Volume 24: Flames and Camps
Chapter 1: Against the Current
Tracy felt a chill spread through her entire body, from head to toe—a bone-deep cold. In fact, even before coming to the Caucasus, she had considered various possibilities and imagined the humiliations she might face. But she had no choice. Her father’s cold gaze made her understand that if she failed to achieve what she wanted from Komer this time, her return to Cyprus would likely end in disaster as well.
Tracy was well aware of her father’s personality. A series of setbacks over the past two years had made him increasingly withdrawn and irritable, often taking offense at unrelated matters and blaming others. Komer’s rising reputation in the Caucasus only served to infuriate him further, and the unfortunate one to bear the brunt of his anger was undoubtedly her. Everything stemmed from her, leading to this situation. Komer’s success only made her father more enraged, and she inevitably became the target of his anger, intentionally or unintentionally. That’s why she had to go to the Caucasus.
From the moment she landed in Matdam, Tracy realized she probably no longer had the charm she once possessed. Yet she refused to give up. Her demands were modest—she only needed to delay Komer’s actions for a while as her father required. She believed that if she could meet Komer, it wasn’t impossible to use her charm to captivate him for a period. During her last visit to the Caucasus with Hoffman, Tracy had noticed a jealous look in Komer’s eyes—a deep-seated hatred, though it wasn’t directed at her but at Hoffman. This proved that she still held a place in Komer’s heart, her only asset.
But after waiting in Matdam for a week, just as Tracy was on the verge of despair, Komer finally arrived. A badpremonition enveloped her, but things didn’t seem quite so bad. The familiar greed and desire in Komer’s eyes couldn’t escape her keen understanding of men’s psychology. Her body still held great appeal to him. Seeing that look, Tracy’s mood finally calmed down slightly. This was her only chance to turn things around.
Everything was going according to Tracy’s plan. As she had expected, after several moments of tender seduction, Komer eventually submitted to her charm. On the bed, Komer remained as fierce and wild as ever; his intense passion brought extreme excitement. For a brief moment, Tracy was even distracted—she couldn’t remember why she had kicked Komer away back then. Was it boredom, exhaustion, or the need for new stimulation? It seemed none of those. The only reason seemed to be that guy from the Haine family. Yet all her efforts only yielded a night of fleeting pleasure—no, not even that. That guy was nothing but a good-looking fool, a half-castrated man. Despite his handsome appearance, he was utterly useless. It was as if she had had her eyes covered by a black cloth back then, so obsessed with such a worthless wretch that she would do such incredible things for him. One wrong step, and every step after that was wrong—nothing more.
What happened next? Everything just passed by in a dull, ordinary manner. Tracy wasn’t the kind of person who liked to regret things. If something went wrong, it was wrong—there was nothing to regret. But this time, the mistake was so severe that it seemed even the gods wanted to punish her by sending her to the Caucasus. Was this her punishment? Tracy thought despairingly. That was far too cruel.
After several nights of revelry, when Tracy thought she had successfully captivated Komer’s heart and body, he suddenly left without saying goodbye. Furious, Tracy didn’t know how to curse that damned guy. But those damned half-orcs locked her up here. Tracy originally thought Komer was trying to punish her this way. She even hoped that one day he would suddenly reappear and crave her body again. It wasn’t until news reached her ears that the Caucasus army was launching a large-scale attack on Homer that she realized just how utterly wrong she had been. Komer’s desire for revenge was so intense that he resorted to such methods against her.
Tracy, in a daze, had no idea how many days had passed. Despair so deep that it had robbed her of the will to think, she didn’t know how to face the world. The thought of her father’s cold, menacing eyes made her tremble all over, and now even that seemed to be disappearing. Could Homer still survive under the fierce attacks from the Caucasus? Tracy had no idea. All she could do now was curse that damned Komer from the bottom of her heart.
“What did you say?!” Komer, furious, almost tore apart Mahagumi’s beautiful white silk shirt. The fierce glint in his eyes swept over Mahagumi’s somewhat guilty face. “Why did you only get this news now? What were you doing all this time? Do you want to destroy me?”
