Chapter 92 - 32: [Exile Merchant Team]

Chapter 92: Chapter 32: [Exile Merchant Team]

With his hands behind his back, the Blood Officer stood at the doorway, watching their retreating backs disappear down the corridor. Meanwhile, a white-robed figure walked in the opposite direction of the departing Sword Guards, emerging from the end of the hall and striding briskly toward the officer.

He wore chainmail and a sturdy breastplate engraved with intricate Magic Circuits. A Repeating Crossbow and a Longsword were slung over his back, while a small buckler was strapped to his arm. Hanging from his waist were a Crossbow Quiver, a Magic Potion Bag, and an item pouch—looking every bit the Advanced Adventurer.

"So this is what you meant by ’busy,’ Commander Bennett?" he asked, teasing the Blood Officer as he glanced at the departing Sword Guards.

"A high-tier Demon Race entity was discovered this close to the border; it naturally warrants a cautious approach," the officer replied calmly. "Besides, it’s a good opportunity for the boys to hone their skills. Just like clever hound pups, if you want them to hunt, you have to teach them to bite live prey from a young age as training. Merely tearing at toy targets is useless."

"Give me an explanation for what happened recently." The white-robed adventurer snorted. "During the large-scale assault organized by the Adventurer’s Alliance’s Luojie City branch, sword marks from Blood Steel Weapons were discovered in the Fourth Ring, where the Burrowers reside. Furthermore, after the operation was aborted due to a food shortage, autopsies on the intercepted grain transport convoy revealed they were also killed by Blood Steel Weapons."

"Valak is simply trying to sow discord." Unbothered, the officer walked over to a plain wooden table in the room and pulled out a chair. "Don’t tell me the Alliance couldn’t see through Valak’s petty trick. Have a seat."

"I’m not talking about that—of course the Alliance knows it’s Valak’s ruse. But the fact that Valak captured Blood Steel Weapons means you sent personnel into the Fourth Ring of the Underground City. Why?" The white-robed adventurer sat opposite the officer, visibly irritated. "We had an agreement: the Alliance will teach your soldiers individual combat and survival skills, but you are not to recklessly interfere with the Underground City or adventurer affairs. You’ve ruined everything!"

"It was just a routine military drill, and we conveniently helped you clear out the Fourth Ring along the way. Why the fuss?" The officer raised an eyebrow. "Is it really that big of a deal?"

"Valak is excellent at bunkering down and managing his domain. The Burrowers he carefully rears are fatter than pigs, and his Burrower Legion is renowned throughout the northwest for their brawn. Compared to his rotund behemoths, the scrawny Burrowers raised by other Demon Monarchs look like malnourished runts!" The white-robed adventurer slammed a hand on the table.

"The Level 11 [Flame Pierce] Augusta grew overconfident after slaughtering runts in other regions! According to the original deployment plan, his rough edges were supposed to be smoothed out when facing the burly Burrower Legion in Valak’s Fourth Ring. He was supposed to learn his disadvantage in legion-scale warfare, put away his arrogance, make a quick fortune in the Fourth Ring with the other adventurers, and return ready to be promoted to Level 12!" the white-robed adventurer retorted angrily. "Do you know how hard it is for us to cultivate a Level 11 adventurer? Advanced Adventurers are always a scarce resource!

"But your Blood Sword Guards completely wiped out the main force of the Fourth Ring, leaving only a handful of feeble Burrowers. This caused Augusta to misjudge the situation. He led his team straight into the Third Ring, growing even more arrogant, and ultimately perished in the Valak Dungeon alongside a bunch of adventurers blinded by greed!"

"What do you mean the Blood Sword Guards completely wiped out the main force of the Fourth Ring?" The officer frowned. "The Burrowers Valak rears are incredibly robust. We only killed a small fraction on the outskirts of the Fourth Ring—not even a third of his main legion. I sent thirty-six boys in, and two died. In the end, they were no match for the elite Knight formations of the Burrowers, so they retreated."

