‘Hm, don’t think they trust me that much yet…’

A month had passed since his last run-in with the forces from the magical kingdom. After battling for two weeks at the border regions together with his sect members, he had managed to push the red demi-humans back. Their tribe chief was nowhere to be seen and it felt mostly to be an annoyance.

It bothered him that the vampire demi-humans were gone, their master was probably resting at the castle that he wished to conquer. For the time being, he couldn’t do anything about that but he had a plan. This plan involved both Argus and Lord Lucius whom he was meeting now. If he was successful then he would have enough backup to storm that fortress before the vampire lord gained back his full power.

“Argus, this is a waste of time, we should resume our search for the holy blade.”

“Please Lord Lucius as you know it would be better if we worked with the natives living here.”

“You two know that I can hear you right?”

Zhang Dong chuckled as the two approached him while bickering. The area that they were in was close to the previously hidden base. It was a wide-open area without any spots that could be used as an ambush. He could also feel that there were several hidden knights on standby probably waiting to pounce if he tried attacking their lord.

‘I guess this is only natural. I did beat them all up and almost killed their leader…’

They were still in an unfamiliar place with no clue of the culture. They had come to retrieve some kind of vague relic that they probably weren’t sure existed. This same relic was already in his possession and he could easily hand it over to them. The question was if that would help him or his people out in any way?

From his point of view, it seemed that these people would leave these lands after recovering the time they wanted. They were a much smaller force compared to the demi-humans with an elite unit with not that many soldiers compared to the other empires. They were not as violent and were not taking over the lands they pushed in but instead hid out of sight.

Would their disappearance be helpful for this war effort? If they vanished then people in the southeast regions would not have to battle them anymore. Yet on the other hand there was the Emerald Phoenix Empire in the upper east regions. These two powers would clash with each other sooner or later and probably keep themselves in check. Thus in a way, they were helpful in blocking the other invaders from advancing too far.

Yet there was another way of making them useful but it would only work once. By producing a white lie concerning the location of the relic he would be given a chance of using this force of knights. His plan was simple, perform a joint attack on the area where the demi-humans are hiding in their fortress. His initial plan was to wait and upgrade the floating golden palace but if he could get these magic knights to aid him, then the Golden Dong Palace would not be needed.

“You must exercise the young lord Sir Dong, he is still skeptical of your motives…”

Argus turned to face Zhang Dong while awkwardly replying.

“It’s only natural to be skeptical but I assure you that I mean you no harm.”

He was telling the truth, even though he wanted to use these people, harming them was not his motive. Nevertheless, it also didn’t feel right to just give them the item without having them work for it. In these cruel times, he could not worry about others while his own people were constantly in fear of death. The invaders were in the wrong here and if they wanted to have their treasure they would need to give their aid.

“A month has passed, do you have any information concerning the holy relic? How could you be able to achieve something that my holy knights could not for so long?”

Lucius was not having it though, it seemed that after the loss he didn’t change that much. Even after being humbled, it didn’t seem that his pride would allow him to calm down in front of the person that he lost to.

“Lord Lucius you shouldn’t…”

“It’s fine Argus, you might not believe me but I think that I might have found your treasured blade for you…”

“You found it?”

Argus was quite surprised after hearing Zhang Dong’s answer. Lucius on the other hand just snorted without looking impressed.

“You want us to believe in your words, where is the proof?”

“I was just getting to that, are you always so impatient Sir Lucius?”

Zhang Dong chuckled while the blond knight was taken aback. The man that had the title of duke was probably not used to anyone talking back to him. Yet the person that he was conversing with was someone that he could not beat, even if he couldn’t accept it the loss was there.

“Argus, do you perhaps have an item or a spell that could confirm the relic?”

“Yes, we do have something like that.”

The old wizard started scratching his beard while looking toward Lucius. It was clear that the person that possessed said item was the knight commander.

