Armipotent

"We haven't heard anything from the Stanion Family, Your Highness," Unam replied, "However, something weird happened in Harnian City. Our men discovered the Stanion Family's flag there, and it seems the Gienas Kingdom has taken over Harnian City."

"Does that mean Larissa and Melina safely arrive in the Stanion Family's territory?" King Albertian asked. That was the thing he wanted to know more than what happened in Harnian City.

"I don't know. Maybe the Rebel Army captured the Queen and Princess and brought them to Harnian City? Or else, why would the Stanion Family attack Harnian City first? We are not sure about it, Your Highness. I have sent our scout to Harnian City to meet with the Stanion Family," Unam replied with a neutral tone.

The frown on King Albertian deepened when he heard that his wife and daughter might get caught by the Rebel Army, "Please find out about my wife and daughter's whereabouts. I can't be at ease on the battlefield if I don't know if they are safe or not."

"Yes, Your Highness," Unam bowed his head, "I will arrange for people to look for Queen Melina and Princess Larissa after the briefing. Eleven commanders with their armies have arrived in Tamarun, and we are ready to face the Rebel Army in Ghortakh City."

King Albertian Weingartner nodded and started the morning briefing. They were discussing the plan to fight the Rebel Army. Ghortakh City was the armory of the Athilia Kingdom. They did not lack food or money, so they targeted Ghortakh instead of the other two cities. The meeting lasted for two and half hours before they agreed to one plan.

The eleven commanders and the strategist left the room, leaving King Albertian alone in the room. Everyone could tell that King Albertian's thoughts were not in the meeting as he rarely put input into planning.

Strategist Unam made his way to his base. Aside from being a strategist of the Athilia Kingdom, Unam also led Athilia Secret Force and Intelligence Service for the Athilia Kingdom. The Athilia Secret Force consisted of assassins that were doing the dirty work for the King, and the Intelligence Service was a group that gathered the information for the kingdom. Unam led the two crucial groups for the kingdom, not because the King trusted him but because he was raised to be the leader of these two groups.

Unam called the leaders from both groups into his room, "Have you found out what happened in Harnian?" He asked the leader of the Intelligence Service.

"We are pretty sure that the Rebel Army in Harnian has fallen, and we discovered the Stanion Family's flag. We assumed it was the Gienas Kingdom, but the people we sent into Harnian never returned. This is weird," The leader of the Intelligence Service reported, "I am thinking of working together with the Secret Force to sneak into Harnian."

Unam nodded and turned toward the leader of Athilia Secret Force, "Have The Queen and Princess arrived safely in the Stanion Family's territory?"

"We discover their traces, and The Queen and the Little Princess are in the Stanion Family's territory. However, I haven't confirmed if they stay in the Stanion Family or follow the Stanion Family's force to take over Harnian," the Athilia Secret Force leader replied.

"What happened in Harnian is indeed weird, but there's something more urgent than that," Unam leaned back on his chair and rubbed his chin, "I want you, the Secret Force and Intelligence Service to work together to kill The Queen and The Little Princess."

The two leaders' eyes widened in shock as they did not expect to receive such an order from their leader. The two leaders exchanged glances; they had similar expressions, meaning they did not mishear the order.

"Ah, make sure to do it like the Rebel Army who killed the Queen and the Princess. You can have your people rape the Queen and torture The Princess, then bring their corpses back to the King," Unam added more details, "Do it!"

"Yes, Sir!" The two leaders were raised and trained directly by Unam. Unam was like a Father to both of them, so they did not question the order. They bowed and left the room.

"Albertian…." Unam let out a sigh, "You forced me to do this. You lack the drive of a King, you ignore your people who suffer because of the Rebel Army, and you forget your priority as a King. Queen Melina and Princess Larissa bring a bad influence on you, so I will get rid of this obstacle for you. The Queen and the Princess can be replaced anyway…. Ah, I should groom the new Queen, so the same thing will not repeat."

