Chapter 100: The Intervention of Third-Party Forces

In December of 404 in the New History, the convoy escorting Prince Theo back to Sassen set off from Fort Lorn.
It was a group of about a hundred people, including 65 regular soldiers and the rest being Prince Theo’s personal guards.
To put it nicely, they were personal guards; to put it bluntly, they were just noble youths sent to gain experience on the battlefield. Don’t expect them to fight bravely—once they stepped onto a real battlefield, they’d run faster than anyone!
Fort Lorn was built to resist the orcs in the west. The soldiers stationed there were mostly drawn from the north—some from Altak, some from Galik, some from Glon. There were also soldiers from the south, but in smaller numbers.
The commander of Fort Lorn was Count Brian, just 24 years old. Though he likely held his position thanks to his family’s influence, this young count was indeed capable—at least he hadn’t turned Fort Lorn into a mess. On the contrary, he managed it well and hadn’t been at a disadvantage in the few small conflicts with the orcs so far.
However, the arrival of Prince Theo posed a serious problem for him. This proud prince was determined to reclaim the empire’s occupied territories to prove himself and break the stalemate between the empire and the orcs.
With no other choice, Commander Brian resorted to launching several small-scale harassment attacks against the orcs. Fortunately, these attacks didn’t touch the orcs’ bottom line, and reports of victory quickly reached Sassen.
The leader of the escort was Brian’s trusted man, named Dil Matthew. Like all the soldiers stationed at Fort Lorn, Dil Matthew had no goodwill toward Prince Theo or his so-called “personal guards.”
During breaks, the soldiers at Fort Lorn gathered around campfires, while Prince Theo stayed with his “personal guards.” There was no communication between the two groups.
Watching Prince Theo and those noble-born guards excitedly talk about their battles against the orcs, the soldiers at the fort gave them cold looks.
Unaware of this, those noble youths continued to exaggerate their stories. One noble named Alec Gaffikin claimed to have killed two orcs. Looking at his weak muscles, it was doubtful he could even withstand a single orc soldier’s axe strike.

Of course, these noble heirs weren’t foolish; on the contrary, they were very smart. They skillfully used flattery to please Prince Theo, and Prince Theo was delighted by such compliments from his “subordinates.” Yet, to maintain his authority as the superior, he appeared calm.

To be honest, Prince Theo wasn’t satisfied with Brian, the commander of Fort Lorn. Not only had Brian rejected his suggestions several times, but Prince Theo also saw distrust in Brian’s eyes. Doubt—more than the harsh military life at Fort Lorn—was something Prince Theo couldn’t tolerate!

He was also highly dissatisfied with those few victorious battles. Leading a few hundred men to attack a patrol of just a dozen or so orcs—how could that prove his bravery and combat skills? It was a disgrace!

Of course, Prince Theo didn’t know that before his arrival at Fort Lorn, there had already been several clashes. According to statistics, the casualty ratio was one to four—meaning four human soldiers were needed to match one orc infantryman.

It was drizzling, and traveling in such miserable weather wasn’t fun at all. Not to mention those noisy nobles, even Prince Theo looked displeased. Although they could ride horses, their wet clothes clinging to their bodies made them feel terrible.

“Captain Matthew,” said Theo, riding up to Captain Dil Matthew and glancing at the weather, “shouldn’t we find a place to take shelter from the rain?”

Dil Matthew gave Prince Theo a strange look, suppressing his displeasure, and said in a low voice, “Your Highness, we’ve rested enough. If we continue like this, it will be difficult to reach Sassen by the scheduled date!” Realizing the impatience in his own tone, he paused before continuing in a calmer voice, “Your Highness, it is my responsibility to deliver you safely to Sassen. The news of your departure from Fort Lorn has been spread for over a dozen days. For your safety, we should still…”

“Still what?” Prince Theo interrupted him with a cold laugh. “On the territory of my empire, who would dare harm me? You’re overthinking it. Your responsibility isn’t to protect me but to handle any problems that arise along the way, Captain Matthew!” He paused, leaned slightly forward, and said slowly, “Find a place to spend the night. We’ll continue our journey tomorrow. This is an order, Captain Matthew!”

“…Yes!”

