"What?... Why? Why would the liege of Count Jartel attack Jartel and Raftel at the same time? This does not make any sense." Sylvester asked.

Felix shrugged and kept killing the men who came close to them. "I don't know. It happened all of a sudden. We just heard the rumbling of the ground. We were on the side of Raftel at that point, in the castle. The Duke's army came charging immediately and started mercilessly killing Jartel's men first, then moved towards Raftel County. This battle is crazy, Max! So many men… This makes the Desert Cannibal invasion of my home County look like child's play. It's exciting and annoying at the same time." Felix bellowed.

Sylvester didn't try to correct him. He could understand Felix was in an adrenalin rush. "Let's first get out of this madness and then talk."

Sylvester felt the horse was slow because Felix was with him too. So he decided to make way for himself. "Everything is fair in love and war… and I sure don't love this place."

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

As Miraj had thrown rows of explosive crystals behind. All Sylvester did was activate them with magic. The loud explosions created a highway ahead for him soon after. Bodies exploded, and limbs fell apart. Sylvester didn't care and only raced ahead on the horse.

It was total pandemonium on the sides as the men who survived were confused about what had happened. They just remained on the ground and soon got stabbed by an enemy and died. Everyone was killing each other as it was a three-way war. Things had gotten out of control—nobody was in charge other than bloodlust.

In no time, through the sea of blood and falling burning boulders from catapults. Sylvester got out of the battlefield and arrived back at the distant hill. By then, he was panting and bloodied from the blood of his enemies.

Unsurprisingly, Lady Aurora was looking neat, clean and calm… as was Gabriel. It must have been child's play for her, and she was probably waiting for him for a while now.

"That was a good strategy, Lord Bard." She complimented him.

Sylvester kept a straight face and revealed the details to her. "The Duke of Colorwood has attacked both the Count Brothers. This is going way out of our hands."

She, for the first time, showed an expression that leaked a powerful scent of anger. Her eyes narrowed, and she looked at the crowd in the distance. "So a Duke has decided to kill his own retainer Count? Why would he?"

She turned to face Gabriel and asked. "What about the Archbishop of Jartel County? Where is he?"

"He's with Count Jartel. He said he would not leave behind the lord of the land. He was meant to protect and enlighten. I tried to pull him away, but he didn't agree." Gabriel recounted.

"Fool!" She grunted. "The Church does not meddle in the squabbles of nobles. We shall leave and let them settle this matter, Archpriest. This battle is not under our jurisdiction."

Sylvester was not in favour of leaving for selfish reasons. 'Won't that mean I will have a stain on my perfect record? This mission failure could bite me in the back when I ask for promotion again.'

But on another thought, he could not help but feel that he was toyed with this time. There was a mastermind behind all this out there, someone pulling strings and making this happen for some reason. Someone so good that even the Duke was helpless. What motive did that person have? He needed to find it because if his instincts were correct, then this matter was grave.

'I'm not foolish enough to believe I am the smartest man in the world. There have to be better—godly schemers who are better than me. The main question is if this is it? Have I finally found my competition?'

"We can't, Lady Aurora. Let's not forget why we came here. The killer harmed the noble women and chopped their chests. All of that and this connects. You can't seriously believe a Duke would attack his own retainer for no apparent reason. Someone is controlling the strings." He made the argument.

Gabriel backed him up, too. "Yes, Lady Aurora. You won't believe it, but after you and Max were gone, we oversaw the first meeting between Count Jartel and Count Raftel for the first time in years. Both men appeared calm, hugged each other, drank, and remembered their parents. They vowed not to fight each other as long as it was proved that they didn't harm each other's families."

"Whatever is happening… someone forced the Duke to do this," Sylvester added. He had to get her to agree because if she decided they were heading back, she had the power to tie them up and take them along.

"Fine… but we must end this fast." She agreed with their arguments.

Thud!

Thud!

Thud!

"Woah!" Felix exclaimed all of a sudden. "Do you also feel the ground shaking?"

"I do," Gabriel muttered.

Sylvester frowned heavily, however. "No, no… this is bad."

He quickly used light steps, made himself a staircase of hardened light magic, and climbed fifty feet in the air to get a full view of everything in the surroundings. He ignored the battlefield and looked back instead.

"Fuck!" He cursed loudly. "This is bad! I see an army headed this way… and they are holding the sigil of the Duke of Zon Duchy!"

"How big is the army?" Lady Aurora questioned.

"This makes no sense… The army is big… at least ten thousand men!" Sylvester estimated and looked down. "Felix, how long ago did the battle here begin?"

"Six hours ago!" Felix blurted.

Sylvester looked east towards the oncoming army. It was still a reasonable distance away and would take at least two hours to reach them. "This means someone informed the Duke of Zon to gather the army… someone likely told him that the Duke of Colorwood is going to attack his lands—the Raftel County!"

"This is a bloody conspiracy!" Gabriel cursed, which was rare.

Lady Aurora seemed tense as well. The war between the two Dukes was a humongous mess. This would mean that the economy of Gracia Kingdom would cripple as the industrial and agricultural output would plummet.

She breathed fast and thought about what to do. She was certainly not as well prepared for this kind of work to steer her way through all the scheming. All her life, she had lived under Lord Inquisitor's shadows and worked with the Inquisitors. She was like a princess to the Inquisitors because she never faced too many hardships. There was always someone to advise her, such as Sir Hans, the right hand of Lord Inquisitor.

