"Now I understand why General Phobus lost his campaign," General Revon's second in command, Ronan, said with annoyance. "If not for the fact that we made preparations beforehand, we could have greatly suffered under that Necromancer brat's hands."
"To think that a mere Grade A Apostle can threaten my entire army," General Revon chuckled. "Now I understand why Carran hates Necromancers."
bGeneral Carran of the Yelan Army had told Lux that he hated Necromancers when they met. Even so, knowing that the teenager was responsible for reversing the tide in the Marshlands, he decided to allow him to join his campaign, as long as the Half-Elf didn't get in his way.
Fortunately, he did just that and Lux managed to help repel the Ammarian Army, whose number of soldiers surpassed the defenders of the Yelan Army.
"We need to take him out as soon as possible, or else, we will have a hard time reclaiming our lands. Our soldiers were already traumatized by today's battle, and we can't let it worsen," Ronan stated before shifting his attention to the blonde-haired teenager, who told them that he had a way of knowing the Half-Elf's exact location, allowing them to send assassins to kill him.
If not for the fact that Jasper had introduced himself as one of the members of Lux's Mercenary Group, the two high-ranking officers wouldn't have even bothered to listen to him.
"Yes," Jasper replied. "One of my members has a peculiar ability that allows her to send messages to a specific person, as long as she has an item that her target has used in the past."
The blonde-teenager didn't mention the fact that he utilized that ability to contact Lux in an attempt to switch sides to the Yelan Army.
Using the Half-Elf's handwritten letter as a medium to send messages to him, Jasper would be able to ask Lux to meet him in a place away from the eyes of the Yelan Army.
"Are you sure that he will meet up with you if you send him a message?" Ronan asked.
He was quite doubtful that Jasper would be able to succeed in luring the Half-Elf away from the Yelan Camp so easily.
"As long as the possibility exists, it's worth a try," Jasper replied. "Besides, we won't lose anything by trying."
What he wanted right now was to distinguish himself to General Revon, so that he could gain some influence and possibly trigger better rewards if they happen to win against General Carran and the Yelan Army.
General Revon rubbed his chin as he looked at Jasper's confident expression.
"Very well. Let's try it," General Revon stated. "Once we successfully kill the Necromancer, I promise to reward you generously for your contribution in this war."
Jasper smiled. "I will do my best to convince him. Once I get his reply, I will report back to you, General Revon, so we can plan his death."
General Revon nodded, and Jasper bade his farewell. Since the General of the Ammarian Army had decided to work with him to kill Lux, the only thing he should worry about was whether the Half-Elf would accept his invitation or not.
—---------
Inside the Yelan Camp…
Lux had almost recovered from his Mana Exhaustion and was looking a lot better compared to how he looked an hour ago.
Eiko, on the other hand, was sleeping peacefully on top of his head. Even though she had already drunk mana potions, the Baby Slime was still exhausted, so she decided to sleep to recover her strength.
Currently, Lux was in a meeting with his team members and discussing their next course of action when, suddenly, the Half-Elf heard the voice of a girl inside his head.
"Sir Lux, can you hear me?"
Lux immediately thought that he was just tired and hearing things. But after hearing the same thing for the third time, he finally understood that someone was talking to him through telepathy.
The Half-Elf then raised his right hand to catch the attention of his team members before placing a finger over his lips, telling them to stop talking.
When everyone inside his tent quieted down, the Half-Elf replied to the one talking to him using his thoughts.
"Who are you?" Lux asked.
"Finally, I am able to talk to you, Sir Lux," the voice of a girl replied with relief. "My name is Jenna, and I am one of the representatives of the Xynnar War Pact."
"Okay." Lux frowned. "What do you want?"
"Sir Lux, there is an important matter that our leader, Jasper, wants to talk to you about," Jenna replied. "I know that you said that the next time that we meet, we will be enemies, but our leader wants you to hear him out one last time. He said that if you come, he will find a way to convince the higher-ups of the Xynnar War Pact to allow you to explore the Kingdoms that belonged to our Alliance.
"Also, he will ensure that the members of the Wildgarde Stronghold will gain special privileges, like access to Dungeons regulated by the Kingdoms belonging to the Xynnar War Pact."
Lux didn't reply right away and weighed the pros and cons of Jasper's proposal. After thinking for a few minutes, he agreed to meet up with the blonde-haired teenager in the same place where they had met last time.
"Thank you, Sir Lux." Jenna's voice that was filled with respect and admiration reached his ears. "Our Guildmaster will meet up with you an hour before sunset."
After Jenna finished her message, the Half-Elf decided to tell his team members exactly what had just transpired between him and Jenna, who was part of Jasper's Faction.
"This smells like a trap," Cai replied. "Jasper asking you to meet with him just hours after our skirmish with the Ammarian Army has ended is very fishy."
"I know a little about Jasper," Henrietta commented. "And what I can say about him is that aside from his fighting ability, he is also a shrewd Guildmaster. Just like Cai mentioned earlier, this smells like a trap. I'm guessing that they want to catch you alone or eliminate you because of what happened earlier."
"I agree with Henrietta." Malcolm nodded. "After witnessing your abilities, I'm sure that the higher ups of the Ammarian Army want to kill you badly. It's highly possible that they will lay an ambush for you. Also, I wouldn't be surprised if they send Rankers to deal with you this time. As long as you die, they will be able to overrun this camp without problems."
Now that he and Lux were in the same boat, Malcolm no longer held back and finally recognized the Half-Elf as his team leader for the duration of the mission.
Since he and the others could no longer switch sides, he needed the Half-Elf alive in order to have a higher chance of being able to clear the dungeon.
Keane, Einar, Val, and Xander had similar opinions, and they urged Lux to not honor his agreement with Jasper, who was currently leading the remnants of the other factions that survived their previous battle.
"I also feel that this is a trap," Lux stated. "But, this can also be an opportunity. I may not get this chance again, so it will be best to just meet with Jasper one last time."
Since the Half-Elf assured everyone to leave everything to him, they no longer insisted on letting Jasper wait forever at the meeting place that he, and Lux, had agreed to meet, an hour before the sun set.
