Avoid the Strong, Strike the Weak

"Who the hell is it?!"

Inside the Central Tree, the great lord Gatemont was already beside himself with rage. Over the past year, not only had his friend Yisrute been assassinated, but his own faction had inexplicably fallen apart. Its members suspected one another, and Hollows on both the left and right sides had been assassinated. Yet the culprit had never been identified.

Of the thirty-six lords, only eight still followed him. All the rest had begun building factions of their own. They had also begun stirring up disputes, making civil war inevitable.

And it had all begun with Yisrute's death.

Over the past year, Gatemont had raised a new sensory-type Hollow, but he still had not managed to identify the instigator behind all the chaos. Using his new sensory-type Hollow's abilities, he discovered that two Pseudo-Adjuchas he had never seen before had joined the faction of his subordinate Yinfeng.

The unfamiliar scent of their Spiritual Pressure immediately led Gatemont to focus on the two Hollows. Combined with the nature of Yinfeng's ability, it made Gatemont almost certain that Yinfeng had been behind the assassination.

But over that same year, Yinfeng's faction had fought for him several times. Within the last half month, Yinfeng had even been gravely wounded while shielding him from a sneak attack. As a result, Gatemont put aside some of his suspicions about Yinfeng.

Little did he know that Wien had orchestrated it all. Both the sneak attack on Gatemont and Jekain taking the blow for him had been plots devised by Wien to lessen suspicion.

Wien had never displayed the properties of Concealment or space before Gatemont. Relying solely on his own powerful Spiritual Pressure, he had fooled Gatemont into believing that his ability temporarily increased his capacity to unleash Spiritual Pressure.

As for Nel, she was merely a Hollow who could use Super Acceleration. She had never used Lanzador Verde, Cero Doble, or any of her other combat skills in front of the other Hollows.

As a result, Wien and Nel were both counted among the types of Hollow beasts that were poor at fighting. That dispelled even more of the suspicion surrounding them.

As time went on, Gatemont lowered his guard around Wien and the others. Wien was able to remain hidden among Gatemont's subordinates and continue carrying out his plan.

Although continuing to help Gatemont would offend the other rising factions, the great lord Gatemont's faction was still the strongest at this stage. Unless the other four factions attacked him together, Gatemont would surely drive them back one by one if they attacked separately.

"My lord, those rebels have sent someone to negotiate."

Inside the Central Tree, the nine remaining lords were still holding their meeting. Yinfeng sat off in a corner, silently watching everything unfold, while Wien and Nel stood on either side of Jekain, who was using the name Yinfeng. They listened to the meeting.

As if things were not bad enough, while Gatemont's fury remained unresolved, one of his Pseudo-Adjuchas reported the urgent news from outside.

"They said you must hand over most of the resources in the western part of the forest, my lord. They also demand an explanation for the recent assassinations of Pseudo-Adjuchas in the various territories."

"Dream on!" Gatemont's Spiritual Pressure began to turn violent. "Those ungrateful traitors! If I'd known this would happen, I should have wiped them all out when they first began to harbor rebellious thoughts!"

About two months earlier, the Central Forest had held its last full assembly. At that meeting, the lords of every faction harboring disloyal thoughts had finally erupted because their subordinates kept being assassinated.

The major factions had come to blows, and Gatemont had done everything he could to suppress them. In the end, the lords had fled in different directions. From that point on, the five factions occupied the five corners of the forest and developed independently. The lord's faction to which Wien belonged was in the east of the forest. Jekain secretly ruled three territories through his subordinates.

"All Pseudo-Adjuchas, hear my order! Summon your Gillians at once and prepare for battle!"

"My lord, the Four Factions already have far more Pseudo-Adjuchas than we do. If we force a fight, we may suffer grievous losses." The newly appointed sensory-type Hollow had an alien appearance, like an oversized plankton. He had no arms or legs and swam through the air using the countless tentacles beneath him.

"If the Four Factions besiege us, they have nearly a hundred Low Rank Adjuchas besides their lords, while we have only around fifty. Your Spiritual Pressure may be strong enough, great lord, but you can't fight so many enemies at once!"

"Of course I know that! But am I supposed to stand by and watch them challenge my dignity?" Gatemont was furious, but he had not completely lost his reason. He also knew that if they fought to mutual destruction, his own faction would suffer grievous losses. After this battle, fewer than one in ten of the Pseudo-Adjuchas at his disposal might remain.

"My lord, I have a plan." While everyone else was still fretting, Jekain stood up. "Rather than meet the enemy head-on, we should avoid their strengths and strike their weaknesses with a flanking tactic. We can use overwhelming force to pick off the relatively weaker factions first and make an example of them to warn the others."

"Oh?" Gatemont's eyes brightened slightly beneath his mask, as though he had seen hope of striking back. "Lord Yinfeng, tell me your plan."

Ever since Jekain had risked his life to take a blow for Gatemont, his accomplishments in battle had also led Gatemont to trust him more and more. Jekain had almost become the lord Gatemont valued most among his subordinates.

"My lord, I believe Kielas's faction is the weakest of the four factions coming against us. According to my investigation, aside from Kielas himself and two other lords, who are Mid Rank Adjuchas, all their other followers are Low Rank Pseudo-Adjuchas. Some are close to advancing to Mid Rank, but as long as their supply of resources is insufficient, we can suppress them as much as possible.

