Chapter 482: The Truth Behind The Retreat

Somewhere in the city of Eden...

"The Kingdom of Britannia was invaded by the Radiant Empire, the Barbarians of the West, and the Beast Kingdom?" Magnus, the Supreme Commander of the Aurelion Army, frowned when his King told him the news.

"Yes." Druvis III, the High King of the Aurelion Empire, nodded. "I’ve received Augustus’ message a few hours ago. He even had the nerve to remind me that we should still uphold our agreement to split the resources we get from taking over Eden."

"The nerve of that King." Magnus scoffed. "How dare he still ask for a piece of the pie when they haven’t done their part? Why should we honor our agreement with them?"

"Because we have to." King Druvis sighed regretfully. "We used a special method to write and sign our contract. Even if I don’t like it, I have no choice but to honor it."

"Does this have something to do with their Guardian’s ability?" Magnus asked. He had heard that the Guardian of the Kingdom of Britannia had a unique ability useful for negotiations. "I heard that he is someone very hard to deal with."

As to what kind of ability it was, it was a closely guarded secret that even King Druvis III himself couldn’t tell anyone else. One could only discover it by being present at the contract signing.

"Still, he gave me some interesting information," King Druvis III stated. "They said their army had marched to the Borderlands before the invasion in their lands started. However, they were pushed back by the barbarians, preventing their advance."

Aside from Magnus, there were two other people who were included in this meeting. Those were Commander Evander of the Blue Wolves and the Guardian of the Aurelion Empire, Zepharion.

When they heard that the Britannian Army was pushed back by the barbarians, they started to theorize how they had managed to invade Eden without a fight.

"Does this mean... when they found out they would be attacked from two fronts, the barbarians decided to attack the Britannian Army first before dealing with us?" Magnus crossed his arms over his chest as he spoke his theory out loud.

"The possibility exists," Evander commented from the side. "It’s an unusual strategy, but dealing with the Britannian Army first before focusing their attention on us is a viable strategy. This will prevent them from getting trapped in Eden while the two armies attack them from two different directions."

If they were to lean on this theory, it would finally make sense why Eden was abandoned.

Perhaps the barbarians thought that the Kingdom of Britannia was easier to deal with than the Aurelion Empire, so they decided to deal with them first.

"Since the Britannian Army has already retreated, we can assume that the barbarians had set out. It’s only a matter of time before they attempt to reclaim Eden from our hands." Zepharion lightly tapped the armrest of his chair with his right hand.

The entirety of the Aurelion Army had already occupied Eden.

During the first few days, Magnus refused to enter the city and camped outside. He was suspicious of the current situation, so he decided to wait a few days while Zepharion and his men scouted the surroundings.

They had managed to find a hundred barbarians camping in the distance. Gundar was a part of that group, so the Aurelion Scouting Party didn’t dare to directly attack them.

However, a hundred barbarians also posed no threat to them, so they left them alone.

Over time, Magnus decided that it was safe to occupy the city, so he led the rest of his men to take over Eden.

But there was one problem.

The dungeon.

Even now, their mages were still trying to unlock the seal placed at the entrance of the dungeon, preventing anyone from going inside.

According to the sorcerer in charge of the operation, it would take them at least ten days to finally undo the seal.

Since the dungeon was the main reason why they had decided to take over Eden, Magnus had no choice but to be patient. Forcing the dungeon open might just cause it to be destroyed. What was the point of this expedition if that happened?

"Don’t worry." King Druvis III smiled faintly. "We still have the trump card the Britannian King sent us to ensure that Eden would fall into our hands. Even if Gundar appears, we can deal with him.

Magnus, Evander, and Zepharion all nodded in agreement. They had fought the barbarians before, so they knew how fierce they could be.

If they really were to reclaim Eden by force, they would fight the Aurelion Army tooth and nail to get it.

Although they believed that the Empire would win in the end, the number of casualties might exceed their expectations.

Of course, a pyrrhic victory was the last thing that King Druvis III wanted to happen.

He wanted to be written down in history as the wise King who had accomplished a great feat in the history books.

"Increase your vigilance, Magnus," King Druvis said firmly. "We can never underestimate the barbarians, especially their great shaman."

"Your Majesty, may I ask you a question?" Magnus asked.

"Speak." King Druvis nodded.

"You mentioned the Britannian Army was repelled by the barbarians," Magnus stated. "Do you happen to know any other information aside from that? Including the name of the tribes that faced them?"

"Now that you mention it, they did mention a tribe’s name." King Druvis III narrowed his eyes. "I believe they called it the Aslan Tribe."

Evander immediately perked up after hearing the words "Aslan Tribe".

It took him a while to recall where he had heard the name of this tribe before. But when his memory finally found the answer, he couldn’t help but be surprised.

The last time he talked with Hagen, the barbarian mentioned a young chieftain whom he wished to eliminate.

He mentioned that this person was the candidate chosen to become the very first Barbarian King of the Borderlands.

A young chieftain governing a tribe called the Aslan Tribe.

"I heard some information about the Aslan Tribe from Hagen." Evander thought that this piece of information might be important, so he decided to share it with everyone. "Hagen once asked to collaborate with me to kill the Chieftain of the Aslan Tribe.

"According to him, this chieftain is only a teenager. He also goes by the name Leone Frontera. Hagen said this person was not a barbarian born in the Borderlands but an exile from the Kingdom of Britannia who somehow managed to rise as a chieftain."

"Is that true, Evander?" King Druvis III arched an eyebrow. "Is this information credible?"

"I only heard it from one of the high-ranking chieftains of the Borderlands," Evander replied in a respectful tone. "There is a chance that Hagen might be lying. But knowing his personality, he doesn’t want anyone to become the Barbarian King aside from him."

"Hmm... maybe I should talk to Augustus again and tell him about this young chieftain." Druvis smirked. "To think the person he exiled from his kingdom would eventually become the biggest thorn in his side. Talk about karma."

The King and his subordinates then discussed countermeasures on how they would deal with the barbarians, who might appear to reclaim Eden.

This discussion lasted for one more hour before King Druvis III finally ended the connection.

"Leone Frontera..." King Druvis muttered before lightly tapping a second communication crystal.

A moment later, this communication crystal lit up as the projection of King Augustus of the Kingdom of Britannia appeared in front of him.

"What’s wrong, Druvis?" King Augustus asked. "We just talked a while ago, so why are you calling me back so soon? Don’t tell me that you miss me?"

"Hardly," King Druvis III replied. "I just want to share a piece of information with you. I found it quite amusing. Who knows? It might just amuse you as well."

"Out with it." King Augustus clicked his tongue. "I don’t have all day. I’m very busy right now."

King Druvis smiled as he shared the information that he had learned from his subjects. He was very curious to see how the King of Britannia would react once he learned that his army had been forced to retreat by the same person who held a deep grudge against him.