“I’m sorry, my lord. This really isn’t our fault. We’ve been monitoring the actions of the Church of Light, but we never expected Onia to have such influence over Vazinki. Vazinki agreed to Onia’s plea on Philip’s behalf, and Hoffman must have played a crucial role as well. Otherwise, they couldn’t have gathered such a large number of mages in such a short time. Their speed of arrival also exceeded our expectations—they set out from Marco almost immediately and arrived in Cyprus yesterday. Our people did their best.”
Mahagumi looked ashamed. No one expected the core of the court mage group, whom Hoffman regarded as a lifeline, to suddenly return from Marco to Nicosia, and to head straight from Gothenburg via Cyprus without stopping. Their speed was almost like that of a forced march—something clearly was wrong.
Hoffman, trapped in Gothenburg, had never agreed to the plan for the court mage group to support Homer. Meanwhile, the main force of the Nicosia court mage group had returned to Marco due to the rise of the Northern Salvation Society. It seemed that the court mage group would be excluded from this battle, but no one expected such a major mistake to occur. Fortunately, Mahagumi had also stationed spies in Marco, keeping a close eye on every move of the Church of Light, which allowed him to convey this news as quickly as possible. Otherwise, once the war fully broke out, a single accident could lead to a fundamental reversal of the entire situation.
Releasing his grip on Mahagumi’s shirt and calming himself down again, Komer knew he had lost his composure somewhat. The sudden drastic changes in the situation had indeed upset him. He had thought he was certain of victory, but never expected such a major setback to arise halfway through. The Court Mage Corps was no weak force; once they joined Homer’s side, it would bring together forces from various factions, including the major lords in the north. The presence of the Court Mage Corps on Cyprus would undoubtedly boost the morale of Homer’s remaining troops significantly, and their own strength was equally terrifying. His once-perfect plan had been undermined by the intervention of the Nicosia Court Mage Corps.
“What a Hoffman! I underestimated him after all. Hmph, pulling such a trick at a critical moment. The Romanov family always favors such tactics. Well, it saves me from having to make excuses later. What’s meant to happen will happen—might as well go all out!”
He forced out these harsh words through gritted teeth, but Komer knew he sounded more aggressive than confident. Right now, the Rebirth Knights were lurking in the northern part of the Bosen Plain, while Poznan and Silesia were engaged in intense battles. The war situation was urgent; delaying any longer would only sink them deeper into disadvantage. With the final battle imminent, and with the Court Mage Corps involved, was he really confident of winning?
“Mihayevich, do you think our Caucasus Mage Corps has a chance against the Court Mage Corps?” Komer needed an expert’s assessment of the current balance of power between the two sides.
“I’m sorry, but I’m not optimistic about our Caucasus Mage Corps. Even if you, my lord, lead them personally, it will likely be difficult to turn the tide. Mr. Mahagumi already informed us that besides Onia, three other high-level mage-saints have joined the Court Mage Corps on Cyprus. Aside from you and me, it seems there’s no one strong enough to match them. Clarence, Shevrey, and the three dark mages are still somewhat lacking in strength, not to mention that their mages and magic users are far superior to ours.” Mihayevich knew this wasn’t the time for wordplay and spoke his thoughts frankly.
Komer’s expression shifted unpredictably. Mihajic’s blunt words were still hard for him to accept, but upon reflection, the Caucasus Mage Corps originally had only a rough framework—aside from himself and Mihajic, there were only a few magi who had defected from the Homer Mage Corps, along with a few supporting dark mages. There were hardly any other powerful magi. Such a force might be sufficient in single combat, but in a war that required collective strength against large-scale armies, it was clearly no match for the Court Mage Corps.
Komer regretted his impulsiveness. If he had been more cautious and gotten more powerful allies to support him, he might still have had a chance. But now… Komer shook his head with a bitter smile. That was impossible too. Once the reinforcements from Poznan and Silesia gathered, no amount of powerful magical support would matter.
What should he do now?