บท 69: Chapter 69: Lurking in the Dark IV
"Let me introduce to you the leader of this operation, this is Ariel, my sister. She is currently at the same rank as me. Ariel, this is Herbert Ravenmoon, the heir to the Ravenmoon."
"I have heard a lot about you, Sir Herbert. It's nice to finally meet you. As the captain of this operation, I am honored to have the genius of the Ravenmoon family join us."
A slightly raspy voice greeted Herbert. Looking at her face, Herbert saw the resemblance that she had with Lord Eric. Judging from her age and her rank, her talent should roughly be equal to or slightly less than Lord Eric's
"Pleased to meet you, Lady Ariel."
At this point, Herbert realized how stark the contrast was when he compares himself to the protagonist. More often than not, the protagonist should be faced with contempt or criticism whenever he meets a new character. He, on the other hand, has the reputation of being a cold genius that caused most people to politely greet him whenever they see him.
With this brief interaction, Lord Eric once again took charge of the situation by gathering the attention of the group by himself by clapping his hands.
"This is great. Once the enemy deploys their high-ranking awakened, we can launch an ambush by allowing Sir Herbert and his group to attack their forces."
Lord Eric now has a smile on his face. He had been feeling anxious about it after he had read the news about the Western duke possibly interfering in their matters.
"Sir Herbert, according to the enemies' response during these last few days, we can confirm that they currently have thirteen active high-ranked awakened. Originally there were fifteen, but one of them has already been injured during our clash and had been taken back to recuperate while the other two are dead."
Ariel then pointed at the map where there are thirteen different figures which seemed to symbolize the high-ranking awakened from the enemy side.
"These people should be stationed around this area. Since we have the advantage of being able to fly, we have far greater maneuverability over the enemy. We can try to lure them to the thickets over here where we can launch the ambush."
So far, Herbert found the plan feasible and nodded his head in agreement. There seemed to be no need for him to interfere too much.
"Lady Ariel, as far as I know, the Oxswords should have more than thirteen high-ranked awakened in their midst. Do we still have the location of those who are standing guard in their respective areas?"
Hearing Herbert's question, Lord Eric jumped into the conversation and spoke up.
"The last report from the team that we had sent to infiltrate the area for surveillance had only sent us a message when the severely injured high-ranked awakened was sent back. As far as I know, there should not be any movements from them."
After Herbert's question was answered, the grey-haired old man who followed behind Lady Ariel when she entered glanced at Herbert. He had noticed that Herbert had immediately nitpicked one potential threat to the plan. Perhaps he had found it interesting, but he now seemed to pay much more attention to Herbert compared to before.
"I see. Because we're going to lure them into fighting in that location, are we going to pick them off one by one?"
"That's also possible, but if we don't do it quick enough then they may become vigilant and suspect our plan to lure them away. This is why I think that we should instead fight them all at once to prevent any of them from escaping. This should be much more stable."
"There's no need for that. We can end them quickly."
Although the group felt surprised upon hearing Herbert's words, they also understood that he must have a basis for his confidence. Be it his strength or the capabilities of his guards, they should all be high-ranked awakened.
Ariel's brows touched each other as she slightly frowned, she seemed to think that perhaps Herbert had been a little too arrogant. However, she never spoke up about this. Her silence seemed to be the tacit agreement to Herbert's words.
"If that's how we're going to do it then I recommend that we start it from their weakest link. We've been fighting them for a while now and because they keep on trying to match us, we have a rough ranking for their combat abilities."
This time Herbert nodded his head and no longer added anything. Soon the meeting came to an end on a positive note. Because he was already satisfied with what he heard, he maintained a positive demeanor until the meeting ended. Although it didn't feel long, their conversation had managed to last to the point where the sun was about to set.
Now it was once again time for Herbert to leave. After making sure that everything was fine, Herbert with his guards, and Lord Eric with his group of twelve soon flew in two separate directions.
Herbert's group which mostly flew with black feathered wings was heading for the nearby thickets in preparation for an ambush while Lord Eric roused his army to prepare and fake a night attack to lure out the enemy into the ambush.
The cover of the night was a great blanket to cover Herbert and his group's tracks, but that was not its only advantage. After all, the Ravenmoons wouldn't have the word moon included in their last names if it didn't mean anything.
As time passed and the day continued to turn pitch black, the world seemed to be engulfed by the dark embrace of the night. From the dim, the moon shone brightly like a shining beacon.
"It's the first full moon of the year. Let's just get this over with."
The guards merely followed him in silence. But their murderous auras could no longer be hidden. Ingrid who was with them felt goosebumps. Because of the mood, she started to feel nervous as well.
Herbert who was in alert mode noticed Ingrid's anxiousness, but he didn't pay her any mind. Her abilities did not have any use as she still needed time to grow. The most that she could do was to stay still and be protected. Nevertheless, he still kept her here as he knew that the safest place for her would be by his side.
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