亚洲七七久久桃花综合

Under Control (End)

Layland was having his weekly meeting with his fellow Warriors whom Ilschevar assigned to help him. Each of them had to report their findings or how far the task he gave them had progressed.

Decima the Lamia, as the army organizer and strategist, went first to report her findings. "A total of three hundred and thirty-two of our men died in the skirmish that our troops had with six Centuries of Paladins."

"A skirmish? It seems planned to me."

"Our number is larger compared to theirs, Commander—"

"So, it is only correct to assume that it is a skirmish because no one is stupid enough to attack a bigger group? It has happened three times already, Maxine. Once is a coincidence, twice is a miracle and thrice is something planned. That\'s how it goes."

Scratching her head as she couldn\'t argue Layland\'s argument, she bowed politely and apologized. Layland waved his hand to dismiss her apology and then pointed out something in her report.

"You didn\'t tell me your purpose of sending them to the north earlier as you immediately reported the loss we suffered."

"Ah, there are ownerless mines there. We want to claim it, so we can prevent the economy of Antares from collapsing, Commander."

Layland quirked an eyebrow, making everyone gulp nervously and causing something to tingle in the female Cursed Creations in his vicinity. He turned to Maxine, jolting her out of her dazed, and then asked her to tell everyone about the economic state of Antares.

"We have developed half of the economic sectors with great economic potential and sold a huge number of commodities that our people have to offer. The vault is not full but it is not empty. Shortly, everything is going well and we don\'t need to find another economic sector to develop."

"This is only the second weekly meeting we have and I don\'t expect things to be going extremely well for us. However, I do expect you to remember what I said in the last meeting," Layland said, a hint of disappointment could be felt in his tone.

While Lemius, the brightest individual after Layland in the room, looked at his fellow Warriors in amusement; his fellow Warriors lowered their heads slightly and frowned in guilt. They were well aware that Layland was the one who said those words but they felt like they had just disappointed their Demon King.

Lemius turned his eyes to Layland and smiled softly. He wouldn\'t have been impressed if Layland had manipulated them using a Spell—even if it was still impressive since no one could just bewitch a Demon King\'s General—but Layland didn\'t. He didn\'t even manipulate them emotionally. He was just a great leader whom everyone had come to respect.

For the past two weeks, Layland\'s popularity amongst the citizens had been rising non-stop. No one praised him for his benevolence—he hadn\'t shown any—but everyone admitted he was a great ruler. After only two weeks, he managed to take the economy of the Kingdom to a greater height. It was a very mind-boggling feat because the previous Kings had failed to do it.

This didn\'t mean everyone had suddenly become rich. Most of them still couldn\'t buy any luxuries but their income increased. The slum areas also began to disappear one by one as the people who lived there found jobs that paid quite well. Nobody got rich but nobody suffered either. For this reason, the respect the people had for Layland rose from time to time.

"Can you enlighten Decima about what I said last week, General Lemius?"

Awakened from his thought, Lemius answered, "Of course, Commander Layland. You said that we should communicate and coordinate with each other to achieve better results in the task we are given."

"Have you done that?" Layland asked in expectation.

"Of course, I have and still do, Commander."

"Tell me about it," Layland said, intrigued.

With a light smile, Lemius reported, "Some of my troops have been following Decima\'s for the past week whenever they set out on a journey. They never helped but they managed to find the reason behind the skirmish they had."

"Why didn\'t you tell your troops to help if they were present when the skirmishes unfolded?" Velucan asked with a light frown, not amused by the fact that Lemius had let three hundred of their men die.

"I have talked to Decima about it and she kept being adamant about claiming the mine. It is not my responsibility to prevent Decima from suffering from the decision she made," Lemius retorted, silencing Velucan. "Besides, they didn\'t in vain. Thanks to them, my troops managed to locate the secret bases the Paladins had built."

Everyone but Layland quirked an eyebrow as they looked at Lemius. Paladins would only build secret bases whenever they wanted to have a major war. He hadn\'t said where they were; however, it was clear that it was near where the skirmishes happened, which was close enough to Antares. In other words, the Paladins were planning on having a war against Antares.

