novelraw Chapter 60
Chapter 60
Chapter 60. An Unexpected Gain
The military meeting ended.
The officers filed out one after another, their faces filled with gravity, yet also carrying a hint of excitement sparked by the new tactics.
In the vast Council Chamber, only Logaris and Sylvia remained.
Sylvia walked to the window and looked at the snowflakes drifting outside.
Her calm voice sounded again.
“I actually have another hypothesis.”
“The frontal battlefield at Fierce Gale Valley may only be a distraction meant to draw our attention.”
She turned around.
Her silver-gray eyes stared directly at Logaris.
“The real killing blow may come from inside the city.”
Logaris nodded in agreement.
He walked to Sylvia’s side and followed her gaze toward the city below.
“Your speculation is reasonable.”
There was a hint of warning in his tone.
“We should clean the house before inviting guests.”
“Before the war begins, we should sweep out the vermin inside.”
Sylvia looked deeply at Logaris.
“You and I are thinking the same thing.”
Logaris had said this because of the contents written in the Book of Prophecy.
Although he could not reveal the information directly, he discovered that he could still convey its meaning through more “indirect” hints.
That reminded him of his prophecy magic mentor, Celes.
That professor had once told him that fate was an arrogant bitch.
You could try to deceive it.
But you should never expose its script directly to its face.
Otherwise, the backlash would be terrifying.
The more cause and effect involved in a prophecy, the more dangerous it became.
If one wished to make use of prophecy, it was best to provide a reasonable explanation for the prophecy’s “source of information.”
This was a required course for high-level prophecy mages.
How to Lie to Fate.
…
At the same time.
The lower district marketplace of Winter City presented a completely different scene.
Thanks to the series of policies recently implemented in Winter City, the area was full of noisy and vibrant life.
The shouts of street vendors, the laughter and chasing of children, and the clanging sounds from the blacksmith’s shop blended together with the scent of roasted meat and cheap ale.
The entire place formed a lively portrait of everyday life.
In front of a smoky open-air food stall, Alectos and Alice were eating enthusiastically.
“Mmm… this thing called ‘Winter Sausage’ is unbelievably delicious!”
Alice spoke with her mouth full, praising it indistinctly while holding a skewer of sizzling roasted meat.
Her face was filled with happiness.
Alectos stood beside her with a bright and cheerful smile.
He chewed his food while curiously observing everyone around him.
He saw porters dressed in ragged clothes but with resilient eyes.
He saw weather-beaten women bargaining fiercely with vendors over a few Copper Sparrow Coins.
He also saw drunken mercenaries bragging loudly outside a tavern.
Life here was harsh.
Yet everyone was still trying their best to live.
At that moment—
The smile on Alectos’s face suddenly froze.
He stopped chewing instantly.
It was as if he had been struck by lightning.
He abruptly raised his head and swept his sharp gaze across the surroundings.
Alice turned back in confusion.
“Alectos?”
“What’s wrong?”
Alectos did not answer.
He had sensed a presence.
A cold, rotten, and blood-soaked aura of evil.
This aura was almost identical to the curse within his own body—Blood Withering.
It was like an invisible poisoned needle that flickered briefly within his perception before vanishing into the noisy crowd.
That was it.
The same kind of curse that had brought endless suffering and death to the royal family of the Demi-Human Empire.
Its kin was here.
“Alice, stay here and don’t move!”
Alectos dropped those words.
The cheerful brightness vanished from his face, replaced by the cold focus of a hunter locking onto prey.
The next second, he shot forward like an arrow released from a bow.
His powerful body crashed through the crowd, forcing open a path and drawing startled cries and curses from all directions.
A fierce street chase erupted without warning.
Ahead of him, a thin figure wearing an ordinary linen cloak darted wildly through the crowd.
Like a slippery eel, the person constantly used the dense stalls and narrow alleys to evade pursuit.
He was clever.
He clearly knew the terrain well.
But he had underestimated Alectos.
Alectos did not even need to use his eyes.
The curse power inside his body had now become the most precise tracking compass imaginable.
No matter how the man hid, that evil aura burned like a bonfire in the darkness, clearly guiding Alectos forward.
“Run!”
“Let’s see where you can run to!”
Alectos let out a low roar.
Dragonblood power surged into his legs, and his speed exploded once again.
He kicked off the wall beside him, vaulted over two obstructing stalls in midair, and landed heavily in front of the fleeing figure.
He blocked the exit of a dead-end alley.
The cloaked cultist was terrified out of his mind.
He spun around abruptly, only to realize that his escape route had been completely cut off.
Desperation flashed in his eyes, quickly replaced by madness.
“Damn you… you forced me to do this!”
He roared hoarsely.
A shriveled hand emerged from beneath his cloak.
A dark red sphere of energy, resembling condensed filthy blood, rapidly gathered in his palm.
But he was far too slow.
In front of the overwhelming strength of a fourth-tier Dragonblood Knight, such a slow casting motion was laughably long.
The cultist only saw a flash of golden light.
Then a massive hand wrapped with crackling golden lightning seized his throat like an iron clamp.
He was lifted off the ground and slammed violently against a moss-covered wall.
“Ghk—!”
The bloody energy sphere in his palm instantly collapsed.
At that moment, Alice finally caught up, panting heavily.
When she saw the black-robed man pinned against the wall like a struggling chicken in Alectos’s grip, she looked puzzled.
“Who… is this guy?”
Alectos did not make a scene.
He knew causing too much disturbance here would bring trouble.
With his free hand, he took out the Communication Crystal Logaris had given him.
“Mr. Logaris, I caught someone.”
His voice was low but filled with barely contained excitement.
“Someone… whose smell is exactly the same as the curse inside me.”
On the other end of the Communication Crystal, Logaris had been organizing war equipment.
The moment he heard those words, he shot to his feet.
Just moments ago, he had been troubled about how to locate the cult mentioned in the prophecy.
He had not expected fortune to arrive so suddenly.
It was like someone delivering a pillow just when he was about to fall asleep.
“Location!”
Logaris’s voice carried unmistakable excitement.
“The lower district!”
“The dead-end alley behind the No. 3 Ale Warehouse!”
“Come quickly!”
“Do not move!”
“Keep him under control!”
“I’ll be there immediately!”
Logaris ended the communication without hesitation.
He immediately connected Sylvia’s Communication Crystal.
“Sylvia, remember the ‘internal threat’ we were discussing earlier?”
He spoke rapidly.
His excitement made him sound like a child who had just discovered a new toy.
“I think we just caught a big fish.”
“Alectos just captured one alive.”