Chapter 160 The 156th Chapter Secret Meeting
After concluding her conversation with Welyn in the Dream Palace, Jima immediately ended the session to conserve her meager magical energy.
She returned to the real world.
The military camp was bustling with voices; as soon as she pushed open the tent door, she saw many soldiers gathered in groups of eighty, chatting around a campfire.
As soon as Jima stepped out of the tent, even though she wore a black veil, she still attracted attention. A soldier standing and talking with his comrades, Kirislev, turned to look at her.
A soldier stirring a steaming iron pot over the campfire also raised his head to glance at her.
In an instant, nearly everyone who could see her was staring at Jima.
Having long since developed the habit of ignoring “gazing,” she tossed a silver coin to divine George’s location and stepped onto the black stone ground, walking toward the largest tent in the camp beneath the dim sky.
The large tent was adorned with golden edges, guarded by female soldiers holding frost crescent blades on either side of the entrance; their blades were clear and appeared carved from ice. The moment their eyes met Jima’s, they immediately crossed their frost blades in front of the entrance.
From a distance, one of them said, “Succubus, you are not permitted to enter the military meeting.”
Ever since Jima tricked the entire army last time, everyone had been very wary of her, even replacing the guards with women, fearing that men might easily fall for the succubus’s traps.
Jima stopped and said, “I’m waiting for someone, my fiancé.”
The frost guards remained unmoving, neither responding nor passing on the message. There were rumors in the army that to avoid succumbing to the succubus’s schemes, one should not speak to her; once they did, it was certain defeat.
Before long, the large tent opened on its own. A metal hand pushed open the tent door, revealing George clad in heavy armor.
He strode out and asked Jima, “What’s the matter? I heard your voice.”
“It’s nothing urgent,” Jima replied. “You go ahead and have your meeting.”
“It’s already over.”
“Then let’s talk in my tent.” Jima grasped George’s arm, pulling him along and striding back to her tent.
On the way, the gazes directed at her body instantly decreased by seventy percent; of those left, a large portion exchanged vulgar remarks.
“Quickly look, the succubus is desperate.”
“Tsk, tsk, eager to take George the hero to satisfy her needs.”
“If it were me, I’d also marry a succubus, even if she’s this kind of bad succubus.”
“Forget it, she nearly got us killed.”
Jima ignored these comments and pulled George into her tent.
Influenced by Jima, George was no longer the “pure” boy he once was.
Standing outside, he didn’t enter and said, “Is it urgent?”
“Important secret, get in quickly, kid.” Jima pushed George’s back, forcing him into the tent.
Behind them, a chorus of “tsk tsk tsk” sounds arose.
Jima’s figure disappeared in front of the swaying tent door. An archer immediately stood up and ran to report to a suspiciously albino goblin.
Once inside, Jima eagerly opened the tranquil secret boundary.
George said, “I’m fine with whatever you want to talk about, but it’s wartime. We agreed not to do such things.”
He was referring to the recent four-person agreement, which stated they couldn’t engage in that kind of activity, especially given Jima’s troubled history, which drew special scrutiny.
Jima shot him a glance and said, “Kid, you’re overthinking it. Sit down.”
Due to the limitations of armor around his joints, George couldn’t kneel, so he grabbed a poorly crafted but sturdy small stool and sat down.
Jima knelt on her own rug, a golden silk red carpet that Lianxi had washed just yesterday, still carrying the scent of the sun.
She said, “I’ve brought a helper; you’ve fought with her before.”
“I thought it was Akanis.”
“I mentioned her.” In the common tongue, her pronunciation differed from his.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if Akanis wore a dress one day to prove she’s female.”
Is this a hint at me?
Jima smiled and said, “Then Welyn will explode.”
“Not necessarily. From your description, she loves Akanis, though her love is quite twisted.”
“What love? It’s like children encountering an interesting toy; they’re simply possessive.” Jima said, “Moreover, it’s mixed with ‘Stockholm Syndrome’; Akanis pierced her chest, leaving a profound and novel impression.
“But you’re right; she might not dislike a female version of Akanis, as she doesn’t care about Akanis’s gender. It’s just a toy; how can there be a gender?”
George said, “So you called Welyn into battle? She was indeed a formidable opponent.”
“Yes,” Jima said, “but she admitted on her own that she couldn’t defeat the Blood Dragon Knight Duncan and begged me not to make her face him directly. That way, she wouldn’t be separated from Akanis for too long.”
“I was summoned by you and fought Welyn at Adolf, though it was technically a group fight.” George said, “But her strength is formidable, combined with her nearly indestructible ability; she represents an evil that is almost impossible to eliminate. We refer to this as a natural disaster.”
“But the good news is I know a weakness of the Blood Dragon Knight Duncan.” Jima paused and did not elaborate.
“I suppose you want me to guess?”
“Since you guessed it, I don’t need to play this game.” Jima said, “Have you heard the legend? There was once a powerful necromancer, Nagas, who cursed vampires, ensuring they could never defeat the Empire.”
