412: Chapter 399 The purpose of the butterfly mine is not to cause death

Sadou ordered the Vice Legion Commander to check the situation, but as the Vice Legion Commander, it was naturally impossible for him to go in person.

Stepping out of the tent, he summoned his adjutant.

"What happened?"

"A small squad of about five hundred people is firing arrows at us."

What? Five hundred people?

The Vice Legion Commander momentarily doubted his hearing was malfunctioning, or that his adjutant was tired of living and was deliberately seeking death with a lie full of holes.

But obviously, both guesses were too absurd.

The adjutant had a happy family, was in his prime, and had a bright future; if anyone wanted to die, it wouldn't be him. As for his own hearing, as a Sky Knight, the Vice Legion Commander didn't think he wouldn't know if his ears were broken.

"What's their strength like?" The Vice Legion Commander suppressed the various doubts in his heart.

"All are Magister-level, or, uh, all are ordinary people."

The Vice Legion Commander frowned impatiently, picking up the guess he had just dismissed—the adjutant's life was indeed smooth, but there was a chance he had encountered a major upheaval and no longer wanted to live.

The adjutant seemed to sense his gaze becoming unfriendly and knew how ridiculous his report was, so he quickly explained: "Lord Vice Legion Commander."

"The officer in charge of searching for the enemy is a Magister. He told me that there are five hundred people hidden in the darkness, and no mana fluctuations can be sensed."

"Based on this, I concluded that those five hundred people are either all Magisters, or they are all ordinary people with no mana fluctuations at all, which is why the officer naturally couldn't sense them."

The Vice Legion Commander's furrowed brow slowly smoothed out.

This deduction was logically sound.

Even without knowing the specific strength of the Bauhinia Legion, the total number of Soldiers could still be estimated—the marching column stretched for several miles, at least fifty thousand people.

To have the courage to attack a legion of at least fifty thousand people with only five hundred, these people's strength couldn't be too low; otherwise, it would be suicide.

Combined with the feedback from the Magister's perception, concluding that the five hundred people were all Magister-level was normal. As for the possibility of Saint-level, it was directly excluded because all the Saint-levels of the coalition had fled.

However, another question arose: which power did these five hundred people come from?

Either the coalition or Lake usually had the ability to mobilize five hundred Magisters to form a squad, but both sides were in a fierce battle; would they have the spare energy and leisure?

And most importantly, the order issued by the King was unknown to outsiders, so the news the outside world received was that the Bauhinia Legion was coming to support the coalition.

Had the coalition lost its mind to launch a night raid on its own reinforcements at any cost?

But if one were to say the five hundred people were sent by Lake, it wasn't very realistic either.

Lake had suffered internal strife two years ago, with heavy losses of Magisters; the country simply couldn't spare five hundred Magisters now.

Since it wasn't either side, who could it be?

In this remote place, who else could send five hundred... Kingdom?

The Vice Legion Commander remembered the Lagu Kingdom he had discussed with the Legion Commander not long ago.

This entity has been watching from the sidelines since the war began, its strength preserved intact, but what reason would they have to attack the Bauhinia Legion?

Weren't they afraid of the Empire's retaliation?

"Why haven't you gone yet?" Sadou pushed aside the door curtain and walked out.

The Vice Legion Commander snapped out of his thoughts and hurriedly recounted the specific situation.

Sadou was silent for a few seconds, then suddenly laughed: "They've come looking for us?"

The two were stunned; did the Legion Commander know the hidden details?

"Lord Legion Commander, what exactly is going on? Whose Soldiers are they?"

"Lake."

The Vice Legion Commander was shaken: "Lake still has the ability to mobilize five hundred Magisters?"

"They are all ordinary people."

"Taking five hundred ordinary people to attack the Bauhinia Legion with thirty thousand Professional Soldiers?"

Sadou glanced at him, prepared to say something, but for some reason paused.

"Just respond in the normal way."

"Understood!" The adjutant took the order and left.

The Vice Legion Commander stood in a daze for a while, then lifted his foot to follow.

Sadou called out to him: "What are you doing?"

"I want to know what kind of madness Lake is having."

"You can go, but remember, hide your mana fluctuations, don't get close to the center of the battle, and if you feel danger, flee immediately."

"Huh?" The Vice Legion Commander was startled for a moment, then as if understanding something, he realized, "The Saint-levels of Lake have also come, right?"

"I'll be careful!"

The Vice Legion Commander turned and rushed toward the distance. Sadou raised his hand to explain but finally lowered it.

Anyway, the effect was the same, so let the misunderstanding be.

The Vice Legion Commander trusted Sadou very much and strictly followed his warning, not only giving up on using mana to fly but also not even releasing his Mental Energy on the way to the combat zone.

As a result, his speed was naturally slower than the Soldiers responding to the enemy, and with the camp being vast, the journey took quite some time; by the time he reached the combat zone, the battle had just ended.

