Dante’s Immortality – Chapter 105

Three great changes happened later that night. The first, was the death of everyone with influence that opposed his authority. Jayden cleaned them up rather nicely, adding three others to the list of targets that he hadn’t been aware were a problem. After thinking about their actions over the past months, he realized that Jayden was right to discard them.

Shortly after came the death of Warlord Vidal. After his mana contract was delivered, and the warlord saw Addison, Warlord Vidal immediately ended his own life. No one thought much of it, even Addison thought that he had finally succumbed to the poison that had been plaguing him.

The two pieces of news completely rocked the camp, bringing total unrest with them.

Shortly after that, Victoria also departed on her raptor by utilizing the cover of darkness to fly out unseen. Few people were aware of that small fact though.

Dante stayed up for several hours drafting his note for Warlord Karabell. The note stated his identity as a member of the guild, that Warlord Vidal had died, his intent to surrender, and the conditions he wanted as a part of the surrender.

The conditions mostly included provisions for his soldiers and the ability for the conscripted troops to return to their homes if they chose to. He didn’t go into too much detail though; the details would be left for the face to face negotiations.

The note was sent out with a messenger at first light the following morning, and that messenger returned only hour later. The negotiation was on, and Warlord Karabell wanted to meet as soon as possible.

Dante prepared himself, collecting Jayden and six of their sturdier Warriors. The Warriors that he chose weren’t great offensively, but for blocking attacks they were some of the best combatants in his army.

The eight of them gathered by the camp’s wall, and a nod to the single geomancer stationed there caused a hole to be opened for them to walk out through.

As soon as the stone wall was lowered they were greeted by the familiar sight of Warlord Karabell’s army. The nearest troops were stationed roughly half a mile away, which was well out of even the furthest bow range. Between the army and the camp was Warlord Karabell, another man, and a contingent of five of his guards. Warlord Karabell seemed to have set up everything in advance, a makeshift table was placed in front of him and he was waiting for them with one other person by his side.

Warlord Karabell was a man past his prime with greying hair and a strong air of command. He rarely fought, but when he did, it caused nothing but headaches for Dante’s side. He was a kind of magic Classification that used his skills to drastically increase his close combat strength, and that working in conjunction with his ability to quickly create dense mana shields made him almost unkillable.

Dante stepped forward with Jayden as the six Warriors surrounding them in a roughly circular formation. Both armies were on full alert. Behind him, every inch of the stone wall was covered by his combatants, every archer had an arrow knocked, and all of them were waiting for some indication of danger that would force them to act. In front of them, Warlord Karabell’s army was behaving similarly. Every eye was trained on him as they walked to the negotiation table.

They only took a dozen steps before Jayden spoke. “Something isn’t right.”

Dante didn’t react visibly to Jayden’s barely audible words, but he did sharpen his vision as he inspected Warlord Karabell.

Nothing seemed to be amiss. The person in front of him was definitely the opposing warlord. He had fought him to a stalemate on more than one occasion, so it wasn’t possible that he could be mistaken.

After inspecting Warlord Karabell, Dante shifted his attention to the five combatants by his side. None of them seemed out of the ordinary. And no matter how hard he concentrated, there wasn’t the slightest fluctuation of mana or world essence.

Dante then scanned the vicinity for anything unusual and was unable to discern what had caused Jayden’s apprehension. Dante spoke quietly, but in a way that would appear casual to those who were watching. “What is it?”

Jayden’s eyes roamed over Warlord Karabell and his guards several times before answering. “It’s the way he is looking at you.”

Dante returned his gaze to Warlord Karabell. The warlord was staring at him, but if anything, his expression seemed amiable. “Should we turn back?”

Jayden lowered his voice further, this time it was so quiet that even the Warriors they brought couldn’t hear. “No, that would waste an excellent opportunity. He has no reason to antagonize you, so negotiations will likely go smoothly. If they don’t, this would be the best time to kill Warlord Karabell. Use the Warriors as a distraction and take him out while he is isolated.”

What Jayden said made sense. Warlord Karabell had no reason to act against him, especially since he was basically handing the camp over to him. And Dante was fairly certain that he could kill Warlord Karabell if the warlord didn’t have his freakishly strong mercenary group surrounding him like he usually did in battle.

