NOVGO.NET Chapter 462: The Shrouded Wilds.
Chapter 462: The Shrouded Wilds.
“How can you be so sure?”
Kayden frowned.
And at that question, Kael just smiled.
“Because the sky itself is on our side.”
“The sky is on our side…?”
Kayden repeated those words in a confused tone.
If it was anyone else who said it, he would have slapped him for how vague these words were, but when Kael said it, they felt… strangely comforting.
But at the same time—
“Tsk, why do you sound like my mother?”
Kayden snorted.
These vague words reminded him of his mother; every time Morvain didn’t wish to answer his questions, she would answer in such a manner, and just like how it happened now, her answers would reassure him.
“I do?”
Kael blinked.
“Must be a coincidence.”
He smiled.
“…”
Kayden stared at this man in silence; he could imagine his mother saying the words with the exact same expression.
Just that in the end, Kael turned back towards him again and—
“Just trust me.”
“You could give me a direct answer as well, you know?”
Kayden muttered.
“You won’t grow if I do that.”
Kael answered with a chuckle, continuing with the joke.
“I am older than you!”
Kayden raised his voice, Kael’s smile widened and then—
“You should calm your soldiers, Vice Commander.”
He spoke as he stared at the green horizon in front of them.
Kayden looked at him, then he looked at his soldiers and finally, he slowed down, wanting to join his men’s formation.
“Keep your formation steady! Do not lose your calm! This is the first step…”
“…”
“…”
Kael and Lavinia stared at Kayden commanding the soldiers in silence, then suddenly, Lavinia tightened her hold around Kael and—
“You are getting better at it.”
She commented.
“At what?”
“Lying.”
Lavinia answered with a smile.
“Adding half-truths to sound more genuine, that was good.”
She nodded with a satisfied look on her face.
“I do not think it is a good thing.”
Kael commented.
“It is an essential thing.”
Lavinia’s answer was ready.
“Again with that, huh…”
“…”
Lavinia didn’t say anything else. Both she and Kael understood it was important; there was no need to stress it out any longer.
“Are we really going to follow the Divine Wood plan? Do you think they will believe it?”
Kael questioned, still confused.
“They bought the Divine Rations, didn’t they?”
Lavinia answered with a smile, and Kael couldn’t refute those words. Honestly, with everything he had done, it wouldn’t be surprising if normal people believed them, but these were Elites—the strongest of the Velmourns. Would they… truly fall for it?
Plus, the concept of Divine Rations still made sense, but Divine Wood…?
Honestly, in Kael’s head, it held an entirely different meaning.
“You are worrying too much.”
While Kael was thinking all this, Lavinia spoke in a carefree manner. Kael looked at her, and she smiled,
“Just let it happen. Even if they do not truly believe our words, they will follow them.”
Kael stared at the soldiers who were listening to Kayden’s words and—
“I don’t know how long we can keep getting away with all this.”
He commented.
“Leave that to me.
You only need to focus on what we are actually here for.”
Lavinia shrugged, and at her words, Kael sighed with a smile,
“Well, that is not something I need to worry about.”
He commented as he looked down into his pocket, where Imperia was.
“Everything’s prepared, Father.”
The Ant nodded with a confident look on her face.
“How many Ants were there again?”
Lavinia questioned curiously.
“Thirty-five thousand.”
The Ant answered.
“You found a lot, huh…”
Lavinia commented, impressed even though it was her second time hearing this number.
“I found a total of eight colonies. There were more, but there were only so many we could carry on our own. It would have been better if we had more time on our hands.”
Imperia muttered.
“Well, thirty-five thousand Whisperveils is already a lot. Adding to the ten thousand we already have, we can easily cover the entirety of Heights with them.”
Lavinia tried to console the Mother of All Ants, but—
“Whisperveils weren’t the only colonies I found. There were fifteen more colonies of different Ants—a total of two hundred thousand Ants. If we could recruit them all, they could have become a huge help.