Shaking his head, Captain Matthew had no choice but to send a few soldiers to scout the area. Suddenly, it seemed to him that a dark figure darted through the bushes by the road. Instinctively, he grasped the sword at his waist and shouted loudly, “Who’s there?!”
“Captain Matthew?” The other soldiers didn’t seem to notice what had just happened. They looked around in confusion and asked, “Is there anyone else nearby?”
Matthew slowly shook his head. Holding his breath, he walked over to the bushes, drew his long sword, and swung it at the dry grass several times, but found nothing unusual.
“Captain Matthew?”
“It’s fine,” Matthew said, shaking his head. He turned around, sheathed his sword, and said in a deep voice, “Let’s go!” Yet he couldn’t help but glance back again, feeling a vague sense of foreboding.
“I really did see a figure just now… Could I have misseen it?”
Out of concern, Matthew immediately led the soldiers back to the resting area. He said to Prince Theo, who was sitting on a rock drinking water, “Your Highness, there’s no place to rest nearby!” Then he pointed eastward and continued, “It’s not far ahead to Sael, and after Sael, we’ll be close to the capital. I think it’s best if we…”
Just then, the sound of horse hooves came from afar. Matthew turned to look and saw one of the prince’s guards, a nobleman on horseback, rushing over anxiously and saying, “Your Highness, I found a village not far ahead…”
Prince Theo gave Captain Matthew a cold look and said sarcastically, “No place to rest? Hmph! Well!” He stood up and said to the nobleman, “Well done, Puzi. Inform everyone to rest in that village for the night!”
Frowning, Matthew hesitated and said, “Your Highness…”
Glancing back at Matthew, Prince Theo said in a stern voice, “Do you want to disobey my orders, Captain Matthew?”
“…Yes!”
About twenty minutes later, the group arrived at the village.
Upon seeing the group of a hundred people, the villagers seemed uneasy, but after Prince Theo explained the situation, they welcomed them warmly to rest in the village.
Matthew remained silent, as he could tell that Prince Theo was already very dissatisfied with him.
Suddenly, the muttering of one of the soldiers caught his attention.
“What did you say just now?”
“Strange…” The soldier, coming back to his senses, stared at the village buildings in surprise and said hesitantly, “I patrolled this area an hour ago, but I didn’t see this village. Ah—could I have misseen it?”

“Wasn’t it an hour ago?” Matthew was stunned and frowned. “Are you sure? Ro!”
“Well…” The soldier named Ro looked at Matthew awkwardly and said in a low voice, “Maybe I didn’t notice at the time. I’m very sorry, Captain Matthew!”
After giving Ro a deep look, Matthew silently walked to the corner of a house, crouched down to examine it, then picked up a clump of mud from the corner and squeezed it.
“Is there a problem, Sergeant?” Suddenly, a voice came from behind him.
Matthew quickly turned around and saw a young man smiling at him. He shook his head slowly. “No! There’s no problem!” Though he said that, he was shocked: How could an ordinary civilian approach him from behind without him noticing?
“By the way,” suppressing his suspicions, Matthew stood up and asked in a deep voice, “How long have you lived here?”
“Um,” the young man hesitated and replied uncertainly, “I’m not sure. I’ve been here since I was born. Is there a problem?”
“No!” Matthew shook his head and headed straight toward Prince Theo, who was then deciding which house to use as a resting place for the night.
“Your Highness!”
“Hm?” Turning around and seeing Matthew, Prince Theo said impatiently, “What’s the matter now?”
Matthew glanced around and saw that the villagers seemed far away. He said in a low voice, “Your Highness, there’s something wrong with this village!” Then he raised his right hand, showing the small piece of mud in it.
“A problem?” Prince Theo was stunned. Then he looked at the mud in Matthew’s hand and asked in confusion, “What does this prove?”
Matthew broke apart the small piece of mud with his hand, pointed to the dark and hard part inside, and said in a low voice, “Your Highness, this is what I found in that corner of the wall—such mud definitely can’t exist in a village that has been around for a long time. It looks more like it’s been buried underground all along, never exposed to sunlight…”
As he spoke, an old voice suddenly came from beside them.
“Oh, that? That was dug up from underground a couple of days ago. There are more and more young people in the village, and the existing houses are no longer enough…”
“Hm?” Matthew was surprised. He instinctively turned around and saw an old man leaning on a cane who had appeared behind him somehow.

