World Development System 188 119. Suspicions of Melanie.

There was a scramble at the borders of Dolores as mercenaries returned back with panic on their faces.

A lot of mercenaries were returning back after watching the dead bodies of Goldrush mercenaries near the borders of North-frontier city.

One of the guard at the Border of Dolores asked the Mercenaries, "Why are all of you running away like scared rabbits? Did you guys see a ghost?

The mercenary looked irritatingly at the guard, he was from a small organization heavily breathing as he spoke, "There are some men killing all the other mercenaries north of Dolores. Some men from Goldrush mercenaries claim that it was Count John's army who have started raiding. There is a demon named Everburning Anak leading an assault against mercenaries at the borders. He kills everyone and anyone who crosses his path, at least the mercenaries are not spared. He hasn't spared anyone till now apart from some men from Goldrush Mercenaries who escaped. All the mercenaries who clashed with him were killed brutally without a hint of mercy. That Anak is not a demon but he is surely a combination of a demon and a devil. That fucker didn't leave even a single mercenary alive. From what we know He is the commander of the land soldiers of the North-frontier city. He has the appearance of a devil who wears a masquerade mask which is black on one side and white on another side. There is already a pile of bodies near the North-frontier borders. Who knows if he is going to use those bodies for the sacrifice of souls."

The guard was quite shocked at the new developments however he shrugged his over-exaggerated Bullshit, He immediately got to the point and asked seriously, "What are their numbers?"

The mercenary sighed and spoke, "Not much, Around 1000 magic knights with Ballistas. A lot of our men didn't even have a full corpse because they were killed by the ballista. Some of the mercenaries even tried to regroup and fight them but were instead greeted with Big as well as mini-ballistas. That guy is a reincarnation of Dark God. We heard a lot of shockwaves in the forest today, I am sure a big battle took place over there. The Second biggest casualties were borne by Glorious explorers as Goldrushers immediately ran after hearing about their fate from their mates."

The guard immediately noted and decided to report the current news to his higher-ups.

"You don't need to worry. We will immediately report this to our lord."

In a matter of four hours, 19 companies of mercenaries were targeted at the south of North-frontier city. It was a total massacre of mercenaries which didn't leave a single man alive. of the 19 companies, 11 of them belonged to Goldrush mercenaries who were targetted by John and his men. John and his men targeted other mercenaries after the Goldrush mercenaries got the wind of their attacks and started running away in a bid to regroup and secure their lives.

One of the guys spoke to other commanders before they left for their base, "Leave, We can't fight them. Those guys have big numbers and they are also armed with ballistas. That Devil General didn't leave a single one of them alive. We barely escaped that massacre."

The other 4 companies of Goldrush immediately escaped after hearing about the fate of their colleagues.

Of the 19 groups, 3 groups belonged to Glorious explorers while the others were independent groups who had wanted a pie in North-frontier trade. While one Belonged to Barbarians.

One of the guys who saw the pile of bodies spoke, "I heard that Count has finally made his move today. Not a single survivor apart from those 3 guys. What do you take of this massacre?"

One of the heads of a small mercenary group spoke, "Nothing, well someone had to bear Count John's burnt after the recent announcement by the royal family. The most we can do is collaborate with as many guys as we can. I guess that new General is quite angry as he didn't leave a single of them alive."

The head laughed and spoke, "Maybe he lost someone at Greenwoods Village. Anyway, lets head back, I have a meeting with Joss. We are keeping a distance with Goldrushers for the moment."

There was a meeting taking place at certain headquarters in Dolores,

Joss, The head of Glorious explorers fumed to other mercenary heads as they didn't even pay attention, "Hey, this is serious. First, it was the Goldrush mercenaries. Next, it was us. Who knows next time it will be you guys. Aren't you guys even the least bit worried about the actions that were taken by that upstart?"

Liam smiled and spoke, "Well, Goldrushers had it coming after the previous incident, You see that count isn't some pushover as people think he is. At least not to mercenaries. That count is mostly pissed because Gold rush mercenaries directly affected the interests of Count John when they collaborated in the massacre of Greenwoods village. I am sure there will be more problems for him politically as I just recently saw a big Battalion of 20,000 Royal soldiers heading to Dolores or Gritos. As for joining you guys? I am out. I have my own ways to deal with that count or any other person who is in our way."

