Chapter 197 – Spy (1/2)

Chapter 197 – Spy

“There’s too many to count, but I think they are definitely hundreds of thousands of darklings out there, maybe even a million.”

Sela muttered, still staring at the mass of furry soldiers camping in the open.

“If the darklings have gathered that many of their warriors at the same place, they must be planning something. Something big.”

Bren commented, slowly settling himself down on the ground. His brain was working to think about what steps they should take and how to figure out the reason for the darkling army to assemble.

“Should we give up the mission?”

Helly inquired nervously, seeing the drastic reactions from her friends.

“We have to. We cannot pass through his crowd without drawing attention to ourselves, and I doubt Bren’s essence will last us that long to reach the other side of the army.”

Sela sighed.

“The mission is not important anymore. What’s important is finding out why the darklings have gathered and where they intend to strike. If they are heading in Selior city’s direction, we are all doomed as we cannot amass an army of that size in such little time. Moreover, our communication crystals won’t work this far from the city so we cannot even tell the Elders of this situation except for personally going back to them. Hence, this mission is over.”

Bren stated morosely, his mind at unease due to the darkling army.

“Do you think they are aiming for our city, Bren?”

Helly asked softly.

“There is a chance they might be attacking another human city to the north of us, but that place is surrounded by mountains and is a natural fortress, so it will be extremely difficult for them to capture it. However, our city has no such protection, and it’s highly likely that the darklings plan on invading the human kingdom after trespassing Selior City.”

Bren did not look up to answer Helly.

Throughout this whole time, Calron simply remained silent and continued to listen to the discussions.

“If the situation is as dire as you say, then we should hurry up and return. The more time the Elders have to prepare, the quicker we can rally up the soldiers.”

Calron finally spoke, his sharp eyesight fixed between the air cocoon’s gap and inspecting the army before him.

Something is going on there. Most of the darklings are gathered around that spot.

“He’s correct for once. You guys should return back to the city as quick as possible and tell the clans and the King about this. We’ll need to prepare in case the city is attacked.”

Bren stood back up and faced his team members.

“It sounded like you plan on staying here?”

Calron turned around, startled by Bren’s statement. Sela and Helly reacted identically.

“If we want to know what the darklings are planning, then one of us must sneak into the enemy camp and gather as much information as possible. That information could help us better defend the city and could be the just the critical thing we need to win this war.”

Bren responded seriously, his voice unwavering throughout the whole speech.

“You’ll die.”

Calron said icily.

“If you haven’t noticed yet, I have this air cocoon to hide me from the enemies. I can slip through their defenses, find what they are planning and then return back. None of you have any stealth abilities, leaving me the ideal man for this task.”

I thought he was only a snobby brat, but he has this strange sense of honor and pride.

Calron inwardly thought, admiring Bren’s notion of duty and his self-sacrifice to protect his home.

“You’ll still die. You have been maintaining this air cocoon for hours and judging by how much essence you have left, you cannot keep this cocoon for another thirty minutes. Even disregarding your drained essence, what will happen if some darkling accidentally stumbled inside your air cocoon while patrolling their camps? Your ability has worked until now because we were traveling through empty and isolated areas, but the darkling camp will have thousands of beasts bustling around. You will be caught, and then you’ll die.”

Calron outlined his facts and looking at the change in Bren’s face, the others realized that the young man was already aware of them and yet still chose to follow this plan.

“I thought you were dumb.”

Bren smirked at Calron.

“Stop joking, you cannot go in there.”

Calron retorted while his eyes bore into the other youth.

“I have to… if I don’t, then we’ll miss this opportunity to potentially save the city. A single life is worth exchanging for the life of thousands more.”

Bren shook his head, not a trace of fear could be seen on the young man’s face as he talked about his death.