Chapter 189: Problems In The Other Kingdoms

"Commander! The unaffected are too few! Even though the affected are weaker, they are still spreading!" a soldier reported in a council where the generals were having a discussion.

The commander of Rianzares Kingdom, Commander Themor felt his facial expression have already been stiff and tired from frowning all night.

"What is happening!? The spread is still not stopping!?" one of the generals asked in a panic.

The soldier who reported in quivered and answered, "Still not yet, General Kim!"

General Kim thumped the table as the other counselors and nobles were trying to find a solution.

"The moment the king and the queen have gone away, something like this happened!"

"How can we stop this?! If this continued, King Gregor won't see anything at sunrise!"

At that moment, Commander Themor looked stared at the soldier, "What are you here for? Do you still have something to report?" he was gritting his teeth, restraining the anger within him.

'There is surely a conspiracy behind this. This is too much of a coincidence!' the supreme commander's face was filled with black lines. He felt like the white hairs on his head would double when the sun rose.

"Commander, our captain has noticed something and he thought that you should know." the soldier timidly said. In front of these executives, he was nothing and that invisible pressure was weighing him down.

"Report it!" one of the three generals lost his patience, "If you have something to report, say it all!"

"Y-yes, general, I apologize for my hesitation! This is about the spread of the affected! Our captain thinks that the affected are not spreading but instead have been planted because even though no contacts occurred, soldiers are going berserk left and right!"

"What..?" the executives all looked at each other. They all thought that this is some sort of toxins that are being spread like a plague, affecting the mind of the victims.

That was why they were there, locked inside, not wanting to be infected by it. If they were to go berserk as well, who would lead the people?

Without the King or Queen, if they were to be incapacitated then the military prowess of Rianzares Kingdom would become headless chickens, running aimlessly!

"Is this correct!?" General Kim hit the stone table again, cracking it, showing his Rank Cee aura.

"Y-yes-!" the soldier squealed in fright. Forcefully swallowing his fear, he then continued, "Also, our captain has also found that only those who are Rank Eeh below and Non-Elementalists are affected! Other Rank Dih soldiers were fine as they were trying to restrain the masses!"

The people on the round table, including the commander, looked at each other, knowing what to do.

"We are still not sure." an old counselor worried.

"I know, however, as the peak powers, if we don't do anything, more casualties will add up." a high-ranking noble replied.

"I agree... but all the soldiers that were infected had a boost in their strength, right?" the second general looked at the soldier.

"Yes! It seemed that they all had Body Strengthening even though they have yet to reach Rank Dih!"

"As long as we are not sure whether this news is reliable, we have to stay here." another noble suggested which everyone nodded.

"Tsk!" Commander Themor clicked his tongue, 'Earlier, they were all frantic and panicking and now that they have the choice to risk themselves, they became cowards!' but soon, he took a deep breath.

"Even if these people are stronger than before, they still do not have any chance against true Elementalists, is that correct?"

"Yes, that is the report, Commander Themor!"

Everyone looked at the commander as he pondered. With none of the Royal Family present, it was this supreme commander who is currently in charge of the kingdom that even the duke has no say.

If only that duke is another Rank Bih, that was unlocked by their bloodline, then it would've been a different case.

Not long after, Commander Themor said, "Since our main power, the navy is still unaffected, I don't think we should be worrying that much. There should be a root to this and after we survive, we will find it and burn it!" his words were heavily received from the others.

If this was a conspiracy then there should be a traitor somewhere in that kingdom, even possibly in that room right now. But they have no idea that their king was the one who was sacrificing them.

"What we currently need to do is defend. If the report holds true then the strong Elementalists would still be on our sides. Just weak Rank Eehs and even Non-Elementalists are not enough to even do anything fatal to the kingdom. Although there are losses, it wouldn't be much, they can just be replaced within the year."

'Hayss... I'm the same as them though. I don't really want to get out of there if there's a chance to be infected.' the Commander inwardly sighed while keeping a sharp eye.

"And don't forget, we are waiting for the envoy from the Danhan Family who is a Rank Ey. If worse comes to worst, we just have to rely on a Rank Ey power. But before that, we have to suppress the situation! Go, continue to defend and restrain them! Observe for another hour and if you think that your captain's guesses are correct then we will move out at once!"

"Yes, Commander Themor!" the soldier then hurriedly ran off, carrying the orders with him.

"Are you sure, Commander Themor? Are we going to show weakness towards the Danhan Family?" an old counselor frowned but could only question.

"Weakness? Don't forget, in front of the Danhan Family, we are too weak. We are already in a disadvantageous position and showing weakness will not do anything. If they want, they can conquer Haliviana. We can only hope that they don't want to."

"Rank Ey Elementalists... they are the top of the world, huh..." General Kim sighed, filled with jealousy behind those words.

"The world is really unfair." a noble agreed, "Many generations later and we only have four Rank Bih Elementalists in the whole country. Meanwhile, the Danhan Family have more than a hundred Rank Ey..."

The executives all shuddered in fear. They are already sitting on the round table but they are only Rank Cee Elementalists. If a Rank Bih was to order them, they could do nothing about it.

Soon, the soldier came back with a more terrified face.

"Commander!"

"You're back already?"

"Visitors!"

Commander Themor felt conflicted, "Oh... the envoy is earlier than suspected..."

"No, these people are much more important!" the soldier felt his knees weak as he grabbed onto his spear as support just from thinking about these "visitors"