"So that's how it is," Io mused as he reread the scroll sent by Jishin's personal messenger. "The little dragon is eager to fight. Or was it the scheming little serpent who put the idea in his head? Though it doesn't matter, the dragonling has surprisingly surrounded himself with competent people."

The younger prince needed a significant achievement. Something risky and impressive that could potentially eclipse even the accomplishments of his older brother. And, lo and behold, Io had just the thing that ticked all the boxes.

In another situation, this information would have been almost entirely useless, as the risks were too great, and there was certainly not enough time to seize the opportunity.

The problem was that such an adventure reeked of outright madness. The prince's chances of dying were extremely high.

On the other hand, if he were to succeed, it would change the outcome of the war in one fell swoop.

Io hesitated a bit but eventually took out a clean scroll, unfolded it, and began to carefully write a message.

In it, he informed the prince of the location of what he sought. At the same time, he demanded the message be destroyed because if things went south, he wanted no association with it.

All or nothing. If the younger prince wins, he will be a hero. Loses? He'll pay dearly for everything. Although Io doubted he could be held accountable. Doing so with corpses is quite difficult, unless, of course, you follow the forbidden teachings.

"Almost forgot," Io took another scroll and filled out a mission. Shiro needed a justification for why he chose to follow the younger prince at all. Officially, they were at odds, and it would be strange if he decided to help him just like that. The date on the scroll was immediately set retroactively.

The head of the Shadow Stone nodded in satisfaction and sealed both scrolls with wax.

Of course, there was a risk that he overestimated Jishin, but in his line of work, tough decisions sometimes had to be made.

It would be sad if his plans to pit the younger prince against the older ended before they even began. But better now than after he had invested even more effort and resources.

Io no longer thought about the certain humble earthling. In the scales he was now weighing, the fates of ordinary warmasters didn't count.

*****

"How's Minoru?" Stas greeted the arrived Kaede. She was dressed in a light warmaster's armor without clan insignia, a loose gray cloak with a hood, and a gray, featureless mask that hid her entire face except for her eyes.

"I haven't seen her smile so often in a long time," shrugged the yokai, leaning over and stroking Leviathan, who had emerged from the ground. The snake graciously accepted the caresses from the spirit girl.

The meeting took place outside Jishin's camp, near a small hunting lodge, to avoid suspicion.

Yes, theoretically, the prince could have written a pass for Kaede at Ordyntsev's request that would let her enter the camp.

However, the appearance of an unaccounted new face in a military camp could lead to the emergence of undesirable questions.

"And how are you doing, Shiro-kun? I wanted to go with you, but Minoru flew off the handle. She claimed that illusions alone aren't enough," the girl pouted. "I had no choice but to learn. And I even mastered something new!"

"I was unlucky enough to run into an advanced warmaster," replied Stas, unconsciously touching his chest that had been quite thoroughly slashed in that battle. Luckily, not too deep, and he managed to stop the bleeding.

"Oh, you were injured?!" Kaede rushed forward and began to examine Stas attentively. "Who was that scoundrel? I'll make him regret every drop of blood spilled from my dear Shiro-kun!"

"A pureblood Avasaki. Named Ichiro. If you meet such, be on your guard."

"One of the great clans, like the one you're dealing with now?" Kaede pondered, trying to recall the lay of the land. For the spirit girl, all warmasters were the same, and she didn't really believe that Shiro would tie his life to any clan for long.

"Yep. And judging by his strength, prana reserve, armor, and demeanor, he's clearly related to the ruling family. As far as I know, the Avasaki have the same political governance as the Sumada. But that's trifles; you said you learned something?"

"Watch this." Kaede stepped aside, amusingly furrowed her brows, and stretched out her hand. The next second, a fist-sized stone lying aside shot into her hand but instantly stopped a couple of centimeters away from her skin.

'Telekinesis is a useful ability,' Stas couldn't help but admire the move. The lack of external effects made it extremely dangerous.

Kaede turned her hand, and this time, she repelled the stone, making it shoot out like a cannonball, burying it deep into the forest floor.

"For now, I can only control one object, but I've already managed to increase the mass significantly," she boasted. "Initially, it was a pebble the size of my finger."

"Good job," Ordyntsev praised, causing her to blush a bit. "Your abilities will soon come in handy. If all goes well, we'll have a perilous mission. So keep training and accompany me until that moment comes. Our task is to clear the nearby lands of bandits and scattered groups of weak warmasters."

"You mentioned an advanced one..."

Stas grimaced.

"That appears to have been an exception. He definitely wasn't supposed to be here."

