It came silently, like a blade in the darkness that no one could see.
It had been half a month since the attack on Lanthanor which had apparently not been reported in the famed Network of Angaria which was currently making waves all over the central continent.
The other Kingdoms knew clearly about the current altercation between the Withering Leaf Sect and the Kingdom of Lanthanor. After all, others had also been watching when the attack on the village took place, and the perpetrators who had been seen were wearing the clothes of sect members.
This was, in fact, a sign that the fight was between these two forces. So far, others hadn"t chosen to interfere yet, choosing to keep watching for an opportunity where they could swoop in to defeat a weary victor.
Chief among those watching was the Kingdom of Axelor. As a sworn enemy of Lanthanor, this was the Kingdom that was looking forward most to a situation which it could take advantage of.
The person in charge of keeping an eye on all key a.s.sets in Lanthanor was an Axelorian named Conrad.
Since the past two weeks, he had been puzzled by the movements inside the Kingdom.
First, a contingent of soldiers had gone to nearby forests in order to catch as many mosquitoes as they could.
In fact, the government had also started to buy caught mosquitoes from the citizens, resulting in a frenzy that became the terror of all mosquitoes living around Lanthanor.
The sales of the famous Honey Trap Solution which was an exclusive product of Lanthanor had apparently been halted, resulting in a spike in sales of barrier units from Eldinor.
For all intents and purposes, it looked as if a new version of the Honey Trap Solution was coming out.
Although the solution was revolutionary, it had only seen sales in areas which had previously relied on barriers. The alternative was using formations which could permanently protect a place, making them a one-time investment which trumped both barrier trinkets and honey trap solution.
Of course, those who could deploy such formations were rare, making it so that people had to resort to other options.
In Central Angaria, the mosquito problem could be likened to electricity back on Earth.
It was such an essential part of people"s lives that it had already enmeshed itself into their minds, making it so that they did not even think about it until the time came to pay the bill.
Thus, the news of a new product which was cheaper was momentous, but the minimal units available and the slow growth in number of units exported made it so that it died down to something that was only being checked upon frequently by businessmen. After all, before the struggle for the throne, the government had been mainly buying the solution to either use it themselves or sell it to the citizens, making it so that there were few units to export due to the minimum quant.i.ties that Daneel had been able to make.
Indeed, over the months since he had taken the throne, Daneel had been frequently making batches of Honey Trap Solution which had lead a steady income into his pocket.
Alas, the problem was that he was the only one who could make the product, and he did not have the time to make enough to export to the whole Kingdom. Also, Eldinor had already decreased the price of barrier trinkets making it so that they could more or less compete with his product.
This decision had been taken by Queen Eldara, and Eldra had no grounds to change it unless she wished suspicion to fall on her.
All in all, the Honey Trap Solution had been generating a steady revenue of 1 million Gold Coins a month.
If he could make an unlimited amount of the solution in a set amount of time, Daneel would have chosen to do so daily.
The problem was that casting the spell which made the solution required a lot of energy which would leave his mageroot acheing for an entire day if he chose to overdraft it.
This would be counterintuitive, as it would mean that he couldn"t train the whole day.
Besides, no one else could cast the spell as it required the system to do so.
Thus, if Daneel didn"t increase his level, there was no way he could look to earn a lot from the Honey Trap Solution, which was the reason he had been pursuing other avenues to earn money to obtain Ker Gems.
Now, seeing this steady export of the solution stop, businessmen braced themselves hoping that exports would increase.
Yet, after two weeks, there had been no news.
Now, as Conrad saw the information that had just arrived from Lanthanor, he couldn"t believe his eyes.
500 soldiers all carrying black boxes a quarter the size of a man had just been seen teleporting out of the clearing in the Royal Palace.
…..
"My King…. I apologize for asking again but, are you sure?"
Standing in the air above the Valley of Mist, Kellor couldn"t help but ask the King of Lanthanor for the third time whether he was sure about the plan he had explained.
If there was even the slightest error, he knew that it could cause a catastrophe that could potentially destroy Angaria as they know of it.
"Yes. Proceed with the plan."
Hearing the King"s calm and confident voice, Kellor looked up and prayed after a long time.
"Commence the operation. Remember to be precise."
Receiving the order, 100 of the 500 soldiers who were waiting a few kilometers away flew into the air before heading in the direction of the Valley of Mist. Each of them held one of the black boxes which were unmarked and seemed very heavy.
After reaching a predetermined destination, they left the boxes making them fall down due to their bases which were designed to be the heaviest part in order to induce a downward motion.
THUD
After landing on the ground, each box burst open to release swarms of mosquitoes which seemed slightly different from the regular ones which were the nightmare of all those who wished to store energy resources in Angaria.
Seeming to be a fraction larger, these mosquitoes had a tiny, red spot on their backs which was the largest factor that differentiated them.
Just as the elite mages were about to return to pick up another box from the spot where the soldiers were waiting, red beams of light shot at them from the Valley below.
In a moment, it seemed as if the entire Valley had enemies which were attacking them. The red beams also seemed to have some kind of tracking ability which enabled them to follow the mages even if they tried to flee as fast as possible.
Luckily, they couldn"t follow a mage who chose to teleport. As all of them started stepping out of the air to get back to safety, the beams of light ceased from the forest which looked peaceful but was hiding a force which had almost annihilated the best mages that the Kingdom of Lanthanor had.
...
Back in the situation room in Lanthanor Kingdom.
The smile on Daneel"s face which had blossomed on seeing the first batch of boxes successfully land in the valley was wiped away as he saw the attacks that shot at his soldiers from below.
Thankfully, although the beams were fast, they could not reach the spot where his soldiers had been standing in an instant. Thus, many of the soldiers had managed to teleport away.
Yet, there were a few unlucky soldiers who had been shot exactly from below. Thus, without having enough time to react, they had been impaled and killed.
9 mages had given up their lives in this way.
Banging the table in front of his frustration, Daneel knew that there was nothing he could have done. He had no idea how the Wither Leaf Sect might retaliate, or even if they would choose to.
It seemed that he had drawn the short end of the stick, resulting in the loss of 9 elite mages.
Considering the fact that there were only 200 Elite Mages in total, this was a significant loss. In fact, it was one of the highest losses of elites in decades.
Regardless, his plan had at least been fulfilled. Although he wished that the rest of the boxes had also managed to enter the Valley, he knew that it would only result in a delay of the inevitable.
Telling the three commanders and his father beside him to keep a close eye on the Valley while keeping their troops ready to be deployed, Daneel went back to his Energized Training Chamber to grasp that breakthrough.
…..
In this way, the silent blade had thrust itself into the Valley of Mist, which did not seem any different from the outside.
Yet, on the inside, a terrifying species had already started devouring and multiplying while hungrily looking for more energy sources to consume.
As they went from one area of the forest to another while moving closer to the headquarters of the Withering Leaf Sect, it quickly became clear that nothing would stand in their way.