The next day, the small team that Leo sent made their way to the spot that he had commanded them to reach. Once they got to that point, they set up the array.
In a few seconds, the empty space was filled up by an entire army. Loud noises resounded through the battlefield, letting anyone nearby know that there was a force there.
Around a hundred miles away from that spot, the army of the Bandit King also departed. Dmitri and the Bandit King were in the middle while the Spade Queen was in the back. With them were 150000 soldiers.
The sea of soldiers was making their way to the entrance of the gorge that would lead to the Blood God. The spirits of the soldiers were very high since they had won a battle just a few days ago.
"How hard do you think dealing with the Blood God will be with just the two of us?" The Bandit King asked Dmitri.
"It is foolish to attack him without your full strength. But you are in luck. He only has two 7th Circle Aura Knights under him. The third died in the previous battle. This was covered up by the army to let people think they are stronger than they actually are.
If the two 7th Circle Aura Knights here can take for of them, then both of us will be able to attack the Blood God by ourselves without any interruption. I am a Middle-Stage 8th Circle Aura Knight like you. So is the Blood God."
"Then why were you always suppressed by him if you are as strong as him?"
"Do not think that we are on the same level as him. He is definitely strong enough to defeat me by himself if I don't have any support. The years of killing people made him exceptionally strong," Dmitri said while frowning. He was trying to give as less information about his superior as possible, but the questioning made him feel uncomfortable.
"I only hope you won't be having second thoughts while facing your old companion," the Bandit King said to Dmitri while smiling.
His remark was met with a cold emotionless stare. The sadism before was gone and the face of an emotionless killer emerged.
"We should get ready to enter the gorge," he responded.
"Not yet. We need to have confirmation that the army of the Blood God is there. Who knows if his plans changed once he found out that you are no longer on his side?"
Back at the camp of the Heart Alliance, the Fire King and Fire Queen were resting in the commander's tent. Both of them were seemingly unconcerned about the future battle.
"Are you sure that we won't be hurt by refusing to participate?" The Fire Queen asked her husband.
"Yes, I am sure. It is too risky to do this. I think that the betrayal of the Death Bringer is incredibly suspicious and well-timed. But this is also good for us."
"How so?"
"If the two parties take care of themselves, then we will be on top. I already had a few talks with the Elementals before."
"Why haven't we joined them from the start? The Elementals are kingdoms like us that we had a good relationship with for years. We don't have as many disputes on resources since we only have eyes on a single element. Why did we need to join the Bandit King and his mistress?" The Fire Queen asked with a frown.
"Because I need to be on the winning side. We don't want to face the Bandit King - he is far more powerful than you think. The reason he is called that and not the king of the Maldine Kingdom he rules is because of the fortune he amassed.
The treasures he stole are what make him more powerful than me. The only person who can single-handedly take him on is the Blood God. That is why we decided to target him first. However, once both of those are wiped out, then I can join the elementals and show them what I did for them," he said.
As he was talking, the tent opened and a guard came in with a sweaty expression.
"I greet the Respected Fire King and Queen," he kneeled and waited for them to respond.
"You may rise. What do you have for us?" The Fire Queen asked him.
"I am here to report that the reconnaissance team of the Blood God was spotted a few miles from the camp. They just crossed the mountain hiding their appearance. They noticed that they were in our line of sight so they backed away, but a guard with good eyes caught that short glimpse," he said.
"Are you sure it is them?"
"We sent out a few scouts in that direction to find out. They have the fastest and stealthiest Aura Beasts so they won't be caught. We will be getting confirmation within 3 hours," he said.
"How long since the previous army left?" She turned to her husband and asked him.
"Just over an hour. They will still take two hours to get there, so we have time. We can wait till we get confirmation from them," he said.
"Come back once you have confirmation whether or not the army is them," she said to the guard.
"Of course. Thank you for gracing my presence," he said and left the tent.
"What if it isn't them?" The Fire Queen asked him. "It is a very short time frame and they shouldn't be able to get there in such little time."
"The difference between us and them is that every one of their soldiers is considered an elite. The minimum requirement to be a foot soldier is to be a 4th Circle Aura Knight. It isn't surprising that they were able to get there.
Surprisingly, they stuck with their original plan. That means that the Blood God might have planned for an all-out brawl. And if it isn't them, we will tackle the problem then," he said.
Two hours later, the army finally reached the entrance to the gorge. When they got there, they looked at the area they were going to cross.
It was an extremely narrow opening fitting 20 men at once. So they started re-ordering themselves into files of fifteen. As they were doing that, Dmitri and the Bandit King were having a conversation about the ravine.
"The walls seem to be 3500 meters tall. Since the mountain is too steep on the other side and a cliff on this one, we will have to pass through the gorge as you said," he sighed.
"Fine, I will just let the soldiers rest while you sulk away in your own company."
He went out and allowed the soldiers to rest on the ground. The wait was very long - around 10 hours according to his estimate. After all, there was so much ground for the other army to cover as well.
And on top of that, their scouts needed to spot the army too. This would be hard to finish in under 10 hours. Two hours passed in a flash when his leisureliness was interrupted by the buzzing of his receiving crystal.
"They are here as told. Proceed."