He was somewhat surprised that Jayden was willing to place himself in such a potentially risky situation as a noncombat Classification. But since he didn’t turn back, he must’ve been confident in his ability to survive any outcome he could envision.

Dante began to fill his legs full of world essence in preparation.

As they neared, Warlord Karabell stood and smiled at them in a composed manner as he gestured to the chairs that were placed across from him. “Ah, welcome! Please sit, I’m sure that we are all eager to get started.”

Dante inspected the chairs that were laid out. There were enough for each of his Warriors but he gestured for them to stand as he sat down. They would need to be alert.

Surprisingly, Jayden sat down next to him. Had he been in Jayden’s place, he certainly would have stood. Sitting down placed them in a terrible position if something went awry.

As soon as he sat, Dante looked up at Warlord Karabell and the man sitting beside him with a pleasant smile. “Indeed. I have been away from the guild for far too long, it will be nice to finally return.”

Dante was still feeling out the situation, and started the conversation by reaffirming his position as well as reassuring Warlord Karabell that he had no intention of staying longer than he needed to.

Warlord Karabell laughed heartily. “Then we are in agreement. I don’t have a home to return to, per say, but it will be nice to settle down and eat something other than the meager rations that this siege has forced upon me.” He turned his attention toward Jayden. “I presume that this is Jayden, the famous master tactician that I have heard so much about?”

Jayden scratched his head in mock embarrassment. “You’ve heard of me? How surprising.”

Warlord Karabell waved him off. “Oh please. Your reputation precedes you.”

This was likely the work of the reputation Jayden said he had built up. It made him curious about how Jayden had managed to spread such things into their enemy’s camp.

As if on cue, Dante felt a nudge on his side. Jayden smiled at him, as if to say ‘I told you so’, and Dante had a sudden urge to pummel him.

Jayden returned his attention to the two men across from him, the one sitting beside Warlord Karabell in particular. “I am afraid that the two of you have us at a disadvantage. Both of you know our identities, but I have never had an impression of this person, despite familiarizing myself with everyone of high rank in your army. I must say, I am quite perplexed.”

That was strange. Based on how the guards around them monitored that person, he should hold some importance.

That man Jayden indicated maintained his silence as Warlord Karabell laughed. “You wouldn’t have seen him in any battles. My son has mainly handled the logistics and planning of the army since the beginning of the siege.”

Dante was surprised to hear that this person was the warlord’s son. They did somewhat resemble each other, but the son had a far more refined appearance than his father. He almost seemed scholarly.

Jayden nodded appreciatively. “So he is your son, no wonder I hadn’t seen him.” Despite Jayden remaining calm, Dante could see very minute mana fluctuations begin to flow out of his body. It wasn’t like a skill activation, but like he was preparing to make a mana shield.

That wasn’t a good sign.

Dante readied himself to either attack Warlord Karabell or flee, his own mana was in the tips of his fingers as he made the preparations to draw weapons from his storage.

Warlord Karabell looked at Dante. “After the brutal fight between our armies four days ago, I’ve come to understand how important my family is. For them, I wouldn’t mind sacrificing everything I’ve built for myself. Isn’t that a sentiment you could agree with, assassin?”

Mana began to spread across Warlord Karabell’s body. Dante wasn’t in immediate danger though, he had seen the sight before. Warlord Karabell’s physical attacks would just be bolstered, and the mana on his body could easily by converted to a shield if he sacrificed its offensive ability.

Dante maintained his cordiality. “I’m afraid not.”

Warlord Karabell shook his head in disappointment. “What a shame. I’m sure that if you had the pleasure of having sons like mine your opinion would change.”

This time, his son began to collect mana. Dante prepared to use Blink.

Dante smiled. “Is that so?”

Warlord Karabell nodded with a heavy look in his eye. “Yes, one took after his mother and inherited a rare Classification that anyone would be envious of. The other took after me. He was strong headed, and the skills he chose were different than mine, but he made magnificent use of them. He had the most success out of all the captains in my army by valiantly leading every charge in the mounted unit he controlled.”

Dante and Jayden both exploded into action, but they were too late. Warlord Karabell had prepared well, as soon as he said his son lead a mounted unit the ground beneath them completely crumbled, revealing a cavern filled with combatants bellow them.