“I am the head of this village. Are you Prince Theo? We are truly honored that such an important person has come to our village…” As he spoke, the old man pointed behind him with his cane and said to Prince Theo, “Although there are no remarkable crops in the village, there is plenty of food. Please, Your Highness!”
“Thank you very much!” Prince Theo bowed politely, as it was the proper demeanor for someone in a higher position, even toward a commoner.
But just as he was about to follow the old man forward, Matthew grabbed his sleeve.
“Your Highness, something is very wrong with this village!”
Releasing himself from Matthew’s grip, Prince Theo suppressed his anger and said in a low voice, “I think it’s you who’s wrong! You will rest in this village today. It’s an order, Captain Matthew!”
“…” Matthew opened his mouth, then walked over to the nearby soldiers with his sword in hand.
“Your Highness?” The old man turned around, smiling at Prince Theo, but upon closer inspection, it could be seen that he was actually looking at Matthew, who was giving orders for night patrols.
There must be something wrong with this village!
Matthew refused the villagers’ dinner. As a professional soldier, he was highly wary of those seemingly ordinary commoners.
From the color of the soil used to build the houses, Matthew concluded that this was not necessarily an ancient village; the color of the soil resembled something dug up from the ground not long ago…
Late at night, Matthew stood outside the house where Prince Theo was resting, holding his sword, thinking about what soldier Ro had said.
The village hadn’t been noticed an hour ago…
If what he said was true, then this village…
To build such a village in just one hour, it could only be…
As he thought this, a sudden warning surged in Matthew’s subconscious. He instinctively drew his sword, pointed it at the dark corner not far away, and said in a low voice, “Who’s there? Who’s in there?”
“Amazing…” An uneasy voice drifted from afar. “I thought they were all just foolish people. Impressive, Dil Matthew!” With that, the voice’s owner stepped out from the darkness in the corner, covered in a gray cloak, his face hidden, only his cold eyes visible.
There were three of them!
“You… you guys…” Matthew couldn’t help but take a step back, gripping his sword tightly and saying harshly, “What exactly do you want?”

The other party didn’t answer Matthew’s question but went on talking by themselves, “I didn’t expect it to be this easy. If I had known, I would have started earlier. It wasted so much of our time…”
“Attacking Prince Theo is treason! Who are you guys?”
“We? We’re just people buried by history…” As he spoke, the leader reached out from under his cloak and pointed at Matthew, “You know what? This place used to be a graveyard!”
“Hm?” Matthew didn’t understand at first. Suddenly, he heard strange rustling sounds. Instinctively, he looked down and saw something seemingly trying to emerge from the soil beneath his feet.
Skeletons… skeletons?
A pale skeleton with half of its body still in the soil grabbed Matthew’s right foot. Fiery green souls burned in its hollow eyes, and its jaw moved as if laughing.
“Crack, crack!” More and more skeletons emerged from the ground of the village.
Matthew stared in shock at this scene and murmured, “Are you… necromancers?!”
Meanwhile, Prince Theo was lying on the bed in his resting room, propping his head on his hands and gazing at the ceiling.
It had been Theo who suggested going to Fort Lorn.
It must be said that this young prince was the best of the king’s three sons, with almost no flaws aside from being overly arrogant.
But most people only noticed his noble status, which was exactly what made Theo feel frustrated.
Having graduated from the Royal Knights Academy with excellent grades, Theo originally planned to take charge of the battles in the west. Given his status, he couldn’t bear to let those foolish orcs continue to occupy the empire’s lands and kill its people. Yet even in Fort Lorn, he still couldn’t escape the aura of being the empire’s first prince.
Others might not understand, but for Prince Theo, his identity was first and foremost that of a brave and skilled warrior, with being a prince coming second. Desiring to surpass the great achievements of his ancestor, King Sassen, he couldn’t stand being seen merely as a talkative prince.
I am first and foremost a warrior! He wanted to prove this!
But it was no easy task. As the future heir to the empire, who would let this prince participate in actual battles? No one dared—not even the equally young commander at Fort Lorn!

