The Vice Captain chose to kill the assassin for several reasons.
First, the assassin was far too dangerous to leave alive. A high elf's regenerative ability was notoriously powerful, if he hesitated, even briefly, it could become a serious problem. Second, the Vice Captain needed certainty. Only death could reveal the assassin's true form. He wanted to know whether the elf before him was merely another disguise or the assassin's real body.
After killing him, the truth was revealed.
It was his real body.
As he wiped the blood from his sword, the Vice Captain felt a flicker of surprise. The assassin had been more capable than expected. He had used the tree spirit's influence against him, implanting a subtle confusion within the Vice Captain's mind to dull his awareness just before the ambush. Worse, the lingering effect of that spirit had weakened the Vice Captain momentarily when he destroyed it with his power.
That confirmed it.
The tree spirit's attack had been coordinated. And this assassin had been sent by the same hand, likely to steal his life.
The Elf Empire was a possibility… but not the most likely one.
The Vice Captain exhaled slowly.
His heart and brain were not inside his uncle's body.
That much was certain now.
They had been relocated, but not far. They had to remain close to him. Anything else would have been too dangerous.
He had used his uncle for several reasons.
First: incompetence. Second: betrayal.
And third, most important was his uncle's unnatural affinity for poison. His blood, his organs, even his energy carried toxic properties. Combined with the spell the Vice Captain had implanted within his body, it had turned his uncle into a perfect decoy.
The Vice Captain had known that any assassin would strike for the heart and brain, especially after information about their unit, and about Mi, had been leaked.
The trap had worked.
Far from the hall, a massive force approached the forest.
Thousands moved together, lizardmen, orcs, goblins, and other beasts of the Beast Kingdom. Among them were humans as well, but they were not allies. They were tied to spears and wooden frames, dragged forward as living shields, villagers taken from surrounding settlements.
The army advanced carefully.
Scouts were sent ahead. No active spells were detected. No resistance was sensed.
Silence greeted them as they entered the forest.
That was expected.
They knew their targets here were only two people. But those two were among the most powerful members of the 12thUnit, second only to the Captain and Vice-Captain.
And the most annoying.
Five thousand beasts advanced calmly, spreading out, eyes sharp. Among them stood several figures, five, maybe seven, whose presence alone radiated strength far beyond the rest.
What they did not notice…was the rain.
It fell softly, so gentle it barely touched the skin. You wouldn't realize it was there unless you were looking for it.
It was Mi's spell.
The leader of the force, a lizardman paused.
Something was wrong.
He turned and realized several of his men were missing.
Immediately, he ordered them to regroup.
Then shouting erupted.
Figures appeared ahead.
An army stood before them.
Not hundreds.Not thousands.
Tens of thousands.
Ten… maybe twenty thousand soldiers had emerged from nowhere.
The lizardman's eyes widened.
They had been baited.
Retreat was impossible.
"Attack!" he roared.
The beasts surged forward.
The lizardman sliced a human soldier cleanly in half, only to realize it was mist. Excitement flickered across his face.
"Illusions," he hissed.
He cut down more, two, three, four, five, all mist.
"Advance," he ordered. "They're fakes."
Then one of the "fakes" struck back.
A beast beside him was cut cleanly in half.
The lizardman rushed forward to kill the attacker, but the figure vanished instantly.
Confusion spread.
And then the screaming began.
The beast that had been cut in half was still alive.
Writhing. Crying. Screaming in agony.
Alive.
That was when the lizardman understood.
This forest was no battlefield.
It was a slaughterhouse.