"The Blood Dread Clan's reinforcements were trapped by the Twilight faithful in the Barren Mountains? No wonder those bastards were so late. They still hadn't reached Transia, even though they were long past the appointed time. I thought the Blood Dread Clan had learned a thing or two during their two hundred years in exile and grown some backbone, daring to defy Lord Paine's will. I never expected the truth to be so damn irritating.
"Figures. Same old tricks as in Charlemagne's time. The Blood Dread Clan was famous for its little schemes back then, treating everyone like prey they could toy with, like a pack of cunning hunters. But they were never very good at choosing their targets!
"Otherwise, the 'Blood Dread Clan's Doom' wouldn't have happened.
"Tch. Children of Greed. I knew it. Greed was always the worst of the cardinal sins!"
Triss's biting sarcasm and angry complaints came through the communication orb's nearly exhausted range and into Murphy's ear. The Blood Eagle Grand Duke paused, then snapped:
"But why didn't they ask for help sooner? And the Barren Mountains are so close to the Blackflame Pass. Why didn't they ask the Blood Alliance Clan's knights to save them? Why does it have to be us? What kind of damn trial has our Lord set for us this time?"
"This has nothing to do with our Lord. In fact, I don't think our Lord has the patience to deal with something this trivial. After the Wise Wolf's plan was proposed, our Lord should be very busy now. And according to Nefertari, those Blood Dread Clan bastards deliberately stood us up."
Murphy stood in the desolate night of Baphomet Gorge, gazing toward Blackflame Pass. He replied to Triss:
"That mummy woman from the Moonlit Holy City has a screw