It was quite bewildering since they were sure they didn\'t hold anyone of any importance to the Temple in Antares. Added to that, Antares was not an exceptionally wealthy Kingdom. Unless the Temple was truly benevolent, they wouldn\'t send the Paladins to retake it. This got the Warriors thinking. What did the Temple want?

"There are seven secret bases located in the north," Lemius said. "Each base contains two Centuries of Paladins that are led by two High Paladins. I don\'t know if they have bases in other places but this number is not impressive. It doesn\'t matter, of course, because their goal is not Antares but you, Commander. They are planning to kill you in three days."

As everyone gasped at the shocking revelation, Layland quirked an eyebrow in interest. "Three days? They seem confident that they can kill me without the help of their Grand Paladin and their Paladin Master."

"They won\'t be able to kill you; therefore, they will force you to let them kill you."

"And, how is it done?"

At the question, Lemius\' expression darkened. "Hadrian and some of the Nobles are actively exploring the unexplored area near Antares as you suggested, Commander. The skirmishes in the north, I believe, were not only to prevent us from discovering the secret bases but also to distract us from what they do in the unexplored area."

Staring at Layland solemnly, Lemius concluded, "They will use Hadrian and some of the prominent figures in Antares to handicap you, Commander."

Bam!

The door was slammed open with immaculate timing. Everyone turned their heads to the door and found the gasping Celia looking at Layland in panic.

"Layland; Neroel, Millonia and the others are captured by the Paladins while exploring!"

As if struck by lightning in the back of their heads, everyone was dumbfounded. They had expected truth in Lemius\' prediction but they didn\'t expect to see it soon. They all turned to Layland to see how he reacted. They knew he didn\'t care about Hadrian and the others but Millonia was someone he held dear.

Much to their surprise, Layland was cackling softly. They wondered, for a moment, if he had lost it due to his absolute ire but soon discarded it as they noticed the genuine glee in his eyes.

"General Velucan, can you ask your troops that I told you to send to Rocky Valley if they saw everything?"

"Huh?"

"Just do it."

Still bewildered, Velucan contacted one of the Warriors in the troops through his Rank Necklace. At this point, Lemius already got what was happening and couldn\'t help exhaling lightly in astonishment.

"They did…and now they are asking for the next command," Velucan said in astonishment. "Have you...did you somehow—"

"Tell them to tail the Paladins. Make sure they stay on the perimeters and don\'t do anything even if something unpleasant happens to the unimportant figures," Layland interjected. Turning to Celia, he said, "Now, Celia, gather some brave human soldiers and tell them that we are going to fight the hypocrites of the Temple."

The development was too quick to follow. Despite understanding that Layland had everything under his control, they couldn\'t get how Layland had predicted everything. It was obvious that everything was going according to his plan. He knew the Temple had been lurking behind his back and he managed to lure them out.

The news about the Temple\'s attempt to rob the people of their peaceful lives was broadcast throughout Antares in the evening. Everyone was enraged and the number of soldiers who wanted to fight the Paladins increased.

On the next day, the soldiers were sent out to the secret bases scattered around Antares. Some went out as soldiers, meanwhile, some as merchants to not alert the Temple. It took time but the disguise worked splendidly. On the second day, everyone was already in the vicinity of all of the secret bases.

On the third day, Velucan\'s troop was given the order to attack. Millonia, Neroel, Hadrian and those who were captured also retaliated, quickening the destruction of the secret base where they were held hostage for three days.

Although not as smoothly, with the help of some of the Warriors who were also with them, the human soldiers managed to take down the rest of the secret bases. They failed to kill the High and none of them tried—they knew they couldn\'t.

They ran from the High Paladins with tails between their legs, further enticing the enraged High Paladins to chase after them. The High Paladins followed the soldiers passionately, unaware of where the soldiers took them.

At some point, clarity returned to the High Paladins\' minds. The realization came late, unfortunately. By that time, they already met their fellows and the one waiting for them. Layland, who had everything under his control, greeted the High Paladins with a soft smile.

"Welcome to the death\'s door, God\'s dogs!"