“That would make it easier to confirm my claim then, let me explain. I’m not sure if you are aware of the monster-like humanoid creatures that had invaded our lands recently, they are quite ferocious and don’t value human life at all…”

First to get things rolling Zhang Dong started to explain the situation with the demi-humans and how they were pillaging their lands. He went out of his way to portray them as mindless beasts that only wanted to spread carnage and suffering. It was a jab at the knight's code that these people possessed as they would probably be fine with battling bloodthirsty monsters.

“They sound truly atrocious.”

Argus commented while shaking his head but Lucius didn’t seem that impressed.

“Where are you going with this? Are you just stalling because you weren’t able to find any leads on the relic?”

“You are truly impatient my friend. I just wanted to give you some information about the new enemy that your people will have to face to retrieve your relic as I’m convinced that it's buried somewhere in the lands that they had taken over…”

“You want us to believe your word? Where is the proof of that?”

Zhang Dong shook his head while shrugging, Lucius clearly didn’t trust him but even the knight commander would have to if they really had an item that could recognize the holy sword's location.

“As you might know I am fairly poised in the holy arts myself, I discovered this relic’s unique energy signature while battling with the beasts, and to some degree, I am able to recreate this energy pattern. If you really have an item that can detect your relic it should be able to confirm my claim.”

“Is that true Wizard?”

Lucius was clearly not that versed in magic. He relied a lot on that magical golden armor that he was wearing to give him most of his strength. Zhang Dong on the other hand knew the answer to that question. To know the relic’s unique magical pattern he would have to have to come in contact with it. The item was really complex and even Zhang Dong could not use it.

“In theory, it should be possible, the guiding ring should react to the divine energies that the relic produces but are you really able to copy them that easily?”

Even Argus was skeptical about Zhang Dong’s claims, how could he be able to copy their divine relic’s energy fingerprint? It did sound ludicrous but they had to at least hear him out. They had been stuck going through these strange lands that were far too huge to explore.

“What do you have to lose? If you think that I have bad intentions you can move away while I perform the technique.”

Lucius was clearly not having it as he started to back away. Argus on the other hand was more interested than afraid but he needed to listen to the knight leader. Soon the two moved back while the hidden knights closed in as if a battle would break out. All of them knew that Zhang Dong was strong and fighting him even with these numbers would not be easy.

“Well then, let me begin… it should be something like this…”

To not appear that he was trying to blast his new allies with lightning bolts he decided to sit down in the usual lotus position. The only person that wasn’t on guard was the bearded wizard that was more interested in the strange combination of magic and spiritual energy that Zhang Dong was performing.

Soon his body started glowing, it was similar to his usual hue of golden but was slightly different. Lucius placed his hand on his sword while being apprehensive about this phenomenon but soon there was a change. The knight commander noticed that something was happening as the item that was around his neck started giving out chimes.

“Impossible…”

Without waiting he removed the golden chain that was around his neck. A single ring was hanging from this chain and this was the item that was giving out those gentle chimes. All the other knights and also Argus were awe-struck as this was the guiding ring that was supposed to react to their relic if it was close enough.

“Judging by your reaction, it does seem to be the item you are searching for.”

“But how…”

The chiming quickly subsided as mimicking the pattern of that secret relic wasn’t an easy task. Even Zhang Dong could not make that relic budge for long, the most he could do was use up almost all of his spiritual energy to get that ring working. For safety purposes, he was actually copying the energy he experienced when he tried releasing the sword from its sealed state as bringing the relic to this place even in his spatial bag was too dangerous. Argus would probably notice it and then his scheme would be over.

“I see that it was really the relic you were looking for, good. I think we could form a pact between our sides, if you help me take care of the demi-humans plaguing my lands I will guide you towards your relic and also help you get it! Doesn’t sound bad, right?”

Zhang Dong smiled while putting on his poker face. If Lucius wanted to get his hands on the relic he would need to help him capture the demi-human base. Even though the man was prideful he needed to complete his mission and for that, he would need to follow his lead.