198: Backstab

Late at night three days later, on the edge of Macedonia Province, at the southern end of the Red River Plain.

The Second Prince's army camp was dimly lit. The bloody civil war that had lasted for months had long since drained the energy and morale of most soldiers. Under the heavy pressure of knowing that eight hundred thousand troops from the north were closing in and that there was no hope for reinforcements, despair and exhaustion spread like a plague. Except for the necessary sentries, most had long since fallen into a restless sleep, trying to escape the impending doom in their brief respite.

Outside the camp, the darkness was like thick ink, swallowing the plain. But if anyone could see through this darkness, they would find countless silent figures surging like a tide from the direction of Bandel Province, quietly completing the encirclement of this massive camp. Clay, Batu, Ocean Jack, and Usachi, four Legendary Experts, were like four sharp blades, each guarding a side.

Amidst this dead silence, violent explosions and battle cries suddenly erupted in the core area of the Second Prince's camp!

"Enemy attack!"

"Is it from the north?!"

"No! It's from the Royal Army! Atos is attacking!"

Confused exclamations instantly tore through the night's tranquility. The Second Prince's soldiers, jolted awake from their sleep, frantically grabbed their weapons and rushed out of their tents, only to see flames soaring into the Sky from the direction adjacent to Atos's Royal Army camp, with flickering shadows as if an army was fiercely attacking the junction of the camps.

In the central command tent, the Second Prince sat up abruptly from his bed, rushing out with only an outer robe draped over him, his face a mix of shock and fury: "What's going on?! Atos has betrayed us and launched a night raid on our army?!"

His first reaction was that Atos was taking advantage of the approaching army of Duke Lynn and the chaotic situation to strike first, attempting to annex his forces!

"Your Highness! The situation is unclear, but the flank is indeed under attack!" a captain of the personal guard reported in panic.

"Assemble the guards! Follow me..." Prince Gordon's words came to a sudden halt.

A familiar and reassuring figure had quietly appeared before his tent at some unknown moment. It was his teacher, the former Magic Corps commander of the kingdom, the high-tier Legendary Grand Archmage, Gordon.

"Teacher!" Prince Gordon felt as if he had caught a lifeline, "Is it Atos outside..."

The old Grand Magus Gordon looked quietly at his student, the prince he had once placed high hopes in and supported with all his might. Deep in his eyes, a trace of almost imperceptible complexity flashed—scrutiny, regret, but ultimately all covered by cold determination.

"Child," Gordon's voice was exceptionally calm, even carrying a rare hint of gentleness, yet it inexplicably made Prince Gordon feel a chill, "this chaotic world... is too bitter."

Prince Gordon was stunned, not yet reacting to what these abrupt words meant.

"In your next life..." Great Master Gordon slowly raised his withered right hand, a faint point of light flashing imperceptibly at his fingertip, "be an ordinary person."

"Teacher, you..." Prince Gordon's pupils shrank suddenly, shock and disbelief instantly overwhelming his thoughts.

No incantations, no explosion of magic. It was as if a gentle breeze had merely brushed past his neck.

In the next moment, Prince Gordon felt the world spinning and his vision overturning; he saw a headless, familiar body slowly slumping down, with hot crimson geysering from the neck. Was that... my body?

Consciousness, like a candle in the wind, was suddenly extinguished.

A formidable figure of his generation, the Second Prince of Aulai, Prince Gordon, had fallen just like that, dying at the hands of the teacher he trusted most, not even having time to understand what had happened.

Great Master Gordon withdrew his hand, not even glancing at the head rolling on the ground or the twitching corpse. His aged face showed neither joy nor sorrow, only a deep, pond-like indifference. With a movement, he rose into the air, his terrifying high-tier Legendary Mental Energy mixed with magic amplification, instantly sweeping across the entire Second Prince's camp and drowning out all the chaotic noise:

"Soldiers! Atos has betrayed us, despicable and shameless! He actually sent Assassins to murder His Highness the Second Prince!!"

