I Can Copy And Evolve Talents

Chapter 1391  Unbelievable Truth

The atmosphere of the canyon was gloomy and silent despite the fact that it was barely mid morning. Towering red tents spread across the plain like a pool of ichor from the canyon itself.

Soldiers moved with practiced efficiency, but their gazes were crestfallen, their shoulders heavy. They carried wounded souls beneath their armor. Granted, many that were here were none of the ones that had set out to conquer the little nation.

They were supposed to be reinforcements... not the kind that came to replace tired soldiers. Their work was supposed to be to enter into Ryugan and take the city down finally after the first Nightblood had taken down the gate.

Granted, even they did not know that the Commander General of this operation had snuck forces into Ryugan from their blindspot.

And all of those endeavors that guaranteed impregnable victory had ended in devastating loss. The heaviest part of it all was that three important people had been lost in this battle.

The Fourth Legionʼs assistant captain, the Seventh Legionʼs captain and assistant captain. All three had been fiercely strong soldiers of the Empire, Human Resources that replaced a thousand mundane soldiers each, especially the Captain of the Nightblood.

He replaced over ten thousand soldiers alone.

And he was dead… just like that.

In the central tent, the largest pool of blood in the canyon, Colak was on his knees. His hands were planted on the ground in front of him, fingers splayed and trembling, and his face had gone the color of old ash. Sweat still rolled down his neck despite the cold. He had been speaking for some time now, his voice hoarse, cracking in places where the words caught on something he could not fully describe.

Pyrrhus and the two men behind him listened in silence.

Where was that man amassing such a number of monsters? If such a force was unleashed upon the Empire… no. That aside, how in the world did he have the resources to gather monsters of that caliber? Just how powerful was he to be able to lure them, how was he even achieving it?

Has he been gathering that army to destroy the Empire? If so, for how long had that person been preparing for a time like this?

The Empire had curated the perfect trap for the Central Plains to fall into, one that would make it easy for them to dominate the rest of the nations and merge them into one large colony. But now, Colak couldnʼt be sure anymore.

He found himself wondering if the Central Plains had truly fallen into the Empireʼs trap, or if it was the Empire that had fallen into one manʼs.

He tried his very best to relay the power of this man to Commander Pyrrhus, insisting that Zebelonʼs death had to have been tied to him. He didnʼt come back with any of his soldiers because all of them had been wiped out. Every single one of them without fail. And the man had allowed him to go in order to come and inform them of what they were coming to meet.

Colak wanted to make sure he did his job to the very letter, but no matter how devastating he painted this personʼs power to be, all that Pyrrhus could see was someone that was broken and shattered by fear. A man on his knees, drenched in sweat, unable to stop his own hands from shaking. The Commander couldnʼt trust words spoken out of fear.

Even though Pyrrhus knew how talented Colak was, a Legion Captain after all, he was still looking at him with a dark and disappointed gaze.

Colak stayed there on the floor, leaning on his hands and still perspiring. He had run all the way here because even his horse had been frozen to death, and though he had arrived long ago, he still couldnʼt make his panting heart and breathless pace stop.

There was silence in the central tent.

Then the man in ragged clothes stood up.

”If itʼs true what Captain Colak has said, then wouldnʼt this mean that Ryuganʼs power revolves around this person?”

Pyrrhus turned and glanced at him. The man walked forward until he was standing beside the Commander, looking down at Colak with a cocky expression etched with a small condescending grin.

Colak did not care. He was still shaking, too stabbed and mangled by the fear of that atrocious person to care about what anyone thought of him right now.

Pyrrhus straightened and folded his arms.

He was conflicted. He had fought alongside Colak for a few years, and had every reason to suspect that there was a fragment of incredible truth to what the Captain was saying. But alternatively, he wanted to believe Colak had been victimized by a mental attack.

ʼAn army of monsters large enough to drown the Empire is impossible. Does he even know what he is saying?ʼ

There was no other reasonable explanation. Colak had to be under a mind hex.

He sighed, his gaze still fixed on the broken Captain as he addressed the man beside him.

”Are you sure you will be able to take care of it without being messy?”

The man scratched his rough beard beneath his chin and chuckled.

”I canʼt promise it wonʼt be messy.” He tilted his head, considering. ”Do choose one, Commander. The humiliation of being defeated by a small country perched on top of a mountain, or that of having to enlist the barbarian clan to finish what you started.”

Pyrrhus gave him a disgusted look.

”Each is a stain on my cloak of honor…”

He went silent and turned his eyes forward. Not exactly toward Colak, but beyond him, beyond the curtain even, as if he was looking at Ryugan directly.

”But youʼre right… I do have to choose one. So, Iʼll let you go.”

The manʼs mouth spread wide. He was calm, his grin almost gentle, and that was what made him fearsome. The ease around him was unnerving.

The young man in silver armor and blue cape stepped forward.

”Lord Pyrrhus, allow me to accompany him… I can restrain him if he goes off course.”

Pyrrhus looked at Adelaide for a moment. His personal guard from a very young age, the one soldier he trusted without question. He felt slightly reluctant, but still trusted in Adelaideʼs skills.

He nodded.

”Okay…”

His gaze hardened as it swept over both of them.

”Both of you, do not disappoint me.”