Imperial Throne

Chapter 109: Probing Attack

“Sir Yam.”

Yam, led by Borm, soon arrived at a mountain forest.

At first glance, Yam could immediately tell how fierce the battle had been here.

Broken trees were scattered everywhere, along with numerous scorch marks, shattered weapons, damaged armor, and more.

Although there were no corpses on the ground at this moment, the clearly visible bloodstains had not been covered up. Judging by the amount of blood, there had definitely been more than thirty bodies that had fallen here.

“Can you tell anything from this, Commander Sien?”

Sien was one of the only two people who had attained Second-Tier Bloodline in Ion’s previous bloodline purification experiment with the Demonic Sword. The other had been taken to the Gem Territory by Akar to serve as Baroness Anna’s Bloodline Knight. But whether it was Sien or the other, despite acquiring Second-Tier Bloodlines, they were currently only First-Tier Bloodline Users. After all, it was clearly impossible to fully convert bloodline power into one’s own strength in a short time.

And through that previous experiment, Ion had also discovered the absolute difference between simply using the Demonic Sword to extract magical beast bloodline power and purifying bloodlines through Bloodline Potions.

First of all—

Bloodline Users who awakened through true blood extracted from magical beasts could only exert about seventy percent of the power compared to those who awakened through Bloodline Awakening Potions. There was a fundamental disparity in strength between the two. Moreover, those who awakened this way had their bloodline power entirely influenced by their natural aptitude, unlike Yam and Akar, who had both shown remarkable innate talent after awakening their bloodlines.

Secondly—

The true blood refined by drawing from ten magical beasts did not consume the Demonic Sword’s purification counts.

Therefore, even though Ion had cultivated thirteen Bloodline Knights, the Demonic Sword still retained five purification attempts. Furthermore, these thirteen Bloodline Users would face death or transformation into magical beasts upon failure during bloodline advancement—unlike Yam and Akar, who, by directly consuming a purification count, faced no risk of failure in their advancement.

Thus, whether the awakened bloodline of these thirteen veterans was well-suited to their bodies became critically important.

Sien was undoubtedly the luckiest.

This brawny man stood over 1.9 meters tall, with immense strength and a burly physique. Most importantly, his resistance to damage and self-healing ability were quite strong, which made him particularly compatible with the amplification effect of the Rock Turtle’s bloodline. As a result, his power grew the fastest among the thirteen veterans.

At this moment, facing Yam’s inquiry, Sien said in a low voice, “This was a highly targeted trap. According to Borm and Kalel, the enemy had four Bloodline Users. The leader did not act, but the other three did. Specifically, there was one Second-Tier and two First-Tier Bloodline Users. The Second-Tier Bloodline User had an ability similar to Baron Ster’s Ice Spike.”

“Ice Spike?” Yam frowned slightly.

“Yeah,” Sien nodded, “but unlike Baron Ster’s version, this Bloodline User’s Ice Spikes were smaller, and only five could be formed at once, with a maximum range of ten meters.”

Sien, Borm, and Kalel were all veteran soldiers who had fought throughout the defense of the White Mountain Territory under Baron Ster. While they might be unfamiliar with some Bloodline abilities, they knew the effects of Ice Spike thoroughly. With just a moment’s recollection of Baron Ster’s ability, they could accurately gauge the strength level of the opponent’s Ice Spike.

Undoubtedly, compared to Baron Ster’s standard, the opponent was significantly weaker.

But that did not mean the ability lacked lethality.

In Yam’s mind, thoughts raced as he tried to deduce the origin of this Bloodline ability: “What about the other two First-Tier Bloodline Users? What were their abilities?”

Sien glanced at Borm, who promptly replied, “One could generate strong winds, and the other could produce water vapor. Kalel’s flame was forcibly extinguished by their water vapor and strong wind, so I couldn’t borrow any fire either, and was unable to use my Bloodline ability.”

Sien added, “Kalel was injured by an Ice Spike, though the opponent avoided all vital areas. But the other accompanying soldiers weren’t so lucky. They were pierced through their vital points by Ice Spikes and died on the spot.”

Yam finally understood why Sien had called this a highly targeted trap.

Since four months ago, Ion had assigned Sien to command Fortress Ster and stationed Borm and Kalel there permanently. Naturally, the task of capturing smugglers had fallen to these three. Thus, for these smugglers, the strength and specific Bloodline abilities of the trio were no secret. A targeted attack like this was therefore entirely plausible.

However, the enemy had not gone for the kill—this was more of a probing maneuver.