"Understood. When do we leave?"

"Tomorrow," Stas replied, having thought for a moment and deciding that he still needed to prepare provisions.

"Then I'll wait for you here," Kaede gestured towards the hunting lodge.

*****

Two weeks passed between writing the letter, its delivery, Io's response, and its return.

Stas honestly followed the paths outlined in the mission and searched for lurking enemies. He had no intention of rashly charging in. One unexpected encounter was enough.

In essence, Ordyntsev intended only to fulfill the bare minimum. He saw no point in risking his life and stretching himself too thin for the Sumada, who, on the contrary, would want to kill him as an upstart.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Of course, capturing or killing, say, that Ichiro for the sake of a future powerful zombie was compelling, but life was still more important.

Speaking of the mission, Kaede was a great help in the search, as her sense of living beings was even more potent than Leviathan's. And in battle, she could hold her own.

Her new ability of telekinesis, despite being quite crude, had decent firepower.

They encountered warmasters only a few times during this period, and as expected, they were of ordinary rank, so no problems arose.

Moreover, Stas made sure to kill them as neatly as possible, not to damage the bodies. Then he infused them with a small but sufficient amount of ether for preservation and buried them in compact stone coffins at various memorable places.

It could be a large ugly tree, a cave, or just a turn in the road.

The ether was supposed to protect the bodies from decay and the coffins from overly bold insects. Plus, stone better contained the ether.

Stas became interested in the last point after encountering competitors.

"Shiro-Shiro, those are real Deathbringers!" Kaede whispered feverishly, lying next to Stas as they watched from a distance the Deathbringers loading bodies onto wagons and portable boxes.

The latter had just slaughtered a small group of renegade warmasters right before the startled eyes of the earthling and yokai. They had been helped by combat zombies that sprang from the goods.

The renegades thought they were attacking a small trading caravan but were sorely mistaken.

"I've heard so much about them from the teacher."

"Quiet, you," hissed Stas, watching as the bodies were skillfully wrapped in inscribed cloth and then packed into special boxes. The combat zombies that had fought earlier were also put there.

The "trading caravan" moved on as if nothing had happened. By Stas's estimates, there were at least a dozen Deathbringers of varying strength here, plus a couple of dozen ordinary people, who, surprisingly, served the despised clan.

'It turns out the Deathbringers intentionally wander through warring countries, collecting bodies and even killing certain combatants if they can maintain their disguise.'

Ordyntsev shook his head. This world managed to surprise him slightly.

What he saw also showed that human greed allowed the Deathbringers to exist quite comfortably. Stas involuntarily remembered Roku, the senior servant of Nobunoro Kato, the daimyo's son. At that time, he also had dealings with the cursed clan.

However, their hunt could not continue forever, as Io's answer eventually reached Jishin.

*****

"I certainly didn't expect this," Jishin sat bewildered next to the table, hypnotized by Io's scroll.

Beside him sat a thoughtful Stas, Kensei, and Shin. For such a moment, the prince even forgot about their discord, while Ordyntsev himself did not remind him.

No one was in a hurry to speak first, as the matter was indeed very serious.

"This Io of yours wants to send us to death," Kensei drawled, tapping the tip of his sheath on the floor. "This place is just a couple kilometers from the united army of the Sansa, Kiatto, and their mercenaries. Even if there really isn't much guard there, there will be those who come to meet. And I'm willing to bet my sword, they will be strong."

"But what an opportunity," countered Shin. "If we can disrupt the meeting, we'll cause wild problems for our opponents."

"If we get caught, that's where the problems will be," Ordyntsev grumbled. Stas's neck itched, sensing the noose he was about to stick his head into. "Us getting captured could trigger the war ahead of time. And not just between someone, but directly between the great clans."

All eyes involuntarily fell on the silent Jishin.

He took a deep breath and slowly exhaled.

"I think we won't come up with a better opportunity. My brother's army is almost at the Sansa's positions. We can't wait any longer."

"So we're going after all," Kensei concluded decisively. The ronin seemed to let go of the situation, realizing there was no turning back. "Then we need to decide who to take."

"Indeed," Shin smiled with the corners of his mouth. "Since our whole plan relies on speed and surprise attack, anyone below the advanced level will be just a hindrance."

"That leaves us with thirty advanced warmasters and two supreme," Kensei picked up on Shin's thought.

"Dealing with the latter will be the most difficult," Jishin immediately pointed out the problem. "They serve my father more than me. Their goal is to protect my life, not carry out dubious tasks. They might even obstruct and not let me leave camp."