It was late at night, and being far from the camp's streetlights, the surroundings were very dark. The Vice Legion Commander looked around, subconsciously preparing to release a spell to enhance his night vision to inspect the battlefield.

Instantly remembering Sadou's instructions, he quickly cancelled the half-prepared spell and called over a Soldier captain to ask about what happened.

"We were attacked by arrows. After determining the number of enemies, we quickly formed a perimeter and waited for support from the High-tier Professional officers, but..."

"Speak up."

The Soldier captain turned to look at the High-tier Professional officers gathered not far away, then turned back and continued: "It's very strange."

"The enemy didn't seem willing to engage. As soon as we surrounded them, they retreated. By the time the officers arrived, everyone had already run away."

"Why didn't you pursue!"

"The patrol captain said the enemies were Magisters, we..."

The Vice Legion Commander waved his hand: "I understand."

After saying that, he looked out at the forest shrouded in the night: "Hmm... visibility is poor, let's go when it's light. Return to camp."

"Understood!"

Everyone withdrew to the main camp in an orderly fashion, and the Vice Legion Commander also crawled into his tent to rest.

However, not long after he lay down in his bed, shouts of "Enemy attack" came from outside again.

He hurriedly threw off the thin quilt and rushed out before he even had time to put on his armor. As it turned out, upon arriving at the scene, the Soldiers reported the enemy was the same as before, retreating quickly before being surrounded.

In the past, he probably would have ordered a pursuit despite the night, because the combat power of a Professional legion was not significantly affected by light levels.

Although low-tier Professionals couldn't see distant objects clearly in environments that were too dark, with High-tier Professionals who could see clearly leading and giving orders, it was no longer an obstacle.

It was just that the cause and effect of this enemy sneak attack were strange, and Sadou had reminded him to stay safe; after thinking it over, the Vice Legion Commander ultimately gave up on the pursuit.

Who would have known that as soon as he returned to the main camp, the annoying rats would come again.

For the rest of the latter half of the night, the two sides spent it in this kind of tug-of-war.

It had to be said that the Vice Legion Commander was very rational. Even after being tossed around for half the night, he still strictly followed orders and simply would not pursue.

Until the horizon slightly brightened, the Vice Legion Commander, who had restrained himself all night, finally exploded.

Arriving at the scene once again and learning from the Soldiers' report that the enemy had already fled, he gritted his teeth and ordered: "Pursue!"

Thus, a full five thousand Soldiers, ranging from at least Intermediate-level to at most Magisters, surged into the dark forest.

The Vice Legion Commander originally intended to return to his tent to rest his irritable brain, but thinking of the consecutive hours of torment, he turned his steps and walked toward the forest.

...

A squad of over ten people, holding spears or longswords, searched for enemy traces in the forest alertly.

Suddenly, a Soldier stopped: "Damn it."

"Hmm?" His companion looked at him in confusion.

"There are supposedly five hundred of them, and we're pursuing along the path they fled. Why... haven't we seen a single footprint?"

A Soldier scanning the low plants by his feet said in a similarly lost tone: "Look, these weeds haven't been stepped on either. Could they all be flying?"

"Impossible, Lord Vice Legion Commander said they are all ordinary people."

The eerie situation made the atmosphere somewhat oppressive. A Soldier laughed to ease the tension: "Maybe they used magic items. Anyway, they're all ordinary people. Could they possibly—"

"Bang—"

An explosion sounded not far to the right. The Soldiers were startled and, after reacting, quickly ran over. As they approached the source of the explosion, they heard what seemed to be a companion's scream.

What happened?

The Soldiers were a bit nervous, slowing their pace and cautiously leaning in.

After walking slowly for a minute and pushing aside a few branches, a Soldier lying on the ground, clutching his right thigh and screaming, came into view.

The reason for emphasizing "clutching his right thigh" was that the Soldier's entire right lower leg had disappeared. The tattered pant leg was stuck to the break, and blood was gushing out, soaking the fabric.

The Soldiers looked at the tragic scene before them in horror until they were jolted awake by his wails.

Distinguishing that he belonged to the friendly forces from his armor, the Soldiers ran over quickly. Some knelt to help treat his wound, while others asked: "Where is the enemy?!"

"No... no... whew... don't know."

With his companions arriving, he calmed down slightly. Although his words were still uneven in volume, they were at least a bit smoother: "I, was searching for the enemy, saw nothing, suddenly, under my foot, explosion."

A sudden explosion? Was it a Trigger-type Magic?

Everyone looked at each other, all feeling that something wasn't right.

Setting aside that the cost of Trigger-type Magic was very expensive and no one would be so extravagant as to use it against an ordinary Soldier, even if he was unlucky enough to have actually stepped on Trigger-type Magic, the power couldn't possibly be this small.