Judging by Yam’s understanding, the attackers would likely seek out Sien soon to negotiate, attempting to use bribes to persuade him to turn a blind eye to their smuggling operations. After all, based on what Yam had heard from Baroness Anna, this kind of approach was quite a common tactic.

Normally, negotiations and bribes came first, and only when they failed would threats of force follow.

But this group had chosen to flex their power first, clearly aiming to showcase their strength and drive down the price of negotiations and bribes.

“What a bunch of greedy bastards,” Yam sneered.

Sien, standing nearby, did not speak rashly, but only gave a quiet reminder after Yam finished speaking. “There is still one Bloodline User among them who hasn’t acted. We don’t yet know their strength. They could very well be a Third-Tier Bloodline User…”

“Impossible,” Yam interrupted, shaking his head.

Having been a Bloodline User for so long, Yam was no longer ignorant. He knew very well what kind of significance a “Third-Tier Bloodline User” held among the Bloodline Nobles: individuals of this strength level were taken seriously even by Count and Marquis families, and they wouldn’t easily be sacrificed—perhaps during wartime, but during peacetime, this class of power was almost the very standard by which the foundation of a County or Marquisate was measured.

Of course—

That wasn’t to say Third-Tier Bloodline Users didn’t exist outside the noble circles, just that they were rare. Nearly all wandering Third-Tier Bloodline Users gathered along national borders, scheming to gain the title of “Pioneer Knight” and hoping to secure a fief for long-term prospects.

Encountering a Third-Tier Bloodline User in the White Mountain Territory was extremely unlikely.

Even so, Yam was not afraid of such bad luck.

He had brought the Demonic Sword along with him this time.

At worst, it would just cost one use of Nirvana.

Currently, all the construction and development funding of the White Mountain Territory relied on this smuggling trade, so this matter absolutely could not go awry.

“Sien, when did you become so timid?” One of the soldiers who had followed behind Yam removed his helmet and let out a mocking laugh. “Have you been stationed at Fortress Ster so long that you’ve lost your old fighting spirit? Back in the Eastern Mountain Territory, you always charged at the front in every battle.”

“Hatch!” Sien looked surprised at the sight of this man. “What are you doing here?”

Then he glanced at the others and realized—they were all old acquaintances!

This group had been sent by Ion to follow Akar to the Gem Territory. In the early stages of the smuggling operation, they had briefly returned to help. But since the construction of Fortress Ster began, they had gone back to the Gem Territory, as the freight channels there required Bloodline Users to oversee operations.

This time, however, five had returned.

“Sir Yam said even a lion uses its full strength to catch a rabbit. Since we’re here in the White Mountain Territory, we decided to tag along,” said the middle-aged man called Hatch with a smile. “If you ask me, Sir Yam is still too cautious, even making us disguise ourselves as soldiers.”

“Better to be cautious,” Sien smiled. “With so many Bloodline Knights present, even a Third-Tier Bloodline User might not be unbeatable.”

Yam, however, merely chuckled and did not respond to Sien’s optimism.

Including himself, there were eight Bloodline Users.

But only he was a Second-Tier Bloodline User. The others, Sien included, were all still First-Tier.

They would have no trouble dealing with Second-Tier Bloodline Users, but if their opponent truly turned out to be a Third-Tier Bloodline User, Yam could not win without using the power of Nirvana.

“By the way, where is Lord Ion?”

“Father is still in the Gem Territory,” Yam shook his head slightly. “Setting up the intelligence network isn’t as easy as we imagined. There have been some complications there.”

What Yam didn’t say aloud was that ever since realizing Uncle Raven wasn’t dead, Ion had frequently traveled to the Gem Territory to search for the location of that ancient site. But whether that site wasn’t actually in the Gem Territory, or the entrance was simply too well hidden, in over half a year, he had found no trace of it. However, because of that, he had been present to see his other grandson right after birth.

Akar and Anna had given birth to a boy.

They named him Liam Akar Soderbell.

Of course, that was the name they used in private.

The child’s official name at present was John Kasein—because he would be sent to the Kasein Family's Eaglehead Territory at age five. But Anna had already planned to send him back to the White Mountain Territory at four, so she didn’t argue with Joshua over the name.

While Sien and the others were still immersed in the joy of reunion, Yam received a note from another soldier.

He glanced at it quickly before burning it to ashes.

“Everyone, get ready. We’re heading out. Let’s settle this before nightfall,” Yam clapped his hands to draw everyone's attention. “The Shadow has already located those attackers.”