Silveea
Silveea Night was starting to grow worried. The Gale Clan’s third general had chased an elf into their camp, but the elf had somehow slipped away and that night the Gale Clan’s second general had disappeared. The general knew about their plans to start a war and it was very risky if the Life Tree Empire’s forces found out, but so far there were no movements from the elves. Gorin Lorok had even gone along with the Gale Clan’s young clan mistress to ask the elves about their assassin, but the elves denied such an expert in illusions being among their force.
Taking off the hair tie which had been holding her long black hair in a ponytail, Silveea entered into her personal tent hoping to have a good night’s sleep, but what she found meant she would likely have to stay up for quite a bit longer.
Her tent was not that large. It had a bed on the far side from the entrance, a dresser to the right holding her extra belongings, and a desk and chair to the left covered with the intelligence missives her underlings had prepared for her. But, instead of being empty, there was a woman wearing a blue dress sitting calmly on her bed as if waiting for her.
She had the type of pale skin rarely seen in the Kingdom of Night, long red hair down to her shoulders, and irises so brightly pink Silveea was pretty sure they’d been enhanced by a skill. She looked relatively old, maybe in her mid forties, so Silveea would normally have thought she were someone untalented, forced to train and wait to increase a clan’s chance at taking over the new world, but her aura was among the strongest Silveea had ever sensed from an F rank, and Aura could only be increased to the level of the average of the nine base stats, so the woman was almost certainly stronger than she was.
Silveea was about to call for her guards, but then a notification showed up in front of her eyes.
Amorac’s Servant Havina has sent you a contract request.
Terms:
1. You may not take any actions with the intention to harm Amorac’s Servant Havina
2. Amorac’s Servant Havina may not take any actions with the intention to harm you
3. Amorac’s Servant Havina will give you information which might help save your life
Punishment:
Loss of 75% of stats for half a day
Do you accept?
Yes/No
“Alright.” Silveea accepted the contract and pulled a wooden chair out from under her desk, turning it to face the woman and sitting down.
Amorac was an independent power in the Palazin Galaxy Cluster, a senior C rank the Kingdom of Night was on good terms with. She had a habit of finding young talents, forcibly enslaving them, and then providing resources and training. She’d then give them missions and, if they achieved the results the old power wanted, she’d set them free.
This was the origin of Silveea’s great-grandfather, the true power behind the throne of the Kingdom of Night, so Silveea had more information than most.
Being classified by the System as one of Amorac’s servants rather than as one of Amorac’s slaves meant the woman in front of her was close to earning her freedom, so she was very unlikely to want to make an enemy of the Kingdom of Night.
“Thank you for being intelligent.” The woman smirked at her. “I thought it even odds you’d get your guards killed.”
Silveea didn’t like the woman’s tone, but the third item in the contract request had her worried, so she ignored it. “You have information which might save my life?”
“You, the Gale Clan, and the Flare Clan are planning to start eliminating the other invasion forces.” The woman spoke as if she were certain, despite less than twelve people knowing about the plan, and that made Silveea nervous. “When are you planning to start?”
Silveea considered for a second, but she guessed the information concerning her life had to do with their conquest plan, so she decided to answer the question. “After the undead are dealt with. They’re too big of a variable otherwise.”
The woman started laughing and, when Silveea was about to ask why, the woman summoned a sheathed sword and tossed it to her.
Silveea examined the sword for a second, pulling it out of its sheathe, and was surprised to find it a Legendary grade F rank artifact capable of boosting death element magic like a staff. The weapon was a sword designed for a mage and its quality was too high to have been received as a System reward by any of the natives.
“The undead have already been dealt with. You can start your conquest at any time.”
Silveea felt her heart, which had barely reacted even to an intruder in her tent, start to beat faster. “You killed them all by yourself?”
“Only their leaders.” The woman shrugged and pulled the sword back from Silveea’s hands with telekinesis, causing it to disappear again into the subspace of the fingerless glove artifact she was wearing on her left hand. “I still have the staff of one general, but the weapons of the other two I was forced to leave in the camp of the Gale Clan.
This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
“Are you aware of their half dragon?”
Silveea felt her eyes widen slightly as everything started to click into place. The elf illusionist wasn’t an elf, but this Havina in front of her, and that was why the Life Tree Empire knew nothing. She was also probably responsible for the disappearance of Omalia Gale, which could create problems. But a half dragon? “Isaiah Gale is a half dragon? What kind?”
“War Dragon, son of the Fifth Dragon Prince and grandson to the War Dragon King.” Havina nodded, moving to a cross legged position on the bed, exposing her underclothes in the process, though she didn’t seem to care. “He has a Legendary grade combat class, four Legendary grade skills, and at least two Law Larvae. From what I’ve seen, he could probably annihilate your entire force by himself and not receive a scratch.”
Well, Silveea thought, That could be a problem. The Gale Clan had invested almost everything they had into the conquest of this world. If they had someone who could force the monster in front of her to run away, they might try to betray her to gain sole rights to the Shadow Thief’s inheritance.
“Lucky for us, the Gale Clan doesn’t seem to trust him very much. Something about the clan leader having killed his mother and his half brother leaving the clan.” Havina looked quite relaxed as she continued to drop information which, if true, were likely some of the Gale Clan’s most tightly kept secrets. “If you start the conquest soon, they will leave him behind to protect their pillar, and that will make it harder for him to level up compared to your forces, so you’ll gain an advantage.”