The voice was like thunder, carrying endless "grief" and "accusation," clearly reaching the ears of every panicked soldier.

The entire camp went dead silent for an instant, and then it exploded!

"His Highness... His Highness is dead?!"

"It was Atos who did it?!"

"Damn him! We were still waiting to fight Linn together!"

Panic, anger, confusion, hatred... all sorts of emotions grew wildly within the army that had lost its leader. Many middle and lower-level officers were also stunned, not knowing what to do.

The high-ranking officers had already been secretly executed by Gordon!

Just then, from all four sides surrounding the camp, signal flares soared into the Sky, and war drums thundered!

"Soldiers of the Southern Army! Look here!" A loud, familiar, and authoritative voice came from the east. The former Great Marshal of the Southern Army, Legendary Expert Usachi, appeared on the edge of the camp illuminated by firelight, riding a tall Land Dragon. He was clad in the marshal armor of the Star Sea Territory style, his Aura awe-inspiring.

"It's Marshal Usachi!"

"The Marshal is still alive?!"

The crowd grew restless, as many veterans recognized this old commander who had once led them in battles across the south and north.

"I am Usachi! Former Great Marshal of the Southern Army!" Usachi's voice was like a great bell, amplified by Legendary Battle Qi, shaking the soul. "I have long since surrendered to the Star Sea Territory, under Duke Lynn! Soldiers, the Second Prince has already met his end at the hands of Atos. You are leaderless—do you intend to sit here and wait for death, or be buried with that treacherous Atos?!"

His words struck the heart of the matter. Without the prince, where would this army go? Avenge the prince? Surrender to the Star Sea Territory? Or... Great Master Gordon in the Sky spoke at the right moment, his voice filled with "deep sorrow" and "guidance": "Marshal Usachi is absolutely right! The Atos royal Family is harsh and ungrateful, murdering their own kin; they are truly national traitors! Duke Lynn is benevolent and wise, with extraordinary strength—he is the one chosen by heaven! We might as well submit to the Star Sea, use Duke Lynn's power to avenge His Highness the Second Prince, and also seek a way to survive for ourselves and a future for our families!"

One was the highly respected former Great Marshal, and the other was the teacher the prince revered like a god, a titan of the kingdom's magical world. The two of them sang in harmony, one pointing out the harsh reality and another path, while the other provided a moral justification and guided the way.

The psychological defenses of the Southern Army soldiers, already angry over the prince's death and panicked by their bleak future, quickly collapsed. Especially for the middle and lower-level officers and soldiers, their loyalty to the royal Family stemmed more from their direct superiors and the prince himself. Now that the prince was dead, and both the highest-ranking officer and the strongest mage pointed to the same path... "Avenge His Highness!"

"Kill Atos!"

"Follow Marshal Usachi! Follow Great Master Gordon!"

Scattered shouts began to appear, quickly joining together into a surging wave of sound. The incited hatred and desire for survival overwhelmed the hesitation over "betrayal."

"Good!" Seeing this, Usachi drew his longsword, pointing directly toward the Royal Army camp of Atos to the west, and roared: "Sons of the Southern Army! Follow me to avenge the Second Prince! Slay the national traitor, Atos!"

"Revenge! Revenge!" The Southern Army, completely ignited, followed Usachi and his trusted generals like a bursting flood, turning their blades and frantically lunging at their former "allies" and now "murderous enemies," the Atos army camp!

At the same time, the fresh forces of the Star Sea Territory led by Clay, Batu, and Ocean Jack also launched an overwhelming assault on the Atos camp from the other three directions!

The night was completely set ablaze. The decisive battle of the Red River Plain began with a cruel backstab and internal strife that caught everyone off guard. And the Southern Army, which was originally part of the coalition, now became the sharpest knife stabbing into Atos's heart.