I don’t understand why he feels that way . ’
Andrei understood the other awaiter quite well .
The Black Castle destruction plan .
The plan was to destroy the castle while Cale Henituse and his core group of friends were not around and take the people inside as hostages .
‘It won't be easy . ’
Even without Cale Henituse and the core individuals, the chances that Cale Henituse left the castle empty because there were enough defenses set up were high .
That was why he thought that the difficulty of the plan would be considered high between high, medium, and low .
‘But it is not so dangerous that I might die . ’
That was what was making the members of Squad 1 all have bright expressions .
This was especially true for Andrei, who was full of anticipation .
If this plan was a success…
‘I should receive a noble title if we succeed . ’
He was a squad leader after all .
He had to temporarily become Count Mock's subordinate because of it, but he wasn’t planning on quietly staying there .
Andrei composed his expression and started to speak .
“Everybody focus!”
“Yes, sir!”
He then gave an order to the informant .
“We are increasing our speed . ”
He was planning on quickly getting to the discussed location and surrounding the Black Castle .
Andrei's desires were almost overflowing .
“Yes, sir . I will increase my speed!”
The informant quickly moved with the map in his hand .
Andrei followed behind him as well .
“Ugh!”
The informant's body suddenly fell forward at that moment .
"What is it?”
Andrei looked toward the informant in shock .
“M, my foot-!”
The informant reached for his ankle with a shocked expression .
“…Huh?”
Andrei’s eyes opened wide .
He saw a gold rope that shot out of the ground and grabbed the Vampire informant’s ankle .
"A rope?”
‘Is this one of Cale Henituse's traps?’
His back suddenly turned cold as he had that thought .
‘No . ’
He felt as if something was clenching him from all directions .
That was why he realized it .
‘This is not just a simple trap!’
He turned away from the Vampire who was still on the ground clenching his ankle .
He happened to see something land on his arm at that moment .
Andrei had been quickly charging forward until now . That was why he had not noticed it earlier .
That thing had landed on the back of his hand silently and so gently that he didn't even feel it .
“…Powder?”
Gold powder was surrounding him and the rest of Squad 1 .
The amount of powder started to exponentially increase .
‘This is dangerous! I can tell that this is very dangerous!’
Andrei shouted as soon as he felt that way .
“…Dodge! Step back!”
He tried to move back as he shouted .
The gold powder .
He couldn’t tell what it was, but his intuition as someone who just barely made it past the hump to become a sword master was telling him that this was a dangerous situation .
But it was already too late .
“Ugh!”
“Ugh! My body!”
“Ahhh!”
The powder instantly gathered together and increased in size .
It then started to bind the bodies of Squad 1's members .
“N, no!”
“I can’t move my body!”
The shining golden rope was too strong to be a regular rope .
It was hard for them to even twist their bodies .
“Ugh! How is this so strong?!”
Andrei's body had been bound before he could even take out his sword .
It was so quick that he couldn't even dodge .
‘Is it a trap?’
That was not it .
He quickly got rid of the thought that these ropes were traps that Cale had left behind .
‘This is someone attacking us . ’
This power had accurately aimed for all of them .
That was only possible if someone was looking at them right now .
There was also something else he realized .
‘This person is strong . ’
He was able to become the squad leader because he was a sword master, but most of Squad 1's members were quite strong as well .
There were mages in the group too, but this enemy had tricked all of them and had instantly suppressed them .
Andrei started to sweat .
He held back his fear and raised his voice .
“Who are you?! Who dares to ambush us like this?!”
He looked around and raised his voice .
His hand was doing everything it could to get free and reach for his scabbard .
‘If I can just get my sword out!’
He could just slash away this stupid rope with his aura if he could pull his sword out .
It was at that moment .
“Where are you looking?”
Andrei heard a foreign voice .
“You should raise your head . ”
Flinch .
Andrei's shoulders flinched before he looked up .
He could see an Elf sitting on top of a thick branch on a tree .
The beautiful Elf with white-gold hair started to smile .
“You wish to return alive after stepping into a Dragon’s lair?”
‘What? A Dragon’s lair?’
Andrei was definitely looking at an Elf, but his whole body felt chilly after looking into the Elf’s eyes .
It was at that moment .
“Hmm . How disappointing . ”
He heard a voice behind him .
Andrei slowly raised his head .
It was a familiar voice .
‘Whose voice is this?’
He soon remembered the owner of this voice .
He was confused because the way the person was speaking was completely different than normal, but he remembered .
‘…Young master Naru Von Ejellan!’
They were allies .
His head that had been slowly turning quickly turned in joy about seeing an ally before he could even question why Naru was here .
Naru was smiling and approaching him .
He opened his mouth to speak .
He didn't sound like the pure and brave boy who just wanted to get revenge for his father . It was a cold voice that reached Andrei's ear .
“This is very disappointing . ”
Naru was disappointed .
The boy's gaze headed toward the white-gold haired Elf sitting on the tree branch .
“How can you attack first like that, sir?”
‘…What?’
Andrei's questioned his ears for a moment .
However, that suspicion soon returned with a clear answer .
Naru looked at him and started to smile .
“I was supposed to get him first . ”
Grrrrr-
Squad 1 quickly heard the roars of wild beasts surrounding them .
Crunch . Crunch .
However, the things that came out through the bushes were the Beast men of the Tiger tribe who were much scarier than wild beasts .
Berserk Tigers completely surrounded them .
“What the hell!”
Andrei looked back and Naru and started to shout .
“Young master Naru! What the hell are you doing? Did you betray us?”
However, Naru did not respond .
Someone else responded in his place .
“Betray? How can you say such upsetting things?”
“…Who are you?!”
One of the Vampire knights who had been standing behind Cale walked forward .
The Vampires bowed their heads and made a path for him .
The knight removed the helmet on his head .
“You should know my face, right?”
“Uhh, uhh!”
Andrei could not continue speaking because he was shocked .
“H, how are you here?!”
Smile .
Duke Fredo was smiling after seeing his reaction .