Liam thought after he heard about the incident, 'As I thought, That count is not a pushover, they certainly have a capable general who is leading them currently from the way he is targeting his enemies. it was good that I escaped earlier. I am sure the next guys he would target are ones who are funded by Radiant church.'

The head, Wilkins of The mercenary group Barbarians laughed and spoke, "Hmph, those Goldrushers are nobody, Just small brats who recently started joining our ranks. Do you think I don't know that both you and the Goldrush mercenaries are funded by Fjord? That Fjord certainly would favor a war here which would decrease the pressure at the seas he is facing currently. You guys simply want to have smaller losses by collaborating with others. Remember this, Barbarians will be the ones who will grab the most from North-frontier town whether it is wealth, technologies or people."

Barbarian was the 2nd biggest mercenary group. Wilkins was a big man with a height of 7 feet and bulgy muscles. He had a big mustache and used a mace. He was in full brown armor which was made by Royal Blacksmith for him.

The head, Sandro of The Barrenmakers mocked Joss and spoke smugly, "You heard him, right? As for taking precautions, Barrenmakers and Barbarians have already decided to collaborate from tomorrow onwards. Lets see how he deals with bigger armies. As for you guys, you can eat shit." he was the head of the third biggest mercenary group, Barrenmakers. Sandro was a lean mean who was proficient at poison and traps. The same was true for Barrenmakers which included all the types of unorthodox men.

Joss sighed and thought, 'It seems they have their internal problems as well from the way they are competing with Liam. This Liam is quite cunning to have already back-off to Gritos. It seems he already anticipated this attack. I guess I can't make them reconcile their differences and share the pie because of the competition. Just a dog eat dog world of mercenaries. I guess I should try banding other smaller groups and resist count John's army. Bells of war have already been rung. I guess the arrival of the Royal Army has improved their spirits.'

Wilkins and Sandro left laughing as they rejoiced the misfortune of Goldrush Mercenaries who were pounded just today.

****

Jim was furious as he read the report and took a look at the 3 deadbeat men who were barely able to escape the battlefield, He roared and asked his men in anger, "What the fuck happened? How did we lose 800+ men in a single day and why were only 3 of you able to escape? What happened to others? Was there a big army of 3000 men? Why wasn't I informed about this earlier? Which mercenaries have started to target us? I guess it might be Hell's playground who might have targeted us for grabbing up their areas."

One of the men from Goldrush mercenaries spoke at their base in North-west of Dolores, "No it was only small groups of 50-200 people, I think they had around 1000 men. It was count John's men. It was being headed by someone known as The Everburning Anak. One of the guys who escaped the first assault told us that their general is very powerful, he literally played with the commander when the battle was going on. From the looks of it, they are targeting us for our collaboration with Prince Hector in the incident related to Greenwoods Village. But the situation is serious, it seems they are even targetting our men inside the borders of Duke Norman and Baron Mendez. What do we do sir? We are only safe here as we fall under Prince Hector's region as he has the Ballistas."

Jim tossed a wine glass as he heard about John, "Fuck, it was that count again. And I was getting happy at the fact that the Royal army was arriving here. I even intended to greet General Irwin. Who the fuck is this guy called Anak, Why haven't I heard about him? I thought they were led by that hunter named Jay?"

Jim's subordinate spoke gravel, "I speculate that he is someone from the Ghost's division who has joined them recently after the previous attack. There are no previous records on this guy. And this is also the reason for the heavy military movement around their borders as they planned for this mission. All the mercenaries that he has targetted till now were all killed by him, only there 3 were able to escape in the first battle. The Glorious explorers too lost all of the 3 companies in the south together when they fought against them. Meanwhile, Hell's Playground hasn't even shown up at the southern borders. It looks like Liam predicted this sort of shit show."

Jim spoke gravely as he heard the report, "This Anak seems bad news to us, Only 3 guys being able to escape his first battle. What is his history? We need to talk with Glorious explorers. As for Liam, he can play sitting ducks all day around. Hmph... that guy most likely saved his ass along with the loot, he was the one who looted the most these few days. Come, lets meet Irwin for now. We will think of a strategy later on. Duke Fjord is anyway open to a collaboration with Prince Hector. Prince Hector wants the royal family to be involved which is good for both of us but for looting. Well, we can't have it both ways. We don't have to worry here since Prince Hector has Ballistas over here and more are incoming anyway."

