Dante’s Immortality – Chapter 111

Dante looked over the tent before he stepped out. To be specific, he looked over Captain Lawrence’s various oddities. He had already been disappointed twice, both times when he checked the two captains’ wrists for Classifications as he carried them to their beds. In both cases, he already had them.

After his eyes scanned over each item he decided to take nothing. Not only did everything seem rather cheap, but taking something could lead to the captain being found sooner if someone noticed that there were items missing.

He still wasn’t optimistic about the mercenaries thinking Captain Lawrence was asleep, but there was no point in destroying the chance of that happening for a mercenary leader’s trash.

Dante looked over the tent for a second time, then created a flat blade to look at his own reflection. Sneaking away last time was easy when no one was paying attention. This time he would be escorted out. After making sure that there was no blood on him, and that his clothing was in order, Dante broke up the sword and stepped out of the tent.

Dante walked out with a slightly pleased expression. Which would hopefully make the mercenaries less suspicious that something went wrong and less likely to go into the tent to check in on their captain. Even after they found the body, thinking back on his expression would only confirm their suspicions that someone from Captain Kloss’ mercenary group killed their captain.

Waiting outside the tent were Sven and the other mercenary that had initially greeted him. They were standing a few yards away and watching the tent with hands on weapons, ready to charge in at the slightest disturbance, but far enough away to not hear what was being spoken inside. Seeing him step out the two relaxed, taking hands off weapons and moving toward him.

While Sven moved back to his usual position on Dante’s left, the other mercenary noted his pleased expression. “I take it things went well.”

It was a statement, not a question. Dante still answered anyways. Nodding, he replied carefully. “Indeed. I was slightly worried after my initial reception, but I think my captain will be thoroughly reassured when he hears of what transpired in our meeting.”

The mercenary seemed to understand. “The captain may seem a bit strict, but he’s a good sort.” Even the quiet Sven gave a slight nod of ascent.

After hearing that the meeting with their captain went well the two appeared to hold him in higher regard. He was escorted out of the camp without complications.

Dante’s first move was to get changed. After that, finding him would be impossible.

To get to his next target, he would need to backtrack a bit. Which unfortunately meant crossing the path of some of the guards he had seen earlier. To circumvent that issue, Dante once again took the risk of changing behind a large tent in a relatively dark area, then walked toward the mage’s location in a roundabout fashion. He also changed into a uniform that he hadn’t used previously, and one that belonged to a mercenary group located close to the mage’s camp.

Because time was now of the essence, he didn’t change directions every time he saw a guard. He just continued walking with purpose. When stopped, he would tell them that he had just finished carrying out the orders of his captain and was in the process of returning. When asked what those orders were, he told them it was confidential. The guards didn’t like the response, but given the circumstances, they understood the reason for it.

Dante continued like that for roughly thirty minutes before making it to ‘his’ camp. Sequestered off in its own area nearby was the mercenary group that was made up of magic Classifications. It was one of the smaller camps, only made up of roughly twenty mercenaries, but he didn’t dare act rashly. More than likely at least half of them were the standard Mage Classification, the other half might have a Classification or skill that could surprise him though. And he couldn’t be certain if any of them had scout-like Classifications that could detect him.

It was the main reason that he had saved the mage for last. He may not be able to kill the mage undetected, but at this point remaining undetected didn’t matter as long as he could still escape.

As he neared, he became aware of the fact that he was likely correct about one of the mages having a scout-like Classification or skill. The isolated area surrounding the mage camp had infrequent mana fluctuations swirling around the camp that even extended upward. There were infrequent gaps in the mana as it swirled, but those gaps were brief. Even an arrow shot by a Ranger would be hard pressed to get through untouched.

There was almost no hope in getting through without activating whatever the skill was. Even with Blink. The real question was if it was actually a detection skill, or if it was something else.

Dante’s eyes scanned over the camp. Aside from the tents - and the mercenaries that were presumably located inside them - it was devoid of people. He studied those tents carefully, trying to see which contained his target, but found no irregularities. They were all the same.

Even straining his senses were useless. He heard the mutterings of conversations. But understanding what was being said from this distance was impossible when every word was being dampened by the tent they originated from. Dante was at an impasse, unsure of how to proceed.

That was when he heard the first horn. It was faint, but even he knew what the horn meant. An enemy attack. And the direction the horn originated from was the same as the direction of Captain Lawrence’s camp.