“Tch!” Turning over in bed, Prince Theo sighed quietly and muttered with a hint of sarcasm, “Damn it, do I still need you to protect me? Overreacting—just an ordinary village…” With that, he got out of bed, walked to the window, and opened it. Perhaps the room was too small, making him feel a bit suffocated. A gust of cold wind blew in from outside, slightly calming Prince Theo’s irritability. Suddenly, his expression changed. Why was there no sound? Even in the wild, he could see the trees in the distance swaying in the cold wind, but why was there no sound? Neither the sound of the leaves nor the wind… It was too quiet… Why couldn’t he hear anything outside? Those guys from Puzi hadn’t come either… Even if Dil Matthew was outside, he couldn’t stop those guys, right? It was too quiet… Too quiet to be normal… Prince Theo instinctively grasped the long sword leaning by the bed, held his breath, walked to the door, and called softly, “Dil Matthew?” Had he left? Impossible—he was a soldier! Prince Theo slowly opened the door, and immediately, he was shocked by what he saw outside. Three strange figures in gray cloaks and groups of skeletons had surrounded the house completely. Outside, Matthew, covered in blood, was leaning against a wooden wall, gasping for breath. “Matthew… Captain?” Prince Theo called out in astonishment. Matthew seemed to hear him, turned his head toward Prince Theo, and opened his mouth as if to say something, but his voice didn’t reach the room. A barrier! A word suddenly popped into Prince Theo’s mind. He carefully stepped out of the house, and indeed, the sounds outside reached his ears again, including Matthew’s voice. “Your… Your Highness, they are… necromancers…” Looking at Matthew’s wounds all over his body, Prince Theo felt more foolish than ever. Nodding, he said firmly, “I understand. You’ve done well, Captain Matthew!” “It’s… it’s my duty… it’s an order… to protect Your Highness…” Matthew slowly sat down against the wall, leaning on his sword, panting heavily. “Go… go quickly, Your Highness! They’re here to kill you…” “I know. Save your strength,” said Prince Theo, patting Matthew’s shoulder. Turning around, he faced the necromancers and spoke in a commanding tone, “Speak! Who sent you to attack us?”

“Are you ordering me, Your Highness?” sneered a necromancer. “I suppose you understand your situation now. I suggest you use a tone we can accept…” He paused, shook his head with pretended regret, and said, “Why come out? Isn’t it better to stay inside and die quietly, without disturbing anyone?”
Staring coldly at him, Prince Theo glanced around and said in a deep voice, “Where are the others?”
The necromancer chuckled and shook his head. “Do you mean those soldiers or your companions? It doesn’t matter—they’re all gone. As for your companions, we were merciful enough to let them die in their sleep, painlessly. But those patrol soldiers weren’t so lucky…” He glanced at the skeletons nearby, some of which still had fresh blood on them.
“Damn it!” The glaring red on those skeletons filled Prince Theo with rage. He slowly drew his knight’s sword and said through gritted teeth, “Foolish wretches! I’ll make you pay!”
“Huh?” The necromancer was stunned for a moment before waving his hand and saying casually, “Kill him!”
As soon as he spoke, swarms of skeletons rushed wildly at Prince Theo.
“Damn you, vermin!” roaring, Prince Theo unleashed a faint red aura from his body. With a swing of his sword, a wind-like blade sliced through a row of skeletons, splitting them in half. Then, with a slap of his left hand on the ground, a loud crash echoed—as the skeletons closest to him had their leg bones shattered.
In just a few minutes, his feet were covered in the remains of skeletons. Holding his sword, he pointed at the necromancers and said slowly, “Now it’s your turn!”
After a brief silence, the necromancer at the front clapped his hands lightly and said approvingly, “A warrior who controls his anger—tsk tsk, this really surprises me. Your Highness, it seems we really shouldn’t have treated you as just another ordinary person!” He snapped his fingers and said casually, “But so what?”
As soon as he spoke, the shattered skeletons reformed once again.
Though these skeletons were extremely weak—so weak they could be easily defeated—they couldn’t be completely destroyed because of the necromancer’s presence. And with their increasing numbers, Prince Theo’s movements gradually slowed down.

