NOVEL NEXT Chapter 295
295 – It’s not time yet. (1)
Chapter 295 It’s not time yet. (1)
Amelia wore a cool smile. She finally had the opportunity to give that annoying guy a proper lesson.
She created a situation where Ghislaine would do all the work while she reaped the rewards.
“Now it’s my turn to strike, Ghislaine.”
She could come up with any justification she wanted. After all, she and Desmond were nominal allies.
The Crown Prince Faction wouldn’t want to fight her directly, so if negotiations went well, she could easily take half of Desmond Territory without much hassle.
Of course, she had absolutely no intention of giving even an inch, let alone half.
‘The Duke will have no choice but to help me.’
In her mind, the calculations were already finished.
The Duke, having lost Harold, had no option but to choose her as a foothold for advancing into the North. He would actively mediate even if a territorial dispute occurred.
“Just in case, march at full speed. We need to seize the key fortresses and strongholds first.”
She had already dealt with all those who were eyeing her from behind. Ghislaine and Harold had just finished their fight.
There was absolutely nothing to hinder the advance, so Amelia confidently quickened her pace.
Both the Penris Army and the Raybold Army were worn out from battle. No matter how elite they were, accumulated fatigue couldn’t be ignored.
As night fell, Bernap cautiously spoke up.
“It seems we need to rest a bit. It’s hard to move at night, and the soldiers are really tired.”
“Tsk.”
Amelia clicked her tongue then nodded as if she had no choice.
Moving nearly 5,000 people all at once definitely had limitations on speed.
“This is the last break. No rest until we conquer Desmond. At dawn, send the cavalry and knights ahead. The infantry will follow.”
“Understood.”
Torches were set up everywhere, and preparations for the camp were quickly completed. With no active enemies and not in a war situation, everyone maintained a watchfulness similar to normal.
While everyone quickly fell asleep, preparing for the marching that lay ahead, Amelia couldn’t rest.
Inside the largest, most splendid tent, she spread out a map, busy reassessing her future plans.
“Bernap, with our current forces, we can’t quickly occupy all of Desmond’s territory. So first, let’s block the main paths… Bernap? Are you listening to me?”
In the quiet silence, Amelia turned her head in annoyance.
“…….”
Bernap was dozing off in his chair. Designated as her guard and advisor, he fell asleep faster than anyone else.
Amelia glared at him with irritated eyes but didn’t bother to wake him. Bernap had definitely been through a lot lately with the rebellion and internal strife.
Bastet had long fallen asleep, curled up in her lap.
“Sigh…”
After shaking her head a few times, Amelia returned her gaze to the map. She had a lot of thoughts about what to extract from the Duke’s family and how to occupy the North.
“Ghislaine has become difficult to deal with right now. But if the Duke’s family starts a war soon….”
Just then, while she was solely focused on the map before her, a subtle sound began to gather behind her.
The space distorted, revealing a vaguely human shape. However, Amelia was completely unaware of the phenomenon.
Didn’t notice that kind of phenomenon at all.
In an instant, Bastet’s ears perked up.
Bernap was still bowing his head and asleep. But his left thumb unconsciously moved, slightly pushing aside the guard of the sword at his waist.
Clang.
At the sound of the sword being drawn from its sheath.
Meow!
Bastet let out a sharp cry.
And Bernap’s right hand lightning-fast drew the sword, blocking the assassin behind Amelia.
Clang!
The sound of metal clashing echoed loudly. Only then did Amelia turn her head and spot the assassin standing behind her.
Bernap wiped the drool from his mouth with his left hand and glared at the assassin with sharp eyes.
“Hmm, who are you?”
The assassin was wrapped in a black robe and wearing a black mask. As the assassin tried to thrust the dagger, they stepped back muttering.
“Hmph, guess it was too much.”
Amelia frowned. The woman’s voice sounded oddly familiar.
At that moment, the assassin’s robe fluttered, and dozens of daggers poured out.
Kakakakakang!
