Global Beast Mastery: Only I Can See the Hints

Chapter 660: Chapter 660: Battlefields Burning Everywhere

Although the fight between Charles and Harbor was fierce, and their mystical beasts were locked in combat, neither of them had truly shown their full strength. Both were still holding back, waiting to see how the situation would unfold.

They kept an eye on the other battlefields. Besides their own top-level duel, the grand war between the Stellar Empire and the Serpent Empire stretched across three other fronts.

The largest and bloodiest battlefield was, of course, Withered Tree Fortress.

At the front of the fortress, the crown prince of the Stellar Empire had sent in six entire formations of soldiers. These troops surrounded nearly all four walls of the fortress. With support from the rear’s long-range attacks, they launched wave after wave of relentless assaults against the walls, barely stopping to rest.

Connell was among these soldiers. True to his word, the moment the battle began he charged to the very front lines. Originally, he had planned to betray the crown prince of the Stellar Empire as soon as the fighting started.

But last night Charles had met with him, and together they formed a new plan. Connell decided to act according to Charles’s design instead. And in that plan, the time for betrayal had not yet come.

Facing the massive army of the Stellar Empire, the defenses of Withered Tree Fortress were growing more and more strained. Deep inside the fortress, the Gem of Light was still reinforcing the walls, adding another layer of protection. But even with that, the shield was struggling under the pressure of the Stellar Empire’s all-out assault.

General Sost stood silently at the highest point of the fortress. He knew his side had already fallen into disadvantage, but he still refused to send out the reserve forces he commanded. As long as the walls could still hold, he would not make another move.

After watching the clashes along the walls for a while, his eyes shifted to the distant army of the Stellar Empire. Among the countless soldiers, his gaze quickly locked on his old rival—the crown prince himself.

At that very moment, the crown prince also looked toward the fortress. Their eyes met across the battlefield for a brief instant, then turned away.

“It’s time for you to act. You promised me that once I began my assault on Withered Tree Fortress, you would immediately help me find its weakness and break through the walls.”

The crown prince said coldly to Aldany, who stood at his side.

Aldany frowned slightly, then nodded.

“Yes, Your Highness.”

With that, he turned and walked away.

The crown prince of the Stellar Empire let out a cold snort and lowered his voice, speaking to a royal guard at his side.

“Keep a close eye on Aldany’s every move. After all, he’s still a Serpent—we can’t fully trust him.”

“Yes, Your Highness!”

The crown prince had never truly trusted Aldany.

Even though Aldany flattered him to the extreme, he would never so easily put faith in any Serpent.

In this, Aldany stood in sharp contrast to Connell.

Whether it was the reason for pledging loyalty to the crown prince, or the sincerity he showed afterward, Aldany was far more convincing than Connell.

Yet because he was a Serpent, he could never quickly rise to become a trusted confidant the way Connell—a fellow human—could.

On the surface, Aldany said little.

But inside, he understood this all too well.

He had always been planning ways to leave himself an escape route.

Over the past while, he had successfully gathered together the Serpent tribes that had already defected to the Stellar Empire. By now, the number of Serpent tribes under his control was not much less than what the Serpent Empire itself still held.

It was true that in previous battles, these tribes had lost a great deal of their elite warriors.

Even so, they could still provide Aldany with a massive force of Serpent soldiers.

And those soldiers were his final trump card.

“You are all ready, aren’t you? We’re about to strike!”

Aldany frowned as he swept his gaze across the Serpent warriors before him.

He knew very well that the coming battle would be full of trouble.

And his warriors would surely suffer heavy losses.

Normally, he would have avoided sending them out at the peak of the fighting.

But he had no way left to retreat.

If he refused to fight, the crown prince of the Stellar Empire would kill him on the spot—for the prince had never truly trusted him anyway.

“High Priest, we are ready for battle! We can strike at any time! Under your lead, we will surely win a great victory!” one Serpent warrior shouted loudly.

Aldany was very pleased.

Though the Serpent Empire had stripped him of the title of High Priest, once he gained control of the tribes that sided with the Stellar Empire, they once again recognized his authority.

And if he could win this battle in the end, he might even become emperor of the Serpent Empire.

“Very good! Then let’s strike!”

Under Aldany’s lead, the elite warriors of the Serpent tribes moved quickly toward the point where the east and south walls of Withered Tree Fortress connected.

This was the weakness Aldany had spoken of. Back when he served as the High Priest Regent of the Serpent Empire, he had carefully inspected the fortress. During one casual patrol, he discovered that the underground structure beneath the junction of the east and south walls was very unstable.

If the foundation there was dug through, the two walls would collapse. They wouldn’t be completely destroyed, but it would still open a huge gap. Through that gap, Stellar Empire soldiers could pour straight into the fortress.

While Aldany and his Serpent elites advanced, Azka—who had been standing on the fortress wall, directing his mystical beasts in battle—also realized what was happening. He quickly found General Sost.

“I saw Aldany! He’s leading those traitors toward the junction of the east and south walls. They must be trying to dig through the walls there.”

General Sost gave a blank nod.

“So, what are you trying to say?”

“I hope you’ll allow me to stop them.”

“And what about the fighting already happening on the walls? Do you expect me to send in the reserves right now?”

Faced with Sost’s sharp question, Azka replied quickly,

“You don’t need to send out the reserves! I promise you, it won’t take me long to crush Aldany’s scheme. After that, I’ll return to the walls immediately.”

General Sost didn’t answer right away. He was weighing whether to approve the request. In truth, he already had his own plan to deal with Aldany. But if Azka really could stop him quickly, then letting him go wasn’t a bad idea.

After a short silence, Sost finally nodded.

“If you’re that confident, then go. But I’ll give you only fifteen minutes. If you haven’t defeated Aldany by then, you must return at once.”

Hearing this, Azka’s face lit up with excitement.

“Don’t worry. I won’t need fifteen minutes to bring Aldany down.”

With that, he rushed off.

General Sost watched Azka’s back as he left, and for a moment, a look of expectation crossed his face.

Azka was indeed the subordinate he valued the most.

He was also the one Sost believed had the best chance of one day taking his place.

So he truly hoped Azka’s mission would succeed—because only then could it prove that Azka had the ability to stand on his own.

But that hopeful look lasted only a short while.

When Sost turned his gaze back toward the walls, his expression grew dark again.

The situation there was still dire.

The attacks of the Stellar Empire were becoming fiercer by the minute.

In order to gain the upper hand at Withered Tree Fortress as quickly as possible, the crown prince of the Stellar Empire had pushed two more formations straight to the front lines. Their arrival caused some disorder among his own troops, but the sheer number of soldiers on the front had still increased.

That made defending the walls even harder.

Sost began to weigh whether or not he should send out part of his reserves.

He had no intention of committing all of them—sending only a portion might be enough to ease the pressure at the walls.

But in the end, he decided to keep waiting.

“My job is to hold as many Stellar Empire soldiers here at Withered Tree Fortress as I can. The final outcome still depends on Charles. I must endure long enough.”

He murmured these words to himself.

No matter how fierce the fighting became at Withered Tree Fortress, it was not this battle that would decide the ultimate victory or defeat.

That decision lay in Charles’s battle.

All Sost needed to do was hold out.

Meanwhile, as he hesitated over whether to send in the reserves, Aldany and his men arrived beneath the walls of the fortress. They were already prepared to dig through the foundations.