"Oh..." The white-robed adventurer fell silent for a moment. "Then why was it that when they entered the Fourth Ring..."

The two men stared at each other in silence.

"You mean to say... Valak deliberately withdrew the main Burrower force from the Fourth Ring and made it look like they were easily massacred by the Blood Sword Guards. He feigned being severely weakened just to lure Augusta and the others into the Third Ring..." the white-robed adventurer realized.

"As I said, Valak’s petty trick." The officer chuckled softly. "Although you adventurers are individually powerful and excel at exploration and solo combat, you know absolutely nothing about military strategy. A Demon Monarch isn’t just a Demon Race individual with immense personal combat strength. They are Monarchs, and more importantly, Supreme Commanders, possessing mature macroscopic tactical ideologies and stratagems."

"Fine... It seems we misunderstood. My apologies," the white-robed adventurer nodded. "Our cooperation is indeed necessary. Individual combat prowess and survival exploration skills in unfamiliar environments cannot replace tactical ideology and military stratagems."

"Of course, military formations also cannot replace formidable elite combat strength and the ability to survive in the perilous Demon Realm." The officer smiled. "The Ederic Empire and the Adventurer’s Alliance are complementary, ironclad allies. Don’t let Valak drive a wedge between us."

"Fair point, ally." The white-robed adventurer offered a nod of acknowledgment. "Also, I came to see you today for another matter."

"Speak," the officer gestured.

The white-robed adventurer pulled out a small Rune Stone Wheel. Fixed in its Catalyst slots were a Beast Eye, two white film-like petals, and a quartz shard containing a strange, shadowy impurity. This was a Four-Phase Spell, meaning it required four Catalyst slots, making it far more complex than the Three-Phase Magic commonly used among adventurers.

"Shadow Carving Magic?" The officer looked at the Rune Stone Wheel with interest. "Did you record something amusing?"

The white-robed adventurer activated the Magic Array clockwise. The shadow within the quartz shard passed through the Beast Eye and was projected by a beam of light, casting an image onto the wall of the fortress room.

The projected footage showed a massive, pitch-black crow-like creature gripping a Thrusting Sword with its wing-claws like a Swordsman, gliding through the sky with outstretched wings.

Because the Shadow Carving Magic had been recorded from a distance, the image was slightly blurry. However, on its face covered in pitch-black feathers, a steel-like beak and blood-red eyes were clearly visible.

There was a hint of mocking amusement in those blood-red eyes, an expression reminiscent of the infamous Lord of Kana, Valak.

The officer remained expressionless.

"Have you seen it?" the white-robed adventurer asked. "Judging by your reaction, you have."

"My boys mentioned a shadow like this once." The officer furrowed his brows. "They said they encountered a giant, humanoid Demon Crow that used a Thrusting Sword. It could fly, circled above their heads to mock them, and deliberately dropped massive bird droppings on them. Its movements were incredibly swift, boasting formidable evasive capabilities. Once it flew high into the sky, it couldn’t be surrounded by a Sword Array and was beyond the effective attack range of their Magic Potion Cannons."

"There’s more than one. It appears there are many of these Crowmen." The white-robed adventurer swapped out the quartz shard in the Wheel’s Magic Array for another.

The projection on the wall shifted to a blurry silhouette of a flock of crows in the sky. At first glance, it seemed unremarkable, but upon closer inspection, the shadow of every single Demon Crow was a Crowman Swordsman wielding a Thrusting Sword.

"What do you make of this?" The white-robed adventurer looked at the officer.

"It doesn’t matter." The officer sneered.

"Are you that confident? Just how many secrets does the Imperial Military still hold?" the white-robed adventurer asked. "Are you truly planning to restore the territory to the scale of the ancient Empire?"

"You’re overstepping a bit there, ally," the officer said as he stood up to leave. "Just focus on doing your part.

"After all, turning the Desolate Demon Realm into a habitable zone will rely on the adventurers."