A Demon's Journey

When he heard Gilberd dismiss Noah's skills, Roman became annoyed. Roman had made a pact with Noah. Gilberd appeared to be mocking Noah's abilities, which in turn suggested that he was also mocking Roman.

Roman scoffed in return, "Yeah, he can fight decently with the sword. I mean, the world is overloading with swordsmen who can utilize a Sword Domain. What about you, brother Gilberd? I heard you are rather proficient in fighting with a Spear. Are you any closer to gaining an insight into the Spear Domain?"

The sarcasm was clearly obvious. Gilberd's face became cold as he gazed at Sophie and Alby, who had covered their mouths to conceal their laughter. He stared right back at Roman and noticed Roman gazing at him with a cold look in his eyes.

Before Gilberd could even state anything, Roman added, "Before making fun of your opponent, take a look at yourself. He is merely a child. I would say he isn't any older than 12-year-old. And he has managed to earn a draw against me in our battle. I wonder how strong you were when you were 12-year-old, senior brother Gilberd."

Gilberd remained silent for a few seconds before speaking with a smile, "It was just a little joke, junior brother. You don't need to be so serious."

"It's fine if it was a joke. But I won't tolerate any disrespect to my opponent. Do not insult him by calling him weak. I wouldn't have urged you to come if the situation wasn't urgent," Roman spat out.

Before leaving, Roman stared at Gilberd through the corner of his eyes and spoke, "A guard will come and escort you to your cabin. Also, I am still the commanding general of this expedition. You will need to ensure that you follow the orders. Or else, you can return."

Gilberd noticed that Roman was quite serious. With a solemn expression, he responded, "I will naturally obey the orders of the Commanding General."

Roman faintly nodded upon hearing that tone and returned to his cabin. He was planning to run some more simulations and perfect his plan.

On the very same day, he sent an order to one of his commanding generals, "Commander Celan, gather all the soldiers at the 1 Star Rank and attack the northern outpost of the Glerian Kingdom's camp!"

Commander Celan received many explosive talismans from Roman. The chaotic power of Fire and Lightning was instilled into these exploding talismans! When they were detonated, they would trigger a massive blast that would rupture the soil and obliterate the metals.

"Begin the battle with these exploding talismans. However, use them consecutively. Two at the same time so that the enemy won't be able to focus on anything but these explosions. Allow a few of them to escape and then immediately advance into the Glerian Kingdom's territory!" Roman finished giving his instructions.

Commander Celan had a puzzled expression on his face. He asked Roman, "What good would it do to alert our adversary ahead of time? We are planning a large-scale attack on our adversary's camp. If they know we're planning an ambush, they'll set traps for us."

Roman had a smile on his face, "There is only so much a single Commanding General can handle at one time. When he hears that we have attacked the Northern Outpost with explosive talismans accompanied by a large number of warriors, he is bound to send a few teams to scout your force. At that time, you and your soldiers will wear those disguised vests that will automatically release the fake aura we will prepare from our veteran and strong forces."

"Once the Commanding General realizes that we are advancing into the Glerian Kingdom's territory and quite near to some of its villages, it's bound to send his forces after your contingent. It will be a strong force. If you are unlucky, those forces might include those pesky Heretical Paladins."

"After these forces have left their camp and are some distance away, our real forces will quickly assault the enemy's camp. We will strike their camp where their force is the least concentrated, the Western Side of the Camp!" Roman informed Commander Celan.

Commander Celan seemed convinced with that explanation. Roman remained silent for a few seconds before he stated, "Commander Celan, you will be in grave danger. Even in the best-case scenario, you will be forced to fight the Glerian Kingdom's finest soldiers. If you are lucky, you and a chosen few could escape with their lives intact, but in every other situation, you will all die."

Roman paused for a few seconds and inquired Commander Celan, "Are you still as determined to carry out this mission, Commander?"

"Haha. Commander Roman, you look down on me. I completely grasp the idea that in order to be triumphant in great battles, you must be willing to make enormous sacrifices. I guarantee you that I will offer my life to ensure that my assignment is accomplished flawlessly!" Commander Celan promised with a solemn expression on his face.

Roman nodded his head, "Very well. I am pleased to see your resolve. I assure you that your sacrifice will not be in vain! The tales of your bravery will be sung by bards and poets for generations to come!"

Commander Celan became a little emotional as he heard those statements and spoke, "There is no greater honor than to die in the battle. I wish to talk to my family one last time."

"Very well," Roman spoke. He then quickly added, "However, it will occur in my presence. You should understand that I cannot take any risks. Currently, you are the only one who knows of my plan."

"I perfectly understand, Commander Roman," Commander Celan spoke with a pleased smile on his face. He was happy that Roman trusted him enough to confide him with his plan.

In the meantime, Sophie and Alby's teams were working on talismans and pellets that could disguise an individual's aura and make it appear much stronger. Fortunately, with the resources available, this task was quite easy. It was just that the number of talismans and the pellets they required were quite numerous.

Roman had, of course, given Sophie and Alby a general outline of his plan. Their teams had been working constantly over the last three days. It would take them another day to complete the task they were given.

And after welcoming Gilberd, Sophie and Alby returned to their respective workstations and continued their work. In the meantime, Gilberd was roaming around in the camp, observing it carefully.

He didn't immediately enter Sophie's workshop as he knew that if he disturbed her now, Roman would come to her defense. It would be a bad decision to provoke Roman at this moment.

If Roman became truly furious with Gilberd, he could order Gilberd to return to the city. Even though Gilberd was a strong 5 Star Warrior if Roman ordered Gilberd to return and he resisted that order then Roman could ask Sophie's guards to deal with him.

At that moment, Roman's authority would outstrip Gilbert's authority even though Gilbert held the command token of the Captain of the Royal Guards.

The guards' primary job was to keep Sophie safe. The camp's security was their secondary priority. They were, after all, Sinyalian Kingdom soldiers. If Gilberd refused to obey Roman's commands and started causing havoc in the camp, these guards would assault him to maintain the peace.

The multiple problems made Gilberd's headache. He felt like he was treading on a narrow path, and if he was careless, he'd be left with nowhere to go. He had to keep all these complications in his mind and move towards his objective.

Moreover, Gilberd did have something to do within this camp. He decided to prepare his escape route while Sophie was drawing the talismans.

Gilberd's preparations included creating a few traps along the way for those who would immediately come to catch him. He knew that the ones who would be truly troublesome to deal with would be the 5 Star Warriors flying towards him.

A 5 Star Warrior's ability to fly was a great boon to him, but a curse for his adversaries. This was because escaping from a 5 Star Warrior would become extremely challenging.

However, Gilberd had been prepared to deal with such a situation and had brought multiple gravitational talismans. He bought so many of them under the guise that he planned to use them for training.

It wasn't strange for a warrior to use these gravitational talismans for training. Thus, the array association didn't think much and provided him with these talismans. They had no idea of the wicked plan in Gilberd's mind.

Gilberd knew that he could stack on the effects of these gravitational talismans if used over one another. Thus, he planned to create a field with a strong gravitational area and activate it after he has just flown past that area.

Thus, all his pursuers would be immediately attracted to the ground. The gravitational pull would be so strong that even if they were 5 Star Warriors, they would find it hard to move. Let alone fly or run.

Thus, Gilberd could use that time to widen the gap between them. After that, pursuing him for any 5 Star Warrior would be absolutely impossible.. In fact, if the distance was wide enough, even a 6 Star Warrior wouldn't be able to pursue Gilberd.