After Henry had gotten what he wanted, he didn’t show any mercy to the remaining soldiers. He didn’t leave a single one of them alive, not even the ones who ran away. He chased them down and made sure they stayed dead for the rest of the time to come. What happened here, could not be known, at least not now, not in the near future. If the kingdom knew about him, things would get complicated and Ulrum would be even more at a disadvantage. Right now, Henry had the element of surprise.
The main force was long decimated by him, so he didn’t need to worry about Ulrum being attacked any time soon. He was worried at first that the reinforcement would quickly come but after learning almost everything from the soldiers, he was relieved that reinforcements were still far out and he had plenty of time to deal with them, though that didn’t mean he could just ze around and take it easy.
If Henry took flight, he could easily reach the reinforcements in just a short amount of time. However, fearing that flying would be too conspicuous and easily detectable by the Arch Knights, he went for the nd route instead. There were plenty of obstacles and spots to conceal himself in compared to the open sky. The clouds seemed to be clearing away, making it even less ideal.
Henry assumed a partial transformation, taking the form of a humanoid dragon, and began rushing towards the reinforcements. Though he was shown the location of the reinforcements on a map, he still only had a rough idea of where to go. Still, he figured he only needed to beeline in the right direction and he would eventually stumble upon them. With his prowess, he didn’t need to worry about taking any detours. If there was a hill, he could simply climb or fly over it. If there was a rge body of water, he could just swim through it. No matter the form of the terrain, he was unstoppable.
In no time at all, Henry stumbled upon one of the reinforcements. He could tell it was them going by their armour and also their formation. The marching battalion consisted of foot soldiers, knights, golems, and of course, Syers. The tter were put in the same position as the other battalions, guarding the high officers of the unit who were all travelling in their golems. Most important of all, they were heading in the direction of Ulrum. There was no mistake about them.
They were marching through a vast pin and Henry was peeking at them from the elevated hill ranges in the distance. He had returned to his human form to avoid being spotted easily.
“Damn it,” Henry cursed. Since it was a pin, unless he could travel underground, he would surely be seen if he tried to approach them. The skies were clear with little to no clouds in sight. He thought about going around but the hill range stretched on in a straight line. Henry had plenty of time but it wasn’t bottomless.
Henry followed them from the hill range. It was the only spot with cover. Therefore, he could only spy on them from afar. The battalion looked no different than the ones he destroyed but there was a major difference, and that was the Arch Knights. According to the soldiers he interrogated, there should be at least one. There was a chance that the soldiers could be wrong but it was better to be safe than sorry. There was no harm in being extra cautious.
Henry scoured the army with extreme prejudice and careful scrutiny. The Arch Knight must be discerned before he even thought about trying anything. As he kept scanning each and every soldier of the battalion, he eventually found a soldier who was dressed very lightly. The man was still wearing armour just not in the same manner as the others. It was leather armour the man was wearing, with only the greaves and gauntlets being of steel forged. He carried two swords by his waist. He sat in a cart, pulled by two horses. He had a leisurely attitude as if he was on vacation.
At once, Henry knew he had found the Arch Knight. The man might look unassuming but out of everyone in the battalion, he alone exuded the most amount of Murux, even more than all the mages in the battalion combined. Be that as it might, the man was still not even half as intimidating as Vishara. However, Henry was not about to underestimate his would-be opponent. He might be superior to the Arch Knight in terms of raw power, but the same couldn’t be said about skill or technique, which Henry was fully aware of how cking he was in this department.
Henry kept an eye on the battalion as they marched on. He followed them until they reached the border of the pin, which led them into a dense forest that was riddled with unduting terrains in the forms of hills and gorges.
Henry beamed in excitement when he saw this. It would be perfect for him to pick them off one by one as long as he could first deal with the ones who were responsible for sentry and recon. But of course, if the Arch Knight was as versatile as he was led to believe, he might be discovered as soon as he started his offence.
Henry decided to go on ahead of the battalion to make his preparation for the ambush. As he got near the forest, he stopped. There was a lot of hostile presence within the forest. Going by their nasty raw scent, Henry figured these presences were beasts and creatures. Henry began to wonder why the battalion would take such a treacherous path. Did they not know about the dangers that lurked in the forest? Or did they already know and they still decided on this path?
Whichever the real reason was, this all worked in Henry’s favour. He wouldn’t have to worry about being detected as he could just blend in with the treacherous presence in the forest. It reminded him of Ulrum but far less dangerous, at least it was to him. The moment he stepped foot into the forest, a terrible shrill pierced the air. It was loud but silent, the kind of noise that one would only notice if they focused on it. It was the cries of the various beasts and creatures residing in the Ulrum. It was fear.