"Of course, we would also be taking a risk. The Central Tree is the symbol of the great lord. If it proves difficult to defend, we may have to give it up and let the four rebel factions fight over it, delaying their next encroachment.

"At the same time, we can also hand over the resources in the western forest that they want, as a way to buy time. Of course, before that, we must use Garganta to transfer the Gillians who possess consciousness and can be of use to us. As for the unconscious Gillians, we can only save a portion of them.

"As the price for delaying their attack, we can take the opportunity to attack one or two of the lords. With resources distributed unevenly, attacking just one faction will be enough to throw them into disarray. We can then take advantage of the situation, using retreat as a means to advance, and gradually devour their factions completely."

"Hmm..." Gatemont fell into thought. This meant he would have to give up the dignity of a great lord and place himself on the same footing as the other lords for the plan to have any chance of succeeding.

"My lord, those who accomplish great things do not concern themselves with trifles. We cannot find the one who has been causing trouble behind our backs all this time, but one thing is certain: that wretch must be among the four factions. If we do not find him, we may lose the right to participate in the Holy War four years from now. When that happens, the bugs from the Northern Forest will very likely come knocking. We have little time left."

"Even so, if we devour every faction, the strength of the entire Central Forest will also decline considerably. When the time comes..."

"My lord, as the saying goes, a wise man knows when to adapt. After we defeat the rebel lords one by one, would those Low Rank Pseudo-Adjuchas not submit to your mighty reputation? Besides, devouring the rebels will also increase our strength. Whether we face the Holy War or enter the Inner Circle, both are options. We only need to make sure that, before the Holy War, we have enough fighting strength to deal with it.

"As for the Central Forest, once the rebellion has been put down, the monsters from the Southern Forest will also have suffered a great loss of strength. That will give us enough time to catch our breath. I believe that as long as we hold out until the Holy War ends, everything can return to normal."

"Mm, that makes sense." After pondering for a moment, Gatemont nodded. "In that case, get to work. Kielas's territory is in the southeast. I'll personally take a force to deal with him. Yinfeng, take your people north from the east and intercept the other lords' resources. Either devour their Pseudo-Adjuchas bit by bit or drive them west. Leave ten Pseudo-Adjuchas here to put up a false defense. Everyone else will withdraw from the Central Tree. We'll start with these two lords' territories!"

"Yes, my lord."

The lords under his command received their orders and withdrew. Wien, Jekain, and the others also left the Central Tree.

From east to north? Wien pondered as he left.

Gatemont's decision made things much more convenient for Wien, allowing him to harvest the other lords' resources as he pleased. Moreover, aside from Jekain, the other three lords who had pledged their loyalty to Wien were also entirely under his control. With four lord-level Menos Grande, plus the abilities of Wien, Nel, and Jekain, harvesting resources would be easy—even without leaving a trace.

"My king, our chance has come." Upon returning to their territory, Jekain immediately dropped to one knee.

"Ah, this really is a good opportunity." Wien nodded. "Who is the Pseudo-Adjuchas lord closest to our territory?"

"Pairomon, a Power-Type Mid Rank Adjuchas. He specializes in attacking with his powerful arms. His ability is to use force to trigger earthquakes and destroy the terrain."

"Sounds like good prey." A glint of ferocity appeared in Wien's eyes beneath his mask. "Send Pseudo-Adjuchas skilled in sensing and scouting to Pairomon's territory. Don't get drawn into a fight. Find out as much as you can about the terrain and the distribution of Gillian-class Hollows within the territory. We'll act once Gatemont begins his attack in the south."

"Yes!"

A week later, Wien led Nel, Jekain, and the three lord-level Menos Grande under his command to Pairomon's territory.

There was a hill within the part of that territory bordering his own. Wien ordered his subordinates to excavate half the hill, forming a natural hunting net.

He then ordered the three lord Pseudo-Adjuchas under his command to use a Pseudo-Adjuchas summoning method to gather nearby Gillians and hunt them for resources. With Jekain's spatial blockade, Wien's Concealment and assassinations, and Nel using her absorption ability to dispose of the bodies and erase the traces, the three Pseudo-Adjuchas could easily harvest wave after wave of Gillians.

With vast amounts of resources flowing in, Wien and the others took the opportunity to develop and grow stronger. Because Gatemont was keeping the others occupied, and the other factions were busy fighting over new territory, Wien's small group faced no large-scale counterattacks. Their plundering of resources went very smoothly.

Time passed slowly, and resources throughout the territory began to grow scarce. This also drew Pairomon's attention.

In his territory, Pairomon began questioning his followers. "Why have there been so many fewer Gillians in the territory lately? Not just unconscious Gillians—I haven't seen many conscious ones recently either. What on earth is going on?"

"My lord, according to what I sensed, a great many Gillians' Spiritual Pressures have vanished at the border of our territory in the south. I suspect an entrance to the Giant Sand Dune may have suddenly opened in the south."

"Send someone to investigate at once. If they find an entrance to the sand dune, seal it off immediately."

"Yes, my lord!"