“I haven’t heard of that. I’ve only heard the rumor that ‘vampires can never defeat the Empire’.” George said, “To me, it seems that the Empire’s people, in protecting their homeland, are courageous enough to sacrifice, no matter how corrupt the politics, the Empire is not lacking in warriors willing to sacrifice.”
“That’s true.” Jima said, “Though in the Empire’s history, when the vampire army besieged Adolf, the leader of the Sigma Church at the time fell from the walls while holding the vampire leader, impaled side by side on a stake. It looks like a typical sacrifice for victory.
“But indeed, Nagas cursed the vampires. Welyn told me that when the Blood Dragon Knight Duncan faced Sigma, he fled in panic, leaving Nagas to confront Sigma alone, and he was crushed into pieces. Before dying, he raised a bony finger and pointed at the retreating figure of the Blood Dragon Knight Duncan.
As Jima spoke more passionately, she imitated the voice of the skull, raspy and filled with resentment:
“I curse that from now on, vampires can never defeat the descendants of Sigma.”
George said, “I heard some falsehoods from you.”
“I artistically processed it a bit.” Jima said, “The fact is, the Blood Dragon Knight Duncan did flee while protecting Nagas. Hence, Nagas cursed the entire vampire race. Welyn said this; she’s the true progenitor of the bloodline, the daughter of the first vampire.”
“Are you suggesting we need to find the descendants of Sigma to defeat the Blood Dragon Knight Duncan?” George asked, “But as far as I know, Sigma has no descendants.”
“Descendants should refer to something else.” Jima said, “The soldiers of the Empire love to shout ‘We are the descendants of Sigma,’ with the exception of the northern Nord tribe. Just so happens Beowulf’s teammate has a fighting priest, right?”
“Are you referring to that fighting priest who always likes to burn you with the flames of Sigma?” George said, “He just suggested in the military meeting to burn you before the war to boost morale. Who knows, the gods might bless them.”
“Forget it, what have I done to deserve such divine attention?” Jima said, “Not every deity is like that blood god that can’t handle losing and comes down easily.”
“His suggestion is undoubtedly impractical.” George said, “Are you planning to have him deal with the Blood Dragon Knight Duncan?”
“Yes, you tell him this matter but don’t say I mentioned it; if I did, he would surely do the opposite.”
“What does doing the opposite mean?” George asked, “Does it mean he would do it backwards?”
“Yes, yes, yes.”
“Do you really think the fighting priest could turn the Blood Dragon Knight Duncan to ashes because of a curse?”
“That’s naturally impossible.” Jima said, “Otherwise, would there still be vampires within the Empire? Just let the Empire’s fighting priests handle it, look at last time at Adolf; Welyn casually called upon a huge swarm of vampires.”
“Can I understand that you want to sacrifice the annoying fighting priest?”
“Certainly, that’s part of the idea.” Jima said, “But I’m not taking personal revenge, at least not entirely; I care more about how this action could tip the scales of victory.”
George thought for a moment and said, “The true weakness isn’t the curse, right?”
“Correct, guess what it is?”
“It’s the Heart of the Blood Dragon Knight Duncan wanting to break the curse.”
“Smart. Welyn has constantly mentioned this matter, irritating the Blood Dragon Knight Duncan, which undoubtedly led to bad things happening; that’s why Welyn feared him.” Jima clapped her hands, “How did you think of that?”
“It’s simple; he went to worship the blood god and is the primary responsible party for the curse; he might want to reclaim his reputation.”
“Smart, smart. You’re right; he has always wanted to break this curse.”
Jima once again became cautious around George, fearing he might detect her scheme.
She continued, “The weakness isn’t the curse, but his obsession. Whether the Sigma fighting priest can defeat the Blood Dragon Knight Duncan doesn’t matter; what matters is that if the Sigma fighting priest just raises his voice and shouts, ‘I am here!’
“He’ll probably run over in a hurry.”
George said, “I understand.”
At that moment, a horn sounded outside the tent, overpowering the howling cold wind, with soldiers’ footsteps mixing in with the sound of the horn.
Jima looked at George: “Is that the horn to assemble the troops?”
“Yes.” George said, “In the military meeting, everyone decided to rush to the lair of the two-headed dragon as quickly as possible to capture it before the Eternal Chosen army and destroy the fragments of the Demon King’s crown.”
“So risky? That doesn’t seem like the general’s style.”
“Perhaps he gained confidence after devouring your glory of victory.” George said, “What do you think?”
“Can’t say it’s wrong; it’s just adventurous.” Jima said, “It depends on the progress; if they attack halfway and the Eternal Chosen army arrives from behind, that would be terrible.”
“We estimated at least three days to capture the city.”
“Don’t forget, the Eternal Chosen demon army marches particularly fast in the wasteland; they don’t need to eat.”
“We’ve considered that too.” George said, “But the Eternal Chosen’s troops have many Northerners who need to eat, which will drag down their marching speed. What’s your opinion?”
“Nothing much to say.” Jima said, “I don’t have much information either, so it can only be like this.”
