Chapter 138: Decisive Battle Canceled, Temporary Safety

Everything pointed to a single possibility: cooperation!

However, neither Ioneel nor the voice in the shadows wanted to be the one to initiate the offer, both preferring that the other buckle under the pressure of the current stalemate and propose it first.

Ioneel stared gloomily at the patch of shadow in the corner, his tone offering not the slightest concession. “You know where I am, right? I’ll be waiting for you to come kill me!”

Without waiting for a reply, he flicked a ball of golden light from his palm, thoroughly dispelling the shadows in the corner. Yet, after doing so, a rare hint of confusion seeped into Ioneel’s eyes.

“If only all enemies were as easy to eliminate as that patch of shadow!”

After his moment of reflection, Ioneel adjusted his mood and approached the stone pedestals he had inspected earlier, checking the condition of the Aberrant Beasts bound above them one by one.

With each inspection, the space between his brows would either relax or tighten, never fully smoothing out.

…

Meanwhile, on the other side.

After two days of intense pre-battle training, the curriculum for Ron and the other apprentices returned to normal. Ron felt a faint sense of unease, and a piece of news that arrived shortly after only amplified this feeling:

The territory might be putting the decisive battle against the cultists on hold, or rather, suspending the campaign against them entirely!

Ron privately discussed this with his friends in the Blood and Fire Squad. “The mobilization has already begun; they can’t just call a halt to something like this on a whim, can they?”

“I don’t know. It’s just a rumor for now, and there’s no official confirmation from the higher-ups. The way I see it, the battle is probably still on.”

“Hard to say. Maybe the territory investigated and found out the cultists have already left. Under those circumstances, there would naturally be no need to keep up the mobilization. Releasing the rumor now could just be preparing everyone for the official announcement later.”

Karel and the others made good points, but Ron already harbored suspicions about the Lord because of Morris’s death. The sudden news of the decisive battle’s cancellation made it impossible for him not to connect the dots.

However, Ron kept his suspicions to himself in front of Karel and the others, focusing even more intensely on his training. Currently, his Whole-Body Force progress had reached 87%, while his physical enhancement progress had hit 50% of Level 2!

Although the former percentage was higher than the latter, when it came to the speed of advancement, the latter progressed at a pace the former couldn’t even hope to match.

Ron wasn’t expecting to push his Whole-Body Force progress to one hundred percent in a short time, but his enhancement progress had a genuine chance of rapidly reaching Level 3, which was the Second Limit Breakthrough physique typically possessed only by Formal Knights.

This way, if he encountered danger, he could utilize his Secret Pattern Program to enter the Knight State, granting him near-complete Knight-level combat power.

Compared to an apprentice, the security provided by such strength was leaps and bounds ahead.

…

After training ended for the day, Ron uncharacteristically did not go home to practice on his own. Instead, he visited Captain Monte at the East Town Training Ground.

He hadn’t held out much hope initially; after all, while the territory’s various mobilization efforts were gradually ceasing, just as starting a mobilization took time, halting it completely couldn’t happen overnight either.

Ron had assumed Captain Monte would be incredibly busy, dealing with the aftermath of the mobilization, investigating the cultists’ movements in the field, or even undertaking secret missions to strike at the enemy.

Yet, when Ron arrived at the East Town Training Ground, Monte was engaged in a barehanded sparring match with his subordinates, looking thoroughly bored.

Seeing this, Ron immediately realized that the Formal Knights of the Territory Guard must have received explicit orders, or at the very least, they were certain there wouldn’t be a decisive battle anytime soon.

Otherwise, they absolutely wouldn’t be this leisurely.

“Captain Monte!”

“Oh? Ron’s here! Come on, let’s spar!”

Monte issued the invitation, and Ron didn’t refuse. He unclasped the longsword from his waist, took off his shirt, and walked toward Monte with a slightly arched posture.

When they were only a step apart, he suddenly struck, grabbing Monte’s forearm. Immediately, a massive force surged toward him, seemingly rising from the soles of his feet, threatening to launch him into the air.

“Hehe, Captain Monte, this trick won’t work on me anymore!”

Ron simply gave his arm a slight shake, effortlessly neutralizing the immense force that appeared to rise from the ground but was actually transmitted through Monte’s arm utilizing his Whole-Body Force state.

As he had said, this move used to be highly effective against him. Back then, he had been so obsessed with his Whole-Body Force progress that he would try to integrate his entire body’s strength in every single fight, leaving absolutely no room for retreat.

Against a vastly inferior enemy or someone who didn’t understand force manipulation, this would achieve the effect of brute force conquering all technique.

But against someone well-versed in force manipulation, the openings were simply too glaring.

Monte used his repeated “wipeouts” to guide Ron’s experience in allocating his force during execution, and Ron learned quickly. By now, he could easily counter Monte’s technique.

“That was just an appetizer! Again!”

The two then continued their Force-Sensing Sparring for about half an hour, right up until the sky gradually darkened. Only then did Monte finally let Ron off. While rolling his arm, which was sore and swollen from the excessive exertion of force, he asked Ron:

“You didn’t come looking for me just for Force-Sensing Sparring, did you? Tell me, what is it?”

“Uh…”

Ron didn’t feel embarrassed about having his true intentions laid bare; he just didn’t know where to begin. After a moment of thought, he decided to ask directly:

“Is it true that the territory is no longer going to continue eradicating the cultists?”

Ron deliberately phrased the question as an assumption to prevent Monte from dodging it, but upon hearing the question, Monte still hesitated.

Seeing Monte hesitate, Ron immediately pressed further. “Captain, is this something you can’t talk about?”

“It’s not that I can’t say it, but I just don’t know how to explain it properly.”

Monte sighed, gesturing for his companions to go on ahead. He and Ron lingered behind, making sure to avoid the other Knights who were also filing out, before whispering to Ron:

“Just last night, we received word that the decisive battle has been canceled. The higher-ups didn’t give a reason.”

“Have the cultists already left this area?” Ron asked.

“I can’t say that.”

The implication behind those words was obviously that the cultists hadn’t left at all! Ron wanted to ask more, but considering how tight-lipped Monte was being, he hesitated. Instead of pressing the direct question, he changed his angle:

“Is the territory safe right now?”

“It is definitely safe!” Monte answered without a hint of hesitation, declaring, “The Territory Guard swears to defend the territory to the death, protecting everyone within it!”

“That’s good to hear!”

Getting this answer brought Ron a measure of relief. Still, the dark clouds of suspicion surrounding Morris’s death loomed over his head, making it impossible for him to fully trust the Lord.

However, he knew that the Territory Guard and the Lord weren’t necessarily on the exact same page. Under normal circumstances, the Territory Guard might obey the Lord’s orders unconditionally, but if a command blatantly violated the interests of everyone in the territory, defying it was perfectly legal according to territorial law.