She glanced at Sylvester, who appeared calm as a mountain lake. She knew he was also thinking about dealing with this conspiracy, but while she found her head empty, she knew Sylvester's mind was full of ideas. 'So this is what my father wanted me to learn from Lord Bard? Learn how to steer around the scheming nobles?'

"Lady Aurora!" Sylvester spoke. "I wish you to head to the oncoming army and meet the Duke of Zon if he's among them. You're the Guardian of Light. Even if you are the last rank, your words hold much weight. Tell him not to attack and make a camp instead. Tell him that the Bard of the Lord shall bring him the answers he likely seeks."

She didn't try to fight his suggestion. She knew the boy was much smarter than she was, and given time. He'd grow stronger than her too. Knowing that, she couldn't help but feel happy for the future of the faith. "I will do so, Lord Bard. You take care of yourself… the Duke has likely seen your previous rescue attempt. He may send his Arch Wizards after you."

He nodded and looked at his brothers. "Get ready. We're moving quickly. Here, take these solarium crystals and keep them in your mouth. Don't let yourselves be exhausted."

"Where do you get these? They are so expensive!" Lady Aurora exclaimed just then.

Sylvester ignored her purposefully and climbed his horse. "Boys, let's move!"

He didn't wait and speared towards the battlefield. He was on the horse, so he first threw his spear to kill two knights who were on horses too, and let Felix and Gabriel hijack them. After that, the three galloped towards the cluster where Sylvester had seen the two Counts before.

"Spread as much chaos as possible. Use large-scale spells!" He ordered them. He, too, used an S-ranked spell that was not easy to control. The Whirling fire was something he used a lot but was not everyone's cup of tea to master. For that, one needs a strong fire element.

Woosh!

Five different tornadoes of fire spread around and followed Sylvester and the two on their sides. The tornadoes ensured that nobody ambushed them. Felix and Gabriel, who was a master in Earth elements, used their ability to make ditches on the sides of their horses as they moved to make sure all the horseback Knights around them couldn't reach them

"You're doing good!" Sylvester roared and led the two straight towards the destination.

Soon, a large horde of men was in view. From the looks of it, Sylvester could notice that Count Jartel, Count Raftel and Archbishop Raymond were surrounded by hundreds of soldiers from the Duke's army. They were being pushed closer and appeared hurt—apparent by the blood.

Sylvester whispered in the ears of Miraj then. "Boy, go and place the exploding crystals near the feet of the soldiers surrounding them."

Miraj jumped from the horse and made his way to the big cluster. He threw around the crystals randomly and soon got picked back up by Sylvester.

Boom!

"Let's go!" Sylvester roared when he activated the explosives and made the horses jump over the pile of dead bodies and bloodied limbs. But, of course, not all enemies were dead, so they had to dismount the horses and make their way towards the centre of the encirclement.

Felix was a Diamond Knight, so he had much more bullish strength. He easily made his way into the crowd by cutting Knights left and right. The Wizards were not in the crowd as they were too strategic, leaving Sylvester with a great advantage.

He abundantly used magic. He created pits on the ground, made the water turn slippery, and used fire to burn.

Inch by inch, they made their way and broke into the centre where the Count Brothers and the Archbishop stood, back to back.

"Let's get you three out of there," Sylvester called them.

The three men were also injured as blood oozed out of their noses, mouths and various cuts all over their bodies. The Archbishop was the most injured since he was a wizard stuck in a close battle.

"Archpriest!" The fat Count Jartel called his name, his voice sounding broken and excited to see him. "I didn't start it… I swear!"

"He didn't!" Count Raftel also clarified.

Sylvester moved closer to them and voiced, "I know. But I was hoping you could come with me. Army of the Duke of Zon is marching towards here… if we don't stop him, then it'd be the end of two duchies."

"Who is doing all this? This is a conspiracy!" Archbishop Raymond barked in pain.

"Agreed. That's why you two must survive!" Sylvester replied. He caught Count Jartel with his armour and started dragging him out of the encirclement. "Just follow me."

Felix did the same and started to drag Count Raftel. While Gabriel helped the Archbishop, they knew their way back would be challenging, but first, they had to get to their horses.

Sylvester was in the lead and used fire magic in abundance, making his hands seem like flame throwers. "Ugh! We're surrounded by your own men, Counts! Tell them to assist us!"

"JARTEL HAS DIED!!!"

Out of nowhere, a loud voice boomed so strongly that it echoed throughout the battlefield. It came from where the Duke of Colorwood was camped up in the west.

Sylvester looked left and right, and his heart sank. The soldiers of Jartel County were staring at him with their reddened eyes. He cursed aloud. "Fuck! They are trying to use your own men against us! The mob has no mind of its own! It runs on emotion!"

"RAFTEL HAS DIED!!!"

Once again, a second roar echoed throughout the battlefield and shattered Sylvester's plans and confidence in getting out unscathed. In one second, the entire mood of the battlefield changed as bloodlust changed into complete madness.

"Close formation! Unleash all that you know best!" Sylvester boomed, for he knew what would come next.

_______________________

GT = 1 Bonus chapter.

Super Gift = 1 Bonus chapter.

APE TOGETHER STRONG!