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Vlad sighed as he looked at John leading his army back to the border. "It seems it has finally started. How do I ask him of such a request when he is leaving for such a mission."

Melanie asked him as she heard his defeated tone, "What's your problem? You are sighing for the whole damn day."

Vlad sighed and spoke, "Well, Duke Friedreich wants me to bring John to the Fire-abyss kingdom. He wants to meet him, he was quite surprised by John's courageous stance against the Aelius family and wanted to see him in person."

Melanie sensed crisis as soon as she heard Vlad, "Something is fishy, As far as I know, Friedreich, if he wants to meet him, he will come here without worrying about anything. Him inviting John via you doesn't add up. If it was a formal meeting he would have directly written a letter to John. From what I know, he only writes you letter when he wants you to do his dirty deeds."

She thought after hearing him, 'Maybe I would have to use my ultimate trick. Yes, I can't let my disciple go in the hands of that daughter loving guy over some petty morals. Yes, John will understand.'

Vlad too nodded and spoke, "Yes, I too felt something fishy about this. while Mistress Diana seemed quite happy after reading the letter. This was probably the first time I couldn't understand the context of the letter."

Melanie was alarmed and thought, 'Now I am sure. Friedreich is simply ashamed since he is targeting your Disciple. Now just wait for me to use my ultimate trick. If the rice is cooked no one can undo it. That Friedreich will become a big obstacle for me if I am not fast.'

Melanie replied with a smile, "Nah, you are overthinking. Well, what do you think will happen to John's army or those mercenaries?"

Vlad smiled and laughed, "A riot I guess. We don't need to worry about them. Those 20 Ghosts were personally trained by me when I was training Jake. Currently, John is simply a predator among a flock of sheep currently. Add to that those new armors and tools which have increased the chances of survival and intensity of attacks against their enemies so the result is a no brainer unless something major happens. Ohh yes, I forgot that he has also learned that monstrous ability. Space teleportation so I am not worried about him."

Melanie was surprised as she heard him, "Woah, seriously? Isn't it pretty hard to master it? I Heard that even the talented men took at least 15 years just to learn the basics of space teleportation."

Vlad smiled and spoke proudly of his choice, "Yes, well as I said, he is a monster and that is the reason why I chose him as my disciple. The Royal family would be raging right now if they knew about his personal strength and his domain's strength. It's good that not a lot of people know about his identity as Anak including my mistress."

Melanie thought about her previous encounter with Eva and Diana and asked him, "Speaking of your mistress, I think she is mingling a lot with my Granddaughter and those other brats."

Melanie thought, 'That demoness is surely trying butter up with me so that she grab my Disciple.'

Vlad furrowed his brows as he heard Melanie rebuking her mistress and spoke, "It's your grand-daughter and those brats who are trying to mingle a lot with my mistress, not the other way around. As far as I know, All of them recently started a new cloth designing shop together when John suddenly came up with new types of clothes as he was busy and wanted to make some decisions with Taylor and hence the reason for their recent mingling. Why do you seem irritated?"

Melanie thought with anger, 'Why won't I be irritated when she gets to close to my Disciple every day clinging to my grand-daughter.'

Melanie sighed and didn't bother to nag and asked an important question, "What about Grey? I haven't heard anything about him currently."

Vlad smiled gave a small hint, "He is currently handling the Ghosts in Aelius with Arlen as Jake is currently at Aurora. From the orders of Duke, we have currently decided to collaborate with Ghosts and hence Grey helping them out. As for Aurora Island, I am sure Ross is currently riding those new horses. I would like to visit there someday to ride those horses."

Melanie was now sure of something after she heard about the collaboration, 'Now I am sure that Friedreich is trying something fishy. From what I know, that guy isn't this generous unless it is for her daughter. I better act fast, while that cunning Lukav simply isn't responding to my letters these days anyway. I have to take the matters in my hands.'

Lukavv sneezed suddenly as he was handling some documents in the Western Imperial castle. "Who is remembering me suddenly. Must be that damned old man cursing me as always."

Chapter end