Chapter 175: Luring the Tiger Away from the Mountain
Meanwhile, far away in the northern dwarf city of White Fortress, Kurtz, who was resting, suddenly opened his eyes in his sleep.
He sat up, looking towards the capital of the Kingdom of El, a hint of unease flashing in his eyes.
Just now, Aura's power had allowed him to sense an extremely subtle dark fluctuation.
However, the distance was simply too far.
Spanning half a continent, coupled with the obstruction of the Kingdom of El's own defensive barrier, this sensation was like looking through a thick piece of frosted glass, blurry and unclear, making it difficult even to discern the specific nature of the malice.
Kurtz's brows were tightly furrowed; this sense of unease far surpassed the faint prying he had sensed on the battlefield.
"The west—the Kingdom of El."
He murmured to himself, and he thought about Ayla's intelligence.
A newly rising kingdom in the west was clashing with the Kingdom of El, suspected of being instigated by demons.
However, according to the intelligence they had gathered along the way, the friction was limited to minor skirmishes, far from escalating to the level of war.
Its tension was even less than the monster siege that White Fortress had recently experienced, which had nearly led to the city's fall and loss of life.
However, ever since he and Serie intervened in this battlefield and helped the dwarves completely defeat that massive monster army, everything had fallen into an eerie calm.
It was too quiet.
The demons had vanished as if into thin air, never reappearing, and not even a trace of a greater demon's magical residue had been detected.
Those scattered, disorganized monsters also seemed to have been completely swept away by an invisible force; the dwarves repeatedly searched the surrounding areas, yet found no trace of any monsters.
It was as if that grand siege battle was merely an abrupt nightmare, leaving no trace once you woke up.
This extreme calm, rather than a continuous threat, made Kurtz feel more uneasy.
Demons were certainly not ones to give up easily, especially if the commander was suspected to be that lingering fellow, Schlacht.
After two centuries of licking his wounds, he would never send a cannon fodder army just to Serie, just for shooting practice.
"Luring the tiger away from the mountain—" Kurtz thought of this old saying, for some reason, it fit pretty well to the situation he was facing right now.
If that were truly the case, the demons' real target was likely not this dwarf city.
Their grand offensive on White Fortress, even at the cost of a considerable army, had a core objective: to hold Serie, the most threatening existence to the demons, in this remote location.
And the friction mentioned in Ayla's letter was probably no accident; there might truly be the shadow of demons behind it.
If this were true, then was the malicious fluctuation sensed in the distant west targeting the Kingdom of El itself?
Or something else?
But the Kingdom of El was the least likely possibility, because for the demons, there were still the two behemoths, the Elf Kingdom and the Dwarf Kingdom; they couldn't possibly expend all their energy on a country that, apart from the title of humanity's initial nation, held no value.
Just then, Kurtz suddenly thought of something.
Yes, there was still the Holy Sword El's Light.
That sword, left by his own hands, condensed the faith of humanity for a thousand years, and was the most potent weapon of the Kingdom of El.
He had intended for it to one day become a weapon to save the world again, but once the demons tainted it...
Kurtz's heart sank sharply.
If this were truly the case, then he had to rush to the Kingdom of El as soon as possible.
Creak—the heavy wooden door of the stone house was silently pushed open a crack, and the elf, bathed in moonlight, quietly stepped inside.
"Can't sleep?" A clear, calm voice broke the silence in the room.
Kurtz turned his head without surprise.
Serie stood at the doorway, quietly watching him, her golden hair gleaming softly in the moonlight.
"Mm." Kurtz nodded, not hiding anything. "I sensed something, from the west, in the direction of the Kingdom of El."
Serie walked to the window, also looking southwest.
She was silent for a few seconds, seemingly sensing something in her own way, then spoke: "It's too far."
Although Serie's perception ability was excellent, it hadn't reached the point where she could sense the demonic aura from tens of thousands of kilometers away.
"Was it the holy sword being passively triggered? Or something else?"
Serie asked directly. It seemed that the only thing that could make Kurtz sense something was the holy sword he had left for the Kingdom of El.
"Not sure," Kurtz shook his head. "But combined with the eerie calm here, I suspect we've been tricked. Serie, Schlacht's target was likely never here from the start, but somewhere else. He wanted to use the monster army to trap us here."
Serie's eyes narrowed slightly, filled with coldness.
She hated being schemed against, especially by demons.
"These guys have gotten a bit smarter," her voice carried a hint of displeasure, but more so, a dense killing intent. "So? Go to the Kingdom of El now?"
Her thinking was direct and simple: since a potential 'luring the tiger away from the mountain' was detected, then immediately heading to the true target location was the optimal solution.
Kurtz remained silent, his fingers lightly tapping the edge of the bed frame.
Reason told him he had to leave immediately.
The Holy Sword El's Light could not be lost.
But this was ultimately just his guess. He had not completely annihilated the demon army; there were still remnants. Once he and the others left, if the demons launched another counterattack with their army, this city would still not be able to withstand it.
Moreover, the internal situation of the Kingdom of El was currently unclear, and Kurtz didn't know what consequences rash intervention would lead to.
"Let's set off tomorrow morning," Kurtz finally decided.
Anyway, he and Serie had stayed long enough. Since the demons hadn't appeared, it was better to seek them out actively.
This time, Kurtz didn't believe that Schlacht could hide for another two hundred years.
"What about Flamme? If you want to rush back quickly, she probably can't keep up with our speed."
He and Kurtz could use flying magic to reach the Kingdom of El in a short amount of time.
But Flamme couldn't.
It was a bit late to teach her flying magic now.
"As for Flamme..." Kurtz paused. "Let her come along."
Leave Flamme in the relatively safe Bai Fortress?
Kurtz instantly rejected this idea.
Not to mention that this city had just experienced war, and its defenses had not yet fully recovered; if the demons staged a surprise attack, Flamme would be too dangerous to be alone here.
Keeping her by their side, though risky, at least under his and Serie's watchful eyes, her safety would be more assured.
Serie had no objection to Kurtz's decision.
She was silent for a moment: "Okay."
Regarding Flamme's arrangement, Serie did not raise any objections.
In her opinion, since they had already decided to make an exception for this human cub and teach her, allowing her to experience some crises was also part of her growth.
Though it was a bit troublesome.
[End of Chapter]
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