*** ***

Zhang Mengyao led his people to Ghortakh City after one day of rest in Polaron City. The plan was not to pinch The Rebel Army, but they would wait for the Athilia Kingdom to fight the Rebel Army, and they would start their attack after one of them fell. That was Zhang Mengyao's plan. As to how to force the Athilia Kingdom to attack the Rebel Army in Ghortakh, she had the Stanion Family with her. She would send Videl Stanion, the Stanion's second scion, to convince the Athilia Kingdom that the reinforcement from the Gienas Kingdom had arrived.

That was a great plan, even though not everyone agreed with that. The Elven King Virion did not agree with the plan. He thought that they were far stronger than the Rebel Army and the Athilia Kingdom. So rather than waiting for the Athilia Kingdom to make their move, they should take the initiative to attack the Athilia Kingdom. Virion's plan was to pinch The Athilia Kingdom instead, to divide the Athilia Kingdom's focus. It was a good plan too, but Zhang Mengyao decided to follow her plan instead.

The reason was simple, it was to lessen the casualties. In Virion's plan, they had to face not just the Athilia Kingdom but also the Rebel Army. In her plan, they would just fight one of them even though the timing was based on the Athilia Kingdom. Marshal Alton, Vice Marshal Allan, Vice Marshal Kang Xue, and Legion Commander Moonsong agreed to follow Zhang Mengyao's plan.

"I just don't understand," Virion muttered in a low voice. He was still dissatisfied with the plan and still thought that his plan was better.

"What you don't understand?" Revalor came next to his son and asked with a smile.

Virion looked at his father and let out a sigh. He told everything to his father about his plan and Zhang Mengyao's plan, comparing both plans for his father to listen. Revalor's status was a war slave even though he was one of the strongest in the Tang Empire, so he did not get to join the meeting.

"What you can't understand? Supreme General Zhang Mengyao has explained it all to you," Revalor looked at his son.

"We can capture the Athilia Kingdom and defeat the Rebel Army faster, then we can get more information on how to clear this second floor from the King himself. Moreover, we don't need to worry about the casualties because we have you, Sir Moonsong, Sir Allan, Sir Olming, and Sir Auron; two Legend Ranks and three Primordial Ranks. We are invincible considering the enemy's commanders are just at Epic Rank," Virion shared his thoughts with his father. That was something he did not say during the meeting.

"I see, so you want to capture the Kingdom faster," Revalor nodded, "But why do we need to capture the Athilia Kingdom faster? Why do we need to clear the second floor faster? There's no time limit, no?"

Virion furrowed his brow at his father's response. He clearly did not like the answer.

"First, you are not an independent King anymore; we are not just the Elven Kingdom, but part of the Tang Empire. It's not them who need to understand you, but you need to understand our superiors. Think why Supreme General Zhang Mengyao favors her plan over yours, understand them, and if you think your plan is better, explain why it's better. Talking about your superiors behind them is not good."

"Second, I think your plan is reckless while the Supreme General's plan is better than yours. Our real enemy is not the Athilia Kingdom and the Rebel army. We don't know our real enemy yet; we don't know who we must defeat to clear the second floor of the Dimensional Tower. If we follow your plan, that means we are revealing all our cards to our enemy that we don't know yet. That's the price of capturing the Athilia Kingdom; we expose ourselves to the enemy."

"Third, we don't know how to clear the second floor yet, but what if the condition to clear the second floor is to defeat all the kingdoms on the second floor? What if our enemy is the one who controls all the forces on the second floor? If that's the case, following the plan that costs fewer casualties is the best in our situation, even if it's just one person less casualty."

"If the condition to clear the second floor is to capture the Athilia Kingdom, then I agree with your plan, but we don't know anything. Not a bad plan, but not the best in our situation because we only have a little information."

"Enough with that; it's something you learn with experience, but what I want to say is be careful with your mouth, Virion. A single wrong word may cost the whole Elven Kingdom. You are not just one person anymore; the Elven Kingdom is no longer an independent kingdom. A lot of people's lives are on your shoulders, so be responsible with your words." Revalor smiled and hugged his son, "However, I trust you will not make that stupid mistake. It's enough that your useless father and brother became war slaves."