Kensei grinned bloodthirstily.

"We just have to make them reconsider their opinion."

"If all the advanced and supreme warmasters leave, the camp will be virtually defenseless against any serious attack. No high or low-level commanders. It'll be a massacre," Stas calmly noted.

"Then we need to hurry," Kensei slapped Stas on the shoulder, then leaned forward conspiratorially. "Besides, as I heard, one of the meeting participants should be well known to you, right? I'm sure you wouldn't mind meeting him again, but on your terms this time."

"You're right," the earthling's serpentine eyes gleamed darkly. "Now everything will be different."

*****

Two supreme warmasters, Ryo and Naoki, unsuspectingly enjoyed their meal when Ryo tensed and gestured to his friend to set aside his chopsticks.

If Naoki specialized in close combat and was quite thick-skinned, then Ryo had developed some sensorial skills.

Missing the approaching crowd of a couple of dozen warmasters was difficult. The only reassurance was that Ryo recognized the prana belonging to Jishin and several others.

However, the supreme warmaster was disturbed by the lack of warning about the impending mission.

Why were they the last to be informed?

And when they stepped out, the situation didn't get any clearer.

The warriors standing before them were in full combat gear, as if ready to go to battle right at that moment.

The extremely serious looks, both from the advanced warmasters and the prince, were also troubling. Of course, Ryo and Naoki should have been enough to fend off even such a number of fighters. And with some risk, even to win.

But what was the reason for such an attitude? Did the council consider them traitors? In that case, they wouldn't have sent so few forces.

The prince took a step forward.

"Ryo, Naoki," Jishin's tone was dry. Behind him stood his loyal fighters. "I've received information about an impending important political meeting of our enemies. If we interfere, it will change the outcome of the war. The meeting will be just a couple of kilometers away from the Sansa's army. I'm going there right now to prevent it from happening."

The supreme warmasters exchanged baffled looks. Naoki, as usual, spoke up, as Ryo permitted to speak for both for now.

"Jishin-san, what are you talking about? We've not yet received any command to advance."

"This is my own decision."

"Wait," Naoki frowned, recalling what the prince had said. "You're talking about a couple of kilometers? That's very close! You'll be putting your life at undue risk. We need to clarify with the supreme commander, Goro-sama..."

"No," Jishin cut off, looking "down" at the supreme warmaster speaking to him. "I'm going to this meeting right now because we don't have much time left. And I go there with you or without."

"Jishin-san!" even the usually silent Ryo protested. "We can't let you do that. We're ordered to protect you, and your idea only brings harm. Who will command the army in your absence?"

"Defend yourselves," at Jishin's signal, dozens of blades were drawn. However, looking closely, you could see that many of the warmasters were very pale and sweating.

All gathered here were exclusively advanced warmasters, and although they were numerous, to stand against two supreme... It was almost suicidal.

"Prince, reconsider!" Naoki exclaimed, taking over the conversation. Both supremes visibly tensed. Their hands reached for their own sword hilts. "You can't defeat us. And even if you do succeed, you won't have the strength to go on."

"I don't care," Jishin stared straight into Naoki's eyes. "I will either go on, and you will join me, or I will perish here by your swords, and then my father will kill you."

Kensei laughed abruptly, lightly waving his two-handed sword and watching the unfolding scene with a fiery gaze.

Stas was sure the ronin standing next to him was getting immense pleasure from everything happening. Ordyntsev, on the other hand, liked the situation much less.

The supreme warmasters exchanged helpless looks. Their choice was very limited.

"We... We will follow you, Jishin-san, to protect your life," Naoki gritted his teeth, while Ryo just nodded unhappily. "But you understand that Goro-sama may not like this?"

"All or nothing, Naoki-san," the prince responded more calmly now, signaling to sheathe the swords. "Today, we must return victorious. Or not return at all. Remember that."

Both supreme warmasters grimly nodded and joined the column of fighters. A significant empty space immediately appeared around them. No one wanted to stand next to an angry supreme.

"Warriors!" Jishin turned around and surveyed his troops. Behind him, hundreds of eyes from the ordinary warmasters watched everything that was happening. "We have a difficult path ahead and, immediately after, a tough battle. Then, before the enemy can recover, we have to make our way back."

He paused, assessing the determined mood of the fighters.

"You have been given prana-restoring pills. You'll use them as we approach our target. However, if you can't even run after that... You know what to do. But I want to say, if we succeed, your names will be remembered by everyone in this war. So let's do it!"

"Hai!"

'I've heard more inspiring speeches, but for the locals, it'll do.'

"Forward!"