Watching all this, the necromancer sneered, “Anger? That’s just a trivial thing. How can it compare to magic?”
“Is that so?” Roaring, Prince Theo leaped out from among the skeletons, gripping his long sword tightly and swinging it fiercely at the necromancer. The powerful force generated gusts of wind that even blew off the cloak covering the necromancer’s head, revealing a young man who appeared to be in his twenties.
“Die, scum!”
Facing the enraged prince who was charging at him, the young necromancer raised his hand. Then, something strange happened—the prince’s sword stopped just half a yard away from its target. No matter how hard Theo tried, he couldn’t bridge that distance. Upon closer inspection, it could be seen that what was blocking his sword was a mass of dark purple energy.
“Bang!” With a wave of his right hand, the necromancer sent Prince Theo flying like a piece of rag, slamming him hard into the wall behind. Trying to suppress his shock, Theo stared in disbelief at the necromancer before him.
“Too weak, Your Highness!” The young necromancer sneered at Theo, smiling slightly. “The elders are too cautious. I alone am enough to deal with you!” With that, he slowly stepped toward Theo, ready to deliver the final blow.
“Wait, Liro. They might be useful!” Another voice, old and gruff, spoke up among the two other necromancers.
“Hm?” The young necromancer named Liro smiled mockingly. “Hmph, true enough. After all, he’s a prince! But the other one isn’t needed!” Saying this, he fired a pale white beam from his hand that instantly pierced Matthew’s heart.
“Matthew!” Theo struggled to get up, roaring angrily at Liro, “You damned bastard!” But before he could finish speaking, a massive force grabbed his throat, slamming him back against the wall.
Holding Theo’s throat in his left hand, Liro tapped his face with his right hand, saying in a threatening and mocking tone, “Be good, Your Highness! Otherwise, I can’t guarantee you’ll survive!”
“You… bastard!”

“Tch!” With a smirk, Riro slapped Prince Theo on the forehead, knocking him out. Then he released his hand, letting the prince fall weakly to the ground. Wiping his hands, he said indifferently, “Don’t assign me such boring tasks again… Hmm, it’s been some time since I last saw Pur. That guy must have returned to Sassen, right? What kind of person is Argus anyway? Hey!”
“Argus is a dangerous man! Take him with you, Riro. We need to get to Sassen before others discover this! — Go check again. I want to make sure no one survives!”
Scratching his head, Riro said helplessly, “Yes, Elder! — I guarantee there’s no one alive except that guy!”
“Check again! — If it weren’t for your carelessness, letting that sergeant figure it out, things would be easier!”
“Yes, yes…”
A dozen minutes later, the three necromancers left with the unconscious Prince Theo. As they left, they removed the illusion that covered the entire village. As Riro had said, it was an abandoned graveyard, with just a few new residents.
Around that time, Thos and his group returned to Vando.
“Is this Riox?” Ulric, driving the carriage, couldn’t help but exclaim in admiration. “A city of magicians—this is truly magnificent…”
“Hey, Ulric,” Allen said with a wry smile as he looked at him helplessly, “This is Vando! — We haven’t reached Riox yet!”
“Oh! — Even so, it’s still quite surprising!” Ulric said in astonishment as he gazed at the city.
Indeed, as a city of magicians, Vando was a very beautiful city. Its wide and orderly streets, tall and elegant wooden buildings, and especially the huge magic fountain at the end of the street all amazed Ulric.
“What a beautiful city! — But why are there so few people?”
Actually, even without Ulric saying it, the others could sense that something was off about Vando’s atmosphere. Usually, at this time, the central streets of Vando would be the busiest places, with merchants, nobles, magic apprentice students, and all sorts of people gathered there. But now, the streets were deserted, with hardly anyone in sight. Even the shops of various sizes were closed. In the past, one could often see senior students from the Riox Academy “working” there.
“Has something happened?” Allen asked in surprise as he looked at the eerie streets.

