The Founder's POV

Chapter 54: Changing the plan

Killian rested against a tree trunk and lay down a bit, still feeling the pain from his injuries. It would take some time for him to recover fully, maybe a few days or another potion to speed things up, but he preferred to save it for a better time.

He watched Daristan finish off the last enemy, dancing around them with his white sword. The dwarves' equipment was ineffective against him. The bullets and projectiles were too slow for him, while the close-range fighters were not very skilled, likely because they relied heavily on their equipment.

Even if his enemies were at rank A, he could simply evade them and wait for their mana reserves to deplete. It was a decent strategy since most dwarves did not have high mana reserves, especially since all the attackers had silver hair, a low rank among dwarves.

If he were fighting goblins of the same rank as these dwarves, the situation would be entirely different, and this strategy would not work at all.

Only ten minutes had passed, and the last A-rank warrior fell at Daristan's feet.

He still had half his mana reserves and had not sustained any injuries. He was a complete prodigy character, just like Darian and Jin.

Just as Jin managed to handle five war machines of his level and even overpower them, Daristan could fight those above his rank.

Of course, there was a limit. He could die if he faced a golden-haired dwarf like Eldrick without knowing the secret of his equipment. It would take a lot of thought and calculation to determine who might win, but that wasn't the topic of discussion today.

"Killian... Killian..." Daristan's sword disappeared into the air as he slowly approached Killian, who was resting against a distant tree.

He was quite tall, around 193 centimeters with a well-proportioned build, clearly having lived an active life and achieved much. Strangely, his body hadn't been like this a few minutes ago. He still wore traditional puppet clothing, black pants, and a loose white shirt.

His hair was a bright yellow, almost white from a distance. He walked confidently towards Killian and kicked the tree trunk near his head.

"How could you use that seal on me? Pirates? Ronald? I was even a slave for entertainment for months! And I couldn't even access my memories!" Daristan lifted his foot and kicked the trunk again.

He didn't seem extremely angry, but he was still venting his feelings on Killian.

"I somewhat understand the reason, but didn't you think I might have an opinion on the matter?" Daristan asked, looking serious this time.

Killian lowered his head, unable to respond. He gritted his teeth and carefully chose his next words.

"I knew you would just go back! That would end your life completely! Can't you think about how that would affect me?!" He suddenly burst out, seemingly unstoppable now.

"Why do you even want to go there? You lost the inheritance war, and assassins are watching you everywhere. Just staying away from the family sage would mean instant death! And what was your response to that information?" "You wanted to go to the academy! If suicide appeals to you that much, at least do it yourself!" Killian continued to look up angrily, calming down only after a few seconds.

"You..." Daristan didn't respond, lowering his foot and stepping back a bit. "You don't understand..."

***

Not far away... at the place where the carriage had stopped, next to the cloud of fog surrounding the war machines.

Eleven minutes had passed since Jin left, and the surrounding dwarves still didn't know about it.

About 90% of the A-rank forces were still waiting for the outcome, while most B-rank forces had gone to seize everything in the carriage and capture Killian and Cassian.

At the moment when Jin created ten puppets inside the fog, he disappeared immediately due to the <Summon> skill.

Due to the lack of information among the dwarves leaders, they thought it was a skill that split him into several copies rather than thinking he teleported. This was why they kept the war machines there until now.

If they knew Jin had already left, they would have sent the war machines after him immediately, perhaps ordering one to expedite the process of killing Killian and Cassian.

One of the leaders held a metallic tablet in his hand, powered by mana, displaying various information.

How many of their forces were alive and dead, their overall condition, the soldiers' locations, a clear aerial view of the battlefield, and their success rate.

"This..." The dwarf holding the tablet trembled as he realized what was happening. The information in his mind began to reveal a bitter truth.

"Sir... the white-haired assassin appeared suddenly at Force 3, defeated the royal formation, and is on his way to support the capture target."

"All the forces we sent to capture the three weaker ones are dead, except for Lord Eldrick."

The expressions of the two leaders changed similarly, making it look amusing from the outside.

"What do you suggest then? The orders to cut off all routes to the west are clear. We can't just let them go!" The leader sighed, thought for a moment, and issued new orders. "Send the war machines to fight the assassin again. Have some soldiers here to stop whatever is fighting inside the fog, and send some to assist Lord Eldrick in retreating for now."

"If the assassin escaped from the war machines already, it means he can't win without injuries. Make sure to upload new information to the machine storage units as well."

"The ability to infiltrate highly, and our best method to counter high speed, this battle should end in no more than fifteen minutes!"

The leader spoke in a low voice, and the other immediately sent the information to the soldiers. They would never choose to surrender!

The leader's choice was extremely difficult, and perhaps not the best in this situation.

He was between the option of sending a war machine to reinforce Eldrick or focusing on the two strongest and then the others, and ultimately chose the latter.

He didn't want to risk giving the assassin a chance to bypass the war machines and come here, and his current forces were enough to reinforce Eldrick alone.

'It's unfortunate that our royal formation was already used... That squad used it without my permission... I must discipline the soldiers better in the future...' The leader thought as he looked at the nearby fog.

He didn't know that Elara was about to break through his rank and that Jin alone could somewhat match the machines.

If he knew that, his decision would have been completely different...