Novel Full Chapter 661: Traitors Must Die
Chapter 661: Chapter 661: Traitors Must Die
“Faster! Everyone, get into position right now! Follow the plan we’ve practiced again and again, and start tearing down the foundation!”
Beneath the Wall of Withered Tree Fortress, Aldany shouted loudly to the trained Serpents behind him.
To make sure the mission would succeed, he had already drilled these hand-picked elite warriors through multiple rehearsals before the battle began. During training, every one of the Serpent tribe’s elites had learned exactly how to bring down the fortress’s foundation.
At Aldany’s urging, the warriors moved quickly. Very soon, they managed to rip open a gap in the base of the Wall.
When he saw this, a smile finally crept across Aldany’s face.
As long as a gap was opened in the foundation, the hardest step was done.
The next stage was to dig deeper along that gap. Once the foundation was weakened enough, the Wall of Withered Tree Fortress would collapse.
Even though he felt a flicker of joy inside, Aldany stayed on guard. He knew the closer they got to success, the more dangerous it was to relax. He began scanning his surroundings with sharp eyes.
At that moment, a black bat swooped down at him from the sky.
He immediately recognized it as Azka’s mystical beast.
“You think you alone can stop me?” Aldany sneered. With a flick of his hand, he tossed a talisman covered in strange symbols into the air.
The moment the talisman left his hand, it turned into a tight, seamless net.
The black bat was instantly caught. The net fell to the ground, and in the blink of an eye it reverted back into a talisman.
“Unless Sost or Charles come here themselves, I will never fail.” Aldany picked up the talisman with a smug grin as he spoke.
But before the words had even left his mouth, a sharp whistle cut the air, grazing his cheek as something flew past.
Before he could even turn to look, screams rang out from the elite Serpent warriors.
Aldany instantly realized—the black bat he had just captured was nothing but bait.
Azka had used the bat to distract him, while the real attack struck the Serpent soldiers working to destroy the foundation.
Aldany reacted at once. He had no intention of helping the soldiers he’d brought. In his eyes, those Serpents were only tools to be spent.
What he needed to do was find Azka’s true location as quickly as possible. Only by killing Azka could the mission to tear down the foundation continue smoothly.
“Stop hiding! The moment you make another move, I’ll catch you for sure!”
Aldany shouted loudly as his eyes swept quickly around. Soon, he locked onto a spot where Azka was most likely hiding.
“Even if I give you a chance, you still won’t catch me! You’re too cautious—that’s why you’re not fit to stand on your own!”
Without hesitation, Aldany launched his attack in that direction. His body turned into a swirl of black smoke, while at the same time he hurled out a barrage of talismans, each one filled with curse energy.
Every talisman flew toward the place he believed Azka was. But when Aldany arrived, he suddenly realized he had been tricked again.
He had sensed Azka’s presence, but it was only a trail Azka had left on purpose. To make sure Aldany fell for it, Azka had even placed his strongest mystical beast and most powerful weapon there as bait.
“Damn it! Since when did you get so clever?!” Aldany muttered in disbelief.
But it was already too late.
Taking advantage of the brief moment Aldany had been lured away, Azka had wiped out nearly all of the Serpents trying to destroy the foundation. Some of them had tried to surrender to him, but he refused.
In his eyes, they were traitors. Traitors did not deserve forgiveness. Every traitor had to die.
And even if he had wanted to accept their surrender, there was no time. The battlefield was in utter chaos, and he couldn’t get a clear picture of the full situation. All he could do was try his best to help the Serpent Empire gain the upper hand.
After eliminating most of the Serpents digging at the foundation, Azka stopped. He didn’t chase down the ones who ran away. They posed no real threat, and going after them would only waste time.
Instead, he stayed put—waiting for Aldany to come.
Moments later, Aldany reappeared before him in the form of smoke. He had returned to check on what had happened, never expecting Azka would actually be waiting for him here.
Aldany sneered. “You really dared to stay here? Do you actually want to die? If that’s what you wish, I’ll gladly grant it.”
Azka glared back coldly. “Yes, I stayed here for someone to die. But that someone isn’t me. It’s you. Traitors must die—no matter how high their status once was.”
As soon as the words left his mouth, Azka launched his attack on Aldany.
Even though he wasn’t as strong as Aldany, his will to fight was far more firm. All he cared about was finding a way to kill Aldany here. Aldany, however, had a very different priority—he had to keep the promise he made to the Stellar Empire’s crown prince.
He had sworn with full confidence that he would quickly destroy the Wall of Withered Tree Fortress. If too much time was wasted, the crown prince would be furious.
The worst outcome would be that his failure caused the entire assault to collapse. And if that happened, Aldany knew there would be no way out for him.
Since he had already betrayed the Serpent Empire, his only hope of survival was the crown prince’s protection. That was why he had no choice but to fulfill his promise.
“If you want to die, then I’ll be the one to send you to your death!” Aldany snarled.
The two clashed beneath the Wall of Withered Tree Fortress, their battle savage and unrelenting.
The other fights around them weren’t as intense, but everyone could see the truth: this was a fight to the death. Neither side had any room to back down.
On the other side of the fortress wall, Connell had already led the Royal Guards through the Serpent Empire’s first line of defense. Now he stood before the main gate of Withered Tree Fortress.
“We only need to break down the front gate, and then we can storm into the fortress! His Highness the crown prince is watching us from behind—we must fight with everything we’ve got!” he shouted to the guards behind him.
With that, he charged ahead toward the gate.
The gate itself had been reinforced, but after prolonged fighting it could no longer hold. Under the assault of Connell and the Royal Guards, the main gate finally gave way.
They stormed forward, rushing into the fortress.
But this didn’t mean Withered Tree Fortress had fallen. What they had broken through was only the gate of the second defensive wall.
As soon as they entered, waves of Serpent soldiers surrounded them. Their advance was halted, and they could push no further.
Even so, the battlefield had already shifted because of Connell’s strike.
General Sost no longer had the heart to watch the duel between Azka and Aldany. Instead, his eyes turned sharply toward where Connell was fighting.
“Isn’t Connell on our side? Didn’t he agree with Charles earlier that they would work together during the battle to make sure the Stellar Empire suffered a huge defeat?
Could it be that he’s been lying to us all along? The way he’s acting now doesn’t look like someone working with us. Or… maybe his new deal with Charles is to wait until after they get inside the fortress before helping us?”
General Sost was deeply puzzled.
Charles hadn’t told anyone else about his new agreement with Connell. That left Sost feeling uneasy.
In the past, whenever Sost sensed something was off, he would quickly react and adjust. But now, he couldn’t. He had no way of knowing whether Connell’s actions were part of the plan or not.
All he could do was watch the battlefield nervously.
The Stellar Empire’s crown prince, on the other hand, felt the complete opposite. He was thrilled.
“I knew Connell was a rare talent! Taking him under my command was the smartest decision I’ve ever made!”
The crown prince believed Connell had earned the most credit in this battle so far. And with the Wall of Withered Tree Fortress broken through, he was convinced the victory was nearly guaranteed.
Proudly, he turned to the people beside him and said,
“Before, you all thought my plan carried risks. But now you see—there’s no risk at all! As long as you follow my orders, we will never fail.”
Most people lowered their heads and agreed with him. Only the governor of the Atacama Desert kept a stern expression. He was far less optimistic.