Silveea thought for a second and decided the idea was favorable. If the undead leaders were killed and the rest forced to escape through their Pillar of Conquest, there was nothing else holding them back. And, if the information about Isaiah Gale were true, which she was almost certain it was given the facts she could already confirm, starting the conquest now and raising the levels of her force through battle was the best way to keep him in check.
“Is Isaiah Gale the threat to my life?”
“No. Not really.” Havina waved her right hand dismissively. “He’s probably not even aware the Gale Clan plans to betray you and the Flare Clan, annihilating both your forces after everyone else is dealt with using help from the Kindar Raiders. And he’s certainly not aware the Flare Clan plans to do the same to you and the Gale Clan using the same ally.”
Silveea’s heart started to beat faster again. “How do you know this?”
Havina waved her left hand and a corpse appeared in front of Silveea, floating in the air with the woman’s telekinesis skill. It was Omalia Gale, who had disappeared along with all her possessions.
“This one, along with her family, had betrayed the Gale Clan to join the Flare Clan.” Havina said dispassionately, storing the naked body back in her glove. “The Kindar Raiders are the remnants of the force who used to follow the Shadow Thief. They originally had a contract with the Gale Clan for dealing with the Shadow Thief’s inheritance, but their contact there moved to the Flare Clan so they should be contracted with them now.
“From what I’ve been able to gather, they have a good idea of what riches are available in the inheritance, but they only have guesses about the inheritance’s rules, so there is not much reason to keep them alive. But they’ve abandoned their Pillar of Conquest and are prepared to wait out the 72 years, so they will be more difficult to deal with than the clans.
“My suggestion, if you agree to an alliance with me, is to proceed with the conquest as originally planned, agreeing to take on the already defeated undead by yourself. Then, during the conquest, we can play the Gale and Flare Clans off each other, weakening them both for the final confrontation when the Kindar Raiders show up.
“I’ll also place Omalia Gale’s body and the belongings people know about in the elf camp for the Flare Clan to find, cleaning up their suspicion.”
Silveea took a few seconds to slow her rapidly beating heart, then another few seconds to consider what Havina had just said. Given the information she could already confirm, Havina’s explanation fit. She’d been wondering how the Gale Clan could have known about the inheritance in advance. And, with the clan having lost most of its D ranks, it wasn’t at all surprising for one of their elders to move to the Flare Clan.
The prerequisite of everything, however, was that the treasures contained in the Shadow Thief’s inheritance were enough to warrant risking the wrath of the Kingdom of Night for both clans.
“If we team up, Ms. Havina, how would you want to distribute the treasures in the inheritance?”
Havina grinned at her, seeming to have been waiting for the question. “I don’t represent a force like you, just myself for the most part, but I originally came to the world following a rumor the Kindar Raiders might know where a Bottle of Liquid Courage could be found. If we find a bottle in the inheritance, I want it. Beyond that, I’m fine if you treat me like one of your generals. Just give me first dibs on one or two items. My path is different enough from yours that there shouldn’t be much overlap in what we want.”
Silveea found herself relaxing slightly. Liquid Courage was exactly what it sounded like, the extracted emotional essence of those who died courageously on a battlefield. It was very rare as it was difficult to produce, but also of very little use to anyone in the Kingdom of Night. It was, on the other hand, possibly a required item for helping Lady Amorac have the chance to advance to B rank, so getting it was likely a mission which would allow Havina to gain her freedom. And, should Lady Amorac advance and Silveea have a hand in making it possible, Lady Amorac was the type to be grateful, not to mention the potential future powerhouse in front of her.
As for Havina taking one or two items Silveea herself might want, that was a minor issue. From what she’d heard about the elf who escaped the Gale Clan, Havina, like her, seemed to follow the path of shadows, but she followed the path of illusions as well, along with having a high power offensive death Law.
What they wanted wouldn’t be exactly the same. And the Shadow Thief was called that for a reason. She had followed the path of shadows and would likely have multiple resources useful for that path.
“Alright. I agree.” Silveea nodded. “Let me do a little research on my own to confirm your story and then we can sign a contract.
“I’ll also help you create a good identity to allow you to participate in the conquest.”
“Good.” Havina smiled playfully and used telekinesis to open up Silveea’s dresser, pull out her spare battle clothes, and then pull them over. A dark gray pair of pants and a loose dark grey T-shirt, both rare artifacts, they looked almost the same as what Silveea was wearing, only the performance was a little worse. “But could the identity include some reason for me to wear your spare battle clothes? Mine were damaged fighting the undead and I’ve been forced to wear this dress I stole from a native ever since.
“Everyone on this planet is so flat, but you look like you’re about my size.”
The blue dress was something already in the information Silveea had received about Havina’s elf disguise, so it would have to go anyway, and the loose clothing favored by assassins like her was likely the only type of clothing in the army which would fit the woman, but almost no one else had the luxury of bringing an extra set of artifacts, so the request was reasonable.
“Alright.”
The woman then immediately took off the dress, placing it inside the subspace of the artifact on her left hand, and started putting on the spare clothes, much to Silveea’s embarrassment.
Silveea did, however, notice a small tattoo carved into Havina’s lower back showing an intricate pattern and emanating a weak aura of rage and calm, matching the reports Silveea had of the slave marks created by one of Amorac’s main disciples, so she could be almost certain the woman wasn’t faking her identity.