Dante moved quickly as other mercenary groups picked up their horns and repeated the call, distancing himself from the mercenary group he was wearing the uniform of so that there wouldn’t be unnecessary complications. Mercenaries began to stream out of tents, more than one of them completely naked with a weapon in hand.

Dante made a deft motion as he created a long dagger, making it look like he had drawn it from a hidden location. Then he matched the men streaming out of the tent as he too looked around for the enemy. Seeing him looking around, anyone who glanced at him did so briefly.

On the bright side, the mercenary group made up of mages was similarly affected.

They were slower than the rest, and none of them left their tent without being completely dressed. Among them was his target, the mage with ‘the ugly silver streaks in his hair’ that Jayden had pointed out. Coming out of his tent just behind him was a woman, and seeing her gave Dante pause. She looked completely normal and unassuming, but there was something off about her.

Dante continued to shift his gaze as he pretended to look around for signs of an attack. The camp had entered into a state of chaos. If the men could find the danger it wouldn’t have been that bad. But since both they and their captains didn’t know what was happening, the unknown threat began to cause unrest.

News would soon spread from Captain Lawrence’s camp and things would calm, but his target, or more specifically the woman next to him, didn’t seem keen on waiting. She was arguing with him in a low tone, nudging him in the back as she did so.

Dante finally understood what was off about her. It was the relationship dynamic between her and the mage captain. When he first saw them exit the tent, he assumed that the woman was his wife or carrying out a role that was similar in capacity, but that seemed to conflict with her body language. If anything, she appeared to be ordering him around.

Dante moved, edging closer to the two as he neared the area of isolation that protected the mage camp. No matter how close he got, he couldn’t hear anything that the woman was saying.

The mage captain finally spoke to the woman, and Dante could barely make out the words over the sound of the horns and clamoring combatants. “Yes, yes, just get your hand off of me.”

That earned him another nudge – or prod – forward. The mage looked at his men. “Stay here, I’ll be back momentarily.” The mercenaries looked at him and the woman with interest, but chose to hold their tongues. From the glances they gave their captain, it appeared as though none of them recognized the woman who had stepped out of his tent.

The two seemed to completely ignore what was going on around them as they stepped out of the mage’s mercenary camp and into the crowd of soldiers preparing for a fight with weapons drawn.

Without a choice, Dante followed.

“Get back to your camps!”

After walking for only a few feet Dante felt himself being shoved in the side and turned to see a gruff mercenary leader barking orders at him. Dante quickly saluted to the captain. “Sir.”

The response was ignored as the mercenary leader turned back to his men. “Camden, call roll! Find out who is missing.”

Dante walked directly away from the captain, which caused his path to deviate. His eyes stayed on his target and the woman shoving him forward. If they continued without changing their trajectory they would leave the camp in the direction of the forest nearby.

He was debating whether or not he should make a move. If he acted quickly he could take advantage of the momentary unrest. But if he waited, the woman and mage may isolate themselves on their own.

Dante quickened his pace. If he could create an opportunity, he would take advantage of it.

He pushed his speed to the limits of what could be defined as a walk. The pace did garner a few looks, but he was pretty much ignored. The men were looking for an enemy, not a single combatant wearing a uniform that belonged to one of their mercenaries.

Unfortunately, he was unable to walk fast enough. As he began to close in on the pair, only a dozen or so feet away, they stepped past the last mercenary group’s camp. They were no longer within the confines of army.

Dante stopped on the camps edge, looking around incredulously at the other combatants. For some reason, no one shouted for the pair to stop. It wasn’t as though they knew who the pair were and didn’t dare to, their curious glances and scrunching of eyes as they tried to make out who they were was indication enough of that. No one seemed to care that they were walking toward the forest, after all, the enemy army was in the opposite direction.

Another oddity he noticed as he had neared the woman was the slight fluctuation of mana on the hand that was resting on the mage captain’s back. It made him hesitate. If the woman was going to kill the mage captain for him that would make things far simpler. It was possible she was working for Captain Williams, the other contender for the new Warlord position.

Dante stood on the edge of the camp, unsure of what move to make as the two continued to fade in the darkness and walk toward the forest. Ultimately, he decided to silently follow. Even if the woman was going to kill the mage, he needed to make sure he was dead.