Chapter 696: A Favor Owed

Next, Henwell goes to see his father-in-law.

Duke Marcus lies in bed, his conflicted gaze resting on Henwell. A long silence passes before he speaks.

"I never expected the Western Federation and Veil to join forces, much less for so many factions to work together to set a death trap for you."

"Even so, I don't regret my decision. If you hadn't come, if you hadn't stepped into their trap, things would have ended better."

"You missed an excellent opportunity, one that could have changed the fate of both our family and the kingdom!"

Henwell shakes his head. "No. If I had not come, the outcome would only have been worse."

"Once they decided to build this death trap, their contingencies would have made certain I fell into it."

"And I do not agree that we missed our opportunity."

"Look. Arius has now given me more than three hundred thousand square kilometers of land, with a mild climate, level terrain, and major rivers nearby."

"That is almost nine times the territory Peace Haven currently controls, and it comes with more than five million people. It sounds wonderful, does it not?"

"But it has become a burden for Peace Haven. Over the next two years, we will have to pour enormous resources into the new territory."

"At the same time, we have to guard against Ogiro, so our military spending, which had only just stabilized, will soar again."

"Duke Marcus,"

"schemes and lucky breaks will only take you so far in a struggle for supremacy."

"Seizing territory takes more than an army. Peace Haven has its own administrative system, and its people can only be trained step by step."

"For the next several years, I will find it difficult to expand in any direction."

"If you had warned me about this plan, the consequences would not have been nearly so troublesome."

"Peace Haven would have received around one hundred thousand square kilometers, which is exactly the limit of what we can absorb."

"Within three years, I could have recovered and fully developed that territory."

"But now?"

"My Seventh Legion has been crippled, my Iron Guard officer warband has suffered heavy losses, and Peace Haven has wasted immense resources on this affair."

"My entire intelligence network in Vorry has been paralyzed. I have been badly wounded, and the enemy has learned the true extent of my strength."

"The kingdom has fared even worse. Several elite legions have been crippled, consuming an enormous stockpile of war materiel."

"Rebuilding those legions afterward will cost the kingdom dearly."

"All of that is still barely tolerable. For me, the most important thing we lost is time."

"My plans have been thrown into disarray. For five years, perhaps even longer, I will have no ability to expand."

"And for those five years, all I can do is watch the surrounding powers grow stronger until every one of them becomes a formidable opponent."

Duke Marcus falls silent again before finally voicing the question that has been troubling him. "Henwell, what exactly is your relationship with Arius?"

"Why does he trust you so much? And why are you willing to gamble your life for him?"

Henwell smiles. "What you really want to ask is whether I belong to the royal bloodline and whether Arius and I are related, correct?"

"How should I put this?"

"We are not related by blood, but sometimes the bond between us is stronger than blood."

As Henwell prepares to leave, Marcus stops him. "Have Melissa bring the children to Eastern Mist City for a while."

"I am old. I want to spend more time with them. You young people can deal with everything that comes next."

Henwell freezes. "No. Pabos still has school..."

Before he can finish, Henwell bolts from the room. His father-in-law's expression has darkened, and the older man is already looking for something to throw.

In the end, Henwell still does not allow Melissa and the children to go to Eastern Mist City.

The two assassins remain missing, and Henwell refuses to gamble on the possibility that they possess any sense of honor.

Until he has dealt with them, he will not let his family leave his side.

The bloody hole in Henwell's chest has now healed, although he is still suffering from internal injuries.

Even so, he can fight again. An ordinary Iron Rank opponent is nowhere near enough to force him to use his full strength.

It is time to return to Peace Haven. He still has a great deal to do.

Before departing, Henwell goes to meet one person.

The moment he sees the Lady of Calamity, Henwell confirms that she was indeed the one who saved him on the battlefield.

He can sense that her aura is highly unstable and that her internal organs have also suffered serious injuries.

The closed-eyed assassin's first strike would not have killed Henwell, but a shattered heart would certainly have crippled his combat strength.

Alex's frontal assault afterward would have been far more dangerous.

Henwell asks, "Do you need me to bring you medicine?"

The Lady of Calamity replies, "No. What I have is better."

After a moment of silence, Henwell says, "I need some time. I have to recover from my injuries, and I also need to settle matters in Peace Haven."

The Lady of Calamity nods. "Very well. I can wait, even if it takes several years."

Henwell says, "It will not take that long. One year will be enough."

The Lady of Calamity is surprised. At their level, an injury as severe as Henwell's would ordinarily take a very long time to heal.

She warns him solemnly, "That place is extremely dangerous. I want you to be fully prepared. There is no need to rush."

Henwell shakes his head. "I cannot wait. If I delay any longer, it will be too late."

The Lady of Calamity pauses. Realization dawns, and she stares at Henwell in shock. "You've already grasped the true essence of the Path of Glory?"

Henwell does not conceal it. "Yes. I already have one foot across the threshold, so I cannot keep waiting. Contact me one year from now."

The Lady of Calamity watches Henwell walk away, her emotions complicated.

She knows that from this moment onward, Henwell truly stands at the summit of the continent's martial power.

As long as those old monsters do not emerge, no one on the entire continent can restrain Henwell on the extraordinary path.

Perhaps she will witness the birth of a Domain Master with her own eyes.

In her view, if worldly affairs had not consumed so much of Henwell's energy, he might one day become a Sanctuary professional.

He might even become a Radiant Firmament of the continent, just like her teacher.

Henwell is not thinking that far ahead. He had contingencies for this crisis, but it would be best if he never had to use them.

He is an undercover agent, after all. He cannot draw too much attention to himself, much less ask his organization to intervene whenever something goes wrong.

Soon afterward, escorted by the Lord's Knight Order, Henwell leads his army back toward Peace Haven.

By now, every faction has received word of how the conflict ended.

The Ika Kingdom immediately withdraws its troops and reopens its trade routes with Peace Haven.

The Ogiro Kingdom pulls back on one front while transferring large numbers of troops north on another.

The dignitaries of Diversion Bay have cursed Jonathan for being useless, Arius for being a coward, and Henwell for being impossibly hard to kill more times than anyone can count.

But the thought of soon sharing a long border with that same indestructible Henwell gives them a collective headache.

Obilian of Lumir is even more decisive. He directly cedes nearly two thousand square kilometers of land to Tatan City.

He also lifts several restrictions on trade in Peace Haven's goods.

As Henwell said, what the surrounding powers fear most is not Peace Haven's army, but Henwell himself.

And after suffering such a serious loss, Henwell is clearly in a foul mood.

No one wants to catch his attention, so every faction does its best to keep a low profile.