Chapter 438: The Spy Within [Part 1]

"The progress of this campaign has been pathetically disappointing," the Royal Inquisitor said coldly. "Do you know why His Majesty sent me here? I am here to personally observe your performance. I am here to report what I see. And what do I see? A clueless army that can’t get anything done properly!"

Today marked the second day since the proud army of Britannia had marched toward the Borderlands.

And for the second consecutive day, they had retreated to the Stoneguard Fortress. Again.

What made this retreat particularly humiliating was the fact that their enemies had chased them until they were a mile away from the fortress.

The Pteranodons only pulled back when General Vogel unleashed countless arrows made of light from the ramparts of the fortress to chase them away.

However, the damage had been done.

Over two thousand people had died in that retreat.

The Pteranodons, which had aerial superiority, dropped boulders and trees from the sky, killing many people on the ground.

The Gryphon-like creature Commander Dominic had described had also joined the battle, unleashing dozens of Wind Blades that annihilated the retreating army.

Along with them was a man tossing boulders in their direction from an out-of-reach distance.

If not for General Duran activating his ability that boosted the strength of his allies and the fighting prowess of the other Commanders in the Britannian Army for a short time, many more would have died.

Two days.

Two consecutive losses.

General Duran and General Vogel had no excuses whatsoever.

Had they moved together and fought calmly, they wouldn’t have suffered many losses.

Both of them knew this, so they endured the nagging of the Royal Inquisitor, who had no idea what waging a war was like.

At most, he made up assumptions according to the results he saw, thinking the disappointing outcome must be due to the generals not doing their jobs properly.

"I assure you that tomorrow will be different," Duran replied calmly. "We will no longer underestimate our enemies. Also, we now know what they are capable of. Tomorrow, they can no longer take advantage of us."

"Is that so?" The Royal Inquisitor sneered. "What do you think, General Vogel?"

"General Duran speaks the truth," Vogel answered. "Tomorrow will be different."

Now that he knew the capabilities of the enemy archer, he could counter anything that the other could do. Besides, during their exchange, Vogel had also learned one thing.

His enemy was many times weaker than him.

That gap would not easily be bridged by simply having superior range. Granted, range gave absolute advantage to a ranged attacker, but there were other factors that made General Vogel far superior to Otto.

"Very well." The Royal Inquisitor nodded. "I will inform His Majesty of the things that happened today and pass on your promise that things will be different tomorrow. I really hope that it is different because if not..."

The Royal Inquisitor narrowed his eyes. He didn’t need to finish whatever he was saying because the two Generals understood him well.

Their King wasn’t someone who liked hearing losses and defeats on the battlefield.

If they couldn’t reach Eden by the time the Aurelion Empire had begun its siege of Eden, their King would punish them severely.

The Royal Inquisitor left the room, leaving General Duran, General Vogel, as well as the Commander of Stoneguard Fortress, Armand, behind.

"Are the two of you certain that tomorrow will be different?" Armand asked.

""Yes.""

Both generals replied at the same time.

They had long started coming up with various strategies in their minds. Later, the two of them would brainstorm to see if their ideas could be incorporated with each other, forming a concrete strategy for tomorrow’s advance.

Suddenly, the door of the conference room opened, and then one of Duran’s subordinates whispered something in the general’s ear.

"I see." Duran nodded after hearing the report. "Good work."

The general then rose from his seat and headed toward the door.

"What happened?" Vogel asked while also standing up. "Did the enemy appear again?"

Duran shook his head. "No. Dominic and Marco have returned to the fortress."

The Black Tortoise General briefly told Vogel about how the Gryphons had made their appearance on the battlefield. He then added that Dominic and the other members of the Gryphon Battalion broke formation and went to chase after them.

Since he had nothing else to do, Vogel followed Duran. He also wanted to know if Dominic and his men succeeded in taking back their lost companions.

If that really happened, then the morale of the army would gain a little boost despite their two consecutive losses.

When they finally arrived at the barracks where the Frontera Viscounty’s private soldiers were located, they also saw Dominic and his men resting outside.

A glance was enough to tell the two generals that the Gryphon Battalion failed to reclaim their trusted mounts.

"What happened, Dominic?" Vogel asked. "Where are the Gryphons?"

Dominic shook his head. "They are under a magical contract with their captors, so they left."

"Did they say anything?" Duran inquired.

He knew that the Gryphon Battalion shared a strong connection with their mounts, allowing them to understand each other.

"Zephira told me that their captors tried to make them their mounts, but they refused," Dominic answered. "They even threatened them that they would commit suicide if they forced them to attack our army."

Duran and Vogel’s expressions changed somewhat after hearing this revelation.

They had already seen the destruction that the Pteranodons had done to them. If the Gryphons had been part of that aerial strike, then it would have been extremely difficult for them to counterattack.

"Did they tell you anything else about the enemy?" Duran asked.

"No." Dominic shook his head. "The only thing Zephira added was that they would help the Aslan Tribe in fighting against the Aurelion Empire."

The moment the two generals heard those words, their eyes widened in shock.

"How did they know?" Vogel asked with a frown. "This is supposed to be a secret operation. How did they know that the Kingdom of Britannia and the Aurelion Empire are working together to deal with the barbarians?"

"I don’t know," Dominic answered. "Based on what Zephira said, it is very obvious that the enemy already knew that we were going to invade. This is why they came prepared to stop us."

"I see... now I understand." Duran sighed. "They must have a spy inside this fortress. That spy might also be the one responsible for contaminating the wells to weaken our army."

Since most of the soldiers were still recuperating from the illnesses that they suffered, they weren’t at their peak condition.

This also made them unable to do their roles properly when they marched out of the fortress.