A Demon's Journey

It took two more days for the Sinyalian Kingdom's forces to be ready to attack the Glerian Kingdom's encampment. Gilberd had also planned his escape path and was now confident in his ability to make it out alive.

During these two days, he had tried to meet Sophie at every turn. Talk to her politely and respectfully but Sophie ignored his advances. Eventually, Sophie was getting tired of Gilberd who kept on pestering her every day.

Thus, she told him, "I do not like your presence, Gilberd. Stop pestering me and leave me alone. You are a talented warrior and there should be no shortage of women in your life. Just give up on me."

Gilberd responded to her with a calm tone, "I will keep on trying until you change your mind, Sophie. I promise you that you won't regret a life together with me. I am already a 5 Star Warrior and will get into the Royal Guards. If fate wills it, I could even inherit your father's position as the Captain of the Royal Guards! Your father is clearly fond of me, and his opinion would matter quite a bit so it's quite possible."

Sophie frowned at those words. She seemed irritated to hear that her father was fond of Gilberd. She voiced out while glaring at Gilberd, "I have been enduring you for quite some time, thinking that you will give up once you realize that we aren't fated. But it seems you have no intention of leaving me alone."

"Know this: I have a lover, and I have already become his woman, both physically and spiritually! You are wasting your time!" Sophie finally dropped the bomb on Gilberd. She felt that this information would finally make Gilberd give up.

Gilberd was visibly shaken after hearing those words. He thought that he had heard wrongly and asked her with a look of disbelief, "There is no way this is the truth. You are lying. Right? You are just saying this to make me give up, right?"

Sophie had a mocking smile on her face as she asked him, "Am I? What do you think?" She left with a scornful look on her face. There was a hint of disgust on her face as well.

While Sophie was walking towards her tent, Gilberd was left alone. After a few seconds, he was trembling. He was shaking due to anger. Blood had rushed to his eyes, and he wanted to do nothing more than to kill Sophie's lover.

He didn't just feel hatred for Sophie's unknown lover. He felt hurt by Sophie's betrayal. In his mind, he had already considered Sophie as his woman. He took deep breaths to calm down and thought resolutely 'I was stupid to think that I was doing something wrong! It's not me who is wrong. It's her! And she has to pay the price for that!'

Sophie had no clue that her remarks had fueled Gilberd's drive to carry out those heinous acts. Gilberd decided on the timing of when he should put his plan in motion. The timing would be one day later after their ambush of the Glerian Kingdom's encampment.

Gilberd had heard the plan from Roman and he felt that this plan was most likely to succeed. He knew that even if he surpassed his junior brother in power, Roman was unmatched in intelligence, especially regarding matters related to the battlefield and formations.

Roman's plan was most likely to succeed. This meant that the day after, everyone would be celebrating their victory over the Glerian Kingdom's forces. He would use Spencer's Token and enter Sophie's tent and commit the deed.

After that, he planned to escape that same night and leave behind some footsteps or other things they could use to track him. They would all lead them to his trap. After that, there would be fake leads all around them so that they would have no idea how to follow Gilberd. Gilberd would have departed the region by then and would be out of their grasp.

Soon, the moment for which everyone had been waiting arrived. Commander Celan was leading his forces to the Northern Outpost of the Glerian Kingdom's encampment. This outpost had been set up here for scouting purposes and to keep watch over the borders.

For that reason, there weren't a lot of soldiers available to defend this outpost. The soldiers at the Northern Outpost were startled to perceive Commander Celan leading a large force towards them.

The sensors at the outposts tried to get an accurate read of the enemy's strength. After some time, they immediately sent their messengers on horses to the nearest camp of the Glerian Kingdom's forces.

The Glerian Kingdom's encampment immediately received the message. They were naturally startled to hear that such a large force of the Sinyalian Kingdom's army was marching towards the Norther Outpost of the Glerian Kingdom.

It wouldn't take a genius to know that their target wasn't the Northern Outpost, but the villages and towns in that direction. The Commanding General of the Glerian Kingdom's forces was quite puzzled.

He contacted his superiors and the governor supervising that area. He informed the governor of the entire situation. Naturally, the governor was startled and terrified to hear that the Sinyalian Kingdom's soldiers were going to breach into his territory.

He responded to the commanding general at the encampment, "Send your best teams after this army. I will immediately gather the troops and send them to you as reinforcements."

Each city and town would have its own guards. They were a settlement's last line of defense. The troops that a governor could command were indeed these guards and some mercenary bands. However, this governor didn't plan to send his personal forces to the frontlines. If so, he would be left without any defenses.

The governor was going to send a message to the capital and request for troops. If the king sent the troops, then good. If not, then the commanding general of the Glerian Kingdom's forces was on his own for some time.

The Commanding General understood the character of this governor. He knew that he couldn't expect any help from this selfish man. This man wouldn't expend a single coin from his treasury to hire a mercenary band and deal with the Sinyalian Kingdom's forces.

It had to be known that the city was quite far from the battlefield. It would be impossible for the Sinyalian Kingdom's forces to advance that deep inside the Glerian Kingdom.

He knew there was no point in thinking deeply about this matter. He immediately called out his commanding officers and chose a few of them to lead the Glerian Kingdom's army to annihilate the Sinyalian Kingdom's army that was stepping inside the Glerian Kingdom's territory.

In the meantime, the troops led by Commander Celan had just pierced the barrier around the Northern Outpost. They had completely destroyed the Northern Outpost to ensure that the Glerian Kingdom's forces couldn't make use of it any time soon.

They would have to spend a significant amount of time repairing it before they could utilize it. Commander Celan kept moving ahead, just as Roman had ordered. If there were no obstacles, Roman had directed him to pillage the villages of the Sinyalian Kingdom to guarantee that his army had enough provisions to last for a long time.

The Commanding General had already ordered his subordinates to gather a strong force that could easily deal with the Sinyalian Kingdom's army. However, the Heretical Paladins and the other high-ranking officers remained within the encampment.

The Glerian Kingdom's Commanding General realized he couldn't just order his best squads to charge out of the camp, leaving the camp utterly vulnerable.

However, the Commanding General of the Glerian Kingdom's forces had no idea that Roman had anticipated his actions. In fact, right at this moment, Roman was rushing towards Commander Celan's position from another direction.

The plan that Roman mentioned to Commander Celan was actually a sham. In reality, Roman planned to pincer attack the Glerian Kingdom's troops that would charge out to attack Commander Celan's forces!

In this way, he would be able to cope with a huge force of the Glerian Kingdom while minimizing his casualties. However, this wasn't the end of his plan. This was the mere beginning!

Commander Celan gulped down a mouthful of saliva as he saw the dust clouds in the distance. He knew that the Glerian Kingdom's army was approaching him. He immediately ordered his soldiers, "Get into the Defensive Formation 5! We will soon face the Glerian Kingdom's forces!"

The soldiers obeyed his orders and turned in the direction from which the Glerian Kingdom's forces were coming. However, the Glerian Kingdom's forces had no idea that Roman's forces were just behind them!

Well, not exactly behind them. This was because Roman's forces were coming from a direction that was at a right angle to the Glerian Kingdom's forces. Roman had calculated the timing and the speed of the enemy's forces down to the seconds. He was sure that the enemy would have no idea that they were going to be under a pincer attack soon enough!

The timing was so perfect that even the best sensors in the Glerian Kingdom's forces had no idea that they had been fooled. The enemy was approaching them from two directions. And Roman had maneuvered his forces in such a manner that he had blocked any escape routes of the enemy.

A solemn look appeared on Roman's face as he thought 'It's time for a slaughter!'