New Mission

In the Antir Region, there is a city shrouded in the smoke of war; this is the Royal Capital of the Antir Kingdom, though it has lost its former Radiance.

At the foot of the city wall, countless soldiers erected ladders, trying to climb up, but heavy objects kept falling from above, making it difficult for them to move forward.

Some of the city's defenders even threw a pool of red liquid down below, which hit the base of the siege ladder and caused flames to erupt.

Several soldiers were accidentally engulfed by the flames and could only scream and roll on the ground in an attempt to extinguish them, but all their efforts were in vain. The flames burned extremely fast, and anyone who came into contact with them was basically doomed.

As expected, after rolling on the ground for a while, the soldiers came to a standstill, leaving only their still-burning black corpses.

A soldier on the ladder glanced back at the flames below, swallowed hard, then looked up again. Above him, another soldier stood with Short Sword, waiting for him to ascend...

He's in a dilemma; there's virtually no way out of this situation...

Should I go up and face my opponent head-on, or should I jump down recklessly? The flames there have weakened a bit; I might not die...

Ultimately, in his hesitation, he was struck on the head by a rock above, falling seven meters to the ground, his life hanging in the balance.

The flames that were about to go out found new energy and began to burn intensely again.

In the distance, a flag fluttered in the wind. A man dressed in black armor, with a wolf's head on his arm, watched the horrific scene unfold, revealing sharp fangs, like those of a wolf.

More than once, he considered abandoning everything and going to the Battlefield to attack that city.

But he suppressed his thoughts and told himself that now was not the time.

"Commander, Duke Theodore's orders."

Connor turned his head and looked at one of the knights in the order, who was wearing silver-white armor and holding a letter in his hands.

"What's that old guy up to? He called us here just to watch these scum waste their time?"

He said dismissively, then took the letter.

"Commander, this is good news. Our hiring fee is calculated by the day. For every day we stay here, he has to give us an extra thirty silver coins."

The knight who handed him the letter said this.

"Hmph!" Connor scoffed and changed the subject.

"If he hadn't failed to secure the Royal Capital's claim to the territory, causing us to be constantly rejected by that territory, it would have been over long ago."

"Commander, the Royal Capital's Territory Token and the heir will be in the safest place, where Duke Theodore has no way of accessing them," the knight said.

"Besides, if he could actually get in touch with them, he wouldn't have come looking for us."

His implication was that if Duke Theodore had truly been able to reach them, the war would have ended long ago, and they wouldn't have been brought here in the first place.

"Who knows? Maybe his subordinates are plotting a rebellion too."

Connor maliciously speculated about Duke Theodore, chuckled a few times, and then opened the letter.

This was a contract he had signed with Duke Theodore, stipulating that all orders must be transmitted via special letters, and even verbal communication was not permitted.

This is why, even though he was only a few hundred meters away from Duke Theodore, he still issued orders by letter.

He unfolded the letter, his pupils contracting slightly, as if he had seen something that shocked him.

"What's wrong, Commander?"

The knight, observing his commander's expression, asked curiously.

"It's nothing, we should be able to go home next month."

Connor unfolded the letter and explained it to the knight.

"Duke Theodore's ally, the spies of the Kalai Kingdom, have discovered something."

"They found the token for the territory north of the Royal Capital; this thing is extremely important."

"Now they've found the relevant tokens for the surrounding lands; all they lack is that piece of land, and then they can use their territory to encircle the Royal Capital."

"This will make it difficult for the newly crowned heir to so easily control the territory and launch a counterattack. Duke Theodore alone could raze such Royal Capital to the ground in a single day."

"That's why I said we can go home next month. It's really tough, having lost so much money."

Seeing the smile on Connor's face, the knight knew that he wasn't actually upset, but rather relieved that these boring days were finally over.

Connor continued:

"Of course, those incompetent spies didn't get the token, which is why this letter ended up in our hands. Otherwise, we would have just come here for a month of camping and then gone back."

He paused, then continued:

"The task Duke Theodore has given us is not an easy one. It is not difficult in itself, but it may bring some trouble."

"What trouble?" the knight asked curiously.

"That token is currently in the hands of a mage in the Antir Region, but we have no idea where that mage is."

"Is this what they call finding a needle in a haystack?" the knight frowned.

This matter is not a good thing either; firstly, finding that sorcerer is already difficult.

Since those mages knew there was a war here, they would naturally avoid the war zone. Their spies were all here, and information in the surrendered areas was not necessarily reliable, so it was extremely difficult to find that mage.

Furthermore, this place is too close to the Alliance; killing a mage would be a huge risk, but for their knightly order, it's a trivial matter...

"We're going to kill two mages this time. The mage carrying the token will only learn about her after we kill the other mage."

"Two mages..." The knight in silver armor had a complicated expression. He was about to try to dissuade them when he saw the leader's excited face.

He was about to say that the risk to the two mages was too great, and asked if...

Seeing the commander's expression, he knew that words would be useless.

He sighed and said helplessly:

"Alright, where is that mage we're supposed to kill? Let's get on with it, and then we'd better get away from the Alliance as quickly as possible."

Connor licked his lips and said loudly:

"He seems to have some business dealings with our Duke Theodore, and he's currently on another Battlefield, collecting corpses."

Then, he laughed out loud.

"He probably doesn't realize his death is imminent!"

With that, he turned around and walked towards the tent, preparing to announce the news.

The knight watched his retreating figure and couldn't help but sigh again.

He knew that his guild leader was about to have the blood of two more mages on his hands, but there was nothing he could do about it.

Even if their own commander is somewhere else right now, this job is something only he can take on.

After all, only Captain Connor, who comes from the Mage Family, can bear the consequences of killing those mages.