Chapter 280: A Strange Victory

Ansu's gaze shifted to another part of the battlefield.

The situation had taken a sudden turn for the worse; he looked toward Leo's group, who were surrounded by enemy forces.

Throughout this battle, Ansu had maintained the stance of an observer, paying particularly close attention to Leo's every move, not even letting a single change in his emotions slip by.

Something interesting happened.

Lethal threats lurked in every direction, yet somehow, Leo remained completely unscathed.

A sharp scimitar swept past his neck, coming within an inch of slicing his throat, only to graze his hem and veer off.

A stray arrow flew toward his chest, only to be deflected by an unintentional swing of his sword as it neared him, whistling past his shoulder.

The swords, arrows, fangs, and bone claws on the battlefield all seemed to have eyes of their own; no matter how fierce the onslaught, they always fell just a fraction short.

He remained entirely unharmed, as if by a miracle.

Amidst the sounds of slaughter.

Leo led the hero party through the enemy ranks, eventually cutting down the opposing wolf cavalry commander like a war god descended to earth. The moment the head rolled, the surrounding enemy offensive immediately stalled.

This scene completely bolstered morale. Every Staya warrior fought bravely, managing to push back the majority of the enemies who had flooded into the camp.

Ansu's gaze remained locked on Leo's face.

Seeing the subtle emotions flickering there, a faint smile played at the corners of Ansu's mouth.

He was finally about to realize it.

At this moment, there was no joy of victory on Leo's face, only an unshakable confusion.

Earlier, Ansu had intentionally or unintentionally planted a seed of doubt in the depths of his heart.

Now, aided by this strange victory, it was quietly breaking through the soil and sprouting.

Leo looked down at his bloodstained hands, then at the dead enemy commander at his feet and the corpses strewn across the ground.

His eyes were filled with vacancy.

It seemed as though some thought was flickering in his heart, yet he couldn't quite grasp it.

How strange...

Was it really this simple?

If all the factors of luck were stripped away, this war was actually unwinnable.

Yet they had somehow won, and the scales of victory had tipped because of him.

In the past, he would never have pondered such things.

But since some unknown point in time, he had indeed started paying attention to these incredible "miracles" surrounding him. He began to strip away the halo of the Chosen One and examine himself from an outsider's perspective.

All of this was truly becoming stranger and stranger...

Am I dreaming?

...

Before long, the enemies at the gap were completely driven back.

The Wolfgars' assault was declared a failure. Undead creatures dispersed into the black mist one after another, while wolf cavalry and Wolfgar warriors fled in disarray.

Cheers shook the heavens within the Staya camp as everyone shouted in celebration of this hard-won victory.

Covered in blood, Leo stood alone in the center of the crowd, the surrounding cheers seemingly disconnected from him.

Ansu walked straight toward him.

Leo looked up and saw him, forcing a weary smile.

However, the confusion and unease deep in his eyes did not dissipate in the slightest.

"What's wrong, Leo?" Ansu looked at him with feigned curiosity. "We won the battle. Why don't you look happy?"

"No, it's nothing. I'm very happy."

Leo took a deep breath, suppressing the strange feeling churning in his heart. He sighed hoarsely, "Morris, you were right. We did indeed need a victory like this."

He looked around at all the cheering Staya people.

"We held the camp and stabilized the army's morale. The final victory will belong to us."

Ansu nodded, saying nothing more.

Just then, a beam of golden sunlight pierced through the thick, leaden grey clouds and shone straight down.

The sky had finally cleared.

And that beam of light happened to fall right on Leo, gilding his bloodstained body with a warm, dazzling golden edge.

He stood in the center of the cheering crowd, with the blood-spattered battle flags fluttering behind him and a mountain of enemy corpses at his feet. The image was incredibly impactful.

This sudden beam of light made him look like a savior deity descending upon the mortal world.

The cheers of the surrounding people grew even louder, their eyes filled with reverence and gratitude as they looked at Leo.

"The Chosen One!"

"The Chosen One! The Chosen One!!"

Watching this, Ansu silently complained to himself: That old fellow Gulzan is quite good at composition.

At this moment, it was practically a perfect masterpiece titled "The Chosen One Saves the World."

"We..."

Leo opened his mouth, wanting to say a few inspiring words as he usually did.

But as soon as he began to speak, he abruptly stopped.

An inexplicable voice rang out in his heart without warning. It wasn't specific words, but more like a divine call.

A voice within Leo's heart kept urging him: Go accept more cheers, go accept more worship.

Go spread this victory to every corner, absorb more faith...

The smile on Leo's face gradually vanished, and his expression darkened bit by bit.

He suddenly remembered something Morris had mentioned in passing during their chat last week.

That bit about black magic that "beguiles hearts and manipulates consciousness" now overlapped with the call in his heart. An inexplicable chill surged from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.

It couldn't be...

"Leo?" Ansu noticed his abnormality and called out softly.

"I... I feel a bit unwell. My head is spinning." With a panic he couldn't hide, Leo didn't dare stay any longer, nor did he dare face the reverent gazes around him.

"I'm going back to rest. We'll talk later. Morris, I'll leave things here to you."

He threw out those words and, ignoring the bewildered expressions of the crowd, gripped his longsword and turned to leave in a hurry.

Freya put away her holy seal and quickly walked to Ansu's side.

Though she was covered in dust and blood, she still urgently checked Ansu—who was far cleaner than her—fearing he might be injured.

"I'm fine, really. Not a scratch."

Ansu gave a helpless smile, letting her pat him down.

"I should still cast a healing divine art on you..." Freya said, still worried.

After being bathed in the soft, warm holy light for a while, Freya finally breathed a sigh of relief.

She looked in the direction Leo had gone and asked curiously, "Mr. Leo seems very off... I felt it just now. His face was pale, and he seemed distracted during the battle. Should we go check on him?"

Ansu nodded gently. "Alright, let's go see."

While he remained calm on the surface, he was already clear on the situation.

That seed of doubt had already taken root and sprouted.

This time, he hadn't relied on any forceful means. He had simply returned to his old ways as a master of deception and given Leo a small suggestion.

'What you are about to do may not necessarily be what you truly want; you might have been secretly manipulated by black magic.'

All Ansu had done was make Leo notice the mastermind's calculated manipulation and lead him to doubt his own existence.

Once it fermented, any further calls or instructions he heard in his heart would only convince him that they were the desperate urgings of the mastermind, the high priest.

Ansu hadn't actually lied.

Leo was a fragment split off from Gulzan, a vessel used to collect the power of faith. But because of this, Leo needed to possess an independent and authentic soul.

Leo had pure convictions.

He truly believed he was the Chosen One selected by the holy light and genuinely wanted to protect the people and practice justice.

This was Ansu's way of breaking the game.