Shaking his head in confusion, Thors glanced toward the corner of the street, where two strange figures in gray cloaks were staring at the distant Riox. When they noticed Thors and his group, they pulled up their cloaks and hurried away in a highly suspicious manner.
“What are those two doing?” Allen asked in doubt.
Before Thors could speak, Ulric, who was standing nearby, seemed to sense something and whispered, “I can smell a strong dark aura from those two! Be careful!”
“Are those magicians?” Allen looked around in surprise and shrugged. “Don’t make such a fuss. Many magicians in the empire use dark powers!”
“Is that so?” Ulric asked Thors in astonishment.
“Mm!” Thors nodded absentmindedly, then stared at his left hand covered in white gloves, probably still thinking about Sloth.
A few minutes later, they finally arrived at the entrance of Riox Academy. Getting off the carriage, Allen casually knocked on the ancient iron door and shouted, “Hey! Is anyone there…?”
Suddenly, his words stopped mid-sentence. As soon as his right hand touched the massive iron door, it was repelled by several faintly glowing arcs of electricity. Holding his stinging right hand, Allen exclaimed in shock, “What’s going on? A barrier?”
Meanwhile, the girls also got off the carriage, puzzled by what was happening. Although they all knew Riox Academy had a giant barrier, they had never seen it activate before.
Just as the children were struggling to figure out how to enter, a white circle appeared on the ground of the iron door. With a whoosh, the old dean appeared before them, looking at them in surprise and saying, “How did you all come back? Didn’t you stay in Galk?”
“Wow! Teleportation!” Allen couldn’t help but exclaim, then said to the old dean with a smile, “You know, staying in Galk any longer was really… Hey, Dean, you look great today!”
“Heh!” The old dean nodded cheerfully, pointed his right hand at the iron door, and with a creak, the door opened. The barrier, glowing with faint blue arcs, also created an invisible passage.
“Come in, children!”

“Thank you, Dean!” Ravia said politely, then turned back to Ulric, who was sitting in the carriage. “Hey, let the carriage in! Our luggage is still in it!” As she spoke, her gaze paused briefly—she seemed to see two suspicious-looking men in the streets and alleys across from them, watching this place.

Allen also noticed and nudged Thos beside him, whispering, “Look over there! Those two guys were watching us just now!”

Thos raised his head to look into the distance, only to see them have already disappeared into the dark alleys.

Frowning anxiously, Ravia asked, “What’s going on, Dean? Has something happened?”

The old dean shook his head and sighed slightly. “I really wished you had stayed in Galk and not returned, but… come in, it’s dangerous outside! I’m going to activate the shield!”

“Oh!” The children entered the gate, somewhat confused, and Ulric also drove the carriage in.

“Who is this?” The old dean glanced sharply at Ulric, who had gotten off the carriage.

Seizing the wariness in the dean’s eyes, Ulric, who had been busy looking at the castle in the distance, quickly bent down, placed his right hand on his left chest in an ancient gesture, and said politely, “My name is Ulric. It’s an honor to meet you!”

“Me too,” the old dean said with a smile and nodded, then added in a serious tone, “But I’m curious—why would a vampire be with my students? Can you explain that?”

“Dean,” Dia, standing next to Thos, interjected, “Ulric is a friend we met in Galk, Thos and I. He wouldn’t hurt anyone!”

The old dean glanced at Thos, who nodded, and the wariness in his eyes faded. He apologized to Ulric, saying, “I’m very sorry. It seems you get along well with my students, young man! Though now isn’t the right time, you’re still welcome in Riox!”

“You’re too kind!” Ulric bowed slightly.

“Dean, what’s happening?” Lisa asked softly. “Why have everyone left the city? Why is it dangerous outside?”

The old dean glanced at the children. Seeing that they were all waiting for his reply, he shook his head and sighed, “This isn’t your concern. What you need to do is rest well! — You must be tired from the journey. Go back to your rooms and rest. Tomorrow, I’ll arrange for some professors to take you out! Don’t worry, nothing will happen!” With that, he glanced at the puppets following the children and changed the subject with a smile, “Truly masterpieces by those professors from Vandel—‘products of dark matter,’ puppets with wisdom and life. It’s truly surprising…”
Unfortunately, the old dean’s words didn’t have the desired effect. The observant Lavia asked in a low voice, “Dean, who exactly were those two just now? Why were they spying on Rexos?”
“Spying on Rexos?” Allen and Thos were somewhat surprised. But then again, they indeed had no reason to be targets.
“Did you realize it…” The old dean sighed slightly and murmured, “They are necromancers!”
“Necromancers?”