Chapter 108 - Secret Unveiled

The arrow struck the magic crystal in the middle of the portal. The crystal was covered with tiny cracks, then shattered with a loud bang. The light above the portal grew incredibly bright, runes flashed into sight then disappeared as fast as they had appeared.

"Let’s go," Anfey called.

There was no need for hiding anymore. Suzanna summoned her combat power and dashed out. The portal’s explosion had drawn many mercenaries. They hurried out of their residences and ran towards where the explosion took place.

If the mercenary group’s high ranking members were here, or if there were some swordsmen or magisters present, they could pose a potential threat to Suzanna. However, the ones that were left at the campsite were some low-ranking mercenaries. Suzanna was able to cut through their ranks like a hot knife through butter.

The ones that arrived later saw that Suzanna had slain a dozen mercenaries in a few seconds’ time, and were terrified. They hurried out of her way. This was the difference between mercenaries and actual soldiers. Actual soldiers had rules that needed to be followed. The mercenaries, on the other hand, had much more freedom, and fewer rules. If this had been an army camp, the soldiers would have tried to stop Suzanna with their lives.

A few senior mages tried to attack Suzanna with fireballs, wind blades, and ice arrows. Anfey used his bow and defended Suzanna from the mages. The shields the mages used were not very effective. Anfey’s bow had no name, but it was no normal bow either. Its powerful wind arrows destroyed the shields easily, and the arrows easily killed the mages.

After two mages were killed, the other ones ran for their lives. The magical attacks ended. Suzanna and Anfey easily made their way through the crowd. They flipped over the high wall and onto the street.

A carriage stopped in front of them, and the two jumped onto it. By the time the mercenaries hurried into the streets, the carriage was long gone.

Anfey sighed in relief. He sat down on the carpet and asked, "Won't we encounter patrols?"

"There have been three robberies, one break in, and four rapes. There are patrols to spare," Black Eleven informed him.

"Good," Anfey nodded. "I trust you."

Black Eleven felt strangely repulsed by his words. He opened his mouth and wanted to object, but in the end did not say anything. "Why did you destroy Glory mercenary’s transmission portal? Don’t forget how powerful they are. It won’t take more than a day to fix that."

"A day is more than enough," Anfey said. He grabbed Black Eleven and whispered into his ear.

Black Elven looked surprised. "You’re mad," he said.

"Never mind about that," Anfey said. "Are you brave enough for this? This is the last step. If you don’t want to help me, everything else will go to waste."

"Did you even think about the consequences?"

"Consequences? My goal is to make this place as chaotic as possible."

"Then why don’t you wait until the Shansa princess’s caravan leaves the city? This way both Glory and Tigers of Tawau mercenary groups will fight each other until one side is completely defeated."

"It doesn’t benefit me to have both sides seriously harmed. I'd rather leave the Tiger of Tawau in full force and have Anthony avenge his mercenaries later."

"Anfey, you have a good plan, but let me be honest with you. Anthony, Shanteler, Mooly Tawau, Hotchbini…these aren’t the people you can fool. If they realize that something was off, if they can keep their composure, then you’re mistake is nothing but a failure."

"So what if they realize something?"

"I’m not trying to discourage you," Black Eleven said. "I’m speaking the truth. You have never worked with them, but I know. Mooly Tawau, for example. It may look like he follows Hotchbini’s every order, but really, he was the one pulling all the strings. He pushed Hotchbini out, so people pay little attention to him. In reality, he is the one truly in control.

"Anthony is good at keeping himself out of the eyes of others. There are very few people who have actually seen him. Most of the power is in Shanteler’s hands. Unless something major happens, he wouldn’t actually show himself. He may seem harmless, sure, but think. Anthony took over the group more than ten years ago, and even now it still ranks at the top of the four mercenary groups."

Anfey had never heard Black Elven talk so much, and was intrigued. He watched the man, and did not say anything.

"After Mooly Tawau married Hotchbini, she helped to lead his mercenary group, but they could never beat the top three. Now they must use political marriage to gain an upper hand. Think about it. What does that mean? It means that the other three leaders are people to be reckoned with. They are not people you can easily manipulate."

"Of course, of course," Anfey said. "You’re right. However, you have ignored the power of hatred."

"Hatred?"

"Yes. If enough blood was shed, it doesn’t matter how powerful these people are. Even if they do realize something was off, they could do nothing about it.

"Think. Even if they can keep themselves calm, can they keep everyone else calm? Plus, they must have ambitions, as well. Turning the four groups into three means more power for everyone in charge," Anfey smiled. "You said Anthony is mysterious and dangerous. What about Davidson?"

"What you say makes sense," Black Eleven said hesitantly. "Just a little."

"Alright, let's talk about our plans. Can you find something suitable?" Anfey watched Black Eleven carefully. "Don’t tell me you don’t know a single person close to Shanteler."

Black Elven thought about it and said, "I do now someone, but I do not have power over him. There are a few dozen of them all over the world. We don’t have any contact with them. I cannot activate him, nor will he work for me without a letter from His Majesty himself."

"Glory mercenary group’s transmission portal is destroyed, but yours is still functional. I need that person immediately. So I need you to obtain that letter as fast as possible."

"Alright," Black Eleven said.

"The king isn’t dead, is he?"

"What?"

"You don’t need to hide anymore. Your expression when you talked about him has already betrayed you. If he really died, who would give you the letter?"

"The commanding general would, just fine."

"Too late for that. There’s no need for explanations."

"We are on the same side," Black Elven smiled bitterly. His own mind was on how to deal with the impending war in Blackwater City, and he had trust Anfey. Otherwise he would have never made such an elementary mistake.

"That’s who’s been following us," Anfey said. Clearly, out of the three people that had been following them, at least one worked for Yolanthe, who would have never wanted harm to come to Niya. "He is doing this because of the war, isn’t he?"

"Yes," Black Eleven said. Anfey already knew the secret, and there was no need to hide it. "This is a secret, Anfey. Right now I should be thinking about killing you two off. This is a secret, and I need you to keep it at that. Else hundreds of others would die in vain."

"Don’t worry, I will," Anfey promised. Black Eleven sighed and shook his head.

"When this is no longer a valuable secret, I need you to tell me."

"What?"

"I need it for an exchange," Anfey said, smiling. "Else how am I supposed to get close to Anthony and the royalty of Ellisen Empire?"