Chapter 770. Deceit
When Red Death was yet to be beset by her guildmates, Prince Rhemos was receiving a guest inside his camp.
“Where is Red?” Rhemos asked.
“She is currently occupied with an important matter, so I have come to replace her,” Earmouth said.
“More important than a meeting with me?” Rhemos said with displeasure.
“Forgive us, Your Highness. It is a sudden issue, we are helpless about it as well.”
“Fine. How goes the search for the information I have tasked you, people? Have you made any progress?”
“We make more than progress. We have found one of the acolytes.”
“Really?” Rhemos, who was sitting leisurely all this time, sat upright now. He was visibly excited by the news. “Where is this person?”
“We have negotiated with this acolyte, but he is unwilling to come to this camp because of all the soldiers. We have brought him to the closest hill just outside this camp, but he is only willing to meet Your Highness in person.”
“That is absurd,” the cloaked man behind Rhemos uttered. “Where is this acolyte’s position? Let me know and I will go catch him.”
“Please don’t, Sir Rayne,” Earmouth pleaded. “If you fail and the acolyte flees, we won’t be able to find him again.”
“Hmph, he won’t escape me,” Rayne said with confidence.
Rhemos waved his hand. “There is no need to antagonize the person. We need him to bring us to his God. The God of Greed had helped me before when one of his acolytes gave me the poison for Duchess Isabelle, but his cult had strangely turned silent for a while. I need to find them again. We have an agreement that they will help me secure the throne. Go gather a battalion, we will march to this hill.”
“I am sorry, Your Highness,” Earmouth said again. “The acolyte mentioned that he will only meet my Prince alone. If he sees guards, he will leave.”
Rhemos frowned at the words.
“This is taking things too far! How can we allow His Highness to take the risk out in the open!” Rayne uttered. He then turned to Rhemos. “My Prince, let me go and capture this acolyte.”
“He is just right there on the next hill,” Earmouth said. “We should be able to call for help easily if anything is wrong. If my Prince worries, my Prince can send troops to the surrounding area. He won’t notice as long as the troops don’t come near his position.”
“I agree with sending troops. This way, we can cut his retreat path if this acolyte decides to flee,” Rayne said.
“Which company is scheduled for the next scouting duty?” Rhemos asked.
A knight captain next to Rayne answered, “Wilson’s company is scheduled to go scouting within the next five minutes.”
“Good. Go relay my command that once they are out of sight, they are to sneak back and surround the little hill next to this camp,” Rhemos ordered.
“Right away, Your Highness,” the knight captain replied and immediately went out of the tent to relay the command.
“We will wait ten minutes before we go meet this acolyte. It should be enough time for Wilson’s company to take their positions,” Rhemos said.
“I will go to inform the acolyte that Prince Rhemos is willing to meet,” Earmouth said.
“Wait! You tell him that I will be following my Prince,” Rayne uttered. “Do not expect me to leave my Prince’s side.”
Rhemos was silent. He didn’t disagree. If the acolyte couldn’t agree with him bringing at least one bodyguard, then forget about it. He would just opt for the forceful method of capturing the acolyte, even if that might risk offending their God.
Earmouth nodded. He then exited the camp.
“I don’t like this,” Rayne said.
“We can’t understand how Gods think. Their acolytes most likely share their peculiarities,” Rhemos said.
“What I don’t like is that outworlder,” Rayne clarified. I have worked with many weasels, I know one when I see one.
“I have seen him before with Red Death. He is in the same guild as her. We should be able to trust him,” Rhemos said. “Or, do you think he has jumped ship to my little brother’s camp? That Alonzo is too straight. The boy is incapable of trickery.”
“He has gained rather strong support lately, though. His prestige has increased after returning from the World Tournament.”
“Hmph, that cub is nothing. We will deal with him later. It is my big brother we should worry about. Where is he at the moment?”
“The last info from my spies put him in Thenident two days ago,” Rayne answered.
“I just heard that our father’s condition has deteriorated. He is mostly in bed these days. Most likely, he won’t last long. We can’t afford to slack because of this situation.”
“How so?”
“You don’t know Therribus as I do. That man is capable of doing anything for what he considers right. The only thing that holds him down is our father.”
Rhemos stood from his seat. “Let us prepare.”
Since he was going out, Rhemos wore a full set of armor. Rayne stood beside him. The two of them were standing at the edge of their camp. They were looking at the series of hills next to the camp. After some while, they saw a tiny flash of light in the distance. The light flashed a few times in a specific rhythm.
“They have taken positions,” Rayne informed after interpreting the message from the flashes.
“Let’s go meet this acolyte and see what he offers then,” Rhemos said.
Some soldiers followed after them when they walked out of the camp but Rhemos instructed the soldiers to stay.
The hill closest to their camp was low, but around it was higher hills. They saw a figure wearing a hooded cloak waiting there. The person’s back was to them. Earmouth was nowhere to be seen, this cloaked person was alone. Rhemos and Rayne continued walking toward the person but they stopped without getting too near. Rayne stood slightly in front of Rhemos, just in case this person turned hostile.
Rhemos looked around. “Where is that outworlder?”
He had a bad feeling about this, he was about to tell Rayne to retreat when the cloaked person in front of them spoke, “I was starting to worry that you don’t come.”
It was surprisingly a voice that he was very familiar with. The cloaked person turned around and removed his hood.
“Therribus?!” Rhemos uttered in surprise. “Why are you here? Where is the acolyte?”
“There is no acolyte,” Therribus answered.
“What do you mean there is no… Where is Earmouth? It can’t be. He is working for you? No way! You hate outworlders.”
“Many people misunderstand me,” Therribus said. “It’s not that I hate outworlders. Instead, I fear them.”
“Fear? You?”
“Yes. Me. The big brother who never shows any fear. Do you know why I fear them so? Just look at them. It was not even a year since they arrived in this world. How fast do they grow? They are nothing when they first appeared, but now they can compete against our common soldiers already. What do you think will happen when the majority of them reached level 70? Do you think they will still abide by our rules? The balance of power will shift. This world will become theirs. They will become the masters and we will be their helpers if they are kind, their slaves if they are wicked. If we don’t act now, it will be too late to act. You are not a fool. Surely you can see the danger they represent.”
“So, what do you think we should do? Banish them?”
“Control them! Limit their growth!” Therribus uttered.
“They won’t accept it lying down,” Rhemos argued.
“Then we give them no choice! That’s why our country needs an iron hand to deal with this outworlder situation. Someone who can make the difficult choice.”
“Someone like you?” Rhemos answered.
“Someone like me,” Therribus said.
“Hmph, all that talk. In the end, what you want is still power. Tell me, why do you really come here?” Rhemos asked.
“… I am here to offer you a choice,” Therribus answered. “Bow to me and accept me as the rightful inheritor of the throne.”
“Or…?”
“Or, I will be forced to make a difficult decision.”
Shadows came out on the higher hills around them. Lots of soldiers. Rhemos looked back to their back and found there was also a row of soldiers blocking their retreat path.
“You have planned this…,” Rhemos said. “Never pegged you as someone who uses deceit.”
“To be honest, I didn’t think of this ploy. It is offered by an outworlder.”
“You are working with the enemies who you are trying to control?”
“Sometimes you have to work with the devil,” Therribus said. “My original plan was that.”
Therribus pointed to where Rhemos’ camp was. From this higher elevation, Rhemos saw a large force approaching his camp. The sentries in Rhemos’ camp finally noticed this incoming force and sounded the alarm. Once the alarm sounded, the incoming force picked up the speed. They soon collided with Rhemos’ unprepared army.