Even the Divine Wood you mentioned, I plan to use these Ants to create that.”
The instant Imperia revealed the numbers, even Lavinia’s tone changed.
“Two hundred thousand…?”
She blinked.
“Yes.”
And Imperia nodded again.
“We need a ship.”
The Mage commented, her mind had already started working as to how to add this extra man—or in this case—antpower they had to miss out on.
“Moving two hundred thousand Ants wouldn’t be easy, even with a ship. They aren’t as small as the Whisperveils. We would need more than a hundred ships.”
“A hundred ships…”
Kael muttered.
“Or a hundred round trips from one ship.”
Lavinia added as she began thinking.
Soon, however, the Mage shook her head.
“There is no point thinking about this matter right now.
We still need to think about how to move thirty-five thousand Ants.
Each of them would need to carry more than seventeen hundred Ants.”
“Carrying them isn’t the problem; making sure that they do not notice the Ants is. Vitaria’s illusion won’t work on them.”
Kael pointed out.
“They won’t be able to look into it; we will add a few restrictions.”
Lavinia shrugged.
“…you are really going for it, huh.”
Kael commented, a little taken aback by how carefree this woman seemed today; it was different from her usual meticulous self.
“You underestimate the power of the symbol you have become, Kael.”
Lavinia commented as she stared at the soldiers before turning back towards Kael.
“As long as we find a decently shaped tree—the one I want—that will be more than enough.”
“Leave that to me. Even if there is nothing like that, I will have my Ants create it.”
Imperia spoke in a reassuring tone.
“I want it to look natural.”
Lavinia muttered, and at those words, Imperia laughed.
“It was made by Ants. How much more natural do you want? Ants are a part of nature, you know?”
Kael and Lavinia both stared at each other when the Ant said those words. Then, Lavinia laughed as well; she tightened her hold around Kael and—
“You were right. With her by our side, we truly don’t have to do anything.”
She commented.
Imperia closed her eyes and let out a prideful breath—a sight that made Kael smile. After all, it was one of the few times when his youngest daughter actually acted like her age.
Just like that, time passed; the group finally crossed the ocean and reached the land. Of course, their journey had only started.
The Shrouded Wilds were still far. They had just crossed the sea that separated the Heights from another island. From here, they needed to cross this island before finally reaching the Mainland.
At the speed they were moving, it would take more than eight hours before they finally reached the Shrouded Wilds.
Yes, it was comparatively slower when compared to when Kael moved with just Igni. After all, even though some of these soldiers had Bonds faster than Igni, in the end, they didn’t have the required stamina to maintain that speed for hours like Igni had.
Not to mention, they never knew when they might catch the eyes of outsiders—especially the people from the Sky Kingdom—so they needed to preserve their stamina for any sudden maneuvers or actions.
Kael too was taking it easy since Imperia could use this time to find what they needed.
After about seven hours, the group finally crossed the island and another sea, reaching the Mainland. The soldiers now were even more tense since they could faintly see the huge Sky Kingdom hovering in the air, surrounded with clouds.
It was a majestic sight—one they would have enjoyed if they weren’t so worried about being found out by the Sky Kingdom scouts—but…
This was where Kael took over.
With Cirri, in her sky form, covering everything within a kilometre of Kael, every time she saw the Sky Kingdom’s scout, she reported to Kael, who, together with his group, avoided them without much difficulty.
The carefree scouts didn’t notice anything either. After all, their goal was never to find the Velmourn people moving in their skies; that thought never even crossed their minds. They were simply on the lookout for corrupted beasts that might be gathering together for another Tide.
So with Cirri’s help and the clueless Sky Kingdom scouts, Kael’s group easily landed in the Shrouded Wilds and—
“Alright then, spread out.”
Kael ordered.
“Listen carefully.
We are not in Heights anymore.
This is Shrouded Wilds, a forest far different than anything you have ever experienced.
It listens, it waits, and it punishes carelessness.
You will move in groups of three. If you fall behind your group, you will die—and I will not be able to save you.”
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