CHAPTER 103

THE BATTLE IN UTAR

  Hans and Delimira had returned late but the grim atmosphere in the mansion was something else. Ardhel had returned in just a day and on seeing her daughter again she embraced her tight in concern. Delimira, awkwardly returned the embrace as she got surprised by her reaction. Looking at her confused daughter Aredhel added,

"It looks like you might not be able to go to Clandor again Deli,"

"Isn't it good news Mother, I never liked the place, compared to that, this is far better."

"I guess, I was the only one thinking for you to at least be accepted by our people" she sighed and continued, "but I wished for too much."

"What happened?" Delimira asked, frowning her brows.

  Ardehel was silent but Rudolf shouted in anger and it was not some half-assed rage that he showed against Hans. He was genuinely angry so Hans did not dare to joke, like his usual antics. Things are coming one after another and he wanted no part in it. He thought, "Attack on Concordia, the hijacking of SpaceDoor, assassination attempt, Parvians and now who knows which bastard is flying high this time."

His thoughts halted as Rudolf said in a furious voice,

"We found out who wanted you dead."

  Hans looked above, glancing at his grandfather's face, however, the furious knight was not looking at him but at Delimira, which declared that she was the real target, not him. Rudolf was pacing back and forth, wanting to release some of his anger while Sierra attempted to quiet him down but Rudolf was not listening to her either. He hated those who targeted kids to vent their frustrations because they could not get rid of their parents.

Rudolf looked at Delimira, wanting to say everything he know but Sierra interrupted with the intention to shut him up, however, he replied,

"The kid has the right to know, she might die without knowing why?"

Deli separated from her mother, making her sit down and asked Rudolf to continue,

"Your own kind is after you kid," he answered.

  Delimira sort of guessed this already as she knew, she was hated by Elves but it was not to the extent that her existence was an eyesore to be killed. She lived all her life in Clandor but never faced any death threats till now. Looking at Rudolf, she asked for more explanation and Rudolf entertained her question.

"Dijkstra has found the place where the request came from. It was not just some kidnapping, they wanted to make an example out of you by executing you."

Delimira anxiously asked,

"Then what now? - "

"I can’t allow a kid to leave my eyesight knowing she might die - "

Sierra intervened,

"Calm down for a second Dear, she is my disciple and she ain't going anywhere."

  Taking a long breath, Rudolf calmed down as he saw the glaring eyes of his wife. He was not behaving this way because she was Aredhel’s daughter or the key that Samson mentioned. He would have done this for anyone in her situation. That was his real nature, he always hated the ones who use kids in their plots and this was also the reason, he hadn't interfered with Chris. He glanced at Aredhel, feeling she knew who the culprit was in Clandor and his hunch was spot on.

Aredhel already had doubts about who might be behind this, but what Dijkstra had said was not believable. On the other hand, Hans was puzzled because he had already understood the situation up to that point, and could not understand why these people were so gloomy. So he said,

"She already did not want to go back to Clandor, they can’t touch her in Concordia, and they might be the biggest idiots to come here. So why are you all worrying?"

She was in a similar situation as Hans and that’s why he was not understanding what a grave situation she was in. To make him understand Vanessa said,

"Dear brother, the life of being hunted is not a pleasant one."

"Ah, sis, gramps always says - 'Prey always has the chance to evolve into a predator'." then he turned to Delimira and added, "Don’t think, just improve, and evolve."

Delimira said in her usual smug tone,

"When did I say I was worried?"

Hans turned to his grandparents and said,

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

"See, she already made full recovery. Now, tell me which bastard requested that I be murdered and she be abducted? - "

"Language, and what can you even do, brother? interrupted Vanessa and declared," Don't get involved"

But Hans was adamant about this and did not back down,

"I should at least know the name, sister," he said with determination.

Rudolf burst his bubble, intervening, "There is no use knowing, they might be a group but the individual who commissioned the hit will die soon, Dijkstra takes orders very seriously, even if his target is in hell or way stronger than him, he will make sure they die even if it takes him years. he enjoys impossible hunts."

  He finished the words, not knowing another storm apart from Dijkstra was approaching the Elven lands. Aredhel on the other hand, returned to Concordia, she now had the names and was not going to put her trust in a maniac like Dijkstra. In the past, she kept believing that Clandor would eventually accept her daughter and even when some threats arose, she believed it was from the council side, not the royals. But the reality was what she had not expected, it was time for her to have a heart-to-heart with her king brother whose aide was mentioned as the person responsible for this blunder.