Bernap’s sword moved like lightning, deflecting all the daggers. As he knocked away the daggers, he stepped forward and swung his sword down.
Swish!
Bernap’s sword didn’t hit the assassin but sliced through the air, its intense energy grazing the mask the assassin wore.
As half of the mask broke away, a stunningly beautiful face was revealed.
The assassin looked at Bernap and said,
“Oh my… you’re more intact than I expected.”
Bernap was about to flare up, but Amelia spoke up first.
“It’s you!”
“Young lady, it’s been a while.”
Waving her hand with a big smile, the assassin turned out to be Belinda.
Amelia recognized Belinda for a simple reason: she held a grudge against her. Amelia still vividly remembered when Belinda had arrogantly thrust a dagger against her throat.
But now, knowing who her opponent was, she couldn’t understand the situation even more. Why was a woman who was practically Ghislaine’s closest associate appearing here?
“Why are you… here?”
“Of course, I came to kill you, young lady. I’ve been waiting right here.”
“You came to assassinate me? While Ghislaine is fighting Harold, you’re leaving him alone?”
“Your young master told me to hold you back. I wanted to be involved in the war, but he insisted I come here. Do you know how long I’ve waited for you?”
Belinda started talking in a somewhat sulky tone.
She had come at Ghislaine’s command to interfere with Amelia’s advance.
Naturally, Belinda had initially opposed this. It wasn’t easy to face Desmond’s 30,000 troops. Surely she should be helping Ghislaine, she argued.
But Ghislaine sent her here. After all, as an assassin focused on stealth, it would be challenging to use her skills in a large-scale battle.
Better to deploy her abilities somewhere they could be more useful. It was a necessary task.
Since it was all reasonable, Belinda couldn’t refute it and complied with Ghislaine’s orders.
Not knowing what happened afterward, Belinda had been quite worried, but upon Amelia’s appearance, she felt a sense of relief.
The movement of the Raybold Army meant that Ghislaine had won.
This means that Ghislaine’s victory also signifies that she has won.
Amelia gritted her teeth and glared at Belinda. Hearing such unexpected words made her head spin.
“Ghislaine… That guy… He predicted I would move? He sent you out in advance even with the war against Harold just around the corner?”
“That’s right, you know? Isn’t it fascinating? How could he have known something like this?”
Amelia was shocked by Belinda’s confident reply. This doesn’t make any sense.
Since before Ghislaine faced Harold, she had been battling Baron Valua and even the Northern Alliance.
Did he predict that she would defeat them all and move as soon as she heard the news of Ghislaine’s victory?
It’s impossible unless he perfectly understands what kind of person she is. No, it’s not just understanding; he must be reading her mind to know all of this.
Images of Ghislaine’s past actions flashed quickly through Amelia’s mind.
Securing the runestone, predicting the drought, developing various new technologies, even knowing about her rebellion in advance and whisking Davin away.
It’s as if…
‘Doesn’t it seem like he can foresee the future?’
Thinking back on Ghislaine’s actions, the rare seers of the continent came to mind.
But that doesn’t make sense either. No matter how great a seer is, they can only foresee the future abstractly; they can’t be this precise.
‘How on earth…!’
Chills ran down Amelia’s spine. She didn’t know if he really had foresight, but it was certain that he was beyond the realm of genius.
That guy knows something. He’s overlooking the movements of others from up high as if he’s looking at his palm.
It felt like being monitored in every aspect of her life.
‘I must kill him!’
Amelia instinctively felt a sense of crisis. She had to kill Ghislaine. Otherwise, he would continue to play in the scheme he created.
But before that, someone she had to kill was right in front of her.
“I told you to bring your neck here before. The foolish fools failed. I should have killed Ghislaine back then.”
“Oh, at that time? I guess you were quite disappointed, Miss.”
“Yeah, I was really disappointed. But I never thought you’d come all by yourself. Are you here to take revenge for that time? Did you think you could assassinate me?”
Belinda shrugged and laughed.
