Chapter 259: Insurrection (1/2)
Thea looked at the hopeless situation in front of her with a frown, her hand frozen by indecision.
“It’s just a game, dear. No need for such consternation,” her opponent smiled from the opposite side of the table as Thea reluctantly moved a piece.
She didn’t know what was more vexing; being stuck as an unwilling pawn in the machinations of the crown prince in front of her, or that she was miserably losing in a game of chess. Vasidas had found her board game after his father looted her Cosmos Sack, and had immediately been taken with the seemingly simple game.
Of course, the former predicament was far worse in reality. She had truly and utterly overestimated herself. After the mishap with Zac she had kept her head down, and looted summit after summit for two whole weeks. But no matter what she did she had been unable to get ahead in the ladder, and unlooted mountains were becoming almost impossible to find.
Thea knew that without risking one’s life one couldn’t hope to get ahead in this new cut-throat world, so she had enacted a daring plan. She would snatch the Cosmos Sack of one of the four E-Grade powerhouses apart from the two Dominators.
She already knew that apart from Emperor Nenothep the others were in the earliest stages of the E-grade, far weaker than the monstrous Insectoid who had almost claimed her life earlier. She believed that between planning and her specific skill-set she would be able to steal the pouch and escape without them being able to stop her.
If worse came to worst she would simply activate her ultimate escape skill once again. Losing a few levels in exchange for the accumulated wealth of one of the E-Grade powerhouses was a worthy trade. The levels could be gained back within a month, but the wealth of a fallen sect could help her and her family for decades.
But she had been naïve. She had followed Vasidas for three days, using every skill and lesson she had learned to hide from him. It was all for one specific moment. When the prince entered a summit array he completely froze due to the protective array, and Thea had exploded into action.
But the rest was only a blur. The next moment Thea remembered was when she stood in front of the smiling prince devoid of her trial-token or an ounce of Cosmic Energy. It turned out he had been aware of her presence since the start and had only played along to see what her plan was.
“Come now, you have been brooding since we decided to work together,” Vasidas said with a smile as he poured Thea a cup of tea. “Have I not been an accommodating host?”
“You did not leave me a much of a choice,” Thea muttered, though she had to admit what he said was true.
He had been a true gentleman in every sense of the word, but her instincts screamed of danger every time she saw his congenial smile. That was especially true since she knew she was a key piece in Vasidas' master plan. She had learned a bit of it from their time together so far, and his ruthlessness truly made her blood run cold. He had even somehow manipulated Ylvas Berum into a desperate struggle where Vasidas' own brother died.
And now he had orchestrated an even more desperate battle.
”Come now. I have no interest in the lives of you or Mr. Atwood, as I have explained. I don't care about this little hunt at all, for that matter. It's just some levels and a Limited Title. If it didn't provide me with the opportunity to play my games I wouldn't have joined in,” Vasidas said as he gripped one of his bishops.
”The treasures aren't bad compared to my homeworld, I guess. But it's just useless baubles compared to what The Great Lord will provide for his personal disciple,” the prince continued. ”And as long as you and Mr. Atwood play my game we can be seen as allies rather than enemies. Checkmate.”
A shiver ran down Thea's spine as she saw Vasidas pick up her king and crush it into dust with a vicious gleam in his eyes. She truly didn’t know whether she wished for Zac to come or stay far away from this summit.
Zac, Billy, and the first company were moving toward the group of mountains the Medhin Army occupied. The optimal plan would be to dismantle all four surrounding mountain defenses before hitting the main mountain in the middle. That way they would avoid any risk of being pincered from behind. Unfortunately, they did not have the manpower for that, so they needed to adopt a riskier approach.
The current plan was to quickly destroy the western mountain with their whole army, and then immediately hit the main peak. A part of their forces would impede any potential backup from the other three mountains surrounding the main mountain, but the main force would move as a spear straight toward the Emperor. That way their backs would at least be clear for a while, allowing them to focus only on the enemies in front of them.
But that didn't mean it would be an easy battle. All the remaining royals and the strongest soldiers were stationed there, and everyone present knew that just ascending the mountain might cost them their lives. But everyone here was a soldier intent on liberating their world, and their eyes were filled with determination.
Zac and Billy were in the middle of the squad, and they were hidden in large cloaks. Billy was even hunched over to somewhat hide his massive frame. It had taken some time for Zac and Ylvas, but they had finally managed to explain the plan so that Billy understood it.
Billy would be a wall-breaker of sorts. If the defending armies on the main peak erected a strong defense he would do his best to destroy or at least weaken it. Zac’s job was to weaken the enemy side as much as possible in ten seconds after saving Thea. After that he had to join Ylvas in the battle against Nenothep. A caveat was that if Vasidas joined his father they would unhesitantly flee.
With the help of communication crystals all four of the forces arrived around the targeted mountain within a few minutes of each other. Zac couldn't see the leaders of the other three squads, but Ylvas had already told them that each was led by a powerhouse who was close to the bottleneck.
“You two stay here with the reserve force. We do not want you within eyesight of their scouts or spies. We have already ascertained that physical line of sight is needed to check someone’s ladder position. Billy is okay since his ladder position is far lower than his actual strength. But try to stay out of sight as much as possible,” Ylvas said to Zac.
Zac only nodded and indicated for Billy to stay with him.
“We are not going with Alien-man?” Billy asked with some confusion.