Aron sent a coded message informing Mannick of their arrival. When they arrived, the latter was already waiting outside the Regis Estate's Inner Wall gates.
"They are currently within five hundred meters from the estate's outer walls," Mannick informed Aron, the Regis elders, and the other leading officers upon their arrival. "But they have not sent any scouts and remain on standby."
They entered a tent they had used earlier and opened up a projection of the Regis Estate's map, including its surroundings.
The map was similar to the one the Conclave had. But this was because both were made by Kyran.
This map was one of the things Kyran sent to Aron, along with the corrupted message.
Aron and the rest immediately saw the location where the Crown Princess's army was waiting. They also saw several smaller groups of red dots in different locations.
"These people…" Aron started.
Mannick looked at the smaller groups of red dots with a bitter smile and said, "I already checked on them. They belong to either small or medium factions and are observing the situation."
With all the movements made by the noble families under the Crown Princess, it was impossible for the rest of the factions not to take notice.
Apart from this, the situation that started from Noser took them all by surprise, and more incidents happened one after another.
From all these events, it was obvious something major was happening behind the scenes— a situation involving every major faction of the empire.
Depending on how the situation develops, every faction in the empire would be affected, and soon they would have to choose who to side with.
Currently, most of them believed the Royal Family had a better chance of prevailing since they were the ones who made the first move. They were also the rulers of the empire, and it would be impossible to win over them completely.
Nevertheless, a few felt something— or someone— bigger than the Royal Family was involved in all of this and believed it was too soon to make a conclusion.
"Regardless of who they are, we can't ignore them completely," Aron said with a thoughtful expression. "They might become troublesome once their leaders make a choice."
Others might not understand what Aron meant, but all of them did.
If the leaders of these factions chose to side with the Royal Family, they would be at a disadvantage. It was not about being outnumbered but about how they had to deal with them without killing.
Although the Crown Princess could not utilize her magic fully, their intel was outdated. A few days had passed since the time they had last confirmed her state, and she might have already regained more, if not all, of what she could do.
"Should we send a squad to inform them of the situation?" Arabella asked Aron.
"Arabella's right," Greer also agreed while looking at the projection. "Letting them know of the situation can minimize the chance of these factions from joining the fray. They do not know what is really happening and might end up as unnecessary casualties if they join the battle prematurely."
"True," Aron nodded. "However, what can we tell them? We cannot say anything that will reveal Kyran's magic. It will backfire on us."
"That's..."
The two shifted in their seat uneasily. They did not intend to remind them of how delicate Kyran's current identity was to the empire.
"Send a message instead," Aron continued. "Tell them to make a wise decision. Else, if they target any of our members, we will view them as hostiles."
Mannick could not help but look at Aron with a wry smile. He witnessed how the Regis Family entered seclusion and slowly faded into the background. But from his original self's memories, he knew how ruthless the Regis Family was during the Chaos Era.
Aron's 'message' could still be considered a soft move because if it had been Zane— he would not bother sending a message. Any signs of hostility toward the Regis Family would be dealt with no further questions.
"Yes, Patriarch," Arabella and Greer replied, immediately sending word to the Regis Special Force waiting outside.
Aron then continued giving out orders.
"Eleanor, establish a secured communication channel for our side."
"Yes, Patriarch."
"Abe, Zeniff, Greer, I'll leave the planning to you three."
"Alright."
"Rest assured."
"Don't worry."
"Arabella, make sure to dispatch the right people based on their plan."
"Yes, Patriarch."
"Jared will be here to oversee the rest while I check on Kyran."
"W-What?" Jared almost fell off his chair as he gaped at Aron. "C-Can't I go check on him instead?"
Aron looked at him and said, "You know very well how strict the rules are inside the Regis Terram. Although every Regis member who received a drop of the Great Dragon's blood can enter that place, moving around will be difficult."
Jared could only sigh in defeat.
"Communication is impossible in that place. Thus, I'll leave the decision-making to you while I'm gone."
"I'm afraid of that part..." Jared replied.
But Aron only smiled at him, "I trust your judgment."
After that, Aron left, and the rest went about their tasks.
On the other hand, Mannick and some of the members of the Regis Special Force kept an eye on the enemies movements.
*
Layla had grown tired of waiting for news of Fye's whereabouts. Since she did not know where Ruin was, she decided not to rely on him.
Osric told him that Light, one of the factions who reached out to Haylee, had already descended. However, he did not know what had happened to him because Kyran had warped them in different places.
Layla guessed that Kyran defeated Light and forced the latter to escape. Initially, she thought that the burst of magic energy from the hole was due to Light escaping from the Human plane. But thinking about it now, the shockwave came from outside, not inside. Meaning the shockwave originated from another mage.
A mage who was outside the plane.
Layla knew from Haylee's memories that three Sovereigns wanted to enter the Human plane. But so far, only one had descended. If this was the case, someone else prevented them from entering.
Layla guessed it was Ruin.
Regardless of the truth, Layla did not dwell on it. She just had to find where that Light went. After that, she could have him destroy the barrier while she placed a mark on every normal member of the Regis Clan. Once she marked enough members, she would use them against the Regis Family and have them surrender.
At least, this was Layla's ideal plan. The Regis Family would definitely not let her get close to their normal members. After all, they knew that her mark would not work with them since they possessed the blood of the Dragon King. It was one of the reasons Layla could not control the Regis Family during the Chaos Era— with the other reasons being Zane keeping a close eye on her every move and Caelan finding ways to stop her from using her magic.
'But this time is different,' Layla thought as she looked at the middle-aged man beside her. 'Because this time, I have the Macabre Glacier.'
"How's the transportation of that thing?" She asked.
"The array is almost completed, your Highness."
Layla scowled at him, "You've said the same thing before leaving the villa."
"I'm sorry."
"Bring that thing here in half an hour."
"Yes, your Highness," the middle-aged man replied while lowering his head.
Without waiting to be dismissed, he straightened his back and turned to leave.
Layla turned her attention up front. Although she could not see the Regis Estate's Outer Wall, she was obviously looking in that direction.
"Dispatch the scouts," she said to no one in particular.
The three mages who were close to where she was standing immediately knelt and replied, "As you command."
"Tell them also to get rid of all the people brazenly observing from the shadows."
"Yes, your Highness."
After the three mages left, a soldier from the Royal Army came running and knelt on one knee.
"Your Highness, we have received a coded message from the Grand Marshal."
Layla raised her brows as she looked at the soldier, "Oh? That old man is still alive?"
The soldier was slightly distressed about how to respond, but Layla continued as if she did not make any remark, "What did he say?"
"Well... it is somewhat a little confusing. But in his message, he mentioned seeing the Emperor in Ravenpass."
"Ravenpass?" Layla repeated with a slight frown. She had no idea where that place was and why the Emperor would be there.
"That's right. But one of the confusing parts of the Grand Marshal's message is that... he did not see any soldiers with the Emperor; instead, there are quite a number of civilians there. And also..."
Layla glared at the soldier when he hesitated to continue, "Just tell me what it is."
"T-The Grand Marshal said the Emperor is with the Conclave's Head Master, Malek."
This 𝓬ontent is taken from fre𝒆webnove(l).𝐜𝐨𝗺