“Indeed. The Young Master said it was impossible, but it seems that it was because such a splendid escort was beside me. I thought you were a fool when I only heard the rumors.”
Bernap seemed ready to flare up again, but Amelia’s words came faster this time.
“Since you failed at the assassination, capturing me is out of the question. What can a maid like you do alone?”
“Oh my, aren’t you too confident? You didn’t even know I would come, did you?”
“So, did you succeed in the assassination?”
“It’s not over yet, you know?”
The two women looked at each other and laughed. Their faces bore smiles, but killing intent oozed from them.
In the intense atmosphere, Bernap forgot to attack Belinda and cautiously observed. He was quite weak against this kind of vibe.
“Kill her, Bernap.”
Meow!
But as soon as Amelia and Bastet’s orders were given, he immediately swung his sword towards Belinda.
Clang!
Belinda also raised her dagger to block Bernap’s sword.
Bernap swung his sword again. In an instant, dozens of lights flashed and split the surroundings.
But none of them hit her. They merely grazed the edges of her robe a few times.
As the sword swung, Bernap’s expression scrunched up little by little.
‘What kind of movement is this…?’
It was like facing a ghost. Every time Belinda moved, the space around her warped, making it hard to catch her presence.
And that wasn’t the only challenge.
Papapat!
With each flutter of the distorted space, dozens of daggers sprang out.
‘Oh no!’
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Bernap quickly stepped back, deflecting the daggers. The daggers connected to Belinda continued to target Amelia like living creatures.
Fighting while protecting someone in front of an exceptional assassin was no easy feat. Bernap glanced at the entrance of the tent.
With this level of commotion, the soldiers outside should have come in by now, but there was no sign of them.
‘Are they already dead?’
Normally, he would have closely guarded Amelia with the guard knights. However, right now, the guards had been substituted with soldiers.
With that level of skill, it was possible to kill a few soldiers without them noticing. It was unfortunate that the assassin had come when the knights were taking a break.
Due to the demanding schedule, he had no choice but to allow rest, but regardless, it was a blatant mistake on his part as the head of the guard to let Amelia fall into danger.
‘It will only be a moment.’
With an unusually serious expression, Bernap focused solely on protecting Amelia. The knights’ tent wasn’t far; it was close enough for reinforcements to feel something was off and rush over.
Clang!
Belinda also sensed it wouldn’t be easy to kill Amelia.
‘Who would’ve thought this fool had this level of skill? I thought I could take advantage of the outdoor ambush.’
Bernap had a reputation for being a fool who only followed Amelia’s rear. No one would have guessed he was this capable.
While concentrating on protecting Amelia, he looked for any opportunity to strike with his sword. Belinda had faced a few dangerous situations herself.
But even more impressive was Amelia’s reaction.
Even with daggers right in front of her, she didn’t blink. Instead, she stared at Belinda as if she were going to kill her.
Seeing that, Belinda couldn’t help but marvel inwardly.
‘Wow, this is something else.’
She didn’t know how to manipulate mana or even wield a sword, yet she showed such determination.
In a different sense, she was a terrifying person compared to Ghislaine.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The movements of Belinda and Bernap were so fast that they were nearly invisible. Dozens of daggers danced in the air, and sparks flew from the swords clashing against them.
Countless exchanges happened in what felt like an incredibly brief moment.
Chwaaaak!
Suddenly, the tent ripped apart at various points, and dozens of knights charged in.
“Lord!”
“Are you okay?”
“Kill the assassin!”
The knights immediately drew their swords and charged at Belinda.
“Tch.”
Getting attached to an enemy one cannot kill isn’t an assassin’s virtue. With no other choice, she stepped back and smiled.
“Looks like it’s a failure after all. But… I’m not alone here.”
Whoosh!
Before Belinda finished her sentence, flames erupted from all around the camp.
Simultaneously, shouts from soldiers rang out.
“Enemy!”
“Assassins have entered!”
“Get up!”
Ghislaine had secretly nurtured power with Belinda.
The Perdium assassins had attacked the Raybold Army’s camp.