Chapter 298: First Step of the Plan

I listened intently as the sergeant told me everything I needed to know about Therissa and the elves. They detailed how they caught her and whatever information that they managed to extract from her.

Apparently, she was the one that approached the military with a proposal. She wanted humans to work alongside elves to face the demons and end their invasion once and for all. I found it all interesting, and it worked for what I had planned.

After they detailed everything I needed to know, the sergeant smiled.

“Now that we have given you all our classified information about the elf, it’s your turn to convince us why we should let you out of this room alive,” the sergeant said, and immediately, the captain stepped into place behind my chair.

This was their plan from the beginning, to ambush me. The moment they heard me mention Conquest or just the name of their military general. But it didn’t matter.

“My name is Liam Lycann. I’m the leader of a settlement not far from here, a place known as Ryumon.”

Both their faces froze the moment I spoke.

“That can’t be,” the captain was speechless, while the sergeant was stroking his beard.

His eyes were cold, as if to decipher if I was telling the truth or not. I decided to give them more pieces of information.

“General Elias Thorne visited my settlement once, but I wasn’t there. So they instead spoke with my secretary. He name is Eira.”

The sergeant nodded.

“Yes, the general told us about that. Only he and a few high-ranking military officers are privy to such details. Which means you’re mostly who you say you are,” the sergeant said, sighing as he leaned forward. “But, that’s still not a reason for us to let you out alive. In fact, it’s more reason to kill you right here and now.”

I nodded.

“Yes, I understand, which is why I have a proposal for you. And by the end of it, most of the members of the military and my own people will reach their first evolution and will be going on to reach their second evolution.”

The captain and the sergeant listened to everything I had to say. But the looks on their faces when I relayed my proposal, I knew I had them hooked.

“And you’re certain you can do all that you just claimed. You’re speaking as if you’re the Messiah,” the captain said.

I shrugged; whether they believed I could was up to them. I could always proceed without them. I was being generous since I wanted more people in the world that could fight against Conquest and his forces.

“This is a tricky one. If I agree to this and it fails, or worse, you betray me, I would be putting my whole military career or life in jeopardy,” the sergeant said with a heavy look on his face. I could see he was really considering my deal.

“But if we succeed in this deal, then it will propel you even further, granting you a higher and more permanent role in the military. When this is all over and they are teaching history classes to the students, they will mention your name among the greats,” I said, trying to convince them, and immediately, I could see the greed in their eyes.

After a few minutes of silence, the sergeant finally sighed and relented.

“Count yourself lucky, Private, we have a deal,” he finally said, extending his hand across the table.

Satisfied, I smiled and shook his hand.

I knew exactly what was going through his mind.

’If this deal fails for whatever reason, then the next best thing is the head of the Ryumon settlement leader.’ That was what he must be thinking.

But hopefully, if it all goes as planned, then both our groups would evolve. I am almost certain that an evolved awakener would be strong enough to easily take down the demons currently here.

Maybe about 5-10 awakeners together could take down a Greater Fiend demon.

“Your platoon will be moving out tomorrow, led by Lieutenant Ethan Stark. There is a city to the south of here. We’ve been trying for months to capture it, but the Lesser Fiend demon in charge of that city is relentless. Tomorrow, with the help of the elf, we hope to finally retake the city. You’ll have your chance then,” the sergeant said.

I nodded and got up from my chair. With everything settled, I stepped out of the room to see Ethan waiting in the corridors for me, standing dutifully with his hand behind his back.

A look of surprise crossed his face when he saw me exit unscathed.

“Is everything settled?” he asked

“Yes, I explained everything that happened to the captain and the sergeant. They agreed I made the right choice and allowed me to leave.”

A slight frown appeared on Ethan’s face.

“As your platoon leader, you should’ve relayed your message to me before it came to this.”

I shook my head as I walked by him.

“My message was meant for the sergeant, lieutenant.”

Seeing that I was allowed to go free, I could see a lot of unpleasant expressions on the people of the town. They didn’t seem pleased that someone who just murdered a group of soldiers was allowed to go free. Still, they all hid their faces the moment my gaze landed on them.

It goes to show just how fearful they were of awakeners.

Ethan then led me to the place I would be staying. It was a house, just for me. Apparently, one of the deals for awakeners to join the military is that they would be getting their own house. But that begs the question…

“Where do the non-awakened soldiers and the rest of the people sleep?” I asked Ethan as he handed me the key.

“We have shelters for them. It’s not much, but they had to make do,” he said before turning his back and walking away. “Report to me at 0700 tomorrow morning.”

Looking at the house, it all seemed a bit unnecessary.

’I won’t be here that long.’ I thought as I entered.

…

The next morning, I reported to Ethan just as he requested. Since he lost a lot of soldiers when we traveled through the ruined city, he was given new replacement officers for his platoon. One such replacement was the elf. She was still wearing shackles and always had two soldiers watching over her.

Ethan debriefed us on our next mission. He told us about the city we were planning to recapture, along with the demons present there.

Strangely, most of the demons in this city were humanoid, except they were covered in flames.

“The Greater Fiend demon that is in charge of them is unknown. We haven’t been able to get close to them, but with the help of our secret weapon, the elf, we have a fighting chance to win this.”

So that was their plan: to use the power of the elf. There didn’t seem to be any objections to the plan. In fact, most of the soldiers seemed happy. If the elf was there to fight, then it meant less danger for them going in.

After being debriefed by Ethan, we started our journey south, towards the city. It took a few hours to arrive, but when we got to the city, we were forced to stop outside the territory.

The Greater Fiend demon’s ominous bloodlust shrouded the entire city. The soldiers were forced to stop and mentally ready themselves. Even the elf seemed affected by the bloodlust being exuded from the city. She quickly turned to Ethan and raised her hand towards him.

“Can you remove my shackles? They are limiting my power. I don’t think I’ll be able to face the demon like this,” Therissa said with a smile.

I didn’t get the feeling that she was putting on an act. She seemed genuinely willing to help.

Ethan looked at her skeptically before saying:

“By the captain’s orders, I can’t do that,” he said simply.

Therissa smiled a bitter smile and nodded her head before turning away.

“Thanks for considering it.”

After everyone was mentally prepared, we finally entered the city, surging forward. Our goal was to face the Lesser Fiend demon while Therissa faced the Greater Fiend demon.

The moment we stepped into the ominous bloodlust, a legion of burning humanoid creatures charged at us. We stayed back and fought as Therissa charged forward.

Something struck me as odd about how everything was playing out. I found it all a bit strange. I could sense everything going on around the city all at once, and for a brief moment, it felt as if I was missing something until I finally found it.

“There are two of them.”

That was it: it was one Lesser Fiend demon, but two.

Just as that thought crossed my mind, another even deadlier bloodlust shrouded the entire city. We all felt it, and I saw the moment Ethan’s pupils dilated in shock. His face paled before such might, and his body trembled.

It wasn’t just him, but everyone around me was like that. But what surprised me next was the next words out of the lieutenant’s mouth.

“We have to retreat! Leave the elf! She is already too far gone.”

[A:N: Looking over the older Chapters, I’ve realized I’ve been making a huge mistake. About the spelling for the mc’s settlement. It Ryumon not Ryomen. Since the names are close I’ve been mixing it up with Ryomen Sukuna from JJK. I’m so sorry for the inconvenience. I’ll take some time to go over the Chapters and make the correction. Thank you for reading :)]

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