After following the unknown intruder for more than four hours, they lost track of him in the wilderness. The leading knight then decided to return instead of trying to pursue the intruder. It was already late at night, and the more powerful beasts were active then. Unless the intruder had the ability to fight that kind of beast, it was impossible for him to survive.
As for the knights, they were Armakeans. They might have the ability to communicate with the beasts and even tame them, but nocturnal feral beasts had the tendency to be unreasonable. Thus, they might end up getting in trouble as well.
Though it was a shame to return without learning much about the intruder, the knights had another mission to attend in less than 14 hours, so it was best to prepare for that.
In any case, they would need to return to camp for at least three hours.
The knights patrolling the camp's periphery had already changed shifts by the time the ones who chased after the intruder returned. This meant fewer knights were staying inside the camp.
The leading knight, Doron, told the other knights to rest while he reported to the prince.
Upon arriving at the Prince's tent, he noticed the lights were still on at the left— his right— and knew the Prince was still awake.
This made Doron frown because he did not see the two knights guarding in front of the Prince's tent.
'Anan and Tamir should be the ones on shift at this time. Where did they go?'
Doron's complexion paled as a disturbing thought crossed his mind.
'Don't tell me the intruder just now is a decoy!'
Doron did not bother to announce his arrival and entered the tent post haste. If someone came after the Prince and were still inside the tent, it would put the Prince's life at risk if he made a noise.
But as soon as he entered, he paused and blinked as he saw the Prince sitting on a chair in the receiving room.
"Prince Achim."
Achim raised his brows as he looked at Doron.
"What's with that look? You look like you have seen a ghost?"
Doron straightened at once, walked to the middle of the room, and knelt before Achim, "Please pardon my unannounced intrusion, Your Highness. I did not see Anan and Tamir and feared something must have happened to you."
"I told them to rest. There are only about ten hours before we meet with Captain Hohen's group, after all," Achim replied matter-of-factly. He paused, then added with a slight smile, "Or what? Do you not trust your fellow knights to protect me inside my own camp?"
Doron lowered his head and replied, "I did not mean to doubt them, Your Highness. I just... the truth, I came here to report an intruder. We chased after him but lost him just as soon as he entered the wilderness. When I did not see Anan and Tamir, I concluded that the intruder was only a decoy to lead a few of us away so they could enter the camp and do you harm."
"An intruder?" Achim frowned after hearing this. "Did you learn anything while chasing him?"
Doron looked at him and nodded, "Only a few, unfortunately. He had a peculiar movement technique as he moved around the darkness. There were several times we almost lost him because of this. He was more than two meters tall and possessed a huge frame. Judging from how he carried himself and possessed a strange movement, we gleaned he was someone from Howling Pass. Unfortunately, we failed to determine who he was working with."
"You already assumed he is working for someone because he came from Howling Pass?"
Doron realized his mistake and lowered his head at once.
Like what Achim implied, the intruder coming from Howling Pass did not necessarily mean he came there under someone else's instructions. There was also a possibility that the intruder came there on his own accord. It could also mean that he was about to return from another mission and just happened to see their camp. Being someone from Howling Pass, he wanted to check why they were there, but alas, the knights saw him, and he had to flee. Another possibility was that someone with powerful connections living in Howling Pass got wind of Achim's excursion to the border of Armakea and had one of his people check on them.
"Apologies for lacking insight, Your Highness."
"That's enough," Achim said with a slight sigh. He leaned on his chair and closed his eyes, "All of you made the right choice of returning. Only a few hours are left before we meet with Captain Hohen's group. Go rest and be ready to leave at any time."
Doron stood straight and curtsied, lowering his body slightly, "Yes, Your Highness—."
He stopped abruptly as he noticed Achim's somewhat pale complexion. There were even beads of sweat trickling down the side of his face.
"Your Highness, are you alright? You don't look well..."
"This is nothing," Achim replied, waving his hand uncaring and looking at Doron. "Go."
"Y-Yes."
Though reluctant, Doron turned and left the tent.
After about a minute after Doron left, Achim let out a shaky breath as he rested his head on the chair's top rail.
"That was close," Achim muttered.
From the conference room, Jita went out and respectfully lowered her head toward him, "Master. It is risky using your ability to absorb the rest of the knights."
Achim straightened and looked at Jita.
"Anan and Tamir was it? I knocked them out like Eikin and had them stay in the Void World. If I did not absorb them soon, they might wake up. Though they would not pose any threat while they were inside there, the room I sent them had rich Void energy. I'm unsure if they will remain alright after staying inside for several hours."
The room he took the three was different from where the old man stayed. Thus, the risk of being infected by Void Energy was higher.
The Achim that Doron met was none other than Kyran, posing as the Prince. As for the real one, Kyran could not summon him yet. It was also the same with Haji.
Kyran guessed that it had something to do with the nature of their magic and Divine Armament. It should be noted that all living he absorbed got their magic's nature altered with Void magic.
It was easy to alter Bas, Iss, and Gael's magic nature because they had similarities to Void's nature. They also possessed magic cores.
But it was different with Achim, Haji, and Jita. Their magic nature differed from the Void, and instead of a magic core, they had Divine Armaments that Kyran was unfamiliar with. In any case, Jita was the only one he could summon among the three.
Kyran summoned Jita and had her stand guard while he absorbed Anan, Eikin, and Tamir.
After absorbing them, Kyran had to go through another excruciating experience. Not long after absorbing them, Jita warned that a knight was approaching the Prince's tent.
Having too few options to overcome the situation, Kyran ultimately decided to pose as Achim. He adjusted the face-altering mask to that of Achim's and borrowed his clothes. Fortunately, they had the same build, preventing any keen-eyed knight from noticing anything.
At least, Doron was convinced that Kyran was Achim just now.
Jita looked at Kyran in concern and still insisted, "Be that as it may, absorbing any more will put a lot of strain on your magic core."
"Don't worry," Kyran told her with a slight smile. "I'll stop. You six are enough for now."
Jita approached him and knelt on one knee. She said, "Please command us as you see fit, master."
"Before that, fill me in on the situation of Armakea. I had Gael gather information, but there are still several things I don't understand."
"Then, I will share everything I know."
For the next hour or two, Kyran listened to Jita explain the situation in Armakea.
As Kyran guessed, the King of Armakea, Achim's uncle, had fallen ill. Unfortunately, they had no healers, and those who knew Apothecary could not produce a medicine or a solution to heal him.
Achim, though a Prince, was not the one next in line and was ordered, along with his sister and the rest of the younger Royal Family members, to find a way to secure an Eidum. And the reward for success was becoming the King's heir.
Apparently, the current King and the Queen could not produce an heir. However, the King did not want his brother, Achim's father, to ascend the throne because he had no ambition and even proposed stopping their conquest.
The current King favored Achim but could not decree him as his heir without a valid reason. Thus, the plan to find a cure for his illness came to be.
In any case, the other members of the Royal Family, eyeing the throne, focused on abducting a powerful Eidum to heal the King. But Achim was not interested in those low lives, but the Saint.
Thus, Achim conspired with the Commander and the Captain of the borders and plotted a way to abduct the Saint.
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