  Away from these warring situations, Hans had started practising the SilvaOrtus, by breaking it into several steps and succeeding in growing a grassland over a huge area was proof that he was getting better at achieving the first step. And now looking at the fruition of his efforts, he thought of switching to the next step but a painful scream made him run towards its source. However, he was not the only one who noticed. There were already many people on another side of his training field.

  He entered the crowd, moving in the gaps and finally reached the place. He saw her grandmother healing Delimira, and without further ado, he activated his ManaVision. The situation was what he thought, Delimira was on her first circle and dark red smoke filled her body. He recalled what Vanessa said, dead mana, the residue remained in the body after a circle of a mage is broken.

  Hans usually did not get affected by someone else’s pain but the way she was crying was sending him an angsty feeling. Sierra asked everyone to leave so she could solely focus on her young disciple but that still did not calm the painful voice echoing through the mansion. Her screams continued for a few hours and did not stop till she fainted. Hans's productivity was zero in those hours. He wanted to focus on his own training but his mind kept diverting toward Delimira, it was not solely because she was painfully crying but the envy he felt thinking, if she succeed then she might achieve what he wanted all along.

ALLIANCE HEADQUARTERS, UTAR

  The Land, half stolen by Red Demons would have been the nation having the biggest land mass in Genas but it all changed after the invasion. It was a pure blood bath at that time but after encircling the red demons inside the Grand barrier. It became the safest place to be since the headquarters of Alliance was built in this very place. But at this time Adrian, the second captain was ready to attack this very place with everything he got.

  Among the twelve captains, six were Warlords, five warlocks and Adrian was the only Dominion knight but it was said among the powerhouses. But in the Eclipse, the only one who could contend with Norwin in terms of Aura was also Adrian, the fourth-ranked knight in Genas with fire aura which contrasted Norwin's ice.

  It was relatively peaceful this night and people were fast asleep but suddenly the sound of war drums beating loun in the ungodly hour of the night alerted everyone. This was the signal of Parvians going to war and was not heard for a long time.

  Norwin’s aide came running into his room but the loud drumming sound had already woken him up. He did not expect Eclipse to have balls so big to blindly charge in the alliance’s headquarters. A chill started to spread from his room as he took out his blessed sword FAITH and jumped right from the window without any piece of armour.

  Adrian saw the Alliance head coming to him and smirked. It was his job to take on this icy behemoth who just froze his own castle in hurrying here. He was honey to attract strong flies like Norwin and the rest of the ten captains were the actual ones in charge of making this mission successful. They charged ahead first, taking their underlings and leaving Adrian behind to face the ranked one knight.

The battle between Eclipse and Alliance ensued as the sword of two Grade 99 Warlords clashed, sending the hot and cold waves to the Nodes supporting the Grand Barrier.

CLANDOR OUTSKIRTS

Dijkstra was facing an odd situation, he had successfully infiltrated the Elven nation but he was in front of some old faces, one he hated and the other he missed. The other two had the same reaction.

Xandor grunted as he asked Dijkstra,

"What the fuck you are doing here rear commander Dijkstra."

"I would have returned the words to you Xandor but you know me, I am not a man of words - " He did not even finish his words and attacked Xandor, not thinking of any consequences of clashing swords in someone else's nation and continued thrusting his blade at Xandor but the other face that he missed was blocking his sword, protecting the very one he wanted to kill. He grunted,

"Move away Bryan, I ought to kill this son of a bitch."

Bryan parried his attack and pushed him back while protecting his commander he shouted back,

"What are you? An idiot, brother, you wanna alert everyone here."

"That bastard brainwashed you, return home with now."

Bryan sighed and refuted,

"No, he did not, I left on my own. Parv is just not Parv without our king."

"And you think this lunatic deserved to be followed after him?"

Xandor finally spoke,

"I believe you came here to finish something, we are too. So why don’t we go our separate way?"

Dijkstra might be reckless but he also knew that if Clandor got alerted of his presence, there was no way he could fulfil what he came for. And regretfully, he sheathed his sword and asked Xandor,

"Do you come here for the traitor?"

"Do you?" Xandor asked back in doubt.

Dijkstra answered,

"No, not today"

"Me neither" Xandor replied, adding "His life is not mine to take, traitors ought to die from whom they betrayed."

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