“Huh… am I that scary?” Henry mused. Although the creatures of Ulrum feared him, it wasn’t to this degree. Every living being in the forest seemed to lose their shit when Henry entered the forest as if disaster was upon them.
Fearing that his presence would rattle the bush too much and spook the enemy, Henry donned his camoufge ability and the wailing immediately ceased.
“It worked,” Henry excimed in wonder.
Right now, he wasn’t fully concealed but it was enough to cut off his presence from being sensed from afar. They would still see or hear him but at least, he wouldn’t be spooking anyone or anything any time soon.
Henry went deeper into the forest as things calmed down. He moved past a few beasts of the forest. They exchanged gnces and that was the end of their interaction. The beasts didn’t seem frightened by Henry. They didn’t run or scuttle away at the sight of him. Neither did they try to attack him. They were wary of him. Henry didn’t bother with these beasts either. They were not worth his time. They didn’t possess a lot of Murux like the ones in Ulrum.
After coming across more of the native creatures, Henry began to understand just how bizarre Ulrum was. The monsters here were tame from the perspective of someone who hailed from Ulrum. Therefore, Henry didn’t have to worry about the monsters attacking him as long as he did not provoke them.
Henry found a nice spot above a hillock that was hidden amongst rock pilrs standing as tall as the trees around it. The rock pilrs were emanating magic. Upon closer inspection, the rocks contained Murux within. In his human form, he was a snug fit for the gap between the pilrs. He blended well with the pilrs’ appearance and its Murux signature. Hopefully, it would be able to deceive the detection barrier the mages tend to use.
There were plenty of simir rock pilrs all over the forest and they were in the shape of pilrs. If Henry had to guess, these pilrs were something simir to the Murux Crystals that could be found in Ulrum but these pilrs were less “pure”, for the ck of a better word.
Henry waited patiently for the army to arrive. He had half a mind to move his position closer to the approaching army but he convinced himself to stay put, lest he accidentally plunged himself into their detection range, if there was even such a thing but one can’t be too careful.
After a quarter of an hour or so, Henry sensed the army’s presence. They were finally entering the forest. Going by their pace, they didn’t slow down. They maintained their speed, which led Henry to believe that the army knew of the forest’s dangers beforehand. They would be prepared for any threat that came their way.
From atop the hillock, he could spot the army from a distance away. For some reason, the Arch Knight was walking on foot instead of leisurely chilling on the cart like before. His hands were on his swords as he led the march.
“If he’s finally taking action… then it could only mean they are wary of this forest. Still, they chose to pass through here. Is it because there’s no better path to take?”
Henry didn’t have the answers but he didn’t need them. He just needed to sughter them all. He thought about doing the same thing, starting with setting the votile golems on fire and letting the ensuing explosion take out half of the force. It would have been a wonderful idea if the other reinforcements were so close to one another.
They were some distance away from one another but should there be something like smoke trailing into the sky, it would definitely be seen and alert the others, especially the Arch Knights. They were the sole reason that Henry didn’t just go on a rampage. At times like these, he wished he had a cheat system like those isekai protagonists. It would allow him to analyse his enemies' strength and capabilities. Unfortunately, he had no such absurd luck.
“Look at all these Murux ores..”
Henry perked his ears up when he heard such words. They came from the Arch Knight.
“Such a shame that we aren’t here to mine them… I know, why don’t we abandon our mission and mine these ores instead? We could then run away with these ores and sell them overseas. We would be rich.”
The soldier walking behind the Arch Knight gave him a complicated look. “S-sir… that is desertion. It would be tantamount to treason…”
“I know, I know. I’m just joking… It’s just truly such a waste.”
The army was gradually approaching Henry, or rather, his position. Henry had fully covered himself with his Camoufge ability. As the Arch Knight got within yards from Henry, the former suddenly snapped his gaze in the tter’s direction. Henry remained calm as this was not the first time it had happened.
“Is there something wrong, sir?”
The Arch Knight shrugged. “Everything is wrong. We shouldn’t be taking this path. It’s stupid.”
“But sir, it’s—”
“—the Marshall’s orders. I know, I know…” the Arch Knight sighed. “A stupid order. For the sake of saving time, he chose this path. Easy for him to say since he isn’t the one treading through this accursed forest,” the Arch Knight continued to grumble. “Even if we can make it through the forest, we would be too exhausted then. The terrains here are difficult to traverse.”
“...Sir, this is the only path that would allow us to reach Ulrum in less than a week and without being spotted from far away. The Marshall is aware of the dangers of this forest, which is why he entrusted this path to you, the strongest Arch Knight.”
Henry felt his heart thumping heavily in excitement. There was no way he wouldn’t get excited upon hearing that. If he could defeat this Arch Knight, then it would mean the Arch Knights were a non-issue to him. It would dispel all his concerns about the Arch Knights.