After a moment of silence, a Soldier said: "Let's report to the officer first."

"Report how? That one of our Soldiers was ambushed by Trigger-type Magic?"

"If we really report it that way, I think the officer will hang us from the mast and whip us severely on charges of lying."

"You have to realize, if it were Trigger-type Magic, he wouldn't have just lost half a leg; he would have turned into a pile of minced meat."

"Then what should we do?"

"How about..."

"Bang—"

Another explosion sounded not far away, sounding very familiar to the Soldiers. This was normal; after all, they had just heard it once a few minutes ago.

They stood up at the same time in disbelief, looking toward the source of the sound.

"Could it be..."

To prove their guess, they left one person to take care of the injured companion, and the rest quickly rushed to the site of the explosion.

Arriving at the place and seeing their companion lying on his back on the ground, clutching his left thigh and howling miserably, the eyelids of the ten-plus Soldiers twitched violently.

"This is..."

"Bang—"

The interval between the explosions this time was much shorter than before. Their confused consciousness could no longer make a judgment, so following instinct, they again left one person to protect the injured companion, and the rest rushed to the explosion point.

The same scene repeated continuously. The forest seemed to have been filled with Trigger-type Magic by someone. Explosions sounded one after another, and the squad also kept running, kept splitting up, until only the captain was left.

The captain's eyes were filled with terror. He tried desperately to control the trembling of his hands and feet, but to no avail. To prevent himself from falling, he could only squat down in slow motion to help his companion with an emergency wound treatment.

With limited conditions, the bandaging naturally couldn't be very perfect; he just tore off a piece of cloth from his upper garment and tied the break on the thigh tightly, barely stopping the gushing blood.

"Bang—"

It seemed there was another explosion in the forest ahead. The captain was already numb, sitting beside his companion and staring blankly in that direction.

The companion endured the severe pain: "Are, aren't you going?"

"I'm the only one left," the captain said woodily.

...

In the clearing outside the forest, hearing the explosions rising from within, the Vice Legion Commander paced uneasily.

What happened? How many enemies were ambushed inside? Why hasn't anyone come out to report the situation? Could the entire army have been wiped out?

He wanted to go in and check personally, but remembering Sadou's warning, his raised foot dropped back down.

After half an hour, a Soldier finally ran out of the forest, stumbling.

The Vice Legion Commander was overjoyed and quickly went to meet him: "What's going on inside? How many Soldiers have we lost? How many enemies are there?!"

"Vice... Lord Vice Legion Commander, we, we encountered a large-scale ambush of Trigger-type Magic!"

A question mark seemed to appear over the Vice Legion Commander's head.

"What nonsense are you talking?"

"A large-scale ambush of Trigger-type Magic? Do you know that even emptying the gold coins in the Ganno treasury wouldn't be enough to set that up?!"

"But, but..." The Soldier pointed at the forest anxiously, unable to say a complete sentence for a long time.

"Enough!" The series of bizarre events made the Vice Legion Commander completely lose his patience. He waved his hand to interrupt the Soldier, "I'll go..."

"Lord Vice Legion Commander!" A Magister flew over from a distance, shouting loudly before even getting close, "The main camp is under attack!"

"What?!"

The Vice Legion Commander cried out in shock. Ignoring Sadou's warning, he rushed into the sky and sped toward the camp.

On the way, his thoughts were racing.

The main camp had the Lord Legion Commander and Lord Gods Blessing staying behind; how could it be attacked? Or rather, who could get close?

Unless the two Lords...

The Vice Legion Commander felt a pang of fear and shook his head: "Impossible, absolutely impossible!"

Pushing his mana to the limit, his already maximum flight speed increased slightly. Ten seconds later, he successfully reached the main camp.

The Vice Legion Commander landed in a panic and rushed into the commander's tent. After seeing the situation inside, his steps faltered.

"You're back?" Sadou asked with his hands behind his back.

Lord Gods Blessing beside him said nothing, turning his head to look at him through the hollow of his visor.

The Vice Legion Commander felt relieved, then scratched his head in confusion: "Since the two Lords are here, why did someone inform me that the camp was attacked?"

Sadou sat on a wooden stool behind a low table: "It was indeed attacked."

Thinking that with them in the camp, even if it were attacked, there wouldn't be any serious losses, a smile appeared on the Vice Legion Commander's face, though routine concern was still necessary.

The Vice Legion Commander asked with a smile: "How many Soldiers were sacrificed?"

"Not many, just..."

Just as Sadou had just uttered those four words, a Soldier rushed into the tent and hurriedly recounted the situation in the forest.

Sadou was stunned, then seemed to understand something and sighed: "It would have been better if it were just Soldiers who were sacrificed."

"Uh, what do you mean?"

"The Light-attribute Mages accompanying the army, oh, that is, the Church's Divine Officials, are all dead."