Chapter 524: The Trap
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The King ordered the troops to stop before he ventured forward with Benjamin and Miles to the campsite.
"Your Majesty, if General Hawk’s man were indeed ambushed and killed by the people from the Church, then would you still continue to carry out our attack on Geallore?" Miles suddenly asked.
"Of course." The King breathed calmly before nodding firmly. "It’s not right for us to stop suddenly now that we’re already halfway through our journey."
Meanwhile, Benjamin studied his environment with a frown on his face.
Soon, they arrived at the front of the campsite. From the outside, the campsite looked desolate. Some of the tents were destroyed and scattered on the ground, surrounded by broken weapons. A torn flag fluttered sadly in the wind.
Aside from the fact that there were no bodies, the place did look like a post-battle campsite.
"Is there really nothing left?" The King does not look pleased.
Frankly, it was difficult for them to figure out anything just by looking at this scene. A nudging feeling in his heart urged him to lead the army away from this campsite immediately and rush to Geallore as soon as possible. However, if they did not find out why these soldiers managed to disappear, Benjamin was afraid that they would suffer a similar fate.
The King’s heart has never been so heavy.
He must handle this situation with utmost care - after all, he did hold the fate of Carretas within his hands.
"Your Majesty, you should stay here; I’ll look around the campsite on your behalf." Miles assessed the situation at hand and spoke, his eyes carefully surveying the scene before him.
However, Benjamin suddenly stopped them.
"Don’t go in."
The King paused, "Why?"
Benjamin’s expression was strange as he gazed at the campsite before him. Just moments ago, the System suddenly informed him that there was a very slight magical oscillation within the campsite. This oscillation was hidden within a few collapsed tents, echoing with each other, as if from some magical instruments.
Thus, he immediately used the Water Elemental Sensing Technique to investigate the source of the magical oscillation.
A few gigantic crosses were buried in the ground, their purpose unknown. However, Benjamin sensed a formidable rumble of Light Elements within and knew that if they were to explode, the whole campsite will be obliterated in seconds.
In a way, those were.... Mines?
Benjamin’s heart skipped a beat at the discovery. The few crosses were very well-hidden, and their magical oscillations were close to nil. If the System did not warn him, Benjamin probably wouldn’t even realise it.
Benjamin spoke to the King, "There’s a trap inside. It is quite well hidden. If we walked in, something would’ve happened to us."
The King was surprised, "A trap?"
Benjamin nodded solemnly.
"But.... what about the soldiers from General Hawk? Where are they?" The King asked worriedly.
Benjamin shook his head, "I have no idea. However, I do feel that we should not hang around here any longer. Let’s talk once we leave the area."
The King scanned his surroundings and immediately tensed up at Benjamin’s words. He nodded in agreement.
The soldiers who were supposed to meet with them here were nowhere to be seen. All that was left was a booby-trapped, empty campsite. It does not take a rocket scientist to figure out that something was wrong.
In addition to that, Benjamin even felt like someone was watching them.
He deployed the Water Elemental Sensing Techniques but did not detect anybody suspicious in his range. Thus, they could only inform the troops to avoid the booby-trapped campsite and continue their march towards Geallore.
However, just as they were starting to change their course to avoid the campsite, Benjamin’s expression changed. He abruptly flew towards the sky.
"They’re here...."
As he looked around in the sky, he saw numerous shadows appear from all directions in the forest, effectively surrounding them. As he looked closer, he saw soldiers, Holy Knights, and priests..... Their positioning was precise, as if intentionally just out of Benjamin’s Water Elemental Sensing Techniques’ effective range, but their assault teams still connected to form a huge circle to totally surround them.
Suddenly, they heard battle cries from afar; the King with his men were stunned and could not fathom what was unfolding around them.
The only thing Benjamin could do was to snatch the horn out from the hands of a soldier and blow it as hard as he could.
After the long trumpet of the horn, he strained his throat and shouted as loud as he possibly could, "Incoming!"
The expression on everyone’s face changed immediately.
They were now located in a wide and open area by the main route, and there were no available topographical advantages that they could take advantage of. The general hurriedly commanded the soldiers to ready their weapons and change formations to shield the King and the rear troops. The soldiers with shields then formed an outer wall to barricade the troops within. Every single one of them looked anxious.
Thankfully, the enemy’s ambush started off from quite far away as they had initially intended to avoid Benjamin’s detection; this gave Benjamin and his people time to adjust their formation. If the enemy had managed to reach them before they could draw their swords from their sheaths, they would suffer unimaginable losses.
That was the only thing Benjamin was grateful for. As he flew in the sky and watched the soldiers rushing toward them like torrential flood waters, he drew a deep breath.
The Church was finally showing their claws, huh?
The whole ambush consisted of approximately 80 thousand people, with around 1000 priests among them. The situation was extremely daunting.
Benjamin’s heart dropped at the sight of them.
He expected the ambush but was honestly surprised that the Church somehow seemed to know about his Sensing Technique and took active measures against it. They had set up their trap far away from him, which is why he was unaware of their activities.
Whose idea was this?
Was there another bishop in Carretas?
Before the battle commenced between the two forces, Benjamin continuously searched with his Sensing Technique for a person on par with a bishop. However, after a round of intense scanning, he found nothing; he could only find priests weaving themselves between troops of soldiers.
But, even if there were only priests, Benjamin still felt immense pressure.
The majority of the mages were still in the plains, and they had yet to meet up with them. Now, only around 20 mages were capable of fighting. The difference between the abilities of the spellcasters was too vast, not to mention the number of soldiers as well - this battle was going to be to the death.
If they were to go head to head with the Church, they would most probably lose.....
Benjamin inhaled sharply, before flying off once again to the sky with the 20 mages. He ordered one of the mages to cast a spell that could amplify one’s voice before shouting, his voice booming over the battleground.
"Soldiers of Carretas, do not be fooled by the lies of the Church, the real king is with us. If you kill him, Carretas will fall and become the slave of Icor!"
He had no choice. He needed to find a way to win the soldiers to his side before they started a killing spree.
Benjamin knew that it was impossible for the Church to plant a cross in every soldier. The most they could do was control the generals. Most of the soldiers present today were probably kept in the dark and just deceived by the Church.
Benjamin was hoping he could exploit this.